A new site, built from published sources. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us
Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Abdul Nabi Khan (Nawab of Cuddapah)

Pathan (Miana) Nawab of Cuddapah in the early eighteenth century. Gribble's chronology calls him 'the greatest of the Cuddapah Nabobs'. Kirmani says that the emperor Bahadur Shah gave him Cuddapah as a land grant, and the Cuddapah gazetteer dates his governorship from 1714. He took Sidhout from its fort commander in 1714 and held Gandikota, Cumbum and Gurramkonda. He made the poligar of Punganur pay him tribute, raided the Baramahal and joined the Nawab of Arcot in taking money from Mysore. Local tradition says he founded the town of Cuddapah. He had stopped ruling by 1732, when an inscription names his son as Nawab.

Faded black-and-white photograph of a large rounded rocky hill rising above scrub-covered ground, with faint lines of walls across its slopes.
Faded black-and-white photograph of a large rounded rocky hill rising above scrub-covered ground, with faint lines of walls across its slopes. · J. D. B. Gribble, A Manual of the District of Cuddapah (Madras) (opens in a new tab) · Public domain

Abdul Nabi Khan was the Pathan chief under whom the Nawabs of Cuddapah became a power in Rayalaseema.1 The Cuddapah gazetteer of 1915 calls him “the first Nawab of Cuddapah to assert his control of the district”.1 It says his governorship began in 1714.1 In its words, “he was a man of considerable energy and ability”.1 It says he “extended his province as far south as Punganur and even levied tribute in the Baramahal”.1 See the Nawabs of Cuddapah.

The grant

Kirmani wrote a history of Haidar Ali, which Miles translated.2 In it Kirpa is Kadapa (then Cuddapah), and jageer (jagir) means a land grant. It says that Bahadur Shah, “the son of Alumgeer”, gave “Kirpa in Jageer” to “Abdunnubbee Khan, the nephew of Azum Khan Meeana”.2 At that time “the Barh Mahl was added to that district”.2

Gribble’s Cuddapah manual records the local tradition that “Abdul Nabbi Meana” founded the town of Kadapa, “and he is said to have received a patent as Nabob from Delhi”.34 But Gribble preferred another account.34 In it, an officer of the Golconda general Mir Jumla built the fort.34

Wilks describes the five circars (districts) of the Carnatic Hyderabad Balaghaut: Sidhout, Gandikota, Gooty, Gurramkonda and Cumbum.5 He says that all but Gooty “afterwards formed the petty state of the Patan Nabobs of Kurpa, who established themselves there about this period”.5 See Kadapa.

Sidhout, Gandikota and Gurramkonda

The taluk sheristadar (chief clerk) collected a chronology of Sidhout, which Gribble printed.6 It says that in 1714 the killadar (fort commander) appointed from Arcot “was superseded by Nabob Abdul Nabbi Khan of Cuddapah”.6 The chronology calls him “the same who made a descent upon the Baramahl, and the greatest of the Cuddapah Nabobs”.6 The jagir of Sidhout went to his second son, “Abdul Ammu Meer Saib”, who held it for 31 years.6

The gazetteer says that he “established garrisons at Gandikota in the north and Gurramkonda in the south, but made no real attempt to reduce the country to order”.1 He left the poligars (local chiefs) of the Gurramkonda country alone “as long as they shared their ill-gotten gains with the Muhammadan governors”.1

Gribble says that he “consolidated under his exclusive rule the districts of Sidhout, Gandikota, Cumbum, Gurramkonda, and Punganoor”.7 Charles Philip Brown’s Carnatic Chronology (1863) has “Abdul Nabi Khan Maya’na” ruling Gandikota in 1710.8 Brown says he sent a deputy to rule Sidhout.8 See Siddhavatam, Gandikota and Gurramkonda.

The rajas of Chitvel, of the Matla family, held their country under him.9 The gazetteer quotes Thomas Munro, who wrote in 1801 that the Matlas “obtained Chitvél about ninety years ago to support a body of peons”.9 They also had to pay a yearly peshcash (peshkash, tribute).9 When Haidar conquered Kadapa, this “was paid to the Nawabs of that province and amounted to above a lakh of rupees”.9 The gazetteer dates the change to about the time Abdul Nabi Khan became Nawab.9

Punganur and the Baramahal

Gribble follows a letter of Munro’s of 1802.107 He says that in 1718 “the Cuddapah Nabob, Abdul Nabbee Khan, appears to have acted independently of the Nizam, for in that year he invaded and subdued Baramahl”.107 On the way he “reduced the Punganoor Poligar and made him pay a peiscush of 32,000 pagodas”.107 He “also required him in time of war to furnish 2,000 troops”.107

Elsewhere Gribble says that he pushed his conquest as far as the Baramahal, “from which he only retired after levying heavy requisitions from the Seringapatam treasury”.711

Wilks says that the Pathan Nawabs of Cuddapah spread their lands “along the back of the eastern Ghauts, nearly to the Cavery, including most of the Baramahal”.51213 The chief of Kadapa was in name under the Nawab of Arcot.51213 He held the whole of the Carnatic Hyderabad Balaghaut except Gooty.51213 With the Nawabs of Kurnool and Savanur, he joined Saadatullah Khan of Arcot in taking a large payment from Mysore.51213 See Punganur and Saadatullah Khan.

