Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III

Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III or Nizam Shahabuddin Muhammad Feroz Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi also known by his sobriquet Imad-ul-Mulk, was the subedar of Assam allied with the Maratha Empire, who were often described as a de facto ruler of the Mughal Empire. He was the son of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung II and a grandson of the founder of the Nizam Dynasty, Nizam ul Mulk Asaf Jah.[2] A controversial figure, Imad is well known for assassinating Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and for imprisoning and blinding Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur, and torturing their family members. He was declared to be an apostate by various Islamic scholars and by Durrani Emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali.[3] After the death of his father in 1752, he was recommended by Nawab Safdar Jung to be appointed as Mir Bakhshi (Pay Master General) and received the titles of Amir ul-Umara (Noble of Nobles) and Imad ul-Mulk.[2]

Portrait of Imad-ul-Mulk
"Some ill-designing people had turned his brain, and carried him to the eastern part of the Mughal Empire, which would be the cause of much trouble and ruin to our regimes."

Feroze Jung III's letter to Mir Jafar, after the escape of the Mughal crown prince Ali Gauhar.[1]

Military career

He blinded and imprisoned Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur in 1754. In 1757, Imad invited Marathas to invade Delhi in order to drive out the Afghans and Rohillas from Delhi.[3] In the same year, Afghanistan's Emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani declared Imad-ul-Mulk an "apostate". Two years later, Emperor Alamgir II was assassinated in 1759. He was later named the Wazir ul-Mamalik-i-Hindustan.[2] Imad-ul-Mulk also planned the death of young Ali Gauhar and even ordered Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal to advance as far as Patna with the motive to kill or capture the Mughal Crown Prince. Imad-ul-Mulk soon fled Delhi after the rise of Najib-ud-Daula and the Mughal Army, which eventually places Shah Alam II as the new Mughal Emperor.

Imad ul-Mulk holds a banquet

Writings and later life

The precise year of Khan's death is unknown, but according to the biography of the poet called Gulzar Ibrahim, he was living in 1780 in straitened circumstances. His poetical name was Nizam. According to the work called Masir ul Umra he went to the Deccan in 1773 and received a jagir in Malwa. Subsequently, he proceeded to Surat where he passed a few years with the English and then went on the Hajj. He composed Persian and Rekhta poetry and left Arabic and Turkish Ghazals and a thick Persian Diwan and a Masnawi "Fakhria-tun_Nizam" and "Nalaa-e-Ny" in which the miracles of Maulana Fakhr uddin are related. Under the influence of Sufism he abandoned his power hungry political career and went to Maharshrif, Chishtian (now Pakistan) to live with Hazrat Noor Muhammad Maharvi, his fellow disciple of Moulana Fakhar ud Din Muhib-un-Nabi Dehlavi. He wrote the death date of Hazrat Noor Muhammad Maharvi in a poetic way حیف واویلا جہاں بے نور گش, which refers to date 1205 Hijri, meaning that as late as 1791 he had been residing In Maharsharif.

After Hazrat Noor Muhammad Maharvi's death Nizam moved to Khairpur (near Bahawalpur) and died there, where his grave is located.

Personal life

His wife was the celebrated Ganna or Gunna Begam who died in the year 1775.

In the 2019 Bollywood war epic Panipat, the character of Imad-ul-Mulk and his role in the events leading up to the Third Battle of Panipat is portrayed by Mir Sarwar.

See also

References
  1. Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III at Google Books
  2. An oriental biographical dictionary: founded on materials collected by the late Thomas William Beale;2nd Edition; Publisher:W.H. Allen, 1894; page 143
  3. Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III at Google Books
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