Mohamed Ali Khan Walajan (1717 – 1795) was the Nawab of Arcot in India and an ally of the British East India Company.
Muhammad Ali was born to Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, by his second wife, Nawab Fakhr un-nisa Begum Sahiba, a niece of Sayyid 'Ali Khan Safawi ul-Musawi, of Persia, sometime Naib suba of Trichonopoly on 7 July 1723 at Delhi.
Contents |
Official name
His official name was Amir ul Hind, Wala Jah, 'Umdat ul-Mulk, Asaf ud-Daula, Nawab Muhammad 'Ali Anwar ud-din Khan Bahadur, Zafar Jang, Sipah-Salar, Sahib us-Saif wal-qalam Mudabbir-i-Umur-i-'Alam Farzand-i-'Aziz-az Jan, Biradarbi Jan-barabar [Nawab Jannat Aramgah], Subadar of the Carnatic.
Life
It was said of Mohammad Ali, that he could be courteous, immensely hospitable, always emulating English customs and manners, such as taking breakfast and tea, and sitting on chairs rather than cushions-he even held two investitures, bestowing the KB upon Sir John Lindsay and Sir Hector Munro, in 1771 and 1779, respectively.[citation needed].
Sir John Macpherson, writing to Lord Macartney in November 1781 declared,
- "I love the old man...mind me to my old Nabob. I have been sending him sheep and bags of rice by every ship. It is more than he did for me when I was fighting his battles."
The Nawab was an ally of the British East India Company, but still harboured great ambitions of power in the South Indian arena, where Haidar Ali of Mysore, the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad were constant rivals. The Nawab could also be unpredictable and devious, and his breach of promise in failing to surrender Tiruchirappalli to Haidar Ali in 1751 was at the root of so many confrontations between Hyder Ali and the British. When Haidar swept into the Carnatic towards Arcot on 23 July 1781, with a terrifying army estimated at 86-100,000 men, it was not Mohammad Ali, however but the British who provoked Haidar's wrath, after seizing the French port of Mahé, which was under Haidar's protection. Much of the ensuing war was fought on the Nawab's territory.
For the defence of his territory, he paid the British 400,000 pagodas per annum (about £160,000) and 10 out of the 21 battalions of the Madras army were posted to garrison his forts. The British derived income from his jagirs (land grants).[1]
Death
He died from gangrene poisoning, at Madras on 13 October 1795. He was buried outside the gate of the Gunbad of Shah Chand Mastan, Trichinopoly.
See also
Notes
| Preceded by Chanda Sahib |
Nawab of Carnatic (de facto) (Confirmed by Carnatic Treaty of 1754) 1752 – 16 October 1795 |
Succeeded by Umdat Ul-Umra |
| Preceded by Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan |
Nawab of Carnatic (de jure) (Confirmed by 1763 Treaty of Paris) 31 July 1749 – 16 October 1795 |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
