Haidar Alí/Chapter 2

by Lewin Bentham Bowring

CHAPTER II

Haidar rises into notice–Contest for supremacy in Southern India

During the reign of the Emperor Sháhjahán, when his son Aurangzeb was Viceroy of the Deccan, a great part of the Karnátik was overrun by the troops of the King of Bíjapur under the command of Ran Dulhá Khán and Sháhjí, father of the great Sivají. But when Aurangzeb mounted the throne, he determined to crush both the Maráthás and the Musalmán sovereign of Bíjapur, which capital was taken in 1687, when Sírá became the headquarters of an imperial deputy. This post, at the time when Fatah Muhammad, Haidar's father, distinguished himself, as previously mentioned, was held by Dargáh Kuli Khán, who was nominated to it in 1729. He was succeeded by his son Abd-ur-Rasúl Khán, in whose service Fatah Muhammad was killed, with his chief, while fighting against Saádat Ullah Khán, the Nawáb of Arcot. His children, with their mother, were tortured and plundered by the son of the late Súbahdár, and sent adrift to seek a refuge elsewhere.

They proceeded to Bangalore. When the elder son Sháhbáz was old enough, he obtained a small post as a subordinate officer, but soon rose to the command of 200 horse and 1,000 foot, forming part of a force which was despatched in 1749 by the Mysore Dalwái to besiege Devanhalli^[1], twenty-three miles north of Bangalore. He was here joined by his brother Haidar, who, though serving only as a volunteer, attracted attention by his gallantry and daring. He is described as being at this time of irregular habits, and addicted to low pursuits, but he was a keen sportsman and full of dash and energy. He was wholly illiterate, and indeed never learned to write. This, however, was common enough in those days, when most chiefs were content with affixing to papers either their seal or some fanciful device in lieu of a signature^[2].

The Mysore minister at that time was Nanjráj, who, pleased with Haidar's courage, gave him the command of a small body of troops, and shortly afterwards, when a force was despatched to Arcot, in accordance with instructions from the Nizám Nasir Jang, Haidar and his brother accompanied the army.

It may be appropriate to our narrative to give here some account of the principal chiefs with whose history the fortune of Haidar and his son was closely interwoven. On the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the supremacy of the Great Mughals virtually terminated, as, owing to the incompetence of his successors, enemies rose up on every side, while the Imperial deputies in Southern India either made themselves independent, or succumbed to the superior force of Maráthás and Patháns. Foremost among those who set aside the royal authority was the Nizám, who claimed descent from Abú Bakr, while among his remote ancestors were Muhammad Bahá-ud-dín Baghdádi, who founded the order of the Nakshbandi Darveshes, and Shekh Sháhab-ud-dín Sohrwádi, a celebrated Sufi or mystic. The family settled, it is stated, at Samána^[3], now in the State of Patiála in the Punjab, and one of its members, Ábid Khán, was killed at Golconda while fighting in the ranks of the Imperial army. His son, Ghazí or Shaháb-ud-dín, was appointed governor of Gujarát, and the latter's son, Kamar-ud-dín, Cháin Kalij Khán, was in 1713 nominated Nizám-ul-mulk, or Viceroy of the Deccan, with a nominal control over all the royal possessions in Southern India. The pedigree on the next page shows the descent.

PEDIGREE OF THE NIZÁMS.

Khwájah Ábid Kalij Khán, Governor of Ajmere.

Mir Shaháb-ud-dín, or Ghází-ud-dín Khán, Governor of Gujarát.

Mír Kamar-ud-dín, first Nizám, 1713-48.

Mir Ghází-ud-dín, ancestor of the Báoni Nawáb.

Mír Muhammad Násir Jang, second Nizám, 1748-50.

Mír Asaf-ud-dáulah, Salábat Jang, fourth Nizám, 1751-61.

Mír Shújá-ul-mulk, Basálat Jang.

Mír Nizám Alí Khán, fifth Nizám, 1761-1803.

Mír Násir-ul-mulk, Mughal Alí Khán.

daughter.

Mir Ahmad Khán, Alí Jáh.

Mír Akbar Ali Khán, Sikandar Jáh, sixth Nizam, 1803-28.

Mír Subhán Alí Khán, Faridún Jáh, and five other sons.

