Sub faith matters in Muslim marriages
Meer Jafar hold back his throne of Bengal after the defeat of Meer Quasim in the battle of Buxar in 1764. He was succeeded by his four sons one after another after his death in 1765. His first successor son Najimuddin Ali Khan was 15 years old and died of fever caught in a party given in honour of Clive in 1766. Thereafter, Jafar’s two sons, Najabat Ali Khan (21 Y) and Ashraf Ali Khan (11 Y) succeeded one after another in a period of one week as both died of small pox during Great Bengal Famine of 1770. Finally the fourth son 12 years old Mubarak Ali Khan when coronated in March 1770. They became puppet Nawab and were pensioners of the East India Company. But look at their pride.
In 1790, the Queen of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, asked, through Lord Cornwallis, for one of Nawab Mubarak ud-Daulah's daughters in marriage with her son. The Nawab rejected the offer in the following terms, in a letter to Lord Cornwallis:
“Please request the Queen to pass over the matter. I cannot, by any means, accede to the proposal. there are many obstacles in the matter. Moreover, there is a longstanding usage in my family, that our daughters can never be given in marriage to any one other than Sayyids. If I act contrary to this, my family custom, I shall be ruined. At all events, my mother and I cannot accept the offer”.
—Nawab Nazim Mubarak ud-Daulah of Bengal
Although, the Nawab, then had 13 daughters, and to some extent regarded himself as a servant of the Emperor, he, for family reasons, did not allow the marriage of one of the 13 with even such an honourable prince as the Prince of Delhi.
Not only in Hindus, but Muslims had reservation of races in marriage. Unlike the Mughals who were Sunni, the Nawab of Bengal and Awadh were Shia Muslim.
Punamchand
25 August 2021
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