10/19/2014 Mrunal (Entry of Europeans) Thuggee in India, Whistleblower Maharaja

- Mrunal - http://mrunal.org -

[Entry of Europeans] Thuggee in British India, Whistleblower

Maharaja Nandakumar, Tipu Sultan
Posted By Mrunal On 18/10/2014 @ 3:24 pm In History | 6 Comments

1. Prologue
2. Thuggee in British India
3. Maharaja Nandakumar: 1st Whistleblower of India?
4. Tipu Sultan and his Ring vs. East India Company

Prologue

I’m in process of restructuring new and old articles to make site more revision friendly.
You can see the entire Archive at Mrunal.org/history
In this page, I’m combining topics of “Entry of Europeans and upto 1857 Mutiny“. For
background theory, refer to Class11 Tamilnadu historybook from download section.

Anyways, three topics in (Hindu) news, from that “Entry of Europeans” section:

Sep 2014: Thuggee in British India

Sep 2014: Maharaja Nandkumar
May 2014: Tipu Sultan and his ring.

Thuggee in British India

Relevance:

UPSC’s fondness for asking random GK type Qs once in a while- e.g. was Hiuen Tsang
robbed or not?
Oneliner fodder for the essay: “India has benefitted from Colonialism” (because thuggy
was abolished) and even its counterargument – because thugs joined that profession due to
heavy debt / jobloss under British raj.

Famous persons vs Thugs

Bandits attacked his caravan near Ganges. Wanted to sacrifice him to their
Hiuen Tsang
goddess. (7th Cent)
Jalaluddin
Expelled ~1000 thugs from Delhi (1920)
Khilji
Kabir Used thugs as metaphors to show God’s deceit.
Nanak His Janamsakhi texts also mention thuggary.
Augrangzeb Ordered execution of Phansigar.

Who were these thugs?

Roamed on highways. Trapped victims with drug-laced laddu, looted their belongings and
murdered.
Main targets: Company sepoys, merchants and pilgrims.
Looted horses and weapons given to local rulers for “protection”, and even bribed the city
officials.
Even used the loot, to repay their agriculture debt to Zamindars!
http://mrunal.org/2014/10/entry-europeans-thuggee-in-india-maharaja-nandakumar-tipu-sultan.html/print/ 1/5
10/19/2014 Mrunal (Entry of Europeans) Thuggee in India, Whistleblower Maharaja

Thugs came From all strata of society. They were not limited to a single caste or religion.
Many of them were sepoys in Mughal army, who lost jobs under British Empire.
Thuggee was a “seasonal occupation”. They left the village after the autumn harvest (Oct-
Nov) and returned June-July before the rains.

How did the British wiped out thuggee in India?

East India Company passed a regulation. If Zamindar did not inform the company about
1810
thug activities, he’d be punished.
1930 Government authorised Captain Sleeman to wipe out thugs.
1839 Captain Sleeman succeeded but jailing and hanging most of the thugs.

Ref: September 2014, TheHindu review of a book “Thuggee: Banditry and the British in Early
Nineteenth-Century India: Kim A. Wagner”.

Maharaja Nandakumar: 1st Whistleblower of British India?

http://mrunal.org/2014/10/entry-europeans-thuggee-in-india-maharaja-nandakumar-tipu-sultan.html/print/ 2/5
10/19/2014 Mrunal (Entry of Europeans) Thuggee in India, Whistleblower Maharaja

He was a revenue officer under the Nawab of Bengal

Helped British during Battle of Plassey (1757),

Year 1775
Made allegations that Governor General Hastings accepted bribes from Nawab
Nandakumar
and others.
Hasting No, Nandakumar himself paying bribes to others, to malign my image!

Later, company officials arrange a ‘puppet’ Indian to file a forgery case against
Nandakumar.
During that era, Indian vs. Indian cases were not to be heard by British judges.
But still a British judge presided over Nandakumar forgery case and awarded death
sentence. (Curiously that judge was a close friend of Hastings)
Maharaja Nandakumar was hanged in full public view at the Hoogly river banks near
Kolkata.
Edmund Burke, Lord Macaulay and other eminent British described Nandakumar’s hanging
as a ‘judicial murder’.
Moral of the story: unless there is a whistleblower protection act, you shouldn’t take on
your boss.
Why in news: His turban will be displayed in Kolkata’s Victoria’s hall. (September 2014)

Tipu Sultan vs. East India Company

Father: Haidar Ali

Tipu Named after Sufi Saint Tipu Sultan Auliya. Nickname” Tiger of Mysore”.
Kingdom: Mysore, Karnataka
Capital: Shri Rangapatnnam.
Tipu was a Muslim, but THEHINDU (May 13, 2014) claims he was “Catholic in his religious
outlook!“

Tipu buildings:

http://mrunal.org/2014/10/entry-europeans-thuggee-in-india-maharaja-nandakumar-tipu-sultan.html/print/ 3/5
10/19/2014 Mrunal (Entry of Europeans) Thuggee in India, Whistleblower Maharaja

Summer palace at Bangalore

Tipu did not build the Sri Rangpatnam. It was built by a Feudal lord in 16th century

Tipu Military prowess

Wrote a military manual: Fathul Mujhahidin

Manufactured rockets, artillery and firearms.

