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{{Short description|Nawab of Katehir (c. 1707–1748)}}
{{Distinguish|Ali Muhammad Khan}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = [[Nawab]] Ali Mohammed [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Bahadur (title)|Bahadur]] Rohilla
| title = [[Nawab]] of [[Rohilkhand|Katehir]] [[Nawab]] of [[Budaun|Badaun]] [[Nawab]] of [[Rampur, Uttar Pradesh|Rampur]] [[Nawab]] of [[Bareilly]] [[Nawab]] of [[Moradabad]] [[Nawab]] of [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]] [[Sardar]] of the [[Barech|Barech tribe]] [[Tribal chief|Chief]] of the [[Rohilla]]
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| succession = [[Rohilkhand]]
| moretext =
| reign = 1721–1748
| reign-type =
| coronation =
| cor-type =
| predecessor = Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla
| pre-type =
| successor = [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| succession1 = [[Badaun]]
| moretext1 =
| reign1 = 1721–1748
| reign-type1 =
| coronation1 =
| cor-type1 =
| predecessor1 = [[Rohilla|Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla]]
| pre-type1 =
| successor1 = [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| succession2 = [[Rampur, Uttar Pradesh|Rampur]]
| moretext2 =
| reign2 = 1741–1748
| reign-type2 =
| coronation2 =
| cor-type2 =
| predecessor2 = Raja Ram Singh of Katehr
| pre-type2 =
| successor2 = [[Faizullah Khan|Nawab Faizullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| suc-type2 =
| regent2 =
| reg-type2 =
| succession3 = [[Bareilly]]
| moretext3 =
| reign3 = 1741–1748
| reign-type3 =
| coronation3 =
| cor-type3 =
| predecessor3 = Nawab Abd Un Nabi Khan
| pre-type3 =
| successor3 = [[Muhammad Yar Khan of Bareilly|Nawab Muhammad Yar Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| succession4 = [[Moradabad]]
| moretext4 =
| reign4 = 1741–1748
| reign-type4 =
| coronation4 =
| cor-type4 =
| predecessor4 = Raja Harnand
| pre-type4 =
| successor4 = [[Saadullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Saadullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| succession5 = [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]]
| moretext5 =
| reign5 = 1721–1748
| reign-type5 =
| coronation5 =
| cor-type5 =
| predecessor5 =
| pre-type5 =
| successor5 = [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Nawab Abdullah Khan Bahadur Rohilla]]
| birth_name = Prem Singh<ref name="Khoja">Khoja, Neelam. 2018. [https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/726de724-b17a-4c33-ab36-19509894d45e/content Sovereignty, Space, and Identity: The Politics of Power in Eighteenth Century Punjab]. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.</ref>
| birth_date = 1707
| birth_place = [[Jansath]]
| death_date = 15 September 1748
| death_place = [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]]
| burial_date =
| burial_place = [[Aonla, Uttar Pradesh|Aonla]]
| consort = 
| full name =
| era name =
| era dates =
| regnal name = Ali Muhammad Khan
| house = [[Rohilla Dynasty|Rohilla]] ''(by adoption from Nain/Nano Jats)<ref name="nain">{{cite book |title=Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society Volume 42 |date=1994 |publisher=Pakistan Historical Society |page=24 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Journal_of_the_Pakistan_Historical_Socie/w_htAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=jat+boy+by+the+name+of+prem+singh+nano&dq=jat+boy+by+the+name+of+prem+singh+nano&printsec=frontcover |quote= Among the captives was one handsome Jat boy by the name of Prem Singh Nano. Da'ud Khan was so attracted towards him that he adopted him as his son, initiated him into the Islamic belief, and named him Ali Muhammad Nano. Later, when the boy reached adulthood, Daud Khan declared him as his successor. Thus began the pedigree of the Nawwabs of Rampur.}}</ref>''
| house-type =
| father =
| religion = [[Sunni Islam]]
| occupation = [[Subahdar]] of [[Sirhind-Fategarh|Sirhind]] and [[Rohilkhand]]
}}

'''Ali Muhammad Khan''' ({{circa}} 1707 – 15 September 1748), born as '''Prem Singh Nain''',<ref name="Khoja" /><ref name="nain" /> was the founder of the [[Kingdom of Rohilkhand]], and progenitor of the [[Rohilla dynasty]]. He succeeded his foster father, Daud Khan Barech, as chief of the [[Rohilla]]s at the age of fourteen, and was generally regarded as a non-oppressive ruler to the masses.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strachley |first1=Sir John |title=Hastings and the Rohilla |page=14}}</ref> He was granted the right to use India's highest [[insignia]], the [[Mahseer#In_heraldry_(and_other_official_representations)|Mahseer]], by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Muhammad Shah|Emperor Muhammad Shah]].{{cn|date=July 2025}}

