An account of the conquest of Chitul Droog, and the capture of Bhurma Náík, the rebellious Poligar of that Fort; and other events of the year 1188, Hijri.— A. D. 1774.

AFTER the Nawaub had made a prisoner of Morar Rao, and thereby cut up the root of mischief and sedition, he was more at ease in his mind; and, having also completed his arrangements for Gooti and Soondoor, he determined next to punish that head of the list of rebellious personages, the Poligar of Chitul Droog, and in pursuance of this resolve, he turned his ensigns, the emblems of victory, in that direction. The cause was, that, in order to favour the Nawaub’s enemies, who had invaded and plundered his country, and had raised the standard of injustice and wrong to oppress and disturb the peasantry of Mysore, that insolent infidel* had intrigued and combined with them and had exerted himself to the utmost in laying waste the Nawaub’s territory and in ruining God’s people, the poor inhabitants of this country, seeking his advantage in the injury and destruction of others. Outwardly, indeed, and with great sycophancy, he affected to manifest perfect devotion to the Nawaub, while, in secret, he employed his time in conspiring to destroy and root out the foundations of the Khodadad government. It was consequently necessary, and in fact, indis­pensible, to break the pride of that insolent infidel, and root him out, if only to preserve the peace of the country; especially as Kishnapa, the Purdhan or minister of Rai Droog, who had often without cause suffered indignities at the hand of this Poligar, and whose country had been ravaged by him, now incited and stimulated the Nawaub to attack Chitul Droog, and even engaged to pay for the whole of the powder and ball which would be used in the siege. The urgent persuasion and entreaty of Kishnapa determined the Nawaub in his purpose. At the same time, also, having resolved to attack Goori Kota, Jureemla, and Mulkalchuro, towns or forts which were in possession of the brothers-in-law of that infidel Poligar, the Nawaub despatched Hybut Jung, with a large force, to attack the Poligar of Hurpunhully, and take possession of his territory.

An abstract* account of the cause of these move­ments, is as follows:— At the time the Nawaub was marching to attack Raghooba, a man, one of the civil servants* of Hurpunhully, who had been born and bred in the service of that state, and was intimately acquainted with the secrets of that government, sought the service of Hydur Alí; he was received and entertained among the most respectable class of servants, and was also appointed to enlist foot sol­diers in that quarter. Having by degrees perfected his knowledge of all matters, great and small, rela­tive to that state, he began to compass and contrive the ruin of his old masters; and as the Poligar of Hurpunhully, whose name was Jug Shoom Shunkur, was a prudent man, after he became acquainted with the man’s intention, being afraid of the loss of his property, and the desolation of his country, and thinking it best to repair the dykes or mounds of the reservoir before the waters broke forth, he addressed a letter to the Nawaub, containing a request that the person in question should be sent by the Nawaub, to his residence, and stating that the Paish­kush, or tribute, should be forwarded through his agency. To this proposition the Nawaub agreed and despatched the incendiary to the Poligar, with a newswriter,* named Vinkut Nursoo, having given him strict orders to do his duty to the Sirkar (of Mysore). When this man arrived, and met the Poligar, the latter with sweet and oily words, gained complete possession of his heart, and he was pre­sented with an honorary dress, a string* of pearls,* jewelled gorget, and golden armlets; and the Poligar said to him, “the government of our state must now depend on your wisdom and judgment; and when we have a wise and an old faithful servant like you to aid and direct us, how can we receive injury.” By this gross flattery, the heart of the fool was drawn into the snare of deceit.— “A fool can always be deceived by a wise man,”— “by food, or drink, or dress, or the tongue,”— and at once he was introduced by the Poligar into all the busi­ness of the state and all was placed at his dis­cretion, even so far as to be allowed to enter the Poligar’s particular residence, that is, the women’s apartments, and was supplied with all kinds of delicacies for his eating and drinking. But, the wise say,— “from the bad to expect good is pure folly,”— “will you feed a scorpion to wound you?”— The man, therefore, proud of his employment by the Nawaub, and insolent from the patience and indul­gence of the Poligar, which, however, was merely political, began to tyrannise over the servants of the Raj or state, and to distress the poor people, whom, with the peasantry of that country, he vexed or grieved without cause. Indeed, without fear or hesitation he did whatever he chose; and, in addition to all this oppression and cruelty, he stretched forth the hand of lust on all beautiful women, the wives, and property of others, and daringly violated their chastity. The people were consequently driven to extremities by his tyranny, and complained against him to the Poligar. He, however, simply gave them for answer, that what the person in question did, he considered to be for the advantage of the state; and that if they could, for a short time, wait with patience under his government, they might stay, but if not, let them depart in safety. Many of the most respectable persons in the service of the Poligar, being entirely discouraged on hearing this, left their houses and the country; yet, notwith­standing the heart-breaking distress of the people of all ranks, the Poligar never attempted to inter­pose, or restrain this disturber of the public peace; but, on the contrary, daily made him happy by presents and favours.

At length, one morning, the Poligar sent for his own horse, with saddle and trappings of gold set with jewels, and, with much instance and intreaty, made this person mount, and sent him home. At this time, however, it had very nearly happened that from this man’s tyranny and oppression, some great evil had befallen the Poligar’s state; and he, therefore, laid a deep scheme. Seeing that the man was perfectly at his ease, and that he put forth the hand of oppression without scruple or fear, to rob people of their wealth and honour, the Poligar, on the same evening, when about ten hours of the day had passed, placed a number of armed men in concealment, and then sent for the man to his hall of audience. On his arrival, he told him he had something to say to him in private, and pointed towards the room in which the armed men were con­cealed. The fool, seized by the hand of death, no sooner entered the apartment than he found his head under the sword of retribution, and he ceased from troubling mankind any longer.