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{{Short description|Nawab of Katehir (c. 1707–1748)}}
{{Distinguish|Ali Muhammad Khan}}
{{Distinguish|Ali Muhammad Khan}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox royalty
{{Infobox royalty
| name        = [[Nawab]] [[Sayyid]] Ali Mohammed [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Bahadur (title)|Bahadur]] [[Rohilla Chieftaincies|Rohilla]]
| name        = [[Nawab]] Ali Mohammed [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Bahadur (title)|Bahadur]] Rohilla
| title        = [[Nawab]] Of [[Rohilkhand]] <br> [[Nawab]] Of [[Badaun]] <br> [[Nawab]] Of [[Rampur, Uttar Pradesh|Rampur]] <br> [[Nawab]] Of [[Bareilly]] <br> [[Nawab]] Of [[Moradabad]] <br> [[Nawab]] Of [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]] <br> [[Sardar]] Of The [[Barech|Barech Tribe]] <br> [[Tribal chief|Chief]] Of The [[Rohilla]]
| title        = [[Nawab]] of [[Rohilkhand|Katehir]] <br> [[Nawab]] of [[Budaun|Badaun]] <br> [[Nawab]] of [[Rampur, Uttar Pradesh|Rampur]] <br> [[Nawab]] of [[Bareilly]] <br> [[Nawab]] of [[Moradabad]] <br> [[Nawab]] of [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]] <br>[[Sardar]] of the [[Barech|Barech tribe]] <br> [[Tribal chief|Chief]] of the [[Rohilla]]
| image        =  
| image        =  
| image_size  =  
| image_size  =  
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| succession  = [[Rohilkhand]]
| succession  = [[Rohilkhand]]
| moretext    =  
| moretext    =  
| reign        = 1720-1749
| reign        = 1721–1748
| reign-type  =  
| reign-type  =  
| coronation  =  
| coronation  =  
| cor-type    =  
| cor-type    =  
| predecessor  = '''Monarchy Established'''
| predecessor  = Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla
| pre-type    =  
| pre-type    =  
| successor    = [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand]]
| successor    = [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| succession1  = [[Badaun]]
| succession1  = [[Badaun]]
| moretext1    =  
| moretext1    =  
| reign1      = 1720-1749
| reign1      = 1721–1748
| reign-type1  =  
| reign-type1  =  
| coronation1  =  
| coronation1  =  
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| predecessor1 = [[Rohilla|Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla]]
| predecessor1 = [[Rohilla|Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla]]
| pre-type1    =  
| pre-type1    =  
| successor1  = [[Nawab]] [[Sayyid]] [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Abdullah]] [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Bahadur (title)|Bahdur]] [[Rohilla Chieftaincies|Rohilla]]
| successor1  = [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| succession2  = [[Rampur, Uttar Pradesh|Rampur]]
| succession2  = [[Rampur, Uttar Pradesh|Rampur]]
| moretext2    =  
| moretext2    =  
| reign2      = 1741-1749
| reign2      = 1741–1748
| reign-type2  =  
| reign-type2  =  
| coronation2  =  
| coronation2  =  
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| predecessor2 = Raja Ram Singh of Katehr
| predecessor2 = Raja Ram Singh of Katehr
| pre-type2    =  
| pre-type2    =  
| successor2  = [[Nawab]] [[Sayyid]] [[Faizullah Khan|Faizullah]] [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Bahadur (title)|Bahdur]] [[Rohilla Chieftaincies|Rohilla]]
| successor2  = [[Faizullah Khan|Nawab Faizullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| suc-type2    =  
| suc-type2    =  
| regent2      =  
| regent2      =  
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| succession3  = [[Bareilly]]
| succession3  = [[Bareilly]]
| moretext3    =  
| moretext3    =  
| reign3      = 1741-1748
| reign3      = 1741–1748
| reign-type3  =  
| reign-type3  =  
| coronation3  =  
| coronation3  =  
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| predecessor3 = Nawab Abd Un Nabi Khan
| predecessor3 = Nawab Abd Un Nabi Khan
| pre-type3    =  
