Khwaja Wajid

Khwaja Wajid was an Armenian merchant prince who operated from Bengal and was closely related to the Mughal government and the English East India Company.

Wajid was born in Azimabad and had later settled in Hughli. In the early 1740s, he obtained a foothold at the darbar (royal court) of the Hughli faujdar (an administrative official in the Mughal set-up) as the representative (vakil) of the Armenian community of merchants. From then on Khvaja Wajid rose in power and position; by the late 1740s he was one of the most important figures in the commercial and political life of Bengal.

Khwaja Wajid was actively engaged in the inland trade of Bengal both on his own account and as a supplier to the European companies. He had extensive business transactions with the French, Dutch, and with the English. His main business interest was in saltpeter and salt trade, on which he had a virtual monopoly. The saltpeter in particular was one of the most important commodities in the export list of the European companies. Wajid had the real monopoly on this commodity from 1753 until it passed to the English East India Company in 1758. Wajid also tried to monopolize the opium trade of Bihar through his close link with the Murshidabad darbar.