Mir Jumla II

Mir Jumla II (12 February 1591 – 30 March 1663), or Amir Jumla, also known as Ardistānī Mir Muhammad, was a military general, wealthy diamond trader, a Vizier of Golconda sultanate, and later a prominent subahdar of Bengal under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

Mir Jumla was a powerful politician that played important role in northern and Peninsular region of India during the reign of Shah Jahan to Aurangzeb, where he encountered multiple European nation companies interest in India, such as Danish East India Company, East India Company, Dutch East India Company, and Portuguese East India Company.

He commanded the vast merchant fleets enterprise which sailed throughout Surat, Thatta, Arakan, Ayuthya, Balasore, Aceh, Melaka, Johore, Bantam, Makassar, Ceylon, Bandar Abbas, Mecca, Jeddah, Basra, Aden, Masqat, Mocha and the Maldives. The most important aspect of Mir Jumla's rule in Bengal was his northeastern frontier military campaign against Koch Bihar and the Ahom kingdom.

Mir Jumla was born as Mir Mohammad Sayyid Ardistani in Safavid Iran in 1591 to a poor oil merchant of Isfahan, named Mirza Hazaru. Although his parents were extremely poor, he had the opportunity to learn letters which probably lead him to find a job as a clerk under a diamond merchant who had connections with the Golconda Sultanate (present day Hyderabad, India), a region that was famous for its diamond mines. He may have arrived in Golconda in 1630 (although some scholars have suggested alternative dates of 1615 or 1620), due to financial debts to a Sheikh ul Islam and general misgovernance in his country.

One version from James Talboys Wheeler when he entered India region, Mir Jumla at first entered the service of Mughal empire as soldier, where he risen through ranks to the high post. However, due to being insulted by Dara Shikoh, designated heir of emperor Shah Jahan, he left the service.

Mir Jumla also started his own diamond business and got involved in maritime commercial endeavours which increased his wealth. At the prospect of advancing his career, He brought presents to the Qutb Shahi Sultan of Golconda and bribed his way into the Sultan's court. Mir Jumla has presented numerous tributes from his trades to the sultan, such as rarities from Europe, cabinets from China, and elephants from Ceylon. Thus he managed to rise into the position of Vizier (Prime Minister) of the sultanate.

As Mir Jumla raised through the ranks, sometime between February 1634 and December 1636, Mir Jumla was appointed as Sar-i-Khāil, or treasurer of the Golconda state, which he performed strictly to impose the golden Firman of the sultanate.

His proficiency in service and administration were generally proved when he administered trade at the Port of Masulipatnam. His strictness drew ire from the English company factories in Machilipatnam as they saw Mir Jumla were detrimental to the British interest. Mir Jumla continues to impose the extraction moneys from the British company officials by using the Firman mandate from the Sultanate of Golconda. This caused the Sultan to appoint Mir Jumla as chief minister, thus further causing him to become more influential in Golconda region that even the British officers and companies began to deal with Mir Jumla disregarding request from British President and council in Surat to confiscate properties belonging to Mir Jumla.