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kind of military and administrative power as well. The rise of some of the rich ta‘alluqadaris in the eighteenth century can possibly be explained against this background.
Burhan-ul-Mulk’s initial attempt to tackle the problems of the madad-i ma‘ash with a heavy hand had a rationale. As we have seen in Chapter 3, many madad-i ma‘ash holders had theoretically forfeited their claims to revenue-free grants. Soon, however, he realized the strength of the madad-i ma‘ash holders in Awadh. The madad-i ma‘ash grantees together with the town-based Shaikhzadas, quite a large number of whom were socially associated with them, formed a considerable local force in the province. Burhan-ul-Mulk’s experience with the Shaikhzadas of Lucknow immediately after his arrival in Awadh must have convinced him of the strength or weakness their support or opposition to the provincial government implied. He, therefore, had to modify his earlier measure, and simultaneously initiated a policy of encouraging the absorption of the local elements in the provincial administration.
(p.244) Towards the middle of the eighteenth century, Awadh witnessed the rise and growth of the new subadari or a ‘successor state’ on firm grounds largely owing to the nature of the problems of administration. The problems in Awadh emanated from the movements and uprisings of the regional and quasi-regional magnates to have at least a share in political power. Burhan-ul- Mulk seems to have understood this; he planned to take over the leadership of these movements by making use of their weaknesses. At the beginning of his governorship, he seems to have appreciated the prospects of a stable and virtually independent regional rule in the province, provided he could coordinate his ambitions with the interests of those who were resisting the imperial authority. It is not without significance that he rushed back to Awadh from Delhi in 1726 in face of a standing imperial order of his posting in Malwa.123
The developments outside Awadh all over the empire in the eighteenth century also helped Burhan-ul-Mulk and Safdar Jang to establish their own rule in the province. Decline of job prospects in the empire forced the local communities in imperial service to look for their fortunes in and around their hometowns. They joined the nawab’s army and administration as they calculated that by doing so they would also strengthen their defence against internal and external threats. The Shaikhzadas, the Afghans and certain sections of the Hindus can be said to have formed a very loosely organized regional ruling group in Awadh. But we must not lose sight of the fact that Burhan-ul-Mulk and Safdar Jang were outsiders and that Qazilbash formed a substantial part of the Awadh army in the middle of the eighteenth century.124
Notes: (1) Allahabad 789; C. A. Elliot, Chronicles of Oonao, pp. 106–7.
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(2) See Chapter 7, Section I.
(3) For example, Shaikh Farid-ud-Din Bukhari who was deputed to assess the revenue of the parganas of Mahona and Bangarmau, the jagir mahals of Muhammad Khan Bangash, apparently enhanced the jama of the mahals. Moreover, the amount collected by the amil of the Bangash chief was resumed by his men. It was promised to be reimbursed later after a re-examination of the existing situation. This brought them into conflict with the amil. The amil with his troops came to the office of the assessors and demanded, at least, the reimbursement of the arrogated amount without any delay. The matter could not be settled till Shaikh Farid himself intervened and forced the amil and his troops to retreat. Maktubat, p. 209.
(4) The case of one Mir Saiyid Bhika of Bilgram illustrates the power of the amil in the jagir administration. Mir Saiyid Bhika is reported to have been in charge of the mahals of Sisandi and some adjacent parganas in the sarkar of Lucknow as the amil of the jagirdars for over thirty years. He managed to remain in the same position chiefly because of the influence and contacts he had in these mahals. Ma‘asir-ul-Kiram, II, p. 360.
(5) Earlier in the seventeenth century, as it is known, it was a common practice with the jagirdars to displace an amil by another who offered bigger qabz. Cf. Bhim Sen, Nuskha-i Dilkusha, f. 138. This possibly partly explains the concentration of the office of the amils in the hands of the local people in our period. The local people offered greater qabz, since they were in a better position to realize the full amount of the revenue, and also due to their influence and social ties with the mahals could embezzle a greater sum.
(6) According to a report of the amil of the jagir of Raja Girdhar Bahadur, the governor’s move was aimed towards the resumption of the jagirs of the imperial mansabdars in Awadh. In reply to a letter from the raja, Burhan-ul-Mulk, therefore, had to explain to him the situation and assured him that the scheme was not intended to take possession of the jagirs (of the nobles posted outside Awadh) and that his jagir was still in the control of the existing amil. Ajaib, f. 71b.
(7) Compare Imad, p. 8.
(8) Compare Maktubat, p. 174 for Safdar Jang’s letter to the amil of sarkar Gorakhpur to help one Muhammad Khudadad who was assigned 99990 dams from pargana Haveli Gorakhpur.