Hidáyat Mohi-ud-dín, Muzaffar Jang, third Nizám, 1750-51. The chief next in importance was the Nawáb of Arkát (Arcot). After Aurangzeb had subjugated the Bijapur and Golconda kingdoms, he sent a force under Zulfikár Khán, with one Dáúd Khán as second in command, to reduce the fortress of Jinjí or Chenji^[4], then held by Ráma, son of Sivají. The place was carried by assault in 1698, but as it proved unhealthy, Arcot was in 1716 selected as the capital. The imperial deputy, Kásim Khán, having been assassinated, Zulfikár Khán was nominated as his successor, and after him Dáúd Khán; but this chief, being summoned to Delhi to aid the party which ultimately put Sháh Álam on the throne, left Muhammad Saíd, called Saádat Ullah Khán, as his substitute. Saádat Ullah Khan ruled with success from 1710 to 1732, but, having no son, left the masnad to his nephew Dost Alí Khán, who invaded Mysore, but was disgracefully defeated by the troops of Rájá Chikka Krishnaráj. It was during the rule of this Nawáb that his son-in-law, Hussén Dost Khán, better known as Chandá Sáhib, acquired by fraud the territory of Trichinopoli, and subsequently sided with the French against the English. Safdar Alí succeeded as Nawáb, but was assassinated in 1742. His infant son Muhammad Saíd was installed by the Nizám, but was murdered within a year, when Anwar-ud-dín, his guardian, was confirmed as Nawáb by the Nizám. The succession of the several Nawábs of Arcot is as follows: –

Muhammad Saíd, or Saádat Ullah Khan, 1710-32.

Dost Alí Khán, his nephew, 1732-40.

Safdar Alí Khán, 1740-42 assassinated.

daughter, married Hussén Dost Khán, or Chandá Sáhib.

Muhammad Saíd Khán, 1742-43.

Anwar-ud-dín, 1743-49.

Máhfuz Khán.

Wálájáh Muhammad Alí, 1749-95.

Umdat-ul-Umrá, 1795-1801.

There were three other prominent Musalmán chiefs, namely the Pathán Nawábs of Kadapa, Karnúl, and Shánúr or, Sávanúr^[5], while Morári Ráo Ghorpara^[6], a Maráthá, ruled at Gútti; all of these being, nominally at least, subordinate to the Nizám. These somewhat dry details are necessary to elucidate the course of subsequent events.

The occasion which, in 1749, led to the despatch of the troops from Mysore, with whom Haidar was serving, was a contest for the Nizámat between Násir Jang and his nephew Muzaffar Jang, the latter of whom had been nominated as his successor by Kamar-ud-dín. who died in 1748; but Násir Jang, being on the spot, seized the throne, calling to his aid the chiefs just mentioned, as well as the Rájá of Mysore, who was tributary to the Nizám. Muhammad Alí of Arcot joined his standard, as also a contingent of British troops under Major Lawrence. On the other side were marshalled the forces of Muzaffar Jang, aided by Chandá Sáhib, and a body of French troops under Colonel De Bussy. It is foreign to the purpose of this memoir to relate the long struggle for supremacy between the two European powers which took place at this period, and the reader is referred to Colonel Malleson's excellent work on The History of the French in India, in which ample details will be found on the subject. It may suffice to say that had the masterly diplomacy and genius of the great Dupleix been adequately supported by the French Government, the nation which he represented might probably have dominated the whole of Southern India. But the magnificent scheme which he originated for founding an Eastern empire, and in which he was ably seconded by De Bussy, was frustrated by the jealousy of his compatriots and the indifference of his Government. Dupleix himself, having been recalled to France in 1754, died there in abject poverty and broken-hearted a few years afterwards.

Probably neither the English nor the French authorities cared much about the alleged rights of either of the claimants of the Nizámat, but were bent only on supporting the one who would be likely to advance their own interests. In any case, the contested sovereignty was an authority usurped from the Great Mughal, while the Arcot Nawáb was really only a deputy, removable at pleasure by the Nizám. Dupleix favoured Chandá Sáhib. This chief was under obligations to him for hospitality shown to his family at Pondicherry and for his release from imprisonment by the Maráthás, but Dupleix' support of Chandá Sáhib and his advocacy of the pretensions of Muzaffar Jang were prompted only by his astute policy, which sought any available counterpoise to British influence. On the other hand, the English at Madras allied themselves with Násir Jang and his representative Muhammad Alí (whose father Anwar-ud-dín had been killed at Ambúr fighting against the French), for precisely similar reasons, that is, to foil Dupleix in his designs.

