Maruthanayagam Pillai
Muhammad Yusuf Khan (1725-1764)
Maruthanayagam Pillai or Muhammad Yusuf Khan, commonly known in Madurai as Khansa, an abbreviation for Khan Sahib, was born as a Hindu in Pannaiyur, Ramanad District, Tamilnadu, India in 1725, later converted to Islam, and married a Portuguese Christian. He was a warrior in the Arcot troops, later Commandant for the British East India Company troops. The British and the Arcot Nawab used him to suppress lot of Polygars (Palayakkarar) in the South Tamilnadu.Later was entrusted in administrating the Madurai country when the Madurai Nayaks rule ended. During that uncertain period he administrated well to weed order out of chaos. Later a dispute arose with the British and Arcot Nawab, and three of his associates were bribed to capture Yusuf Khan and he was hanged in 1764 in Madurai.
Early Years
Marudhanayagam Pillai ( or perhaps Mathuranayagam Pillai) known in history as Muhammad Yusuf Khan, was born circa 1725 in the village of Panaiyur, in Rammnad 'country' in a Hindu farming family of the Pillai Vellala caste. Being too restless in his youth, he left his native village, to make a living as a domestic hand at the residence of the French Governor Monsr.Jacques Law, in Pondicherry. It was here he befriended another French, Marchand (a subordinate of Jacques Law), who was destined to play a major and fateful role in later years, as the captain of the French force, under Yusuf Khan in Madurai. Whether Yusuf Khan was dismissed from this job or he left on his own is unclear now. He left Pondicherry, for Tanjore and joined the Tanjorean army as a sepoy (foot soldier).
In Arcot
It was around this time, an English Captain Brunton, showing empathy for Yusuf Khan, educated him, making Yusuf Khan a learned man, well versed in several languages. From Tanjore he moved to Nellore in present day Andhra Pradesh, to try his hand as a native physician under one Mohammed Kamal,in addition to his career in the army.He moved up the ranks as Thandalgar (tax collector),Havildar and finally as a Subedar and that is how he is referred to in the English records (Nellore Subedar or just 'Nellore'). He later enlisted under Chanda Sahib who was then the Nawab of Arcot. While staying in Arcot he fell in love with a 'Portuguese' Christian (a loose term for a person of mixed Indo-European descent) girl named Maasa (?Marsha /?Marcia), and married her.
Carnatic war
In 1751, there was an ongoing scuffle between Muhammad Ali,( who was the son of the previous Nawab of Arcot Anwaruddin and hence the rightful claimant)and Chanda Sahib his relative and a pretender, for the throne of Arcot.The former sought the help of British and the latter the French. Chanda Sahib initially succeeded and became the Nawab and Muhammed Ali had to run for his life to the rock-fort in Tiruchirapalli. Chanda Sahib followed him hot on his heel and with the help of the French, besieged Trichy. Muhammed Ali and the English force supporting him were in a grim position. Ensign Robert Clive, (who had earlier joined the East India Company as a writer) with a small English force of 300 soldiers made a brilliant diversionary attack on Arcot to draw away Chanda Sahib's army from Trichy. Chanda Sahib dispatched a 10,000 strong force under his son Raza Sahib to retake Arcot. Raza Sahib was aided by the Nellore Army and Yusuf Khan as a Subedar must have been in this force. At Arcot, and later at Kaveripakkam Chanda sahib’s son was badly defeated by Robert Clive,and it was now Chanda Sahib's turn to run for life to Tanjore where he was killed by a Tanjorean general.The English quickly installed Muhammed Ali as the Nawab of Arcot and most of Chanda Sahib's native forces defected to the English.
With the British
And Yusuf Khan's brilliant military career started at that point.Under Major Stringer Lawrence,he was trained in the European method of warfare and his natural talent in military tactics and strategy blossomed to its full potential and by 1760 he had reached the zenith of his career as the 'all-conquering' military commandant.(A few years earlier he had been given the rank of 'Commandant of Company's sepoys'). His greatest supporter during this period was George Pigot, the English governor in Madras. Yusuf Khan was held in very high esteem even after his death by the English and in their opinion he was one of the two great military geniuses India had ever produced; the other being Hyder Ali of Mysore. Yusuf Khan for his strategy and Hyder Ali for his speed. Sir. George Malcolm said of him almost a hundred years later,"Yusuf Khan was byfar the bravest and ablest of all the native soldiers ever to serve the English in India".
Control of Madurai
Going little back to 1734, when the Madurai Nayak King Vijaya Ranga Chokkanatha Nayak died in 1731, he was succeeded by his queen window Meenakshi, who acted as Queen-Regent on behalf of a young boy she had adopted as the heir of her dead husband. She had only ruled a year or two when an insurrection was raised against her by Vangaru Tirumala, the father of her adopted son, who pretended to have claims of his own to the throne of Madura approached the Arcot Nawab with a couple of millions, while the queen sought Chanda Sahib.
