Husain Ali Khan II of Banganapalle

Husain Ali Khan was the head of the Banganapalle family for more than twenty-five years.¹ But for most of that time the Madras government, not he, ran the jagir (land grant).¹² During his rule the family’s debts nearly cost it the State.³ See the Banganapalle State.

Succession

Ghulam Ali Khan (Mansur-ud-daula) had two sons, Saiyid Husain Ali Khan and Saiyid Fateh Ali Khan.¹ The Kurnool manual says that he placed the elder on the musnad (throne) during his own lifetime, in 1237 of the Hijra (1821).¹ A. Vadivelu’s family history (1903) says that the father gave Banganapalle to Husain Ali Khan because the second son already held a jagir at Hyderabad.⁴ The District Census Handbook of Kurnool (1961, printed 1964) dates the succession to 1822.⁵ See Ghulam Ali Khan (Mansur-ud-daula).

Debt and disorder

The family was “burdened with debts”, the manual says.¹ Most had been run up by Asad Ali Khan while he was governor of Kadapa (then Cuddapah).¹ Husain Ali Khan could not pay his creditors, and disorder followed.¹ See Asad Ali Khan.

The Census handbook says that under him the administration “got from bad to worse”.⁵ At last he had to flee to Koilkuntla, in the nearby British territory.⁵ The Imperial Gazetteer (1908) does not name the jagirdar (holder of the land grant).² It says that “internal government now went from bad to worse”, and that in 1831 “the jagirdar was driven out of the country and took refuge in British territory”.² By the manual’s dates Husain Ali Khan was the jagirdar then.¹

The government takes over

The sources tell the takeover in different ways:¹⁶³²

• The manual says that the Madras government “assumed the management in 1825” because of the disorders.¹
• Vadivelu says that it did so “at the request of the Nawab himself” from 1825.⁶
• Aitchison says that in 1825 the government proposed to annex the jagir and give the family a pension.³
• The Imperial Gazetteer says that the government took the jagir back in 1832 and announced this in 1835.²

Aitchison says that the jagirdar refused the pension and protested against the government’s right to take his jagir.³ Then the government found that in 1800 the Nizam had made it a condition that the jagir should stay with the family.³ So the Court of Directors decided that the holder must be treated as “an hereditary jagirdar”.³ The Collector of Cuddapah was told to settle the creditors’ claims, and three-quarters of the net revenue went to them.³ The Imperial Gazetteer says that the State was run by the Madras government from 1835 to 1848.²

Restoration and death, 1848

“In 1848 the accounts were closed”, Aitchison writes, “and the jagir was restored to Husain Ali Khan, the eldest surviving heir”.³ The sanad (deed of grant) printed by Vadivelu says that on 12 July 1848 the Madras government granted Banganapalle to “Hoossain Ali Khan and his heirs for ever”.⁶ The grant was “free of peshcush and pecuniary demand”, that is, without tribute.⁶

But Husain Ali Khan died before the sanad could be issued.¹³ He had no son.⁴ He had adopted his nephew Ghulam Muhammad Ali Khan, the younger son of his brother Fateh Ali Khan, and married him to his daughter, Imdad Begum.¹⁴ The nephew received the sanad in 1849.³ See Ghulam Muhammad Ali Khan.

Where the sources disagree

• When the government took over. The manual, Vadivelu and Aitchison give 1825.¹⁶³ The Imperial Gazetteer and the Census handbook give 1832.²⁵
• Why it took over. Vadivelu says the Nawab asked for it, and the Census handbook says it was done at the jagirdar’s own wish.⁶⁵ Aitchison says that the jagirdar protested against the plan to annex the jagir.³
• To whom the jagir was restored. Aitchison, the manual and Vadivelu say it was restored to Husain Ali Khan in 1848.³¹⁶ The Imperial Gazetteer says it was restored to Ghulam Muhammad Ali.²
• When he succeeded. The manual says 1821, in his father’s lifetime.¹ The Census handbook says 1822.⁵

Footnotes

1. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 248 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵

2. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Madras, Vol. II (1908), p. 473, “Banganapalle State” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. C. U. Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads, Vol. VIII (1892), Part I, p. 97, “Banganapalle” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

4. A. Vadivelu, The Aristocracy of Southern India (1903), p. 9 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. A. Chandra Sekhar, Census of India 1961, Andhra Pradesh: District Census Handbook, Kurnool District (1964), p. xxxi (PDF p. 52) (censusindia.gov.in↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased (Public domain in India). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

6. Vadivelu, Aristocracy of Southern India (1903), p. 10, with the sanad of 1849 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