 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Chanda Sahib" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Chanda Sahib | |
|---|---|
| Died | (1752-06-12)12 June 1752 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Mughal Empire |
| Branch | Nawab of the Carnatic |
| Rank | Nawab Ispahsalar (formerly) Subahdar (formerly) Divan (formerly) Faujdar (formerly) Sipahi (formerly) |
| Battles / wars | Mughal-Maratha Wars Carnatic Wars Seven Years' War |
Chanda Sahib (died 12 June 1752) was a subject of theCarnatic Sultanate between 1749 and 1752. He was the son-in-law of the Nawab of CarnaticDost Ali Khan,[1] under whom he was aDewan. An ally of the French, he was initially supported byJoseph François Dupleix during theCarnatic Wars. He annexed theMadurai Nayaks and was declaredNawab, bringingTanjore andTinnevelly into the dominions of theMughal Empire.
He was weakened by constantMarathi attacks and was defeated by British allyMuhammad Ali Khan Wallajah. After his forces were defeated byRobert Clive and theMaratha Empire, he attempted to recoup his losses but was beheaded during a mutiny of the Tanjore army.[2][3]
His birth name was Husayn Dost Khan.
Chanda Sahib sought the investiture of the Mughal EmperorAhmad Shah Bahadur by declaring himselfNawab of Tinnevelly and gathered his own army of 3500 men and even received 400 French infantry from Dupleix
Vijaya RangaChokkanatha died in 1731 and was succeeded by his widowMeenakshi as Queen-Regent on behalf of a young boy she had adopted as her dead husband's heir. She only ruled a year or two beforeVangaru Thirumala, the father of her adopted son, raised an insurrection against her. He said he had claims of his own to the throne ofMadurai. At this juncture representatives of the Mughals appeared on the scene and took an important part in the struggle.
The local representative of the Mughal in present-day Andhra Pradesh was theNawab of Arcot,Dost Ali Khan and an intermediate authority was held by theNizam ofHyderabad, in theory both a subordinate of the emperor and the superior of theNawab[citation needed].
In 1734 — about the time, in fact, that Meenakshi and Vangaru Tirumala were fighting for the crown — the then-Nawab ofArcot sent an expedition to exact tribute and submission from the kingdoms of the Deep South[citation needed]. The leaders of this expedition were Dost Ali Khan's son,Safdar Ali Khan, and his nephew and confidential adviser, Chanda Sahib.
The invaders took Tanjore by storm and, leaving the stronghold ofTrichinopoly untouched, reached Madurai, where they took part in the quarrel between Meenakshi and Vangaru Tirumala. The latter approached Safdar Ali Khan with an offer of 30,000 gold and silver coins if he would oust the Meenakshi in favour of himself. Unwilling to attack Trichinopoly, the Muslim prince contented himself with solemnly declaring Vangaru Tirumala king and took the 30,000 gold and silver coins. He then marched away, leaving Chanda Sahib to enforce his award as best he could. Meenakshi, alarmed at the turn affairs now had taken, had little difficulty in persuading that facile politician to accept her tribute of 100,000 silver and gold coins to declare her duly entitled to the throne[citation needed].
Meenakshi required Chanda Sahib to swear on theQuran that he would adhere faithfully to his engagement. He was honorably admitted into the Trichinopoly fort and Vangaru Tirumala — apparently with the good will of the queen, who, did not seem to have wished him any harm and allowed him to venture into Madurai, to rule over that region and Tinnevelly[citation needed].
Chanda Sahib accepted a large tributes for protection and left for Arcot. Two years later in 1736 he returned, again was admitted into theTrichinopoly fort, and proceeded to instate himself theNawab of the Carnatic and received recognition by theMughal EmperorAhmad Shah Bahadur.
Chanda Sahib eventually marched against Vangaru Tirumala, who still ruled in the south, defeated him at Ammaya Nayakkanur andDindigul, drove him to take refuge inSivaganga, and occupied the southern provinces of the Madurai Nayak.