(9) Ibid., pp. 171–2.
(10) Ibid., p. 191.
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(11) Compare National Archives of India 1754, 37th R. Y. of Aurangzeb; see also Donald Butter, Outlines of the Topography and Statistics of the Sourthern Districts of Oudh and of the Cantonment Sultanpur-Oudh, Calcutta, 1839, p. 99.
(12) Ajaib, ff. 80b and 82a.
(13) Muzaffar Khan accused Burhan-ul-Mulk of having taken possession of his jagir and the jagirs of some other mansabdars in Awadh. Cf. Satish Chandra, Parties and Politics, p. 185.
(14) Ajaib, f. 82.
(15) Khujasta, 124.
(16) Maktubat, p. 158.
(17) Ibid., p. 176.
(18) Mubarak, f. 164b.
(19) I. O. 4506, Part 10.2 and 4508.
(20) Compare for instance Akhbarat BS, 1st R. Y., pp. 25, 53, 214, 259, 302, 311 and 389, 2nd r. y., p. 14, 4th R. Y., pp. 103, 146, 165, 301, 441, 5th R. Y., pp. 41 and 421; Akhbarat FS, 1st R. Y., pp. 103, 3rd R. Y., I, p. 240; 4th R. Y., II, p. 97, 6th R. Y., I, pp. 174, II, p. 80; Kamwar, ff. 307a, 346a and 357b.
(21) One Sharif Khan, for instance, who had held, and been dismissed from the faujdari of sarkar Jaunpur secured his reappointment to the same from Burhanul-Mulk some time early in 1730 when the sarkar along with three other sarkars —Benaras, Chunar and Ghazipur—was practically attached to the suba of Awadh. Yar Muhammad Khan Qalandar, Dastur-ul-Insha, Patna MS., ff. 210–11.
(22) Siyar, III, p. 850 for the case of Saiyid Hidayat Ali Khan who was appointed by Safdar Jang to the nizamat and faujdari of chakla Khairabad in 1743.
(23) In 1735, one Diler Khan, for example, came into conflict with two persons, Aziz and Izzatullah over an orchard in Sandila which was then in the possession of the latter. The case was referred to the faujdar of the pargana. The faujdar’s verdict after his examination of the relevant papers was accepted by both the parties. In another case, in 1737, Mir Muhammad Raza and Mir Fath Ali, a’immadars in the town of Bahraich, quarrelled over the effects of some of their relatives. Subsequently, the deputy faujdar of the pargana Haveli Bahraich appointed several notable persons of the town to look into the matter and give their judgement. Allahabad 1002 and 1203. Some cases in our sources indicate that the faujdar’s authority began to extend over diwani matters as early as 1705–6. Following the death of a revenue grantee in the 49th R.Y. of Aurangzeb,
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the faujdar was directed to see to it that the successors of the deceased could bring the holding into their possession without any hindrance. Firangi Mahal Documents (transcripts) No. 50, edited with English translations by Iqbal Husain, Deptt. of History, Aligarh University.
(24) Compare Maktubat, pp. 172 and 178 for the naib and nazim’s claim to the faujdari abwab.
(25) Tabsira, f. 106b and Allahabad 505.
(26) M. U., III, pp. 609–10.
(27) Akhbarat, Muhammad Shah, 25th R. Y. Supplement Persian 313; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris for the faujdars of Khairabad and the mahals of the Shahrah. The words faujdar and faujdari, e.g., tahsil-i faujdari, Kharat(?) faujdari, faujdari-o-amaldari, akham-i faujdari-o-diwani, appear in different contexts in some documents of the late-eighteenth and the early-nineteenth centuries, but these terms did not indicate the same power and position as under the Mughals in the seventeenth centur. Cf. Firangi Mahal Documents, Iqbal Husain’s edition. Nos. 97–101; see also Khairabad Documents, transcripts, Deptt. of History, Aligarh No. 100.
(28) Our inferences are based on a ballad which extols the valour and bravery of Chait Rai, the zamindar of pargana Morawan, and states that when Sa‘adat Khan (Burhan-ul-Mulk) took charge of Awadh, he found the revenue administration of the suba in great disorder. Sa‘adat Khan resolved to repair this by a personal tour through the country and enquiry into the state of things. When he reached Morawan, he summoned all the qanungos of Baiswara and asked them to produce the daul (rent roll) of their respective parganas. They said ‘what daul will you have?’ and on being asked the meaning of their answer, they explained that there were two dauls which a qanungos could give, the ‘coward’s daul’ and the ‘man’s daul’. In the ‘coward’s daul’, against every landowner’s name was written only the sum which had been fixed on him at the last assessment, but in the ‘man’s daul’ everyone’s rent was indicated on the basis of what it should have been taking into account the improvement that had taken place in land. Sa‘adat Khan called for the ‘man’s daul’ and on that basis, doubled the assessment of Baiswara. Then, having summoned the representatives of all the zamindars, he placed before them on one side a heap of pan leaves, on the other a heap of bullets, and bade them, if their masters accepted the terms to take up pan; if not, the bullets. One after one they came forward and everyone took up the pan leaves. Cf. C. A. Elliot, Chronicles of Oonao, p. 73.
