An account of the incursion of the Afghans of Shanoor, who came to the aid of the imprisoned Rani of Bednore, and the punishment of the Chief of Shanoor, by the sharp sword of the Nawaub Bahadúr, with the conquest of other places, occurring in the year 1175. Hijri. A.D. 1761.
DURING the period the Nawaub was occupied in the siege and assault of Nuggur, the Afghans of Shanoor, who had arrived to the aid of the Rani, were the cause of great annoyance to the troops of Hydur, and even prevented the arrival of their provisions and supplies; in fact, they let slip no opportunity of giving the Nawaub a good deal of trouble; and, although the Bukshi, Hybut Jung, was appointed to oppose them, still, encamping under cover of the forests and hills, they fought his detachments daily, sometimes beating them, and being themselves sometimes beaten. The Nawaub, therefore, after he was freed from the necessary arrangements for the safety of the dependencies of the fort of Nuggur, which was effected in about two years, in person marched straight towards Shanoor. And on the morníng of his arrival, when the Kuzzak horse appeared wheeling round the Afghan army, the Afghans who thought them the horse of Hybut Jung, advanced quickly into the field of ambush to oppose them, like men without discretion or foresight. The Nawaub, therefore, gave orders to the regiments of regular infantry, the horse, foot, and artillery, all which were posted in ambush immediately in front of them, to fire and charge; and accordingly, firing vollies, they rushed upon the Afghans, and most of their men of valour and chiefs of note, were sent to eternity by the showers of cannon and musket-balls in that charge.* Having lost their presence of mind, the rest of the Afghans fled, and never drew the breath of courage until they reached the river Bala. Hukeem Khan, the Chief of the Afghans, having also lost his senses, left the whole of the baggage of his army, that is, his tents, standards, drums, camels, elephants, &c., and retired to his capital. The Nawaub, however, followed close on his heels, and appointed his Kuzzaks, (predatory horse) to pursue him from the field of battle to the gates of the fort; and they took many of his cavalry and their horses, nor did they draw back their hands from the discomfiture of their enemies. The Khan of Shanoor, being thus completely humbled, attempted no further opposition; but, taking the road of safety, made peace by paying a krore of rupees— verse.* “Who did (evil), who did not find (retribution)?”*
In place, however, of the sum demanded, the Khan gave up elephants, camels, tents of velvet, bechobas embroidered with gold, (a kind of tent without a pole,) Boorhanpoor cloths, of great value, arms of costly price, and a sum of money. These articles the chiefs of former times had accumulated at the expense of hundreds of thousands of pounds; but all these articles were at once given up, and then he was released from the violence of Hydur’s brave soldiers.
When the Nawaub had completed his arrangements here, he placed garrisons in the forts of Bangalore, Chenolee, Hurnee, &c., and then returned victorious to Nuggur; and from that place despatched Hybut Jung, with a large force, towards Hurpun Hully, Kunakgiri, &c., to reduce the Poligars of the Suba of Sura, and to collect the amount due for the customary tribute or Paishkush; there being due, also, from every Poligar, besides the Paishkush, one-tenth for the horse-shoeing of the Foujdári.* Hydur himself, at the same time, crossed the Ghauts to the westward of Nuggur, to reduce the forts and country on the sea-side depending on that state; and Mirza Husseini Beg, his brother-in-law, the maternal uncle of Kureem Sahib, the Nawaub’s youngest son, was sent with a detachment to reduce Buswa Rai Droog.
As soon as he obtained his audience of leave, the Mirza marched to the sea-side, and, having seized some fishermen’s boats, embarked with his followers, and sailed towards the Droog, which lies about two fursungs (nine or ten miles) distant from the shore, and is surrounded by salt water. When they arrived there, he with his troops encompassed the hill, and despatched a message to the garrison, informing them of the capture and plunder of the town of Nuggur, and the captivity of the Rani; sending also a separate Kowl Nama from himself. The garrison losing heart (at this intelligence), after three days, surrendered without resistance. Having placed a strong garrison on the hill, the Mirza returned with the whole of the property of Shoom Shunker, the Raja of Nuggur, deposited there for safety, which consisted of two or three boxes of pearls and diamonds, two boxes of jewelry, two elephant housings, richly embroidered and curiously wrought in gold and silver, a jewelled chain for the foot of an elephant, two sets of gold and silver bells for the necks of the royal elephants, and two gold embroidered saddles. These, on his return, he presented to the Nawaub, and was highly complimented by him.
