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{{for|the village in Iran|Mir Jafar, Iran}}
{{short description|18th-century Nawab of Bengal}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox royalty
|image = Mir Jafar (left) and Mir Miran (right).jpg
|caption = Mir Jafar (left) and his eldest son, Mir Miran (right).
|name = Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur
|succession = [[Nawabs of Bengal and Murshidabad|Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa]]
|reign-type = 1st reign
|reign = 2 July 1757 – {{nowrap|20 October 1760}}
|predecessor = [[Siraj ud-Daulah]]
|successor = [[Mir Qasim]]
|reign-type1 = 2nd reign
|reign1 = 25 July 1763 – {{nowrap|5 February 1765}}
|predecessor1 = [[Mir Qasim]]
|successor1 = [[Najimuddin Ali Khan]]
|full name = Syed Mir Muhammad Jafar Ali Khan Bahadaur
|birth_place =
|birth_date = 1691
|death_place = [[Bengal]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1765|02|05|1691|df=y}}
|place of burial = [[Jafarganj Cemetery]], [[Murshidabad]]
|father = Sayyid Ahmed Najafi (Mirza Mirak)
|spouse = Shah Khanum (m. 1727, d. August 1779)<br>[[Munni Begum (noble)|Munni Begum]] (m. 1746, d. 10 January 1813)<br>Rahat-un-nisa Begum ([[Nikah mut‘ah|Mut'ah]] wife)<br>Babbu Begum (d. 1809)
|issue = {{ubl|Sadiq Ali Khan Bahadur (Mir Miran)
|[[Najimuddin Ali Khan]]
|[[Najabut Ali Khan]] (Mir Phulwari)
|[[Ashraf Ali Khan]]
|[[Mubarak Ali Khan of Bengal|Mubaraq Ali Khan]]
|Hadi Ali Khan Bahadur
|Fatima Begum
|Misri Begum
|Roshan-un-nisa Begum (Nishani Begum)
|Husaini Begum
|2 more daughters}}
|house = Najafi
|religion = [[Shia Islam]]<ref>S. A. A. Rizvi, ''A Socio-Intellectual History of Isna Ashari Shi'is in India'', Vol. 2, pp. 45–47, Mar'ifat Publishing House, Canberra (1986).</ref><ref>K. K. Datta, ''Ali Vardi and His Times'', ch. 4, University of Calcutta Press, (1939)</ref><ref>Andreas Rieck, ''The Shias of Pakistan'', p. 3, Oxford University Press, (2015).</ref>
}}

'''Syed Mir Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur''' ({{lang-bn|সৈয়দ মীর জাফর আলী খান বাহাদুর}}, {{Nastaliq|{{lang-fa|سید میر جعفر علی خان بہادر}}}}; {{circa|1691}} – 5 February 1765) was a military general who became the first dependent [[Nawab of Bengal]] of the [[East India Company|British East India Company]]. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expansion of British control of the [[Indian subcontinent]] in [[History of India|Indian history]] and a key step in the eventual British domination of vast areas of modern-day [[India]].

Mir Jafar served as the commander of the Bengali army under [[Siraj ud-Daulah]], the Nawab of Bengal, but betrayed him during the [[Battle of Plassey]] and succeeded Daulah after the British victory in 1757. Mir Jafar received military support from the East India Company until 1760, when he failed to satisfy various British demands. In 1758, [[Robert Clive]] discovered that Jafar had made a treaty with the [[Dutch East India Company]] at [[Chinsurah]] through his agent Khoja Wajid. Dutch [[Ship of the line|ships of the line]] were also seen in the [[River Hooghly]]. Jafar's dispute with the British eventually led to the [[Battle of Chinsurah]]. British company official [[Henry Vansittart]] proposed that since Jafar was unable to cope with the difficulties, [[Mir Qasim]], Jafar's son-in-law, should act as Deputy [[Subahdar]]. In October 1760, the company forced him to abdicate in favor of Qasim. However, the East India Company eventually overthrew Qasim as well due to disputes over trade policies. Jafar was restored as the Nawab in 1763 with the support of the company. Mir Qasim, however, refused to accept this and went to war against the company. Jafar ruled until his death on 5 February 1765 and lies buried at the [[Jafarganj Cemetery]] in [[Murshidabad]], [[West Bengal]]. Mir Jafar remains a controversial figure in Indian history and has become a symbol of intimate betrayal and treachery among [[Bengalis]].

