|
Under the Rohillas
In 1760 A.D. Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded
India; he was opposed in 1761 by the Marathas on the field of Panipat and inflicted
on them a signal defeat. Among other Maratha chieftains Govind Rao Pandit lost his
life in the action. Before his departure from India the Durrani chief consigned large
tracts of country to the Rohilla chieftains, and while Dhunde Khan received Shikohabad,
Inayat Khan, son of Hafiz Rahmat Khan received the district of Etawah. This was
then in the possession of the Marathas, and accordingly in 1762 a Rohilla force was sent
under Mullah Mohsin Khan to wrest the assigned property from the Marathas. This
force was opposed near the town of Etawah by Kishan Rao and Bala Rao
Pandits, who were defeated and compelled to seek safety in flight across the Yamuna.
Siege was then laid to the fort of Etawah by Mohsin Khan; but the fort was soon
surrendered by its commander, and the district fell into the hands of the Rohillas. The occupation, however, was merely nominal at first; the zamindars
refused to pay revenue to Inayat Khan and, secure in their mud forts set his
authority at defiance. Strong reinforcements were sent to the Rohillas, including some
artillery, under Sheikh Kuber and Mullah Baz Khan, and many of the smaller
forts were levelled to the grounds; but in their ravine fortresses the zamindars of
Kamait in the trans-Yamuna tract still resisted the authority of Inayat Khan. Hafiz Rahmat
and Inayat Khan then came in person to Etawah and operations were vigorously pressed
against the refractory zamindars. Ultimately an annual tribute was agreed to by the
latter. Hafiz Rahmat then departed to Bareilly, and Rohilla garrisons were established at
convenient places in the district. Meanwhile a new minister arose at Delhi called Najib
Khan, better known as Najib-ud-daula, Amir-ul-umra, Shuja-ud-daula
succeeded Safdar Jang as Nawab Wazir and occupied most of the Bangash possessions
as far as Aligarh, with the exception of those granted by the Durrani to the Rohillas
after he battle of Pandit. But the wazir's hostility to the Farrukhabad Afghans had not
abated one jot, and in 1762 he persuaded Najib-ud-daula to join him in an attack on
Farrukhabad. The attack was beaten off by the aid of Hafiz Rahmat Khan and matters once
more settled down peacefully.
In 1766 the Marathas under Mulhar Rao, who
had been awaiting their opportunity, once more crossed the Jamuna and attacked Phaphund ,
where a Rohilla force under Muhammad Hasan Khan eldest son of Mohsin Khan,
was posted. On receipt of this news Hafiz Rahmat advanced from Bareilly to oppose the
Marathas. He was joined near Phaphund by Sheikh Kuber, the Rohilla governor of Etawah, and
prepared to give battle; but Mulhar Rao refused to risk an engagement and once more
retired across the Jamuna. The ambitions Najib-ud-daula had been considerably
irritated by the intervention of the Rohillas on behalf of Ahmad Khan Bangladesh in 1762;
and though he had been too busily engaged otherwise to pursue his plans of revenge before,
he began in 1770 to plot the downfall of Hafiz Rahmat Khan.
Accordingly a Maratha army was invited to Delhi for the
purpose of first wresting Farrukhabad from Ahmad Khan and of afterwards invading
Rohikhand. The united forces of Najib-ud-daula and the Marathas advanced from Delhi; but
at Koil Najib-ud-daula fell ill and retraced his steps, leaving his eldest son, Zabita
Khan to operate with the Marathas. Zabita Khan however, was by no means disposed to
fight against his brother Afghans. The Marathas, knowing this, kept him practically a
prisoner in their camp and he requested Hafiz Rahmat Khan to obtain his release. Hafiz
Rahmat Khan accordingly opened negotiations with the Marathas for the release of Zabita
Khan; but the Maratha leaders demanded as their price the surrender of the jagirs
of Etawah and Shikohabad. Hafiz Rahmat Khan was not disposed to agree to those terms, and
while negotiations were proceeding for buying off the Marathas Zabita Khan escaped.
Several desultory engagements now took place between the Marathas and the Afghan forces. Inayat
khan was summoned by his father to Farrukhabad in order that he might be consulted
regarding the surrendering of his jagirs. But although Dhunde Khan agreed to give up
Shikohabad Inayat Khan refused to surrender Etawah.
Ultimately, disgusted with his father's arrangements he
returned to Bareilly, and his father on his own responsibility sent orders to Sheikh
Kuber, the Rohilla governor of Etawah, to surrender the fort to the Marathas. The
Marathas now marched to Etawah, but as the orders had not yet reached him Sheikh Kuber
gave them battle. Several desperate assaults were made on the fort of Etawah which were
all beaten off, but finally it was handed over to the Marathas in accordance with hafiz
Rahmat Khan's orders, and the Rohillas quitted the district, leaving it once more in the
hands of the Marathas. Later in the same year, 1771 A.D., the Marathas advanced to Delhi
and reinstated the emperor Shah Alam, who had cast in his lot with them, on the
throne. They were now masters of the empire and Zabita Khan determined to oppose them.
