The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.2

v4.c21.2

NIZĀM-UL-MULK (Qamar-ud-dīn, Chīn Qilich Khān, Khān Daurān) had held the viceroyalty of the Mughul Deccan once in 1713–14 and again from 1720 to 1722, and though in February, 1722, he migrated to Delhi to take up the post of chief minister of the empire, he retained his Deccan appointment by means of his agents. Early in 1724, in despair of reforming the government of Delhi, he set out for the Deccan, with the secret intention of resigning the more responsible office. The intrigue by which his enemies sought to destroy his position in the Deccan by urging his deputy Mubāriz Khān to usurp power there, and the failure of the plan and death of Mubāriz Khān in the battle of Shakarkhelda, have been related in chap. XII. This one blow was decisive, and its effect was completed by the Nizām's wise conciliation of his dead rival's son and his peaceful acquisition of Golconda by liberal gifts (early in 1725). In a short time the entire Mughul Deccan was brought under his control and the revenue began to be collected regularly. The emperor recognised the accomplished fact by "pardoning" the Nizām and confirming him in the viceroyalty of the Deccan, with the title of Āsaf Jāh (June, 1725). This was the foundation of the present state of Hyderābād.