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{{Short description|Grand vizier of the Mughal Empire allied with the Marathas}}
{{For|other people with similar names|Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2021}}

[[File:Ghází al-Dín Xán ʿImád al-Mulk.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Imad-ul-Mulk]]{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}

'''Feroze Jung III''' or '''Nizam Shahabuddin Muhammad Feroz Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi''' also known by his sobriquet '''Imad-ul-Mulk''', was the grand vizier of the [[Mughal Empire]].

He was the son of [[Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung II]] and a grandson of the founder of the [[Asaf Jahi dynasty]], [[Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I]].<ref name="beale">[[An Oriental Biographical Dictionary|An oriental biographical dictionary: founded on materials collected by the late Thomas William Beale]];2nd Edition; Publisher:W.H. Allen, 1894; page 143</ref> After the death of his father in 1752, he was recommended by Nawab [[Safdarjung|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 (Pillar of the Realm).<ref name="beale" />

A controversial figure, Imad is well known for deposing, imprisoning and blinding [[Mughal emperor]] [[Ahmad Shah Bahadur]], assassinating emperor [[Alamgir II]], and torturing their family members including future emperor [[Shah Alam II]].

He was declared to be an apostate by various [[Islamic scholar]]s, including [[Shah Waliullah Dehlawi]], and [[Durrani Empire|Durrani]] emperor [[Ahmad Shah Abdali]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Google books|id=MazdaWXQFuQC|p=27}}</ref>

== Early life and rise to power ==
Feroz Jung was raised under the scrutiny and austerity of his father Ghazi ud-Din, spending his days under the care of tutors and mullahs, and allowed the company of only eunuchs on Fridays. He was never allowed to mix with children of his own age or attend performances by musicians or dancing girls. He was appointed to the Mughal court by his father Feroze Jung II in 1752. The historian [[William Dalrymple (historian)|William Dalrymple]] describes the result as a "precocious intellectual achievement...undermined by unbounded ambition and profound immorality that led to his turning on all who helped him, starting with his patron [[Safdar Jang]]."<ref name=Dalrymple2019>{{Cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=William |title=The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |year=2019 |isbn=9781408864371 |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|154}}

Safdar Jang, the [[Nawab of Awadh]], and ''Wazir-ul-Malik-i-Hindustan'' (Prime Minister of Hindustan), had intervened to secure Feroz Jung's estates after the death of his father and had appointed him the imperial paymaster at the age of sixteen.<ref name=Sarkar1991>{{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Sir Jadunath |title=Fall of the Mughal Empire, vol. 1 |year=1991 |location=New Delhi |pages=222}}</ref> The French military commander [[Jean Law de Lauriston|Jean Law]] described that Safdar Jang regarded Feroz Jung "like his own son and could scarcely have imaged that he was actually nursing a serpent at his breast."<ref name=Law2014>{{Cite book |last=Lauriston |first=Jean Law de |title=A Memoir of the Mughal Empire 1757-61 |year=2014 |location=New Delhi |pages= |translator-last=Cheema |translator-first=G.S.}}</ref>{{rp|126}}

Emperor [[Ahmad Shah Bahadur]] chose Feroz Jung to counter the powerful Safdar Jang. He formed a coalition with [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech]] and [[Qudsia Begum]], the emperor's mother to outmaneuver Safdar Jang out of the court.<ref name="HoA">{{Cite web |date=2001-09-01 |title=HISTORY OF AWADH |url=http://www.indiancoins.8m.com/awadh/AwadhHist.html#BURHANULMULK |access-date=2023-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010901224326/http://www.indiancoins.8m.com/awadh/AwadhHist.html#BURHANULMULK |archive-date=1 September 2001 }}</ref>

According to Dalrymple, in 1753, a "civil war between the old vizier and his teenage replacement raged across the suburbs of the city for six months, from March to November, with the old and new cities of Delhi held by rival factions."<ref name=Dalrymple2019 />{{rp|154}} Safdar Jang's [[Old Delhi]] stronghold was looted and destroyed, never to recover.<ref name=Dalrymple2019 />{{rp|155}} According to the Mughal historian [[Ghulam Hussain Khan]], "Old Delhi, which used to be even wealthier and populous than the new city, Shahjahanabad, was plundered and sacked so thoroughly that an infinity of people lost their consorts and children, and were totally ruined, besides numbers that were massacred."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Syed Ghulam Hussain Tabatabai |title=Seir Mutaqherin or Review of Modern Times, vol. 3 |year=1790 |location=Calcutta |pages=334}}</ref> Safdar Jang would be forced to retreat to [[Oudh State|Awadh]] and would never recover, dying less a year later, due to the "shock and grief at his fall."<ref name=Law2014/>{{rp|126}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kai |first=Manna |year=2018 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |editor2-last=Krämer |editor2-first=Gudrun |title=The Encyclopedia of Islam — Three |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/1158412083 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.worldcat.org |publisher=Brill |pages=110–13 |language=en}}</ref>

