In reading about Vizag during theBritish rule, one frequently comes across the term Northern Circars. It’s agood idea to get more familiar with these Circars: Vizag’s history is intimatelyconnected with their evolution.
The Northern Circars are a 78,000 squarekilometre strip of coastal land that encompassed areas of Andhra Pradesh andOrissa, consisted of Chicacole, Rajahmundry, Ellore, Kondapalli, and Guntur.
They were originally part of theVijayanagara Empire until the battle of Tallikota (1565), in which the Bahmanisultanate routed the Vijayanagara rulers, effectively ending the latter’skingdom. The Circars became part of the Bahmani Sultanate and remained so formore than a century. In 1687 they wereoccupied by Aurangazeb.
Rise of the Vizianagaram rajahs
English supremacy
Too attractive to resist
The Northern Circars are a 78,000 squarekilometre strip of coastal land that encompassed areas of Andhra Pradesh andOrissa, consisted of Chicacole, Rajahmundry, Ellore, Kondapalli, and Guntur.
They were originally part of theVijayanagara Empire until the battle of Tallikota (1565), in which the Bahmanisultanate routed the Vijayanagara rulers, effectively ending the latter’skingdom. The Circars became part of the Bahmani Sultanate and remained so formore than a century. In 1687 they wereoccupied by Aurangazeb.
In 1724, Asaf Jah, the governor ofHyderabad (Golkonda), under which the five Circars were ruled, declaredindependence from the Mughal empire. He claimedthe title of Nizam-ul-Mulk and became the Subahdar of the Deccan.
Rise of the Vizianagaram rajahs
The Vizagapatam district was partof the Chicacole Circar and was long known as the Kasimkota division. After theGolkonda Sultanate took over, the chief local officer was the faujdar of Chicacole,who was in charge of Ganjam and Vizagapatam regions. The first faujdar was SherMuhammad Khan (1652-84), who governed through the local chiefs or zamindars. Among these various zamindars, theVizianagaram rajahs grew in power gradually and started playing a significantpart in the politics of the region.
The English and French had severalfactories in this region and struggled for commercial control of theregion. After the death of Nizam-ul-Mulk,the English and the French took sides in succession disputes. EventuallySalabat Jung, Nizam-ul-Mulk’s son, supported by the French, became the Nizamand ceded four of the five Northern Circars– Elllore, Kondapalli, Rajamunduryand Chicacole–to the French in 1753.
English supremacy
But in 1759 the success of thecombined forces of the Vizianagaram rajahs and the English established Englishsupremacy in the Circars; in 1765 Robert Clive obtained the Northern Circarsfrom the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam, by way of inam or free gift subject to anannual payment. Though the Nizam contestedthe validity of Shah Alam’s inam, the British, through a combination of forceand diplomacy, obtained the Nizam’s acknowledgment of their right to the regionand in 1823, the British bought the rights over the Circars from the Nizam.
Since the establishment of the company'sgovernment the whole province was divided and placed under two subordinatecouncils of which the larger was that of Vizagapatam, which was nearly"centrical to all the circars". About the middle of the I7th centurya factory was established at Vizagapatam where, on the cession of the Circars,the chief-in-council was appointed.
Too attractive to resist
No one valued the Northern Circarsmore than the British, or rather, the Europeans. For landlocked Hindu andMuslim kingdoms, the thin strip of coastal territory was too far-flung and too wildto be brought under proper control. Tribal chieftains, hill zamindars, andlocal self-styled landlords made use of the sturdy, malaria-ridden barrier of theEastern Ghats to keep central rulers away from the circars and run their ownshow.
However, the Nizam of Golconda aswell as the emperors of the disintegrating Mughal empire dangled the carrot ofthe Northern Circars to get what they wanted from the British and theFrench. Whenever they wanted British orFrench help in the form of troops or money, the Mughals and the Nizams wouldpromise the Europeans more concessions in or control over the Northern Circars.And the Europeans always took the bait; for the sea-faring traders, the longstrip of sea-coast was too attractive to resist.
Sources:
M.S.R. Anjaneyulu, Vizagapatam District,1769-1834: A History of the Relations Between the Zamindars and the East IndiaCompany, Andhra University, 1982
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