Ghazi-ud-din

Authory: Laxman Burdak IFS (R)

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Ghazi-ud-din, also known by his sobriquet Imad-ul-Mulk, was the subedar of Assam allied with the Maratha Empire, often described as a de facto ruler of the Mughal Empire.

Variants of name

• Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III
• Nizam Shahabuddin Muhammad Feroz Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi
• Imad-ul-Mulk

Ancestry

He was the son of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung II and a grandson of the founder of the Nizam Dynasty, Nizam ul Mulk Asaf Jah.

History

He was a controversial figure in history. Imad is well known for assassinating Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and for imprisoning and blinding Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur, and torturing their family members. He was declared to be an apostate by various Islamic scholars and by Durrani Emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali. After the death of his father in 1752, he was recommended by Nawab Safdar Jung to be appointed as Mir Bakhshi (Pay Master General) and received the titles of Amir ul-Umara (Noble of Nobles) and Imad ul-Mulk.

Military career

He blinded and imprisoned Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur in 1754. In 1757, Imad invited Marathas to invade Delhi in order to drive out the Afghans and Rohillas from Delhi. In the same year, Afghanistan's Emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani declared Imad-ul-Mulk an "apostate". Two years later, Emperor Alamgir II was assassinated in 1759. He was later named the Wazir ul-Mamalik-i-Hindustan. Imad-ul-Mulk also planned the death of young Ali Gauhar and even ordered Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal to advance as far as Patna with the motive to kill or capture the Mughal Crown Prince. Imad-ul-Mulk soon fled Delhi after the rise of Najib-ud-Daula and the Mughal Army, which eventually places Shah Alam II as the new Mughal Emperor.