In the first encounter which ensued between the opposing forces, Násir Jang was victorious (partly owing to a mutiny among the French troops), Muzaffar Jang being taken prisoner, while Chandá Sáhib fled to Pondicherry. Násir Jang then retired to Arcot^[7], but Dupleix having shortly afterwards seized, through De Bussy's daring, the strong fortress of Jinji, and won over to his side the Pathán Nawábs, Násir Jang was compelled again to take the field. In the short campaign which followed Násir was treacherously killed by the Kadapa Nawáb, while Muzaffar Jang was installed as Nizám by the French, and Muhammad Alí fled precipitately to Trichinopoli. The Mysore troops on this occasion bore themselves bravely. Haidar, with the mercenary instinct of a freebooter, took advantage of the confusion to seize, with the aid of his Bedar followers, a large amount of the late Nizám's treasure, with which he retreated to Mysore. Before doing so, he paid a visit to Pondicherry^[8], where he formed a high opinion of the discipline of the French troops and of the skill of their engineer officers.

In 1751 we find Haidar again on active service, accompanying, as commandant of the cavalry, a Mysore force which was despatched by the Dalwái to co-operate with Muhammad Alí, who promised to cede to Mysore Trichinopoli and all the country south of it to the gháts on the eastward. It is not proposed to discuss the incidents of the long war which now took place, and was not terminated till the end of 1754, when a treaty, much to the disadvantage of the French, was concluded. The Mysore commander, Nanjráj, played a double part, intriguing both with the English and the French, but eventually siding with the latter. Foiled in his attempts to obtain possession of Trichinopoli, owing to the treachery of Muhammad Alí, he was at last compelled to return to Mysore in 1755, having spent large sums of money unprofitably.

During the course of the military operations in this campaign Haidar seized several guns belonging to an English convoy which was cut off in the Pudukottai territory between Tanjore and Trichinopoli, and largely increased his force of Bedars. His nominal command now aggregated 1,500 horse and 3,000 infantry, besides less disciplined troops. To assist him in organizing the system of plundering, which he carried on for many years, he took into his service a Maráthá Bráhman, named Khande Ráo, whose literary qualifications made amends for his own want of education. But although compelled to have recourse to this extraneous aid, Haidar had a most retentive memory, which, added to his acute penetration, made it very difficult to deceive him.

In the same year that witnessed the withdrawal of the Mysore troops from their abortive expedition, that is in 1755, Haidar was appointed Fáujdár or military governor of Dindigal, now in the Madura district of Madras, a stronghold which the Mysore State had acquired ten years previously. Here he established an arsenal under the superintendence of French artificers whose services he obtained from Pondicherry. He also augmented the numbers of his troops, and accumulated considerable wealth by plundering the chiefs in the neighbourhood. The position which Haidar thus attained was the foundation of his future influence, although it was not till the acquisition of Bednúr, as will be hereafter related, that he actually usurped the supreme control.

1. Halli in Kannadí or Kanarese has the same meaning as Palli in Tamil, signifying a town or village, as in the word Trichinápalli, commonly called Trichinopoli. The word 'úr,' so often found in the names of places in Southern India, has the same signification.
2. Many of the minor chiefs in Orissa still make use of this form of attestation, one drawing a peacock, another a tiger's head, a third a conch-shell, a fourth a flower as his sign-manual, and so forth.
3. The only authority for this is a statement made to the writer when encamped at the place.
4. This remarkable fortress is in South Arcot, and is built on three hills, from 500 to 600 feet high, connected together by strong walls of circumvallation. The Rájágiri, or principal hill, is inaccessible on all sides, save the south-west, where a steep ravine permits access to the top; but even here three lines of walls protected the citadel from an assault, the only approach to the summit being by a bridge thrown over a chasm, opposite to which was a gateway, with flanking defences. The place was first fortified by the Vijayanagar kings in the fourteenth century, and after falling into many hands, was captured by the French in 1750 in a brilliant manner.
5. The first two of these Houses are extinct, but the Sávanúr Nawáb still holds an estate in the Dhárwár district of the Bombay Presidency, comprising twenty-five villages with a rental of £5,660.
6. This chief's descendant is the Rájá of Sandúr in the Bellary district of Madras, his territory having an area of 140 square miles, with an income of £4,500. The sanitarium of Rámandrúg is in Sandúr.
7. The citadel in Arcot, which was so brilliantly defended by Clive in 1751, was in a rectangular fortress surrounded by a shallow ditch, but is now in ruins; as is also the greater part of the 'Shahar Panáh,' a rampart five miles in circumference, 24 feet broad at the base, and 12 feet at the top.
8. Pondicherry, called by the natives Pudúchéri, was founded by F. Martin in 1674. It comprises three divisions, viz. Pondicherry, Villiánúr, and Báhúr, containing 93 villages with 141 hamlets, and has an area of 112 square miles.