Ali Mohammed Khan
Ali Muhammad Khan (bf. 1714 – 15 September 1748)[3][4] was a Rohilla chief who succeeded his foster father Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla at the age of fourteen. He eventually went on to found the Kingdom of Rohilkhand in the northwestern region of the Uttar Pradesh state of India and was generally regarded as non-oppressive ruler to the masses.[5] He was well regarded for his political ability, and was granted the right to use India's highest insignia of the Mahseer by the Emperor Muhammad Shah. His young death along with the tender age of his children led to Hafiz Rehmat Khan's regency which was in large part governed against his wishes, despite Rehmat Khan's solemn oath on the Quran to fulfil dying Ali Mohammad's will. On his death the disenfranchisement and neglect of his sons by Rehmat Khan caused one son, Allah Yar Khan to die of consumption, and another son Murtaza Khan to leave for Secunderabad where he too would eventually die.
Ancestry
As a boy Ali Muhammad Khan was adopted by the chief of the Barech Tribe, Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla. The term Rohilla refers to a Pashtun settlers of India.
However he was by birth a member of the Barha Dynasty. The meaning of the name Barha is uncertain. While some contend that it comes from the word, "bahir", meaning "outsider" referring to the preference of members of the Barha dynasty to live outside Delhi. Others like the Emperor Jahangir, believed that it came from the Hindi word, "barha", meaning "twelve". In reference to the twelve townships that members of the dynasty had received as fiefs from Sultan Shibabdudin of Ghor when they first arrived in India.[6]
Biography
He succeeded rohilla Sardar Daud Khan and helped develop Rohilkhand into a powerful nation, which became independent in 1721. In 1746, due to an altercation over the collection of wood between the construction workers of Safdar Jang with the forest guards of Ali Muhammad Khan, Safdar Jang decided to eliminate him.[7] Safdar Jang of Oudh informed the Mughal emperor of India Muhammad Shah[8] (ruled 1719–1748), through Qamar-ud-din Khan[7] about Ali Mohammed Khan's supposed intentions to create his own Sultanate. Mohammed Shah sent an expedition against him, as a result of which he was imprisoned. Later he was pardoned and made governor of Sirhind.[7] After Nadir Shah, the conqueror of Iran, took control of Kabul and sacked Delhi in 1739, Ali Mohammed Khan returned to his homeland and ruled the independent state of Rohilkhand until his death in 1748.
Faizullah Khan was the second son of Ali Muhammad Khan. He assumed rule of the Rohillas after Nawab Saidullah Khan's.
Descendants
- Nawab Syed Abdullah Khan first son from wife Marghalari Begum (hailing from Matni tribe)
- Nawab Syed Faizullah Khan second son from wife Marghalari Begum (hailing from Matni tribe)
- Nawab Syed Saadullah Khan from wife Sarah Begum (of Bunerwal)
- Nawab Syed Muhammad Yar Khan son from wife Lado Begum
- Nawab Syed Alah-Yar Khan son from wife Raj Begum - He died of consumption around the same time that his younger brother Murtaza died.
- Syed Murtaza Khan - Disgusted of Hafiz Rehmat Khan's unfair treatment, he left for secunderabad where he died.
- Shah Begum, daughter, from wife Marghalari Begum (wife of Inayat Khan son of Hafiz Rehmat Khan)
- Niyaz Begum, daughter [and wife of Shah Muhammad Khan brother of Hafiz Rehmat Khan],
- Masoom Begum, daughter, [and wife of Zabita Khan]
- Inayat Begum, daughter, [wife of Bahadur Khan Kamal Zai]
- a daughter, name unknown, who died in childhood and was engaged to a son of Qamar-ud-din Khan
See also
Notes
- Hāṇḍā, Omacanda. History of Uttaranchal. pp. 91–92.
- Hāṇḍā, Omacanda. History of Uttaranchal. pp. 91–92.
- Ali Muhammad Khan Rohilla (1706-1748) is not to be confused with Nawab Muhammad Khan Bangash (1665-1743)
- The original author listed 1725 – 1749, but other websites claimed he made the Rohilla kingdom independent in 1721, see
- Strachley, Sir John. Hastings and the Rohilla. p. 14.
- Nevill, H.R. (1920). "Muzaffarnagar Imperial Gazetteer". District Gazeiters of the United Provinces of Aga and Oudh. III.
- Khan, Muhammad Najm-ul-Ghani (1918). Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1. Lucknow: Munshi Nawal Kishore. pp. 146–152.
- Muhammad Shah (1702–1748) was a Mughal emperor of India between 1719 and 1748
- Khan, Mohammad Najm-ul-Ghani Khan (1918). Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1. Lucknow: Munshi Nawal Kishore. pp. 195–196.