Bharatpedia

Beni Bahadur

Maharaja Beni Bahadur was an administrator, minister, soldier & househelp (in reverse chronology) in the courts of the Nawabs of Awadh from 1733 / 1734 to at least 1798 & at most 1814. He was most notable for his rapid rise to power, industry and charity.[1]

Personal lifeEdit

Beni was born to a Brahmin father, Khem Karan, who lived in Baiswara in the modern day Unnao district. His father practiced as a physician during 1732 - 1739 when Saadat Ali Khan I was the reigning Nawab. The family facing poverty had to migrate to Faizabad where Khem Karan was blinded & had to resort to begging for feeding his family.[2] Beni at the age of 10 would visit the house of Atma Ram Khatri (the Diwan of Saadat Ali Khan I),[3] who was a generous philanthropist. Guiding his father to the crowd of the poor gathered in the Diwan's house to receive charity, he would talk to the servants of the Diwan's son Ram Narain & because of his good features found himself employment with them during the year 1733 / 1734. He was illiterate all his life.[4]

CareerEdit

At the age of 15/16 in the year 1739 Beni became a trooper in Ram Narain's bodyguard on the recommendation of a Nautch girl who said he wasn't doing work fit for a Brahmin.[5] In 1748 Raja Ram Narain was sent by Safdar Jang to Awadh's frontier districts of Shahabad (Hardoi) & Shikohabad (Agra). Beni became the Raja's house manager & the title Prasad was suffixed to his name.

His work on the marriage ceremonies of Ram Narain's youngest son Hridai Narayan at Lahore & the generous donation of his few savings for the marriage of his poor friend's daughter earned him praise.[2] He was introduced to the Awadh Durbar (court) by now Diwan Ram Narain's son Maha Narain & was the main administrator in the Diwan's office after the Narains' descent into debauchery. Once the Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula required 3 lakh rupees which couldn't be arranged by the Diwan but Beni was able to.[1] Consequently, he was appointed Faujdar (magistrate) of Khairabad (Sitapur) on his request where he reconciled with the scattered Mughal officers, increased crown territory & tax revenues.[6]

Beni's benefactors Ram Narain & Maha Narain were deposed & he was installed in their offices. He was given the title Bahadur when he was made the Diwan; Raja and later Maharaja when he became the Naib (deputy governor) of Awadh & Allahabad in the year 1759.[7] In 1758 Beni Bahadur removed Azam Shah the ruler of Azamgarh from power & installed Fazl Ali Khan in his place but later had to depose him too & send him to Ghazipur.[8]

Beni Bahadur was sent by Shuja-ud-Daula along with Raja Balwant Singh to prevent his brother Muhammad Quli Khan from crossing the Ganga & to imprison him. The 2 Rajas blocked the river near Ramnagar & imprisoned the Khan's camp near Mughalsarai, when the Khan went to Shuja-ud-Daula to make peace his camp was destroyed by Beni Bahadur & the Raja.[9] When Shuja-ud-Daula went to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's camp, he chose Beni Bahadur to be the guardian & advisor to his son Asaf-ud-Daula who was the acting Nawab.[9]

He commanded the Awadh army against the raids in January 1761 by the rebel Balbhadra Singh of Tiloi & Hindupat of Pratapgarh among other kings & the invading Maratha forces commanded by Gopal Ganesh Barve & Krishnanand Pant. He along with Rai (later Diwan) Surat Singh, Mirza Najaf Khan and Isma'il Beg drove the Marathas back to their positions in Kora Jahanabad & Kara and temporarily exiled the rebel kings.[9] After the Maratha loss in the Third Battle of Panipat Beni Bahadur retook Kora & Kara, to reinstall Shah Alam II on the Mughal throne Maratha help was necessary, so Kara was returned to the Marathas.[9] Kora was handed over by Beni Bahadur to Rup Singh Khichar, who lost all of it to the Marathas except for Ghazipur fort (near Fatehpur).[10]

At the Battle of Panch Pahari in Bihar on 3rd May 1764 Beni Bahadur and Balwant Singh were on the right flank of Shuja-ud-Daula, opposite the Bengal Army's left flank, they along with the Mughal Emperor & Mir Qasim were inactive.[11] At the Battle of Buxar on the 23rd of October 1764, the left flank commanded by Beni Bahadur consisted of the Sheikhs of Kakori & Lucknow under Sheikh Ghulam Qadir Khan. This flank was overwhelmed by the British right flank under Lieutenant Nichol & Captain Harper, Ghulam Qadir Khan was killed[10] & Beni Bahadur after entering the fight got confused & fled.[11]

