Twelve Men of Bengal in the Nineteenth Century/Hassan Ali Mirza
NAWAB SIR SYED HASSAN ALI MIRZA KHAN
BAHADUR, RAIS-U-DOWLAH, AMIR-UL
OMRAH, MAHABUT JUNG, G.C.I.E.
1846—1906
The holder of these proud titles was the direct representative of the old Nawab Nazims of Bengal, round whom for generations the whole history of the Province had centred. From the time when the Musulman Emperors at Delhi first sent a representative to preside over the destinies of the far off eastern Province until the establishment of British supremacy, the Nawab Nazims had been the real rulers of Bengal. With the fall of Siraj-ud-Dowlah, however, their long period of absolute power came to an end. Mir Jaffer, placed on the Musnud by Lord Clive after the battle of Plassey, was the first of the new line of Nawabs under British suzerainty. The father of the Nawab Bahadur, the subject of this sketch, was the last to hold the title of Nawab Nazim, a title which he resigned to the British Government on the first of November, 1860. His son Sir Syed Hassan Ali was the first of a new line of hereditary Nawab Bahadurs, the acknowledged Premier nobles of Bengal.
Sir Syed Hassan Ali was born on the 25th of August 1846. He was the eldest son of a family consisting of nineteen sons and twenty-one daughters. As the eldest son and heir of the Nawab Nazim his birth was the occasion of great rejoicings, which were made especially memorable by a fire that accidently occurred during a display of fireworks and resulted in the entire destruction of the Imambara. This was the famous Imambara built by Siraj-ud-Dowlah at enormous cost in the heyday of his power, and though it had Been shorn of much of its glory in the hundred years that had elapsed, it was still a magnificent building. The present Imambara which was built to replace it cost sixty lacs and exceeds in size even the splendid Imambara at Hooghly, remaining the last architectural triumph of the Nawab Nazims of Bengal.
The future Nawab Bahadur spent his early days entirely at Murshidabad. From the first, however, his education was entrusted to English tutors and he was carefully trained for the important position in life that he was destined to occupy. He early showed a fondness for sport and all manly games, but these he never allowed to interfere with his studies which he pursued with great zest and application. Conscientious and painstaking he won the approbation of all his instructors. As he grew towards manhood the question of sending him to England to complete his education was long and seriously discussed. The voyage to Europe was not then the common occurrence among Indian Princes that it has since become, and the Nawab Nazim exhibited a natural reluctance to part for so long a period from his eldest son. Realising, however, what great advantages were likely to accrue to him from a European tour he at length consented. Not only would be he brought into touch with the Home Government and the leaders of English life and thought but by visiting the famous centres of industry he would be enabled to realise the great resources of modern times and to gain a wide and comprehensive view of modern conditions. It was in the spring of 1865 that arrangements were finally completed and the Nawabzada at the impressionable age of nineteen, accompanied by two of his younger brothers, set out under the guidance of Colonel Herbert who had been especially selected to escort him. The party left Calcutta by the Peninsular and Oriental Steamer 'Candia' on the 9th of March, and after visiting Cairo and other parts of Egypt en route finally reached Southampton on April the 19th.
On arrival in London the Nawabzada and his brother at once began a round of sight-seeing that must have been a continual source of delight to the young men whose previous knowledge of the world had been limited to Murshidabad. Practically everything of interest in London was shown to them. At the British Museum, the Tower and various other places of interest they spent many fascinating hours. The Crystal Palace was a never-failing source of delight, while the opera and the theatres were a revelation to them in their utter dissimilarity from eastern plays and music. Innumerable parties were given in their honour and there were few of the most interesting people of the day whom they did not meet. No efforts were spared to make their stay in London enjoyable and instructive. At the Levée held by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen on May the 20th, they were accorded the special privilege of the private entrée. The Nawabzada had also the honour of being privately presented to Queen Victoria by the Secretary of State for India.
After the conclusion of their visit to London, the princes stayed for a time at Sandgate on the south coast, making many interesting excursions in the neighbourhood including one to Portsmouth where the great naval dockyard was insepcted. From Sandgate they went to Birmingham, where the wonders of modern industry were displayed before them in amazing variety. Perhaps no part of their whole tour interested them more than this. Here in the great workshops they saw actually in the making before their eyes those things "Made in Birmingham with which they had been so long familiar in the finished product. The small arms factory excited the keenest interest, and they watched for several hours a large order given by the Sultan of Turkey actually in course of execution. At Coventry they had the pleasure of seeing silk stuffs woven from silk which had come from their own estates in Murshidabad; at Kidderminster they saw carpets destined for their own home in course of manufacture; while Worcester furnished them with the sight of its famous glove factories and its still more famous royal porcelain works. At Chester they saw one of the finest English Cathedrals, and at Eaton Hall close by, the residence of the Duke of Westminster, they saw one of the finest country seats in England. At Manchester they were once more in the midst of the noise and stir of modern industry, all that related to the cotton trade being of absorbing interest to them. Returning to London they spent a few more busy days sight-seeing and bidding farewell to the many friends they had made during their stay, leaving early in December for a short tour on the Continent preparatory to their return home. They visited among other places Paris, Bologne, Genoa and Florence, embarking at Leghorn for Civita Vecchia in order to see Rome, Pompeii and Naples. They finally bade farewell to Europe on January the 19th, 1866, reaching Calcutta on March the 2nd. Though at the outset it had only been contemplated that the tour should last six months, it had extended almost to double that length of time. Colonel Herbert had remained in charge of the party throughout, and though so much of the young men's time had been taken up with travelling and sight-seeing, their regular education had not been interrupted, a tutor having been especially appointed while in England to continue their ordinary course of study.
