Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfarāz Khān (c. 1700 – 29 April 1740), born Mīrza Asadullāh, was a Nawab of Bengal. Sarfaraz Khan's maternal grandfather, Nawab Murshid Quli Khan of Bengal nominated him as the direct heir to him as there was no direct heir. After Murshid Quli's death in 1727, Sarfaraz ascended to the Masnad of the Nawab. Sarfaraz's father, Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan, then the Subahdar of Orissa, getting to know it arrived at Murshidabad, the capital of the Nawabs of Bengal with a huge army. To avoid a conflict in the family the dowager Begum of the Nawab asked Shuja-ud-Din to ascend to the Masnad after Sarfaraz abdicated in favour of his father. However, circumstances led Shuja-ud-Din to nominate Sarfaraz as his heir and after Shuja-us-Din's death in 1739, Sarfaraz Khan again ascended to the throne as the Nawab of Bengal.

Born Mirza Asadullah, sometime after 1700, Sarfaraz Khan Dakhni was the son of Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan by his wife Zinat-un-nisa Begum. Sarfaraz Khan was the maternal grandson of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan of Bengal who died on 30 June 1727. In absence of a direct heir, Murshid Khan nominated Sarfaraz Khan to succeed him. Thus, Sarfaraz Khan ascended to the Masnad (throne) as the Nawab in 1727 before abdicating in favour of his father Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan in the same year. On hearing of Sarfaraz's accession to the Masnad, Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan, the Diwan Nazim of Orissa, marched at the head of a large army towards Murshidabad. To avoid a conflict in the family, the dowager Begum of Murshid Quli Khan intervened; and her son-in-law Shuja-ud-Din ascended to the Masnad of Bengal. By August 1727, Shuja-ud-Din was firmly established and recognised as the second Nawab of Bengal.