Buzurg Umed Khan

Buzurg Umed Khan son of Mughal Subahdar shaista khan and faujdar of Chittagong. He led the Mughal expedition to conquer Chittagong during Shaista Khan's subahdari in Bengal. During the war of succession among the sons of Shahjahan, Buzurg Umed Khan participated in the war against Sulaiman Shiqoh, son of Dara Shiqoh along with his father, who was loyal to Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb awarded Umed with the title of Khan in the first year of his reign. Later, he also participated in the war against Dara Shiqoh and shah shuja with Aurangzeb's army.

Chittagong was under Arakanese rule during Shaista Khan's subahdari. The Arakanese and portuguese pirates, centered in Chittagong, sometimes penetrated deep inside Bengal. Shaista Khan decided to conquer Chittagong to stop the criminal activities of the maghs (Arakanese) and the Firingis (the Potuguese) in the region. Fortunately for the Mughals, this was a time when the Arakanese were in conflict with the Portuguese, and so the laters decided to join hands with the Mughals in their expedition against the Arakanese. The expedition started in December 1665 and Buzurg Umed Khan, then a mansabdar of 1000, was appointed the commander-in chief. Mir-i bahar Ibne Hussain was in command of the naval force, which was also joined by a fleet of the Bengal zamindars led by Dewan Monowar Khan, great grandson of Isa Khan, the sovereign of Bhati. The capture of Chittagong was completed by the end of January 1666. The Mughals renamed it as Islamabad, and Umed Khan was appointed the first faujdar. His mansabdari was raised to 1500 (900 sawar).

Buzurg Umed Khan was later apponted subahdar of Allahabad and Bihar and he died in Allahabad in 1694. A lagre pargana in the Bakerganj area was named after him as Buzurgumedpur. [AKM Yakub Hossain and AKM Khademul Haque]