Murshid Quli Khan

Who was Murshid Quli Khan?

Murshid Quli Khan was the first Nawab of Bengal. In fact circumstances resulted in his being the first independent ruler of Bengal post the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Though he continued to recognize the nominal overlordship of the Mughal Emperor, for all practical purposes he was the Nawab of Bengal.

Nothing is much certain about his family. The first version states that the founder of the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs of Bengal, Murshid Quli Khan, before being sold into slavery was bought by Haji Shafi Isfahani, a high ranking Mughal officer from Iran who educated him. After returning to India he entered the Mughal service. Aurangzeb made Murshid Quli Kahn the governor of Bengal in 1717 AD after converting him to Islam under the title of Kartalab Khan. Another version is that he was the grandson of the Maratha general, Muhammad Quli Khan, by his wife, Nusrat Banu, who was the daughter of Mughal Wazir, Asad Khan and was Iranian. But the most common version is that Murshid Quli Khan was born a poor Deccani Oriya Brahmin before being sold into slavery and bought by one Haji Shafi Isfahani, a Persian merchant from Isfahan who converted him to Islam and renamed him as Muhammad Hadi or Mirza Hadi and later entered the service of Haji Abdullah Khurasani, Diwan of the Berar province which was changed to a royal service by Aurangzeb.