The story is interesting and, apart from showing the qanungos’ loyalty to Mughal authority, throws considerable light on the nature of the relationship between the big zamindars and the peasants. The Ujjainiya intermediaries of Bihar are also reported to have enjoyed, over a fairry long period, the benefits of the gap
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between the actual revenue collected by them (tahsil) which went on increasing and the assessed revenue (jama-i dami) which remained constant. Compare S. Nurul Hasan, Thoughts on Agrarian Relations, p. 35.
(29) After the successful expedition of Chhabele Ram in 1715, Amar Singh, a leader of the Bais, is said to have never recovered his position, and it was not till some twenty years later that his grandson, Pher Shah was admitted to engage for the four villages of Khajurgaon, Sareli, Bajpaipur and Hajipur. W. C. Benett, Chief Clans of the Roy Bareilly District, p. 36. See also Chapter 3.
(30) According to family records, Mohan Singh, the zamindar of Tiloi, made encroachments upon the zamindaris of neighbouring Shaikhs, the Bais and the Bhale Sultans. He led expeditions towards Hardoi, Baiswara and against the Naihasthas of Bachhara-wan. Thus by the time Burhan-ul-Mulk came to Awadh, fourteen parganas, namely, Jais, Nasirabad, Salon, Rai Bareli, Manakpur, Hardoi, Inhona, Subeha, Takia, Baswarhi, Rudauli, Daryabad, Saidanpur and Bilwan were under him. Ibid., pp. 42–3.
(31) C. A. Elliot, Chronicles of Oonao, pp. 123–4. The following incident also highlights the nature of relationship between the nawab and the Bais zamindar. In 1765, when Shuja-ud-Daulah had been defeated by the East India Company’s troops at Buxar, he fled along the banks of the Ganga to Farrukhabad. Achal Singh gave him both men and supplies, and as he was travelling too lightly to carry a large treasury with him, sent a quarter’s revenue which was due from Baiswara to him at Farrukhabad. Ibid., p. 76.
(32) Ibid., p. 75.
(33) Ibid., p. 62. The Sengars who occupied a relatively inferior position in the social heirarchy also were in the service of the zamindar of Dondia Khera and thus supporters of the governor. Ibid., p. 48.
(34) Ibid., p. 73. W. C. Benett (Chief Clans of Roy Bareilly District, p. 35) has a different version.
(35) Compare, R. Mitra, ‘The Bisen Talukdars of Northern Oudh’, Calcutta Review, Vol. LXXIV, 1882, pp. 367–70.
(36) At the time of Burhan-ul-Mulk, Samrota was held by Mandhata Singh. He was left in possession of his ancestral zamindari in lieu of a mansab, with additional distinctions and a drum. In another case, one Jaswant Singh, a zamindar, seems to have been harassed by Jai Singh, probably a neighbouring zamindar. The former approached the governor, Safdar Jang. Subsequently, the governor is reported to have sent parwana to Jai Singh with strict instructions to abstain from his misdeeds along with a consolatory letter to Jaswant promising
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him his full support. Compare, W. C. Benett, Chief Clans of Roy Bareilly, p. 47 and Maktubat, p. 183.
(37) This followed a long unsuccessful seige of the fortress at Harha and the governor’s failure to kill Kesari or capture him alive. Mardan Singh who was in the army of the governor then offered to mediate. On his intercession probably, the governor agreed to a mild punishment for Kesari. Kesari was exiled for 40 years from his zamindari. In the meanwhile, his zamindari was granted to Mardan Singh’s son Achal Singh. Cf. C. A. Elliot, Chronicles of Oonao, p. 65.
(38) Compare Allahabad, 516 and 626 for chaudhuris, Muhammad Masum of Sandila and Ruh-ul-Amin, 127 for Mohan Lal, the qanungo of pargana Mallanwan.
(39) Ibid., 536. The village was later known as Banwaripur alias Matun.
(40) C. A. Elliot, Chronicles of Oonao, pp. 56 and 101.
