George:Not of the Jungle but King of Haryana

He is perhaps the only Irishman to have ruled a Kingdom and he did so only for a few years before the ambition of expanding his empire did him in.

He was also the most successful General in India during the later part of the 18^th century and after he had served various Indian chiefs, he went on to found a kingdom in India which did not survive beyond a few years.

A mercenary, he started life on a ship and deserted it when the vessel docked at Madras. Over time, he rose to become one of the most successful generals of his times and he had a dedicated band of more than 2000 men who helped him in carving out a small kingdom in the north of India.

He always carried a six-pound cannon on him and he used it on his enemies and adversaries to devastating effect. He also had a bunch of  dedicated soldiers whose job it was to keep his muskets loaded and primed to fire. Since, bullets always kept raining continuously from his rifles and six pounder, his enemies rarely preferred to stand and fight.

He always was at the head of his army and personally led the battles. This gave him a fearsome reputation and he used this to good effect when he founded the Kingdom of  Hansi in Haryana more than two hundred years.

The Kingdom, which comprised what is part of Haryana today, rose and died with him. He was the first and only King of Irish descent and the only Christian to rule over the very areas where the once mighty Hindu Emperor Prithviraj Chavan had established his empire.

Hansi was also home to Prithiviraj Chavan and to a host of other kings such as Feroz Shah of the Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi and it was also the place where Guru Govind Singh and silk rebel Banda Bahadur had led rebellions against the Muslims. 

This man was none other than George Thomas, an Irish adventurer who rose from the ranks of a ordinary sailor working in a ships; cabin to become an independent king, making Hansi his capital.

Born in Roscrea, Tipperary in Ireland in 1756, George had a roller coaster life in India and he dies in 1802 in Barhampur.

George’s father was a poor Catholic tenant farmer near Roscrea and he died when George was still a child. George took up work as a labourer on the docks at Youghal.

He joined the British Navy and sailed to India. He deserted the ship when it docked in Madras in 1781. He then decided to go into the plains of India and make an independent living.

Though an illiterate, he led a group of Pindaris north to Delhi by 1787, where he took service under Begum Samru of Sardhana. He distinguished himself in April 1788 in the action of Gokulgarh.

Driven out of the Begum’s court by the French, particularly by a French officer, Levassoult, who soon supplanted our George to become the Begum’s favourite, he took up service under Appa Rao, a powerful Maratha chieftain. By then, admiring Indians had labelled George as Jaharai Jung or the Warlike George.  

His prowess as a man who loved fighting and as a man who personally led his men into even the most adversarial contests won him the loyalty of the men he commanded. If his enemies feared him, his men swore by him.   

He had a band of fiercely loyal personal bodyguard of  horsemen who were the ruffians he had met and interacted with during the Pindari days. He also employed a squad of musket loaders whose job it was to see that George never out of a weapon.

When Appa Rao died, George decided not to hire himself and set out to carve out his own Kingdom. He looked around Delhi and found Haryana to be the perfect place. Abandoned by the Mughals and frequently devastated by wars with the Afghans, the land which is part of Haryana now was like a ripe apple waiting to be plucked.

George then decided it was high time that the region got its King. In 1797, with 2,000 troops at his command, he went around Hansi and declared himself King.

He repaired the fort of Hansi, built a new Gate which stand even today and sent out his soldiers to police the roads. He promised growers and farmers protection provided they accepted him as King and paid tax. The grateful farmers, who had been reeling under lawlessness for decades, accepted.

George then invited masons, carpenters, builders, craftsmen and others to settle down in his Kingdom. He then went on to build a mint to issue coins in his own name. So George was the first and last white King of Hansi from 1798 and his reign lasted a little more than two years.

By 1800, George of Ireland had settled down to become King George of Hansi. His Kingdom was bound by Patiala in the north, Bhatti in the north west, Bikaner in the West, Jaipur in the south, Dadari in the south east and Rohtak and Panipat.

He soon became ambitious and decided to extend his Kingdom and his eye fell on the Sikh states that surrounded Hansi and the Rajput Kingdoms.

He first took on the Maharaja of Jaipur and met his huge army at Fathepur. Though vastly outnumbered, King George ploughed into the Rajput ranks and went on firing his six pounder. Legend has it that he held off a fierce Rajput attack of two hundred and more Rajputs with his favourite six pounder.

By George, our Irish King of Hansi won the battle. Today, historians who take a look at his graph, rate George much higher than the Englishman Robert Clive or his French rival Dupliex.

Wherever he took his men, he tasted victory. In January 1800, he invaded Patiala and plundered the city. He then attacked Sirsa and expelled the Bhatti kings. It was then that Man Singh, the King of Jind, sought the services of the French General, Pierre Cuillier-Perron (1753–1834), better known as Perron, to tackle George.

Perron was the commander of the Maratha forces in north India. He to had an axe to grind against King George. He formed a confederacy of Sikhs and Marathas and marched against George in 1801.

George, by then, appeared to have lost his appetite for a fight. He was defeated. His body and mind too deteriorated and it appears that more than a decade of tough wars had exhausted him.

Though captured, he was treated with respect and given safe conduct to return to his own people. However, he died near Murshidabad in Bengal, August, 22, 1802 aged 46.

The cannon which induced women to give birth to children prematurely

When fired and it was fired only once, the sound was so deafening that several pregnant women gave birth. Since then, this piece of engineering marvel is called as Bacchawali Tope  which when translated means “The cannon which produces child birth”.

This is a cannon in Murshidabad town of West Bengal. The cannon lies in the Nizamat fort campus on the garden space between the Nizamat Imambara and Hazariduari Palace or the palace of a thousand doors.

