Nawabs of Kurnool

The Nawabs of Kurnool were a Pathan family who held the town of Kurnool and the country round it for a century and a half. They held it from the Mughal conquest of the Deccan until 1839. Their territory at the end, “Kurnool proper”, was the four taluks of Ramallakota, Nandikotkur, Nandyal and Sirvel.¹² Wilks counts them as one of “the two Patan families of Savanoor and Kurpa, and a third at Kurnool”.³

William Kirkpatrick wrote “An Historical Sketch of the Patan Principality of Kurnool” in 1811.⁴ He observed that the place “is not particularly noticed in the annals of the Decan till the period of Aurungzebe’s appearance in that quarter of India”.⁴ But the part its chiefs then took in the wars of the Deccan “has conferred upon it a considerable degree of distinction”.⁴ See also the Nawabs of Cuddapah and Kurnool.

The sources

The Kurnool district manual of 1886 gives the fullest connected account.⁵ It draws on Mackenzie’s manuscripts, on “Persian manuscripts containing some account of Kurnool Nabobs” and on the district records of the annexation.⁵

Kirkpatrick added his sketch to his translation of Tipu Sultan’s letters (1811).⁴ It follows the Persian biographer Mir Husain.⁴ Kirkpatrick thought Mir Husain’s chronology of Kurnool “still less satisfactory” than his account of Savanur, and said it “should be received with caution”.⁴

Muhammad Burhanuddin wrote The Carnatic & Kurnool, their Last Muhammedan Rulers (1905) from papers lent by the Kurnool family.⁶⁷⁸ It prints the family’s sanads (deeds of grant) and translations of letters from the Nizam and the Governors-General.⁶⁷⁸ It also argues the last Nawab’s case.⁶⁷⁸ The Imperial Gazetteer (1908) gives a short summary.⁹

Origins

The manual says that after the fall of Bijapur in 1686 the Mughal general Ghiyas-ud-din Khan took Adoni.¹⁰ He then moved on Kurnool, “which he took and named Kammur Nagar”.¹⁰ Later, the manual says, “through the intercession of Ghiyas-ud-din Khan, the Kurnool territory was conferred as a jaghire upon Daud Khan, a Patan general of great talent”.¹⁰ This happened “some time after this, in the latter part of the seventeenth century”.¹⁰

Burhanuddin dates the grant to about 1698.⁶ Kirkpatrick makes Daud Khan’s father, Khizr Khan Panni, “of the tribe called Poory-Zye”, the founder of the house.⁴ See Daud Khan Panni and the Mughals in the Telugu country.

Daud Khan was killed near Burhanpur in 1715.¹¹ The manual says that his brother Ibrahim Khan then took the fort of Kurnool from the emperor’s killadar (fort commander).¹¹ He did it by sending in palanquins full of soldiers in place of his women.¹¹ He then obtained a sanad for the jagir (land grant).¹¹ The manual explains in a note that “when jaghires were given to their officers, the chief fort was always retained in the hands of an officer independent of the jaghiredar”.¹¹

Ibrahim Khan followed the subahdar (governor) Mubariz Khan against Nizam-ul-Mulk.¹¹ He was killed with him at Shakar Kheda in 1724.¹¹ The manual says that “in his internal administration Ibrahim, unlike the Bijapur subadars, treated the Hindus with great forbearance in religious matters”.¹¹ He renewed their inams (rent-free grants), as a sanad of 1712 for Srisailam shows.¹¹

His son Alif Khan made his submission to the victorious Nizam at Adoni and ruled nine years.¹¹¹² See Mubariz Khan, Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah I and Srisailam.

Two Nizams killed, 1750–51

Alif Khan’s son was Himayat Khan, called Himmat Bahadur.¹² Under him the Marathas overran the district in 1741.¹²

In 1750 Nasir Jang called the Nawab to his army against Muzaffar Jang.¹²¹³¹⁴ The Nawab of Kurnool, with those of Kadapa (then Cuddapah) and Savanur, plotted with the French.¹²¹³¹⁴ Near Jinji, Nasir Jang was shot from his elephant.¹²¹³¹⁴ The manual says that the Nawab of Cuddapah shot him.¹³ The manual’s “other historians” and Kirkpatrick say it was the Nawab of Kurnool.¹³¹⁴

