The adventures of an enslaved Nambiar from Chirakkal
Some years ago, I wrote a short note on Ayaz Khan, but it
was incomplete and required much revision. In the meantime, journalist
Ramachandran had also covered this man's story and referred me to C. Kunjirama
Menon's book on Velluva Kumaran. Armed with additional details, I decided to
rework the story and retell the adventures of this remarkable character,
including the travails of his family after his death and a brief about Ayaz's
stay in Bombay at Mazagon.
The early parts of Ayaz's life and his age are unfortunately
in conflict. Logan, quoting Wilkes, notes that the boy was 12 years old when
taken up by Hyder, implying he was born in 1744. He also adds that Ayaz was a
Nambiar, from the Valiya Puthiya Veedu in Chirakkal, both of which conflict
with the information in Kunhirama Menon's novel and Elayavoor's account in the Vadakkan
Aithihyamala, which states Ayaz, originally named Kammaran, was born in 1713
(also mentioned so by the Kalliat and Velluva homepages). KVN Sastri, writing
about Ayaz, follows the above Velluva account but does not address the age. A
later entry mentions that his home was called Velluva Puthiya Veedu, which
suggests that the Velluva is perhaps confused with Valiya by Wilkes/Logan.
Nevertheless, the age remains an issue, as Kammaran would have been 53 when
captured by Hyder, suggesting he was not the small boy Hyder admired for his
looks and fearless qualities.
Velluva Kammaran accounts (Menon, Elyavoor)
The story begins in Velluva Desam, Edakkad, between
Cannanore and Tellicherry. Kunhirama Menon's book is a (1918) 1927 translation
of the English novel by Othena Menon, written based on information gathered
while Menon stayed at the Velluva house as a young boy. However, the English
copy is no longer traceable; only Kunjirama Menon's Malayalam translation
remains. Anyway, let's go back to Velluva Desam, to a place called Inderi,
where the Velluva house was situated. In those days, i.e., the early 18th century,
the karanavar (head) of the tharavad (ancestral manor) was one Rairu Nambiar.
His sisters married into the Chalat and Kalliat families. Kammaran (Kammu) was
born to Chalat Palliath Kannan Nambiar (a Randathara Achan) and Velluva
Kalyani, the sister of Rairu Nambiar, in 1713. Kammu is educated and trained in
martial arts and grows into a strong boy. As the story goes, Rairu Nambiar
loses his senses and gets involved in the murder of his Karyasthan, following
which he is arrested and confined in Tellicherry, where Adhikari Mavila Chandu
Nambiar is waiting. Rairu, by then, has collapsed and is near death, and now
asks Kammu to try to protect their ancestral properties and prevent them from
being taken over by the Kolathiri Raja. The Raja decrees that the lands be
seized and that Kammu work in his army without pay for a year. Meanwhile, Kammu
falls in love with Chandu's daughter Madhavi, and Chandu perishes in a fire,
leaving Madhavi in Kammu's hands. However, Kammu has to join the Kolathiri
army, so he leaves Madhavi at the Kalliat home, joins the forces, and is
assigned to command 100 soldiers.
The Kolathiri kingdom had declined in those days, and the
entire region was divided into three. The northern portion was administered by
the Vadakamkur, the south by the Thekkankur faction, and the middle portion of
Tellicherry (Chirakkal) by the Kolathiri Raja. The British had meanwhile
settled in the EIC factory in Tellicherry. Continuing the story, Kammu gets
involved in the intrigues among the prince regent of Vadakkamkur, the
Kolathiri, the Ikkeri Nayaks, and the British. He is eventually caught in a trap
laid by the Prince Regent and left to die, at which point he is rescued by
Hyder, who has commenced his march southward. Kammu is taken to Seringapatam, where
the grateful boy converts to Islam and becomes Ayaz Khan, a favorite of Hyder, and
thereafter spends 20 years in Mysore, marrying and begetting children. According
to the story, he returns to Tellicherry, picks up Madhavi, converts her, and
takes her along, but the books don't mention them getting married or having any
children. After his adventures, which we will get to, he passed away in 1785 -
in one version as a Sanyasi, in the other in retirement at Mazagon.
