Raja Bahadur Nahar Khan
Wali-e-Mewat
Reign1372-1402
PredecessorPost Established
SuccessorKhanzada Bahadur Khan
Issue
HouseKhanzada
FatherRaja Lakhan Pal

Raja Bahadur Nahar Khan was the ruler of Mewat and the progenitor of Khanzada Rajput clan who were themselves a sub-clan of Jadaun Rajputs. His original name was Sambhar Pal and later came to be known as Nahar Singh. He and his brother Sopar Pal (who later became Chhaju Khan) embraced Islam under the influence of Firuz Shah Tughlaq after he annexed their estates.[1] He was also known as Wali-e-Mewat Raja Bahadur Nahar Khan[2]

Background

He was the son of Jadaun Rajput Raja Lakhan Pal of Kotla Fort and great-grandson of Raja Adhan Pal (who was 4th in descent from Raja Tahan Pal).[3][4] Tahan Pal, who founded Timangarh, was the eldest son of Maharaja Bijai Pal (founder of Bijai Garh and Maharaja of Karauli), who was 88th in descent from Krishna.[5][6][7]

Conversion to Islam

Tughlaq dynasty ruled during 14th century and at one point of time, the local leaders were asserting their independence to a greater extent. Nahar Singh had risen to prominence during the period. Coercive and co-optative tactics were used by Firuz Shah Tughlaq to tackle such uprisings. Nahar Singh was made to politically compromise with Tughlaq Sultan and convert to Islam, assuming the name Nahar Khan in 1359. He paid Sultan tribute and peshkash (offerings) in exchange for the lands he lost to be restored back under his rule. His lineage continued to be known as Khanazadas. While it was common for minor rulers to see conversion a tactical move dictated by pure survival, i.e. to prevent a possible beheading, and save their lands from annexation, some portrays the religious conversion as resulting from "change of heart."[8][9]

Kunwar Sambhar Pal and his brother Kunwar Sopar Pal, the sons of Raja Lakhan Pal, were in service of Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq of Delhi Sultanate. They were accompanying the Sultan in one of his hunting expedition, where the Sultan was attacked by a tiger. Kunwar Sambhar Pal saved the Sultan by killing the tiger single-handedly. Sultan Firuz gave them the title of Bahadur Khan for his bravery.[1]

Founder of Khanzada Rajput community

Nahar Khan had nine sons, his descendants are known as Khanzada Rajput who were originally Hindu Jadaun Rajputs.

Wali of Mewat

Raja Nahar Khan of Kotla was a high ranking noble in the royal court of Delhi Sultanate. In 1372, Firuz Shah Tughlaq granted him the Lordship of Mewat. He established a hereditary polity in Mewat and proclaimed the title of Wali-e-Mewat. After his ascension to the throne in 1372, the people of Mewat began to gradually convert to Islam. Later his descendants affirmed their own sovereignty in Mewat. They ruled Mewat till 1527. The last Khanzada Rajput ruler of Mewat was Hasan Khan Mewati, who died in the Battle of Khanwa against the invading Mughal forces of Babur.

Delhi Power Struggle

In 1388, Raja Nahar Khan aided Abu Bakr Shah, grandson of the late Emperor Firuz Shah Tughlaq, in expelling from Dehli Abu Bakr's uncle Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq and in establishing the former on the throne. In a few months, however, Abu Bakr had to give away before Nasiruddin, and he then fled to Raja Nahar's stronghold in Mewat State, where he was pursued by Nasiruddin. After a struggle Abu Bakr and Raja Nahar surrendered, and Abu Bakr was placed in confinement for life in the fort of Meerut, but Raja Nahar received a robe and was allowed to depart.

Timur's Invasion of India

In 1398 during Timur's Invasion of Delhi, Nahar Khan withdrew to his Kotla Tijara and watched the development of events from there. Mewat State during this time was flooded with fugitives fleeing from Delhi and Khizr Khan, (the future Sultan of Delhi), was one of those who took shelter in Mewat. After defeating Nasiruddin, Timur sent two envoys to Mewat State who invited the Wali of Mewat for a meeting with him. Nahar accepted this invitation and both met in 1398. As a gesture of goodwill and symbol of friendship Raja Nahar Khan gifted Timur two white parrots, which Timur praised highly. Timur himself, made prominent mention of the conduct of Nahar Khan during the Invasion of India in 1398 AD. Timur states that he sent an embassy to Nahar Khan at Kotila, to which a humble reply was received. Raja Nahar sent as a present two white parrots that belonged to the late Emperor. Timur remarks that these parrots were much prized by him.

Death

In 1402, Nahar Khan was killed in an ambush by his in-laws of Kishangarh Bas. After his death, his son Raja Bahadur Khan succeeded him as Wali-e-Mewat.

Legacy

He had nine sons namely Wali-e-Mewat Raja Bahadur Khan, Malik Alaudin Khan, Shah Mehmood Khan, Pir Shahab Khan, Malik Haroon Khan, Siraj Khan, Fateh Khan, Noor Khan and Nizam Khan. He was the progenitor of Khanzada Rajput community. Hasan Khan Mewati, Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, Nawab Feroz Khan, Khan Bahadur Fateh Naseeb Khan, Abdul Kadir Khanzada ,Tufail Ahmad khan, Suhaib Ilyasi and Shahzeb Khanzada are his direct descendants.[10]

Haveli Naharwali, in Kucha Sadullah Khan of Chandani Chowk in Old Delhi, is said to be originally owned by him,[11] which later came in the ownership of family of former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, where he was born and his grandfather sold it to Prem Chand Gola after whom this area is now called Gola Market.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 Census of India, 1901. p. 152. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Tareekh-e-Miyo Chhatri by Hakeem Abdush Shakoor". Rekhta. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ↑ توصیف الحسن میواتی الہندی (23 August 2020). تاریخِ میو اور داستانِ میوات.
  4. ↑ Major P.W. Powlett (1878). Gazetteer of Ulwur. pp. 40–41.
  5. ↑ Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 15, page 26 - Imperial Gazetteer of India - Digital South Asia Library
  6. ↑ Panjab castes
  7. ↑ توصیف الحسن میواتی الہندی (23 August 2020). تاریخِ میو اور داستانِ میوات.
  8. ↑ Mayaram, Shail (2003). Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins. Columbia University Press. pp. 26, 37. ISBN 978-0-231-12730-1. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  9. ↑ Ahmad, Aijazuddin (1993). Social Structure and Regional Development: A Social Geography Perspective : Essays in Honour of Professor Moonis Raza. Rawat Publications. ISBN 978-81-7033-182-7. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Tareekh-e-Miyo Chhatri by Hakeem Abdush Shakoor". Rekhta. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Heritage | The Old Delhi dictionary, Livemint, 2 March 2013.
  12. ↑ Haveli Naharvali, the-south-asian.com, June 2001.
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