An account of the encroachments or usurpations of the English in the country of the Karnatic Payanghaut, by the instrumentality of Muhammad Alí Khan, Surajuddowla; and the detail of the war commenced by the Chief of the Dukhun, Nizám Alí Khan, in con­cert with the Nawaub, Bahadúr. Also, a description of the battles fought between the English, and the courageous Nawaub, in the commencement of the year 1185, Hijri.— A. D. 1771.

WHEN Muhammad Alí Khan, the Soubadár of Arkat, after the murder of his father and the Nawaub Násir Jung, was besieged in the fort of Nuthur Nuggur, (Trichinopoly,) and Hussein Dost Khan, otherwise called Chunda Sáhib, aided by the Frenchmen of the port of Pondicherri, was endeavouring to take that fort; the besieged Khan sought and obtained succour from the chiefs of Mysore, and the governor of the port of Devna Puttun;* and by their assistance gained the victory over his enemies; and the head of Chunda Sáhib was gratuitously given to the winds. The Chief of Mysore having been driven away by the violation of the treaty made with him by Muhammad Alí, as has been before related, the latter, by the help of the English, conquered the French, and took the city of Pondicherri. Having then without opposi­tion completed the reduction* of Arkat, Muhammad Alí plundered all the Munsubdárs and Jageerdárs of that Souba, belonging to the Nowayut tribe, raised the standard of independence, and rebelled against the Nizám of Hydurabad.* Now, there­fore, when the Nizám was relieved from the con­flict with Raghoo and his pursuit,— that Prince con­sidering that, as Muhammad Alí Khan had rebelled against him, and by the powerful aid of the English had usurped the country and wealth of the Karnatic Payanghaut, it was necessary to punish him, but knowing, also that he could not alone contend with the troops of Surajuddowla and the English com­bined, he desired that, by the aid of the Nawaub Bahadúr, he might be enabled to displace Muham­mad Alí, and take possession of the Karnatic him­self. After having consulted with his Chiefs upon the subject, and framed his plans for this end, he wrote to the Nawaub, setting forth that a body of English merchants, through the medium of the rebellious Souba of the Karnatic, had taken into their heads a vain desire of chieftainship and rule, and had fearlessly raised the standard of usurpa­tion in that quarter; and that his, the Nizám’s desire was, that, in conjunction with that pride of the house* of power and good fortune, (meaning Hydur,) they should regain the country which had been thus lost. The Nawaub lent a willing ear to these proposals, and with his troops remained ready for service. In the mean time, the Nizám with his army marched to Adhoni, and, taking his brother, Busálut Jung, with him proceeded by the road of Kurpa Kurnoul to Cheenputtun.

Another historian has, however, related this occurrence in a different manner He states, that Muhammad Alí Khan Surajuddowla, when he heard of the prowess and discipline of the Nawaub’s troops, and the promptitude of his military equip­ments, became perplexed and uneasy, and regard­ing the spring of the Nawaub’s fortunes as the autumn of his own prosperity, and moreover, apprehensive that the affair of Trichinopoly, where he had so grossly violated his faith, still rankled like a thorn in the breast of the Nawaub, and, God forbid! lest he should consequently, turn his views towards Arkat, and with the energy of the Khoda­dad, seize his country and wealth; he, (Muham­mad Alí), therefore, intimated his wish to the English, that the governor of Madras, otherwise Chena­puttun, should send a Vakeel with a body of troops to Hydurabad, and persuade the Nizám to under­take the conquest of the Balaghaut; and they, in consequence, having done this, prevailed so far with the Nizám, that he suddenly marched with a large force towards that province. His secret plans, however, were, that he would first meet the Nawaub Bahadúr, and ascertain his views, and, under the contingency of favourable opportunity, if he, the Nawaub, should be daunted by his warlike manifestations, he might then seize upon his terri­tory, and retain it in his own hands; and if not, still, that he the Nizám might be able to operate advantageously in the destruction of his rebel Sou­badár. He, however, still kept the English troops in his suite; but, Monsieur Raymond, his servant, with two thousand matchlock infantry was always present with him.

But, to return— when the Nizám raised his tent in the plain of Chenputtun,* he sent for the Nawaub to visit him; but, although the Nawaub, also, with his army and artillery, had encamped eastward of Muddoor, (a short distance from Chenputtun), still as he considered that his meeting with the Nizám should be deferred to another time, he sent his son, (Tippoo), with a well appointed force; Meer Alí Ruza Khan, Mukhdoom Sáhib, Meer Ismail Sáhib, Ghazi Khan, Muddoo Khan, &c., all of whom were experienced officers being appointed to accompany him. Five elephants, and ten beautiful horses, were sent likewise as presents.

When the Prince arrived near the Nizám’s tent, the crash of the drums and kettle drums of his body guard struck fear to the ears of the Nizám, who, ascending a balcony on his tent, saw and admired (nevertheless) the pomp and parade of Tippoo’s cavalry escort; and the discipline and order of his troops. The Nizám, after that, received him with great liberality and kindness, and, having gained his heart by honied words and phrases, addressed him by the title of Nuseebuddowla,* and, casting his plans and schemes, aside, consulted him on the feasibility of chastising Muhammad Alí Khan, the Soubadár of Arkat, and the English; and then dismissed him, with the present of a Khi­laut, and the shawls the Nizám himself wore.

Tippoo now returned to his father, and, on his arrival, related with minute exactness every word spoken by the Nizám on this occasion. Agreeing in the objects and wishes of the Nizám, the Nawaub Bahadúr marched on with his army, and the Nizám giving the English their dismission, sent them off. These two powerful chiefs now united, and having passed the Barh Mahl district, they encamped on this side the pass of Chungum, where, on the opposite side, at the same time arrived also a Colonel Hewit,* or Howard, an English officer with a body of five thousand regular infantry, and a thousand soldiers,* or Europeans, to secure the pass against the Nawaub, and this officer had taken up his quarters in a small fort, on the other side of the pass of Chungum. As soon, therefore, as the two Chiefs had received information of the arrival of the English army, they dispatched a force in advance, to besiege the above mentioned fort. This force accordingly marched in the night, and surrounded the English troops, stationing them­selves as scouts or reconnoitering parties, and then began plundering and killing the stragglers, and followers, of the English troops. When the colonel became aware of the great strength of the com­bined armies, he acted according to the saying, “Whosoever strikes his naked hand on steel,”— “is sure to bruise his knuckles;”* and, seeing that his stay there was not advisable, he the same night marched on the route to Turnamul. The Chiefs of the advanced guard immediately sent to their masters an account of the Colonel’s march; and, on receiving this intelligence, the Nizám and Hydur immediately followed him. At the distance of two Fursungs, (about seven miles,) from their encamp­ment, the Nuwaub, who had hastened his march, overtook the English troops, and commenced on them a fire of cannon, from different points. The Colonel, nevertheless, having taken up his ground on the slope or skirt of the hills, halted there, and with his guns and musketry broke the heads and necks of his assailants until the evening; and, how­ever, great and vigorous were the efforts and exer­tions of Hydur’s and the Nizám’s troops, to plunder and destroy this detachment, they were of no avail. The English troops, however, suffered much from want of water, and many were killed by the con­tinual shower of cannon balls which fell on them. At night, therefore, the Colonel above mentioned, with his troops, in order of battle, proceeded to Turnamul, and the two Chiefs, Hydur and the Nizám, encamped on the river of Kilpauk, whence they pushed forward strong outposts on all sides of the English troops.