Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/230

200 settled there, acquiring large landed properties and carrying on a banking business with eminent success. It was on the maternal side, however, that the Nawab could claim his most distinguished descent. His father had married the Nawaba Hafizun-nissa Begum who herself was the great grand -daughter of Nawab Basher-ul-Mulk Asad Jung, for many years Deputy Governor of Behar in the time of the Emperor Shah Alum. The latter had four sons of whom the most distinguished was Nawab Syed Gholam Hosein Khan, the well known author of the famous history of the Moghul Court, the "Seirul-Mutakerin" which throws so strong a light on the causes of the decay of the Moghul Empire during the reigns of the last seven monarchs. The second son of Nawab Basher-ul-Mulk was Syed-ud-dowlah Syed Ali Khan Shumser Jung, the grandfather of Hafizun-nissa Begum. The third son was Fakirud-dowlah Syed Najim Ali Khan Zafar Jung on whom the Pergana Japla in the district of Palamau was conferred as a revenue free gift in recognition of his services to the Moghul Empire, a grant which was confirmed by the East India Company on the 5th August, 1815, three years before the birth of the subject of this memoir. Having no son, Fakirud-dowlah had adopted his brother's grand-daughter, Hafizun-nissa Begum who thus acquired by adoption a share in the property. Nawab Syed Walayet Ali Khan thus came of stock which had done good