Nawab Mohammad Jan Bahadur, the Amil-Foujdar of Sylhet

I: Power in the Capital

In the early 18th century, the mighty Mughal Empire was fracturing. While the Emperors in Delhi became mere figureheads, the province of Bengal operated with massive wealth and autonomy. To govern its strategic, high-revenue frontier districts, the provincial capital of Murshidabad appointed seasoned, elite aristocrats.

Nawab Mohammad Jan Bahadur was chosen for one of the most vital posts in the realm: the Amil (Governor and Revenue Administrator) of the Sylhet Capital, with the powers of a Foujdar.

Operating from the administrative seat of power, Nawab Mohammad Jan Bahadur held immense executive authority. He commanded regional garrisons, managed the local treasury, and issued supreme imperial decrees. Historical records, such as Srihotter Itibritto, preserve the memory of his rule, explicitly documenting formal decrees like Sanad №71, which he signed and sealed on the 15th of Ramzan during the 21st Regnal Year (Julus) of Emperor Muhammad Shah — a date corresponding precisely to November 17, 1739. Through these sanads, he granted permanent land allocations to prominent regional figures, cementing his status as the state's sovereign face.

II: The Coup of 1740 and the Capital Crisis

In April 1740, a violent political earthquake shattered the peace of Bengal. Alivardi Khan, a powerful and ambitious commander, launched a bloody coup d’état. He marched on the capital of Murshidabad, overthrew and killed the reigning Nawab Sarfaraz Khan, and usurped the throne of Bengal.

Nawab Sarfaraz Khan

The sons and loyal faction of the fallen Nawab Sarfaraz Khan were forced to scatter to the peripheral regions of eastern Bengal to escape execution or imprisonment.

Because high-ranking district appointments were built entirely on networks of absolute loyalty to the legitimate ruling line, Nawab Mohammad Jan Bahadur found himself in immediate, mortal danger. He refused to bend the knee to the usurper Alivardi Khan, making the Sylhet capital ground zero for a hostile takeover. Staying meant certain death or capture.

Alivardi Khan

III: The Great Escape by Boat

Nawab Mohammad Jan Bahadur orchestrated a highly coordinated, tactical retreat to safeguard his inner circle and preserve the structural authority of his administration.

He didn’t flee alone. Joining him on the boat was his closest, highest-ranking institutional ally from the capital court: the progenitor of the Datta (Dastidar) family of Richi. While the Datta progenitor’s ancestral roots (nasal home) lay in Ponchokhondo, he had been living and working directly alongside the Nawab at the seat of power, managing the critical state papers, financial books, and official seals.

Turning their backs on their established lives, the two leaders and their families slipped away from the capital by boat. They navigated downstream through the intricate river networks of greater Sylhet, evading Alivardi Khan’s advancing forces. They headed southwest toward Taraf (modern-day Habiganj) — a naturally fortified feudal stronghold protected by vast wetlands, where a pursuing army could not easily follow.

IV: Rebuilding the Legacy in Habiganj

Upon reaching the safety of the Habiganj region, the two allied families parted ways to establish new, permanent seats of regional prominence:

• Nawab Muhammad Jan Bahadur: Chose to permanently settle in the prestigious, culturally rich area of Syedpur. The progenitor transitioned from a capital bureaucrat into a powerful landlord, founding the historical Doriapur Zamindar Estate.

• The Datta Family: Settled in the locality of Richi, where the progenitor transitioned from a capital bureaucrat into the Richi Zamindar.

To solidify his family’s local legitimacy and build deep territorial roots in his new home, the displaced Nawab married into an elite, long-established landed gentry family from Chandrachuri.

Through this marriage, the lineage was securely anchored for the generations to come. Nawab Muhammad Jan Bahadur fathered two sons:

1. Abdul Latif
2. Abdur Rahim

These sons grew up in Syedpur, raised on the legacy of a father who had ruled a provincial capital, commanded armies, and chosen a life of noble exile over submission to a usurper. They became the direct heirs to the family’s reconstructed estates and carried the elite bloodline forward into history.