The Nawaub himself, having in a very short time settled and regulated that part of the country, and having placed strong garrisons in the forts of Mirjan and Angola, (which are on the boundary of the Kokun Ghauts, and were built by Syfe ul Moolk, the governor of the Kokun, an ameer of the Adil Shahi dynasty,) also in Gorial Bunder (Mangalore) Sudasheo Gurh, Mykuni, Moleer, Honawur, Pykul, &c., returned to Seringaputtun.
When Hybut Jung, with a large body of troops, had taken leave of the Nawaub, he marched to Kunakgiri, and having realized there three years’ Paishkush, or two Lakhs of rupees, he next proceeded to Hurpun Hully, and, by fair and foul means, made the Poligar of that place pay three Lakhs of rupees. He then marched to Chitul Droog, and obtained four Lakhs of rupees Paishkush from the Poligar, and, marching thence by Jureemli and Goori Kota, arrived at Rai Droog, from the Chief of which he demanded the tribute. In his reply, the Chief pleaded poverty, and described the devastated condition of his country, and delayed payment of the tribute under different pretexts. It is not, however, to be suppressed, that the Poligar of Bellari had made an excursion into his territory, and had plundered and laid it waste. Hybut Jung however, for an example, besieged the little fort of Kanikul, depending on the Droog, and laboured to effect its capture. The Poligar, therefore, assembled five or six hundred cavalry and two thousand foot, and, by occupying the roads in the vicinity, stopped all supplies for the army. At this time, which was the period of the return of the Nawaub from Nuggur, he despatched a letter, by a pair of camel sowars, or riders, to Hybut Jung, requiring him to send him from his force a thousand able men, without arms. Hybut Jung accordingly selected a thousand young men from his division, and despatched them from the northward of Rai Droog to Simoga, under an escort of five hundred horse and two battalions of regular infantry, with arms. This body of troops had proceeded two or three fursungs (fursung here apparently means kose), when suddenly the horse and foot of the Poligar made their appearance, and, at first pretending to be friends, charged the escort without hesitation; and although the escort fired briskly, and the horse attacked the enemy, sword in hand, still the infantry of the Poligar, having the cover and protection of the forest, mastered and threw them all into confusion, and most of the old soldiers or men of experience were without pity put to the sword. Some, however, escaped from the carnage to the protection of the mountains.
When Hybut Khan heard this he left his batteries, and marched with his collected force, and, in the twinkling of an eye, attacked the troops of the Poligar, and gave them such a defeat, that the runaways did not look behind them until they reached the ditch of the Droog before mentioned. He then, in the same place, that is, to the eastward of Rai Droog, planted his colours, and pitched his tents, and wrote a letter to the Poligar, stating that his insubordination arose from the kindness and lenity with which he had been treated by him, (Hybut Jung); and that certainly he had intended, by every means in his power, to intercede with the Nawaub, so as that the Poligar’s district or country* might remain to him as it was without diminution, and then return with a good name for mildness or lenity; but that, now, he was not to look for any indulgence, but wash his hands of his life and property. When the letter was received by the Poligar, and he understood its contents, he despatched Kistnapa, his Dulwai, or Minister, to intercede for the pardon of his offences; and by his negociations he engaged to pay three lakhs of rupees as a Paishkush, two lakhs for his rebellion, and one lakh as a present for his life. He also paid for all the property and cattle belonging to the detachment he had attacked and destroyed, every article being returned; and, after this, Hybut Jung, taking the Dulwai and the money with him, proceeded to the presence. About this time, Meer Alí Ruza Khan was appointed to the Foujdári of Sura, and took leave.