Being fond of ease and pleasures, Nawab Shujā‘u-d-daulah entrusted the duties of the Nizāmat to a Council,* composed of Ḥājī Ahmad, Rāi Ā‘lamchānd Dīwān, and Jagat-Set Fateḥchānd, whilst the Nawab himself indulged in pleasures.* Rāi Ā‘lamchānd Mukhtār,* in the period of Shujā‘u-d-daulah’s Nizāmat of Orissa, was a Muḥrar attached to the latter’s household. At this time, he was invested with the Deputy Diwānī of the Ṣūbah of Bengal, and being appointed Superintendent-General of the Affairs of the Nizāmat and the Diwānī, he effected considerable retrenchments in the public expenditure, and received the personal Manṣab of a Hazārī with the title of Rāi Rāiān— a title which until that time no officer of the Bengal Nizāmat or Diwānī had enjoyed. And Hājī Aḥmad* and Mirzā Bandī were sons of Mirzā Muḥammad, who was a cup-bearer of Ā‘zzam Shāh, a son of Emperor Aurangzeb Ā‘lamgīr. Hājī Āḥmad, on the death of his father, was appointed Cup-bearer and Superintendent of the jewellery-stores of Sultān Muḥammad Ā‘zzam Shāh. As Ā‘zzam Shāh* fell in the struggle for the Empire, at the time of this Revolution, the two brothers leaving the Imperial Capital proceeded to the Dakhin and thence to Odīsa (Orissa), and entered there the service of Shujā‘u-d-daulah. Adopting a policy of tact and prudence which “is a friend, and like water, takes to every hue,” these two brothers got into the good graces of Shujā‘u-d-daulah. When Shujā‘u-d-daulah acquired the Nizāmat of the Ṣūbah of Bengal, Ḥājī Āḥmad became his intimate associate and councillor in all affairs of the Nizāmat; whilst Mirzā Bandī was invested with the Manṣab and title of Ā‘lī Vardī Khān, and appointed Faujdār of the Chaklah of Akbarnagar* (Rājmahal). Simi­larly, the Hājī’s eldest son, named Muḥammad Riẓā,* received the office of Dāroghah or Superintendent of the Bajūtrah of Murshidā­bād; his second son, Agā Muḥammad Sa‘īd, was appointed Deputy Faujdār of Rangpūr; whilst his youngest son, Mirẓā Muḥammad Hāshim, was invested with the Manṣab and title of Hashim Ā‘lī Khān. Pīr Khān, who during Shujā‘u-d-daulah’s stay at Burhānpūr had rendered faithful services, and who from his youth to old age had passed his days in his company, was at this time invested with the Manṣab and title of Shuja‘ Qulī Khān, and given the Faujdārī of the Port of Hūglī, on the transfer of Aḥsanul-lah Khān.

The new Faujdār of Huglī commenced exactions and oppres­sions. The Port of Hūglī from his rapacity was ruined; and he commenced quarrelling with the European merchants. On the pretext of collecting the customs-duties of the Imperial Customs-House, he requisitioned troops from the Emperor, commenced hostility with the English, Dutch, and French, and levied Nazars and taxes. It is said that once unloading from English vessels bales of silk and cotton-stuffs, and placing these below the fort, he confiscated them. The English troops advancing from Calcutta, arrived near the fort. Shujā‘ Quli Khān finding himself an unequal match for them climbed down, when the English troops carried off their goods. The aforesaid Khān writing to Nawāb Shujā‘u-d-daulah requisitioned troops to attack the English, and by cutting off supplies of Qāsimbāzār and Calcutta, he reduced them to straits. The Chief of the English Factory at Qāsimbāzār was compelled in consequence to arrange terms of peace, by agreeing to pay three laks of rupees as nazar to Shujā‘u-d-daulah. The Chief of the English Factory in Calcutta, borrow­ing the nazarana money from the Calcutta bankers, remitted it to Shujā‘u-d-daulah.

