Mian Qutb Shah or Qutb Khan was an Indian Muslim

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

and formerly a collector of

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared as on ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. He was best known as the slayer of

Dattaji Rao Scindia Dattaji Rao Scindia, also known as Dattaji Rao Shinde, (1723 – 10 January 1760) was the second son of Ranoji Rao Shinde and Maina Bai, alias Nimba Bai. His elder brother was Jayappaji Rao Shinde and his younger brother was Jyotiba. Early ...

Conquest of Sirhind

Qutb Khan joined the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

emperor's troops in the battle between

Ahmad Shah Bahadur Ahmad Shah Bahadur , also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi (23 December 1725 – 1775 AD), was the fourteenth Mughal Emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the ag ...

and

Safdar Jang Abul Mansur Mirza Muhammad Muqim Ali Khan (c. 1708 – 5 October 1754), better known as Safdar Jang, was a major figure at the Mughal court during the declining years of the Mughal Empire. He became the second Nawab of Awadh when he succeeded S ...

. He was given the ''parganahs'' of Kairana, Barot, Sardhana, and Kandhla by way of pay. When the

Wazir Wazir often refers to: * Vizier or wazir, a high-ranking political advisor or minister Wazir may also refer to: Places * Wazirabad, a City in Punjab, Pakistan * Waziristan, a region in tribal belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan * Wazir Akbar K ...

Imad-ul-Mulk Feroze Jung III or Nizam Shahabuddin Muhammad Feroz Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi also known by his sobriquet Imad-ul-Mulk, was the grand vizier of the Mughal Empire allied with the Maratha Empire, who were often described as a de facto ruler of the ...

afterwards gave these territories to the

Marathas The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

in a treaty, Qutb Khan felt exasperated and made up his mind to defy the Dehli Emperor. He took to plunder and rape, ravaging

Sonipat Sonipat is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It is also around 214 km (128 miles) southwest ...

Panipat Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761 took place near the city. The city is famous in India as the "C ...

Karnal Karnal ( is a city located in the state of Haryana, India and is the administrative headquarters of Karnal District. It was used by East India Company army as a refuge during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Delhi. The Battle of Karnal betw ...

, Azimabad, and

Thanesar Thanesar city or old Kurukshetra city is a historic town and an important Hindu pilgrimage centre in Kurukshetra district of the state of Haryana in northern India. It is located in Kurukshetra district, approximately 160 km northwest of D ...

. The imperial army attacked Qutb Khan at Karnal and were on the verge of victory due to their numbers. A sudden sandstorm spread confusion among the imperial army, resulting in their defeat and the seizure of their baggage and materials by Qutb Khan. Qutb Khan conquered the region of

Sirhind Sirhind-Fategarh is a town and a municipal council in the Fatehgarh Sahib district in the Indian state of Punjab. Demographics In the 2011 census Sirhind-Fatehgarh had a population of 60852. Males constituted 54% of the population and femal ...

from Sadiq Beg and ruled the city of

and its surrounding districts. He did not molest the poor, but repressed strong rebellious men, so that within his jurisdiction the roads became safe, and his followers were held back from practicing oppression.

Afghan-Maratha Wars

Killing of Dattaji

Renko Anaji and other Maratha captains captured Saharanpur, driving Qutb Shah to the foot of the Himalayas. Backed by Abdali, Qutb Khan expelled the Marathas from Saharanpur in 1757 and took possession of it. Abdali found in Saharanpur the Rohilla sardars, Qutb Khan, Sadullah Khan, Hafiz Rahmat Khan, Inayet Khan, Dundi Khan, Faizullah Khan, Fath Khan, and Mullah Sardar Khan with 10,000 warriors. Qutb Khan was not a Rohilla by caste, but came to be known as a Rohilla, as the preceptor and fighting ally of the

Rohilla Dynasty The Rohilla dynasty is an Indo-Afghan dynasty of Arab origin that ruled over much of North-West South Asia in the form of Rohilkhand, Kumaon, and later until 1947, the Princely State of Rampur. At the height of their power the dynasty jointly r ...

, In the ensuing battle at the Burari Ghat, Dattaji was defeated and his head was cut off by Mian Qutb Shah. Rajam Chopdar had seen Qutb Shah on top of his elephant, and having known him for long, saluted him in his Muslim tongue, and asked Qutb Shah to save the Patil who was lying on the battlefield. Qutb Shah asked Dattaji whether he would fight him again, and when he heard his reply saying that he would continue to fight, he immediately pulled a dagger from his waist, kicking him, and severed his head from the body, despite the pleas of Chopdar. He presented the head to Abdali.

Death

The primary purpose for the Third Battle of Panipat for the Marathas was the avenging of the death of Dattaji Sindhia. The Marathas first attacked Kunjpura, where Qutb Shah waited with 2,000 men along with Abdus Samad Khan. Qutb Khan was captured alive, and insults were heaped on him. Qutb Khan asked for water when he was being led to the block, but the Marathas refused, remembering what he had done with the dead body of Dattaji Sindhia. He was subsequently beheaded and paraded around the camp. Qutb Shah's sons slaughtered 4,000 Maratha fugitives at the Third Battle of Panipat, in order to avenge their father's death.

References

{{Reflist Mughal soldiers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown People from Saharanpur