Munawwar Khan II of Kurnool

Munawwar Khan was the Nawab of Kurnool from 1815 to 1823.¹ He was the eldest son of Alif Khan II and his rightful heir.² His father tried to set him aside, and the East India Company stepped in twice to put him on the throne.²¹ The sources praise his short rule as just and mild.¹³ See the Nawabs of Kurnool.

A prisoner of his father, 1810–1813

Alif Khan II had six sons, and his favourite was the sixth, Ghulam Rasul.² In 1810 the Governor-General, Lord Minto, agreed to call the boy Nawab and Bahadur and allowed a seal in his name.²⁴ Alif Khan took this as leave to make Ghulam Rasul his heir.² He “confined his eldest son, Munauwar Khan, the rightful heir”.²

The Company did not accept this.² It sent Chaplin, the Collector of Bellary, to tell Alif Khan he was wrong and to ask him to free Munawwar.² Alif Khan refused and began to gather war stores in his forts.² So Chaplin came again with a small force, which marched from Gooty on 19 December 1813 and reached Kurnool on the 27th.² Munawwar was freed at once and placed in the care of his uncle.² See Ghulam Rasul Khan.

Winning the throne, 1815

Alif Khan died in 1815.¹ One of his younger sons, Muzaffar Khan, seized power and shut out Munawwar, whom the Company had named as heir.¹ Troops came from Bellary and besieged the fort, which had a garrison of about 4,000 men.¹ The guns opened fire on 14 December, and the fort gave up the next day.¹ Muzaffar Khan was taken prisoner and kept under watch.¹

A Gazetteer of Southern India (1855) says that Chaplin then formally placed Munawwar on the musnad (throne).³

His rule, 1815–1823

The manual says that when Munawwar came to power, the country was “in a most exhausted state”.¹ Soon after, the Pindaris (bands of mounted raiders) overran it.¹ On 16 March 1816 two or three thousand of them appeared at Cumbum and about three hundred at Markapur.¹ Most villages were left empty, so the raiders got little.¹⁵ They carried off sixty bullocks loaded with goods of small value.¹⁵

In 1818 he sent his share of troops against the Maratha chief Baji Rao.⁶ Burhanuddin prints a letter of 22 June 1818 from the Governor-General, Lord Hastings, thanking him.⁶ It says he sent 500 foot soldiers and 500 horsemen under his younger brother Ahmad Khan and his uncle Abdur Rahman Khan.⁶ The manual also tells of this brother leading Munawwar’s troops against the Marathas, and says the war was over before they reached the British camp.¹

Munawwar “administered affairs with justice and moderation”, the manual says, “and is in general praised by the people”.¹ His father had taxed the inamdars, the holders of rent-free land, and they were very unhappy.¹ Munawwar ended the tax and forgave what was still owed.¹

Death, 1823

He died of illness in 1823, after a reign of eight years.¹⁷ The 1855 gazetteer says he was “much lamented by the people as the most just and lenient ruler they had had for many years”.³

The succession was disputed again. While he lived, the claims of his brother Daud Khan were preferred.⁵ But in the end the choice fell on Muzaffar Khan.⁵ Muzaffar murdered his wife at Adoni before he could take the throne, and he spent the rest of his life a prisoner at Bellary.⁵ So Ghulam Rasul Khan became Nawab.⁵ The manual says he soon set aside “the policy of moderation exercised by his late brother” and brought back the tax that Munawwar had ended.⁵

Where the sources disagree

• The siege of Kurnool. The manual puts the siege after Alif Khan’s death in 1815, with the guns opening on 14 December.¹ Burhanuddin and the 1855 gazetteer date the opening of the batteries to 14 December 1814.⁸³
• The Pindari raid. The manual dates it to 16 March 1816, and Burhanuddin to 18 March 1816.¹⁶
• Length of rule. The manual and Burhanuddin say eight years.¹⁷ The 1855 gazetteer says about nine.³

Footnotes

1. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 39 (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

2. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 38 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. A Gazetteer of Southern India, with the Tenasserim Provinces and Singapore (Madras: Pharoah and Co., 1855), p. 70, “Kurnool” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

4. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 68, with Lord Minto’s letter of 27 February 1810 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

5. Chetty, Kurnool District (1886), p. 40 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

6. Muhammad Burhanuddin Siddiqui, The Carnatic & Kurnool, their Last Muhammedan Rulers (Madras, 1905), p. 70, with Lord Hastings’s letter of 22 June 1818 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 71 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

8. Burhanuddin, The Carnatic & Kurnool (1905), p. 69 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