| Subah of Sira | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subdivision ofMughal Empire | |||||||||
| 1687 - 1766 | |||||||||
 Alam flag of the Mughal Empire | |||||||||
 Mughal province of Sira shown in a map of South India at the time of the Anglo-French Wars in the Carnatic, 1746–1760 | |||||||||
| Capital | Sira | ||||||||
| Legislature | Mughal Darbar | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early-modern period | ||||||||
• Established | 1687 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1766 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | India | ||||||||
TheSubah of Sira (Persian:صوبه سِرا), also known asCarnatic-Balaghat, was asubah (imperial first-level province) of theMughal empire inSouth India that was established in 1687 by conquering emperorAurangzeb (likeBijapur in 1686 andGolkonda in 1687) and lasted until 1757. The province, which comprised theCarnatic region south of theTungabhadra river,[1] had its capital in the town ofSira.[2] It was composed of sevenparganas (districts):Basavapatna, Budihal,Sira,Penukonda,Dod-Ballapur,Hoskote andKolar; in addition,Harpanahalli, Kondarpi,Anegundi,Bednur,Chitaldroog andMysore were considered by the Mughals to be tributary states of the province.[3]
After theMughal armies overran the region of theMysore plateau, 12parganas were annexed to the newly formed province (subah) of Sira.[4] The remaining region was allowed to remain under the rule of thePalaiyakkarars (Polygars), who were required to pay tribute to the provincial government in Sira.[4]
In 1757, Sira was overrun by the Marathas, only to be restored to the Mughals again in 1759.[5] Two years later,Haidar Ali, whose own father had been the Mughal military governor (orFaujdar) ofKolar district in the province, captured Sira, and soon conferred on himself the title of "Nawab of Sira."[5] However, the defection of his brother, a military governor, in 1766 caused the province to be lost again to the Marathas. In 1767,Madhavrao I organized a 2nd expedition againstHyder Ali and inflicted defeats onHyder Ali in the battles ofSira andMadhugiri and absorbed Sira subah intoMaratha confederacy. who retained it until Haidar's son,Tipu Sultan, recaptured the area for his father in 1774.[5]
Qasim Khan (also, Khasim Khan or Kasim Khan) was appointed the firstSubahdar (governor) of the province in 1686.[5] After successfully "regulating and improving" the province for eight years, he died in 1694 under mysterious circumstances, either during an assault byMaratha raiders,[5] or by his own hand in disgrace after the raiders seized a treasure in his care.[6] Mostsubahdars who came after him lasted only a year or two,[5] and the frequent changes at the helm continued until the appointment of Dilavar Khan in 1726, whose term, which lasted until 1756, finally brought some stability to the province.[5]
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In the annexed regions, in which tax assessment on cultivation was underamāni orSarkār (i.e. provincial government) management, several types of officers collected and managed revenue.[4] Most offices had existed in the region under the previousBijapur Sultanate administration, and consisted, among others, ofDeshmūks,Deshpāndes,Majmūndārs, andKānungoyas.[4] TheDeshmūks "settled accounts" with the village headmen (orpatels[8]); theDeshpāndes verified the account-books of the village registrars (orkārnāms[8]); theKānungoyas entered the official regulations in the village record-books and also explained decrees and regulations to the village governing officers and residents.[4]Lastly, theMajmūndārs prepared the final documents of the "settlement" (i.e. the assessment and payment of tax) and promulgated it.[4]
Until the mid-seventeenth century, both villagers- and district (taluq) accounts had been prepared in the language and script ofKannada, the region's traditional language.[9]However, after the Bijapur invasions,Marathachieftains came to wield authority in the region and brought in with them various officials who introduced theMarathi language and script into the "public accounts."[9] The new language found its way even into lands ruled by somePalaiyakkarars (Polygars) chiefs.[9] These chieftains had brought inMarathi-speaking horsemen from the northern Bijapur realms for their newly formed cavalry units; consequently, they resorted to hiring Maratha accountants for the benefit of these cavalrymen.[9] After the province of Sira was created, the official language of theMughal empire,Persian, came to be used.[9]
The capital of the province, Sira town, too, prospered most under Dilavar Khan and expanded in size to accommodate 50,000 homes.[1] Palaces and public monuments of Sira became models for other edifices.[1] Both Haidar Ali's palace in Bangalore and Tipu Sultan's in Seringapatam were modeled after Dilavar Khan's palace in Sira.[1] Moreover, according to the (Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series 1908), Bangalore'sLal Bagh as well asBangalore fort may have been designed after Sira's Khan Bagh gardens and Sira fort respectively.[1] Sira's civil servants, however, could not be as readily reproduced: after Tipu Sultan had succeeded his father as Sultan of Mysore in 1782, he deported 12,000 families, mainly of city officials, from Sira to Shahr Ganjam, a new capital he founded on Seringapatam island.[1]
There are Mughal-era buildings that still stand in the town. Among them are the Juma Masjid in Sira.
Different towns and regions fared differently during the eventful seventy-year history of the province. InBangalore district, for example,Bangalore town was sold to the Wadiyar Raja of Mysore forRs. 300,000.[10] The rest of the district was divided in the following fashion: the north was made a part ofChik Ballapur, other parts were added toSirataluk (district), and the remainder, which included the town ofDod Ballapur, was constituted into ajagir.[10] This was first gifted to a general named A. H. Khuli Khan, who, however, died shortly thereafter.[10] Thejagir, which was to yield an annual revenue of 54,000pagodas, then passed on to his son, Darga Khuli Khan thesubahdar of Sira during 1714–1715, who too retained it for a mere year.[10] It was then "attached to the government of Sira" for 49 years until it was seized by theNizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad, and eventually captured by Haidar Ali.[10]
