page_title: Dost Mohammad of Bhopal
section_title: Conflict with the Asaf Jah I
hierarchical_section_title: Dost Mohammad of Bhopal / Conflict with the Asaf Jah I
caption_attribution_description: English: Coat of Arms of the Indian Princely state of Bhopal. The insignia on the coat of arms (Maha Muratib or "the dignity of the Fish") was granted by Nizam-ul-Mulk to Yar Mohammad, the son of Bhopal's founder Dost Mohammad Khan. Deutsch: Wappen des indischen Fürstenstaates Bhopal
context_page_description: Dost Mohammad Khan was the founder of the Bhopal State in central India. He founded the modern city of Bhopal, the capital of the Madhya Pradesh state.
  A Pashtun from Tirah, Dost Mohammad Khan joined the Mughal Army at Delhi in 1703. He rapidly rose through the ranks, and was assigned to the Malwa province in central India. After the death of the emperor Aurangzeb, Khan started providing mercenary services to several local chieftains in the politically unstable Malwa region. In 1709, he took on the lease of Berasia estate, while serving the small Rajput principality of Mangalgarh as a mercenary. He invited his Pashtun kinsmen to Malwa to create a group of loyal associates. Khan successfully protected Mangalgarh from its other Rajput neighbors, married into its royal family, and took over the state after the death of its heirless dowager Rani.
  Khan sided with the local Rajput chiefs of Malwa in a rebellion against the Mughal empire. Defeated and wounded in the ensuing battle, he ended up helping an injured Sayyid Hussain Ali Khan Barha, one of the Sayyid Brothers.
context_section_description: By the early 1720s, Dost Mohammad Khan had transferred himself from a mercenary to the ruler of a small state. After the death of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, the Malwa territory was claimed by the Marathas and some kings of Rajputana, in addition to the Mughals. All these powers made such claims mainly through proxies (such as the local chieftains), although they did engage in occasional punitive raids when the local chiefs refused to pay the tribute demanded by them. Dost Mohammad Khan acknowledged Mughal authority by sending expensive gifts (such as an elephant) and flattering letters to the Mughal Emperor, who was controlled by the Sayyid Brothers. Emperor Farrukhsiyar conferred on him the title Nawab Diler Jung, probably on the recommendation of the Sayyid Brothers. Dost also prevented the Maratha invasions by regularly paying them chauth (tribute).
  In 1719, the Sayyid Brothers murdered Emperor Farrukhsiyar, who had been plotting against them. Subsequently, they placed Rafi Ul-Darjat and Rafi ud-Daulah as the emperors, both of whom died of sickness in 1719. Muhammad Shah then ascended the Mughal throne with the help of the Sayyid Brothers, who acted as his regents till 1722. The hostility between Sayyid Brothers and the rival nobleman Nizam-ul-Mulk had been growing in the recent years. Dost Mohammad Khan was well-aware of the power of Nizam-ul-Mulk, who was the Subahdar (Governor) of Malwa; he had seen his strong force passing through Bhopal on its way to the Deccan in the south. However, he allied himself with the Mughal Court controlled by the Sayyid Brothers, with whom he had developed a close friendship.
  In 1720, the Sayyid Brothers dispatched a Mughal force led by Dilawar Ali Khan against Nizam in Malwa. When Dost Mohammad Khan was asked to support this force, he sent a contingent commanded by his brother Mir Ahmad Khan to fight on the Mughal side. The Mughal force ambushed the Nizam at Burhanpur near Khandwa on 19 June 1720, but was decisively defeated by the Nizam, who was supported by the Marathas. Dilawar Khan, Mir Ahmad and other generals sent by the Sayyid Brothers were killed in the battle, and Dost Mohammad Khan's forces retreated to Malwa, pursued and plundered by the Nizam's Maratha auxiliaries. Thus, Dost earned the wrath of both the Nizam and the Maratha Peshwa for opposing them.
  Subsequently, Nizam-ul-Mulk helped the emperor Muhammad Shah in getting the Sayyid Brothers killed. After having established control over the Deccan, he decided to get even with Dost Mohammad Khan for supporting the Sayyid Brothers. On 23 March 1723, he despatched a force to Bhopal, where Khan put up some fight from his fort. After a brief siege, Khan agreed to a truce the next day. He arranged an expensive welcome banquet for the Nizam, presented him with an elephant and stationed his forces on a hillock renamed to Nizam tekri (Nizam's hillock) in the Nizam's honor. He agreed to cede part of his territory, including the Islamnagar fort. He also paid a tribute of ten lakh (one million) rupees with a promise to pay a second installment later. He was also forced to send his 14-year-old son and heir Yar Mohammad Khan to Nizam's capital Hyderabad, as a hostage.
  The Nizam assumed control over Bhopal, and appointed Dost Mohammad Khan as a kiledar (fort commander). In return for a fort, the payment of Rs. 50,000 and the pledge of 2000 troops, the Nizam granted a sanad (decree) to Khan recognizing the latter's right to collect the revenues from the territory.
caption: Dost Mohammad Khan's son Yar Mohammad received from Nizam-ul-Mulk the insignia of the Maha Muratib (the dignity of the Fish).[6] The insignia became part of the Bhopal State's coat of arms.
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