Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The First Nizam Asaf Jah I


Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah I (1724-48)
(a) The original name of founder of this autono­mous state of Hyderabad was Chinqilich Khan. Mughal Emperor, "Farrukh Siyar", while appoint­ing him as the Viceroy of Deccan in 1713, conferred on him the title of "Nizam-ul-Mulk" and the Nizam occupied this post of Viceroy till 1715. He again served as the Viceroy of the Deccan for a second term between 1720 and 1722. He was then appointed as the Wazir (Prime Minis­ter) of the Mughal Empire in 1722 by Emperor Muhammed Shah. But in 1724 he got disgusted with the Mughal court politics and marched off to the Deccan without even waiting for the Emperor's permission.
(b) After reaching Deccan, Nizam-ul-Mulk founded the autonomous state of Hyderabad in 1724. The Mughal Emperor, unable to punish the Nizam, confirmed him as the Viceroy of Deccan and granted him the second title of "Asaf jah" in 1725. The Nizams as well his successors were practically independent of the Mughal Emperor, though they continued to rec­ognise the latter as their sovereign.
(c) The Nizam undertook various reforms to sta­bilise himself as well as the newly founded state. To begin with he revived agriculture and industry by giving incentives to farmers and artisans: Secondly, he established peace and or­der by suppressing all disaffected nobles and putting down theft and robbery. Thirdly, he also made several efforts to stop the plundering raids of the Marathas. And when he failed in this, he bought peace with them by signing the Trea­ties of Mungishiregaum (1728), Warna (1731) and Durai-Sarai (1738).