In short, as the good services of Shujā‘u-d-daulah came to the notice of the Emperor through the medium of Khān Daurān Khān, in recognition thereof, the Nizāmat of the Ṣūbah of Behar* on the transfer of Fakhru-d-daulah, brother of Raushanu-d-daulah Turābbāz Khān, was also conferred by the Emperor on Nawāb Shujā‘u-d-daulah. The aforesaid Nawāb considering Muḥammad Ā‘lī Vardī Khān to be a person of capacity and tact, appointed him to be his Deputy Governor of Behar, and sent him to ‘Azīmābād (Patna) with five thousand cavalry and infantry. Ā‘li Vardī Khān, arriving in the Ṣubah of Behar, associated with himself, in the administration, General Abdul Karīm Khān,* Chief of the Afghāns of Dārbhanga, and raised a levy of efficient troops. Entrusting the reins of authority over administra­tive and revenue affairs to the hands of Abdul Karīm Khān, Ā‘li Vardī Khan sent the former on an expedition against the Banjarah tribe, who were a class of marauders and murderers, and who in the guise of traders and travellers used to plunder the imperial domains and treasures. Abdul Karīm Khān, sub­duing the Banjarah tribe, gained a large booty. Muḥammad Ā‘lī Vardī, by chastising the Banjarah* tribe, achieved a high repu­tation. And being aided by the Āfghāns, Ā‘li Vardī advanced with his forces against the tracts of the Rājahs of Bītīah and Bha­wārah,* who were refractory and turbulent. Their regions had never previously been trod by the feet of the armies of former Nāzims, nor had their proud heads ever bended before to any of the former Ṣūbahdārs. Indeed, they had never before paid the imperial revenues and taxes. After fighting with them inces­santly, Ā‘lī Vardi Khān became victorious and triumphant. Raid­ing and pillaging their tracts, Ā‘li Vardī Khān carried off a large booty, amounting to several laks, in specie and other effects. And settling with the Rājahs the amounts of tribute, presents and the imperial revenue, he raised an immense sum. The soldiery also were enriched by the booty, and the strength of Ali Vardī’s administration increased. And drawing his forces against the Chakwar tribe, who had acquired a world-wide notoriety for their marauding propensities, Alī Vardī also extirpated them. Invad­ing the tracts of the refractory and turbulent Zamindar of Bhojpūr,* and of Rājah Sundar Singh, Zamindar of Tikarī, and of Nāmdār Khān Muīn,* who, sheltered by dense forests and rocks, had not cared for former Nāzims, and had neglected to discharge loyal duties, and without coercion had never paid the Imperial revenue, Alī Vardī set about chastising every one of them, subdued their tracts thoroughly, levied the revenues from them to the fullest extent, and reduced them to thorough subjection. And similarly punishing other insolent rebels, Ali Vardī Khān placed the ring of submission on their ears. And in a short period becoming master of immense treasures and a large army, Ali Vardī’s power and prestige grew enormously. As ‘Abdul Karīm Khān held control over all the State affairs, he exercised absolute sway, and ignored Muḥammad Ali Vardī Khān. Hence the latter becoming suspicious of the former, inveigled him by some device into his own house, and slaying him raised the standard of triumph. And through the agency of Muḥammad Ishāq Khān,* Dīwān of the Imperial Khaliṣāh, Ali Vardī Khān opened negociations with Qamru-d-dīn Khān,* the Imperial Vizier, and also with other Imperial Ministers, and succeeded in obtaining directly from the Emperor the title of Mahabat Jang* Bahadur, without Shuju‘ā-d-daulah’s recommendation. Shujā‘u-d-daulah, who reposed full confidence in Hājī Aḥmad and Ali Vardī Khān, viewed without misgivings this elevation of Ali Vardī’s rank; but his son, Sarfarāz Khān, felt misgivings about it. On account of this difference in views, between the father and the son a cool­ness set in. Another son of Shujā‘u-d-daulah by a different wife was Muḥammad Taqī Khān. He was Deputy Nāzim of Orissa, and was not only brave and bold but was also popular with the Army. Hājī Aḥmad and Ali Vardī Khān basing their intrigue on his rivalry contrived to bring about a rupture, advantageous to themselves, between the two brothers. When the plan of this intrigue was matured, Hājī Aḥmad secured the adhesion of Rāi Rāiān ‘Ālam Chānd and Jagatset Fateh Chānd; and the Triumvirate now waited for the development of their conspiracy. Shujā‘u-d-daulah, by the advice of the Triumvirate, was induced not to entrust the control of any affair to Sarfarāz Khān. When the fibres of mistrust thus sown took root in the soil of the hearts of the son and the father, as well as of the two brothers, and these were about to germinate, Muḥammad Taqī Khān, ascertaining the real origin of this misunderstanding, proceeded from Orissa to Bengal, to personally interview his father and brother. The Councillors of Shujā‘u-d-daulah, finding the odds of the times evenly balanced, fanned strifes and fomented jealousies between the two brothers, so much so that both the latter prepared to fight. Muḥammad Taqī Khān with his army rode out, and arrayed his force on a sandy plain, opposite to the Murshidabad Fort, on the other side of the river Bhāgiratī. Thence he advanced to inter­view his father, but did not plunder the City. And the army of Sarfarāz Khān was arranged in battle-array from Naktakhālī to Shāhnagar, and was ready to kindle the fire of war and slaugh­ter. Secretly tempting by offers of bribe the commanders and officers of Muḥammad Taqī’s army, Sarfarāz Khān won them over to his side, and sending messages for Muḥammad Taqī’s capture, waited for the enemy, in the hope that when the two contending hosts would face each other in battle-array, his own officers would capture Muḥammad Taqī and bring him in. Muḥammad Taqī Khān, who in bravery was the Rustam* of his day, did not care for the enemy. The negociations for peace and war passed and repassed between the two brothers. When Nawāb Shujā‘u-d-daulah saw that affairs had taken a grave turn, he intervened, reconciled the brothers, and prevented their fighting. And out of regard for the feelings of Sarfarāz Khān and the Begams, rebuk­ing several times Muḥammad Taqī Khān, Shujā‘u-d-daulah pro­hibited the latter from coming to see and salute him. At length, at the intercession of Sarfarāz Khān’s mother, he pardoned Muḥammad Taqī Khān, and permitted him to go back to the Ṣūbah of Orissa. But on arrival in Orissa, in the year 1147 A.Ḥ., owing to the witchcraft of the enemy, he* died. On this, Murshid Qulī Khān, surnamed Majbur,* who was a son-in-law of Shujā‘u-d-daulah and was already Deputy Nāzim of Jahāngir­nagar (Dacca), and was a son of a merchant of the Port of Sūrat, and who in his writings and compositions, and in his poetical productions and caligraphy, enjoyed great excellence, was appointed Deputy Nāzim of the Ṣubah of Orissa.