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MUSALMAN
DOMINION - Chanda
Sahib (1736-40)
For a time,
Chanda Sahib had everything his own way. His success was indeed
regarded with suspicion and even hostility by the Nawab of
Arcot; but family reasons prevented a rupture, and Chanda
Sahib was left undisturbed while he strengthened the fortifications
of Trichinoploy and appointed his two brothers as governors
of the strongholds of Dindigul and Madura. It was at this
period that he subjugated the king of Tanjore (though he did
not annex his territory), and compelled him to code karaikkal
to the French.
A Maratha
interlude (1740-43)
Unable to help
themselves, the king of Tanjore and Vangaru Tirumala determined
to call in assistance of the Marathas of Satara inBombay.
These people had their own grievance against the Muhammadans
of Arcot (with whom Chanda Sahib was still identified) because
the latter had long delayed payment of the chouth, or one-fourth
of the revenues, which they had promised in return for the
withdrawal of the Marathas from the country, and the discontinuance
of their usual predatory incursions. They were also encouraged
to attempt reprisals by the Nizam of Haidarabad, who jealous
of the increasing power of the Nawab and careless of the loyalty
due to co-religionists, would gladly have seen his dangerous
subordinate brought to the ground.
Early in 1740, therefore,
the Marathas appeared with a vast army in the south and defeated
and killed the Nawab of Arcot in the pass of Damalcheruvu
in North Arcot. They then came to an understanding with his
son, the safdar Ali mentioned above, recognised him as Nawab,
and retired for a time.
Chanda
Sahib had made a faint pretence at helping the Nawab to resist
the Marathas, and he how came to offer his submission to Sardar
Ali. The princes parted with apparent amity, but at the end
of the same year the Marathas (at the secret invitation of
Safdar Ali) suddenly reappeared and made straight for Trichinopoly.
Their temporary withdrawal had been designed to put chanda
Sahib off his guard; and it so far succeeded that Trichinopoly
was very poorly provisioned. They invested the town closely,
defeated and killed the two brothers of Chanda Sahib above
mentioned as they advanced to his help from their provinces
of Madura and Dindigul, and, after a siege of three months,
compelled the surrender of Trichinopoly. They took Chanda
captive to Satara, and, disregarding the claims of Vangaru
Tirumala, appointed a Maratha, the well-known Morari Rao of
Gooty, as their governor of the conquered kingdom.
Musalman
Authority reestablished, 1743
Morari Rao
remained there for two years (it is not clearly known what
he did or how far his authority extended) and he finally retired
in 1743 before the invading army of the Nizam, who marched
south in that year, re-established his weakened authority
in the Carnatic, and in 1744 appointed Anwar-uddin as Nawab
of Arcot.
The
whole of the Madura kingdom now fell under the rule of this
latter potentate. There is reason to believe that he governed
it through his sons Mahfuz Khan and Muhammad Ali, both soon
to play an important part in the history of these districts.
It is said that the Nizam ordered that Vangaru Tirumala should
be appointed king of Madura;but, if such an order was ever
made, it was disregarded;and that feeble individual soon disappeared
finally from the scene, poisoned, some say, by Answer-ud-din.
As late as 1820, a descendant of his, bearing the same name,
was in Madura endeavouring to obtain pecuniary assistance
from Government. He and his family lived vellaikurichi in
the Sivaganga zamindari and their children were there until
quite recently. It is said that they still kept up the old
from of having recited, on the first day of Chittrai in each
year, a long account of their pedigree and the boundaries
of the great kingdom of which their forebears were rulers.
The
rival Musalman parties
In 1748, however,
Chanda Sahib regained his liberty and marched south in company
with a pretender to the position of Nizam of Haidarabad. The
allies were successful, Answer up-din was slain at the great
battle of Ambur in North Arcot, and Chanda Sahib succeeded
him. One of his sons, Muhammad Ali, fled however to Trichinipoly
and proclaimed himsef Nawab there, and soon most of the south
of India was involved in the struggle between these rivals.
The French and the English (who had recently been fighting
among themselves, were now nominally at peace, and consequently
both had more soldiers that they knew what to do with) took
sides in the conflict the (the former taking the part of Chanda
Sahib and the latter that of Muhammad Ali) and the campaigns
which followed were in reality a disguised struggle for the
mastery of south India by these two European nations.