His early death led to the [[regency]] of [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech]], despite Rehmat Khan's solemn oath on the [[Quran]] to fulfill the dying Ali Muhammad's will.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

== Early life ==
Ali Muhammad Khan, originally named Prem Singh Nain,<ref name="Khoja" /><ref name="nain" /> was born around 1707 into a [[Hindu Jats|Jat]] family.<ref>{{bulleted |1={{cite book |last1=Sastri |first1=K. A. Nilakanta |last2=Srinivasachari |first2=G. |author1-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |title=Advanced history of India |year=1971 |publisher=Allied Publishers |oclc=976740387 |page=572 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvkgAAAAMAAJ |quote=Ali Muhammad Khan, a converted Jat, built up a large principality with its seat at Aonla, 18 miles north-west of Bareilly city and gained recognition from the Delhi court.}} |2={{cite book |last=Prasad |first=Ishwari |author-link=Ishwari Prasad |title=India in the Eighteenth Century |date=1973 |publisher=Chugh Publications |oclc=732111 |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CmG2uojMOcC |quote=Daud was an adventurer of considerable ability and warlike spirit and in a short time gathered around himself a large number of followers. Ali Muhammad who was born of Jat parents was brought up by him as a child and converted to Islam.}} |3={{cite book |last=Gupta |first=Hari Ram |author-link=Hari Ram Gupta |title=History of the Sikhs |volume=III: Sikh Domination of the Mughal Empire (1764–1803) |year=1999 |orig-year=1980 |publisher=[[Munshiram Manoharlal]] |isbn=978-81-215-0213-9 |oclc=165428303 |edition=2nd rev. |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82wwAQAAIAAJ |quote=The real founder of the Rohilla power was Ali Muhammad, from whom sprang the present line of the Nawabs of Rampur. Originally a Hindu Jat, who was taken prisoner when a young boy by Daud in one of his plundering expeditions, at village Bankauli in the parganah of Chaumahla, and was converted to Islam and adopted by him.}} |4={{cite book |last=Prasad |first=Bisheshwar |editor1-last=Banerjee |editor1-first=A. C. |editor2-last=Ghosh |editor2-first=D.K. |title=A Comprehensive History of India |volume= 9 (1712–1772) |year=1978 |publisher=People's Publishing House |oclc=1405593320 |page=140 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggduAAAAMAAJ |chapter=Ruhelkhand and Farrukhabad |quote=There he is reported to have captured a Jat boy of about eight years whom he brought up as his son and named Ali Muhammad Khan, who lived to be his successor and the founder of the state of Ruhelkhand.}} |5={{cite book |last=Rashid |first=Abdur |editor-last=Husain |editor-first=Mahmud |display-editors=etal |title=A History of the Freedom Movement |volume=I: 1707–1831 |year=1957 |publisher=[[Pakistan Historical Society]] |oclc=1129482853 |page=304 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mo-GvHjoH-cC |chapter=The Rohillas |quote=Amongst other prisoners he obtained a young Jat boy of eight years.1 Daud took a fancy to him and adopted him as his son and named him 'Ali Muhammad Khan.}} |6={{cite book |last=Srivastava |first=Ashirbadi Lal |author-link=Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava |title=The First Two Nawabs of Oudh |year=1954 |publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co. Ltd. |oclc=678892685 |page=103 |edition=2nd rev. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUQeAAAAIAAJ |quote=While in the service of Mudar Shah of Madhkar, 13 miles east of Chandausi, Daud took part in an expedition against the ruler of Bankauli, 26 miles north of Bareilly, where fell into his hands among other things a handsome Jat boy of seven or eight years of age. He converted the boy into Islam, named him Ali Muhammad Khan and adopted him as his son.}} |7={{cite book |last=Khan |first=Iqbal Ghani |editor-last=Barnett |editor-first=Richard B. |title=Rethinking Early Modern India |year=2002 |publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-81-7304-308-6 |page=271 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jJuAAAAMAAJ |chapter=Technology and the Question of Elite Intervention in Eighteenth-Century North India |quote=Thus we witness the Ruhelas accepting an exceptionally talented non-Afghan, an adopted Jat boy, as their nawab, purely on the basis of his military leadership; ...}}}}</ref>{{Efn|Abdur Rashid notes that while the rest of the sources describe him as a Jat, one source states that he was an Ahir.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rashid |first=Abdur |title=History of the Muslims of Indo-Pakistan Sub-continent, 1707-1806 |publisher=Pakistan Research Society |year=1978 |volume=1 |pages=297 |quote=According to the Siyar-ul-Mutakhkhirin⁸ Ali Muhammad Khan was an Ahir by birth. According to others he was of Jat parentage.}}</ref> [[Jos J. L. Gommans]] also notes that he is mostly described as a Jat or an Ahir in contemporary sources.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Gommans |first=Jos J. L.|author-link=Jos Gommans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2TH8UYeAaoC&dq=most+of+the+contemporary+sources+call+him+a+jat+or+ahir&pg=PA120 |title=The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780 |date=1995 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10109-8 |page=120 |language=en |quote="Most of the contemporary sources, however, call him a Jat or an Ahir."}}</ref> Iqbal Husain states, "It is acknowledged on all hands that 'Ali Muḥammad Khan was not an Afghan. That he was a Saiyed is at best dubious; that he was a Jat, or of some other local peasant caste is more than probable."<ref name="Husain">{{cite book |last=Husain |first=Iqbal |title=The Ruhela Chieftaincies: The Rise and Fall of Ruhela Power in India in the Eighteenth Century |year=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-563068-8 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnRuAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>|group=note}} As a child, he was captured by Daud Khan Barech, the [[Barech]] chief, during a conflict with rival [[Zamindar]]s. Impressed by the boy, Daud chose to adopt him, convert him to [[Islam]], and give him a new name.<ref name="Irvine 1971 p.118 ">{{cite book | last=Irvine | first=W. | title=Later Mughal | publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distri | year=1971 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak5oFjTys8MC | access-date=2022-07-30 | page=118 | quote= Once Daud was sent against the village of Bankauli, in pargana Chaumahla, with which his employer was at feud. Along with the plunder taken on this occasion Daud obtained possession of a Jat boy seven or eight years of age, whom he caused to be circumcised and then adopted under the name of Ali Muhammad Khan.}}</ref>

