Nawabs

Information on the Nawabs of India

1. Nawab is what people called themselves over kings: it is the plural of “naib” or “deputy”. A **Nawab** or **Nawaab or Nabob** was originally the //subedar// (provincial governor) or viceroy of a //subah// (province) or region of the Mughal empire. It became a high title for Muslim nobles. 2. Before the incorporation of India into the British Empire, Nawabs ruled the kingdoms of Awadh (or Oudh, encouraged by the British to shed the Mughal suzereignty and assume the imperial style of Badshah), Bengal, Arcot and Bhopal. 3. There is strong reason to believe that the title 'nawab' in the sense of a deputy got currency through the Europeans, particularly the English east india company officials, who always referred to him as nawab or nabab. From the emperor, the English company, for that matter all maritime companies of Europe, had obtained many rights and privileges which the Bengal rulers, to safeguard their own interest, did not mean to implement though the companies always tried to argue in legal terms that as a 'naib' or deputy of the emperor it was mandatory on their part to abide by the imperial sanads and farmans. 4. Nawab means “prince” or “governor.” The british officials of the East India Company made so much money in the form of illegal bribes, kickbacks, and commissions, as well as private trade and investments, that when they returned to England they led lavish lifestyles. People started calling them “nabobs.” Soon it became common for the upper-class British families that were financially strapped to send their sons to india to “make their fortune.”

Works Cited

Khan, Aisha. "British Nabobs." //A Historical Atlas of India//. 1st. New York, United States of America: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2004. Print.(Khan 42)
//GOODDELL//. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. .