Muhammad Beg Khan of Banganapalle

Muhammad Beg Khan was the first ruler of Banganapalle in the Kurnool manual’s history of the State.¹² He began as a Mughal fort commander and ended as a petty Nawab under the first Nizam.¹² In the manual’s account, the later rulers descend from his granddaughter, the sister of Gulli Nawab.² See the Banganapalle State.

Killedar of Banganapalle

The Kurnool manual (1886) says that “towards the close of the seventeenth century” Muhammad Beg Khan was made killadar (fort commander) of Banganapalle.¹ It calls him “a relative of Mubaraz Khan (a Vazier of Aurangzebe)”.¹ His brother, Fazl Ali Khan, was made commander of the nearby fort of Chenchelimala.¹ The brother soon died without children, so Chenchelimala was added to Muhammad Beg’s charge.¹

A. Vadivelu’s family history (1903) tells the same story.³ In his account Aurangzeb appointed “Mahomed Beg Khan, a relation of his Minister, Mubaraz Khan”, as jagirdar (holder of the land grant).³ Before that, Vadivelu says, Bijapur had given Banganapalle in 1643 to a general named Siddu Simbul.⁴ Aitchison’s collection of treaties (1892) calls Muhammad Beg the “son of Aurangzeb’s Grand Wazir”.⁵ See the Mughals in the Telugu country.

A petty Nawab under the Nizam

Muhammad Beg held his joint charge until the Mughal empire broke up.² Then Asaf Jah, the first Nizam, “assumed sovereign powers”, and Muhammad Beg “became a petty chieftain or nabob”.² The manual goes on: “In the course of his southern tour, it is said, Asaf Ja recognised Muhammad Beg’s title and granted the territory in jaghire.”² Vadivelu says much the same, and adds that Muhammad Beg Khan “declared his independence”.³ See Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah I.

The jagir was settled by the middle of the century.⁶ In 1750 Nasir Jang promised a village to his envoy Saif-ud-din, who asked for Banganapalle.⁶ But Nasir Jang was “unwilling to oust the Jaghiredar of Banganapalle” and asked him to choose another village.⁶ The manual does not name this jagirdar.⁶ By its own dates, Muhammad Beg Khan was still alive in 1750.² See Nasir Jang.

Death and heirs

Muhammad Beg Khan died at Banganapalle about 1172 of the Hijra (1758).² His son, also called Fazl Ali Khan, had died before him.² So his grandson, Fazl Ali Khan, known as Gulli Nawab, followed him as a boy of ten.² Vadivelu says that “Mahomed Beg Khan and his descendants held the Jaghir till 1758”.³ See Fazl Ali Khan (Gulli Nawab).

The family’s own account

The Imperial Gazetteer (1908) used the family’s papers.⁷ The oldest title-deed the family could show was dated 1761.⁷ It records the Nizam appointing Husain Ali Khan as killadar and faujdar (magistrate) of Banganapalle, and it mentions “the removal of one Muhammad Beg Khan”.⁷

The gazetteer adds that, according to the family’s manuscripts, Muhammad Beg Khan “was the great-grandfather of Husain Ali Khan”.⁷ He was also “the adopted son of a person of the same name appointed Kiladar of Banganapalle by the Sultan of Bijapur in the last half of the seventeenth century”.⁷ A document still kept at Banganapalle “bears the seal of Muhammad Beg Khan and the date 1131 Hijra (A.D. 1718–19)”.⁷

The District Census Handbook of Kurnool (1961, printed 1964) gives a fuller family history.⁸ It says that a Muhammad Beg Khan Rosebhani became killadar of Banganapalle through his nephew Mubariz Khan, then governor of the Deccan.⁸ His adopted son, Muhammad Beg Khan-e-lung, followed him in 1686 and was killadar until 1725.⁸ Late in his rule this second Muhammad Beg asked Delhi for a sanad (deed of grant) for the jagir.⁸ The handbook says that the minister Qutb-ul-Mulk granted it under the seal of Rafi-ud-Darajat, a grandson of Aurangzeb.⁸ When he died in 1725, his son-in-law Ata Khan followed him.⁸

Where the sources disagree

• One man or two. The Kurnool manual and Vadivelu tell of one Muhammad Beg Khan, appointed by the Mughals and confirmed by the first Nizam.¹²³ The Imperial Gazetteer and the Census handbook tell of a first killadar and his adopted son of the same name.⁷⁸
• Who appointed the first Muhammad Beg. The manual and Vadivelu say the Mughals.¹³ The Imperial Gazetteer says the Sultan of Bijapur.⁷
• His relationship to Mubariz Khan. The manual and Vadivelu call him a relative of Mubariz Khan.¹³ Aitchison calls him the son of Aurangzeb’s chief minister.⁵ The Census handbook makes Mubariz Khan his nephew.⁸
• When he died. The manual dates his death to about 1758.² The Census handbook dates the death of the second Muhammad Beg Khan to 1725.⁸ The 1761 deed in the Imperial Gazetteer mentions the removal of a Muhammad Beg Khan in that year.⁷

Footnotes

1. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 246 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 247 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

3. A. Vadivelu, The Aristocracy of Southern India (1903), p. 6 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

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

5. 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

6. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 32 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Madras, Vol. II (1908), p. 472, “Banganapalle State” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

8. 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