Jafarganj Cemetery

cemetery of
Nawab Mir Jafar & his family

Afshar Dynasty

Daughters of Nawab Alivardi Khan & Sharfunnesa Begum:

1. Ghaseti Begum married Nawazish Muhammad Khan, who was the governor of Dhaka, and was childless.
2. Maimuna Begum married Syed Ahmed Khan Sawlat Jung, who was the nephew of Nawab Alivardi Khan. They had a son, whose name was Shawkat Jung.
3. Amina Begum married Zain ud-Din Ahmed Khan, who was the governor of Patna. They had 2 sons, Ikram ud-Daulah & Siraj ud-Daulah.

During his rule, Nawab Alivardi Khan faced lots of battles & raids from the Marathas. Even Siraj ud-Daulah revolted against him, in 1750, and seized Patna. But, the revolt was suppressed and Siraj ud-Daulah was forgiven by his grandfather, Nawab Alivardi Khan. Once, he even saved Amina Begum, Ikram ud-Daulah & Siraj ud-Daulah from the Afghan revels of Mustafa Khan, who killed Nawazish Muhammad Khan in an attempt to take control of Bihar, and drove out the Afghan rebels, in 1751.

Ghaseti Begum adopted Ikram ud-Daulah, who died at a young age due to small pox. His death led to grief & death of Nawazish Muhammad Khan. After Nawab Alivardi Khan, Ghaseti Begum tried to enthrone Shawkat Jung, in place of Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, but failed, which gave birth to her conspiracy against Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah.

Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, during his rule, seized the wealth of Ghaseti Begum from Motijheel Palace and placed her under confinement. Along with this, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah appointed Mir Madan as the paymaster of the army, replacing Mir Jafar. Mohanlal was also elevated to the rank of courtclerk. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah even suppressed and killed Shaukat Jang in a battle. In June 1756, Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah captured Calcutta (now Kolkata) from the British East India Company and named it Alinagar. This event is referred as the Black Hole of Calcutta, which is taken as one of the causes of British anger against Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. Thus, such incedents led to a successful conspiracy & treachery of Mir Jafar & many others, in the Battle of Plassey, when they all sided with Robert Clive.

Lutfunnisa Begum was a Brahmin by birth, whose original name was Rajkunwari, and used to serve Sharfunnesa Begum. Her name was changed to Lutfunnisa Begum after her marriage with Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah.

The defeat of Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah in the Battle of Plassey, gave birth to the British rule in India.

After the Battle of Plassey, the women of the house of Nawab Alivardi Khan, including Ghaseti Begum, Amina Begum, Lutfunnisa Begum and some others, were imprisoned in Jinjira Palace, which is situated in Keraniganj of present Bangladesh. Some of them were poisoned to death, whereas others, including Ghaseti Begum & Amina Begum, in 1760, were instructed to move to Murshidabad and, on the way, their boat was drowned in Buriganga River of present Bangladesh, which was ordered by Mir Miran.

Only Lutfunnisa Begum & Umme Zohra Begum were spared. During her stay in Jinjira Palace, Lutfunnisa Begum was tortured to get the location of the family jewels. Some say that Mir Jafar & his son each asked for her hand in marriage, which she refused. In 1765, Lutfunnisa Begum was released and brought back to Murshidabad. The British East India Company arranged a kind of pension for her living.

Some say that Umme Zohra Begum was married to Mir Asad Ali Khan Murad ud-Doulah, who was a nephew of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. After marriage, Umme Zohra Begum was renamed as Qudsiyah Begum Sahiba.

Some say that Qudsiyah Begum Sahiba & Mir Asad Ali Khan Murad ud-Doulah had 4 daughters. Both of them died in 1774, leaving their 4 daughters to Lutfunnisa Begum. So, in March 1787, when Lutfunnisa Begum petitioned the British East India Company to increase her pension to meet the needs of her grand children, she was refused. 

Lutfunnisa Begum used to visit Khoshbagh, every afternoon, with the recitations from the Quran and light candles, till her death on 10 November, 1790.

Some say that, after the Battle of Plassey, Mohanlal, who was a trusted friend & official of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah, fled away and took the son of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah & Aleya Begum to a safe place in Mymensingh of present Bangladesh, where the son was adopted by a hindu family and was named as Jugal Kishore Ray Chaudhury.

Najafi Dynasty (Puppet Rulers Under British Rule)

After becoming the Puppet Nawab of Bengal, it is said that Mir Jafar paid Rs. 17,700,000 to the officials & traders of the British East India Company. Some also say that he paid bribes to different officials of the British East India Company, especially Rs. 2 million to Robert Clive and Rs. 1 million to William Watts. But, when Mir Jafar found out that the demands of the British East India Company were crossing the limits, he took help of the Dutch East India Company, who were defeated by the British East India Company in the Battle of Chinsurah, in November 1759. The throne was taken away from Mir Jafar and handed over to Mir Qasim, who, at that time, was in favor of the British East India Company. But, when Mir Qasim refused to pay taxes to the British East India Company, he, joining with Shuja-ud-Daula, who was the Nawab of Awadh, and Shah Alam II, who was the Mugha Emperor, at that time, faught against the British East India Company in the Battle of Buxar, on 22 October, 1764. But, that battle was also won by the British East India Company. Mir Qasim was replaced by Mir Jafar, who again became the Puppet Nawab of Bengal.

Mir Jafar had 5 sons:

1. Mir Miran
2. Najm ud-Daulah, who was the son of Munni Begum
3. Saif ud-Daulah, who was the son of Munni Begum
4. Ashraf Ali Khan, who was the son of Rahat un-Nisa Begum
5. Mubarak ud-Daulah, who was the son of Babbu Begum

Mir Jafar remained as the Puppet Nawab of Bengal till his death, in 1765.

Around 1880, the title of Nawab of Bengal was abolished and the descendants of the Nawab of Bengal were recognized as the Nawabs of Murshidabad, which was a mere status of social prestige and nothing more than that. They lost all their political powers.

Feradun Jah, whose original name was Mansur Ali Khan, lived till 4 November, 1884.

Nawabs of Murshidabad