Muhammed Yusuf Khan - Control of Madurai

Control of Madurai

Going back to 1734, when the Madurai Nayak King Vijaya Ranga Chokkanatha Nayak died in 1731, he was succeeded by his widow, Queen Meenakshi, who acted as Queen-Regent on behalf of a young boy she had adopted as the heir of her dead husband. She had only ruled a year or two when an insurrection was raised against her by Bangaru Thirumalai, the father of her adopted son, who pretended to have claims of his own to the throne of Madurai approached Safdar Ali Khan, the son of Dost Ali Khan, the Nawab of Arcot with a couple of millions, while the queen sought Chanda Sahib, Safdar Ali Khan's brother-in-law.

At this time the Madurai Nayak ruler was a feudatory to the Mughal emperor in Delhi, whose local representative was the Nawab of Arcot, and an intermediate authority was held by the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was in theory the subordinate of the emperor, but the superior of the Nawab. The treacherous Chanda Sahib after extracting a huge amount from the queen humbled Vangaru Tirumala and later murdered him. After a few years Chanda Sahib breached the agreement with the queen and assumed control of Madurai, keeping the helpless Queen Meenakshi under house- arrest in the rock-fort at Trichy. The haples queen soon consumed poison. After the death of Chanda sahib in the last of the Carnatic wars, Madurai kingdom came under Mohammed Ali's (the incumbent Nawab of Arcot) control, who in turn gave the tax collection rights of the whole Madura kingdom to the British, from whom he had borrowed huge sums of money.

The polygar system had evolved with the extension of Vijayanagar rule to Tamil Nadu by the Nayaks. It was the brain-child of Aryanatha Mudaliar (Thalavaai Mudaliar), the celebrated Tamil general and prime minister of Viswanatha Nayak, the first Nayak ruler of Madurai. The country was divided into provinces or Palayams (pronounced Paalayam). Each palayam usually consisting of a few villages, was placed under the control of a Palayakkaran (Polygar or Poligar as mentioned in the English records) who was expected to provide in return, an annual tribute and military service to the Madurai ruler. Given their numerical strength, extensive resources, local influence and independent attitude, the Polygars came to constitute a powerful force in the political system of south India. They regarded themselves as independent, sovereign authorities within their respective Palayams. The early struggle between the southern Polygars and the East India Company, although essentially a battle over tax collection, had a strong political dimension. The English perceived the polygars as a rival power and treated them as their inveterate enemies, allowing their hostility full expression in their accounts. The East India Company, eager for revenue, opposed the manner and scale in which the Polygars collected taxes from the people. The issue of taxation, more specifically, who was to collect it, the traditional rulers or the rapacious new collectors from overseas —lay at the root of the subsequent uprising.

The Polygars from Tirunelveli, Madurai regions and Sivaganga and Ramnad, were unwilling to pay taxes (kappam or Kist) to Mohammed Ali, a weak Nawab, nor ever recognized the British in the guise of tax collector. In 1755 the Nawab and British having valid reasons to quell these rebellious Polygars dispatched a huge army to the south under Col. Heron and Arcot Nawabs brother Mahfuz Khan, accompanied by Yusuf Khan as bodyguard. Mahfuz Khan and Col. Heron burnt several villages and razed down several temples, then ransacked and looted lot of towns, melting several rare statues from Hindu temples. This infuriated Yusuf Khan, who lodged a complaint with the British. Later Col. Heron was courtmarshalled.

During this time the French under Thomas Arthur Lally surrounded the British fort in Madras. Yusuf Khan during the night launched a surprise attack on the French troops packing them away.