Shuja-ud-Daula served as the Subedar and Nawab of Oudh as well as the Vizier of Delhi from 5th October 1754 until his death on 26th January 1775. He was born on 19 January 1732. Ahmad Shah Bahadur selected Shuja-ud-Daula, a son of Mughal Grand Vizier Safdarjung. Shuja-ud-Daula, unlike his father, was recognised from a young age for his talent to unify his subordinates; this talent would eventually lead to his selection as Shah Alam II’s Grand Vizier.

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About Shuja-Ud-Daula

The man Shuja-ud-Daula was big. He was a man of great physical power, standing close to seven feet tall, with oiled moustaches that extended from his face like a set of expanded eagle wings. By the year 1763, he was well past his prime but reportedly still strong enough to lift 2 of his men, one in each hand, or chop off the head of a buffalo with just a single swing of his sword. Shuja-ud-Daula is also reported to have helped Alivardi Khan on a number of occasions when Raghoji I Bhonsle and his Marathas were pillaging the Nawab of Bengal’s domains. As a result, Shuja-ud-Daula is recognised as having enjoyed high regard among Alivardi Khan’s soldiers.

Death

On January 26th, 1775, Shuja-ud-Daula passed away in Faizabad, which was the capital of Awadh at the time, and was buried there. His final resting location, identified as Gulab Bari (Rose Garden), is a tomb.

Nawab of Awadh

Shuja-ud-Daula was recognised by the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur as the next Nawab following the death of his father, the Mughal Grand Vizier Safdarjung, in the year 1753. Imad-ul-Mulk, a Maratha ally who rose to power following the Battle of Sikandarabad with the help of Sadashivrao Bhau, was despised by Shuja-ud-Daula. Ahmad Shah Bahadur was rendered blind by Imad-ul-Mulk, who then enthroned Alamgir II as the new Mughal emperor. Imad-ul-Mulk frequently punished Alamgir II and his son Prince Ali Gauhar for their refusal to break their amicable agreement with Ahmad Shah Durrani. They also sought Imad-ul-Mulk’s resignation because of his connections with the Marathas.

Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire

When Prince Ali Gauhar discovered a plot that would ultimately result in the death of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, he left Delhi. Prince Ali Gauhar, who later proclaimed himself Shah Alam II and accepted Shuja-ud-Daula as the Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire, was received and safeguarded by Shuja-ud-Daula. Together, they confronted Shah Jahan III, a usurper who had been installed on the throne of the Mughal Empire by Sadashivrao Bhau and his men after they had pillaged most of it. Then it was suggested that Shah Alam II assume command of an expedition to try and recover the eastern parts of the Mughal Empire from Mir Jafar, who was backed by the British East India Company. When the Second Battle of Sikandarabad broke out in 1760, Shuja-ud-Daula, Najib-ul-Daula, and Mirza Jawan Bakht joined sides with Ahmad Shah Durrani and helped his forces, and they eventually commanded a 43,000-man Mughal Army in the Third Battle of Panipat.

Third Battle of Panipat

The youthful Prince Ali Gauhar was welcomed by Shuja-ud-Daula after escaping from Delhi as a result of the death of his father (the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II). The recently appointed Mughal Grand Vizier Shuja-ud-Daula as well as the Nawab of Awadh promised Prince Ali Gauhar that if Prince Ali Gauhar led the Mughal Army against the burgeoning British East India Company in Bengal, he and Najib-ud-Daula would start a war to topple the Marathas. One of the key elements that influenced the end of the war was Shuja’s choice of allies in the Third Battle of Panipat, as the Marathas were unable to fight the entire day owing to a lack of food as a result of the Afghans cutting off their supply lines. Due to malnutrition and sun-facing battles, their forces were weak.

Prior to the Third Battle of Panipat, Shuja wasn’t entirely clear on which side he should support. At that time, the Marathas were still located further south, and it would have taken them a long time to go to Shuja’s province. Despite the fact that his mother thought he should join the Marathas because they frequently assisted his father, he opted to join Abdali. Shuja-ud-Daula, the Mughal Empire’s selected Grand Vizier, led a sizable army of Mughal warriors in the Third Battle of Panipat, cutting off the Marathas’ supplies and even defeating them in fierce combat. He also sent the Maratha leader Sadashivrao Bhau away.

