Zabita Khan Rohilla (died 21 January 1785) was a Rohilla chieftain in the time of the Mughal Emperor

Shah Alam II Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His powe ...

Biography

Zabita Khan was the eldest son of

Najib-ud-Daula Najib ad-Dawlah ( ps, نجيب الدوله), also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai ( ps, نجيب خان), was a Rohilla Yousafzai Afghan who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmed S ...

, a leader of the Afghan Rohilla and founder of the city of

Najibabad Najibabad is a town in the Bijnor district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, located near the city of Bijnor. It is a major industrial city and is well connected to all major cities of India by roadways via NH 119 and NH 74 respectively an ...

(Uttar Pradesh). The Rohillas were Afghans who settled between Delhi and the Himalaya with

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The c ...

as their first city. They were let by individual chieftains. In the mid-18th century, their most important chieftains were Najib-ud-Daula,

Hafiz Rahmat Khan Hafiz Rahmat Khan (1723 – April 1774) was the Regent of Rohilkhand in North India, from 1749 to 1774. He was a Pashtun by background, ruling over Rohillas. Hafiz Rahmat Khan had served honorably throughout the reign of three Mughal Emperor ...

and Ahmed Khan Bangash. Zabita Khan is known to have fought alongside his father during the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761. In March 1768 Najib-ud-Daula retired his leadership over the Rohillas and declared Zabita Khan to be his successor, while he moved to Najibabad. Two of Najib-ud-Daula's high-ranking officers resisted (Ali Muhammed Kur and Sayyid Mian Asrar-ud-din lso known as Lambi Mian but were crushed by Zabita Khan. On 15 October 1769 Najib-ud-Daula went to Delhi, where Zabita Khan was hosted by the Dowager Empress and the Crown Prince. At the time of his father's death on 31October 1770, Zabita Khan was said to be the second richest person in northern India after the Jat King. As his father's eldest son he was invested as ''

Mir Bakhshi The ''Bakhshi'' () in the Mughal Empire denoted a number of hierarchical government officials, typically involved with military administration and intelligence. The offices were introduced during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar. ''Bakhshis'' we ...

'' (Head of the Mughal Army) by

on 29December 1770. During his rule, the

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

captured, first

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

in 1771 and then Rohilkhand in 1772, forcing him to flee to the camp of the

Nawab of Awadh The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishap ...

Shuja-ud-Daula Shuja-ud-Daula (b. – d. ) was the Subedar and Nawab of Oudh and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775. Early life Shuja-ud-Daula was the son of the Mughal Grand Vizier Safdarjung chosen by Ahmad Shah Bahadur. Unlik ...

. He also failed to prevent the Sikh

Khalsa Khalsa ( pa, ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,Kha ...

occupation of

during the

Battle of Delhi (1783) The Battle of Delhi was fought between Khalsa Sikhs and the Mughal Empire in 1783. Background and battle The Sikhs under Baghel Singh, leader of the Karorsinghia Misl, began raiding and plundering the outskirts of Delhi in 1764. In April 1782, ...

Death

Graves within Bakhtiyar Kaki's dargah compound (3703516316)

Zabita Khan died on 21 January 1785. He was succeeded by his son Ghulam Kadir. His grave is in the courtyard of the ''

Dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...

Qutub Sahib'' in

Mehrauli Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, a district of Delhi in India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurgaon and next to Vasant Kunj. History Mehrauli is one of the seven mediev ...

, a shrine dedicated to the Sufi mystic

Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki ''Quṭb al-Aqṭāb'' Khwājā Sayyid Muḥammad Bakhtiyār al-Ḥusaynī, Quṭb al-Dīn Bakhtiyār Kākī ( ur, ) (born 1173 – died 1235) was a Muslim Sufi mystic, saint and scholar of the Chishti Order from Delhi, India. He was the d ...

, and preserved to this day. Some allege that he is buried next to his son Ghulam Kadir, though most consider it more likely that the adjacent grave belongs to Zabita Khan's wife.

Legacy

Zabita Khan founded the Masjid Zabta Ganj, a mosque in Delhi, which is still operated.

References

Bibliography

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Biography

Death

Legacy

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading