Bengal Subah or Subah-i-Bangalah was one of the subahs (provinces) of the Mughal Empire from 1574 to 1757.
On 25 September 1574, Mughal army commander Munim Khan occupied Tanda, the capital of Daud Khan Karrani, the last Afghan ruler of Bengal.[1] It ushered in the Mughal rule in Bengal.[2] In 1713 Murshid Quli Khan became the naib nazim (deputy subahdar) of Bengal. In 1717, he became its subahdar or nazim (governor)[3] and Bengal became completely independent of imperial control. Subsequent to the defeat of the last independent nazim Siraj ud-Daulah in the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757 and his death on 2 July 1757, Bengal was brought under the control of the British East India Company and the successors of Siraj ud-Daulah were merely puppets.
Administrative divisions[edit]
Bengal Subah initially comprised 24 sarkars (districts), which included 5 sarkars of Orissa, later separated from Bengal Subah during the reign of Jahangir. The 19 sarkars of Bengal Subah was further divided into 682 parganas.[4] Initially the capital of the Subah was Tanda. Later a new capital was built in Rajmahal by Man Singh I in 1595. In 1612 the capital was shifted from Rajmahal to Dhaka. In 1658, subsequent to the revenue settlement of Shah Shuja 15 new sarkars and 361 new parganas were added. Murshid Quli Khan shifted the capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad. In 1722, he divided the whole Subah into 13 chakalahs, which were further divided into 1660 parganas.
The sarkars (districts) and the parganas (tehsils) of Bengal Subah were:[4]
| Sarkar | Pargana |
|---|---|
| Udamabar (Tanda) | 52 parganas |
| Jannatabad (Lakhnauti) | 66 parganas |
| Fathabad | 31 parganas |
| Mahmudabad | 88 parganas |
| Khalifatabad | 35 parganas |
| Bakla | 4 parganas |
| Purniyah | 9 parganas |
| Tajpur | 29 parganas |
| Ghoraghat | 84 parganas |
| Pinjarah | 21 parganas |
| Barbakabad | 38 parganas |
| Bazuha | 32 parganas |
| Sonargaon | 52 parganas |
| Sylhet | 8 parganas |
| Chittagong | 7 parganas |
| Sharifabad | 26 parganas |
| Sulaimanabad | 31 parganas |
| Satgaon | 53 parganas |
| Mandaran | 16 parganas |
List of Subahdars[edit]
Following is the list of Subahdars (provincial governors) of Bengal Subah from 1574-1757:[5]
| Name | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Munim Khan | 25 September 1574 | 23 October 1575 |
| Husain Quli Beg | 15 November 1575 | 19 December 1578 |
| Muzaffar Khan Turbati | 1579 | 1580 |
| Mirza Aziz Koka | 1582 | 1583 |
| Shahbaz Khan | 18 May 1583 | 1585 |
| Sadiq Khan | 1585 | 1586 |
| Wazir Khan | 1586 | 1587 |
| Said Khan | 1587 | 1594 |
| Man Singh | 1594 | 1606 |
| Qutb ud-Din Khan Koka | 1606 | 1607 |
| Jahangir Quli Beg | 1607 | 1608 |
| Islam Khan Chishti | June 1608 | 1613 |
| Qasim Khan Chishti | 1613 | 1617 |
| Ibrahim Khan | 1617 | 1624 |
| Mahabat Khan | 1625 | 1626 |
| Mukarram Khan | 1626 | 1627 |
| Fidai Khan | 1627 | 1628 |
| Qasim Khan Juyini | 1628 | 1632 |
| Azam Khan Mir Muhammad Baqar | 1632 | 1635 |
| Islam Khan Mashhadi | 1635 | 1639 |
| Islam Khan Mashhadi | 1635 | 1639 |
| Shah Shuja | 1639 | 1660 |
| Mu‘azzam Khan (Mir Jumla) | 1660 | 1663 |
| Shaista Khan | 1664 | 1678 |
| Fidai Khan (Azam Khan Koka) | 1678 | 1678 |
| Muhammad Azam | 1678 | 1679 |
| Shaista Khan (2nd term) | 1679 | 1688 |
| Khan-i-Jahan Bahadur Khan | 1688 | 1689 |
| Ibrahim Khan | 1689 | 1697 |
| Azim-us-Shan | 1697 | 1712 |
| Khan-i-Jahan | 1712 | 1713 |
| Farkhunda Siyar (in absentia) | February 1713 | May 1713 |
| Muzaffar Jang Mir Jumla (in absentia) | 1713 | 1716 |
| Murshid Quli Khan | 1717 | 1727 |
| Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan | 1727 | 1739 |
| Sarfaraz Khan | 1739 | 1740 |
| Alivardi Khan | 1740 | 1756 |
| Siraj ud-Daulah | 1756 | 2 July 1757 |
References[edit]
- ^ Majumdar, R. C. (ed.) (2007) [1974]. The Mughul Empire. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vdya Bhavan. p. 130. ISBN 81-7276-407-1.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help); Check|isbn=value: checksum (help) - ^ Eaton, Richard M. (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-520-20507-3.
- ^ Sen, S. N. (2006). History of Modern India. New Delhi: New Age International Publishers. p. 4. ISBN 81-224-1774-4.
- ^ a b Jarrett, H. S. (1949) [1891] The Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl-i-Allami, Vol.II, (ed.) J. N. Sarkar, Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, pp.142-55
- ^ Eaton, Richard M. (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 325–6. ISBN 0-520-20507-3.