Mir Qasim
Mir Qasim (Bengali: মীর কাশিম; died 8 May 1777) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763. He was installed as Nawab with the support of the British East India Company, replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been supported earlier by the East India Company after his role in winning the Battle of Plassey for the British. However, Mir Jafar eventually ran into disputes with the East India Company and attempted to form an alliance with the Dutch East India Company instead. The British eventually defeated the Dutch at Chinsura and overthrew Mir Jafar, replacing him with Mir Qasim.[1] Qasim later fell out with the British and fought against them at Buxar. His defeat has been suggested as a key reason in the British becoming the dominant power in large parts of North and East India.[2]
Mīr Qasim
20 October 1760 – 7 July 1763
মীর কাশিম
8 May 1777
Kotwal, Maratha Empire
Najafi
Nawab Fatima Begum Sahiba, daughter of Mir Jafar and Shah Khanum
- Mirza Ghulam Uraiz Ja'afari
- Mirza Muhammad Baqir ul-Husain
- Nawab Muhammad Aziz Khan Bahadur
- Nawab Badr ud-din Ali Khan Bahadur
Mir Razi Khan
Early life and family[edit]
Mir Syed Qasim was the son of Mir Muhammad Razi Khan, and claimed descent from Ali al-Ridha. His paternal grandfather, Sayyid Husayn Ridhwi, entered the Mughal Empire during the reign of Aurangzeb, who married him to the daughter of Mir Hadi (Sheikh Sulayman Fazail). Ridhwi was conferred the title of Imtiaz Khan, and made the Waqia-navis (Interior Minister) and subsequently the Dewan of Bihar. Qasim's grandfather also wrote Persian poetry under the pen name of Khalis, and a lengthy diwan is attributed to him.[3]
Qasim was married to Fatima Begum, a daughter of Mir Jafar and Shah Khanum, and a granddaughter of Nawab Alivardi Khan of Bengal.[4][5] Prior to becoming the Nawab of Bengal, he served as the Faujdar of Rangpur for roughly two decades.[6]
Death[edit]
Having lost all his men and influence after his defeat at Buxar, Qasim was expelled from his camp by Shuja-ud-Daula on 23 October 1764; fleeing to Rohilkhand, Allahabad, Gohad and Jodhpur, and eventually settling at Kotwal, near Delhi ca. 1774.
Mir Qasim died in obscurity and abject poverty possibly from dropsy, at Kotwal, near Delhi on 8 May 1777.