==Subedar of the Nawab of Bengal==
In 1747 the [[Maratha Empire]] led by [[Raghoji I Bhonsle]], began to raid, pillage and annex the territories of the [[Alivardi Khan]], the Nawab of Bengal. During the Maratha invasion of [[Odisha]], its [[subedar]] Mir Jafar and Ataullah the [[faujdar]] of [[Rajmahal]] completely withdrew all forces until the arrival of Alivardi Khan and the [[Mughal Army]] at the [[Battle of Burdwan]] where Raghoji I Bhonsle and his Maratha forces were completely routed. The enraged Alivardi Khan then dismissed the shamed Mir Jafar.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jaques|first=Tony|title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3amnMPTPP5MC&q=maratha&pg=PA137|isbn=9780313335372}}</ref>

==Nawab of Bengal==
[[File:Mir Jafar and his son Miran delivering the Treaty of 1757 to William Watts.jpg|thumb|left|Jafar and his son Miran delivering the Treaty of 1757 to William Watts]]
Jafar initially showed loyalty to Alivardi Khan's successor Siraj Ud Daulah, but betrayed him to the British in the [[battle of Plassey]].<ref name=Banglapedia>{{citation
|author=Mohammad Shah
|chapter=Mir Jafar Ali Khan
|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mir_Jafar_Ali_Khan
|title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |editor=Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |year=2012 |edition=Second}}</ref> After Siraj Ud Daulah's defeat and subsequent execution, Jafar achieved his long-pursued dream of gaining the throne, and was propped up by the East India company as a puppet Nawab. Jafar paid Rs. 17,700,000 as compensation for the attack on [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] to the company and traders of the city. In addition, he gave bribes to the officials of the company. [[Robert Clive]], for example, received over two million rupees, and [[William Watts]] received over one million.<ref>Modern India by Dr. Bipin Chendra, a publication of National council of Educational Research and Training</ref>

Soon, however, he realized that company's expectations were boundless and tried to wriggle out from under them; this time with the help of the [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]]. However, the British defeated the Dutch at the [[Battle of Chinsurah]] in November 1759 and retaliated by forcing him to abdicate in favor of his son-in-law Mir Qasim. Qasim proved to be both able and independent-minded, although he soon came into dispute with the company over their refusal to pay taxes to Qasim. Mir Qasim formed an alliance to force the East India Company out of [[East India]]. The company soon went to war with him and his allies. The [[Battle of Buxar]] was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the East India Company led by [[Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar|Hector Munro]], and the combined armies of [[Mir Qasim]] the Nawab of Bengal, [[Shuja-ud-Daula]] the Nawab of Awadh, and the Mughal Emperor [[Shah Alam II]]. With the defeat in Buxar, Mir Qasim was eventually overthrown. Mir Jafar managed to regain the good graces of the British; he was again installed Nawab in 1764 and held the position until his death in 1765.
{{clearleft}}
===Bengal War===
{{main|Treaty of Allahabad}}
[[File:Shah-alam-ii-mughal-emperor-of-india-reviewing-the-east-india-companys-troops-1781-1894 1247854.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]], reviewing the [[British East India Company]]'s troops, painted in 1781.]]
{{quote box|width=25%|quote=''"Some ill-designing people had turned his brain, and carried him to the eastern part of the Mughal Empire, which would be the cause of much trouble and ruin to our regimes."''|source='''Imad-ul-Mulk's''' letter to Mir Jafar, after the escape of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] crown prince [[Shah Alam II|Ali Gauhar]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |year=1852 |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hehJAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA123 |publisher=University Press |pages=123–}}</ref>}}