It
is not in any way necessary to follow the fortunes of the
war in detail, as they are concerned less with Madura than
with other districts further north, and we may confine ourselves
to some account of the events which directly affected the
present madura country. In these the French had little share.
Their energies were chiefly confined to the country further
north. The English, however, obtained each year hence forth
a more and more predominant share in the government of Madura
and Tinnevelly, and the history of these tracts becomes a
chronicle of the East India Company’s dealings with them.
ENGLISH
PERIOD
Siege of Madura,
1751
In 1751, after several startling
truns of Fortune’s wheel, Chanda Sahib was very generally
recognised as Nawab of Arcot. Muhammad Ali, however, had many
adherents in Tinnevelly and Madura.
In
this same year 1751, occurred the first siege of the Madura
fort of which any account survives. One Alam Khan, a soldier
of fortune who had formerly been in Chanda Sahib’s employ
came, says orme—‘To Madura, where his reputation
as an excellent officer soon gained him influence and respect.
Which he employed to corrupt the garrison, and succeeded so
well, that the troops created him governor, and consented
to maintain the city under his authority for Chanda Saheb,
whom he acknowledged as his sovereign.......The loss of this
place, by cutting off the communication between Tritchinopoly
and the countries of Tinivelly, deprived Mahomed-ally of more
than one half of the dominions which at this time remained
under his jurisadiction. On receiving the news, Captain Cope
offered his service to retake it. His detachment was ill-equipped
for a siege, for they had brought no battering cannon from
Fort St. David, and there were but two serviceable pleces
in the city: with one of these three field pieces, two cohorns,
and150 Europeans, he marched away, accompanied by 600 of the
Nabob’s (i,e., Nawab’s) Cavalry, commanded by another
of this brothers Adbul-wahab khan; and on the day that they
arrived in sight of Madura, they were joined by the army returning
from Tinivelly. There were several large breaches in the outward
wall; the gun fired through one of them on the inward wall,
and in two days demolished a part of it, although not sufficient
to make the breach accessible without the help of fascines.
Difficult as it was, it was necessary either to storm it immediately,
or to relinquish the siege, for all the short of the great
gun were expended. The sepoys, encouraged by a distribution
of some money, and a promise of much more if the place should
be taken, went to the attack with as much spirit as the Europeans.
The first wall was passed without resistance, and at the foor
of the breach in the second appeared three champions, one
of them a very bulky man in compleat armour, who fought manfully
with their swords, and wounded several of the forlorn hope,
but were at last with difficulty killed. Whilst the troops
were mounting the breach, they were severly annoyed by arrows,
stones, and the fire of matchlocks; not with standing which
they gained the parapet, where the enemy had on each side
of the entrance raised a mound of earth, on which they had
laid horizontally some palm trees separated from each other,
and through these intervals they thrust their pikes. The troops
of Mahomed-ally, encouraged by this repulse, no longer concealed
their disaffection,and 500 horse, with 1,000 peons, went over
to Allum Khan before the English broke up their camp, and
two or three days after, near 2,000 more horsemen deserted
likewise to the enemy.’
After ruling Madura
for a year, Alam Khan went to Trichinopoly to take part in
the fighting which was going on there, and was killed in 1752.
Before leaving madura he appointed one Mayana, a relation,
to be governor of Madura, and one Nabi Khan to command Tinnevelly.
These two men and Muhammad Barki, son-in-low of the latter
of them, were the signatories to a paper which Muhammad Ali
afterwards produced as evidence of his title to the sovereignty
of Madura and Tinnevelly.
Col,
Heron’s expendition, 1755
As the beginning
of 1755 Muhammad Ali sent another expedition to reduce these
two districts to obedience. It consisted of 500 Europeans
and 2,000 sepoys furnished by his ally the English East India
Company and commanded by Colonel Heron, and of 1,000 horse
led by Mahfuz Khan, Muhammad Ali’s elder brother. The
2,000 sepoys were in charge of Muhammad Yusuf Khan, a distinguished
native officer of the Company whom we shall meet again.