Around this time the Madurai Nayak dynasty was a feudatory to the Delhi army, whose local representative was the Nawab of Arcot, and an intermediate authority was held by the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was in theory the subordinate of the emperor, and the superior of the Nawab.The treacherous Chanda Sahib after extracting a huge amount from the queen humbled Vangaru Tirumala, later murdered him. After a few years Chanda Sahib breached the agreement with the queen and assumed control of Madurai, leaving the hapless queen to consume poison. When Chanda sahib was shortly killed in the Carnatic war; Madurai kingdom came under Arcot nawabs control, who in turn gave the tax collection rights of the whole Madura kingdom to the British, from whom he had borrowed huge sums of money.
Conflict with Palayakkars (Polygars)
The polygar system had evolved with the extension of Vijayanagar rule into Tamil Nadu by the Nayaks. Each polygar was granted a territory or palayam (usually consisting of a few villages), in return for military service and tribute. Given their numerical strength, extensive resources, local influence and independent attitude, the Polygars came to constitute a powerful force in the political system of south India. They regarded themselves as independent, sovereign authorities within their respective Palayams.The early struggle between the Polygars of south and East India Company, although essentially a battle over tax collection, had a strong political dimension. The English treated the Polygars, perceived as a rival power, as their inveterate enemies, allowing their hostility full expression in their accounts. The East India Company, eager for revenue, opposed the manner and scale in which the Polygars collected taxes from the people. The issue of taxation, more specifically, who was to collect it, the traditional rulers or the rapacious new collectors from overseas —lay at the root of the subsequent uprising.
The Polygars (local governors of earlier Nayaks) from Tirunelvelly, Madurai regions and Sivaganga and Ramnad Zamindaris, were unwilling to pay (kappam) taxes to the weak Nawab, nor ever recognized the British in the guise of tax collector. In 1755 the Nawab and British having valid reasons to quell these rebellious Polygars dispatched a huge army to the south under Col.Heron and Arcot Nawabs brother Mahfuz Khan, accompanied by Yusuf Khan as bodyguard. Mahfuz Khan and Col.Heron burnt several villages and razed down several temples, then ransacked and looted lot of towns, melting several rare statues from Hindu temples. This infuriated Yusuf Khan, who lodged a complaint with the British. Later Col.Heron was court-marshaled an expelled from services.
During this time the French under Comt.De Lally surrounded the British fort in Madras.Yusuf Khan during the night launched a surprise attack on the French troops packing them away.
Sent to Madurai
In 1756, March Yusuf Khan was sent to Madurai to collect taxes and restore order. But during that time Madurai was under control of one Barkadthullah of Chanda Sahib days, with the support of Hyder Ali of Mysore.During this time an old Fakir climbed the top of the Madura Meenakshi Temple and was preparing to build a dargah for himself, which angered the locals. Barkadthullah justifying the Fakirs attempts further added fuel to the fire. During this time Yusuf Khan arrived with little as 400 troops to take control of Madurai, showing his brilliance in defeating Barkadthullah’s large army, with Barkadthullah fleeing to Sivaganga Zamin and the Fakir, got whacked out of the town.
After assuming control of Madurai, the results were small. Disturbances still prevailed every where, the Kallars ravaged the country in every direction, the Hyder Ali, the soldier of fortune, who was in Madura and was with difficulty beaten off, and no revenue worth mentioning could be collected. The British tried in vain to induce the Nawab of Arcot to recall his brother, Mahfuz Khan, who was undoubtedly the cause of all the trouble, and soon afterwards to meet their needs elsewhere; compelled them to withdraw Muhammad Yusuf.His departure was the signal for wilder anarchy than ever. The company's garrison in Madura could only just collect, from the country directly under its walls, enough revenue to support themselves; on the north the Kallans, and in the south Mahfuz Khan had thrown himself into the arms of the principal Polygars and was beyond the reach of argument or reason.
Once again in Madurai
The Company accordingly sent back Muhammad Yusuf to the country, renting both Madura and Tinnevelly to him for a very moderate sum of five lakhs annually. By then teh Maduari Meenakshiamman temple was in dire straights, with the temple lands occupied and plundered by hoodlums; looting and dacoity rampant in countryside. Yusuf Khan immediately restored the lands back to the Temple, and by the spring of 1759 he began by teaching the Kallans a wholesome lesson. Cutting avenues through their woods, he shot them down without mercy as they fled, or executed as malefactors any who were taken prisoners. He went on to reduce the rest of the country to order, and soon had sobered by various methods all the polygar and made himself extremely powerful. Also he renovated the tanks, lakes and the forts damaged by Hyder Ali, restoring law and order. By now whatever he did increased revenue to the Nawab’s and British coffers.
