Ali Mohammed Khan attracted many Afghan adventurers by virtue of his great reputation and became the most powerful man in Katehir.

Conscious of his own power and the failing state of the Mughal Empire, he neglected imperial mandates and irregularly paid tax to the central government.

In 1748 an invasion by Ahmed Shah Abidali allowed Ali the opportunity to return to Katehir and re-establish his rule.

To ensure loyalty almost all positions of power were given to Afghan and several including Najib-ad-daula received land grants.

[14][15] In 1754 Hafiz Rehmat Khan orchestrated an argument within the royal family and used it as a pretext to usurp the power and wealth of the orphans.

Nawab Muhammad Yar Khan was given rule over Aonla, and his court at Tandah was famed for poets such as Qaim and Mushafi.

The ensuing guerrilla war forced the British to grant the Rohillas a princely state wheresoever they willed, leading to the creation of Rampur.

Burke described the Rohillas as "the bravest, the most honourable and generous" and the nawab of Rampur became the first Indian sovereign to meet Queen Victoria along with several other European monarchs.

[19] It is probably a branch of the influential Barha dynasty best known as de facto ruling Mughal empire during the early 18th century.

[10] The Nawabs even sought service of a prominent religious leader of Rampur, Najmul Ghani for establishing ancestry from Ali, which was widely rejected.