Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/207

Rh The charities of the Nawab, both public and private were on a most generous scale. He spent large sums on sacred shrines in and around Dacca, and although himself a staunch Sunni, he did not hesitate to maintain at great expense the largest Imambara in Dacca which is entirely a Shia institution. This is but one instance of his wide sympathies and liberal-mindedness. So great was his influence with both Sunnis and Shias that when a serious difference occurred between them, threatening to lead to open mutiny, he was asked by the local authorities to arbitrate between them. This he did with such success that their differences were speedily healed. For those respectable Muhammadans who had fallen on evil days and of whom Dacca, an old city which had itself suffered decay, held a large number, he evinced a special sympathy. His private benefactions to such as these will never be known.

In Dacca and throughout his extensive estates he was universally beloved. No tale of distress or scarcity coming from any part of Eastern Bengal ever met with an unsympathetic reception from him. When famine or cyclone had done their worst he was always prompt to relieve distress by every generous means in his power. Of the wealth that had come to him in such abundance he gave with no stinting hand. Dacca in particular owed much to him. In addition to the fine gardens and houses