His father was Shah Quli Khan Mirza Muhammad Madani and his mother was the daughter of Nawab Aqil Khan Afshar. His birth name was Mirza Muhammad Ali . He was a Shia Muslim. His father was an employee of Azam Shah, the son of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Azam Shah also employed the sons of Mirza Muhammad. But after the death of Azam Shah, the family fell into poverty. His two sons Muhammad Ali and Mirza Ahmed managed to find employment under the Subahdar of Orissa, Shuja-ud-Din. After Shuja-ud-Din was promoted to Nawab, the two brothers' future prospects widened.
Rise to power
In 1728, Shuja-ud-Din promoted Muhammad Ali to Faujdar (General) of Rajmahal and entitled him as Ali Vardi Khan.[1] In 1733, he was assigned as the Naib Nazim (Deputy Subahdar) of Bihar. A year later he was titled Mahabat Jang and the rank of 5000 by Nawab Shuja-ud-Din. Ali Vardi Khan aspired for larger authority. On 10 April 1740 in the Battle of Giria, he defeated and killed Shuja-ud-Din's successor, Sarfaraz Khan.[1] Thus he took control of Bengal and Bihar. Then on 3 March 1741 he defeated Rustam Jang, deputy governor of Orissa and a relative of Sarfaraz Khan, in the battle of Phulwarion.[1] Orissa also went under control of Ali Vardi Khan.
Reign
Since 1742 Marathas raided Bengal repeatedly until 1751 when a peace-treaty was settled between Ali Vardi Khan and Raghoji I Bhonsle, the Maratha general of Nagpur Kingdom.[1] He also subdued the revolt of Afghans who were trying to occupy Bihar.[1] During his reign of total 16 years, he was mostly engaged in battles. Towards the end, he turned his attention to rebuilding and restoring his kingdom.
Death
He died in 16 April 1756. His grandson, Siraj-ud-Daula, succeeded him in April 1756 at the age of 23.
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