The Second Nizam

 Episode 4
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In 1762, the map of southern India was re-drawn over a dozen times. The Mughal Emperor in Delhi issued a farman (Royal Order) recognizing Nizam Ali Khan as the rightful heir of the Asaf Jahi dynasty. The Delhi court proclaimed Nizam Ali as the second Nizam.

The fourth son of Nizam-Ul-Mulk, Nizam Ali Khan was 28 when he took power. He was clearly a fighting man. He maintained his father’s white beard and maintained the carefully manicured mustache.

Over the succeeding generations the Nizams grew more corpulent and their jewelry more extravagant as they increasingly left running the state to others and indulged in more sensuous pursuits.

Nizam Ali Khan was destined to become the second-longest-serving ruler of the Asaf Jahi dynasty and the last to lead its armies into battle. But his longevity and military prowess did not translate into glory for the Nizam’s dominions.

Though Nizam Ali Khan came to power with the support of the East India Company, He believed British did not have the right to rule. The British constantly exploited Nizam’s weakness to their full advantage in their skirmishes with the French.

Nizam Ali khan would prove poor strategist in military matters. He took his entire zenana(the part of a house for the seclusion of women)  every time he went for a battle. This nearly cost him his empire and his life. Too weak to take on the East India Company by force, but too ambitious to give up pretensions of power. Nizam Ali Khan’s constantly shifting interests and alliances so frustrated the British. They ultimately forced his to sign no fewer than six treaties just to keep him in line.

By the end of the century, Nizam Ali Khan had played into their hands so completely that the East India Company. It was the strongest power in the Southern India and the leading trading conglomerate in the world.

Hyderabad became the largest and most important princely state In India.

After his inauguration, the Nizam’s first priority was to restore some of the territory lost to the French and the British. In November 1766, the first of a series of treaties were signed between Nizam Ali Khan and the East India Company. Most of the treaties very favorable compared with those that followed. Nizam Ali Khan had yet to commit the tactical blunders that would increasingly strengthen the British’s stronghold.

He was negotiating the treaty’s terms with the British. Nizam Ali Khan was setting aside half a century of hostilities and conducting secret talks with the Marathas on a new military alliance. The reason for the change of hearts towards his most bitter foes was the emergence in Mysore. Located to the south of Hyderabad, the ancient Hindu kingdom of Mysore was now owned by a Muslim nobleman.

Enter Haider Ali a military adventurer and a nobleman with his son Tipu Sultan created a powerful new dynasty. Haider Ali had built up a formidable army and was looking to expand his territories.

Having secured the support of Marathas, the Nizam called on the British to join the alliance to attack Mysore. The Nizam’s motive for calling on Marathas and the British was entirely based on self-interest and self-preservation.

In the next episode, we shall see the attack on Mysore. And how the defense was the best for Haider Ali and Tipu sultan.

A DEVESTATING TIME FOR ASAF JAHIS

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With Nasir Jung now out of the way, the French took Muzzafar Jung to Pondicherry, where, on 26 December 1750 he was proclaimed the new Nizam. Muzzafar Jung’s inauguration at Pondicherry rather than Hyderabad was a deliberate act. In return for France’s assistance in crowning Muzzafar Jung as the Nizam of Hyderabad, he bestowed honors, treasures, and land upon Dupleix and declared him as the viceroy of the whole south India from Krishna River to Cape Comorin.

Dupleix now ruled over 30 million people with absolute power. No enrollment could be obtained without his intervention.

By his actions, Muzzafar Jung would set an important precedent which would dictate the future of his dynasty. He became the first Indian ruler to engage a military force under the command of a European commander.

For all the pomp and installations of Muzzafar Jung’s coronation, his reign was never officially recognized by the Mughal Emperor in Delhi. As it was the Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb who under is wings concurred Hyderabad from the Qutub Shahi. In any case, Muzzafar Jung’s reign was destined to last only six weeks.

The same Nawabs who plotted with Dupleix to kill Muzzafar Jung’s uncle Nasir Jung were now demanding exorbitant sums of money from Muzzafar Jung for putting him on the throne. Fearing an ambush, Muzzafar Jung asked Dupliex for help.