For a time, Chanda Sahib had his own way. His success was regarded with suspicion and even hostility by the Nawab of Arcot. But family loyalties prevented a rupture and Chanda Sahib was left undisturbed, while he strengthened the fortifications of Trichinopoly and appointed his two brothers as governors of the strongholds of Dindigul and Madurai. It was at this period that he subjugated the king of Tanjore, although he did not annex his territory, and he compelled them to cedeKaraikal to the French. On 14 February 1739, Karaikal became a French colony.
Unable to help themselves against the Europeans and the subjects of The Mogul, the king ofTanjore and Vangaru Tirumala called for the assistance of the Marathas ofSatara inMaharashtra.
These Maratha of the Carnatic had their own grievance against the Muslims of Arcot, with whom Chanda Sahib still was identified, because of long-delayed payment of thechouth, or one-fourth of their revenues, which they had promised in return for the withdrawal of the Marathas from their country and the discontinuation of their incursions. These Marathas of Tanjore also were encouraged to attempt reprisals by theNizam of Hyderabad, who — jealous of the increasing power of the Nawab and careless of the loyalty due to co-religionists — gladly would have seen his dangerous subordinate brought to the ground.
Early in 1740 the Marathas appeared in the south with a vast army, and defeated and killed Dost Ali Khan in the pass ofDamalcheruvu, now inChittoor district. Then they came to an understanding with his son, Safdar Ali Khan, recognised him as Nawab; in return, Khan accepted Maratha suzerainty and undertook to pay Marathas, an indemnity of 40 lakh rupees and a regularchauth.[4]
With the Nawab of Arcot greatly weakened Chanda Sahib was captured and imprisoned by the Marathas in thesiege of Tiruchirappalli (1741) led by generalRaghuji Bhonsle under the orders ofChhattrapati Shahu.[5][6][7]
In 1741, theTravancore-Dutch War broke out. During this conflict it was the policy of the subjects of the Mogul to support European mercantile presence in the Indian subcontinent.
After the death of theNizam ofHyderabad, a civil war for succession broke out in south betweenNasir Jung andMuzaffar Jung. Also, Chanda Sahib began to conspire against the NawabAnwaruddin Muhammed Khan inCarnatic. This led to theSecond Carnatic War.
.jpg)
In 1751, there was an ongoing scuffle betweenMohamed Ali Khan Walajan, (who was the son of the previousNawab of Arcot,Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan and hence the rightful claimant) and Chanda Sahib. Dupleix sided with Chanda Sahib andMuzaffar Jung to bring them into power in their respective states. But soon the British intervened. To offset the French influence, they began to supportNasir Jung andMuhammad Ali Khan Wallajah. Chanda Sahib initially succeeded and became the Nawab, forcing Wallajah to escape to the rock-fort in Tiruchirapalli.
Chanda Sahib followed and with the help of the French, led thesiege of Tiruchirappalli (1751–1752). Wallajah and the British force supporting him were in a grim position. A small British force of 300 soldiers made a diversionary attack on Arcot to draw Chanda Sahib's army away from Trichy. Chanda Sahib dispatched a 10,000 strong force under his sonRaza Sahib to retake Arcot. Raza Sahib was aided by theNellore Army andMuhammed Yusuf Khan may have been in this force as aSubedar. There he was defeated by a British force, of mostly enlisted Indians.
At Arcot and thenKaveripakkam (Tirukattupalli/koviladi), Chanda Sahib's son was defeated. Later he was killed by the British.
After this Chanda Sahib escaped to what was probably his hometown atTanjore, only to be captured by the Maratha army of Tanjore. He was beheaded by the Maratha Tanjore Raja,Pratap Singh of Thanjavur.
The British quickly installed Wallajah as the Nawab of Arcot in 1754, and most of Chanda Sahib's native forces defected to the British.
| Preceded by | De factoNawab of Carnatic (Recognised by the French) 1749–1752 | Succeeded by |