(41) Compare Maktubat, pp. 6–7 for the Gaur Rajputs and Akhbarat, Muhammad Shah, 5th–9th R.YS., pp. 19–20 for the zamindars of Gujarati and Kharkale in sarkar Khairabad. It is interesting to note that after the governor’s victory over the zamindars of Gujarati and Kharkale, the garhi of the rebels was handed over to the Saiyids of the neighbouring village, Mankapur, with a grant of Rs 1,000 for its repair and maintenance.
Dr A. L. Srivastava, basing his account on the family tradition, states that Nawal Singh Gaur of Katesar and Nabigarh was a descendant of one Raja Chandra Sen, a Rajput of the Brahma-Gaur who had migrated with Sa‘adat Khan (Burhan-ul- Mulk) to Awadh and settled at Katesar. First Two Nawabs, p. 92. This opinion which does not quote any evidence in its support, is untenable. Even before Burhan-ul-Mulk, the Gaur Rajputs of parganas Sadrpur, Laharpura and Kheri (Katesar was situated in pargana Laharpur) had taken to armed resistance. Two important expeditions against them are recorded to have been undertaken by Chhabele Ram and Girdhar Bahadur. In 1721, Girdhar Bahadur seems to have destroyed almost all their fortresses, except Katesar where they had ultimately taken shelter. Katesar as it is recorded in our document, was promised to be reduced soon. See Ajaib, f. 36a and Shivdas, f. 73a.
(42) On 12 June 1723, the Rajput zamindars of mauza Khora, pargana Unao, sarkar Lucknow, for example, were reported to have made encroachments upon the lands of some Saiyid Phool and Saiyid Gaddan. The lands in dispute were earlier purchased by the Saiyids from the ancestors of the Rajput invaders. Allahabad 2743.
(43) W.C. Benett, Chief Clans of Roy Bareilly District, pp. 44–5. Benett quotes a wajib-ul-arz of Balbhadra Singh to Safdar Jang which runs as follows: ‘Iam an old
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zamindar of 14 parganas inherited from Mohan Singh, namely, Jais, Nasirabad, Salon, Roy Bareilly (Rai Bareli), Manakpur, Hardoi, Inhona, Subeha, Takia, Basarhi, Rudauli, Daryabad, Saidanpur and Bilwan. This zamindari has been reduced. Let me again hold it on the payment of Rs 2½ lacs revenue.’ ‘Let me deduct the expenses of my army from the revenue, or have them paid in fully by Government.’ Safdar Jang’s order was, ‘Deduct from the revenue.’ Balbhadra Singh apparently did not engage for the entire area of these parganas, for we have evidence to show the existence of another ta‘alluqdar for pargana Daryabad. Again, according to the Ain, the jama figures of only Manakpur, Rai Bareli and Jais, for instance, exceeded Rs 2,50,000. Cf. Ain, II (Jarrett), p. 176.
(44) See Maktubat, p. 220 for one Dharam Singh, a zamindar of pargana Daryabad who is reported to have presented himself to Safdar Jang and agreed to become a muta‘ahhid for his ta‘alluqa and pay a fixed amount of Rs 24,000 per annum against the state revenue demand. See also Allahabad 1322 of the year 1155/1742–3 which records one Shah Hidayat, a local zamindar, as a muta ‘ahhid of pargana Haveli Bahraich.
(45) Ismail Khan, a risaladar in the army of Safdar Jang, took the pargana of Jahangirabad, for instance, on ta‘ahhud at an annual payment of Rs 50,000. Subsequently Isa Beg Khan, the naib and chakladar of Khairabad and the mahals of Selak was directed by the governor to hand over the thanas and the hostages of the pargana to the agent of Ismail Khan. Matkubat, pp. 190–91. For Ismail Khan see Allahabad 1322 and C. A. Elliot, Chronicles of Oonao, p. 98.
(46) In such cases the zamindar appears to have had the faujdari rights over the territory under his ta‘ahhud, while the government would insist on having its representative who was called naib, naib faujdar or nazim. For reference to such naibs see Akhbarat, Muhammad Shah, 25th R. Y., Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
(47) Compare also N. A. Siddiqi, Land Revenue Administration, p. 27. Dr Siddiqi refers to the British Revenue Records which give an idea of how the ta‘alluqadars later took advantage of their superior position to convert the ta ‘alluqadari tenure into real zamindari rights, p. 27. Indeed, a number of the ta‘alluqadars, benefiting very likely from the position which they later obtained in the new circumstances, became a major threat to the Lucknow government.