That he was pretty young (and not 53) in 1766 is clear from
another comment by Wilkes - Sheikh Ayaz had, while a youth, and a common
chela of the palace, rendered himself unacceptable to Tippoo by the
independence of his character, and had, in consequence, been treated by that
prince with gross and repeated indignity. In mature age, Hyder's extravagant
praises of his valour and intellect, and the habit of publicly contrasting the
qualities of his slave with those of the heir apparent, perpetually embittered
all the feelings of former enmity and rendered the death of Hyder a crisis
which Ayaz must necessarily have contemplated with alarm. Some sources also
report that Hyder treated Ayaz as his own son, infuriating Tipu.
By contrast, in 1766, Hyder (born 1722 or 1717) would have
been 44-49, so even younger than a 53-year-old Kammu, and Tipu (born 1750)
would have been just 16 years old. Most likely, Kammu's date of birth, stated
by Venniyoor and Menon to be 1713, is incorrect and may have been closer to
1743. Or, as an observant reader noted in the earlier article, there was an
uncle and a nephew, Kammu, by the same name; while the uncle was the valiant
Kammu, the nephew was the boy Hyder had taken away. Wilks notes that Ayaz was
illiterate (we also know this from the Bednur story) and could not read
letters, whereas we understand that Kammu the elder was well educated.
Ayaz at Mysore, Chitaldroog, and Bednore
When Ayaz once stated that he was illiterate in the matters
of governance, Hyder is supposed to have said - Keep a Corla (rope whip) in
your right hand, and that will do you better service than pen and ink. Place
reliance on your excellent understanding, act for yourself alone, fear nothing
of the calamities of the scribblers, trust in me as I trust in you. Reading and
writing, how have I risen in the empire without knowledge of either?
He seems to have done well at Bednore and was a benevolent
ruler, though strictly speaking, he was just a military governor – a quildar
or, as some say, nawab (as used for the title governor). Bednore was also a
location where Hyder had acquired and moved much of his loot and armaments.
Giving this vital location and control over 12-15 million pounds' worth of
treasure to Ayaz gave Tipu no amount of heartache, and Tipu never trusted the
'slave from Malabar,' as he always called him.
Even Donald Campbell, the traveler who was then in jail in
Bednore, seems to have had a decent opinion of Ayaz. But things started to go
south when Hyder fell terminally ill. Tipu Sultan was nominated as the heir to
the Mysore throne by Haider on his deathbed, and Ayaz, seeing the possibility
that Tipu would seek revenge against him, decided to desert the Mysore side and
seek safety with the British, who were moving in to attack and take Bednore. In
Mysore, Tipu Sultan was equally nervous, as he was sure that Ayaz would help
the British defeat him.
At this point, Col Matthews and his forces arrived,
disregarding their orders to unseat Ayaz and take Bednore. What happened next
is reported differently in history books and later records. Ayaz learns from a
Mysore messenger that Tipu has ordered to have him assassinated in secret.
Wasting no time, he negotiated a settlement with Gen Matthews (while other
sources say Matthews coerced him), handed over the treasures to Gen Matthews,
and left Bednore by boat to Onore. At the same time, Matthew's brother, a captain,
loaded some or most of the treasure in his personal ship and sailed off to
Bombay. Ayaz, as agreed, instructed the officers in many of the forts under his
command to surrender to the British.
Hearing that Ayaz has bolted, Tipu is enraged and tells
everyone that Ayaz proved to be the ungrateful and treacherous slave, just like
he had always thought. Tipu then begins the march with a large force to retake
Bednore and seize back the treasure from General Matthews. Matthews is defeated
and put to death together with some 20 officers, while all the other prisoners are
sent to Seringapatam. Tipu also massacres a large number of Christians at Mangalore,
suspecting them to be complicit in the business, and enslaves them. We had
discussed that in the Baltu Chutney story.
The other officers and soldiers of the British army, involved
at Bednore, who had been looking forward to sharing a good portion of the loot,
saw none of it because Matthews classified it as Hyat's private hoard and did
not distribute it. While Tipu felt that Ayaz had secreted the treasures, the
British were sure that Col Matthews had misappropriated them after seeing the
report made by some of Matthews's officers, who went to Bombay to report the
situation. It was all quite murky, and the involvement of the highest levels of
EIC in the matter makes one feel that the supreme command was involved in the
embezzlement, though most accounts place the blame only on Matthews. We will
discuss all of this separately later and attempt to track the treasure's
movements.