| pre-type3    =  
| successor3  = [[Nawab]] [[Sayyid]] [[Muhammad Yar Khan of Bareilly|Muhammad Yar]] [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Bahadur (title)|Bahdur]] [[Rohilla Chieftaincies|Rohilla]]
| successor3  = [[Muhammad Yar Khan of Bareilly|Nawab Muhammad Yar Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| succession4  = [[Moradabad]]
| succession4  = [[Moradabad]]
| moretext4    =  
| moretext4    =  
| reign4      = 1741-1748
| reign4      = 1741–1748
| reign-type4  =  
| reign-type4  =  
| coronation4  =  
| coronation4  =  
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| predecessor4 = Raja Harnand
| predecessor4 = Raja Harnand
| pre-type4    =  
| pre-type4    =  
| successor4  = [[Nawab]] [[Sayyid]] [[Saadullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Saadullah]] [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Bahadur (title)|Bahdur]] [[Rohilla Chieftaincies|Rohilla]]
| successor4  = [[Saadullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Saadullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| succession5  = [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]]
| succession5  = [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]]
| moretext5    =  
| moretext5    =  
| reign5      = 1720-1748
| reign5      = 1721–1748
| reign-type5  =  
| reign-type5  =  
| coronation5  =  
| coronation5  =  
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| predecessor5 =  
| predecessor5 =  
| pre-type5    =  
| pre-type5    =  
| successor5  = [[Nawab]] [[Sayyid]] [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Abdullah]] [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Bahadur (title)|Bahdur]] [[Rohilla Chieftaincies|Rohilla]]
| successor5  = [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| birth_name  = [[Sayyid]] Muhammad Ali [[Khan (title)|Khan]]
| birth_name  = Prem Singh<ref name="Khoja">Khoja, Neelam. 2018. [https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/726de724-b17a-4c33-ab36-19509894d45e/content Sovereignty, Space, and Identity: The Politics of Power in Eighteenth Century Punjab]. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.</ref>
| birth_date  = 1714
| birth_date  = 1707
| birth_place  = [[Jansath]]
| birth_place  = [[Jansath]]
| death_date  = 15 September 1749
| death_date  = 15 September 1748
| death_place  = [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]]
| death_place  = [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]]
| burial_date  =  
| burial_date  =  
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| era dates    =  
| era dates    =  
| regnal name  = Ali Muhammad Khan
| regnal name  = Ali Muhammad Khan
| house        = [[Rohilla Dynasty|Rohilla]] ''(By Adoption)''<br> [[Barha Dynasty]] ''(By Birth)''
| house        = [[Rohilla Dynasty|Rohilla]] ''(by adoption from Nain/Nano Jats)<ref name="nain">{{cite book |title=Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society Volume 42 |date=1994 |publisher=Pakistan Historical Society |page=24 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Journal_of_the_Pakistan_Historical_Socie/w_htAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=jat+boy+by+the+name+of+prem+singh+nano&dq=jat+boy+by+the+name+of+prem+singh+nano&printsec=frontcover |quote= Among the captives was one handsome Jat boy by the name of Prem Singh Nano. Da'ud Khan was so attracted towards him that he adopted him as his son, initiated him into the Islamic belief, and named him Ali Muhammad Nano. Later, when the boy reached adulthood, Daud Khan declared him as his successor. Thus began the pedigree of the Nawwabs of Rampur.}}</ref>''
| house-type  =  
| house-type  =  
| father      =  
| father      =  
| religion    = [[Islam]]
| religion    = [[Sunni Islam]]
| occupation  = [[Subahdar|Subedar]] of [[Sirhind-Fategarh|Sirhind]]
| occupation  = [[Subahdar]] of [[Sirhind-Fategarh|Sirhind]] and [[Rohilkhand]]
}}
}}