(48) The following instances also illustrate the point. A sum of Rs 30 from the sair of Jaunpur formed a part of the emoluments of one Ali Naqi. The gumashta of the mustajir of the sair, Bhikam Rai refused to pay the amount to him and demanded a new parwana from the governor. On Ali Naqi’s petition, therefore, the governor wrote to the gumashta confirming his earlier order. The faujdar of pargana Bilgram, Mir Baqar Chaudhuri, is also recorded as the ijaradar of the pargana. Maktubat, p. 175 and Sharaif.
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It must be added here that unless we know the prices of foodgrains and the actual state of agricultural production, we are not in a position to explain the rise in the rate of ijara in the sarkars of Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chunar and Benaras.
(49) It is probably in this perspective that we can explain why the centre did not object to the gross violation of a Mughal convention when Mir Mu‘in-ul-Mulk farmed out the subadari of Ajmer to Raja Jai Singh. See Chapter 1, Section III.
(50) Compare Tuhfa ff. 4a, 10a–11a, 14a–16a; Kamboh, ff. 5a, 6a, 16b–17a, 21b– 24a, 54b–57a and 65b; Saiyid Mazhar Husain Korwi, Tarikh-i Benaras, I, Benaras, 1916, pp. 88–91, 111–14, 124–5. See also Tazkira Mukhlis, pp. 324–5 for sarkar Moradabad of Delhi province.
(51) Ma’asir-ul-Kiram, I, p. 222. The madad-i ma‘ash villages of Qazi Muhammad Ihsan, for Instance, were assessed for Rs 2,200. Cf. Sharaif, p. 175. As the authors of the Ma’asir-ul-Kiram and the Sharaif-i Usmani were closely related to those who were severely hit by Burhan-ul-Mulk’s new regulations, their statements in this regard should be accepted with certain qualifications. Burhanul-Mulk’s measures seem to have been directed against those grantees who held the land in excess of their requirements or those who combined zamindari holdings with large revenue grants and had become a source of disturbance in the villages. For, we have evidence of unbroken revenue grants for some families in Awadh. The madad-i ma‘ash of the family of Mulla Nizam-ud-Din of Sahali is one example. Compare Firangi Mahal Documents. Mulla Nizam-ud-Din maintained a madrasa at Firangi Mahal, Lucknow and served as the official mufti to the government of Safdar Jang. Cf. M. Raza Ansari, Bani-e Dars-i Nizami, pp. 64–86.
(52) Initially, the qazi approached Muhammad Khan, the governor of Allahabad. Since Muhammad Khan hailed from the region and aspired to have a strong base in Allahabad suba and also, if possible, in Awadh, he considered it to be a good opportunity to weaken Burhan-ul-Mulk. More so because Burhan-ul-Mulk’s machinations had put him in great difficulty. Muhammad Khan promised the qazi to recommend his case to the emperor and took him to Delhi. Muhammad Khan, however, could not help him in Delhi. He lost even his own governorship of Allahabad and was transferred to Malwa. See Chapter 7, Section II.
(53) But since the policy of assessing the madad-i ma‘ash grants was still operative in the remaining parts of the province, the new amil who took the charge of the pargana of Bilgram, again confiscated the madad-i ma‘ash of the qazi. See Allahabad 117 for the local officials’ attitude towards the revenuegrantees in and around the qasbas of Daryabad and Sarai Shah Alam. For the details relating to the qazi see Sharaif, pp. 167–78; Qazi Sharif-ul-Hasan, Tarikh-i Bilgram, pp. 192–5.
(54) See Chapter 3.
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(55) Sharaif, p. 175.
(56) The qazi of Bilgram, for example, was related to Ruh-ul-Amin Khan and the other Shaikhzadas from Awadh who were in the imperial service while Shaikh Jarullah, an Abbasi Shaikh of Kakori, who held a rank of 7000 zat under Aurangzeb belonged to the family of the qazis of the town. Cf. Qazi Ahmadullah Bilgrami, Al Musajjalat Fi Tarikh-al-Quzat, f. 32b; Mashahir-i Kakori, p. 95. See also Firangi Mahal Documents No. 68 for the jagir of Muhammad As‘ad of Firangi Mahal in Amethi Dongar. Muhammad As‘ad was brother of the founder of the famous madrasa of Firangi Mahal.
(57) Compare Sharaif, pp. 126–8, for an account of the matrimonial relations of a family of the qazis of Bilgram in and around 1100/1688–89. Qazi Kamal was, for example, married to the daughter of Qazi Maruf, the qazi of Kachhandu. Maruf was a nephew of Akhi Jamshed, a Qidwai Shaikh of Rajgir. The father of Maruf was a zamindar and was a nephew of the qazi of Araha. A daughter of Maruf was married in Sandila … and so on and so forth.
(58) Ibid., p. 177.
(59) Maktubat, p. 79.
