Nathaniel Higginson - Tenure As President of Madras

Tenure As President of Madras

On 3 October 1692, Nathaniel Higginson succeeded Elihu Yale as the President of Madras. Meanwhile, during the same year, the Mughal army besieged the Marathas in the fortress of Gingee but was defeated in December. The Mughal general Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung failed to take the fort and retired with some troops to Vandavasi while other troops sought protection in Madras. He approached the British for negotiating a deal with the Marathas. The British at Madras, however, refused to get involved. In August 1693, the Dutch invaded the French settlement of Pondicherry and conquered it. The administration in Madras responded by sending a congratulatory message to the Dutch in Pulicat over the successful siege of Pondicherry.

It was during Higginson's tenure that the British East India Company obtained a firman from Nawab Zulfiqar Khan for the settlements of Egmore, Purasawalkam and Triplicane.

In July 1694, there broke a dispute between two chief Muslim clerics of Blacktown over the division of revenues which Higginson helped settle in an amicable way.

In February 1696, Elihu Yale petitioned the Court of Directors once again over the unjust way in which he had been tried by the Council of Fort St George. Higginson responded by replying to the Board of Directors refuting Yale's allegations of injustice.

In November 1694, Nawab Zulfiqar Khan proceeded from Wandiwash where he was encamped and took Chungramon Fort. However, dissent broke out in the ranks of the Mughal army and there were rumors of royal orders being dispatched to Daud Khan Panni to capture Nawab Zulfiqar Khan. In March 1696, Nawab Zulfiqar Khan sent messengers to Madras demanding one-lakh pagodas.

Zulfiqar Khan was increasingly frustrated when the British of Madras refused to present him the demanded amount. He attempted to destroy the trade of the colony by seizing its goods and imposing stringent customs. He even gave orders to the Havaldar of Thiruvallur to mobilize his troops in case of war. The Council of Fort St George met on 31 October 1696 and conveyed their outright rejection of the Nawab's demands even if it meant going to war. However, Madras was saved when fresh orders were received by Zulfiqar Khan in late 1696 from the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb to proceed to Gingee. Thus, a major face-off was averted. Zulfiqar Khan, meanwhile, concentrated his energies against the Marathas and won a decisive victory at Gingee returning to Wandiwash only for his marriage in 1698. Nathaniel Higginson sent him rich marriage presents and a congratulatory message on his victory over the Marathas.

Throughout his tenure, despite being a Protestant, Higginson was fairly tolerant towards his Hindu subjects as well as the Roman Catholics of St Thome. He repealed the extortionary taxation system which his predecessor Elihu Yale had introduced in the revenue system of the Hindu shrines of Blacktown and Triplicane. He also maintained regular correspondence with the Roman Catholic bishop of St Thome.

It was during Higginson's Presidency (in 1693) that the Madras Secretariat was constructed to host the offices of the Council of Fort St George. It was also during this time that a channel was cut in order to interlink the North River with the Coovum. It was this interlinking of the two rivers which created "the Island".

Higginson's Presidency came to an end on 7 July 1698, and he was succeeded by Thomas Pitt.