Bihar Subah | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1575–1733 | |||||||||
 The Suba of Bihar situated between Awadh and Bengal | |||||||||
| Capital | Patna | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern period | ||||||||
• Established | 1575 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1733 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• 1601 | 55,478[1] sq mi (143,690 km2) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||
TheBihar Subah (Persian:صوبه بهار) was a province (suba) of theMughal Empire that was formed in 1575. It was one of the original twelve subas established by EmperorAkbar. Its seat was in the city ofPatna which was also known asAzimabad. The seat of Azimabad was named after the Mughal prince,Azim-ush-Shan who was the son of EmperorShah Alam I.[2]
The suba was bordered to the west by the subas ofIllahabad andAwadh and to the east byBengal Subah.[3]
The suba of Bihar functioned as a link betweenHindustan andBengal. On its northern boundary, it reached into the foothills of theHimalayas although this border was poorly defined as it was covered by the forestedTerai. Under EmperorAkbar, Bihar was divided into sevensarkars which were:[2]
Much of the region was now fully integrated into the Empire, particularly around Monghhy and Khokhrah where it was said that "the laws and commands of the provincial administration could be ignored without incurring too many problems." The sarkar of Purnea was not fully integrated into the suba of Bihar but was under an independent faujdar known as theFaujdars of Purnea which acted as a small military frontier between Bihar and Bengal.[2]
In 1733, EmperorMuhammad Shah granted the suba of Bihar to the subadar of Bengal,Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan at which point Bihar and Bengal were merged with one another.[2]
Much of Bihar Suba during this time was under the control of semi-autonomous zamindars. Within Bihar, the Zamindars had both economic and military power. Each zamindari would have their own standing army which was typically composed of their own clansmen. Some notable zamindaris include:[4]
NotableSubahdars of Bihar include:[5]
