The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.101

v4.c20.101

Bengal entered on a long period of unbroken prosperity under Muhammad Hādī (surnamed Kār Talb Khān, Murshid Qulī Khān, and finally Ja‘far Khān), who was appointed revenue minister of Bengal in 1701 and rose after Aurangzīb’s death to be the viceroy of the province and the founder of its dynasty of ruling Nawābs which lasted till the British conquest. “The prudent management of the new *dīwān* soon raised Bengal to the highest degree of prosperity. He took the collection of revenue into his own hands, and by preventing the embezzlements of *zamīndārs* and *jāgīrdārs* augmented the annual revenue.” He repeatedly sent to the emperor large sums as the surplus income of the province, and this money came most opportunely to Aurangzīb, whose other resources had been exhausted by the endless war with the Marāthās. The coming of the Bengal treasure was hungrily looked forward to by the entire imperial court in the Deccan. The emperor highly favoured this able and successful servant, made him independent of the viceroy of Bengal, who was ordered to Bihār after a plot against Murshid Qulī’s life (1703), and allowed him to remove the revenue offices away from the provincial capital to a new place which was henceforth called Murshidābād and soon became the new capital of Bengal. Under Murshid Qulī all felt that a strong master had come to the province, his orders were universally obeyed, and his impartial justice and rigid execution of decisions put a stop to oppression on all sides.