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Chanda Sahib | |
---|---|
Died | 12 June 1752 |
Military career | |
Allegiance | Mughal Empire |
Service/ | Nawab of the Carnatic |
Rank | Sepoy, Divan, Faujdar, Ispahsalar, Subedar, Nawab |
Battles/wars | Mughal-Maratha Wars, Carnatic Wars, Seven Years' War |
Chanda Sahib (died 12 June 1752) was a subject of the Carnatic Sultanate between 1749 and 1752. Initially he was supported by the French during the Carnatic Wars. After his defeat at Arcot in 1751, he was captured by the Marathas of Thanjavur and executed.
He was the son-in-law of the Nawab of Carnatic Dost Ali Khan, [1] under whom he worked as a Dewan.
Chanda Sahib, an ally of the French, annexed the Madurai Nayaks and was declared the "Nawab", bringing Tanjore and Tinnevelly into the dominions of the Mughal Empire.
He was weakened by constant Maratha attacks and was defeated by Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah. After his forces were defeated by Robert Clive and the Maratha Empire, he attempted to recoup his losses but was beheaded in a mutiny by Hindu subjects in the Tanjore army. [2] [3]
His birth name was Husayn Dost Khan.
Chanda Sahib sought the investiture of the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur by declaring himself "Nawab of Tinnevelly" and gathered his own army of 3500 men and even received 400 French infantry from Dupleix.
Vijaya Ranga Chokkanatha died in 1731, and was succeeded by his widow Meenakshi, who acted as Queen-Regent on behalf of a young boy she had adopted as the heir of her dead husband. She had only ruled a year or two when an insurrection was raised against her by Vangaru Thirumala, the father of her adopted son, who pretended to have claims of his own to the throne of Madurai. At this juncture representatives of the Mughals appeared on the scene and took an important part in the struggle.
The local representative of the Mughal in present-day Andhra Pradesh was the Nawab of Arcot, Dost Ali Khan and an intermediate authority was held by the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was in theory both a subordinate of the emperor, and the superior of the Nawab [ citation needed ].
In 1734 — about the time, in fact, that Meenakshi and Vangaru Tirumala were fighting for the crown — an expedition was sent by the then Nawab of Arcot to exact tribute and submission from the kingdoms of the Deep-South [ citation needed ]. The leaders of this expedition were the Nawab Dost Ali khan's son, Safdar Ali Khan, and his nephew and confidential adviser, the well-known Chanda Sahib.
The invaders took Tanjore by storm and, leaving the stronghold of Trichinopoly untouched, reached Madurai, wherein they took part in the quarrel between Meenakshi and Vangaru Tirumala. The latter approached Safdar Ali Khan with an offer of 30,000 gold and silver coins if he would oust the Meenakshi in favour of himself. Unwilling to attack Trichinopoly, the Muslim prince contented himself with solemnly declaring Vangaru Tirumala to be king and took 30,000 gold and silver coins. He then marched away, leaving Chanda Sahib to enforce his award as best he could. Meenakshi, was immediately alarmed at the turn affairs now had taken, had little difficulty in persuading that facile politician to accept her tribute of 100,000 silver and gold coins and declared her duly entitled to the throne[ citation needed ].
Meenakshi required Chanda Sahib to swear on the Quran that he would adhere faithfully to his engagement. He was honorably admitted into the Trichinopoly fort and Vangaru Tirumala — apparently with the good will of the queen, who, did not seem to have wished him any harm and allowed him to venture into Madurai, to rule over that region and Tinnevelly [ citation needed ].
Chanda Sahib accepted a large tributes for protection and departed to Arcot. Two years later 1736 he returned, again was admitted into the Trichinopoly fort, and proceeded to instate himself the Nawab of the Carnatic and received recognition by the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur.
Chanda Sahib eventually marched against Vangaru Tirumala, who still was ruling in the south, defeated him at Ammaya Nayakkanur and Dindigul, drove him to take refuge in Sivaganga, and occupied the southern provinces of the Madurai Nayak.