'''Ali Muhammad Khan''' (bf. 1714 – 15 September 1748)<ref>Ali Muhammad Khan Rohilla (1706-1748) is not to be confused with Nawab Muhammad Khan Bangash (1665-1743)</ref><ref>The original author listed 1725 – 1749, but other websites claimed he made the Rohilla kingdom independent in 1721, see [http://www.webindia123.com/history/MEDIEVAL/mughal%20period/mughal3.htm]</ref> was a [[Rohilla]] chief who succeeded his foster father Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla at the age of fourteen. He eventually went on to found the [[Kingdom of Rohilkhand]] in the northwestern region of the [[Uttar Pradesh]] state of [[India]] and was generally regarded as non-oppressive ruler to the masses.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strachley |first1=Sir John |title=Hastings and the Rohilla |page=14}}</ref> He was well regarded for his political ability, and was granted the right to use India's highest insignia of the [[Mahseer]] by the [[Muhammad Shah|Emperor Muhammad Shah]]. His young death along with the tender age of his children led to [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech|Hafiz Rehmat Khan's]] regency which was in large part governed against his wishes, despite Rehmat Khan's solemn oath on the Quran to fulfil dying Ali Mohammad's will. On his death the disenfranchisement and neglect of his sons by Rehmat Khan caused one son, Allah Yar Khan to die of consumption, and another son Murtaza Khan to leave for [[Secunderabad]] where he too would eventually die.
'''Ali Muhammad Khan''' ({{circa}} 1707 – 15 September 1748), born as '''Prem Singh Nain''',<ref name="Khoja" /><ref name="nain" /> was the founder of the [[Kingdom of Rohilkhand]], and progenitor of the [[Rohilla dynasty]]. He succeeded his foster father, Daud Khan Barech, as chief of the [[Rohilla]]s at the age of fourteen, and was generally regarded as a non-oppressive ruler to the masses.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strachley |first1=Sir John |title=Hastings and the Rohilla |page=14}}</ref> He was granted the right to use India's highest [[insignia]], the [[Mahseer#In_heraldry_(and_other_official_representations)|Mahseer]], by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Muhammad Shah|Emperor Muhammad Shah]].{{cn|date=July 2025}}