The affairs of his father, the Nawab Nazim, had not meanwhile been proceeding satisfactorily, and in 1869 he resolved to go to England to lay his case in person before the Secretary of State. He took with him his eldest son and continued to reside there for twelve years only returning to India in 1881. The young Nawabzada by his two visits to England enjoyed a far more liberal education than that which fell to the lot of most young Indian noblemen of his day. He was reported most favourably upon by Colonel Herbert, who, during his long association with him, had every opportunity of fully guaging his character. He showed himself to be amiable, steady and extremely anxious to learn. He displayed under unusual circumstances that might have turned the head of any less well balanced youth, much strength of character, a high moral tone and great honesty of purpose.
In the long and unfortunate disputes in which his father was involved he was keenly interested, and it was a great relief to him when they were finally settled. On November the 1st, 1880, the Nawab Nazim, by an Indenture signed by himself and the Secretary of State, voluntarily resigned his styles and titles in favour of the Crown, his eldest son being subsequently granted the hereditary rank of Nawab Bahadur. Four years later the last Nawab Nazim died, and Syed Hassan Ali succeeded as the head of the family. In 1887, the year of the Queen's Jubilee, he was created a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire, the assumption of the titles of Intisham-ul-Mulk, Rais-ud-Dowlah, Amir-ul-Omra and Mahabat Jung being at the same time officially recognised. A year later the higher dignity of a Grand Commander of the Indian Empire was conferred upon him. In 1891 a further agreement was entered upon between the Nawab Bahadur and the Secretary of State whereby the former confirmed the agreement entered upon by his father in November 1880, while Government finally settled the Nawab's position, granting him a settled income and landed estates in several districts, at the same time recognising him as the Premier noble of Bengal with the hereditary title of Nawab Bahadur and Amir-ul-Omra.
As the head of the Muhammadan community in Bengal the Nawab Bahadur held a position of great respect and his influence was widespread. Apart, however, from his social position he was universally respected for his own personal qualities, for his liberality, his ready sympathy and his unswerving loyalty. In the management of his estates he took a keen personal interest and in times of suffering and distress he was always anxious to go personally to enquire and to render help. When heavy floods ruined the crops and swept away the unfortunate cultivator's cattle and homesteads, it was to the Nawab Bahadur that they looked for loans and gifts to help them to tide over the evil times. During the severe earthquake of June the 12th, 1897, he himself only barely escaped with his life. He was sitting at the time in one of the ground-floor rooms of the palace facing the river, and being in feeble health he had to be carried outside by his attendants. They were only just in time, for, as they reached the open space on the river bank the whole of the second floor of the palace fell in, completely burying beneath the debris the room in which the Nawab Bahadur had been sitting. The damage done to the palace and other buildings amounted to three lacs of rupees. The havoc wrought by the earthquake in the district was very great, but the Nawab, although heavily handicapped by the expenditure entailed in restoring his own home, came forward generously to relieve the distress.
Thus, busy with the management of his estate and the control of his family affairs, the Nawab Bahadur lived his quiet uneventful life at Murshidabad until his death in 1906. The relatives of the Nawab were numerous and it required much tact to decide petty disputes and generally prevent friction among them. So numerous were they that the Nizamat College was built exclusively for their education at a cost of Rs. 1,20,000. The Palace in which the Nawab Bahadur resided is a splendid building, and one of the largest in Bengal being 425 ft. long, 200 ft. wide and 804 ft. high. It contains a fine Banqueting Hall 290 ft. long with sliding doors encased in mirrors, and a magnificent chandelier with one hundred and fifty branches presented to the Nawab by Queen Victoria. The Palace contains some fine pictures, notably one of King William the Fourth presented to the grandfather of the Nawab by the King himself. The hospitability of the Nawab Bahadur was proverbial, and every visitor of whatever rank or class was always sure of a welcome at the Palace. Thus worthily maintaining the best traditions of his house, the Premier noble of Bengal and a loyal subject of the Empire, he passed his closing days amid universal respect and esteem.
THE END