(60) Khujasta, p. 165. Muhammad Khan had given shelter to the revenue grantees of sarkar Khairabad who had earlier been displaced by the insubordinate zamindars. Muhammad Khan also made a strong recommendation for the rehabilitation of these grantees.
(61) See for instance Allahabad 96–7 and 923; Maktubat, pp. 173–4 and 180–1. In an instance from pargana Fatehpur, one Fatima had received a madad-i ma‘ash grant as early as in 1722. But the necessary follow-up in the local office was taken up only in the 12th r. y./1730–31 when she was asked to produce tashiha (verification) and signatures of reliable local persons confirming her claim to the grant. Allahabad 920. But a previous grant to the sons of Muhammad Sa‘id, son of Shaikh Qutb-ud-Din of Sahali, was confirmed from the centre during the 5th– 6th r. ys. of Muhammad Shah. Firangi Mahal Documents Nos. 53–4.
Some local officials, however, seem to have maintained the earlier regulations even after the proclamation of the general order of their repeal. The naib of the mahals of sarkar Lucknow wanted a special new parwana from the deputy governor for the restoration of a madad-i ma‘ash village, Basoli, in pargana Haveli Lucknow to its claimant. In an another instance the local official in charge of pargana Mohan seems to have kept 450 bighas of the madad-i ma‘ash land in confiscation for some years after the general order of revocation. He handed them over to the rightful grantees only after he received a specific directive
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from Safdar Jang, who held the charge of the suba in the absence of Burhan-ul- Mulk. Maktubat, pp. 173 and 182.
(62) Maktubat, p. 173.
(63) Muhammad Hasan Abbasi, Abbasiyan-i Kakori, p. 12 which records the parwana.
(64) Allahabad 505; Jais Documents transcripts, Dept. of History, Aligarh, No. 84.
(65) Cf. Kaghazat-i Pargana Laharpur, Sarkar Khairabad. This is to be noted that in all the extant relevant papers of Aurangzeb’s reign, the land in question has been referred to as madad-i ma‘ash. It may be noted here that the madad-i ma‘ash began to be generally treated as virtually a zamindari holding only in the eighteenth century, and that the possibility of a few cases of sale and purchase of the mu‘afi land together with the kharaji one cannot be ruled out. I am indebted to S. Z. H. Jafari for references to two such cases for 1661 and 1697 in Allahabad 733–F and National Archives of India, 144.
(66) Compare for instance Sharaif, pp. 68, 137 and 246–7; Muhammad Ali Hyder Alavi, Tazkira-i Mashahir-i Kakori (Urdu), Lucknow, 1927, p. 96.
(67) Author’s preface in William Hoey’s translation as Memoirs of Delhi and Faizabad, Allahabad, 1889.
(68) Mirza Muhammad Rafi (Sarbuland Khan) was closely connected with Prince Azim-ush-Shan by marriage. One of the daughters of Ruhullah Khan was married to Sarbuland Khan while the other was a wife of the prince. Compare M. U., III, p. 801.
(69) For the biographical notices see Sharaif, pp. 255–7 and 269 and Hadiqat, p. 131.
(70) Sharaif, p. 269.
(71) Ibid., p. 232.
(72) For Burhan-ul-Mulk and the court politics and Burhan-ul-Mulk’s relations with the Bangash chief see Chapter 7.
(73) Sharaif, pp. 235–6.
(74) Ibid., p. 283.
(75) For details of the battle and its antecendents see W. Irvine, The Later Moghuls II, pp. 15–48; Satish Chandra, Parties and Politics, pp. 154–66.
(76) Sharaif, p. 282.
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(77) Compare Sharaif, pp. 205, 227, 250–1, 261, 272 and 275; Qasim, f. 45a; Alavi, Mashahir-i Kakori, p. 37.
(78) T. Hindi, ff. 248. For the battle of Hasanpur and the issues involved, see W. Irvine, Later Moghuls, II, pp. 68–95.
(79) Qasim, f. 41a.
(80) Mubarak, f. 78a.
(81) Shivdas, f. 5b.
(82) Sharaif, p. 231.
(83) Ijad, f. 65b; Qasim, f. 52b.
(84) Qasim, f. 57a; Kamwar, f. 342b.
(85) W. Hoey, Memoirs of Delhi and Faizabad, I, p. 226.
(86) T. Hindi, f. 244b.
(87) Shivdas, ff. 48a–49a.
(88) Mubarak, f. 78a.
(89) Ibid., f. 78a.
(90) Shivdas, f. 6a.
(91) Ibid., f. 10a.
(92) Ibid., f. 11b.
(93) Ibid., f. 12b.