This force took Madura without any opposition (Mayana had
neglected its fortification and depleted its garrison) and
then seized the temple of Kovilkudi, east of the town, Where
Mayana had taken refuge. From this building the English soldiers
unthinkingly carried off those little metal images of the
gods of the kallans which brought them so much trouble in
the Nattam pass (see the account of this place on p.289) on
their way back.
Mahfuz
khan rents the country
Before
Colonel Heron left, Mahfuz - having, according to Orme, 'Contrived
every means to make the state of the province appear less
advantageous than it really was--obtained from him a lease
of the Madura and Tinnevelly districts at an annual rental
of 15 lakhs of rupees. Colonel Heron's consent to the arrangement
is declared to have been hastened by the offer of a considerable
present.
Muhammad
yusuf sent to quiet it
Mahfuz Khan's administration was
a total failure, and in 1756 the company saw that the time
for more decisive action had come. Not being able to spare
any Europeans, they despatched to the south the Muhammad Yusuf
already mentioned, the commandant of all their sepoys. He
was sent with some 1,400 men and given orders to combine them
with the troops of Mahfuz Khan and the Nawab and take command
of the whole.He passed through Madura, on his way to the Tinnevelly
country, in April 1756, and the following passage from Orme
aptly illustrates the reasons which had led to his being sent
to the south and the difficulties with which he had to contend:-
'During this progress Mohomed Issof had not been able to collect
any money from the revenues, for the maintenance of his troops;
because the ravages of the polygars had ruined most of the
villages and cultivated lands of the country through which
hapassed; and the real detriment of these devastations was
increased by the pretences they furnished the land-holders
to falsify their accounts, and pled exemptions for more that
they had lost. He found Maphuze Cawn in greater distress than
himself, unable either to fulful the stlpulations at which
he had rented the country from colonel Heron, or to suppy
the pay of the company's sepoys left with him under the command
of jemaul saheb, or even to furnish enough, exclusive of long
arrears, for the daily subsistence of his own troops. This
distress naturally deprived him of the necessary authourity
over the Jemmadars, or officers of his cavalry, who in Indostan,
as the ancient mercenary captains of Italy, hire out their
bands, and gain not a little by the bargain. Every kind of
disorder likewise prevailed in all the other departments of
his administration, at the same time that the indolence and
irresoultion of his own character confirmed all the evils
which had been introduced into his government.
Mahfuz
khan rebels
By July of the Same
year, the country was toall appearance tranquil, and the two
leaders separated-Muhammad Yusuf going to Tinnevely town and
Mahfuz Khan to Madura. As soon as the latter and arrived at
that place, his cavalry (2,000 picked men) surrounded his
house, headed by the governor of the town, and declared that
they would not move until they were given their arrears of
pay -- some seven lakhs of rupees. At the same time three
companies of Madras sepoys who were in Madura were disarmed
and turned out; and the brother of the Muhammad Barki already
mentioned above entered the fort with 2,000 Kallans whom he
had collected in the Nattam country. The Standard of revolt
was then openly raised and invitations were issued to all
the poligars to assist in re-establishing the government of
Mahfuz Khan.
These says were doubtless taken with the knowledge and approval
of Mahfuz khan and were inspired by the fact that in July
the Company had farmed out the Tinnevelly country for eleven
lakhs of rupees to a certain Mudali, this man being granted
plenary civil and criminal jurisdiction within it and being
bound to maintain not less than, 1,000 of the company's sepoys.
Hearing what had happened, Muhammad Yusuf marched at once
on Madura, and on the 10th August camped near Tirupparankunram,
which was strongly held by the rebels. His whole force was
only 1,500 sepoys and six field-pieces, so seeing that it
would be useless to attempt to storm the place, he sent for
instructions to Captain Calliaud, who was at Trichinopoly.
That officer came over and attempted to negotiate with the
rebels. His efforts were vain and a desultory war began which
ravaged the whole district.
Capt.
Calliand’s attacks on Madura, 1757
In May 1757 Captain
Calliaud made a gallant endeavour to carry the Madura fortress
by a night surprise, but was repulsed with loss. Orme gives
the following account of the affair, which is of interest
as containing a description of fortifications which have now
utterly disappeared. A reference to the map of the town in
1757 facing P.265 will make this clearer, and it will be seen
that the assault was delivered near where the present maternity
hospital stands.