The new Nizam, Muzaffar Jang, marched north, and the three Nawabs fell on him near Rayachoti.¹⁵ The Nawab of Kurnool drove his javelin “through his forehead into the brain”.¹⁵ He himself “was instantly cut to pieces”.¹⁵

The manual goes on: “On the 15th March 1751” the French under Bussy and Salabat Jang’s army stormed Kurnool.¹⁵ Floods had breached its walls, and the attackers massacred its people.¹⁵ The Nawab’s widow was left at Kurnool, and his two sons were carried to Hyderabad.¹⁵ See Himmat Bahadur Khan, Nasir Jang, Muzaffar Jang and Lakkireddipalle.

Ranmast Khan, the Nizam and Mysore, 1752–1792

The country was left to the Nizam’s officer and the raja of Gadwal.¹⁶ The raja received the forts of Betamcherla, Rangapuram and Yerraguntla.¹⁶

In 1752 Himmat Bahadur’s brother, Ranmast Khan, also called Munawwar Khan, came back from Arcot.¹⁶ He brought three lakhs of rupees from the Nawab of Cuddapah.¹⁶ After six months of fighting and bargaining he “entered Kurnool and assumed the government”.¹⁶ Kirkpatrick says that he bought a confirmation from Salabat Jang’s minister “on condition of paying a certain annual tribute to the government of Hyderabad”.¹⁷

Haidar Ali took a payment from Kurnool in 1769.¹⁸ Kirkpatrick says that the Nawab remained subject to Mysore’s tribute until the treaty of 1792.¹⁹²⁰ Wilks says that at one time “this unfortunate chief found it necessary to pay tribute to three powers”: the Marathas, the Nizam and Mysore.²¹

Tipu Sultan claimed eleven lakhs of rupees from “the Nabob Runmust Khan”.²² He let off four of them “on account of the eminence of your family”.²² See Ranmast Khan (Munawwar Khan), Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan.

Kirkpatrick wrote that the treaty of Seringapatam of 1792 freed the Nawab from his dependence on Tipu and transferred his tribute to the Nizam.²² But Wilks records the Nizam asking the Company’s support in 1793 in a dispute with Tipu “regarding the tribute of Kurnool”.²³²⁴ In 1795, Wilks says, Tipu gathered troops at Gooty “on the pretence of demanding tribute from Kurnool”.²³²⁴ The partition treaty of 1799 lists the “Kurnool Peshcush” (tribute) of 66,666 pagodas among the Nizam’s gains.²⁵

The Company, 1800–1839

By the treaty of 12 October 1800 the Nizam gave his gains of 1792 and 1799 to the Company, and with them the Kurnool tribute.²⁶²⁷ Alif Khan II denied that any right of tribute had passed, “no such right having existed under the Mysore Government”.²⁷²⁸ But he agreed to a voluntary peshkash (tribute).²⁷²⁸ In 1804 it was fixed at a lakh and a quarter of Gadwal rupees for eight years and a lakh after that.²⁷²⁸ He also had to supply 500 horse and 500 foot.²⁷²⁸

The Company stepped in twice in the succession.²⁸²⁹ In 1813 a force from Gooty freed Alif Khan’s eldest son Munawwar Khan, whom his father had imprisoned in favour of a younger son.²⁸²⁹ When Alif Khan died, another son, Muzaffar Khan, seized the fort.²⁸²⁹ In 1815 troops from Bellary took it from him.²⁸²⁹ See Alif Khan II.

Government and revenue

The Nawabs farmed their villages to headmen. In 1810 a village accountant gave an account to Colin Mackenzie’s agents.³⁰³¹ He said that land was measured in muntas and tumus, and let at rates in “Chalavani” rupees according to the soil.³⁰³¹ Where tenants were few, the crop was divided.³⁰³¹ The cultivator took a quarter if the government bore the costs, and half if he did.³⁰³¹ He added: “but these rules were not regularly observed by the Nabobs”.³⁰³¹

Chaplin, the Collector of Bellary, wrote in 1813 that under Alif Khan II one jagirdar (holder of a land grant) replaced another “in rapid succession”.²⁸²⁹ Each robbed the people while he could.²⁸²⁹ Chaplin put the revenue at “little less than twelve lakhs of rupees”.²⁸²⁹ When Kurnool proper was taken over in 1839 the revenue system “was that of renting the villages to the headmen, who distributed the lands and fixed the rates at their pleasure”.³²