For a time, Chanda Sahib had his own way. His success was regarded with suspicion and even hostility by the Nawab of Arcot. But family loyalties prevented a rupture and Chanda Sahib was left undisturbed, while he strengthened the fortifications of Trichinopoly and appointed his two brothers as governors of the strongholds of Dindigul and Madurai. It was at this period that he subjugated the king of Tanjore, although he did not annex his territory, and he compelled them to cede Karaikal to the French. On 14 February 1739, Karaikal became a French colony.
Unable to help themselves against the Europeans and the subjects of The Mogul, the king of Tanjore and Vangaru Tirumala called for the assistance of the Marathas of Satara in Maharashtra.
These Maratha of the Carnatic had their own grievance against the Muslims of Arcot, with whom Chanda Sahib still was identified, because of long-delayed payment of the chouth, or one-fourth of their revenues, which they had promised in return for the withdrawal of the Marathas from their country and the discontinuation of their incursions. These Marathas of Tanjore also were encouraged to attempt reprisals by the Nizam of Hyderabad, who — jealous of the increasing power of the Nawab and careless of the loyalty due to co-religionists — gladly would have seen his dangerous subordinate brought to the ground.
Early in 1740, therefore, the Marathas appeared in the south with a vast army, and defeated and killed the Nawab of Arcot (Dost Ali Khan) in the pass of Damalcheruvu, now in Chittoor district. Then they came to an understanding with his son, the Safdar Ali Khan, recognised him as Nawab, in return, Khan accepted Maratha suzerainty and undertook to pay Marathas, an indemnity of 40 lakh rupees and a regular Chauth. [4]
With the Nawab of Arcot greatly weakened and Chanda Sahib was captured and imprisoned by the Marathas in the siege of Tiruchirappalli (1741) led by general Raghuji Bhonsle under the orders of Chhattrapati Shahu. [5] [6] [7]
In 1741, the Travancore-Dutch War had broken out, during the course of the conflict it was the policy of the subjects of the Mogul to support European mercantile presence in the Indian subcontinent.
After the death of the Nizam of Hyderabad, a civil war for succession broke out in south between Nasir Jung and Muzaffar Jung. Also, Chanda Sahib began to conspire against the Nawab Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan in Carnatic. This led to the Second Carnatic War.
In 1751, there was an ongoing scuffle between Mohamed Ali Khan Walajan, (who was the son of the previous Nawab of Arcot, Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan and hence the rightful claimant) and Chanda Sahib. Dupleix sided with Chanda sahib and Muzaffar Jung to bring them into power in their respective states. But soon the English intervened. To offset the French influence, they began supporting Nasir Jung and Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah. Chanda Sahib initially succeeded and became the Nawab, forcing Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah to escape to the rock-fort in Tiruchirapalli.
Chanda Sahib followed and with the help of the French, led the siege of Tiruchirappalli (1751–1752). Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah and the English force supporting him were in a grim position. A small English force of 300 soldiers made a diversionary attack on Arcot to draw away Chanda Sahib's army from Trichy. Chanda Sahib dispatched a 10,000 strong force under his son Raza Sahib to retake Arcot. Raza Sahib was aided by the Nellore Army and Muhammed Yusuf Khan as a Subedar may have been in this force. There he was defeated by English forces, that mostly enlisted Indians.
At Arcot, and later at Kaveripakkam (Tirukattupalli/koviladi), Chanda Sahib's son was defeated and later killed by the British.
Following this Chanda Sahib escaped to what was probably his hometown at Tanjore, only to be captured by the "Maratha army of Tanjore". He was beheaded by the Maratha Tanjore Raja named Pratap Singh of Thanjavur.
The English quickly installed Muhammed Ali as the Nawab of Arcot in 1754 and most of Chanda Sahib's native forces defected to the English.
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The Carnatic region is the peninsular South Indian region between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, in the erstwhile Madras Presidency and in the modern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and southern coastal Andhra Pradesh. During the British era, demarcation was different and the region included current day Karnataka and the whole region south of the Deccan.
