Salar Jung I.
Me , Turab Ali Khan identified by his full title Nawab Sir Salar Jung I. Bahadur, Muktiar-ul-Mulk, Suja ud-Daula, GCSI (* 2. January 1829 in Bijapur , † 8. February 1883 ) was from May 1853 Diwan of Indian princely state of Hyderabad (= Haiderabad) and from February 28, 1869 to February 5, 1883, together with Shams ul-Umara, regent for the minor Nizam Asaf Jah VI. During his tenure, against the resistance of the ruling Muslim upper class, he initiated the transition from a completely oriental-despotic administration to an autocratic-feudal administration with halfway orderly finances.
origin
Salar Jung came from a family connected with the ruling house. According to tradition, the clan came from the area between Damascus and Jerusalem and traced its family tree 33 generations back to the Sheikh Ovais Karani , a contemporary of Mohammed , from Medina . Ten generations later, a Shiite descendant of the same name came to India under Ali Adil Shah (r. 1656–72) and settled near Bijapur . His great-grandson, Muhammed Taki, served under Aurangzeb and his successors; he was appointed garrison commander by the governor Asaf Jah I. The position became hereditary , with the title Munir-ul-mulk . Mir Alam was chief minister as divan from 1795 to 1797 and 1804 to 1808 when Munir ul-Mulk II married one of his daughters. After the death of his father-in-law, he became a divan himself.
Salar's father, Mohammed Ali Khan, died when Salar Jung was a child. After his grandfather Munir ul-Mulk II died in 1833, he was under the care of his grandmother and Siraj ul-Mulk. He received the usual training among Muslim nobles in classical Persian and Arabic; He was not given any further knowledge other than bookkeeping. He began to acquire a basic knowledge of English at the age of 19. The family lived in a city palace, the Devan Devdi. Salar was also successful privately in financial matters.
His first post in the civil service, which he held for eight months, he received at the age of 20 as a talukdar for a district in Telangana . He was subordinate to the Englishman Deighton, who brought the pledged jewels of the Nizam to England a few years later.
When Salar Jung took up his post as divan - as the successor to his uncle Siraj ul-Mulk († April 26, 1853) - at the age of 24, he had neither direct access to nor influence over the aging ruler Asaf Jah IV. (1794-1857), however, he won the support of Resident Colonel Davidson. At that time the state finances were completely shattered.
Divan
The inherent corruption of the traditional, Muslim-Oriental system of government, with commercial offices and court judgments as well as its numerous middlemen in collecting taxes, had brought the state to the brink of bankruptcy. As one of the first measures after taking office, fiscal bookkeeping began in 1853. Taxes were now to be paid in cash.
He ruthlessly put down armed bands of robbers in the countryside, smaller uprisings by Arab troops in 1855 and two attempts to spread the Sepoy uprising in Hyderabad, for which Asaf Jah V. , GCSI (* 1827), "Our Faithful Ally" became the British . Salar Jung received Rs. 30,000 from the British. In fact, the Nizam showed little interest in state affairs, so that from 1859 the actual reform work began. He survived an assassination attempt on March 15, 1859 on the steps of the palace unharmed. The reform measures that put the upper class in a worse position made him unpopular, but he had won the trust of the Nizam, so that his resignation in 1867 was rejected. He survived another assassination attempt on January 27, 1868.
In the 30 years to 1883 the state managed to increase its disposable income from 800,000 to over 31 million HRs , even though less than 60% of the country was under the fiscal control of the minister. A specially set up land commission began in 1877 to clarify existing rights. One of the most important reforms was the establishment of a financial administration and state bank, which took over the payments previously made by private bankers ( sahukar ) on behalf of the ruler . The newly established police and courts ensured a certain degree of legal security. For the majority of the people in the country, however, his reforms brought nothing.
At the reception of the Prince of Wales in Bombay (May 7, 1876) he took part as regent. The next day he traveled with Sayyed Husain Ali Bilgrami ( Imud ul-Mulk ) - private secretary and minister who later became his biographer and advisor to Salar Jung III. became - as well as 52 employees, to England. Unofficial political talks with his host, the Duke of Sutherland , did not result in the desired return of Berar . Oxford University awarded him an honorary doctorate (DCL). Queen Victoria granted him an audience on July 3. In 1882 he went to Shimla to prepare for the young Nizam's trip to England the following year.
He fell ill as the only one of those who had eaten from a can of oysters and died soon afterwards, which suggests that he was poisoned. Cholera was announced as the official cause of death . As is customary in his family, he was buried without a tombstone in the Daira Mir Mornin in Hyderabad. His son and immediate successor in office Salar Jung II also followed him there.
Large estates
Owning land as jagir over 333 villages across the country made the clan the second largest landowner after the ruler. In 1901 180150 people were ruled over 3834 km². From the six taluks: Kosgi, Gulbarga, Ajanta (Aurangabad Division), Koppal and Yelbarga ( Raichur ), Dundgal (Medak), and Raigir (Nalgonda), 82000 HR was squeezed out.
children
- Mir Liak Ali Khan, Salar Jung II.
- Me Sãdut Ali Khan
- two daughters
literature
- Chiragh 'Ali: Hyderabad (Deccan) under Sir Salar Jung. Bombay 1884 ( full text )
- Laureen Baillie: Indian Biographical Archive. Munich sn, ISBN 3-598-34104-0 , Fiche 404f.
- John Law: Modern Hyderabad (Deccan). Calcutta 1914
- Husain Bilgrami Syed: A Memoir of Sir Salar Jung. 1883
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Karen Leonard: Banking Firms in Nineteenth-Century Hyderabad Politics. In: Modern Asian Studies. Volume 15, No. 2, 1981, pp. 177-201
- ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series, Hyderabad State. 1909, pp. 52, 294f.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Salar Jung I. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Turab Ali Khan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Divan of the Indian princely state of Hyderabad |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 2, 1829 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bijapur |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 8, 1883 |
| Place of death | Hyderabad (Deccan) |