Farrukhnagar - History

History

Founded by Faujdar Khan, the first Nawab of Farrukhnagar and a governor of Mughal Emperor (r. 1713-1719) Farrukhsiyar in 1732, Farrukhnagar flourished due to its salt trade for many years. Sultanpur, now known for Sultanpur National Park, was the centre of salt production for use in Delhi and the United Provinces till the late 19th century exporting annually 680,000 maunds or 18,350 tons (1 maund = 37 kg approx.) over the Rajputana-Malwa Railway. Salt was produced by extracting brine from about 40 wells using bullocks and drying in open plots. Since salt was one of the major sources of government's revenue, the office of the Salt Superintendent at Sultanpur supervised the levy of Rs.2 per maund (about 37 kg). With the levy of the heavy salt tax and acquisition of the Sambhar salt works in Rajputana (present Rajasthan) by the government, the Sultanpur salt became uneconomical and by 1903-04 the salt industry was struggling for survival with salt export having fallen to 65,000 maunds or 1,750 tons leading to severe setback to the economy of Sultanpur area. Finally in 1923 the British shut down the office of the salt superintendent at Sultanpur, had all the mounds of salt thrown back into the wells and shut down the salt industry leading to considerable economic misery to the people.

Faujdar Khan's descendant, Nawab Ahmed Ali Khan, took part in the India's First War of Independence in 1857 along with the rulers of neighbouring principalities, like Rewari, Ballabhgarh and Jhajjar, all of whom were later tried and executed and their estate confiscated by the British Raj. Today Ahmed Ali is still remembered for his sacrifice and recognized a state hero.

It was ruled by Baloch rulers, Faujdar Khan, later Dalel Khan, before being taken over the Mughals, who made Faujdar Khan, a governor by Mughal Emperor, Farrukhsiyar (r. ca 1711-1716); Later rechristened in 1732, when Faujdar christened himself the Nawab of Farrukhnagar and named the town after the Mughal emperor. He also built the Farrukhnagar Fort surrounding the octagonal town, with five gated entrances, his palace known as Sheesh Mahal, a notable structure in Mughal architecture around 1711 A.D, also the Jama Masjid and Dilli Darwaza (Delhi Gate). The successive Nawabs ruled over a large tract of land in the area, for the coming seventy odd year, till they were overthrown by Jat ruler of Bharatpur.

Subsequently, in 1737, they took over Hissar from Nawab Shah Dad Khan of Kasur, who had been ruling since the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, as nazim of the sarkar of Hissar. Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, (The Sultan of Delhi 1754-1759) gave a nearby jagir to Bahadur Khan and Taj Mohammed Khan, Baloch rulers of Farrukhanagar in 1754, who changed its name from Sharafabad to Bahadurgarh. Rohtak region which had come into the hands of minister Rukn ud-din in 1718 due to decay of the Mughal Empire, transferred his territories to Faujdar Khan in 1732, who in time it passed on to his son Nawab Kamgar Khan. Out of this Hissar was perpetually being fought by Sikh forces though he managed to retain much of Rohtak and Gurgaon until his death around 1760 Nawab of Farrukh Nagar captured Hisar from Rao Gujar mal, Ahir ruler of Rewari.Rao Gujar mal sent a message to the Nawab to vacate Hisar and other adjoining areas which was granted to him.When the Nawab refused to comply it the Rao defeated him in a battle at Hansi and imprisoned him.

Meanwhile later Farrukhnagar was captured by Suraj Mal of Bharatpur, a Jat state in around 1757, defeating Musa Khan son of Kamgar, though after Suraj Mal's death in 1763, the jagir was later restored back to Musa Khan ca 1771, though he could never capture Rohtak again. Upon annexation by the British Raj, the principality remained with Nawabs, but after Nawab Ahmed Ali Khan of Farrukhnagar, took part in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, along with the Nawabs of Jhajjar, Rao Tula Ram of Rewari and Raja Nahar Singh of Bahadurgarh, Bhatti chieftains of Hissar and Sirsa, and the Meo tribesmen, their jagir was confiscated in 1858 and made part of the Empire. During the rebellion their combined forces took over Rohtak completely from British forces for a while, and attacked and plundered the civil station, burning all official records. After the Rebellion failed, forces of Punjab levies moved in and Raja Nahar Singh of Bahadurgarh and Nawab Abdur Rehman Khan of Jhajjar were captured and tried, while the former was executed in Delhi, the latter escaped with a sentence of exile to Lahore. A memorial was recently raised to commemorate the martyrs of the rebellion in the city.

The town was once an important trading center for salt extracted from nearby saline wells. This salt was called Sultanpur Salt after Sultanpur, the most important salt-works of the region. Due to high taxation along with lower cost of Sambhar salt the sale in 1903-1904 was only 65,736 maunds, down from 680,000 maunds before 1878. Its production was prohibited by the British in 1923 when the office of Salt Superintendent was closed.