Najib ad-Dawlah: Difference between revisions

| birth_date  =  

                       | allegiance  = [[File:Flag of the Mughal Empire (triangular).svg|24px]][[Mughal Empire]] (''Mir Bakshi'' of Alamgir II) <br>[[File:Flag of the Mughal Empire (triangular).svg|24px]] [[Mughal Empire]] (in service of Shah Alam II)

                       | branch      = [[File:Flag of the Mughal Empire (triangular).svg|24px]][[Mughal Army]] <br> [[File:Flag of the Rampur State.svg|24px]][[Rohilkhand|Nawab of Najibabad]]  

                       | battles      = [[Mughal-Maratha Wars]], [[Third Battle of Panipat]], [[Capture of Agra Fort]]

|image=Najibkhan Rohilla.jpg}}

'''Najib ad-Dawlah''' ({{lang-ps|نجيب الدوله}}), also known as '''Najib Khan Yousafzai''' ({{lang-ps|نجيب خان}}), was a [[Rohilla|Rohilla Yousafzai Pashtun]] who earlier served as a [[Mughals|Mughal]] serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined [[Ahmed Shah Abdali]] in 1757 in his attack on Delhi. He was also a House chief in the 18th century [[Rohilkhand]], who in the 1740s founded the city of [[Najibabad]] in [[Bijnor district]], [[India]]. He was instrumental in winning the [[Third Battle of Panipat]].  

He began his career in 1743 as an immigrant from the village [[Swabi]], District [[Swabi]] [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] as a soldier. He was at first an employee of [[Imad-ul-Mulk]]. He deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined [[Ahmed Shah Abdali]] in 1757 in his attack on Delhi. He was then appointed as ''Mir Bakshi'' of the Mughal emperor by [[Ahmad Shah Abdali|Abdali]]. Later in his career he was known as '''Najib ad-Dawlah, Amir al-Umra, Shuja ad-Dawlah'''.<ref>[http://etawah.nic.in/history2.htm History of Etawah] [[Etawah]] Official website.</ref> From 1757 to 1770 he was governor of [[Saharanpur]], ruling over [[Dehradun]]. Many architectural relics of the period of Rohilla he oversaw remain in Najibabad, which he founded at the height of his career as a [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] minister.<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Najibabad |volume=19 |page=156 }}.</ref>

[[Najib Khan]] belonged to the UmarKhel section of [[Mandanh]] [[Yousafzai]]. He migrated from Mohallah Nazar Khel village [[Swabi]], district [[Swabi]], now [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]. He was born in Nazar Khel, village Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He migrated in 1739 to join his uncle Bisharat Khan, who had settled with his families of [[Pakhtuns]] at Bisharatnagar, near [[Rampur, Uttar Pradesh|Rampur]].{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} In 1749, [[Ali Mohammed Khan]], who had captured most of [[Rohilkhand]] by 1740, gave Najib Khan a northern portion,<ref name=bij/> where he established the present day city of [[Najibabad]], a state of [[Najibabad]] independent from other Rohilla tribes, and received the title, ‘Najib ad-Dawlah’.

Imad-ul-Mulk appointed Najib ad- Dawlah as the governor of [[Saharanpur]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Third Battle of Panipat by Abhas Verma {{ISBN|9788180903397}} Bharatiya Kala Prakashan</ref> In 1757, Najib ad-Dawlah, who was then the governor of [[Saharanpur]] under [[Mughal Empire]], invaded the city of [[Dehradun]], with his army of [[Rohillas]], and ruled the area for the next decade. His rule was known for its administration, and development of land resources, leading to widespread development and prosperity in the area, with emphasis on agriculture and irrigation. Many mango groves created during the area still exist today. Though after his death in 1770, the Maratha forces expelled the Rohillas from the Dun<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=olP_A60L-CMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false ] p. 57</ref>