Army and forts

The Nawabs’ troops were Pathan horse. Alif Khan II led 1,400 horse for the Nizam at Kharda in 1795.²⁷²⁸ There the first charge was “favorable to the Patan cavalry”.²⁷²⁸ The contingent owed to the Company after 1804 was 500 horse and 500 foot.²⁷²⁸

Kirkpatrick says that Ibrahim Khan rebuilt the citadel of Kurnool in masonry, since its wall had been of mud.³³ He also raised a force largely of “Afghans of his own tribe”.³³ The fort’s garrison was large:¹⁵²⁹³⁴

• the French found 4,000 Pathans in the fort in 1751¹⁵²⁹³⁴
• in 1815 its garrison was about 4,000¹⁵²⁹³⁴
• in 1839 the last Nawab’s army included unpaid Rohillas and Arabs¹⁵²⁹³⁴

The Nawabs also held forts at Yerraguntla, Nandyal, Panem and Gani.²⁸ See Kharda.

Coins

The sources say little of a Kurnool coinage. The tribute of 1804 was reckoned in “Gadval rupees”, worth 87,500 rupees in the Company’s currency.²⁸ The rates of 1810 were in “Chalavani” rupees.³⁰ Burhanuddin quotes the commissioners of 1839 on the last Nawab’s odd habits.³⁵ Among them was the “striking [of] coins with nonsensical characters on them, under the influence of a Fakir who induced him to believe in Alchemy”.³⁵

Buildings

Kirkpatrick says that Ibrahim Khan “made considerable additions and improvements to the town” as well as rebuilding the citadel.³³ Burhanuddin wrote in 1905 that the last Nawab’s grandson lived in “one of the houses of his late grandfather”.³⁶ It had cost “upwards of three lacs of rupees” and was “crumbling down”.³⁶

The chief older monument of the town is the tomb of the Bijapur general Abdul Wahab, who died in 1618.¹⁰ It belongs to the period before the Nawabs.¹⁰ See the tomb of Abdul Wahab.

The end, 1839

The last Nawab, Ghulam Rasul Khan, repaired his forts and gathered “immense quantities of military stores and cannon”.³⁷³⁴ The manual says: “this secret accumulation of stores at a time when reports were being circulated of a Wahabi conspiracy hostile to the British Government, excited the suspicion of the Government”.³⁷³⁴

A commission with troops from Bellary reached Kurnool in September 1839.³⁷³⁴ The Nawab gave up the fort on 18 October, and his unpaid troops were fired on.³⁷³⁴ He was sent to Tiruchirappalli (then Trichinopoly), where his own servant murdered him.³⁷³⁴

The jagir was annexed with the minor jagirs of the family and nobles, and the family was given pensions.³⁴² A Commissioner and then an Agent governed the territory until 1858.³⁴² In that year taluks from Kadapa and Bellary were added to it to form the Kurnool district.³⁴² See Ghulam Rasul Khan.