Dupleix provided a force of 300 French soldiers under the command of de Bussy. But things did not go according to plan. The Nawabs who were asking for huge sums of money from Muzzafar Jung set a trap.

While approaching a narrow pass in the Eastern Ghats, Muzzafar Jung found his way blocked by the forces under the command of Nawab of Kadapa. Who attacked the Nizam’s army from the rear. Instead of waiting for the French force to arrive Muzzafar Jung mounted on his elephant and personally led the charge.

A well-aimed arrow from Himmat Khan’s bow hit Muzzafar Jung in the eye’ killing him instantly.

Normally the battle would have ended there with the defeat of Nizam’s forces, but a Hindu Raja named Raghunathdas, sitting behind Muzzafar Jung, removed the arrow, took hold of the corpse’s lifeless arms and pretended that his leader was still alive.

“By moving its head every now and then and asking for water, and making the arms of a dead man move as if directing his soldiers to kill his enemies.” Wrote one witness. “To the end of the battle, no one knew that the body of their leader was lifeless until the Nawab’s soldiers had fled.”

Only then did the news spread that Muzzafar Jung had “Quaffed the sherbet of death.

De Bussy would not allow himself to be diverted by such a minor matter. As luck would have it, Muzzafar Jung’s brother Salabat Jung had been encamped with the French forces when the fatal arrow was shot. And before the day was over Salabat Jung promptly imprisoned two of his brothers, Basalat Jung and Nizam Ali Khan.

Enter Ghazi-Ud-Din, the eldest son of Nizam-Ul-Mulk who has been serving as a minister in the court of the Mughal Emperor in Delhi since his father’s Death.  Deciding now is the right time to claim the viceroyalty, he marched to Deccan. He took a large force of Maratha warriors to take back the throne that he believed was rightly his.

But he only made as far as Aurangabad.

Living in Aurangabad was Nizam-Ul-Mulk’s former wife, whose ambition was to put his son, Nizam Ali Khan, on the throne.

An invitation was sent to Ghazi-ud-Din for an entertainment in the city. He accepted it and partook a poisoned dish prepared by the hand of the mother of Nizam Ali Khan.

Ghazi-Ud-Din expired the same night.

With three rivals to the Nizamate now dead and further two in prison, Salabat Jung ruled the Deccan for the next eleven years. Even though the real power lay in the hands of French and his reign was never officially recognized by Delhi.

Charles Joseph Patissier de Bussy

The outbreak of the war between the British and the French in 1756 had important ramifications for Deccan in particular. Due to the war, Dupleix was recalled to Paris. Two years later De Bussy was also told to withdraw his forces from Hyderabad. With De Bussy and Dupleix had gone Salabat was left fatally weakened.

Feeling exposed, Salabat Jung promised a district to the British in exchange for their military protection. But Salabat Jung’s vacillations cost him the support of his nobles. He was thrown into prison in the fort of Bidar. Where he was eventually strangled and died.

THE QUTUB SHAHIS LAID TO REST

The Qutb Shahis Tombs are located in the Ibrahim Bagh, close to the famous Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad, India. They contain the tombs and mosques built by the various kings of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. The galleries of the smaller tombs are of a single storey while the larger ones are two storied. In the center of each tomb is a sarcophagus which overlies the actual burial vault in a crypt below. The domes were originally overlaid with blue and green tiles, of which only a few pieces now remain.

During the Qutb Shahi period, these tombs were held in great veneration. After their reign, the tombs were neglected until Sir Salar Jung III ordered their restoration in the early 19th century. A garden was laid out, and a compound wall was built. Once again, the tomb-garden of the Qutb Shahi family became a place of serene beauty. All except the last of the Qutb Shahi sultans lie buried here.
Sultan Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah’s mausoleum is considered the grandest of the Qutb Shahi tombs. Built in 1602 A.D., the tomb is on a terrace of 65m square and 4m high. A flight of steps leads to the mausoleum proper, which is 22 m square on the outside and 11 m square on the inside. There are entrances on the southern and eastern sides. The tomb is in a vault below the terrace. Inscriptions in Persian and the Naskh scripts decorate it.