Assembling his forces, he attacked the Marathas near Delhi but was signally
defeated, and in 1772 the Marathas overran a large portion of Rohilkhand and captured
Najafgarh, where Zabita Khan's family resided and his treasure lay.
Under the Government of Oudh
Zabita Khan then solicited the aid of Shuja-ud-daula, Nawab Wazir of
Oudh; but the Nawab declined to interfere unless Hafiz Rahmat Khan applied on his behalf.
Negotiations were commenced with Shah Alam and the Marathas for the restoration of Zabita
Khan's family and the evacuation of Rohilkhand. The Marathas agreed to accept 40 lakhs of
rupees, provided that Shuja-ud-daula made himself responsible for the payment; but
Shuja-ud-daula now declined to enter into any such engagement unless Hafiz Rahmat Khan
gave him a bond for the money. To this Hafiz Rahmat Khan consented, the bond was signed
and the Marathas retired from Rohilkhand. In 1773 A.D. the Marathas proposed to attack
Shuja-ud-daula and attempted to gain the help of Hifaz Rahmat Khan. The latter refused to
him them. Instead he sent information to Shuja-ud-daula concerning what he had done, and
on the strength of this requested restoration of his bond. Shuja-ud-daula expressed his
approval of Hafiz Rahmat Khan's conduct and promised the restitution of the bond when the
Marathas as had been defeated. The Marathas were defeated soon after at Asadpur by
the combined forces of Shuja-ud-daula and Hafiz Rahmat Khan, with the result
that they quitted not only Rohilkhand but Delhi also.
Shuja-ud-daula then returned to Oudh, but denied
ever having promised to restore the bond. He next seduced many of the Afghan Rohillas from
their allegiance to Hafiz Rahmat Khan, and then proceeded to eject the Maratha garrisons
from Etawah and Shikohabad in spite of Rahmat Khan's remonstrance. He ever went further
and called on Hafiz Rahmat Khan to discharge the balance of 35 lakhs due on the bond. This
was only a pretext for provoking hostilities for which purpose the Nawab had already begun
to assemble an army; and Hafiz Rahmat Khan having failed to pay up, the Nawab advanced to
the Ganges. The last scene in the tangled history of the period closed with the defeat of Hafiz
Rahmat Khan by Shuja-ud-daula who was aided by a British force, at the battle
of Miranpur Katra in the Shahjahanpur district on April 23rd 1774 A.D. Etawah under
the Oudh Government.
From 1774 to 1801 the district of Etawah remained under
the government of Oudh. Little occurred to disturb it during this period and little is
known regarding its history. For many years the administration of the district was in the
hands of Mian Almas Ali Khan. Ails were stationed, we know, at Etawah, Kudarkot and
Phaphunnd. One of those who held office at the last named placed was Raja Bhagmal
or Baramal. The latter was by Caste a Jat and was sister's son to Almas Ali
Khan, who was by birth a Hindu but was subsequently made a eunuch and converted to Islam.
Raja Bhagmal built the fort at Phaphund and the old mosque which still bears an
inscription recording thenamed of donor. Almas Ali Khan was, recording to Colonie
Sleeman,"the greatest and best man" Oudh ever produced; be amassed great
wealth, but having no descendant, he spent his money for the benefit of the people
committed to his charge. He held court occasionally at Kudarkot where he built a fort, of
which the massive ruins still remain. At Etawah the amils are said to have resided in the
fort; but the building was destroyed by Shuja-ud-daula in consequence of the
representations of the Etawah townspeople that, so long as the amils occupied such an
impregnable residence, they would never do anything but oppress the people.
The cession On November 10th, 1801, the district was made
over to the British Government by the Nawab Saadat Ali Khan together with the rest
of the lower Doab and other tracts. This action was taken in return for a guarantee of
protection, and by way of payment for the maintenance of the Oadh local forces which were
ultimately stationed at Kanpur. The cession did not altogether pass off without
difficulty, as the district was full of refractory taluqdars from whom revenue was only
extracted with great trouble. No military operations, however, had to be undertaken, and
Lord Lake's army does not seem to have passed through the district on its way in 1803 to
fight the Marathas. Still for some years Etawah was threatened with Maratha inroads, while
scenes occurred with the zamindars in the earlier years of the British
administration which recall the experiences of the imperial officers in the 16th century,
and it was not till the zamindars of Saudaus, Sahson and Kamait had been finally
settled with in 1816 A.D. that the history of the district may be said to have become one
of the peaceful progress and reform, which was afterwards broken only by the interruption
caused by the Mutiny of 1857. |
|