(94) Ibid., f. 27b. For Agra disturbance see Irvine, Later Moghuls, I, pp. 408–16 and 422–8.
(95) Mir Abd-ul-Jalil Wasiti Bilgrami (1071–1138/1660–1–1725–6) was an eminent scholar and poet of the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. In 1111/1699–1700 he was appointed bakhshi waqai‘nigar of Gujarat Shah Dola in the Punjab. In 1116/1704–5 he was transferred to Bhakkar and Sewistan in Sindh where he remained till 1126/1714 when he was dismissed from his office at the instance of Mir Jumla. Later, however, he approached Saiyid Husain Ali Khan and on his recommendation was reinstated to his office. See Ma’asir-ul- Kiram, II, pp. 253–86 for his biography and some details of his association with Saiyid Husain Ali Khan.
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(96) T. Hindi, f. 245a.
(97) The day when Murtaza Husain was given the rank of 2500 zat and the title of Khan, Samsam-ud-Daulah reportedly invited him to join his ‘party’. Murtaza Husain, however, refused to desert Sarbuland Khan. Sharaif, p. 269.
(98) Cf. W. Irvine, Later Moghuls, II, pp. 214–15.
(99) Compare Ijad, f. 65b; Ahwal, f. 53b; Shivdas, f. 11a; Qasim, ff. 52b and 57a; Mubarak, f. 78a.
(100) Cf. A. L. Srivastava, First Two Nawabs, pp. 32–3, for the early history of the Shaikhzadas and their resistance to Burhan-ul-Mulk.
(101) According to Qazi Khadim Hasan Alavi, the author of the Tarikh-i Kakori the Shaikhzadas of Lucknow and the Afghans of the twelve villages posed a serious threat to Burhan-ul-Mulk. Accordingly to meet their challenge, he camped first at Kakori, summoned the elders of the town and earnestly sought their help for his plan to subdue the disturbers. Thus was founded the government of the Nawabs of Awadh in which the ‘shurafa of Kakori were far ahead of the others’ in so far as the titles, honours and offices were concerned, p. 8.
(102) In 1730 Burhan-ul-Mulk sent Mir Muhammad Salah Khan, along with one Saiyid Munawwar Ali Tirmizi of Bilgram to see if he could get any recruits for his army. Subsequently over 200 sawars and 1000 piyadas joined the provincial armed forces under the leadership of one Mir Saiyid Muhammad Roshan. Mir Nur-ul-Hasan Khan and Mir Azim-ud-Din Khan followed them with a large contingent of their kinsmen (biradari). In 1732 a large number of the Shaikhzadas from the contingent of Sarbuland Khan joined the army of Burhanul-Mulk. After that Burhan-ul-Mulk’s reliance on the Shaikhzadas of Bilgram and for that matter on all the Shaikhzadas of Awadh seems to have grown stronger. Compare Saiyid Ibn Hasan Bilgrami, Burhan-i Awadh, MS, Maluna Azad Library, Aligarh, p. 36; Qudratullah, Jam-i Jahan Nama. II, Rampur MS, p. 61; Sharaif, pp. 263–4, 268 and 274.
(103) A document dated 7 Zi Hijja, 1150/17 November 1733, mentions Shaikh Muhammad Jamal as the deputy faujdar and in charge-in-full (mukhtar-i kar) of pargana Haveli Bahraich. Mir Haider, presumably an inhabitant of Sandila, held the faujdari of the pargana of Sandila in the 18th r. y. of Muhammad Shah/1736– 7. Shaikh Muhammad Akabir, an Abbasi Shaikh of Kakori who had earlier served under Daya Bahadur is said to have been ordered by Burhan-ul-Mulk to accompany Mir Rustam Ali Khan, the nazim of the sarkars of Jaunpur, Chunar, Ghazipur and Benaras. Later, he secured the faujdari of Ghazipur from the nawab. Compare Allahabad 1002, 1009 and 1203; Alavi, Mashahir-i Kakori, p. 341.
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Daya Bahadur was a son of Raja Chhabele Ram and held the office of the subadari of Malwa in the reign of Muhammad Shah. For details see W. Irvine, Later Moghuls, II, pp. 247–8; Raghubir Sinh, Malwa in Transition, Bombay, 1936, pp. 153, 157, 163–4, 189, 194, 200, 202, 204–5 and 206.
(104) Shaikh Ghulam Mina of Kakori for example who died prematurely is said to have been a close friend of Sher Jang, the nephew of Burhan-ul-Mulk. Alavi, Mashahir-i Kakori, p. 308.
(105) Ausaf, f. 29b.
(106) Sharaif, p. 274.