Now that we are through with the Qutub Shahis we move our attention to the main dynasty who shaped Quli Qutub Shahi’s vision of Hyderabad.

The real story begins here.

Aurangzeb had appointed Nizam-Ul-Mulk in charge of Hyderabad, He had his plans for the development of this spectacular city. He had made immense changes and brought some strict rules for every aspect of life. One of them being a 17 clause document was a blueprint for the governance and personal conduct that ranged from keeping troops well fed to an apology for neglecting his wife.
During his rule, the treasury had enough money to last seven generations if spent properly.
On June 1, 1748, he summoned his second son Nasir Jung, his wives and chief nobles to his bedside, said his prayers and died aged 77. Nizam-Ul-Mulk is remembered as laying the foundation stone for what would become the most important Muslim state outside the Middle East by a first half of the twentieth century. He not only founded the state but also organized and established it.

Enter Nasir Jung

Nasir Jung

Enter Nasir Jung; born on 26 February 1712 he was the second son of Nizam Ul- Mulk. The first Nizam left six sons and one grandson fighting for their right to succeed him. It was Nasir Jung who made the first move, seizing the treasury and claiming the title Nizam. Nasir Jung was described as “high-spirited”, but tender hearted, qualities at the time didn’t make for a long life expectancy. According to James Grant Duff, the nineteenth-century author of the iconic History of the Marathas, Nasir Jung was also a poet and a lover of literature.

Nasir Jung always hated the French. Still smarting from having their pride insulted by Nasir Jung the French-backed Nizam Ul-Mulk’s grandson Muzzafar Jung. Unlike his scheming uncle, Muzzafar Jung was said to be”brave and gallant youth, with a noble promise of making a great and good monarch”. He also had the advantage of being Nizam Ul-Mulk’s nominated heir.

Date of birth of Muzaffar Jung is not known.

The British backed Nasir Jung resulting in making him the second Nizam which will reign a short period of time. He was a scheming man who schemed his way to the seat of power.There were a lot of scheming and planning by done Nasir Jung in order to stay on the throne. for instance, during the siege of the fort of Gingee, the British had thrown their support behind Nasir Jung with some 30000 native troops and combined forces of Muzzafar Jung. When Muzzafar Jung refused to attack along with his uncle, Nasir Jung promised forgiveness and has sworn on the Quran. The guards took Muzzafar Jung and locked him in custody despite being promised that he would not be taken, prisoner

The end of Nasir Jung

After a successful siege on the fort of Gingee Nasir Jung sent most of his troops back to Hyderabad while he went to Arcot on a small hunting expedition. Seizing that exact moment the french general Dupleix sent a force of 250 European and 4200 sepoys to attack Gingee and took the fort under the french empire. Stung by defeat Nasir Jung assembled a force of 60000 men to retake the fort but failed. After this failure, Nasir Jung wore a white robe and rode unarmed on his elephant to the camp of the Nawab of Kurnool, Himmat Khan demanding that his men join him and fight the common enemy. As instructed by Dupleix, Himmat Khan refused to move and when Nasir Jung called him a coward, the nawab and his watchmen “discharged their guns into his breast and sent him to paradise at once”.

THE BIRTH OF OLD CITY, HYDERABAD.

It all started with Emperor Aurangzeb’s  vision of expanding the Mughal empire into farthest of south India.  The man himself, the man who envisioned Hyderabad to be one of the greatest city this nation has ever seen.

Quli Qutub Shah

Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580–1611 CE) was the fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty and founded Hyderabad. Built its architectural centerpiece, the Charminar. He was an able administrator and his reign is considered one of the high points of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. He ascended to the throne in 1580 at the age of 15 and ruled for 31 years.

Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah was the third son of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali. He was an accomplished poet and wrote his poetry in Persian, Telugu, and Urdu. As the first author in the Urdu language, he composed his verses in the Persian diwan style. His poems consisted of verses relating to gazal-i musalsal. Sarkar Muhammad Quli’s Kulliyat comprised 1800 pages, over half were gazals, qasidas on one hundred pages. While the rest contained over 300 pages of matnawi and martiyas. He Married Bhagmati A Hindu Woman And Later Bhagmati Changed Her Name To Hyder Mahal.