'The inward wall of Madura is 22 feet high, including the
parapet, which rises six above the rampart : at the distance
of every 100 yards or less (for exact symmetry has not been
observed) are square towers. The fausse-bray is 30 feet broad,
above which the outward wall rises only five feet, but descending
to the bottom of the ditch is II on the outside. Midway between
every two towers of the inward wall, is a similar projection
in the outward, with loop-holes which command the ditch, and
flank the intermediate part of the wall, in which are none:
but the whole parapet of the inward will has loop-holes, so
have some of its towers, and the rest embrasures for cannon.
The Spot chosen to attacked was the first tower on the left
hand of the western gateway, being the only part where the
fausse-bray was clear of the thick thorny bushes, which had
not injudiciously been suffered to overrun it in every other;
but the garrison, trusting to this defence, had entirely neglected
the ditch, which, by continual drifts after rain, was almost
chocked up to the level of the plain. The party allotted to
the attack were 100 Eurropeans, and 200 sepoys; the rest of
the troops remained in the watercourse (see the map), ready
to support the event. Calliaud led the pary himself, to whom
the method of attack was carefully explained, and strict silence
enjoined. The fremost men carried the six shorter ledders
intended for the outward wall; the next, the six longer, for
the inward; as soon as twenty of the party had got into the
fausse-bray, it was intended that they should immediately
take over the longer ledders, which they were to plant, as
received, against the tower, but not a man was to mount, until
all the six ladders were fixed, and then no more than three
at a time on each ladder.
'The fist ladders were planted, and Calliaud, with the first
so men, had got into the fausse-bray, had taken over one of
the longer ladders, and had planted it against the tower,
when their hopes were interrupted by one of those accidents
which from their triviality escape the most attentive precaution.
A dog, accoustomed to get his meals at the messes of some
of the soldiers, had accompanied them all the way from Secundermally
(Tirupparankunram) into the ditch, and, probably from anxiey
at not being able to follow his masters into the fause-bray,
began to bark; which was soon answered by the barking of another
dog on the rampart, and the yelps of both awakened the nearest
centinal, who, crying out ''The enemy", roused the guard
at the gateway, which repaired immediately to the tower. The
soldiers in the fausse-bray, finding the alarm taken, instead
of continuing to get over the rest of the ladders, endeavoured
to mount on that already planted, but crowded on it so many
together, that it curshed under them. This communicated the
confusion to those in the ditch, and no one any longer did
what he ought. In the meantime, the garrison increasing on
the rampart hung out blue lights of sulphur, and discovering
the whole party began to shower on them arrows, stones, lances,
and the shot of fire-arms. On which calliaud ordered the retreat,
and another wounded, both were sepoys, standing on the glacis.
In July he made another attempt at the same spot, which was
again unsuccessful. Orme describes it as under:-
"The gabions, fascines, and
platforms, were prepared in the camp; and as soon as all were
ready, the troops allotted marched on the 9th at night to
the watercourse which runs to the west of the city, and raised
the battery against the curtain between the gateway and the
tower which had been attempted by escalade of the Ist of May.
It mounted two eighteen-pounders, with four field-pieces,
was finished before the morning, and at day-break began to
fire. The parapet of the fausse-bray was soon beaten down,
and the inward wall, although strong, was by noon shaken so
much, that the parapet of this likewise fell entirely, and
the wall itself was sufficiently shattered, to permit a man
to clamber to the top; but, in this short time, the garrison
had staked the rampart behind with the trunks of palmeira
trees set on end; a few shot knocked down same, nor could
any of them have been firmly fixed, and to leave the enemy
no more time to prepare further defences, Calliaud resolved
to storm immediately. Of the Europeans, only the artilery-men
were left at the battery; all the battalion-men, who were
120, marched, followed by the company of coffirees and they
by 400 sepoys. Calliaud led the Europeans, and Mahomed Issoof
the sepoys. The garrison had disciplined 300 of their matchlockmen
as sepoys; who, although much, inferior to these troops, were
improved far beyond their former state, these were posted
on the western gateway, which projecting beyond the faussebray
into the ditch, flanked the tower attacked; and multitude
were drowded on the ramparts, but were immediately tumbled
down dead, or mortally wounded. This repressed the ardour
of those who were following: an officer throw out imprudent
words, and the infirmity visibly caught the whole line, notwithstanding
the exhortations and activity of Calliand, who was in the
fausse-bray directingthe assault. Whose ever mounted afterwards
came down without getting to the top, pretending the impossibility,
although the danger. Was as great in the fause-bray below;for,
besides the shower of other annoyances, the enemy had prepared
bags and pipkins filled with mere powder, to which they set
fire as they tossed them down on the heads of the assailants,
and the scorch of theexplosion was inevitable and intolerable.