In 1760, after gaining control over [[Bihar]], [[Odisha]] and some parts of the [[Bengal]], the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Crown Prince]] Ali Gauhar and his Mughal Army of 30,000 intended to overthrow Jafar, [[Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III|Imad-ul-Mulk]] after they tried to capture or kill him by advancing towards [[Awadh]] and [[Patna]] in 1759. But the conflict soon involved the increasingly assertive East India Company. The Mughals were led by Prince Ali Gauhar, who was accompanied by Muhammad Quli Khan, Hidayat Ali, Mir Afzal and Ghulam Husain Tabatabai. Their forces were reinforced by the forces of [[Shuja-ud-Daula]] and [[Najib-ud-Daula]]. The Mughals were also joined by [[Jean Law de Lauriston|Jean Law]] and two hundred Frenchmen and waged a campaign against the British during the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref>{{cite book|last=O`malley|first=L.S.S.|title=Bihar And Orissa District Gazetteers Patna|year=1924|publisher=Concept Publishing Company, 1924|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-QaOP5nK-MC&q=jean+law&pg=PA29|isbn=9788172681210}}</ref>

Although the [[French East India Company|French]] were eventually defeated, the conflict between the British East India Company and the Mughal Empire would continue to linger and ended in a draw, which eventually culminated during the Battle of Buxar.

==Legacy==
[[File:Clive.jpg|thumb|Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, meeting with Jafar after [[Battle of Plassey|Plassey]], by Francis Hayman.]]
The breakup of the centralized Mughal empire by 1750, led to creation of a large number of independent kingdoms in Northern, Central and Western India, as also North-Western India (now Pakistan) and parts of Afghanistan (all provinces of the former Mughal empire). Each of them were in conflict with their neighbor. These kingdoms bought weapons from the British and French East India companies to aid their wars. Bengal was one such kingdom. The British and French supported whichever princes ensured their trading interest. Jafar came to power with support of British East India Company. After the defeat of Sirajuddoula and later Mir Qasim the British strengthened their position in Bengal and in 1793 abolished the ''nizamat'' (referring to the Mughal suzerainty) and took complete control of the former Mughal province. The word ''"mirjafar"'' in [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and the phrase ''"meer jafar"'' in [[Urdu]], are used much as ''[[quisling]]'' is used in English, and [[Jaichand of Kannauj]] in North Indian history.<ref name="newagebd">{{cite news |last=Ahsan |first=Syed Badrul |date=31 October 2005 |title=Iskandar Mirza, Ayub Khan, and October 1958 |url=http://www.newagebd.com/2005/oct/31/edit.html |location=Dhaka |newspaper=New Age |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819084546/http://newagebd.com/2005/oct/31/edit.html |archive-date=19 August 2007}}</ref>

[[File:MirJafarTomb.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Mir Jafar, [[Jafarganj Cemetery]], [[Murshidabad]]]]
==See also==
* [[Namak Haram Deorhi]]
* [[Great Britain in the Seven Years War]]

==Notes==
* {{note|mohanlal}}"Riyazu-s-salatin", Ghulam Husain Salim – a reference to the appointment of Mohanlal can be found [https://persian.packhum.org/pf?file=07601010&ct=46 here]
* {{note|Ataullah}} "Seir Muaqherin", Ghulam Husain Tabatabai – a reference to the conspiracy can be found [https://persian.packhum.org/pf?file=07501022&ct=8 here]
* [http://murshidabad.net/history/history-topic-mir-jafar.htm A website dedicated to Mir Jafar]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180115195328/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main "Riyazu-s-salatin", A History of Bengal], Ghulam Husain Salim (translated from the Persian): viewable online at the Packard Humanities Institute
* [http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mir_Jafar_Ali_Khan Mir Jafar Ali Khan] in Banglapedia
* {{Cite book
| last =Humayun
| first =Mirza
| year =2002
| title =From Plassey to Pakistan
| publisher = University Press of America; Revised edition (28 July 2002)
| location = [[Washington D.C.]]
| isbn = 0-7618-2349-2
}}
*[http://murshidabad.net/history/history-topic-mir-jafar.htm Murshidabad History-Mir Muhammad Jafar Ali Khan ]
*[https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/offtrack/story/19940131-descendant-of-mir-jafar-fights-to-erase-stamp-of-treachery-from-family-name-808768-1994-01-31 Descendant of Mir Jafar fights to erase stamp of treachery from family name]

{{Bengal Zamindars}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jafar, Mir}}
[[Category:1691 births]]
[[Category:1765 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Shia Muslims]]
[[Category:Indian people of Arab descent]]
[[Category:Nawabs of Bengal|Mir Jafar]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:18th-century rulers]]
[[Category:Traitors in history]]

Mir Jafar - Revision history

>RegentsPark: Undid revision 1028352333 by Im not a boke (talk) see WP:MOS