SHAISTA KHAN

SHAISTA KHAN
SHAISTA KHAN Ruled for a
long period (1664-1688)
With a break for a little over one year in 1678-79 Shaista Khan’s
tenure of office as a subahdar in Bengal was the longest. Of Iranian
origin (son of Asaf Khan and grandson of Mirza Ghias Beg
Itimaduddaula) his family was connected with the Mughal royal
family. Nur Jahan (daughter of Itimaduddaula) and Mumtaj Mahal
(daughter of Asaf Khan) were queens of jahangir and shahjahan
respectively. Both Itimaduddaula and Asaf Khan held the position of
wazir or Prime Minister respectively of Jahangir and Shahjahan.
Shaista Khan Arrives in Bengal
• Shaista Khan was 63 when he arrived in
Bengal. He ruled with vigour and together
with his able sons six in number the family
ruled effectively all parts of Bengal
• Contemporary Historians have praised
 An Able and Effective Ruler
• Shaista Khan for his administrative
reforms, for putting down corruption
among officials and giving relief to the
people by abolishing illegal taxes. The
administration had fallen into chaos after
the death of Mir Jumla (1663) and during
the rule of acting officials whose
jurisdictions were not defined. Shaista
Khan, therefore, exerted his energies in
establishing discipline in the administration
 ROYAL CONNECTION
• by his connections with the emperor and
his personality and strength of character
the dishonest officers and the recalcitrant
zamindars were overawed, so that it was
easy for him to restore discipline in all
branches of administration.
 Conquest of Chittagong
• Seaport of Chittagong and the sarkar of that name was
occupied by fakhruddin mubarak shah in the middle of
the 14th century and since then Chittagong was under
Muslim rule with occasional breaks when the area was
occupied by Arakan or Tippera. But Chittagong had
passed to Arakanese control before the Mughal
conquest of Bengal. In the reign of Jahangir, subahdar
islam khan chisti recovered the country up to the Feni
river, which became the dividing line between Bengal
and Arakan. Some of Jahangir’s subahdars tried to
capture Chittagong but failed.
 THE ARAKANESE
• The Arakanese were noted for their skill in
navigation and naval warfare, so the kings
of Arakan never left the Mughal subahdars
in peace. They sent naval expeditions to
Bengal at intervals and plundered
whichever part of the countryside fell on
their route; at times they even attacked
and devastated the capital city of Dhaka
 THE PORTUGUESE AND THE
ARAKAN
• From the beginning of the 17th century the
portuguese also started piratical activities after
they had lost their trade supremacy in
competition with the dutch and the english. The
Portuguese pirates found asylum in Arakan,
where the king employed them along with the
magh pirates to plunder the enemy territory of
Bengal. These raids continued for a long time,
not a house was left inhabited on either side of
the rivers lying on the pirates’ track from
Chittagong to Dhaka.
 PIRATES’ PLUNDER OF EAST
AND SOUTH BENGAL
• Chittagong to Dhaka. The coastal districts
became desolate, and according to
contemporary historians ‘they were swept clean
with the broom of plunder and kidnapping, so
that none was left to occupy any house or kindle
a light in that region’. The pirates carried off
Hindus and Muslims, men, women and children
along with their property. The pirates sold their
captives to foreign merchants, the Dutch, the
English and the French at the ports of the
Deccan.
 SHAISTA KHAN’S ARAKAN
POLICY
• So, on reaching Bengal, Shaista Khan’s
attention was first drawn to the menacing
attitude of the king of Arakan. For the restoration
of peace, he had also to take action against the
Portuguese pirates. The subahdar drew up a
three-pronged policy to meet the situation: first,
he reorganised the nawwara or the fleet of war-
boats; second, he tried to win over the
Portuguese to his side; and third, he tried to win
over the Dutch company to help him or at least
to neutralize them so that they could not assist
the king of Arakan.