== Ancestry ==
His early death led to the [[regency]] of [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech]], despite Rehmat Khan's solemn oath on the [[Quran]] to fulfill the dying Ali Muhammad's will.{{cn|date=July 2025}}


As a boy Ali Muhammad Khan was adopted by the chief of the Barech Tribe, Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla. The term Rohilla refers to a Pashtun settlers of India.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
== Early life ==
Ali Muhammad Khan, originally named Prem Singh Nain,<ref name="Khoja" /><ref name="nain" /> was born around 1707 into a [[Hindu Jats|Jat]] family.<ref>{{bulleted |1={{cite book |last1=Sastri |first1=K. A. Nilakanta |last2=Srinivasachari |first2=G. |author1-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |title=Advanced history of India |year=1971 |publisher=Allied Publishers |oclc=976740387 |page=572 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvkgAAAAMAAJ |quote=Ali Muhammad Khan, a converted Jat, built up a large principality with its seat at Aonla, 18 miles north-west of Bareilly city and gained recognition from the Delhi court.}} |2={{cite book |last=Prasad |first=Ishwari |author-link=Ishwari Prasad |title=India in the Eighteenth Century |date=1973 |publisher=Chugh Publications |oclc=732111 |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CmG2uojMOcC |quote=Daud was an adventurer of considerable ability and warlike spirit and in a short time gathered around himself a large number of followers. Ali Muhammad who was born of Jat parents was brought up by him as a child and converted to Islam.}} |3={{cite book |last=Gupta |first=Hari Ram |author-link=Hari Ram Gupta |title=History of the Sikhs |volume=III: Sikh Domination of the Mughal Empire (1764–1803) |year=1999 |orig-year=1980 |publisher=[[Munshiram Manoharlal]] |isbn=978-81-215-0213-9 |oclc=165428303 |edition=2nd rev. |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82wwAQAAIAAJ |quote=The real founder of the Rohilla power was Ali Muhammad, from whom sprang the present line of the Nawabs of Rampur. Originally a Hindu Jat, who was taken prisoner when a young boy by Daud in one of his plundering expeditions, at village Bankauli in the parganah of Chaumahla, and was converted to Islam and adopted by him.}} |4={{cite book |last=Prasad |first=Bisheshwar |editor1-last=Banerjee |editor1-first=A. C. |editor2-last=Ghosh |editor2-first=D.K. |title=A Comprehensive History of India |volume= 9 (1712–1772) |year=1978 |publisher=People's Publishing House |oclc=1405593320 |page=140 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggduAAAAMAAJ |chapter=Ruhelkhand and Farrukhabad |quote=There he is reported to have captured a Jat boy of about eight years whom he brought up as his son and named Ali Muhammad Khan, who lived to be his successor and the founder of the state of Ruhelkhand.}} |5={{cite book |last=Rashid |first=Abdur |editor-last=Husain |editor-first=Mahmud |display-editors=etal |title=A History of the Freedom Movement |volume=I: 1707–1831 |year=1957 |publisher=[[Pakistan Historical Society]] |oclc=1129482853 |page=304 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mo-GvHjoH-cC |chapter=The Rohillas |quote=Amongst other prisoners he obtained a young Jat boy of eight years.<sup>1</sup> Daud took a fancy to him and adopted him as his son and named him 'Ali Muhammad Khan.}} |6={{cite book |last=Srivastava |first=Ashirbadi Lal |author-link=Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava |title=The First Two Nawabs of Oudh |year=1954 |publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co. Ltd. |oclc=678892685 |page=103 |edition=2nd rev. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUQeAAAAIAAJ |quote=While in the service of Mudar Shah of Madhkar, 13 miles east of Chandausi, Daud took part in an expedition against the ruler of Bankauli, 26 miles north of Bareilly, where fell into his hands among other things a handsome Jat boy of seven or eight years of age. He converted the boy into Islam, named him Ali Muhammad Khan and adopted him as his son.}} |7={{cite book |last=Khan |first=Iqbal Ghani |editor-last=Barnett |editor-first=Richard B. |title=Rethinking Early Modern India |year=2002 |publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-81-7304-308-6 |page=271 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jJuAAAAMAAJ |chapter=Technology and the Question of Elite Intervention in Eighteenth-Century North India |quote=Thus we witness the Ruhelas accepting an exceptionally talented non-Afghan, an adopted Jat boy, as their nawab, purely on the basis of his military leadership; ...}}}}</ref>{{Efn|Abdur Rashid notes that while the rest of the sources describe him as a Jat, one source states that he was an Ahir.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rashid |first=Abdur |title=History of the Muslims of Indo-Pakistan Sub-continent, 1707-1806 |publisher=Pakistan Research Society |year=1978 |volume=1 |pages=297 |quote=According to the Siyar-ul-Mutakhkhirin⁸ Ali Muhammad Khan was an Ahir by birth. According to others he was of Jat parentage.}}</ref> [[Jos J. L. Gommans]] also notes that he is mostly described as a Jat or an Ahir in contemporary sources.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Gommans |first=Jos J. L.|author-link=Jos Gommans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2TH8UYeAaoC&dq=most+of+the+contemporary+sources+call+him+a+jat+or+ahir&pg=PA120 |title=The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780 |date=1995 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10109-8 |page=120 |language=en |quote="Most of the contemporary sources, however, call him a Jat or an Ahir."}}</ref> Iqbal Husain states, "It is acknowledged on all hands that 'Ali Muḥammad Khan was not an Afghan. That he was a Saiyed is at best dubious; that he was a Jat, or of some other local peasant caste is more than probable."<ref name="Husain">{{cite book |last=Husain |first=Iqbal |title=The Ruhela Chieftaincies: The Rise and Fall of Ruhela Power in India in the Eighteenth Century |year=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-563068-8 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnRuAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>|group=note}} As a child, he was captured by Daud Khan Barech, the [[Barech]] chief, during a conflict with rival [[Zamindar]]s. Impressed by the boy, Daud chose to adopt him, convert him to [[Islam]], and give him a new name.<ref name="Irvine 1971 p.118 ">{{cite book | last=Irvine | first=W. | title=Later Mughal | publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distri | year=1971 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak5oFjTys8MC | access-date=2022-07-30 | page=118  | quote= Once Daud was sent against the village of Bankauli, in pargana Chaumahla, with which his employer was at feud. Along with the plunder taken on this occasion Daud obtained possession of a Jat boy seven or eight years of age, whom he caused to be circumcised and then adopted under the name of Ali Muhammad Khan.}}</ref>
However he was by birth a member of the Barha Dynasty. The meaning of the name Barha is uncertain. While some contend that it comes from the word, "bahir", meaning "outsider" referring to the preference of members of the Barha dynasty to live outside [[Delhi]]. Others like the Emperor [[Jahangir]], believed that it came from the Hindi word, "barha", meaning "twelve". In reference to the twelve townships that members of the dynasty had received as fiefs from [[Muhammad of Ghor|Sultan Shibabdudin of Ghor]] when they first arrived in India.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nevill |first1=H.R. |title=Muzaffarnagar Imperial Gazetteer |journal=District Gazeiters of the United Provinces of Aga and Oudh |date=1920 |volume=III}}</ref>