Where the sources disagree

• Daud Khan and Ibrahim Khan. The Kurnool manual and Irvine make Ibrahim Khan Daud Khan’s brother.¹¹ Kirkpatrick, after Mir Husain, makes him the son of Daud Khan’s only brother, Ali Khan Panni, who ruled for five or six years between them.³³³⁸ Kirkpatrick gives Ibrahim a reign of “somewhat more than fourteen years”.³³³⁸
• Lengths of reign. Kirkpatrick gives Alif Khan thirteen years and Himmat Bahadur seven or eight.¹⁴³⁹ The manual gives Alif Khan nine years (1724–1733) and Himmat Bahadur 1733–1751.¹¹¹²
• Who shot Nasir Jang. The Cuddapah manual and the Nellore manual name the Nawab of Cuddapah.⁴⁰⁴¹ Kirkpatrick, citing Mir Husain and the Maasir-ul-Umara, names Himmat Bahadur of Kurnool.¹⁴ The Kurnool manual gives both versions.¹³
• Who killed Muzaffar Jang. The Kurnool and Cuddapah manuals say the Nawab of Kurnool.¹⁵⁴⁰ The Nellore manual says the Nawab of Cuddapah.⁴¹⁴²
• The storm of Kurnool. The manual dates it to 15 March 1751, though in the same passage it has Muzaffar Jang leave Pondicherry on 4 January 1752.¹³¹⁵ Burhanuddin dates the capture to 15 March 1752.⁴³ Brown’s Carnatic Chronology puts the death of “Himmat Bahadar” in 1754.⁴⁴
• Haidar’s first levy. Wilks dates it to 1769.¹⁸ The memoir of Ram Chandra Rao has him take three lakhs of rupees from Munawwar Khan.⁴⁵ The Kurnool manual dates it to about 1775, with two lakhs paid of five demanded.⁴⁶ Kirkpatrick has a yearly tribute of a lakh.¹⁹ The Imperial Gazetteer dates a march on Kurnool to 1755.⁹
• Alif Khan II’s death. The manual and Burhanuddin both date it to 1815.²⁹⁴⁷ But Burhanuddin dates the siege of the fort that followed it, under Colonel Mariott, to 14 December 1814.⁴⁷
• Ranmast Khan and Munawwar Khan. The manual and Burhanuddin treat them as one man.¹⁶⁴³ Kirkpatrick knew the ruler of 1786 as Runmust Khan from Tipu’s letters, and the same reign as Munawwar Khan’s from Mir Husain.¹⁹²⁰ He thought that either the Nawab bore two names or Mir Husain had left one chief out.¹⁹²⁰
• The charge of 1839. The Imperial Gazetteer says the Nawab “was found to be engaged in treasonable preparations on an extensive scale”.² The Kurnool account of 1889 says that he was dispossessed “for rebellious conduct”.¹ The manual says the charge “was not proved”.³⁴ Burhanuddin, quoting the commissioners, says they found no evidence of treasonable letters and blamed a monomania (an obsession).⁸

Footnotes

1. An Account of the Kurnool District, based on an Analysis of Statistical Information relating thereto (Madras, 1889), p. 1 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

2. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Madras, Vol. I (1908), p. 407 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of India, Vol. I (1810), p. 219 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

4. William Kirkpatrick (tr.), Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, “An Historical Sketch of the Patan Principality of Kurnool”, p. li and notes (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

5. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 42, note on sources (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

6. Muhammad Burhanuddin Siddiqui, The Carnatic & Kurnool, their Last Muhammedan Rulers (Madras, 1905), p. 56 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 66 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

8. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 73 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. Imperial Gazetteer: Madras, Vol. I (1908), p. 406 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

10. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 29 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

11. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 30 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

12. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 31 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

13. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 32 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

14. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, p. lvii and note 15 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

15. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 33 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

16. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 34 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

17. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, p. lix (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

18. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of India, Vol. II (1817), p. 131 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

19. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, p. lx and note 20 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

20. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, p. lxi (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

21. Wilks, Historical Sketches, Vol. II (1817), p. 207 note (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

22. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), p. 135, Letter CII and observations (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

23. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of India, Vol. III (1817), p. 315 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

24. Wilks, Historical Sketches, Vol. III (1817), p. 324 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

25. C. U. Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads, Vol. IX (4th ed., 1909), p. 63, partition treaty of Mysore, Schedule B (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

26. Aitchison, Treaties, Vol. IX (1909), p. 69, treaty of 12 October 1800, Articles 5–6 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

27. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 37 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

28. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 38 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

29. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 39, quoting Chaplin (1813) (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

30. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 43, quoting a karnam’s statement of 1810 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

31. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 44 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

32. An Account of the Kurnool District (1889), p. 23, quoting a settlement report (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

33. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, p. lv (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

34. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 41 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

35. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 74, quoting the commissioners’ report (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

36. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 77 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

37. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 40 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

38. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, p. lvi (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

39. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, p. lviii (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

40. J. D. B. Gribble, A Manual of the District of Cuddapah (1875), p. 94 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

41. John A. C. Boswell, A Manual of the Nellore District (1873), p. 447 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

42. Boswell, Nellore District (1873), p. 448 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

43. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 63 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

44. C. P. Brown, Carnatic Chronology (1863), p. 74 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

45. Ram Chandra Rao Punganuri, Memoirs of Hyder and Tippoo, tr. C. P. Brown (1849), p. 20 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

46. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 35 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

47. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 69 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²