Controversial wars with Palayakkars
During this time Yusuf Khan battled with Puli Thevar,(pronounced Pooli Thevar) a polygar of Nerkattumseval, a small town to the south-west of Madurai .Puli Thevar was rebelling against the Nawab and the British.Yusuf Khan quickly separated Travancore Raja from Puli Thevar's group after entering into an agreement. Also to be remembered is that the Travancore Raja’s were long time feudatories of the Madurai Nayak kings, naturally becoming a feudatory to Delhi.
Yusuf Khan captured several of Puli Thevar's forts which were earlier tried unsuccessfully by the British. Later in a battle Puli Thevan was captured by Yusuf Khan, and was hanged to death by the British (Puli Thevan is today recognized by the Government of Tamil Nadu as a freedom fighter). Also during this time Dutch captured the town of Alwarthirunagari, to which Yusuf Khan retaliated and chasing them back to their ships.
Alaguranmuthukone, another rebel leader was also captured at Perunaalli Forests by Yusuf Khan and mercilessly killed by blowing him from the Mouth of cannon.Alaguranmuthukone cane to limelight in 1962 through a Communist magazine”Thamarai”(Lotus),and in 1995 his statue was opened at Egmore,Chennai.These brutal and savage acts instilled fear among other Polygars, who naturally pacified before the British. He even, had the audacity to make war on the king of Travancore without the knowledge or consent of the company.
Start of the dispute
Reports of Yusuf Khan's brilliant victories now filled the Arcot Nawab with jealousy and alarm that he might depose him. Yusuf Khan by now instructed all the traders to render taxes directly to Yusuf Khan, while the Arcot Nawab wanted to taxes routed through him. The British Governor (by now the British were good enough to have one) “Lord Pigot”,diplomaticaly advised Yusuf Khan to do as per Arcot Nawab’s order, also some British traders supported the same citing Yusuf Khan as Nawab’s employee. To make matters worse the Nawab’s brother Mahfuz Khan started planning to poison Yusuf Khan, with the whole hearted support of the Nawab.
In 1761, and again in 1762, he offered to lease Tinnevelly and Madura for four years more at seven lakhs per annum. His offer was refused, and whether he was enraged at this, or whether he thought himself powerful enough to defy his masters, he shortly afterwards threw off his allegiance and began to collect troops in a ambition to be the lord of Madurai.
Around this time some British traders reported (or rumored),to the Nawab and the Company, on Yusuf Khan” as encouraging people with anti-British sentiments, spending vast sums on his troops”.Nawab, in turn with the British sent Capt. Manson with orders to arrest Yusuf Khan.
Meanwhile Yusuf Khan sent a note to Sivaganga Zamindari reminding them on their pending Tax arrears.Sivaganga’s Minister and General came to meet Yusuf Khan in Madurai, and after not getting their expected respect, got a rude warning, citing annexure of certain territories for the failure of arrears. The enraged Sivaganga Zamindar,immediately ordered Yusuf Khan to be “captured and hanged as like a dog”. Meanwhile and Ramnad Zamin’s general Damodar Pillai and Thandavarayan Pillai met the Arcot Nawab in Trichirapolly,complained on Yusuf Khan’s plunderings of Sivaganga villages,his cannon manufacturing plant in association with a certain French Marchaud,whom he a befriended earlier, with plans for a war against the Nawabs.
Arcot Nawab and the British quickly acted by amassing a huge army. For a start they aroused Travancore Raja against Yusuf Khan (As by now the Travancore state fell smoothly into British charms).In the ensuring battle the Travancore raja was defeated and the British flags in his domains were chopped and burnt, and joined hands with the French and also hoisted the French flag on the Madura Fort. When Governor Saunders in Madras(now Chennai) called Khan Sahib for a meeting, he refused evoking the wrath of the East India Company. By now Delhi’s shah and Nizam Ali of Hyderabad, the Arcot Nawab’s overlords proclaimed Yusuf Khan as the rightful legal governor of Madurai and Tirunelvelly regions. While Arcot Nawab along with the British was hell bent on finding a reason to capture and kill Yusuf Khan.
Tide against Yusuf Khan
Having turned the tables against most of them, Yusuf Khan had enemies lurking around him everywhere. Earlier working for the Arcot Nawab and British he earned the wrath of Mysore and, and had slaughtered most of all rebellious Polygars who were anti-British, and the remaining were on the prowl. Now the Tanjore, Travancore, Pudukkotai, Ramnad, Sivaganga kingdoms joined with the British and the Arcot Nawab to attack Yusuf Khan, who by this time had proclaimed himself independent ruler of Madurai and Tirunelveli. In the First siege of Madurai in 1763, the English could not make any headway beacause of inadequate forces and the army retreated to Tiruchi citing Monsoons.