==De facto emperor==
[[File:Imadulmulk.jpg|thumb|Imad ul-Mulk holds a banquet]]

Imad-ul-Mulk emerged as the de facto ruler of Delhi by calling on the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] for help and instigating them to attack the [[Jats]] of [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]]. The [[Marathas]] laid [[Battle of Kumher|siege]] over the Kumher fort on 1 January 1754 but were unable to overcome the resistance of [[Suraj Mal]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Pratik gupta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqYiBAAAQBAJ&dq=battle+of+kumher&pg=PA64 |title=Maratha Generals and Personalities: A gist of great personalities of Marathas |publisher=Pratik gupta |year=2014 |pages=190}}</ref> Imad-ul-Mulk had collected 1,500,000 ''dams'' but refused to pay salaries to the Mughal army and imperial officials, estranging him from the emperor.

Ahmad Shah Bahadur declared the reinstatement of Safdar Jang as his Grand Vizier and tried to remove Imad-ul-Mulk from the imperial court. This caused him to send Aqibat Mahmud to arrest the emperor and then seek an alliance with the [[Raghunath Rao]], the brother of Maratha [[Peshwa]] [[Balaji Baji Rao|Nanasabeb I]].

=== Deposing Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur ===
The Marathas, aided by [[Malhar Rao Holkar]], defeated Ahmad Shah Bahadur's army in what came to be known as [[Battle of Sikandrabad (1754)]] in May 1754 and captured members of the emperor's household, including 8,000 women.<ref name="singh">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=K. Natwar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lL-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT51 |title=Maharaj Suraj Mal 1707–1763 |date=2012-12-03 |publisher=Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=9788129126603 |language=en}}</ref> Ahmad Shah Bahadur fled toward Delhi while the ailing Safdar Jang fled to Awadh. Imad-ul-Mulk, with the support of Raghunath Rao, proceeded to Delhi, and deposed Ahmad Shah Bahadur on 2 June 1754 and imprisoned at the [[Salimgarh Fort]] in December.<ref name="Gupta1961">{{cite book |title=Marathas and Panipat |date=1961 |publisher=Panjab University |editor=Hari Ram Gupta |pages=24}}</ref>

Imad-ul-Mulk released Prince [[Alamgir II|Aziz-ud-Din]] from prison and crowned him emperor with the [[regnal name]] '''Alamgir II'''. The 55-year-old prince had been in prison since 1714 when his father emperor [[Jahandar Shah]] was overthrown by [[Farrukhsiyar]]. He had no experience of administration or warfare, serving as another puppet Mughal emperor with all power vested with Imad-ul-Mulk. He supposedly intercepted the secret dispatches from Ahmad Shah Bahadur to Suraj Mal where the imprisoned emperor promised to aid to the Jats if they continued to hold out against the Mughal army besieging Bharatpur. Imad-ul-Mulk made peace with Suraj Mal, returned to Delhi and had Ahmad Shah Bahadur and his mother Qudsia Begum blinded with hot needles.<ref name="Deloche1991">{{cite book |author=François Xavier Wendel |title=Wendel's Memoirs on the Origin, Growth and Present State of Jat Power in Hindustan (1768) |date=1991 |publisher=Institut français de Pondichery |editor=Jean Deloche |pages=124}}</ref><ref name=Dalrymple2019 />{{rp|156}}

=== Ahmad Shah Durrani's invasion ===
{{See also|Sack of Delhi (1757)|Battle of Delhi (1757)}}
[[Durrani Empire|Afghan]] emperor [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] invaded India for the fourth time in 1756, on the invitation of [[Mughlani Begum]] to defeat [[Misl|Sikh rebels]] in Punjab. They conquered the [[Lahore]], [[Sirhind-Fategarh|Sirhind]], Delhi, [[Vrindavan]] and plundered [[Mathura]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707–1813 |last=Mehta |first=Jaswant Lal |date=January 2005 |isbn=9781932705546 |publisher=Sterling Publishers |page=229}}</ref>