 SHAISTA KHAN REORGANISED
THE NAVY
• government in Bengal had already a large number of
war-boats; Shuja had utilised the navy against
Aurangzeb and Mir Jumla had utilised a strong navy
consisting of more than 300 war-boats during his
Kamrup and Assam campaigns. Shaista Khan
reorganised the navy, the old boats were repaired and
new boats were built in the dockyards of Dhaka, Jessore
and other river ports. Crews were recruited and
assembled, provisions collected and expert officers were
chosen for higher posts. Within a year or so 300 vessels
were gathered together, ready for naval warfare
 SHAISTA KHAN TRIED TO WIN
THE POTUGUESE
• Shaista Khan took steps to win over the Firingis
(Portuguese) to his side, for he realized that the
mainstay of the Arakanese navy were the
Portuguese sailors with their superior ships and
firearms. He sent lucrative offers to the Firingis
of Chittagong through their brethren living in
Hughli, Loricol (25 miles south of Dhaka) and
other places. He offered them service, rewards,
and what is more important, a settled and secure
life.
 SHAISTA KHAN SENDS
MESSAGE TO THE DUTCH
• Shaista Khan also called the Dutch chief
of Hughli to his presence and told him
plainly that as they gained much profit
from their trade in Bengal they should
participate in the expedition against
Arakan with their own ships. As the Dutch
chief could not give a positive reply without
approval of the Dutch Governor General of
Batavia (Jakarta), Shaista Khan sent an
envoy to Batavia in a Dutch ship.
 Dutch governor-general
• envoy Khwaja Ahmed was given
instructions to tell the Dutch Governor
General that if the Dutch did not help the
subahdar in his enterprise, all their trade
would be stopped in the whole Mughal
empire.
SHISTA KHAN STARTS HIS WAR
AGAINST ARAKAN
• All preparations being complete, Shaista Khan
chalked out a plan for conquering the island of
Sandwip first. The base of operation against
Chittagong was Bhulua, but it was a base for a
land force, whereas Arakan was primarily a
naval power. Chittagong was to be attacked both
by land and sea. So a base for the fleet was
necessary, and Sandwip was an ideal naval
base. Shaista Khan ordered his naval officer to
attack Sandwip, which he did in November 1665
 SWANDIP CAPTURED
• Shaista Khan ordered his naval officer to attack
Sandwip, which he did in November 1665;
Dilawar Khan, the ruler of Sandwip, a former
runaway sailor of the Mughals, and then 80
years old, fought with valour and skill, but he
was defeated. Sandwip was occupied and
brought under Mughal administration. In the
meantime the Firingis of Chittagong also came
over to the side of the Mughals. Luckily for the
Mughals, a feud had then broken out between
the Magh ruler of Chittagong and the
Portuguese of that place.
 SANDIV

silver-style-simple-map-of-arakan-rakhine.jpg
Island of Sandiv
 POTUGUESE OF CHITTAGONG
SIDED WITH SHAISTA KHAN
• To escape from the wrath of the Arakanese
king, the Portuguese fled from Chittagong with
their families, ships and artillery; they took
shelter with the Mughal commandant of Bhulua
(Noakhali). Shaista Khan received and honoured
the Portuguese captain, who was given a cash
reward of Rs 2000/- and monthly pay of Rs
500/-, and his followers were also enlisted in the
Mughal service with suitable pay and allowances
 DUTCH ASSISTANCE
The Dutch Governor General of Batavia also
assured Shaista Khan of his company’s help.
They closed their factory at Mrohaung, capital of
Arakan and withdrew their staff and diverted
their ships from Arakan to other places. The
Dutch company sent two ships to Shaista Khan,
to be used in his Chittagong expedition. But
Shaista Khan achieved victory over the
Arakanese at Chittagong before their arrival.
 CHITTAGONG EXPEDITION
• After all preparations were over, Shaista Khan sent his
long-planned Chittagong expedition in the last week of
December 1665 AD. The overall command was given to
his son bujurg umid khan , while Ibn Husain, the admiral,
was given command over the navy, and the subahdar
himself took up the responsibility of supplying provisions.