The cannon is to located east of the old Madina Mosque and it consists of two pieces and each piece is of a different diameter. The cannon was cast between the 12th and 14th century and local historian ascribe it to the Mohammadan rulers of Gaur.

The cannon initially lay on the sand banks of Ichaganj but there is no record of why and how it came to be placed in Ichaganj.

Subsequently, it was shifted to Murshidabad and the rulers used it to prevent attacks on the city from the north-west.

When a fire broke out in Nizamat Imambara in 1846, a new Imambara was built and the cannon was then shifted to its present location by Sadeq Ali Khan, the architect of the Imambara. It was  Sir Henry Torrens, the then agent of the Governor General at Murshidabad, who suggested to the Nawab that the cannon be shifted to its present place.

The sound of the gunfire from the cannon is so loud that it can be heard within a radius of about 10 miles. The cannon stands on a five feet pedestal.

Of the two parts of the cannon, the chamber, which is the smaller portion, is 3ft. 7in. long with a girth of 4ft 4in. The larger portion, which mainly consists of the barrel is 11ft 6in. long with a girth at the middle of 7ft 9in. The diameter of the muzzle is 1 foot and 7 inches. The barrel, made of wrought iron has eleven rings fixed on it.

The rim of the muzzle is decorated with petal designs, while one of the rings resembles a string of beads. On the upper half of the barrel surface, near the muzzle are inscribed fourteen lines, 7 on each side, are inlaid with brass. Eight smaller rings are attached to the cannon at various points. The breach plug is driven until its chambered end dovetails and fits tightly into the chamber of the barrel, which are tied together with the rings attached to each. The canon weighs around 16880 pounds or 7657 Kg. The canon requires 18 kilograms of gun powder for a single shelling. 

Nizamat Imambara

Crawling through a majestic cannon

It is not only a store house of myths and legends but also a veritable treasure trove of Ayurvedic herbs. If visitors and pilgrims flock to the fort to see the many gateways, wells, secret passages and cannons, budding Ayurvedic Vaids, students and countless self-styled doctors roam about the hilly terrain along woth botanists searching for herbs and plants of medicinal importance.

The fort here has many places and spots associated with the Ramayana-such as the footprints of  Rama and Sita and a temple consecrated by Rama and the place where Sita stored vermillion and Kumkum.

However, in recent years, the fort here has become famous for another thing. If you are not a local and or if you are visiting the fort for the first time, you will be surprised to see a peculiar event.

You will find a queue of  people-both males and females-standing before a majestic cannon.

Even before you stop to understand what it is, you will find couples crawling through the cannon and coming out from another end. This is the  famous Pillala Firangi cannon.

According to legend, if childless couples crawl through the ancient cannon, they will get a child. With this legend becoming popular in recent years, the number of people crawling into and exiting out of the cannon is increasing day by day.

Despite its fame, the majestic cannon, a classic instance of the medieval metallurgical craftsmanship, is crumbling. The fort too is in ruins but it makes for a majestic and breathtaking view.

This is the famous Ramagiri fort in Karimnagar district of  Andhra Pradesh. It is in Kamarpur village, 60 kms from Karimnagar city.   

The fort is believed to be a veritable store house of  myths and legends and it has been associated with several dynasties including the Sathavahanas, Kakathiyas of Warangal , Vijayanagars of Hampi, Nizam Shahis of Golconda and the Nizams of Hyderabad.

The Sathavahanas and the Kakatiyas used the fort as their military warehouse. The fort is so built that it can be reached only by foot. 

It is also believed that the art of manufacturing cannons through forge-welded technology flourished in the region during the medieval period.

Also called Ratnagarbha or Ramagiri Khilla, this hill fort is also known as the unconquerable fort in Telangana. The hills surroundings the fort are botanically important as they contain many herbs of medicinal importance. The flora and fauna of the place too deserves special mention.

The fort has a breathtaking view of the Maner and Godavari rivers merging with each other. Built of  stone, the fort has several bastions and its runs are spread over a vast area. The surrounding greenery and eye-pleasing scenery have given this fort and the hill another name-Aram Giri or the hill of pleasure.

Some of the must see monuments of the fort are the Linga consecrated by Rama for his prayers. Rama had come here along with Sita and Lakshmana during vanavasa and he installed the Linga as he wanted to pray. 
There are foot prints nearby the lined and these are believed to be that of  Rama and Sita. There is also a small pond on the hillock which was built for Sita.
The pasupu kumkuma of Sitamma are small depressions or shallow pits on the ground. These were used by Sita for placing and storing  saffron, turmeric and kumkum.

The Sita Ramalayam is a temple dedicated to Rama and Sita.

Go around the fort and take in the temples, ammunition dumps, gateways, ruined walls, buildings, bastions, mosques, tombs Prataparudruni Kota, horse stables, elephant sheds, prison, a huge dining hall, an enormous hall, secret passages, narrow paths, guns, cannons and even cannon balls. And if you are a sport, go through the Firangi cannon.
The ruins are named Chitrakota, Tratikota and  Nimmakota.

Interestingly, there are many wells in the fort, which have been constructed by successive rulers. Some of them have unique names such as Topubavi, Nallakayyabavi, Pasarubavi, Haribavi, Achchammabavi, Ammagaribavi

This fort is on the way from Karimnagar to Manthani. One needs to follow the Karimnagar-Manthani road till Begumpet village. The fort is around 2 kms from there and it can be reached only on foot. The nearest railway station is Peddapalli which is on the New Delhi-Kazipet line.