HOW THE WAR IN THE KARNATIK AFFECTED THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH
SETTLEMENTS
The trouble came from the Karnatik. The family of the chief who had
held the position of Nawab at the time of the death of Aurangzeb had
adopted the new fashion, then becoming universal, of making the post
hereditary in his family. Saadat-ulla Khan, the Nawab in question,
had himself been regularly appointed in 1710 by the court of Delhi.
After a peaceful rule of twenty-two years he had died (1732) without
issue, after having appointed his nephew, Dost Ali, to succeed him as
Nawab, the younger brother of Dost Ali, Bakar Ali, to be governor of
the fort and district of Vellore; and Ghulam Husen, the nephew of his
favourite wife, better known as Chanda Sahib, to be Diwan, or prime
minister, to his successor.
These dispositions were carried out. But they were by no means
pleasing to the Subahdar of the Deccan, the Nizam-ul-Mulk to whom the
reader has been introduced. That eminent nobleman was not content
that his subordinates should act as he was prepared to act himself.
His sanction had not been {24}obtained to the transaction. He used
then his influence at Delhi to prevent the confirmation which, even
in those disturbed times, every chieftain sought to obtain for every
act of spoliation. For the moment he proceeded no further. He was
content to leave Dost Ali in the position of a nobleman ruling
without the authority of his liege lord, himself, or of the master of
both, the court of Delhi.
Nizam-ul-Mulk had justly thought that time would avenge him. Four
years after his accession, the death of the ruler of Trichinopoli
induced Dost Ali to send an army under his son Safdar Ali and his
Diwan Chanda Sahib, to capture that fortress. Under the pretence of
collecting revenue these two princes visited Madras and Pondicherry
in their progress southwards, and at the latter place Chanda Sahib
entered into those intimate relations with the French which were to
influence greatly the events which were to follow. They proceeded
thence to Trichinopoli and took possession of the fortress, the
widowed queen having, it is said, fallen in love with Chanda Sahib.
The latter remained there as governor, whilst Safdar Ali returned to
his father at Arcot.
The new Diwan appointed in the place of Chanda Sahib, Mir Asad, began
at once to insinuate charges of ambition against his predecessor, and
expressed his opinion that Chanda Sahib, once ruler of Trichinopoli,
would not easily let go his hold. In this opinion he was supported by
the Nawab's eldest son, Safdar Jang. Doubtless they were right, but
their {25}utterances, freely expressed, served only to put Chanda
Sahib on his guard; and he commenced to store the fortress with
provisions.
The acquisition of Trichinopoli by the Nawab of the Karnatik had
served only to inflame the mind of his liege lord, Nizam-ul-Mulk,
against him. For a time, however, the disorders in Northern India,
the threatened invasion of Nadir Shah, and, finally, that invasion,
held his hand. At last, however, his wrath over-mastered his
judgement, and, in 1739, at the very time when the invasion of Nadir
Shah was in full swing, he gave permission to the Marathas to attack
Trichinopoli. In May of the following year, 1740, consequently, a
Maratha army of 10,000 men, led by Raghuji Bhonsla, entered the
Karnatik, met the hurriedly raised force of Dost Ali at the
Damalcherri Pass, defeated it with great slaughter, and took prisoner
the Diwan, Mir Asad. Dost Ali was among the slain. The victors, then,
listening to the persuasions of their prisoner, the Diwan, agreed to
quit the province on receiving a payment, at stated intervals, of a
total sum of ten million of rupees. Safdar Ali was then proclaimed
Nawab at Arcot, and Chanda Sahib proceeded thither to do him homage.
During the preceding two years the French governor of Pondicherry, M.
Dumas, had so strengthened the fortifications of that town, that it
had come to be regarded by the natives as impregnable. During the
Maratha invasion, then, Chanda Sahib {26}had sent thither his family,
and his example had been followed by Safdar Ali. After the
installation of the latter at Arcot, the two princes proceeded to
visit the French governor, who gave them a magnificent reception. On
leaving, Safdar Ali took with him his family, whilst Chanda Sahib,
still suspecting danger, directed his own wives to remain at
Pondicherry until events should more clearly develop themselves.
He had not to wait long. Safdar Ali, jealous of his prosperity, had
induced the Marathas, never unwilling, to make a fresh incursion into
the Karnatik, and to dispose of Chanda Sahib. In December of the same
year then, just four years before Clive landed in India, those
warriors entered the province, so deceived Chanda Sahib as to induce
him to sell them the ample stores of grain he had collected, and, as
soon as they had received them, laid siege to Trichinopoli. Chanda
Sahib sustained a siege of nearly three months with great resolution,
but then, his remaining stores of grain having been exhausted, was
forced to surrender (March 26, 1741). The Marathas, having plundered
the town, departed for Satara, taking with them Chanda Sahib in close
custody, and leaving one of their most famous leaders, of whom we
shall hear further, Morari Rao, with 14,000 of their best troops, to
guard the place, and to act as discretion or greed might suggest.
The events I have recorded had encouraged among the nobles of the
province a spirit of disorder in {27}sympathy with the times. No man
felt quite safe. Safdar Ali himself, but half reassured, sent for
safety his family to the custody of the English at Madras, whilst,
quitting the comparatively defenceless Arcot, he took up his abode in
the strong fortress of Vellore. There his treasures had been stored,
and there Murtiza Ali, who had married his sister, was governor. This
man was treacherous, cowardly, and very ambitious. No sooner had he
understood that his relationship by marriage did not shield him from
the payment of money due to the Nawab, than he proceeded to debauch
the army, and to enlist on his side the neighbouring nobles. He then
poisoned his brother-in-law. The poison not taking immediate effect,
he persuaded a Patan to stab the Nawab to the heart. He then declared
himself Nawab.