Battle of Buxar

Another reason Shuja is well-known in Indian history is for his participation in the Battle of Buxar, which was no less significant. In one of the pivotal engagements in the history of the British East India Company, he was beaten alongside the forces of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II and Bengali ruler Mir Qasim.

Treaty of Allahabad

At Kara Jahanabad, he fought the British once more with the aid of the Marathas but lost. He signed the Treaty of Allahabad on August 16th, 1765 AD, which stated that the Company would receive 5 million rupees from Awadh in exchange for taking possession of Kora and the Allahabad district. It was quite wise of the Company to allow unrestricted trade in Awadh and to promise to support one another in the event of war with other nations. Awadh first ceded the fort of Chunar, then the districts of Benaras, Ghazipur, and lastly Allahabad in exchange for the British military’s protection and aid during battle.

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Personal life of Shuja-Ud-Daula

By quelling Hindu king uprisings, Shuja-ud-Daula’s Turkic and Iranian Persian Twelver Shia Muslim royal line, who ruled the Oudh (Awadh) state in India, was able to acquire its eunuchs (khwajasarais). Jawahir Ali was an ethnic Hindu who was born in the Oudh state. A scion of the Turkic Twelver Shia Qara Qoyunlu dynasty via his father Safdar Jang, the Twelver Shia Turkic Nawab of Awadh Shuja-ud-Daula forced Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan to hand him all of his eunuchs, including Jawahir Ali. Jawahir Ali (Joahir Ali) was Bahu Begum’s (Begum Amanat-uz Zahra Bano), Bahu Begam, Bahoo Begum, or Buhoo Begum) nazir eunuch. She was the Iranian Persian wife of the Turkic Twelver Shia monarch of Oudh’s Shuja-ud-Daula. All of the eunuchs that Bahu Begum owned were of Indian Hindu origin. One of them, Darab Ali Khan, was conceived with faulty genitalia and was sold to the Nawab by his family. He succeeded Jawahir Ali as a general agent of Bahu Begam. The initial general representative of Bahu Begam was Jawahir Ali.

The estates of Bahu Begam were overseen by Javahir Ali Khan. Mawlavi Muhammad Munir, a Twelver Shia cleric, arrived in Faizabad and was present during a riot in 1779 involving Sufi pirs as well as physicians who were opposed to Twelver Shia clerics. Javahir Ali offered support and supplied a stipend to Muhammad Munir. Javahir Ali dispatched troops to aid the Twelver scholars in their struggle with the physicians. When the Twelver Shia Usuli ulama instituted Friday prayers seven years following the riots, Javahir Ali also provided his support. During the winter and rainy seasons, Javahir employed 20 personnel to force people to attend the five required prayers and the Friday prayer. Iranian Persians were the ancestors of Bahu Begum. After arresting Bahu Begum in 1781, the British East India Company, led by Warren Hastings, tormented the eunuchs Bahar Ali as well as Jawahir Ali to get them to surrender their treasure. Sa’adat and Basharat, two more eunuchs who belonged to Bahu Begum, were instructed by Jawahir Ali Khan to assist the Qadi (Qazi) at the Ali Beg Khan mosque.

The eunuch minister Darab Ali Khan attempted to prevent Bahu Begam from reading Fatiha at Imam Husain’s tazia in Muharram because of the cold weather, but she went nevertheless and contracted a fever and cold as a result. Bahu Begum only let Jawahir enter when she was conversing with Mr. Lumsden, a representative of the British East India Company, in Lucknow while seated on her Sedan Chair. Darab Ali Khan was a native of Rusulabad’s Salone neighbourhood. After passing away in 1799 at Faizabad, Jawahir was buried there in a wooden imambarah. Tehsin Ali Khan, a favourite eunuch of Bahu Begum, passed away on August 27, 1818. He built a mosque and possessed a Serai. Begum Amanat-uz Zahra Bano was the name of Bahu Begum, and her eunuch Jawahar Ali Khan constructed an Imambara at Faizabad.

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