Ayaz at Mazagon
From Tellicherry, Hyat provided a complete list of goods and
treasures taken away by Matthews and demanded them back, as his private
property. He also demanded his position at Bednore and the promised pension. The
EIC referred the matter to the supreme command, who, after much deliberation, decided
on a monthly pension of Rs 4,000, which was just under what the Bombay EIC
governor was paid. Even this amount was delayed, though Hyat was allocated a
magnificent home in Bombay as well as living expenses. Tipu continued to demand
the return of Hyat per the terms of their treaty, but the EIC refused to
consider it. On the other hand, the EIC repudiated the treaty with Hyat over
minor legalities and did not pay him any additional monies.
Hyat Sahib spent the monsoon season under British protection at Tellicherry and reached Bombay by Dec 1783 with his wives and children (Details are scant about the extent of his family). In Bombay, he sat, hoping that Bednore would be restored to him, which, of course, never happened. After all this, the EIC began to avoid him, as Mathews had been defeated by Tipu and poisoned to death, and Tipu had retaken Bednore. Ayaz was cautioned not to cause trouble for the British and to lead a proper life in retirement, as he attempted to initiate correspondence with the Nawab of Hyderabad, which the British disapproved of. Tipu, meanwhile, unsuccessfully pressed on with his demands on getting Hyat back, terming him his prisoner, his domestic slave, and private property.
Though recent reports term him as Nawab Ayaz Ali, a distant
relative of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, his name was Mohammed Ayaz Khan, and, as
you read thus far, he was the military governor or quildar of Bednur before he
took asylum with the British in Bombay. His home was quite majestic and can be
seen as a landmark in the panorama of Bombay sketched by Burford.
Capt Ramesh Babu, writing about Magazon, has researched the
story of Hyat Bombay and explains that he made a name for himself there. He had
a well built for the dwellers in the Fort area, and the road leading to it is
still called Nawab Tank Road. In addition to the tank, he built a mosque and a
graveyard.
Apparently, he had a temple at Tellicherry rebuilt or
renovated -a temple that his ancestors had promised to manage. The conflicts
between the British and Tipu continued, and Ayaz, who was following the
situation closely, provided substantial support to the EIC in 1790 during the
final Anglo-Mysore battles, offering advice on attacking Mysore from the West.
Post-death claims on the EIC
Fyaz Ali Khan, his minor son, was denied the father's
pension in full, and he then pursued due justice in the Bombay and London
courts. The British did not give him permission to travel to the UK to fight
the case, but a representative, Muhial Din, conducted considerable research on
the case in the UK, only to soon find himself indebted and facing imprisonment
there. The EIC offered to clear his debts by paying GBP 3,500 and a return
ticket if he dropped support to Fyaz. As the London stonewalling continued, the
EIC restored the pension to Rs 2,000 p.m., plus funeral expenses. The lawyer
returned to Bombay, but, as fate would have it, the ship carrying all the case
papers sank in the Bay of Bengal. Finally, in exasperation, Fyaz and his lawyer
accepted the settlement as final. Fyaz Khan died in 1829, and his son, Akbar
Ali Khan, continued to receive a monthly pension of Rs 1,500. Akbar Ali died in
1856, and his descendants received a pension of Rs 750.
In addition to all this, there was the involvement of a
Parsi named Ardaseer Dady in the management of the Hyat estate as willed by
Hyat, which proved to be a financial disaster for the Hyat family. Those
interested in this can read the relevant section in the book by Michael Fischer
under references. There is no further information about the family after this,
nor do we know what happened to his Mazagaon home; perhaps his descendants sold
it (I am not even sure whether it was leased to him by the English). Capt. Ramesh
Babu mentions quoting a local historian that Hyat's last descendants moved to
Calcutta and thence to England.
Ayaz and the Kolathiri Raja
After Ayaz settled in
Seringapatam with Hyder, he visited Tellicherry in 1775 to assist the Chirakkal
Raja (with Hyder's approval) by deploying his troops to collect Rs 10,000 from
the Corengotte Nayar, who, in turn, was aided by the French. Hyder had to
personally intervene and negotiate a settlement, as things dragged on.