Ahmad Shah [[Sack of Delhi (1757)|occupied Delhi in January 1757]] and imprisoned emperor Alamgir II. He attempted to impose an alliance on the Mughals by marrying Hadrat Begum, the daughter of [[Muhammad Shah]], and having his son [[Timur Shah Durrani]] marry Zuhra Begum, daughter of Alamgir II. In April 1757, Ahmad Shah reinstalled Alamgir II as the titular emperor, and began his return to Afghanistan. However, actual control of Delhi was given to [[Najib-ud-Daula]], the [[Rohilla]] ''[[Mir Bakhshi]]'' of the Mughal army who had defected to support Ahmad Shah's invasion, in return for an annual tribute of 20 lakh rupees. Ahmad Shah Durrani returned to [[Kabul]], leaving his forces led by Timur Shah, consolidating themselves inside the garrisons of Lahore.

After the departure of the Afghans from Delhi, Imad-ul-Mulk, who had been paying the Marathas a tribute, invited them to remove the Rohillas from Delhi. In the ensuing [[Battle of Delhi (1757)|Battle of Delhi]], a 40,000-strong Maratha army led by Raghunath Rao expelled Najib ad-Dawlah from the city. The Marathas, now the de facto rulers of Delhi, appointed Antaji Mankeshwar as the governor and retained Alamgir II as the emperor.<ref name="delhi">[https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&dq=marathas+in+control+of+delhi&pg=PA229 Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1BY9AAAAIAAJ&dq=the+marathas+occupied+delhi+without+difficulty&pg=PA564 The New Cambridge Modern History, Volume 4]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&dq=maratha+had+become+the+de+facto+rulers+of+delhi&pg=PA232 History of Indian subcontinent]</ref> Imad-ul-Mulk would be declared an 'apostate' by Islamic scholars and Ahmad Shah Durrani for inviting the Hindu Marathas to defeat the Muslim Rohilla Afghans.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

=== Maratha conquest of Lahore ===
{{See also|Battle of Lahore (1759)}}
In 1758, Peshwa Raghunath Rao drove out Timur Shah Durrani and Jahan Khan out of Lahore after extracting imperial wealth from Imad-ul-Mulk. The Afghans were forced to retreat to Peshawar under the force of Maratha and Sikh attacks. The combined Maratha-Sikh force massacred the Afghan garrison, wounding Jahan Khan and killing his son. The Afghans quickly vacated the forts of [[Peshawar]] and [[Attock]] and retreated west to Afghanistan. Buoyed by success, Ragunath Rao grandiosely sacked Delhi and signalled his intention to place his brother [[Balaji Baji Rao]]'s son [[Vishwasrao]] on the Mughal throne.<ref name="Elphinstone2">{{cite book |last=Elphinstone |first=Mountstuart |url=https://archive.org/details/historyindia02elphgoog |title=History of India |publisher=John Murray, Albemarle Street |year=1841 |page=276}}</ref>

=== Escape of Prince Ali Gauhar and assassination of Alamgir ===
{{quote box
| width = 25%
| quote = ''"Some ill-designing people had turned his brain, and carried him to the eastern part of the Empire, which would be the cause of much trouble and ruin to our regimes."''
| source = '''Feroze Jung III's''' letter to [[Mir Jafar]], after the escape of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] crown prince [[Shah Alam II|Ali Gauhar]].<ref>{{Google books|id=hehJAAAAcAAJ|p=123}}</ref>
}}
Imad-ul-Mulk feared that emperor Alamgir would invite Ahmad Shah Durrani or use his son, Prince [[Shah Alam II|Ali Gauhar]] to dispossess him of his newfound power. He began to plot the assassination of the emperor and members of the royal family in the winter of 1759.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Alamgir II (Mughal emperor) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/12130/Alamgir-II |access-date=2014-01-31 |date=2012-11-21}}</ref> Fearing for his life, ''[[Wali al-Ahd]]'' (crown prince) Ali Gauhar organised a milita and escaped Delhi for the [[Bengal Subah]] to strengthen his position by attempting to regain control over [[Bengal Subah|Bengal]], [[Bihar]] and [[Odisha]]. Imad-ud-Mulk ordered [[Mir Jafar]], the [[Nawabs of Bengal|Nawab of Bengal]] to advance as far as [[Patna]] to capture or kill Ali Gauhar.