On or before 28th October 1764 Shuja-ud-Daula & Beni Bahadur arrived in Bahadurpur where the Nawab wanted to fight the British once again by allying with the Rohilla & Maratha, but Beni Bahadur advised against this & the Nawab agreed.[11] He went to Varanasi to negotiate with Hector Munro who was representing the East India Company. Munro asked for Mir Qasim & the French officers in the Awadh army to be handed over, he would vacate the Awadhi territory occupied if his conditions were met, he promised the Subahdar rank to Beni Bahadur if he defected to the British.[9] Beni Bahadur then in a series of defections oscillated between being loyal to Shuja-ud-Daula & the British.[9]

When Beni Bahadur became aware of the British demand for the women/members in the Nawab's household as hostages, he knew the Nawab would never agree & returned to the Nawab's camp.[12] Beni Bahadur's lapse of duty saw Raja Balbhadra Singh escape from his custody; Zamindar Bijai Singh of Bahraich's murder of Bande Ali Khan (the son of district collector Khadim Hussain Khan), creation of disturbances in Beni's district, expulsion of his agents Din Dayal & Haji Beg and the implicit role in Bijai Singh's escape; & the instigating of the Muslim Raja of Mohammadi to revolt.[13]

Blinding & deathEdit

The Nawab had secured Robert Clive's approval to punish disloyal officers under Company protection at a meeting in Chhapra.[14] The Nawab unhappy with Beni Bahadur's frequently changing loyalties, action or lack of it & instigated by Salar Jang's advice captured Beni Bahadur at Khairabad (Sitapur) & confiscated his property.[5] He was imprisoned in Faizabad & blinded by iron nails on 2nd March 1767 to prevent him from becoming powerful again lest the British help him.[14] The towns/villages of Ajgain, Jhalotar and Beniganj in modern day Uttar Pradesh were granted to him as Jagir in the year 1770.[15] He died during the reign of Nawab Saadat Ali Khan II (between 1798 - 1814).[16]

Political offices[16]
Preceded by

Khwaja Tamkeen Khan

Naib of Awadh & Allahabad

1759 – February 1767

Succeeded by

Muhammad Elich Khan

Preceded by

Maha Narain Khatri

Diwan of Awadh & Allahabad

1759 – February 1767

Succeeded by

Raja Surat Singh

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal (1939). "Rise and Fall of Maharajah Beni Bahadur, 1759-1767". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 3: 1034–1042. ISSN 2249-1937.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Syed Ghulam Ali Khan. Imadus-saadat. p. 80.
  3. ↑ Graff, Violette, ed. (1997). Lucknow: memories of a city. Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-19-563790-8.
  4. ↑ Singh, Kalyan. Khulasat-ut-tawarikh. pp. 123 b.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Das, Hari Charan. Chahar Gulzar-i Shujai. pp. 470 a.
  6. ↑ Syed Ghulam Ali Khan. Imadus-saadat. p. 81.
  7. ↑ Bilgrami, Sayyid Muhammad. Tabsirat-un-Nazirin (Tabsir). p. 675.
  8. ↑ Rizavī, Saiyada Najamula Razā (2004). Zamindars and Revenue Farmers of Eastern Uttar Pradesh: From Mughal to Colonial Rule. Anamika Publishers & Distributors. p. 137. ISBN 978-81-7975-053-7.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal (1939). Shuja Ud Daulah Vol I (1st ed.). Calcutta: S N Sarkar. pp. 69–297.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Various authors. Sardesai, Govind Sakharam (ed.). Peshwa Daftar Volume 29: Affairs of Northern India: Peshwa Madhav Rao I. Bombay: Government Central Press. pp. 4127, 4167.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Khan, Seid Gholam Hossein (1926). The Seir Mutaqherin Vol. 2.
  12. ↑ Bengal Secret Consultations. Vol. III. London: India Office Library. pp. 273, 284–86, 298.
  13. ↑ Ansari, Muhammad Ali Khan (1800). Tarikh-i Muzaffari. British Museum Manuscripts. pp. 252b.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Illahabadi, Fakir Maulvi Khair-ud-din. Ibrat Namah. pp. 172–174.
  15. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1905). Sitapur: A Gazetteer, Being Volume Xl Of The District Gazetteers Of The United Provinces Of Agra And Oudh. Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 188–191.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava (1945). Shuja-ud-daulah Volume II 1765-1775. Lahore: Minerva Book Shop. pp. 57, 332–334.
Retrieved from "https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beni_Bahadur&oldid=404263"