(107) Hakim Abdullah of Kakori who had accompanied Burhan-ul-Mulk to Awadh is reported to have been frequently visited by Safdar Jang. Safdar Jang was in close contact with Qazi Muhammad Wa‘iz, the hereditary qazi of Kakori. All the three sons of the qazi are said to have been in the service of the nawab. One of his sons, Abul-Barakat Khan held the office of mir bakshi in the sarkar of Safdar Jang. Zain Khan, a local Afghan, is stated to have once served as the deputy of Safdar Jang. Compare Alavi, Mashahir-i-Kakori, p. 263; M. H. Abbasi, Abbasiyan-i Kakori, pp. 9 and 15; Allahabad 1323.
(108) Sharaif, p. 242.
(109) Siyar, III, p. 880; Imad, pp. 50–1; Qasim Ali Hamdani, Tarikh-i Shahiya Nishapuriya, Rampur MS., pp. 34–5; also see Sharaif, pp. 250 and 254. Muhammad Imam Khan and Hidayatullah Khan, respectively the ta‘alluqadars of Balehra were among those Shaikhzadas in the neighbourhood of Lucknow who cooperated gallantly with Shaikh Mu‘iz ud-Din. Darogha Hafiz Abbas Ali Khan, Ta‘alluqadaran-i Awadh, pp. 9–10 and 17. According to the author of Yadgar-i Bahaduri, the Shaikhzadas chasing the Afghans came up to Phaphamau. Bahadur Singh Bhatnagar, Yadgar-i Bahaduri, U. P. State Archives, Allahabad MS., f. 475.
(110) Compare Alavi, Mashahir-i Kakori, p. 95 for Shaikh Sanaullah’s effort to defend, and keep the order in, Kakori on receiving the news of the death of Raja Nawal Rai.
(111) Khizana-i Amira, p. 80. See also Jam-i Jahan Numa, II, p. 60.
(112) Tarikh-i Shahiya Nishapuriya, pp. 34–5.
(113) Shaikh Muhammad Salih who is reported to have been proposed by Muhammad Shah for the office of the sadr of the subas of Bengal and Orissa refused to accept it. Distance and a desire to regain the hereditary family administrative office within his hometown are given as the reasons for his refusal. In 1730 Khubullah of Kakori was offered a number of offices in the
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empire, e.g., the office of the qazi of Patna, the amin of Moradabad, the sadr of Bareilly and the faujdari of Sirhind. Khubullah, however, preferred to stay in Lucknow without any office. Around 1748, one Maulana Hamid-ud-Din of Kakori who had fought with Safdar Jang against Abdali is said to have been offered a job in Ambala in the Punjab. The Maulana declined to accept it and wanted to go back to his hometown. Alavi, Mashahir-i Kakori, pp. 139, 153–4 and 352. A few of them, however, went to the Deccan towards the mid-eighteenth century due to their personal association with Nizam-ul-Mulk. Compare Sharaif, pp. 232, 244, 248 and 270.
(114) Sharaif. pp. 263–4.
(115) Compare Yadgar-i Bahaduri, f. 475b. For some details and the background of the Bangash’s clash with Safdar Jang and the subsequent imperial order for the confiscation of Safdar Jang’s properties, see, A. L. Srivastava, First Two Nawabs, Chapters XIII–XV, pp. 137–87.
(116) Khizana-i Amira, p. 96.
(117) Allahabad 4 and 5.
(118) Ibid., 488 and 1018.
(119) Ibid., 505.
(120) Compare W. Hoey, Memories of Delhi and Faizabad, 11. p. 3.
(121) A. L. Srivastava, First Two Nawabs, pp. 79–80, 89, 98, 101, 169, 224 and 232. From the account of the Sharaif Atma Ram appears to have hailed from Allahabad. He was initially encouraged and patronized by Ruh-ul-Amin Khan when the latter was in service of Sipahdar Khan in Allahabad. Cf. Sharaif, p. 233.
(122) Yadgar-i Bahaduri, f. 475a.
(123) See Chapter 7.
(124) While regional and local magnates unmistakably struggled for political power, it is difficult to suggest a positive sense of regional solidarity or regional consciousness having existed amongst these Shaikhzadas and Afghans who seem to have manned the lower and middle ranks of the Awadh army and administration. Whether the formation of ‘regionally oriented ruling groups’ in ‘the successor states’ was a cause or an effect of the decline of the Mughal empire is open to debate. For some discussion see, Philip C. Calkins, ‘Formation of a Regionally-Oriented Ruling Group in Bengal’, Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. XXIX, pp. 799; M. Athar Ali, ‘The Passing of Empire: The Mughal Case’, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1975, pp. 392–3.
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