In November 1759, emperor Alamgir II was told that a pious man had come to meet him; ever so eager to meet holy men, set out immediately to meet him at Kotla Fateh Shah, he was stabbed repeatedly by [[Imad-ul-Mulk]]'s assassins. The emperor's death would be mourned throughout the empire, but particularly among the Muslim populance. Maratha Peshwa Raghunath Rao, under the influence of [[Sadashivrao Bhau]], considered abolishing the Mughal empire, and placing his son [[Vishwasrao]] on the Mughal throne by bribing or deposing Imad-ul-Mulk.<ref name="Elphinstone2"/>

Sadashivrao Bhau then personally chose [[Shah Jahan III]] as the new Mughal Emperor and began a campaign of plundering the jewels and ornaments of the Mughal imperial court; defacing Mughal mosques, tombs and shrines in Agra and Delhi, and desecrating the imperial [[Moti Masjid (Agra)|Moti Masjid]], and looting its exquisite jewelled decorations.<ref>{{cite book |author=Shaharyar M. Khan |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=jq-g5YF1QzEC |page=37 }} |title=The Begums of Bhopal: A History of the Princely State of Bhopal |date=2000-10-20 |access-date=2014-01-31}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2019}}

=== Fall from power ===
{{See also|Shah Alam II|Battle of Panipat (1761)}}
Ali Gauhar and his 30,000-strong Mughal army, were reinforced by the forces of [[Shuja-ud-Daula]], [[Najib-ud-Daula]] and Ahmad Khan Bangash. The Mughals were also joined by [[Jean Law de Lauriston]] and 200 Frenchmen, who had been waging a campaign against the British as a part of the [[Seven Years' War]]. Ali Gauhar intended to overthrow Mir Jafar and Imad-ul-Mulk by advancing toward Awadh and Patna in 1759. Forced to flee Delhi, Imad-ul-Mulk was replaced as Grand Vizier by Najib-ud-Daula after Ahmad Shah issued a ''farman'' recognising Prince Ali Gauhar as the Mughal emperor [[Shah Alam II]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Raghunath Rai |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=Z4-8Z0gqBkoC |page=17 }} |title=History |access-date=2014-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=TPVq3ykHyH4C |page=234 }} |title=A History of India |access-date=2014-01-31}}</ref>

The defeat of Alamgir II's son-in-law, Timur Shah Durrani by the Marathas in the year 1760, provoked the wrath of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who launched a massive campaign gathering more troops than ever before. At the [[Third Battle of Panipat|Battle of Panipat]] in January 1761, a coalition of Afghan, Rohilla and Awadh troops defeated the Marathas, shattering their influence over the Mughal imperial throne and over northern India.

==Later life and death ==
According to the biography of the poet Gulzar Ibrahim, Imad-ul-Mulk was living in strained circumstances in 1780. In 1784, he formed an arrangement with the Maratha Peshwa and received [[Baoni State|Baoni]] as ''[[jagir]]''.

Subsequently, he proceeded to [[Surat]] where he passed a few years with the English and then went on the [[Hajj]]. He composed [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Rekhta]] poetry and left [[Arabic]] and [[Turkish language|Turkish]] [[Ghazal]]s and a thick Persian [[Diwan (poetry)|Diwan]] and a [[Masnawi]] ''Fakhria-tun_Nizam'' and ''Nalaa-e-Ny'' relating the miracles of Maulana Fakhar-ud-Din under the pen name ''Nizam''.

Under the influence of [[Sufism]], Imad-ul-Mulk abandoned political career and moved to Maharshrif, [[Chishtian]] to live with [[Noor Muhammad Maharvi]]. He poetically described Maharvi's death, ''حیف واویلا جہاں بے نور گشت'' (What a pity, where there is no light) in 1205 [[Islamic calendar|Hijri]], indicating his residence in Maharshrif until at least 1791 [[Common Era|CE]]. After Maharvi's death, Imad-ul-Mulk moved to [[Khairpur]] and died there in 1800, where his grave is located.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

His wife was the celebrated Ganna Begum, who died in 1775.

He was succeeded by his son Naser-ad-Daula as the Nawab of [[Baoni State|Baoni jagir]].

== Popular culture ==
In the 2019 [[Bollywood]] war epic [[Panipat (film)|Panipat]], the character of Imad-ul-Mulk and his role in the events leading up to the [[Third Battle of Panipat]] is portrayed by [[Mir Sarwar]].

In the TV series [[The Great Maratha]] 1994 the role was played by Jitendra Trehan.

== See also ==
* [[Hyderabad State]]
* [[Nizam]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung 03}}
[[Category:Nobility from the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:18th-century births]]
[[Category:1800 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Jalaun]]
[[Category:Grand viziers of the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:18th-century Mughal Empire people]]
[[Category:18th-century nobility]]

Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III - Revision history

Amanshrbiz at 17:02, 7 February 2026