Hyat's connections with the Chirakkal
Rajas continued. In 1781, the Raja had arrears of over 2 lakhs owed to Hyder
and was taken away to Seringapatam. After Hyat's involvement, he was sent back
to Chirakkal in 1782 and, in return, had to leave two hostages (a successor,
Ram Rajah, and another relation, Vnioma) to be jailed at Bednore. They
were released by General Matthews and returned to Chirakkal by sea. In 1783,
Hyat fled to Tellicherry and persuaded the Raja to formally grant his family
three tharas (villages) in the Chirakkal taluk. The grant was subsequently
declared invalid for having been obtained through fraud.
As for the Bednur treasures, there is no doubt that the
British officers and probably their high commans were complicit. What happened
to the many chests that reached Bombay? Ayaz tried to get to them, stating them
to be his private treasure, while Col Matthews was put to death by Tipu. Tipu
later recovered some of the treasure acquired by British officers and
imprisoned by him, but the chests sent to Bombay were not heard of again. If
you study the matter in more detail, you will find British dealings to be quite
murky, and it is only after Hyat's death that things unraveled to an extent.
Velluva Puthiya Tharavad
The treaty executed between Ayaz and the EIC at Tellicherry provides
some clues about his parentage. It mentions a Kunji Koni of the Cherical (Chirakkal)
Valia Pudia house, presumably the Velluva Pudiya tharavad. The Velluva Puthiya
Veetil family page appears to support these suppositions, although the
timelines provided for the Karananvers do not align. Assuming Kunhi Koni is
Kannan, we can see a match between Rairu and Kannan, but the timelines are off
by quite a few decades.
Thus ended the legacy of the Nambiar from Chirakkal – the
one who lorded a few million pounds of wealth and a small region, only to end
up in relative poverty in Bombay, demonstrating yet another classic example of
how the EIC ripped off the illiterate governor, without whose help, and the
queer turn of events, they could never have taken Bednore.
References
Sheik Ayaz or Hayat Saheb of Bednore- K. N. V. Sastri,
Proceedings of the Indian History Congress Vol. 8 (1945)
Vadakkan Aithihyamala (Velluva Kammaran) - Vanidas Elayavoor
Velluva Kammaran- Kunhirama Menon, Othena Menon
Historical Sketches of the south of India, in an attempt to
trace the history of Mysoor – Lt Col Mark Wilks
Counterflows to Colonialism - Indian travellers and settlers
in Britain 1600-1857 - Michael H. Fisher
My Own Mazagon – Capt Ramesh Babu
Bharat Ghothoskar – The Nawab of Mazagoan
The falsehoods in Gidwani’s work of historical fiction,
concerning Ayaz Khan had been discussed earlier, so I will not repeat it (See
link). Additionally, as Conjeeveram Hayavadana Rao incorrectly states, Ayaz
was not a son or nephew of the Kolathiri Raja.
Col Jervis Thomas Bets and Hyat Saheb
This British military engineer (1796-1857) writing in 1853 (India
in Relation to Great Britain) states - In the year 1819, (this is not possible as Hyat
died in 1799, Jervis made an error and Hyat would have been just 55 when he
died in 1799) I was one day in friendly conversation with Hyat Sahib, an
old Mahommedan chieftain and soldier, then residing as a state-prisoner or
pensioner at Mazagaon, and far advanced in years; when this veteran child of
fortune told me he had for some years exercised the government of Bednore, in
the Mysore dominions, from about 1790 to 1798 (erroneous as Matthews took Bednore in 1782-83),
and engaged in many a bloody fight with our bravest soldiery. He related to me
that, being on some occasion in attendance as a risaldar, or commander of
native horse in the hoozoor (presence-chamber) of Hydur Ali, with numberless
quilted and caparisoned military retainers, Hydur Ali beckoned to him, and
said: 'Here, you see this worthless wretch, this rebel, willful son of mine,
Tippoo, he is incapable of anything. Go thou, and take the government of
Bednore. Alla Kureem, Sooltan (God is all-bountiful, mighty prince), said Hyat;
Bring me a rope, replied Hydur Ali.
Hyat tremblingly obeyed the mandate, scarcely venturing to
debate whether it was for the purpose of strangling him, or suspending him
ignominiously to the nearest tree. Hydur, snatching the rope, deliberately tied
some two or three huge knots, and commanding Hyat to approach nearer, administered
several blows over his shoulders with such severity as to draw forth an
involuntary shriek of pain. Hence, away! exclaimed Hydur Ali, You have your
instructions, go with all assurance; this is the way to dispense justice.
In the next part, we will discuss the flight of the
Bednore treasure.
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