According to the Inradus Sa'adat, Ali was a [[Hanafi]] Muslim belonging to the [[Qadiriyya|Qadiri]] Sufi Order, which was considered by them to be more closer to pure Islam than any other [[Tariqa|mystic order]] prevailing in India.<ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MGdXAAAAMAAJ&q=Nawab+%27+Ali+Muhammad+Khan+was+Hanafi+Muslim+belonging+to+Qadria+order+of+the+Muslim+sufis+,+which+conforms+more |title=Life of Hafiz Rahmat Khan (Hayat-I-Hafiz Rahmat Khan).|author= Altaf Ali Brelvi |date=1966 |publisher=Academy of Educational Research, All Pakistan Education Conference }}</ref>{{Vn|date=December 2025}}

== Reign ==
{{further|Kingdom of Rohilkhand|Rohilla dynasty}}
He succeeded Daud Khan and develop Rohilkhand into a powerful nation, which became independent in 1721. Ali Muhammad Khan distinguished himself by helping in suppressing the rebellion of the [[Sadaat-e-Bara|Barah Sayyids]] under the chief Saifudddin Barha who had put the Mughal governor Marhamat Khan and all of his followers to death.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9jaXsOc-tEC&dq=saif+ali+jansath&pg=PA605 |title= Statistical, Descriptive and Historical Account of the North-Western Provinces of India: 3.:Meerut division part 2 · Volume 3 |page= 605 |date= 1876 |author= Edwin Thomas Atkinson |publisher= National Central Library of Florence }}</ref> As a reward Ali Muhammad Khan was given the title of Nawab by Muhammad Shah in 1737. In 1746, due to an altercation over the collection of wood between the construction workers of [[Safdarjung|Safdar Jang]] with the forest guards of Ali Muhammad Khan, Safdar Jang decided to eliminate him.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://rekhta.org/ebooks/akhbar-us-sanadeed-volume-001-mohammad-najmul-gani-khan-ebooks|title=Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1|last=Khan|first=Muhammad Najm-ul-Ghani|publisher=Munshi Nawal Kishore|year=1918|location=Lucknow|pages=146–152}}</ref> [[Safdarjung|Safdar Jang]] of [[Oudh]] informed the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor of India [[Muhammad Shah]]<ref>Muhammad Shah (1702–1748) was a Mughal emperor of India between 1719 and 1748</ref> (ruled 1719–1748), through [[Itimad-ad-Daula, Qamar-ud-Din Khan|Qamar-ud-Din Khan]]<ref name=":0" /> about Ali Mohammed Khan's supposed intentions to create his own [[Sultanate]]. Mohammed Shah sent an expedition against him, as a result of which Muhammad Khan was imprisoned. Later he was pardoned and made governor of [[Sirhind]].<ref name=":0" /> After [[Nadir Shah]], the conqueror of [[Iran]], took control of [[Kabul]] and sacked [[Delhi]] in 1739, Ali Mohammed Khan returned to his homeland and ruled the independent state of Rohilkhand until his death in 1748.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

[[Faizullah Khan]] was the second son of Ali Muhammad Khan. He assumed rule of the Rohillas after Nawab Saidullah Khan.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

==Descendants==
In the 19th century, the descendants of Ali, specifically the [[Nawabs of Rampur]], claimed he was a [[Barha dynasty|Barha Sayyid]] and began using the title of [[Sayyid]]. However, they could not present any [[pedigree chart|pedigree]] or valid historical proof to support this claim.<ref name=":2" /> The Nawabs even hired a prominent [[Mawlawi (Islamic title)|maulvi]] of Rampur, Najmul Ghani, for establishing ancestry from [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]], which was generally rejected.<ref name="Srivastava">{{cite book |last=Srivastava |first=Ashirbadi Lal |author-link=Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava |title=The First Two Nawabs of Oudh |year=1954 |publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co. Ltd. |oclc=678892685 |page=103 |edition=2nd rev. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUQeAAAAIAAJ |quote=Contemporary Persian authorities say that Ali Muhammad Khan was of Jat parents. See Gulistan. 7; Abdulkarim, 88b, Ashob, 424; Siyar. II 480, A partisan attempt has, however, been made in modern times to prove that he was a Sayyid. Najmul Ghanl of Rampur has invented a false pedigree of the Khan, tracing it to Muhammad. The Maulvi’s discussion is altogether unconvincing and ridiculous. His object seems to be to prove that the present ruler of Rampur is a Sayyid.}}</ref>

The following is a list of his children:
* Nawab [[Abdullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Abdullah Khan]], first son from his wife Marghalari Begum (from Matni tribe)
* Nawab [[Faizullah Khan]], second son from his wife Marghalari Begum, would later found the [[Rampur State]]
* Nawab [[Saadullah Khan of Rohilkhand|Saadullah Khan]], from his wife Sarah Begum (of Bunerwal)
* Nawab [[Muhammad Yar Khan of Bareilly|Muhammad Yar Khan]], son from his wife Lado Begum
* Nawab Alah-Yar Khan, son from his wife Raj Begum - He died of consumption around the same time that his younger brother Murtaza died.
* Murtaza Khan, son - disgusted by Hafiz Rehmat Khan's unfair treatment, he left for Secunderabad where he died.
* Shah Begum, daughter, from wife Marghalari Begum (wife of Inayat Khan son of [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech|Hafiz Rehmat Khan]])
* Niyaz Begum, daughter [and wife of Shah Muhammad Khan brother of [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech|Hafiz Rehmat Khan]]],
* Masoom Begum, daughter, [and wife of [[Zabita Khan]]]
* Inayat Begum, daughter, [wife of Bahadur Khan Kamal Zai]
* a daughter, name unknown, who died in childhood and was engaged to a son of [[Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asif Jah I|Qamar-ud-din Khan]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://rekhta.org/ebooks/akhbar-us-sanadeed-volume-001-mohammad-najmul-gani-khan-ebooks|title=Akhbar-us-Sanadeed, vol. 1|last=Khan|first=Mohammad Najm-ul-Ghani Khan|publisher=Munshi Nawal Kishore|year=1918|location=Lucknow|pages=195–196}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Rohillas]]
* [[Rohilla dynasty]]
* [[Muslim Jats]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist|group=note}}


==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali Mohammed Khan}}
[[Category:18th-century Mughal Empire people]]
[[Category:Rohilla]]
[[Category:Pardon recipients]]
[[Category:1706 births]]
[[Category:1748 deaths]]
[[Category:Nawabs of India]]
[[Category:Indian people of Pashtun descent]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Rohilkhand]]

Ali Mohammed Khan - Revision history

KateCurmi92 at 02:11, 8 March 2026