Alivardi Khan | |||||
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Shuja ul-Mulk (Hero of the country) Hashim ud-Daula (Sword of the state) Mahabat Jang (Horror in War) Nawab of Bengal | |||||
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Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa | |||||
Reign | 29 April 1740 – March 1751 | ||||
Predecessor | Sarfaraz Khan | ||||
Successor | Himself (as Nawab Nazim of Bengal and Bihar) (Raghoji I in Orissa) | ||||
Nawab Nazim of Bengal and Bihar | |||||
Reign | March 1751 – 9 April 1756 | ||||
Successor | Siraj ud-Daulah | ||||
Born | 1676 Deccan Plateau, Mughal Empire | ||||
Died | 9 April 1756 Murshidabad, Bengal, Mughal Empire | (aged 79–80)||||
Burial | Khushbagh, West Bengal, India | ||||
Spouse | Sharfunnesa | ||||
Issue |
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Father | Mirza Muhammad Shah Quli Khan Madani | ||||
Mother | A descendant of the Afshar tribe | ||||
Religion | Shia Islam[1][2] |
Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the fourth Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself.
During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequent Maratha raids under Raghuji Bhonsle, culminating in the surrender of the province of Orissa in a peace settlement in 1751. He also faced separatist rebellions in Bihar as well as a revolt from his grandson Siraj ud-Daulah, though these were suppressed.
Alivardi spent the latter part of his reign rebuilding Bengal. He was a patron of the arts and resumed the policies of Murshid Quli Khan. He maintained a politically neutral stance with the European powers in the subcontinent and prevented any infighting amongst them in his dominions. He was succeeded by Siraj ud-Daulah in 1756.
Ghulām Husayn Tabātabā'ī's account of 'Alīwardī's death reinforces the suggestion that he was a Shī'ī.