Novertheless, Coliaud continued the assault half an hour;
when finding that no command was any longer obeyed, and that
much loss had been sustained, he ordered the retreat. Four
of the bravest serheants were killed, and as many wounded
and so other Europeans were either killed, and as many wounded;
of the Coffrees I0, of the sepoys I00 were disabled, but few
of this body were killed, and fewer died afterwards of their
wounds.
Eventually the place was given up to Captain Calliaud on his
paying the rebels Rs.1,70,000.
Anarchy
again prevails
The results were
small. Disturbances still prevailed every where; the Kallans
ravaged the country in every direction; the great Haidar Ali,
the soldier of fortune. who was Madura and was with difficulty
beaten off; and no revenue worth mentioning could be collected.
The company tried in vain to induce the Nawab of Arcot to
recall his brother, Mahfuz Khan, who was undoubtedly the cause
of all the trouble, and soon afterwards their needs, elsewhere
compelled them to withdraw Muhammad Yusuf.
His departure was the signal for wilder anarchy than ever.
The company's garrison in Madura could only just collect,
from the country directly under its walls, enough revenue
to support themselves; on the north the Kallans, and in the
south Mahfuz Khan had thrown himself into the arms of the
principal poligars and was beyond the reach of argument or
reason.
Yusuf
Khan again despateched
The
Company accordingly sent back Muhammad Yusuf to the country,
renting both Madura and Tinnevely to him for the very moderate
sum of five lakhs annually. He returned in the spring of 1759
and began by teaching the Kallans a wholesome lesson. Cutting
avenues through their woods, he shot them down without mercy
as they fled, or executed as malefactors any who were taken
prisoners. He went on to reduce the rest of the country to
order, and soon had sobered all the poligars and made himself
extremely powerful. He even had the audacity to make war on
the king of Travancore without the knowledge or consent of
the company. In 1761, and again in 1762, he offered to lease
Tinnevelly and Madura for four years more at seven lakhs per
annum. His offer was refused, and--whether he was enraged
at this, or whether he thought himself powerful enough to
defy his masters-- he shortly afterwards threw off his allegiance
and began to collect troops.
He
rabels and is hanged, 1764
In
1763, therefore, a strong force was sent against him and he
was besieged in Madura in September. His friends nearly all
deserted him, but he held out until October 1764 with great
energy and skill, renovating and strengthening the fort at
great expense--he is said to have 'entirely repaired' its
east face and constantly employed 3,000 labourers about it--and
repelling the chief assault with a loss of 120 Europeans (including
nine officers) killed and wounded. At the end of that time
little real progress against him had been made, except that
the place was now rigorously blockaded, but he was treacherously
seized by one Marchaud, the officer in charge of the French
contingent, and handed over to Major Charles Campbell, who
commanded the English among the besiegers. He was ignominiously
hanged near the camp, about two miles to the west of Madura,
and his body was buried at the spot. A small square mosque
was afterwards erected over the tomb. It is still in existence--to
the left of the read to Dindigul, a little beyond the toll-gate--and
is known as 'Khan Sahib's pallivasal.'