Meanwhile the Nizam Ali of Hyderabad once again proclaimed Yusuf Khan as the Rightful governor, while the Arcot Nawab and the British issued death sentence for Yusuf Khan as “to be captured alive and hanged before the first known tree as like a dog”.
Final Battle
In 1764 again the British troops surrounded the Madurai Fort, this time cutting supplies to the fort. Hence Yusuf Khan and his troops went without food and water for several days inside the fort(surviving on Horse and Monkey meat according to european sources) but held on with great energy and skill, renovating and strengthening the fort at great expense, and repelling the chief assault with a loss of 120 Europeans (including nine officers) killed and wounded. At the end of that time little real progress against him had been made, except that the place was now rigorously blockaded.
Meanwhile the Arcot Nawab consulted Sivaganga General Thaandavaraaya Pillai, along with Major Charles Campbell, hatching a treacherous plot to bribe Yusuf khan’s Dewan Srinivasa Rao, Marchand the captain of the French mercenaries and Khan’s doctor Baba Sahib. One morning, when Yusuf Khan was offering his prayers inside the fort, Marchand,Srinivasa Rao and Baba sahib went in quietly and pinned Yusuf Khan to the ground and tied him up using his own turban. Hearing this commotion, one youth called Mudali, close to Yusuf Khan, raised an alarm. He was quickly caught and cut down. As the news of the coup reached Yusuf Khan's wife, she rushed to the scene with a small posse of troops.But they were helpless against the well armed French and other European mercenaries, standing guard around the fallen ruler. Under cover of darkness and even darker veil of secrecy, Marchand whisked away Yusuf Khan out of the fort and handed him over to Major Charles Campbell, who commanded the English among the besiegers. Unfortunately, the major part of Yusuf Khan's native forces had remained totally unaware of the fateful drama being enacted inside his house, that morning.
The next day, on the evening of 15th October 1764, near the army camp at Sammattipuram, on the Madurai- Dindigul road, Yusuf Khan was ignominiously hanged as a rebel by Muhammed Ali, the Nawab of Arcot. This place is about two miles to the west of Madura, known as Dabedar chandai (Shandy), and his body was buried at the spot.
Legends on his Death
Local legend is that twice the noose broke down and he fell down alive, for which Yusuf Khan ordered the troops to remove a Neck brace before hanging. A sepoy guarding the Body of Yusuf Khan previous night reported to the Arcot Nawab, that Yusuf Khan appeared in his dream intending to return on the third day after his death and capture Madurai. The agitated Nawab ordered his men to chop his body into several parts and place them all over his domains. As went his Head to Trichirapolly, arms to Palayamkottai, legs to Tanjore and Travancore for public viewing, to instilling caution and fear, later buried there. The remaining body was buried at Madurai.
In 1808, a small square mosque was erected over the tomb in Samattipuram, in Madurai,which exists to this day on the left of the road to Dindigul, a little beyond the toll-gate, known as 'Khan Sahib's pallivasal'.
At the time of his death,Yusuf Khan had a son, who must have been 2 or 3 years old. Yusuf Khan's wife Maasa and the little boy vanished from history after the hanging. They might have escaped to Tirunelveli or Travancore.
The Madurai fort, he had so passionately defended during the two sieges in 1763 and 1764 was pulled down in end of the nineteenth century. His lodgement according to the French map, must have been on, what is now called, Khansa Mettu Street (? Khansa Veettu Street).
The fort in Palayamkottai, he had repaired and used so well during his earlier wars with the poligars, was dismantled in the middle of the nineteenth century. Only parts of the western bastion, (now housing "Medai Police Station" ),the eastern bastion (now housing the Tirunelveli Museum)and a few short segments of the eastern wall are remaining now.
His character
Tradition has many stories to tell of this remarkable man, who started his life as a peasant and by his military genius rose to the pinnacle of power and became the ruler of the land, only to lose it all after a couple of years by the treachery of his comrade-in-arms. His executive ability is sufficiently indicated in the report (see below) from Colonel Fullerton - dated March, 1785 and entitled 'A view of the English interests in India'--which was republished in Madras in 1867. This says that in Tinnevelly and Madura 'his whole administration denoted vigour and effect. His justice was unquestioned, his word unalterable; his measures were happily combined and firmly executed, the guilty had no refuge from punishment.' It concludes by saying that ' wisdom, vigour and integrity, of no climate or complexion have surpassed his.'
References
"Yusuf Khan, the Rebel Commandant" by Samuel Charles Hill.
"History of Tinnevelly" by Bishop Caldwell
"Madura Country Manual" by Nelson
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/01/07/stories/2006010700700300.htm
http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/59464e9f70ad34d2.html