Who among the following assumed the title of Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah to set himself up as an independent ruler with his base in Hyderabad?

Correct — D, Chin Qilich Khan. Chin Qilich Khan served as the Mughal wazir under Muhammad Shah before leaving Delhi for the Deccan, where the emperor's writ was already thin. He defeated Mubariz Khan at Shakar Kheda in 1724, took the six Deccan subas in hand, and governed them without reference to Delhi — appointing his own officials, granting his own jagirs, and settling revenue on his own terms — while never formally renouncing the emperor's authority. His line, the Asaf Jahi Nizams, ruled Hyderabad down to 1948.

• (a)Kartalab Khan — Kartalab Khan is the earlier name of Murshid Quli Khan, who made Bengal effectively independent and moved its capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad. The same pattern of autonomy, but a different province and a different man.
• (b)Bahadur Shah — Bahadur Shah I was the Mughal emperor from 1707 to 1712, Aurangzeb's successor. He is the throne these governors were pulling away from, not a governor breaking away.
• (c)Alivardi Khan — Alivardi Khan seized the nizamat of Bengal in 1740 and spent his rule fighting the Maratha bargis; his grandson Siraj-ud-daulah lost Plassey in 1757. Bengal again, not Hyderabad.

The eighteenth century did not empty the Mughal empire so much as decentralise it. Hyderabad, Bengal and Awadh are the standard trio of successor states — provinces whose governors kept Mughal titles, coinage and forms while making the office hereditary and stopping the flow of revenue to Delhi. None of the three declared independence; all three behaved as independent.

The four names are chosen so that three of them cluster in Bengal or on the imperial throne and only one belongs to the Deccan. Chin Qilich Khan is the personal name behind the title, which is what makes the item awkward — candidates know Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah as a title and may not connect it to the man. Kartalab Khan is the same trick played once more, since that too is a personal name behind a better-known title.

• Chin Qilich Khan received the title Nizam-ul-Mulk in 1713 and Asaf Jah in 1725.
• The battle of Shakar Kheda in 1724 gave him effective control of the Deccan.
• He served briefly as wazir of the empire under Muhammad Shah before returning to the Deccan for good.
• Murshid Quli Khan in Bengal and Saadat Khan in Awadh are the parallel cases of the same decade.
• The Asaf Jahi dynasty held Hyderabad until the state's accession to India in 1948.

• Reading Nizam-ul-Mulk as a name rather than a title and missing its holder.
• Confusing Kartalab Khan with a Deccan figure; the name belongs to Bengal.

A single-fact recall item built on the gap between a famous title and the personal name behind it.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Murshid Quli Khan, who made Bengal effectively autonomous of Delhi, was earlier known by which name?

  • (a)Kartalab Khan
  • (b)Mubariz Khan
  • (c)Saadat Khan
  • (d)Mir Jafar

  Answer(a) Kartalab Khan — he rose as a revenue official and later shifted the capital of Bengal to Murshidabad.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The battle of Shakar Kheda in 1724 established whose control over the Deccan?

  • (a)Alivardi Khan
  • (b)Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah
  • (c)Baji Rao I
  • (d)Saadat Khan

  Answer(b) Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah — his defeat of Mubariz Khan left him master of the six Deccan subas.