His
character
Tradition has many
stories to tell of this remarkable man, who is commonly known
in Madura as Khansa, an abbrevlation for Khan Sahib. He was
born in the Rammnad country and was originally a Hindu of
the Vellala Caste. He ran away from his home, took Service
under a European for three years in pondicherry, was dismissed,
served under another European (who educated him), went to
the Nawab's court, rose rapidly in the army, married a parangi
woman and eventually, as has been seen, became Commandant
of all the Company's sepoys. His executive ability is sufficiently
indicated in the report (see below) from Colonel Fullarton
- dated March, 1785 and entitled 'A view of the English interests
in India'--which was republished in Madras in1867. This says
that in Tinnevelly and Madura 'his whole administration denoted
vigour and effect. His justice was unquestioned, his word
unalterable; his measures were happily combined and firmly
executed, the guilty had no refuge from punishment.' It concludes
by saying that his example shows that 'wisdom, vigour and
integrity are of no climate or complexion.'
Haidar
Ali’s invasion, 1780
After Muhammad Yusuf's
death, the revenue administration of Madura was entrusted
to one Abiral Khan Sahib, who conducted it uneventfully for
some six years. He had no military power, and the country
was commanded by British officers. The terms of office of
his numerous successors were equally devoid of episode, and
it was not untill 1780 that any change of note occurred. In
that year Haidar Ali (who had by now made himself king of
Mysore) prepetrated his famous invasion of the Carnatic--pillaging,
burning and slaying until the country was one blackened waste.
Assignment
of the revenue to the company, 1781
In the next year
the Nawab Muhammad Ali, assigned to the company the revenues
of the carnatic to defray the cost of the war with Haidar
Ali, and a 'Committee of Assigned Revenue', consisting of
six officials, was appointed to administer them. Under this
body, in each of the districts concerned, was a 'Receiver
of Assigned Revenue'. The first so sent to Madura--Virtually
its first Collector--was Mr.George proctor. His administration
was not successful, and he was (apparently) followed in 1783
by Mr.Eyles Irwin.
Col.
Fullarton’s expedition,1783
But the country required
quleting before it could be successfully administered, and
in the same year the Colonel Fullarton who has already been
mentioned was sent into it with a strong force. His report
above cited affords ample evidence of the necessity for this
step. It says that--
'Nearly one hundred thousand poligars and Colleries were in
arms throughout the southern provinces, and, being considered
hostile to Government, looked to public confusion as their
safeguard against punishment. Your southern force was inadequate
to repress these outrages and to retrieve your affairs. The
treasury was drained the country depopulated, the revenues
exacted by the enemy, the troops undisciplined, ill-paid poorly
fed and unsuccessfully commanded. During the course of these
proceedings, your southern provinces remained in their former
confusion. The poligars, Coleries, and other tributaries,
ever since the commencement of the war (with Haidar Ali) had
thrown off all appearance of allegiance. No civil arrangement
could be attempted without a military force, and nothing less
than the whole army seemed adequate to their reduction, whicle
such a considerable portion of the southern provinces remained
in defiance of the Company's Govenment, it was vain to think
of supporting the current charges of establishment, far less
could we hope to reduce the arrears, and to prepare for important
operations, in the probable event of a recommencement of hostilities.
It became indispensable, therefore, to restore the transquility
of those provinces by vigorous military measures as the only
means to render them protective of revenue.
Colonel Fullarton subdued the poligars of Melur and Sivaganga
and then passed southwards; and his principal fighting was
inTinnevelly.
In June 1785, in consequence of orders from superior authority,
the assignment of the revenues was surrendered to the Nawab
of Arcot, the Committee of Assigned Revenue was dissolved,
and the civil administration of the Company, with all its
numerous advantages, ceased for seven years.
Assumption
of the revenue, 1790
In August 1790 the
Madras Government, finding it impossible to induce the Nawab
either to contribute his share of the expenses of the alliance
with the Company or to re-introduce the assignment of the
revenues, took possession of the Country by proclamation,
without treaty. A Board of Assumed Revenue, which was a department
of the Board of Revenue established in 1786, was constituted
to administer the territories, and Collectors were appointed
to the various districts. Mr.Alexander McLeod was sent down
in 1790 as Collector of Dindigul.
The
company collects the peshkash, 1792
In July 1792 the
Nawab and the company entered into a new treaty by which the
latter undertook to collect at their own expense and risk
the whole of the peshkash, or tribute, due from the poligars
and with the exception of a few districts -- among which were
Madura proper and Tinnevelly,which were to remain in the company's
hands till the revenue equalled the arrears which had accrued-the
rest of the country was to be restored to the management of
the Nawab on Certain conditions.
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