== Biography ==
According to the Inradus Sa'adat, Ali was a [[Hanafi]] Muslim belonging to the [[Qadiriyya|Qadiri]] Sufi Order, which was considered by them to be more closer to pure Islam than any other [[Tariqa|mystic order]] prevailing in India.<ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MGdXAAAAMAAJ&q=Nawab+%27+Ali+Muhammad+Khan+was+Hanafi+Muslim+belonging+to+Qadria+order+of+the+Muslim+sufis+,+which+conforms+more |title=Life of Hafiz Rahmat Khan (Hayat-I-Hafiz Rahmat Khan).|author= Altaf Ali Brelvi  |date=1966 |publisher=Academy of Educational Research, All Pakistan Education Conference }}</ref>{{Vn|date=December 2025}}
He succeeded ''rohilla'' Sardar Daud Khan and helped develop Rohilkhand into a powerful nation, which became independent in 1721. In 1746, due to an altercation over the collection of wood between the construction workers of [[Safdarjung|Safdar Jang]] with the forest guards of Ali Muhammad Khan, Safdar Jang decided to eliminate him.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://rekhta.org/ebooks/akhbar-us-sanadeed-volume-001-mohammad-najmul-gani-khan-ebooks|title=Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1|last=Khan|first=Muhammad Najm-ul-Ghani|publisher=Munshi Nawal Kishore|year=1918|location=Lucknow|pages=146–152}}</ref> [[Safdarjung|Safdar Jang]] of [[Oudh]] informed the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor of India [[Muhammad Shah]]<ref>Muhammad Shah (1702–1748) was a Mughal emperor of India between 1719 and 1748</ref> (ruled 1719–1748), through [[Itimad-ad-Daula, Qamar-ud-Din Khan|Qamar-ud-Din Khan]]<ref name=":0" /> about Ali Mohammed Khan's supposed intentions to create his own [[Sultanate]]. Mohammed Shah sent an expedition against him, as a result of which he was imprisoned. Later he was pardoned and made governor of [[Sirhind]].<ref name=":0" /> After [[Nadir Shah]], the conqueror of [[Iran]], took control of [[Kabul]] and sacked [[Delhi]] in 1739, Ali Mohammed Khan returned to his homeland and ruled the independent state of Rohilkhand until his death in 1748.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}


[[Faizullah Khan]] was the second son of Ali Muhammad Khan. He assumed rule of the Rohillas after Nawab Saidullah Khan's.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}
== Reign ==
{{further|Kingdom of Rohilkhand|Rohilla dynasty}}
He succeeded Daud Khan and develop Rohilkhand into a powerful nation, which became independent in 1721. Ali Muhammad Khan distinguished himself by helping in suppressing the rebellion of the [[Sadaat-e-Bara|Barah Sayyids]] under the chief Saifudddin Barha who had put the Mughal governor Marhamat Khan and all of his followers to death.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9jaXsOc-tEC&dq=saif+ali+jansath&pg=PA605 |title= Statistical, Descriptive and Historical Account of the North-Western Provinces of India: 3.:Meerut division part 2 · Volume 3 |page= 605 |date= 1876 |author= Edwin Thomas Atkinson |publisher= National Central Library of Florence }}</ref> As a reward Ali Muhammad Khan was given the title of Nawab by Muhammad Shah in 1737. In 1746, due to an altercation over the collection of wood between the construction workers of [[Safdarjung|Safdar Jang]] with the forest guards of Ali Muhammad Khan, Safdar Jang decided to eliminate him.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://rekhta.org/ebooks/akhbar-us-sanadeed-volume-001-mohammad-najmul-gani-khan-ebooks|title=Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1|last=Khan|first=Muhammad Najm-ul-Ghani|publisher=Munshi Nawal Kishore|year=1918|location=Lucknow|pages=146–152}}</ref> [[Safdarjung|Safdar Jang]] of [[Oudh]] informed the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor of India [[Muhammad Shah]]<ref>Muhammad Shah (1702–1748) was a Mughal emperor of India between 1719 and 1748</ref> (ruled 1719–1748), through [[Itimad-ad-Daula, Qamar-ud-Din Khan|Qamar-ud-Din Khan]]<ref name=":0" /> about Ali Mohammed Khan's supposed intentions to create his own [[Sultanate]]. Mohammed Shah sent an expedition against him, as a result of which Muhammad Khan  was imprisoned. Later he was pardoned and made governor of [[Sirhind]].<ref name=":0" /> After [[Nadir Shah]], the conqueror of [[Iran]], took control of [[Kabul]] and sacked [[Delhi]] in 1739, Ali Mohammed Khan returned to his homeland and ruled the independent state of Rohilkhand until his death in 1748.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}
 
[[Faizullah Khan]] was the second son of Ali Muhammad Khan. He assumed rule of the Rohillas after Nawab Saidullah Khan.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}