He was proclaimed alike at Vellore and Arcot. But his usurpation did
not last long. Even in those days there was a public conscience, and
the murder he had committed had been too brutal not to arouse
indignation. The army rose against him. Fearing for his life, he
disguised himself in woman's clothes, and escaped to Vellore.
On the flight of Murtiza Ali becoming known the army proclaimed
Saiyud Muhammad Khan, the son of Safdar Ali, then residing at Madras
under the protection of the English, to be Nawab. The young prince
and his mother were at once removed to the fort of Wandiwash, the
ruler of which had married his father's sister.
{28}It was this moment that Nizam-ul-Mulk chose as the time to
intervene. Entering Arcot at the head of a large army (March, 1743)
he completely pacified the province; then, marching on Trichinopoli,
compelled the Marathas to yield it and to evacuate the Karnatik.
Possessing himself of the person of the newly proclaimed Nawab, whom
he declined to recognize, he proclaimed his own commander-in-chief,
Khoja Abdullah, to be Nawab of the Karnatik, and then returned to
Golconda.
Unfortunately for the peace of the province Khoja Abdullah, a strong
man, never took up the government of the Karnatik. He had returned
with his master to Golconda, and had made there his preparations to
set out. On the very morning which he had chosen for that purpose he
was found dead in his bed. It was clear that he had been poisoned.
Suspicion fell at once upon the nobleman who had originally been an
urgent candidate for the office, and who now obtained it. He was an
experienced soldier of good family, whose name was Anwar-ud-din.
Nizam-ul-Mulk knew that the appointment would not be popular in the
province so long as there should remain alive any member of the
family of Saadat-ulla. He had therefore announced that the
appointment of Anwar-ud-din was provisional, and that the young
prince, Saiyud Muhammad, already proclaimed Nawab, should succeed to
that post on his arriving at the age of manhood, remaining during the
interval under the guardianship of Anwar-ud-din, {29}to be by him
instructed in the art of governing. Anwar-ud-din promised to carry
out the will of his liege lord, and on his arrival in the Karnatik,
assigned to the young prince the fort of Arcot, with a sufficient
retinue of Patan soldiers. There the boy remained, treated with the
deference due to his position.
But he was doomed. A few weeks after his arrival at Arcot it devolved
upon him to preside at the wedding of one of his near relations.
Amongst those who came to the ceremony was the murderer of his
father, Murtiza Ali, laden with presents for the bridegroom. Strange
as it may seem, the murderer was courteously received. But shortly
after his entrance within the fort an unseemly disturbance was
created by the disorderly entrance into the presence of thirteen
Patan soldiers, who insolently demanded payment of the arrears they
alleged to be due to them. With some difficulty they were forcibly
ejected. But in the evening, as Anwar-ud-din approached, attended by
his courtiers and preceded by his guards, these thirteen Patans
managed to mingle with the latter, and one of them, rushing towards
the dais on which was the chair occupied by the young prince,
ascended the steps leading to it, and, in a supplicatory attitude,
made as though he would throw himself at his feet and demand pardon
for the offence of the morning. But instead of this he plunged his
dagger, which he had concealed on his person, into the prince's
heart. He was almost instantly cut down by the attendants. The
confusion was extreme. Suddenly it was {30}discovered that Murtiza
Ali had quitted the fort, had mounted his horse, and, accompanied by
his armed followers, had galloped towards Vellore. Suspicion
naturally fell upon this proved murderer, and the nobles generally
endeavoured to exculpate themselves at his expense.
But suspicion fell likewise upon Anwar-ud-din. Who, so much as he,
would benefit by the death of Saiyud Muhammad? He was practically
only guardian to the young prince, bound to resign his office as soon
as the latter should attain his majority. Nor were these suspicions
lessened when it was found that Nizam-ul-Mulk at once transmitted to
Anwar-ud-din a complete commission as Nawab of Arcot. Vainly did the
Nawab deny all complicity in the bloody deed. Murtiza Ali was silent.
'It was supposed,' wrote Mr. Orme, 'that the only proofs he could
have brought against Anwar-ud-din would at the same time have
condemned himself.' And this probably was true.
Such then was the political position in Southern India when Clive
landed at Madras in 1744. The titular Emperor of Delhi was Muhammad
Shah, still reeling under the consequences of the invasion of Nadir
Shah and the sack of Delhi but five short years previously. The
Subahdar of the Deccan was still Nizam-ul-Mulk, possessing sufficient
influence to have secured the succession in Southern India for his
second son, Nasir Jang.[1] The Nawab of the Karnatik, {31}styled
officially, of Arcot, was a stranger to the province, the unpopular
and suspected Anwar-ud-din. His authority there was not very secure.
There were many pretenders waiting for the first mishap: amongst them
his confederate in the murder of Saiyud Muhammad; Chanda Sahib, still
in confinement at Satara; and many others. The elements of danger
abounded everywhere. There were few petty chiefs who did not dub
themselves 'Nawabs,' and aspire to positions higher than those held
by them at the moment. The match alone was wanting to produce a
general flame.
[Footnote 1: Elliot's _History of India as told by its own
Historians_, vol. viii. p. 113.]
Under ordinary circumstances this state of affairs would not
necessarily have affected the European settlers on the coast. But for
them, too, the crisis was approaching. In 1740 the death of the
Emperor, Charles VI, had thrown the greater part of Europe into a
blaze. Three years later England had entered the field as an upholder
of the Pragmatic Sanction. The news of this intervention, which
necessitated war with France, reached India towards the close of
1744, and immediately affected the relations towards one another of
the rival settlements on the Coromandel coast.
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