First Rohilla War
| The First Rohilla War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Rohilla Wars | |||||||||
 Rohilla cavalry | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kingdom of Rohilkhand |
British East India Company | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Nawab Muhammad Yar Khan of Bareilly † |
.svg){kind=small} Colonel Alexander Champion | ||||||||
The First Rohilla War of 1773–1774 was a punitive campaign by
Background
Having been driven into the mountains by the
Hastings justified his action on the ground that the Rohillas were a danger to the British as uncovering the flank of Awadh.[2]
Course of the war
The Rohillas under
Guerrilla War and Siege
By October 1774, the war evolved into a war of attrition. Faizullah Khan with the remaining loyal Rohillas retreated to a forest located in the hills of Lal Dang. The combined forces of the British and Awadh laid siege to the area from late August 1774 to October of the same year. Both sides were worn down and wished for peace.
Shah Shuja, who was suffering from cancer in his leg, wanted an early peace and thus after several attempts to break Rohilla unity under Faizullah Khan, he finally decided to release Mohabbat Khan, son of the late Hafiz Rehmat Khan in an attempt to undermine Faizullah's authority while at the same time he kept communication with Faizullah. His strategy worked and on 7 October 1774 Faizullah signed an amicable treaty of Lal Dang and was granted a princely state in the area of his choosing, leading to the creation of Rampur State.[5]
Consequences
Rohilkhand fell to Awadh, and was plundered and occupied. The majority of the Rohillas left. They fled across the
However, Ghulam Muhammad's accession to the throne by leading a conspiracy against his brother was not liked by Britishers, who derecognised him as ruler of the Rampur state. Large number of Afghans then flocked to join him against the British but ultimately he was defeated and the state which was now considerably reduced in size was handed over to the infant son of Muhammad Ali Khan.[6]
Warren Hastings
The war became a matter of Westminster politics during the
References
- John Strachey (1892), Hastings and the Rohilla War
See also
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-19-547600-2.
Indian-born "Rohillas"
- ^ a b c One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rohilla". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 461.
- ^ "Introduction to the Eleven Illustrations of Ghulam Yahya". Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- ^ Miranpur Katra in India
- JSTOR 44156249.
- ^ OCLC 1045958597. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
