Alif Khan of Kurnool

Alif Khan held Kurnool from 1724 to 1733.¹² He took over in 1724, after his father Ibrahim Khan was killed fighting Nizam-ul-Mulk.¹ He was the father of two later Nawabs, Himmat Bahadur Khan and Ranmast Khan.²³ See the Nawabs of Kurnool and Ibrahim Khan.

Making peace with the Nizam, 1724

Ibrahim Khan left two sons, Rahmatullah and Alif Khan.¹ Rahmatullah went away to Aurangabad, and the younger son, Alif Khan, took over the jagir (land grant).¹ His father had died on the losing side at Shakar Kheda.¹ So Alif Khan wrote to the winner, Nizam-ul-Mulk (Asaf Jah), promising his loyalty and asking to be recognised.¹

The Nizam agreed.¹ He called Alif Khan to Adoni and gave him a khilat (robe of honour) there.¹ Because Alif Khan was young, the Nizam let him go back to Kurnool.¹ See Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah I and Adoni.

Death, 1733

The manual says that he ruled nine years and died of illness in 1146 of the Hijra (1733).¹² Muhammad Burhanuddin’s history (1905) gives the same years.³ Both say he left two sons.²³ The manual calls them Himayat Khan and Rahmat Khan, and Burhanuddin calls them Himmut Bahadur and Runmusth Khan.²³ The elder took over the jagir.²³ See Himmat Bahadur Khan and Ranmast Khan.

Kirkpatrick’s account

William Kirkpatrick’s sketch of the family (1811) follows the Persian writer Mir Husain and tells a fuller story.⁴ In it Alif Khan first appears as his father’s deputy.⁴ Ibrahim left him in charge of the jagir while he went to Aurangabad.⁴ Later Ibrahim fell ill and left Alif Khan to wait on the Nizam while he went home.⁴

As ruler, Kirkpatrick says, Alif Khan won the favour of Nasir Jang, the Nizam’s second son.⁴ When the Nizam went to Delhi and left Nasir Jang in charge of the Deccan, Alif Khan “is said to have had a principal share” in turning the son against his father.⁴ Father and son made peace.⁴ The Nizam then banned from his presence the men who had stirred up the revolt.⁴ Kirkpatrick thought Alif Khan escaped worse punishment only because he was too powerful to punish safely.⁴ See Nasir Jang.

Alif Khan stayed in disgrace until the Nizam called his officers to an expedition in the lower Carnatic.⁵ Alif Khan sent his son Bahadur Khan to the Nizam with a large nazr (gift of money) and apologies.⁵ The chiefs of Savanur and Kadapa (then Cuddapah), who were in the Nizam’s camp, spoke for him, and he was formally pardoned.⁵ He then joined the Nizam’s camp himself and stayed until the expedition ended.⁵ He died soon after he came home, “having ruled thirteen years”, and his eldest son followed him.⁵ Kirkpatrick does not give dates for these events.⁴⁵

Where the sources disagree

The sources give him three different lengths of rule:¹²⁵⁶

• nine years, from 1724 to 1733, in the Kurnool manual and Burhanuddin¹²³
• thirteen years in Kirkpatrick’s sketch⁵
• sixteen years in A Gazetteer of Southern India (1855)⁶

Footnotes

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

2. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 31 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. Muhammad Burhanuddin Siddiqui, The Carnatic & Kurnool, their Last Muhammedan Rulers (Madras, 1905), p. 61 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. William Kirkpatrick (tr.), Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, “An Historical Sketch of the Patan Principality of Kurnool”, p. lvi (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

5. Kirkpatrick, Select Letters of Tippoo Sultan (1811), Appendix G, p. lvii (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

6. A Gazetteer of Southern India, with the Tenasserim Provinces and Singapore (Madras: Pharoah and Co., 1855), p. 69, “Kurnool” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²