Later Mughals v2.c14.s6: Sec. 30.—Rise of Ali Muhammad Khan Rohela.
Later Mughals v2.c14.s6
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Sec. 30.—Rise of Ali Muhammad Khan Rohela.
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The country known by the modern name of Rohilkhand was called by the Hindus Katahr, and up to the end of the first quarter of the 18th century the Muhammadans usually styled it Sambhal-Muradabad. Under them it formed a part of the province of Dihli. It is about 12,000 square miles in extent, taking it as co-extensive with the present Rohilkhand division. It has to the west and south the river Ganges, on the north the strip of land under the Himalayas called the Tarai (or marsh land), and on the east the province of Oudh. Its name of Rohilkhand came into use most probably from the Daudzai Pathans who settled in the south-east corner of the tract in the 17th century and founded the important town of Shahjahanpur. Daryai Khan, Diler Khan and Bahadur Khan, chiefs of this clan, were leading generals in the reign of Shah Jahan (1628-1658). Roh, meaning "mountainous", is the name given by the Afghans to their native country. Adding to this the Hindi ending ela, used to denote a person belonging to a particular group or section, we obtain Rohela, a man from the land of Roh; thence is derived Rohil-khand, the division or district inhabited by the Rohelas. [M. U. ii. 18, 42; i. 415; Gulistan-i-Rahmat.]
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An Afghan saint, Shaikh Shihab-ud-din Badalzai, was succeeded by his third son, Mahmud Khan, known as Shaikh Muti, who took up his abode at the village of Toru Shahamatpur in Roh. On Mahmud Khan’s death his five sons divided his property, and in the share of the youngest son, Shah Alam Khan, was included a slave called Daud. Some time in the reign of Bahadur Shah (1707-1712), this man Daud ran away from his master to seek his fortune in Hindustan. He found his way into Katahr (now known as Rohilkhand).
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Between 1712 and 1715 the Rajputs of Katahr took possession of a part of sarkar Budaon (in Rohilkhand) and refused to pay revenue to the imperial treasury. One of the principal leaders of these landholders was Mudar Shah of Madhkar and Ajaon in pargana Barsir of sarkar Budaon. On his arrival in the country, Daud had with him two or three men, but he soon increased them to two hundred. With this force he entered the service of the Rajput Mudar Shah. As was usual in those days, the neighbouring zamindars were continually at warfare with each other. Once Daud was sent against the village of Bankauli, in pargana Chaumahla, with which his employer was at feud. Along with the plunder taken on this occasion Daud obtained possession of a Jat boy seven or eight years of age, whom he caused to be circumcised and then adopted under the name of Ali Muhammad Khan.*
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After some years Shah Alam Khan, who had once been Daud Khan’s master, hearing of his former slave’s success, came to visit him in Hindustan. He was kindly received and dismissed with a present. A second time, five or six years afterwards, he again paid a visit to India and urged Daud to return with him to Afghanistan. But Daud, who had obtained possession of Banaholi† and other villages and was at the head of four or five hundred fighting men, protested vigorously against abandoning his position. Shah Alam Khan was forced to set out alone on his return journey. At Dihli he was seized by some horse merchants who were creditors of Daud Khan, and was only released on his promising to return to Katahr and procure the payment of the debt due to them. As he had promised, he again entreated Daud Khan to leave India. Wearied by these importunities, Daud resolved to have his former master assassinated. While they were both on an expedition against some refractory zamindars, four murderers entered Shah Alam Khan’s tent and slew him. Daud Khan tried to obtain the murdered man’s property from some merchants at Dihli in whose charge it was, but he declined to part with it, the deceased having left a son at his village of Toru Shahamatpur in the land of Roh, whither they meant to send it. This boy, alleged to have been then four or five years of age, was the well-known Hafiz Rahmat Khan. [Gulistan-i-Rahmat.]
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∗ As this expedition presumably occurred in 1715, Ali Mhd. Kh. must have been born about 1707 or 1708 A.D.
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† C. Elliott omits this name. Matkar, 13 m. e. of Chandausi [J.S.]
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About twelve months after the death of Shah Alam Khan, Daud Khan threw up the service of Mudar Shah and entered that of Debi Chand, ruler of Kumaon, by whom he was placed in charge of the forts at the foot of the hills. Soon after, it was determined by the Wazir Qamar-ud-din Khan Itimad-ud-daulah, who held the office of faujdar of Muradabad, to take action against the combined forces of the Rohelas and the hill rajah. It was reported at Dihli that about twenty thousand Afghan horse and foot had collected near Bans Bareli and Sambhal-Muradabad. They interfered with the peasantry and plundered travellers on the highroad and took possession of estates. Some of the zamindars had made terms with them. The imperial administration was practically set aside and the imperial revenue had ceased to be collected. [Shiu Das 79, Rustam Ali’s Urdu Tarikh-i-Rohela, Gulistan-i-Rahmat.]
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Azmat-ullah Khan Lakhnavi, the deputy governor under Qamar-ud-din Khan, was ordered to exert himself to suppress these disorders. He obtained the aid of the faujdar of Bareli and their conjoined forces advanced to the attack. The armies met not far from Rudrapur. The Rohelas, confident in their strength, advanced two kos and began the fight with musket-ball and arrow. Soon they came to close quarters, and the fight lasted nearly an hour, and both sides lost heavily. Azmat-ullah Khan, after many men had been disabled, dismounted and fought on foot with all his relations round him. The enemy retreated and when the pursuers caught them up they turned towards the river and fled. But there were no boats: the faujdars had previously caused them to be dispersed. By this victory the province was once more brought under subjection to the imperial authority. This event occurred about December 1721. [Shiu Das 79a, Gulistan-i-Rahmat.]
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Daud Khan is supposed to have been in collusion with the imperialists and to have deserted the Rajah in the field. After the defeat Daud Khan attempted to seize the Rajah's person as a hostage for the recovery of the arrears due to himself and his troops. The attempt was foiled by the fidelity of the hillmen. The Rajah went off to Kakar Dahra; and thence sent to the Rohela general an invitation to attend and receive his pay and arrears. Daud Khan, suspecting no treachery, obeyed this order; thereupon the Rajah ordered him to be seized, and he with all his companions was put to death. The chief surviving leaders, Malik Shadi Khan and Sadar Khan Kamalzai, and Bakhshi Sardar Khan, placed his adopted son, Ali Muhammad Khan, at the head of his force, four to five hundred in number, which was then taken into the service of the faujdar, Shaikh Azmat-ullah Khan, at Muradabad.