Death and successors

Gribble’s Cuddapah manual says that Abdul Nabi Khan had stopped ruling before 1732.111 In that year an inscription names his son Mahazid Khan as the Nawab, and the Cuddapah gazetteer of 1915 says the same.111 Gribble thought him the third of his family to rule.11 The first, in Gribble’s view, was his grandfather of the same name.11

The gazetteer adds that a Nawab named Abdul Nabi Khan, “probably a grandson of the first Abdul Nabi Khan”, was defeated by the Marathas in 1740.114 In 1743 “the sons of Abdul Nabi Khan”, Fath Miah and Baday Miah, followed Nizam-ul-Mulk’s army to the south.114

Muhammad Burhanuddin’s history (1905) says that he marched with Saadatullah Khan against the Marathas in 1732.151617 It says that after his death there was “continual civil war in Cadappa country”.151617

Where the sources disagree

The sources give different dates for the end of his rule.1117

  • Gribble’s manual says that he had stopped ruling before 1732.11 In that year an inscription names his son Mahazid Khan as the Nawab.111
  • Brown’s chronology puts his death in 1747, after a rule of eleven years.17 The gazetteer dates the start of his governorship to 1714.1
  • The gazetteer names a later Nawab of the same name, “probably a grandson of the first Abdul Nabi Khan”, who was defeated by the Marathas in 1740.114

Footnotes

  1. C. F. Brackenbury, Madras District Gazetteers: Cuddapah, Vol. I (1915), p. 41 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  2. Mir Husain Ali Khan Kirmani, The History of Hydur Naik, tr. W. Miles (1842), p. 271 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. J. D. B. Gribble, A Manual of the District of Cuddapah (1875), p. 60 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Gribble, Cuddapah (1875), p. 61 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of India, Vol. I (1810), p. 218 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  6. Gribble, Cuddapah (1875), p. 51 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Gribble, Cuddapah (1875), p. 90 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  8. C. P. Brown, Carnatic Chronology (1863), p. 71 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  9. Brackenbury, Cuddapah (1915), p. 40, quoting Munro (1801) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. Gribble, Cuddapah (1875), p. 89 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. Gribble, Cuddapah (1875), p. 91 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  12. Wilks, Historical Sketches, Vol. I (1810), p. 227 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. Wilks, Historical Sketches, Vol. I (1810), p. 228 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. Brackenbury, Cuddapah (1915), p. 42 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. Muhammad Burhanuddin Siddiqui, The Carnatic & Kurnool, their Last Muhammedan Rulers (Madras, 1905), p. 22 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  16. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 23 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  17. Brown, Carnatic Chronology (1863), p. 73 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

Photos

Dynasties

Nawabs of Cuddapah

c. 1714–1779 CE

Pathan (Miana) chiefs who governed the Cuddapah country, first for the Mughals and then for the Nizams, from Cuddapah and the fort of Sidhout. The Cuddapah gazetteer dates the rule of Abdul Nabi Khan from 1714. He held Sidhout, Gandikota, Cumbum and Gurramkonda, made the poligar of Punganur pay him tribute and raided the Baramahal. A Nawab of Cuddapah took part in the killing of Nasir Jang in 1750 and in the attack on Muzaffar Jang in 1751. In 1757 the Maratha general Balwant Rao defeated and killed the Nawab Abdul Majid Khan and took Gurramkonda. After a disputed succession, Abdul Halim Khan ruled from 1761 until Haidar Ali conquered him in 1779 and gave the country to Mir Sahib. It passed to the Nizam in 1792 and to the East India Company in 1800.

References

Sources (6)
  1. C. F. Brackenbury, Madras District Gazetteers: Cuddapah, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1915, pp. 40–42. [Public domain]
  2. J. D. B. Gribble, A Manual of the District of Cuddapah in the Presidency of Madras (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1875, pp. 51, 60–61, 89–91. [Public domain]
  3. Mir Husain Ali Khan Kirmani, tr. W. Miles, The History of Hydur Naik, otherwise styled Shums ul Moolk, Ameer ud Dowla, Nawaub Hydur Ali Khan Bahadoor, Hydur Jung (opens in a new tab), Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland, London, 1842, pp. 271. [Public domain]
  4. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of India, in an Attempt to Trace the History of Mysoor, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme, London, 1810, pp. 218, 226–228. [Public domain]
  5. Charles Philip Brown, Carnatic Chronology: The Hindu and Mahomedan Methods of Reckoning Time Explained (opens in a new tab), Bernard Quaritch, London, 1863, pp. 71, 73. [Public domain]
  6. Muhammad Burhanuddin Siddiqui (Moulvi), The Carnatic & Kurnool, their Last Muhammedan Rulers (opens in a new tab), Commercial Press, Madras, 1905, pp. 22–23. [Public domain]

Spotted an error on this page? Tell us

Last updated: