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 General whom the British never captured

It was May 1799 and the British forces had just breached the fort of Srirangapatna. They entered the city through the breach and killed Tipu Sultan without knowing his identity.

Soon after they recognized Tipu who had fallen dead near the Water Gate, the British soldiers went on a hunt. Their target this time was Yaar Mohammad, who was described as the right hand man of Tipu.

Though the British scanned every inch of Srirangapatna and its surroundings they did not find any trace of Yaar Mohammad. Apart from Tipu, the British had set a high price on Yaar whom they wanted dead or alive. He was after Tipu the most wanted man in India.

Yaar was the commander-in-chief of the Mysore Army. Along with Tipu he had given the British a hard time during the 1799 war. He was considered to be the right hand man of Tipu.

While the British had managed to kill Tipu, they found no trace of Yaar. Their hatred of this soldier was so great that they launched a country-wide manhunt for him. Yet, no trace of this brave soldier could be found.

There were several rumours of Yaar being spotted in one province or other. Despite their best efforts, Yaar continued to elude them.

Who was Yaar and why did the British want him so desperately.

This is the story of Yaar Mohammad.

Born into a Rajput Muslim family in the 18th century, he was the son of Shah Mohammad, a Sufi Saint. Tipu was among the several people who were deeply influenced by this Sufi saint. When he came of age, he joined the Mysore Army and soon distinguished himself on the field.

Tipu was deeply impressed by the valour and patriotism of Yaar. He then was designated as Commander by Tipu himself. Other noblemen and people of Mysore called Yaar as Ghazi-e Mysore. 

Tipu was so reliant on Yaar that he used him as the last resort. Once during his campaign in Coorg, Tipu found that he was losing men and material to the Coorg Army.

It was 1787 and Tipu had set his sights on conquering Coorg. However, his Army was worsted in a series of skirmishes and in all of them a major part was played by a Coorgi youth called Muthanna.

When all efforts to capture Muthanna failed. Tipu sent for Yaar and asked him to do the needful. Yaar studied the topography of Coorg and realized that Muthanna was taking shelter of the natural hills and using it to his advantage.

Moreover, Muthanna was moving from one village to another and skillfully marshalling the Coorgi army. The Mysore Army was thus always one step behind him.
Yaar then decided to literally smoke Muthanna out. He set fire to all the villages that the Mysore Army came across, leaving no option to Muthana but to stand his ground and fight.

Finally, after seven weary months, Muthanna was captured and beheaded. Tipu wanted to see the enemy who had given him so much trouble. Yaar sent the head of  Muthanna on a platter. When Tipu saw the handsome face, he immediately ordered Muthanna to be given a decent burial.

As far as Yaar was concerned, he had once again done his job.      

During the 1799 war too, he distinguished himself but when he saw Tipu dead and the British enter Srirangapatnam, he decided to leave Srirangapatna.

He managed to evade capture by the British and left Srirangapatna though it was heavily blanketed by the troops of the British and their allies.  

The British declared him a wanted man but to no avail. They put a reward on his head. They cold bloodedly killed some of his family members. But Yaar Mohammad, his son Illah Baksh and father Noor Mohammad vanished into the vast Indian heartland.

He is believed to have first gone to the Kulu Hills and from there to the Punjab which was ruled by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.   

The three men were constantly on the run. All efforts by the British to capture them failed and Yaar Mohammad died in the early years of the 19th century.

Yaar was among the handful of people that Tipu relied upon in his last days.  One of the few men who manage to survive the British blizzard of 1799 was Dewan Purnaiah. He later joined service in the court of Wodeyars.

It is to Purnaiah’s credit that he managed to safeguard some of the personal effects of Tipu.     

Yaar Mohammad’s descendents still live in Toda in the Punjab province in Pakistan.

Bijapur and the Gandhi connection

There is new addition to the history of Bijapur, the capital of the Adil Shahis. Already known as the City of Gol Gumbaz and Ibrahim Rouza, Bijapur now boats of a new addition and one that it closely connected to the Father of the Nation.

A few days ago, the Defence Ministry gifted the Sainik School of Bijapur with a Bofors Gun. This is a 5.5 inch Howitzer gun and it is placed within the vast campus of the Sainik School.

It is a medium range gun and it has seen action in several wars and for the first time in India in the India-Pakistan conflict of 1947-48. Subsequently, it was in the thick of action such in the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan and also the 1962 war with China.

This gun has played a vital role in destroying Patton tanks of the Paikstan Army at the Khem Karan sector in the Punjab in  the war against Pakistan. In 1965, Pakistan captured the border town of  Khem Karan, pushing hundreds of tanks into India.

India retaliated and one of the largest tank battles was fought from September 8 to September 10. This is called the battle of Asal Uttar. The Pakistanis lost 110 tanks and the Indians 10 tanks.

Pervez Musharraf, who later became President of Pakistan, was a lieutenant of 16 (SP) Artillery field Regiment, 1st Armoured Division.

After the battle, a new town was set up called Patton Nagar. This was the very place where a large number of Patton and Sherman tanks belonging to Pakistan were either captured or destroyed. Khem Karan is just five kms from the border with Pakistan. Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675) visited it during his wanderings.

The small town was in Lahore district before  the partition of India. It then became a part of Amritsar district. Now it is in Tarn Taran district.

This Bofors gun also played a role in knocking out the Pakistani tanks. It was first introduced in the Indian Army in 1942 by the British and the Indians inherited it. It was finally decommissioned in 1998. Since then it had been lying in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.

What makes this gun different is that it is this very apparatus that was used to carry the ashes of  Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. Let me make it clear. This is a gun and not the gun carrier that carried the body of Mahatma Gandhi (The same carrier was used to carry the body of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mother Theresa).

Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead at 5-10 p.m., on January 30, 1948 when he was walking to a prayer meeting at Birla House in Delhi. The last Congress leader to see and speak to him was Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the then Home Minister.

Gandhi was late for the prayer meeting as the discussion with Patel had ended late. Gandhi was walking slowly to the venue of the meeting, supported by Manu and Abha.

Though he had been warned about attacks on him, Gandhi had chosen to disregard pleas by Prime Minister Nehru, Patel and others for security to him. The year 1948 was seeing communal tensions and India and Pakistan were not on very friendly terms. There was revulsion and hatred over the mass killings on both sides of the border.

Nathuram Godse and some of his friends had held Gandhi responsible for the ills of partition. They had hatched a plan to eliminate Gandhi and had chosen the venue of the daily prayer meeting at Birla House for the act.      

Godse came forward, pushing his way through a throng of 500 people, and bent towards Gandhi as if doing a pranam. He then shot Gandhi and point blank range,

Gandhi collapsed and died. His body was taken to Raj Ghat in a  gun carriage. Later, his ashes were immersed and this Bofors Gun had the honour to carry his ashes.

The gun is on display in the Sainik School and you need permission from the school authorities to enter the campus.

The gun as an equipment (not the gun at Sainik School )was first introduced in the European sector during the middle of the  second world war. It was completely manufactured in Britain. It was introduced in 1941 and later in north Africa. It was later inducted into the Indian Army.

The gun was in production from 1941 to 1945. Apart from Britain and India, it was used by Australia, New Zealand, France, Poland, Canada, Portugal, Iraq, Malaysia, Burma ,Oman and Pakistan.

South Africa used this gun extensively in the Bush war or Border war from 1966 to 1989 with Angola.  

If you have the time and interest contrast this gun with the massive Malik-I-Maidan Tope which is placed on the ramparts of outer fort of Bijapur.

Mailk I Maidan means the monarch of the plains,. It weighs 55 tonnes and it is placed on a specially made platform called Shah Burz. It is 4 metres long and 1.5 metres in diameter. The gunner, after firing, would remain underwater as the sound was deafening.

It was cast in 1549 in Ahmednagar by Mohammad Bin Hassan  Rumi and captured by the Bijapur General Murari Pandit who  brought it to Bijapur as a war trophy. Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor,  wrote that he subdued the Malik-I-Maidan in 1686.

Well, this is the story of the 5.5 Howitzer Gun and its earlier Indian ancestor The Malil- I- Maidan..

All kudos for the Army in tackling the enemy and making maximum use of the artillery. But is not ironical that a piece of artillery is associated with a man who preached non-violence and ahimsa.

Gandhi always shunned violence. He believed in the saying, “Show your other cheek, if you get slapped on the first cheek.”  Mother Teresa too believed in peace and non-violence. The bodies of  Gandhi and Teresa were taken on  a gun carriage. Let us think if they would have approved of such an act.

Once again, let me make it clear that I have nothing against the Indian Army or any Defence or para-military force They have been doing and are doing a wonderful job, safeguarding our nation amd protecting our borders. Three cheers to them and may their tribe increase.

But what galls me is the insensitivity of the political class in making use of the armed force for civilian use. The armed forces are meant for external use and they must not be made use of for internal security and for carrying out such tasks. This is my personal opinion and I hold no prejudice against any body.