==Descendants==
==Descendants==
* Nawab Syed [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Abdullah Khan]] first son from wife Marghalari Begum (hailing from Matni tribe)  
In the 19th century, the descendants of Ali, specifically the [[Nawabs of Rampur]], claimed he was a [[Barha dynasty|Barha Sayyid]] and began using the title of [[Sayyid]]. However, they could not present any [[pedigree chart|pedigree]] or valid historical proof to support this claim.<ref name=":2" /> The Nawabs even hired a prominent [[Mawlawi (Islamic title)|maulvi]] of Rampur, Najmul Ghani, for establishing ancestry from [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]], which was generally rejected.<ref name="Srivastava">{{cite book |last=Srivastava |first=Ashirbadi Lal |author-link=Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava |title=The First Two Nawabs of Oudh |year=1954 |publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co. Ltd. |oclc=678892685 |page=103 |edition=2nd rev. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUQeAAAAIAAJ |quote=Contemporary Persian authorities say that Ali Muhammad Khan was of Jat parents. See Gulistan. 7; Abdulkarim, 88b, Ashob, 424; Siyar. II 480, A partisan attempt has, however, been made in modern times to prove that he was a Sayyid. Najmul Ghanl of Rampur has invented a false pedigree of the Khan, tracing it to Muhammad. The Maulvi’s discussion is altogether unconvincing and ridiculous. His object seems to be to prove that the present ruler of Rampur is a Sayyid.}}</ref>
* Nawab Syed [[Faizullah Khan]] second son from wife Marghalari Begum (hailing from Matni tribe)
 
* Nawab Syed [[Saadullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Saadullah Khan]] from wife Sarah Begum (of Bunerwal)  
The following is a list of his children:
* Nawab Syed [[Muhammad Yar Khan of Bareilly|Muhammad Yar Khan]] son from wife Lado Begum  
* Nawab [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Abdullah Khan]], first son from his wife Marghalari Begum (from Matni tribe)  
* Nawab Syed Alah-Yar Khan son from wife Raj Begum - He died of consumption around the same time that his younger brother Murtaza died.  
* Nawab [[Faizullah Khan]], second son from his wife Marghalari Begum, would later found the [[Rampur State]]
* Syed Murtaza Khan - Disgusted of Hafiz Rehmat Khan's unfair treatment, he left for secunderabad where he died.
* Nawab [[Saadullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Saadullah Khan]], from his wife Sarah Begum (of Bunerwal)  
* Nawab [[Muhammad Yar Khan of Bareilly|Muhammad Yar Khan]], son from his wife Lado Begum  
* Nawab Alah-Yar Khan, son from his wife Raj Begum - He died of consumption around the same time that his younger brother Murtaza died.  
* Murtaza Khan, son - disgusted by Hafiz Rehmat Khan's unfair treatment, he left for Secunderabad where he died.
* Shah Begum, daughter, from wife Marghalari Begum (wife of Inayat Khan son of [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech|Hafiz Rehmat Khan]])
* Shah Begum, daughter, from wife Marghalari Begum (wife of Inayat Khan son of [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech|Hafiz Rehmat Khan]])
* Niyaz Begum, daughter [and wife of Shah Muhammad Khan brother of [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech|Hafiz Rehmat Khan]]],  
* Niyaz Begum, daughter [and wife of Shah Muhammad Khan brother of [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech|Hafiz Rehmat Khan]]],  
* Masoom Begum, daughter, [and wife of [[Zabita Khan]]]
* Masoom Begum, daughter, [and wife of [[Zabita Khan]]]
* Inayat Begum, daughter, [wife of Bahadur Khan Kamal Zai]
* Inayat Begum, daughter, [wife of Bahadur Khan Kamal Zai]
* a daughter, name unknown, who died in childhood and was engaged to a son of [[Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asif Jah I|Qamar-ud-din Khan]]
* a daughter, name unknown, who died in childhood and was engaged to a son of [[Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asif Jah I|Qamar-ud-din Khan]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://rekhta.org/ebooks/akhbar-us-sanadeed-volume-001-mohammad-najmul-gani-khan-ebooks|title=Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1|last=Khan|first=Mohammad Najm-ul-Ghani Khan|publisher=Munshi Nawal Kishore|year=1918|location=Lucknow|pages=195–196}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://rekhta.org/ebooks/akhbar-us-sanadeed-volume-001-mohammad-najmul-gani-khan-ebooks|title=Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1|last=Khan|first=Mohammad Najm-ul-Ghani Khan|publisher=Munshi Nawal Kishore|year=1918|location=Lucknow|pages=195–196}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Rohilla]]
* [[Rohillas]]
* [[Rohilla dynasty]]
* [[Muslim Jats]]


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{Notelist|group=note}}


<!-- Use MLA style citation format for books, encyclopedias, and periodicals -->
<!-- Use MLA style citation format for books, encyclopedias, and periodicals -->
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali Mohammed Khan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali Mohammed Khan}}
[[Category:Mughal Empire people]]
[[Category:18th-century Mughal Empire people]]
[[Category:Rohilla]]
[[Category:Rohilla]]
[[Category:History of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Pardon recipients]]
[[Category:Pardon recipients]]
[[Category:1706 births]]
[[Category:1706 births]]
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[[Category:Nawabs of India]]
[[Category:Nawabs of India]]
[[Category:Indian people of Pashtun descent]]
[[Category:Indian people of Pashtun descent]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Rohilkhand]]