Muhammad Quli “built a city of Hyderabad on the southern bank of the Musi River in 1591. Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah called architects from all around the world to lay out the city. It was built on a grid plan and named it after Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Hyderabad.

Aurangzeb

In January 1687, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb led his forces to besiege the Qutb Shahi dynasty at Golconda Fort. Also known as the Diamond Capital. The only source of diamonds at that time and was home to the Kollur Mine. The ruler of Golconda was Abul Hasan Qutb Shah. Aurangzeb and the Mughal army had successfully conquered two Muslim kingdoms: Nizams of Ahmednagar and the Adilshahis of Bijapur. It was only a matter of time that the Mughal army arrived at Golconda Fort. The siege of Golconda lasted 8 months and on various occasions, it had pushed the massive Mughal army to limits. In fact, the Golconda Fort was probably the most impregnable fort in South Asia.

Aurangzeb and the Mughals entered Golconda through a decisive victory but through the secret treachery of Sarandaz Khan. A military official in the army of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, who was bribed to open one gate and let the Mughals enter the fort. This battle was important for both sides, because of the place being the only source of diamonds. The fort had good defenses, having spikes on the front gate to defend themselves for the Mughal elephants. Having corners where the walls were cut like a diamond, whenever a guard will spot the enemies. He will clap and the voice will echo so that everyone hears it.

Aurangzeb would intensify the siege.

Although the Qutbshahi’s maintained impregnable efforts defending their walls, the siege had become unbearable for the officials in service of the Qutbshahi’s and finally Sarandaz Khan revealed a back door that led directly Golconda Fort, immediately after the Mughals stormed the fort, Sarandaz Khan opened the gates that allows the Aurangzeb’s army to enter.

The Mughal army led by Ghazi Ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung the son of the fallen Kilich Khan Khwaja Abid Siddiqi was among the first to enter the gates. He immediately charged towards the citadel of Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, eventually taking him prisoner by surprise. Firuz Jang and his forces occupied Kollur Mine and the Mughal reserves, disarmed the defenders of the fort and paved their way for the entry of victorious Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Golconda Fort was later repaired and armed with superior cannons. Shaista Khan is known to have spared the Qutbshahi servicemen, the ruler of Golconda, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, however, was imprisoned in Daulatabad Fort by the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and his army managed to penetrate the walls by capturing a gate prompting the Qutbshahi’s of Golconda and the ruler Abul Hasan Qutb Shah to surrender peacefully and hand over the Nur-Ul-Ain Diamond, Great Stone Diamond, Kara Diamond, Darya-e-Nur, The Hope Diamond, the Wittelsbach Diamond and The Regent Diamond making the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb the richest monarch in the world.

Enter The first Nizam

The first Nizam was six years old when Aurangzeb took his under wings, the four remains the most potent symbol of the wealthiest and most powerful state in all of India. In the 17th century, the fort boasted 8 gates 87 canons 42 escape tunnels and walls some 10kms in radius. Today the main road to Golconda is lined with half finished flats, service stations and billboards advertising latest Telugu blockbusters. Although in ruins the fort still makes an impression as it comes into view.

Qamaruddin would become the first Nizam of Hyderabad and one of the most successful rulers of the 18th century in India. His empire would fill the void left by the disintegration of the Mughal dynasty. For the young Qamaruddin, Aurangzeb’s Deccan obsession presented him with endless opportunities to raise through the ranks above. Qamaruddin added the fortress of Raigarh to his list of conquers and was rewarded with the bejeweled sword, a robe of honor and an elephant by the time he was 16.

In the early hours of Friday 3rd March 1707, Aurangzeb was dead. Nizam-ul-Mulk first priority was to secure the Deccan from the abominations of highway robbers and the rapacity of the Marathas. He then divided his newly acquired kingdom state into three parts. 1/3rd became his private estate know as the sharif-e-Khas.  1/3 rd was allotted for the expenses of the government and was known as the diwan territory. Remaining was distributed to Muslim nobles. The most important of these worthy paigha estates.

What happens next we shall cover it in the next episode of Dastan-e-Hyderabad.