Sira Subah

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Province of Sira
)
Subah of Sira
Subdivision of Mughal Empire
1687 - 1766
Flag of Sira
Alam flag of the Mughal Empire

Mughal province of Sira shown in a map of South India at the time of the Anglo-French Wars in the Carnatic, 1746–1760
CapitalSira
LegislatureMughal Darbar
Historical eraEarly-modern period
• Established
1687
• Disestablished
1766
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Bijapur Sultanate
Maratha Empire
Today part ofIndia

The Province of Sira, also known as Carnatic-Balaghat, was a

Harpanahalli, Kondarpi, Anegundi, Bednur, Chitaldroog and Mysore were considered by the Mughals to be tributary states of the province.[3]

Administration

The Mughal-era Juma Masjid in Sira Town, as seen in 2007

After the

Bijapur Sultanate administration, and consisted, among others, of Deshmūks, Deshpāndes, Majmūndārs, and Kānungoyas.[4] The Deshmūks "settled accounts" with the village headmen (or patels[5]); the Deshpāndes verified the account-books of the village registrars (or kārnāms[5]); the Kānungoyas entered the official regulations in the village record-books and also explained decrees and regulations to the village governing officers and residents.[4]
Lastly, the Majmūndārs prepared the final documents of the "settlement" (i.e. the assessment and payment of tax) and promulgated it.[4]

Until the mid-seventeenth century, both villagers- and district (taluq) accounts had been prepared in the language and script of

Kannada, the region's traditional language.[6]
However, after the Bijapur invasions,
Persian, came to be used.[6]

The capital and its monuments

Sira
. They are shown here in a 1794 etching.

The capital of the province, Sira town, too, prospered most under Dilavar Khan and expanded in size to accommodate 50,000 homes.[1] Palaces and public monuments of Sira became models for other edifices.[1] Both Haidar Ali's palace in Bangalore and Tipu Sultan's in Seringapatam were modeled after Dilavar Khan's palace in Sira.[1] Moreover, according to the (Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series 1908), Bangalore's Lal Bagh as well as Bangalore fort may have been designed after Sira's Khan Bagh gardens and Sira fort respectively.[1] Sira's civil servants, however, could not be as readily reproduced: after Tipu Sultan had succeeded his father as Sultan of Mysore in 1782, he deported 12,000 families, mainly of city officials, from Sira to Shahr Ganjam, a new capital he founded on Seringapatam island.[1]

There are Mughal-era buildings that still stand in the town. Among them are the Juma Masjid.

The other towns

Haidar Ali's father, Fateh Muhammad, the military governor (faujdar) of Kolar district
, is buried.

Different towns and regions fared differently during the eventful seventy-year history of the province. In

Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad, and eventually captured by Haidar Ali.[7]

Subahdars (governors)

Qasim Khan (also, Khasim Khan or Kasim Khan) was appointed the first

Haidar Ali, whose own father had been the Mughal military governor (or Faujdar) of Kolar district in the province, captured Sira, and soon conferred on himself the title of "Nawab of Sira."[8] However, the defection of his brother, a military governor, in 1766 caused the province to be lost again to the Marathas, who retained it until Haidar's son, Tipu Sultan, recaptured it for his father in 1774.[8]

The Subahdars of Sira[10]
Name Period of tenure Name Period of Tenure
Qasim Khan 1686–1694 Ghalib Khan 1713–1714
Atish Khan 1694–1697 Darga Quli Khan 1714–1715
Murad Mansur Khan 1697–1704 Abid Khan 1715–1716
Dliakta Masnur Khan 1704–1706 Mulahavar Khan 1716–1720
Pudail Ulla Khan 1706–1707 Darga Quli Khan 1720–1721
Daud Khan 1707–1709 Abdul Rasul Khan 1721–1722
Sa'adatullah Khan 1709–1711 Tahir Muhammad Khan 1722–1740
Amin Khan 1711–1713 Dilavar Khan 1740–1756

See also

  • Sira town
  • History of Mysore and Coorg, 1565–1760
  • History of Mysore and Coorg, 1761–1799

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series 1908, pp. 175–176
  2. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series 1908, p. 166
  3. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series 1908, p. 19
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rice 1897a, p. 589
  5. ^ a b Rice 1897a, pp. 574–575
  6. ^ a b c d e Rice 1897a, pp. 589–590
  7. ^ a b c d e Rice 1897b, pp. 68–70
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Rice 1897b, p. 166
  9. ^ Rice 1897b, p. 521
  10. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1907, p. 335

References

  • Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series (1908), Mysore and Coorg, Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. Pp. xvii, 365, 1 map.
  • , Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company. Pp. xix, 834
  • , Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company. Pp. xii, 581