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The Carnatic wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, India. The first Carnatic wars were fought between 1740 and 1748.
Mir Ahmad Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi, Nasir Jung, was the son of Nizam-ul-Mulk by his wife Saeed-un-nisa Begum. He was born 26 February 1712. He succeeded his father as the Nizam of Hyderabad State in 1748. He had taken up a title of Humayun Jah, Nizam ud-Daula, Nawab Mir Ahmad Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur, Nasir Jung, Nawab Subadar of the Deccan. However, he is most famously known as Nasir Jung.
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The Carnatic Sultanate was a kingdom in South India between about 1690 and 1855, and was under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until their demise. They initially had their capital at Arcot in the present-day Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Their rule is an important period in the history of the Carnatic and Coromandel Coast regions, in which the Mughal Empire gave way to the rising influence of the Maratha Empire, and later the emergence of the British Raj.
Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, or Muhammed Ali, Wallajah, was the Nawab of the Carnatic from 1749 until his death in 1795. He declared himself Nawab in 1749. This position was disputed between Wallajah and Chanda Sahib. In 1752, after several clashes, Chanda Sahib's forces and his French allies were expelled from Arcot, officially declaring Wallajah as Nawab on 26 August 1765. His reign was recognised by Mughal emperor Shah Alam II.
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The siege of Arcot took place at Arcot, India between forces of the British East India Company led by Robert Clive allied with Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah and forces of Nawab of the Carnatic, Chanda Sahib, allied with the French East India Company. It was part of the Second Carnatic War.
The siege of Trichinopoly was part of an extended series of conflicts between the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Maratha Empire for control of the Carnatic region. On 29 August 1743, after a six-month siege, Murari Rao surrendered, giving Nizam ul Mulk (Nizam) the suzerainty of Trichinopoly. By the end of 1743, the Nizam had regained full control of Deccan. This stopped the Maratha interference in the region and ended their hegemony over the Carnatic. The Nizam resolved the internal conflicts among the regional hereditary nobles (Nawabs) for the seat of governor (Subedar) of Arcot State, and monitored the activities of the British East India company and French East India Company by limiting their access to ports and trading.
The siege of Trichinopoly (1751–1752) was conducted by Chanda Sahib, who had been recognized as the Nawab of the Carnatic by representatives of the French East India Company, against the fortress town of Tiruchirappalli, held by Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah.
Tiruchirappalli is believed to be of great antiquity and has been ruled by the Early Cholas, Mutharaiyars Early Pandyas, Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Later Pandyas, Delhi Sultanate, Ma'bar Sultanate, Vijayanagar Empire, Nayak Dynasty, the Carnatic state and the British at different times. The archaeologically important town of Uraiyur which served as the capital of the Early Cholas is a Neighborhood of Tiruchirapalli.
Tiruchirappalli Fort is a dilapidated fort in India which once protected the Old City of Trichy encompassing Big Bazaar Street, Singarathope, Bishop Heber School, Teppakulam and Tiruchirapalli Rock Fort. All that remains now is a railway station with that name and Main Guard Gate along West Boulevard Road in the city of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu. The fort can be traced along West Boulevard Road in West, East Boulevard Road in East, Butter-worth Road in North and Gandhi Market to the South.
The Battle of Ambur was the first major battle of the Second Carnatic War.
The Chanda Sahib invasion of Travancore was a military expedition of the Carnatic Sultanate under Chanda Sahib against the Kingdom of Travancore in 1740, in South India. In the event, the Carnatic Sultanate invaded the Kingdom of Travancore, resulting in the Carnatic forces defeating the Travancore army led by Ramayyan Dalawa.
The Maratha-Nizam wars (1720–1819) was a series of military conflicts between the Maratha Empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad, spanning nearly a century. These conflicts arose primarily from the Marathas' imposition of Chauth, a form of tribute, on the Nizam's dominions, leading to tensions and subsequent hostilities between the two powers. The Nizam's response to the Maratha demands sparked a series of clashes and wars aimed at resisting Maratha encroachment and asserting territorial sovereignty.