Fazl Ali Khan (Gulli Nawab) of Banganapalle

Fazl Ali Khan, better known as Gulli Nawab, ruled Banganapalle in the second half of the eighteenth century.¹ In the Kurnool manual he is the link between the first ruler, Muhammad Beg Khan, and the family of his sister, which held the State after him.¹ Almost all that is known of him comes from one page of that manual.¹ See the Banganapalle State.

A boy ruler

The manual says that Muhammad Beg Khan’s son, Fazl Ali Khan, died before his father.¹ So when Muhammad Beg died about 1758, his grandson succeeded him.¹ This was “Fassal Ali Khan, alias Gulli Nabob, a boy of ten years of age”.¹ See Muhammad Beg Khan.

While he was a child, power was seized by a relative, Muhammad Beg Khan Laug.¹ He was the husband of the young Nawab’s maternal aunt, and he “ruled for eight years”.¹ Then Gulli Nawab drove him out.¹

Haidar Ali

In Gulli Nawab’s lifetime, the manual says, Haidar Ali of Mysore “invaded the country and reduced the Nabob to submission”.¹ Until then Banganapalle had paid tribute to the Nawab of Kurnool.¹ That tribute “was now abolished”.¹ The manual does not date the invasion.¹ See Haidar Ali and the Nawabs of Kurnool.

His sister’s sons

Gulli Nawab had a sister, Avautul Batul Khanum.¹ He married her to Saiyid Muhammad Khan Nagadi, a Persian nobleman who had served Saadatullah Khan, the Nawab of Arcot.¹ They had two sons, Saiyid Husain Ali Khan and Saiyid Asad Ali Khan.¹ See Saadatullah Khan.

Gulli Nawab had no children of his own, so he “looked upon them as his own children”.¹ He gave Banganapalle to Husain Ali Khan and the fort of Chenchelimala to Asad Ali Khan.¹ He died at Banganapalle in 1197 of the Hijra (1782), “after a reign of sixteen years”.¹ See Husain Ali Khan and Asad Ali Khan.

The Census handbook’s account

The District Census Handbook of Kurnool (1961, printed 1964) tells the family’s story with other names and dates.² It does not use the name Gulli Nawab.² But its Fazl Ali Khan II, like the manual’s Gulli Nawab, is the son of a Fazl Ali Khan, has no children and is followed by his sister’s son, Husain Ali Khan.²¹

In the handbook’s account, Fazl Ali Khan I ruled for nine years and died in 1737.² His son, Fazl Ali Khan II, then held the jagir (land grant) for thirty-two years and died in 1769.² The handbook says it was believed that he stayed unmarried because he wanted his beloved sister’s son to rule after him.² He adopted his nephew Husain Ali Khan as his son.²³

Where the sources disagree

• His grandfather. The manual makes him the grandson of Muhammad Beg Khan.¹ The Census handbook makes his father, Fazl Ali Khan I, the brother-in-law of Ata Khan, who was the son-in-law of the second Muhammad Beg Khan.²
• His dates. The manual’s dates give him about 1766 to 1782, after his grandfather’s death about 1758 and the regent’s eight years.¹ The Census handbook dates his rule from 1737 to 1769.²
• Husain Ali Khan’s grant. The manual says that Gulli Nawab gave Banganapalle to Husain Ali Khan.¹ The Imperial Gazetteer found that the family’s oldest deed records the Nizam appointing Husain Ali Khan in 1761.⁴
• The family line. A. Vadivelu’s family history (1903) says that Saiyid Muhammad Khan Nagadi married the granddaughter of the jagirdar Fazle Ali Khan.⁵ It says that a relative named Ghulam Ali Khan succeeded Fazle Ali Khan about 1732, and that Husain Ali Khan came after him.⁵

Footnotes

1. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 247 and note (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³

2. A. Chandra Sekhar, Census of India 1961, Andhra Pradesh: District Census Handbook, Kurnool District (1964), p. xxx (PDF p. 49) (censusindia.gov.in↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased (Public domain in India). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

3. Chandra Sekhar, District Census Handbook, Kurnool (1964), p. xxxi (PDF p. 52) (censusindia.gov.in↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased (Public domain in India). ↩

4. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Madras, Vol. II (1908), p. 472, “Banganapalle State” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

5. A. Vadivelu, The Aristocracy of Southern India (1903), p. 6 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²