Kurnool state was a small princely state during the

Company rule in India Company rule in India (also known as the Company Raj, from Hindi , ) refers to regions of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC, founded in 1600, established its first trading post in India ...

. It had its capital at the town of

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema". Kurnool is also famous for Diamond hunting as diamonds ca ...

in the present-day state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and was eventually annexed by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

History

Kurnool State was established by a Pathan general. It was ruled by ''Nawabs'' until the British Government took over in 1839. Kurnool was initially under the suzerainty of the

Nizam of Hyderabad Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...

. After the Nizam ceded the region to the

, the ''nawab'', Aluf Khan, agreed to pay a voluntary ''peishcush'' of rupees one lakh to the Company government.

Uprising against the company

Ghulam Rasul Khan Bahadur (died on 12 July 1840) was the last

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

. He ruled from 1823 to 1839 until the kingdom was defeated by the

. The

Wahhabi movement Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other p ...

was popularised in India by

Shah Ismail Dehlvi Shah Ismail Dehlvi (26 April, 1779 – 6 May, 1831) was an Indian Islamic scholar and Salafi-oriented Sufi and theologian. He was an active member in the jihad proclaimed by Sayyid Ahmad of Raebareli with the support of Pashtun tribes agai ...

in the 18th century. Mubarez-ud-Daulah, younger brother of the ''Nizam'' of Hyderabad,

Nasir-ud-Daulah Mir Farqunda Ali Khan (25 April 1794 – 16 May 1857) commonly known as Nasir-ud-Daulah, was fourth Nizam of Hyderabad, a princely state of British India, from 24 May 1829 until his death in 1857. Born as Farqunda Ali Khan to Nizam Sikandar ...

, was inspired by the Wahhabi movement. According to Thomas Herbert Maddock, Mubarez-ud-Daulah was instrumental in spreading the Wahhabi movement in the

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

region. Nawab Rasool Khan of Kurnool was also influenced by the movement. When Mubarez-ud-Daulah learned of it, he struck a secret deal with him. According to the deal, Rasool Khan would set up a secret arsenal to manufacture arms. In return, Mubarez-ud-Daulah would provide monetary help. In , a rumor spread that a Russian army was advancing towards India from Central Asia. It was also believed that the combined armies of Mubarez-ud-Daulah and Rasool Khan had overthrown the East India Company and defeated Nizam

. Subsequently, the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

would be restored and Mubarez-ud-Daulah would be appointed ''

subahdar Subahdar, also known as Nazim, was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty, Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, and the Mughal era who was alternately designated as Sahib- ...

'' of Deccan by

Mohammad Shah Qajar Mohammad Shah (; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar ''shah'' of Iran from 1834 to 1848, inheriting the throne from his grandfather, Fath-Ali Shah. From a young age, Mohammad Mirza was under the tutela ...

, the Shah of Persia. On 12 October 1839, a war broke out between

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

and the kingdom and continued for six days until the king was detained on 18 October. He was subsequently sent to

Tiruchirappalli Central Prison Tiruchirapalli Central Prison is located in Tiruchirapalli, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List ...

where he died on 12 July 1840.

Rulers

List of the Pathan ''nawabs'' of Kurnool-

References

{{coord missing, Andhra Pradesh Princely states of India

History

Uprising against the company

Rulers

See also

References