Alexander Wynch

Alexander Wynch learned the Telugu country before he governed it. In the years after 1769 he was the East India Company’s Chief (head of the local council) at Machilipatnam (then Masulipatam).¹ There he dealt with the zamindars (landholders) and with Basalat Jang, who held Guntur.²³ He then became Governor of Madras, from 1773 to 1775.⁴ See East India Company.

Chief at Machilipatnam

The Kistna manual prints a list of the Chiefs in Council at Machilipatnam.¹ It shows Wynch in charge twice: from 20 April 1769, and again from November 1769 until December 1772.¹

The Charmahal estates belonged to the Kamadana family.² In 1770 Wynch began to write to these zamindars.² In 1771 he settled their rent for three years.² Kalidindi Tirupati Razu, the zamindar of Mogalturru (then Mogultore), stood surety for the three years’ peshkash (tribute).²

Guntur and the French

Guntur was held by Basalat Jang, a brother of the Nizam, and he kept a French force there.³ Soldiers were deserting from the Company’s troops to it.³ Wynch wrote to the Madras Government that it was unwise to let the French stay at Guntur.³

On 13 June Madras replied that Basalat Jang had broken none of the terms on which he held Guntur.³ So it could not insist on the French being sent away.³ Wynch then sent an envoy named Malla Pantulu to Basalat Jang.³ The envoy suggested that Basalat Jang rent Guntur to the Company for 1,25,000 pagodas.³ Basalat Jang refused to listen, and said he would give up Guntur only to superior force.³ Guntur came to the Company only in 1788.⁵ See Guntur and Machilipatnam.

Governor

Maclean’s list of Governors shows Wynch in office from 2 February 1773 to 11 December 1775.⁴ The Kistna manual remarks that two Chiefs of Machilipatnam, Wynch and John Whitehill, both “rose to be Governor of Madras and both were removed from that post”.⁶

Where the sources disagree

• When he was Chief. The Kistna manual’s list shows Wynch’s second term at Machilipatnam ending in December 1772.¹ Its text says that “in 1773 Mr. Wynch was Chief at Masulipatam”, and it dates his letter about the French at Guntur to 1773.⁶³ Maclean’s list makes him Governor from 2 February 1773.⁴

Footnotes

1. Mackenzie, Kistna District (1883), p. 358, “A List of Chiefs in Council, and Collectors of Masulipatam, Guntur and the Kistna District” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Mackenzie, Kistna District (1883), p. 328 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District (1883), pp. 80–81 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

4. C. D. Maclean (ed.), Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. II (1885), p. 269, list of Governors of Fort St. George (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Mackenzie, Kistna District (1883), p. 85 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

6. Mackenzie, Kistna District (1883), p. 110 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²