Revisiting Bengal Subah under Murshid Quli Khan and His Family

This paper is an attempt to trace the mobility of Mughal history. The background of my work is the post golden age of the Mughal Empire in Bengal under its first effective Subahdar (provincial governor) Murshid Quli Khan and his family. The old Emperor lamentably restricted the trajectories of his political career in a long lasting war with the Marathas of the Deccan (1680-1707). The main intention of this study is to assess the contributions of Murshid Quli Khan in the political, social, economic and cultural spheres of Murshidabad as well as Bengal Subah, which emerged as an emblematic province of the continuation of the central authority and domination. Besides emphasizing on the achievements of Murshid Quli Khan in Murshidabad, another pole of political activities that have been brought to light some negative co-factors persuading the decaying of Delhi power like the “Deccan policy” of Aurangzeb, its deterioration or weakness during the course of time, an interior threat to the throne of Mughals and some intellectual steps regarding the administrative recruitments. Foreign interference and the nature of statecraft in shaping the contemporary Zamindari affairs were the two major issues which were the most crucial targets of Murshid Quli’s steps elucidated here. In the light of his political might, the negotiations with some perspicacious cum influential provinces such as Coach Bihar, Assam and Tripura has been prioritized in this work. The rebuked legacies customs and the contributions of his family have been attempted to bring light in this paper.