Anglo Mysore Wars

Year Outcome
1767 Haidar Ali defeated British

Maratha, Nizam and Haider formed tripartite alliance to protect French at Mahe
against the British
1780 But Maratha (Bhosle & Scindia) and Nizam made peace with British & left fight.
Hairdar died, Tipu carried the fight & defeated the British =>Treaty of Manglore
1784. It restored status quo.

Governor General Cornwallis made alliance with Marathas and Nizam, finally
defeated Tipu
1790 Treaty of Shri Rangpatanam, where Tipu gave 50% of his territory, 3 crore rupees
and 2 sons to Lord Cornwallis as hostages (to ensure 3 crores were paid in regular
installments.)

Tipu tried to set alliance with Arab, Turks and Afghans to defeat the British but
failed.
To create alliance with the French, Tipu setup a Jacobian club of republican ideas.
1799 Napoleon was pleased & sent a friendly letter, later a few soldiers came to aid
Tipu in fourth war.
Wellesley asked Tipu to join subsidiary alliance, but he declined. This led to
fourth Anglo Mysore war, Tipu died defeating Fort Sri Rangapattinam.

Arthur Wellesley (Lord Wellesley’s brother) took away Tipu’s ring,

made of gold, has written “Ram” in Hindi.
Later, the British deported Tipu’s family to Calcutta, distributed part of
the territory to Nizam, & setup a 5 year old puppet king Manmohan Singh
Krishnaraja III @Mysore, and signed subsidiary alliance with him.

Auction of Tipu’s ring and swords

Vijay Mallya purchased Tipu’s sword from a London auction for
2003
~1.5 crore rupees
An unknown bidder purchased Tipu’s ring from a London auction
2014
for ~1.4 crore rupees.

Mock Questions

Q1. As per the Treaty of Srirangapattinam

A. Tipu Sultan had to give up part of his territory Nizam, Marathas and East India company
B. Tipu Sultan had to give his two sons as hostages to Hastings
C. Both A and B
D. Neither A nor B

http://mrunal.org/2014/10/entry-europeans-thuggee-in-india-maharaja-nandakumar-tipu-sultan.html/print/ 4/5
10/19/2014 Mrunal (Entry of Europeans) Thuggee in India, Whistleblower Maharaja

Q2. What of the following steps were taken by Lord Cornwallis?

1. Tripartite alliance with Nizam and Marathas to fight against the French
2. Gave judicial powers to district collectors.
3. Removed all Indians from judicial positions

Correct statements are:

A. Only 1 and 2
B. Only 2 and 3
C. Only 1 and 3
D. None of them

Q3. Lord Wellesley __.

1. Adopted non-interventionist policy in India.

2. Was confident that Napoleon will not intervene in India to aid Tipu Sultan.
3. Played major role in creation of Agra Province and Madras presidency

Incorrect statements are:

a. Only 1 and 2
b. Only 2 and 3
c. Only 1 and 3
d. None of them

Correct Answers for above MCQs:

1. D both wrong. Alliance made to fight against Mysore and Tipu gave sons to Cornwallis.
2. D- none of them. Read Tamilnadu class12 Chapter 2 on Cornwallis.
3. A-1 and 2 incorrect. Mind it, you’ve to find wrong statements in this question. Read
Tamilnadu class12 chapter3 on Wellesley.

Mains/interview

1. (Interview) Whenever there is auction of items related to Tipu, Gandhi & other prominent
historic figures, some Indians demand that government of India should bring back those
items. But there is no dearth of such collectible items. Can you think of arguments both in
favor and against this demand?
2. (interview) From British point of view, which Governor General or Viceroy can be
considered THE MOST Effective administrator of India, and why?

Article printed from Mrunal: http://mrunal.org

URL to article: http://mrunal.org/2014/10/entry-europeans-thuggee-in-india-maharaja-

nandakumar-tipu-sultan.html

Copyright © 2014 Mrunal. All rights reserved.

http://mrunal.org/2014/10/entry-europeans-thuggee-in-india-maharaja-nandakumar-tipu-sultan.html/print/ 5/5