The army and navy started simultaneously, one by land
and the other by sea, keeping close contact with each
other. The land force had to cut their way through the
jungles. There was a great naval battle in the sea and
then in the river Karnafuli; the Mughals with the aid of the
Portuguese came out successful. The Arakanese navy
being defeated, their sailors fled and some of them took
shelter in the fort. But the fort of Chittagong was
besieged and captured on 26 January 1666
 CHITTAGONG NAMED
ISLAMABAD
• Buzurg Umid Khan made a triumphal entry into
the fort the next day, and Chittagong was
annexed to the Mughal empire. It became the
seat of a Mughal faujdar and with the emperor’s
permission Chittagong’s name was changed to
Islamabad. The conquest of Chittagong caused
indescribable joy throughout the country, mainly
because the people became safe from the
plunder, oppression and tyranny of the Magh-
Portuguese pirates
 RESULT OF CHITTAGONG
CONQUEST
• Another important result of the conquest
was the release of thousands of
kidnapped and enslaved Bengali peasants
who now returned to their homes and
joined their families. Peace was restored
in the area and, consequently, agriculture,
trade and commerce flourished.
 COOCH BEHAR ANNEXED
• Shaista Khan also put down the rebellious
chiefs of the neighbouring hilly states, who
raised their heads after the death of Mir
Jumla, taking advantage of the chaos
during the administration of the temporary
rulers. The Raja of Kuch Bihar sent a letter
of submission promising to pay tribute as
soon as he heard the news of the arrival of
Shaista Khan at rajmahal
 JAINTIA & TIPPERA
• Iradat Khan, son of the subahdar,
reoccupied Kamrup; Bahadur Khan of Hijli
was confined and he purchased his liberty
by paying a huge sum. The Rajas of
Jaintia and Tippera also offered
submission and sent presents including
elephants, and the hilly state of Morang
(west of Kuch Bihar and north of Purnea)
also offered submission and promised to
pay tributes.
 PROMOTES TRADE AND
COMMERCE
• The Mughal emperor encouraged
expansion of trade, because trade,
particularly export trade, brought in
money. But the local Mughal officers tried
to exact local duties like rahdari (transit
duty) which were not provided for by the
imperial order. On the other hand the
companies also misused the concessions
given to them by the farman
 CONTROLS TRADE
• Shaista Khan, being an able and experienced
officer, enforced strict discipline in trade and this
became the target of criticism and opposition of
the European companies. During the second
term of his office, the English company actually
waged war against the Mughal government in
Bengal. Shaista Khan did not yield to their
illogical demands and they were expelled from
the country. Later, however, the English were
restored to their former position and settlement
by a new subahdar, ibrahim khan
 SHAISTA KHAN A GREAT
BUILDER
• Shaista Khan was a great builder. He built
a number of mosques, tombs and secular
buildings in the capital city of Dhaka and
outside. Important among his
constructions are: (a) The chhota katra,
built in about 1664, meant for visiting
merchants, wayfarers and visitors.
CHOTA KATRA
 LALBAGH FORT
• Shaista Khan made additions to lalbagh fort
(named Aurangabad fort after the name of the
emperor Aurangzeb), the construction of which
was started by Prince muhammad azam but
could not be completed by him. The tomb of Bibi
Pari (Fairy lady), was built by Shaista Khan
within the walled enclosure of the fort. bibi pari,
also known as Iran Dukht, is said to have been a
daughter of Shaista Khan who was betrothed to
Prince Muhammad Azam
LALBAGH FORT
CHAWK BAZAR MOSQUE
 ECONOMIC LIFE
• Shaista Khan was also praised because in
his time the price of grain was extremely
low, so much so that rice was being sold
at the rate of 8 maunds per rupee. While
leaving Dhaka, he caused the following
inscription to be engraved on the western
gate of the city “Let him only open this
gate who can show the selling rate of rice
as cheap as this”. The contemporaries
described him as the model of excellence.
ESTIMATE OF SHAISTA KHAN
• Contemporary and later historians have
praised Shaista Khan for his superb
generalship, his administration of justice
and promotion of the welfare of the
people. They have also emphasized on his
liberality, charity and religious pursuits. He
was also a poet and a scholar. His building
activities provided models for his age