Mehar un-Nisa Begum ( fa, ), better known as Ghaseti Begum ( bn, ঘসেটি বেগম, Ghôśeṭi Begôm), was the eldest daughter of

Alivardi Khan Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself. During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequent Mar ...

Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

and

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

during 1740–1758.

Early life

Ghaseti Begum was the eldest daughter of Nawab

, the

, and Princess Sharfunnisa, the paternal aunt of

Mir Jafar Sayyid Mīr Jaʿfar ʿAlī Khān Bahādur ( – 5 February 1765) was a military general who became the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expan ...

. Her paternal grandfather was Mirza Muhammad Madani, who was of either

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

or Turkic descent, the son of a foster-brother of the Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

. Her paternal grandmother belonged to the Turkic Afshar tribe of

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

. Through her, she was a relative of

Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan ( bn, সুজাউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ খাঁন, fa, ) was the Nawab of Bengal. He married Zainab un-nisa Begum and Azmat un-nisa Begum, the daughters of Murshid Quli Khan by Nasiri Banu Beg ...

, the two having shared a common ancestor in Nawab Aqil Khan. Ghaseti Begum married her paternal cousin,

Nawazish Muhammad Khan Nawazish Muhammad Khan ( fa, ; died 1755), also known as Mirza Muhammad Raza, was a Mughal aristocrat and the deputy governor of Dhaka in the 18th century. Biography Mirza Muhammad Raza was the son of Haji Ahmad, the elder brother of Alivardi ...

, who was the

Naib Nazim of Dhaka The Naib Nazim of Dhaka, officially the Naib Nazim of Jahangir Nagar, was the chief Mughal political officer in the city of Dhaka, the present-day capital of Bangladesh, between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries. It was the second highest office ...

. Being childless, the couple adopted Ikram ud-Daulah, the son of her younger sister

Amina Begum Amina Begum ( bn, আমিনা বেগম, fa, ) was a Bengali aristocrat from the Nawab family of Bengal and mother of Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal. Early life and background Amina Begum was the youngest daughter ...

. But Ikram ud-Daulah died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

at a young age. Soon after Nawazish Muhammad also died from grief. Ghaseti Begum inherited vast wealth from her husband.

Conspiracy against Siraj ud-Daulah

After the death of Nawab Alivardi Khan, Ghaseti Begum tried to enthrone Shaukat Jang, the son of her second sister Maimuna Begum. But Siraj ud-Daulah managed to ascend to the power of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. Eventually she secretly conspired against him with the help of

, the chief of Alivardi Khan's army, along with the merchants

Omichund Omichund or Umichand ( bn, উমিচাঁদ; died 1767) was a native merchant of Bengal Nawabi period in India who was one of the principal authors of the conspiracy against Nawab and associated with the treaty negotiated by Robert Clive bef ...

and

Jagat Seth The Jagat Seth family was a wealthy merchant, banker and money lender family from Murshidabad in Bengal during the time of the Nawabs of Bengal. History The house was founded by Jain Hiranand Shah from Nagaur, Rajasthan, who came to Patna in ...

Death

After the fall of Siraj ud-Daulah in the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, ...

in 1757, Ghaseti was imprisoned in the

Jinjira Palace Jinjira Palace ( bn, জিঞ্জিরা প্রাসাদ), also spelt Zinzira Palace, is a late 17th century Mughal-era palace in Keraniganj, Bangladesh on the southern banks of the Old Ganges or Buriganga River. It was built by Ibrah ...

by Mir Jafar. But sensing danger, Miran, son of Mir Jafar, moved Ghaseti to

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. During ...

in 1760.Murshidabad History
/ref> She was believed to have been drowned in the

Buriganga River The Buriganga River ( bn, বুড়িগঙ্গা, ''Buŗigônga'', ) is a river in Bangladesh which flows past the southwest outskirts of the capital city, Dhaka. Its average depth is and its maximum depth is . It ranks among the most ...

on the way by order of Miran.

References

{{Murshidabad topics Nawabs of Bengal Indian Shia Muslims 18th-century Indian women People from Murshidabad district

Early life

Conspiracy against Siraj ud-Daulah

Death

See also

References