An account of the operations of Mír Moinuddín, otherwise called Syud Sáhib, the Sipahsalar of the Sultán in the Payanghaut province, and a description of the battles fought between the Syud, the French, and the English troops, and his return to the presence; also, the conclusion of peace in the same year, that is to say, the year 1197 Hijri, or A. D. 1782.
WHEN the Sultán marched towards Nuggur, Syud Sáhib, with his own division of troops, was encamped on the Walpundul river, and while there, spies brought intelligence, that Colonel Lang with his force had proceeded suddenly by forced marches from Trichinopoly, with the intention of taking possession of Kurroor and Dindigul.
The moment the Syud received this information, he despatched Budruzzumán Khán, with all the musketeers and artillery in advance, to oppose him, while he himself followed after him with the rest of his troops. When, however, the above mentioned Khán had arrived at Turwur Palah, Osmán Khán Turín, the Governor of the fort of Kurroor, notwithstanding he had a very strong garrison, and abundance of warlike stores, resigning his courage and confidence, gave up the fort to the above mentioned Colonel, and he himself went and joined Roshan Khán and Sriput Rao, who had been appointed to reduce the rebellious Naimars. The Colonel, in the mean time, leaving a garrison in this fort, marched on and laid siege to the small fort of Arawa Koorchi, and was using his best endeavours to take it, when the Khán abovementioned arrived in his neighbourhood, and encamped on this side the Amravuti river.* The Colonel, as soon as he was aware of the arrival of the victorious army, left his batteries and encamped on the opposite bank of the said river. The next day, however, seeing the small number of the Sultán’s troops, he gave up the idea of attacking them, and recommenced the siege of the fort; repaired his batteries, and renewed his fire on the walls. The Khán, therefore, having consulted his Risaldárs, selected a certain Jowkdár, named Kumruddín, and his Jowk or company, completely armed, and appointed him Killadár, or Governor; and despatched him at night to the fort under the escort of the Risala of Himmut Khán Bukhturi, (the nephew of Payinda Khán,) and the Risala of Bubur Alí Beg, with orders to attack the enemy. As soon as these Risaldárs received their orders, they advanced with the greatest bravery, and attacking the advanced or outlying pickets of the British troops in flank, and dispersing them, they escorted the Jowkdár and his company to the fort, and then returned. The Colonel, the next morning, finding a reinforcement had reached the fort, in the greatest rage imaginable, ordered his artillery and musketeers to fire at a particular part of the fort, from the morning until mid-day; at which time, the wall on one face being levelled with the ground, his troops made an assault.
The garrison, notwithstanding they bravely exerted themselves to beat back the storming party, and for two or three hours handled their arms manfully; still, as the hand of death was striking the drum of their defeat and destruction behind them, they all lost their lives.
The English troops victorious, therefore, after taking possession of the fort, turned their faces towards the attack of the Khán’s camp; the Jowkdár, however, who has been before mentioned, having crept out by a water drain, escaped and joined that force. The Khán, now finding his troops unable to cope with, or oppose the English army, retired by a night march to the vicinity of Dharapoor.
Roshan Khán, however, and the before mentioned Rao, remained hovering round the English army, making Kuzzak, or desultory attacks, when Syud Sáhib arrived,* and after a period of five or six days, and the treachery of Osmán Khán Turín, the Killadár of Kurroor, being established, he was impaled. The troops were now formed to attack the English army, when a letter from Monsieur Bussy, the commander-in-chief of the French army, arrived, stating that the whole of the English army had advanced to the vicinity of Kuddalore, to give battle; and that the Khán, with his force, was to return, and after the defeat of their proud enemy, they would together proceed to make all necessary arrangements in the quarter in which he then was. Syud Sáhib, therefore, immediately on receipt of this letter, appointed his two Dustadárs, (colonels or generals of cavalry),* to remain behind, giving them strict orders that to the utmost of their ability, they should prevent the soldiers of the enemy from plundering the peasantry and inhabitants of that quarter; and he himself marched by the route of Tatingar Putti, to Totum Moosli, and there halted one day, when his spies brought him intelligence that a great quantity of stores and provisions belonging to the English army, were deposited in the fort of Kurtullum, and that it was guarded by a few foot soldiers only.
The Khán, therefore, accompanied by the Risalas of infantry alone, marched and commenced the siege of this fort:— it happened however that the site of the fort was surrounded by the running streams of the river Kauverí, and the irrigated fields near it were deep mud and covered with green crops. The garrison, which consisted of not more than twenty or thirty men, withstood gallantly the multitude of their assailants, and prevented their effecting an entrance, and indeed exerted themselves with such energy in the repulse of their enemies, that the Syud after attacking and fighting the whole day returned at night to his encampment, and appointed a number of Kuzzaks to watch the fort, for this reason, that the next morning he intended to attack with artillery and to carry ladders with him, and after taking the fort to put the English garrison to the sword, in revenge for the loss of his men slain in the fort of Arawa Koorchi.
The garrison, however, not thinking themselves safe, the same night taking what articles they could with them, and burning the rest, marched off to Trichinopoly, which was distant about five fursungs, or nearly eighteen miles. The Syud, therefore, now marched from that place and proceeded to Kuddalore by the route of Durwachul, or Wardachul, and the Khán before mentioned, with the artillery and Risalas, was despatched to the fort (of Kuddalore), to the aid of M. Bussy, while he himself (the Syud) with the remaining horse and foot marched towards Selimbur.*