{{Main article|Third battle of Panipat}}

In the [[Third battle of Panipat]], during the Maratha Conquests, he allied himself with the [[Durranis]] led by [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] (also known as [[Ahmad Shah Abdali]],<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V18_340.gif Najibabad Tehsil & Town] [[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]], 1909, v. 18, p. 334.</ref> against the [[Maratha]]s. Najib Khan was clever enough to understand changed ground realities after [[Third Battle of Panipat|third battle of Panipat]]. His brilliant political acumen was used by [[Ahmed Shah Abdali]] to isolate Marathas & preventing them from getting even single ally during their conflict with Durrani's power. His opposition to signing of treaty, with Marathas was the main cause of battle being fought at Panipat. He not only provided, [[Ahmed Shah Abdali]], with 40,000 [[Rohilla]] troops but also 70 guns to the combined forces. He also convinced [[Shuja-ud-Daula]], the [[Nawab of Oudh]], to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's forces against the Marathas. In this battle, the Maratha's were defeated and as a consequence [[Rohilla]] [[Pakhtuns]] increased in power. However, the Marathas recovered in a short duration of 10 years and under Mahadji Schinde recaptured Delhi in 1771, reinstalling the weakened Mughal emperor Shah Alam II to the throne, under Maratha suzerainty.

After the war, he was made ''Mir Bakshi'' of Mughal emperor.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=MS_jrForJOoC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=najib-ud-daula+mir+bakshi+panipat&source=bl&ots=DTbxN0kBj2&sig=Ng7JmOKynW3jDk_9mg3P5VWTpQE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ANUXUOW4Es7MrQeXpIGwCg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=najib-ud-daula%20mir%20bakshi%20panipat&f=false History of Modern India, 1707 A. D. to 2000 A. D]</ref> He had to become ruler of Delhi state with empty treasury & territory confining to boundaries of Delhi city.

Najib Khan was a [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] soldier of fortune; he attained the hand of the daughter of [[Dunde Khan]], one of the chieftains of the [[Rohilkhand]] [[Pathans]]. Rewarded by this ruler with the charge of a district, now [[Bijnor]], in the North-west corner of [[Rohilkhand]], he had joined the cause of [[Safdarjung]], when that minister occupied the country; but on the latter's disgrace had borne a part in the campaigns of Ghazi-ud-din. When the Vizier first conceived the project of attacking the government, he sent Najib in the command of a Mughal detachment to occupy the country, about Saharanpur, then known as the Bawani Mahal, which had formed the jagir of the Ex-Vazir Khan Khanan.

This territory thus became in its turn separated from the Empire and continued for two generations in the family of Najib. He ruled the dwindled Empire for nine years, and died a peaceful death, leaving his charge in an improved and strengthened condition, ready for its lawful monarch.

After protecting [[Rohilkhand]], [[Delhi]] and [[Agra]] for nearly ten years as regent of the [[Mughal Empire]] he fell ill and died on 30 October 1770<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V02_446.gif Rule of Shah Alam, 1759-1806] [[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]], 1909, v. 2, p. 411.</ref>

His son [[Zabita Khan]] was defeated by the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]],<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Bijnor |volume=3 |page=928}}</ref> led by [[Mahadji Sindhia]] (shinde) in 1772 and the fort of Pathargarh was completely looted by the Marathas in the form of horses, elephants, guns and other valuable things, to avenge the deaths of Maratha Warriors who fall in the battle of Delhi and Panipat, Marathas also destroyed grave of Najib, scattering his bones all around.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPq640stHJ0C&q=1771+scindia&pg=PA8 | title=The Great Maratha Mahadaji Scindia| isbn=9788185431529| last1=Rathod| first1=N. G.| year=1994}}</ref>

* In the 2019 [[Bollywood]] film [[Panipat]], Najib, portrayed by [[Mantra (actor)|Mantra]], appears as one of the primary antagonists.

[[Category:People from Bijnor]]