Latest revision as of 07:41, 8 March 2026


Nawab Ali Mohammed Khan Bahadur Rohilla
Nawab of Katehir
Nawab of Badaun
Nawab of Rampur
Nawab of Bareilly
Nawab of Moradabad
Nawab of Aonla
Sardar of the Barech tribe
Chief of the Rohilla
Rohilkhand
Reign1721–1748
PredecessorSardar Daud Khan Rohilla
SuccessorNawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla
Badaun
Reign1721–1748
PredecessorSardar Daud Khan Rohilla
SuccessorNawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla
Rampur
Reign1741–1748
PredecessorRaja Ram Singh of Katehr
SuccessorNawab Faizullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla
Bareilly
Reign1741–1748
PredecessorNawab Abd Un Nabi Khan
SuccessorNawab Muhammad Yar Khan Bahadur Rohilla
Moradabad
Reign1741–1748
PredecessorRaja Harnand
SuccessorNawab Saadullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla
Aonla
Reign1721–1748
SuccessorNawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla
BornPrem Singh[1]
1707
Jansath
Died15 September 1748
Aonla
Burial
Regnal name
Ali Muhammad Khan
HouseRohilla (by adoption from Nain/Nano Jats)[2]
ReligionSunni Islam
OccupationSubahdar of Sirhind and Rohilkhand

Ali Muhammad Khan (c. 1707 – 15 September 1748), born as Prem Singh Nain,[1][2] was the founder of the Kingdom of Rohilkhand, and progenitor of the Rohilla dynasty. He succeeded his foster father, Daud Khan Barech, as chief of the Rohillas at the age of fourteen, and was generally regarded as a non-oppressive ruler to the masses.[3] He was granted the right to use India's highest insignia, the Mahseer, by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.[citation needed]

His early death led to the regency of Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech, despite Rehmat Khan's solemn oath on the Quran to fulfill the dying Ali Muhammad's will.[citation needed]

Early life[edit | edit source]

Ali Muhammad Khan, originally named Prem Singh Nain,[1][2] was born around 1707 into a Jat family.[4][note 1] As a child, he was captured by Daud Khan Barech, the Barech chief, during a conflict with rival Zamindars. Impressed by the boy, Daud chose to adopt him, convert him to Islam, and give him a new name.[8]

According to the Inradus Sa'adat, Ali was a Hanafi Muslim belonging to the Qadiri Sufi Order, which was considered by them to be more closer to pure Islam than any other mystic order prevailing in India.[9]Template:Vn

Reign[edit | edit source]

He succeeded Daud Khan and develop Rohilkhand into a powerful nation, which became independent in 1721. Ali Muhammad Khan distinguished himself by helping in suppressing the rebellion of the Barah Sayyids under the chief Saifudddin Barha who had put the Mughal governor Marhamat Khan and all of his followers to death.[10] As a reward Ali Muhammad Khan was given the title of Nawab by Muhammad Shah in 1737. In 1746, due to an altercation over the collection of wood between the construction workers of Safdar Jang with the forest guards of Ali Muhammad Khan, Safdar Jang decided to eliminate him.[11] Safdar Jang of Oudh informed the Mughal emperor of India Muhammad Shah[12] (ruled 1719–1748), through Qamar-ud-Din Khan[11] about Ali Mohammed Khan's supposed intentions to create his own Sultanate. Mohammed Shah sent an expedition against him, as a result of which Muhammad Khan was imprisoned. Later he was pardoned and made governor of Sirhind.[11] After Nadir Shah, the conqueror of Iran, took control of Kabul and sacked Delhi in 1739, Ali Mohammed Khan returned to his homeland and ruled the independent state of Rohilkhand until his death in 1748.[citation needed]

Faizullah Khan was the second son of Ali Muhammad Khan. He assumed rule of the Rohillas after Nawab Saidullah Khan.[citation needed]

Descendants[edit | edit source]

In the 19th century, the descendants of Ali, specifically the Nawabs of Rampur, claimed he was a Barha Sayyid and began using the title of Sayyid. However, they could not present any pedigree or valid historical proof to support this claim.[6] The Nawabs even hired a prominent maulvi of Rampur, Najmul Ghani, for establishing ancestry from Ali ibn Abi Talib, which was generally rejected.[13]

The following is a list of his children:

  • Nawab Abdullah Khan, first son from his wife Marghalari Begum (from Matni tribe)
  • Nawab Faizullah Khan, second son from his wife Marghalari Begum, would later found the Rampur State
  • Nawab Saadullah Khan, from his wife Sarah Begum (of Bunerwal)
  • Nawab Muhammad Yar Khan, son from his wife Lado Begum
  • Nawab Alah-Yar Khan, son from his wife Raj Begum - He died of consumption around the same time that his younger brother Murtaza died.
  • Murtaza Khan, son - disgusted by Hafiz Rehmat Khan's unfair treatment, he left for Secunderabad where he died.
  • Shah Begum, daughter, from wife Marghalari Begum (wife of Inayat Khan son of Hafiz Rehmat Khan)
  • Niyaz Begum, daughter [and wife of Shah Muhammad Khan brother of Hafiz Rehmat Khan],
  • Masoom Begum, daughter, [and wife of Zabita Khan]
  • Inayat Begum, daughter, [wife of Bahadur Khan Kamal Zai]
  • a daughter, name unknown, who died in childhood and was engaged to a son of Qamar-ud-din Khan[14]

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. Abdur Rashid notes that while the rest of the sources describe him as a Jat, one source states that he was an Ahir.[5] Jos J. L. Gommans also notes that he is mostly described as a Jat or an Ahir in contemporary sources.[6] Iqbal Husain states, "It is acknowledged on all hands that 'Ali Muḥammad Khan was not an Afghan. That he was a Saiyed is at best dubious; that he was a Jat, or of some other local peasant caste is more than probable."[7]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Khoja, Neelam. 2018. Sovereignty, Space, and Identity: The Politics of Power in Eighteenth Century Punjab. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society Volume 42. Pakistan Historical Society. 1994. p. 24. Among the captives was one handsome Jat boy by the name of Prem Singh Nano. Da'ud Khan was so attracted towards him that he adopted him as his son, initiated him into the Islamic belief, and named him Ali Muhammad Nano. Later, when the boy reached adulthood, Daud Khan declared him as his successor. Thus began the pedigree of the Nawwabs of Rampur.
  3. Strachley, Sir John. Hastings and the Rohilla. p. 14.
  4. Template:Bulleted
  5. Rashid, Abdur (1978). History of the Muslims of Indo-Pakistan Sub-continent, 1707-1806. Vol. 1. Pakistan Research Society. p. 297. According to the Siyar-ul-Mutakhkhirin⁸ Ali Muhammad Khan was an Ahir by birth. According to others he was of Jat parentage.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Gommans, Jos J. L. (1995). The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780. BRILL. p. 120. ISBN 978-90-04-10109-8. Most of the contemporary sources, however, call him a Jat or an Ahir.
  7. Husain, Iqbal (1994). The Ruhela Chieftaincies: The Rise and Fall of Ruhela Power in India in the Eighteenth Century. Oxford University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-19-563068-8.
  8. Irvine, W. (1971). Later Mughal. Atlantic Publishers & Distri. p. 118. Retrieved 30 July 2022. Once Daud was sent against the village of Bankauli, in pargana Chaumahla, with which his employer was at feud. Along with the plunder taken on this occasion Daud obtained possession of a Jat boy seven or eight years of age, whom he caused to be circumcised and then adopted under the name of Ali Muhammad Khan.
  9. Altaf Ali Brelvi (1966). Life of Hafiz Rahmat Khan (Hayat-I-Hafiz Rahmat Khan). Academy of Educational Research, All Pakistan Education Conference.
  10. Edwin Thomas Atkinson (1876). Statistical, Descriptive and Historical Account of the North-Western Provinces of India: 3.:Meerut division part 2 · Volume 3. National Central Library of Florence. p. 605.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Khan, Muhammad Najm-ul-Ghani (1918). Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1. Lucknow: Munshi Nawal Kishore. pp. 146–152.
  12. Muhammad Shah (1702–1748) was a Mughal emperor of India between 1719 and 1748
  13. Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal (1954). The First Two Nawabs of Oudh (2nd rev. ed.). Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co. Ltd. p. 103. OCLC 678892685. Contemporary Persian authorities say that Ali Muhammad Khan was of Jat parents. See Gulistan. 7; Abdulkarim, 88b, Ashob, 424; Siyar. II 480, A partisan attempt has, however, been made in modern times to prove that he was a Sayyid. Najmul Ghanl of Rampur has invented a false pedigree of the Khan, tracing it to Muhammad. The Maulvi's discussion is altogether unconvincing and ridiculous. His object seems to be to prove that the present ruler of Rampur is a Sayyid.
  14. Khan, Mohammad Najm-ul-Ghani Khan (1918). Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1. Lucknow: Munshi Nawal Kishore. pp. 195–196.