User talk:Rohilla123

Rohillas are Muslim highlander tribes not Rajputs ( Roh stands for mountains and Rohilla literally means mountaineer) originating from Pashtun. Roh represented the mountainous expanse, stretching from Swat and Bajaur in north to Sibi and Bhakkar in south and Hasan Abdal in east, to Kabul and Kandahar in west. The Rohillas at one time, used to reside in British India. However, due to diverse circumstances some were forced to settle in Burma and South America. The vast majority re-settled later in Pakistan during the time of Independence. Although, a vast population stayed back after partition of India in 1947, rendering the place to be named as Rohilkhand. It presently falls in the state of Uttar Pradesh

The Rohilla War of 1772-1774 was a penalising crusade by Shuja-ud-Daula, Nawab of Oudh, against the Rohillas, the highlanders settled in Rohilkhand, northern India. The Nawab was supported by troops of the British East India Company in a triumphant campaign brought about by the Rohillas going back on a debt to the Nawab.

The Rohillas were beaten back towards the mountains by the Marathas a few years earlier. As a result, they had petitioned for aid to Shuja-ud-Daula, an ally during that time of the British. He promised to help them in return for a sum of money. But when the Marathas were driven off, the Rohilla chiefs denied any pay. The Nawab then decided to annex their country and appealed to Warren Hastings for assistance.

On 3rd February 1772, Warren Hastings, the then Governor-General of India, authorised General Sir Robert Barker (c. 1729-1777) to intervene in the conflict between the Marathas and the Rohillas at the instance of the Subahdar of Oudh. The Subahdar desired an alliance, which the Company supported by sending an agent to the Rohillas to aid in the negotiations. On April 17th, they resulted in a treaty, whose terms included a Rohilla payment of forty lakhs to the Vizir of Oudh, if he expelled the Marathas from the territory of the Rohillas. Hastings justified his action on the ground that the Rohillas were a danger to the British as uncovering the flank of Oudh.

In August 1773, Hastings held a meet with Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Oudh. He acquired the Nawab agreement to pay rupees 50 lakhs for control of Allahabadand Kora. In other arrangements, Nathaniel Middleton (1750-1807) was named as Hastings personal representative to the Nawab. Hastings agreed to accept rupees 40 lakhs and expenses for the loan of a brigade of Company troops to the Nawab in the event of a conflict with the Rohillas.

In January 1774, Hastings ordered a brigade of the Company army, under the command of Colonel Alexander Champion (d.1793) to proceed towards Oudh. Joined by forces from Oudh on April 17, the brigade invaded the Rohilla territory. The combined force defeated the Rohillas on April 23rd at Miran Katra. The death of Hafez Ruhmet, Rohilla leader, proved the war turning point. Later in July 1774, the British and the Vizir of Oudh marched to Fyzoolla Khan. For a jagir of Rs.75,000, the English bought out the segment of Rohilkhand he possessed. A treaty of October 7th brought the hostilities to a closing.

Rohillas are Muslims
Rohillas were Muslim Pashtuns highlanders not Rajputs (Roh means mountains and Rohilla literally means mountaineer) of Pahstun origin. Roh corresponded to the mountainous region streching from Swat and Bajaru in north to Sibi and Bhakkar in south and Hasan Abdal in east to the Kabul and Kandahar in west.

Origin

Most of them belonged to Yousufzai tribe of Pahstuns, mainly of Mandanr sub-section. The term Rohilla was used for all Pathans, except for the Bangashes who settled in the Rhilkhand region, or men serving under Rohilla chiefs. They were awarded the Katehr region in northern India by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled 1658-1707) to suppress Rajput uprisings. However most of them settled in the Katehar region during Nadir Shah’s invasion of India in 1739 increasing their population up to 100,000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla Afghans, the Katehar region gained fame a Rohilkhand. Bareilly was made the capital of the Rohilkhand state. Other important cities were Muradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Baduan, and others. This region is nowadays located in modern Uttar Pardesh State of India.

History

The founders of the Pathan State of Rohilkhand were Daud Khan and his adopted son Ali Mohammed Khan. Daud khan arrived in 1705 in India along with a band of his tribe. Daud Khan was succeeded in 1721 by Ali Mohammed Khan, who became so powerful that he refused to send tax revenues to the central Government. Safdar Jang, the Nawab of Oudh, warned Mughal Emperor Mohammed Shan of the growing power of the Rohillas. This caused Mohammed Shah to sent an expedition against him as a result of which he surrendered to imperial forces. He was taken to Delhi as a prisoner, but was later pardoned and appointed governor of Sirhind. In 1748, he returned to Rohilkhand and recovered his lost possessions. Later that year Ali Mohammed Ali Khan died, leaving six sons. However, two of his elder sons were in Afghanistan at the time of his death while the other four were too young to assume the leadership of Rohilkhand. As a result, power transferred to other Rohilla Sardars, the most important being Hafiz Rahmat Khan and Dundi Khan.

Battle of Panipat in 1761

In the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) one of the Rohilla Sardars, Najib-ul-Daula, allied himself with Ahmad Shah Abdali against the Marathas. He not only provided 40,000 Rohilla troops but also 70 guns to combined forces. He also convinced the Nawab Shuja-ul-Daula of Oudh to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's forces against the Marathas. In this battle, the Maratha's were defeated and as a consequence Rohilla increased in power.

Rohilkhand was again invaded by the Marathas after the Panipat War. The Rohillas requested military help from the Nawab of Oudh Shuja-ul-Daula .He promised them in exchange for sums. However, after the defeat of the Marathas, the Rohillas refused to pay. The Wazir (minister) then decided to annex the country of Rohilkhand but he was unable to fight the Rohillas alone. Therefore he sought assistance from Warren Hastings of the British East India Company (the company had been trading in India since 1600), promising 4 million rupees in return for their military aid.

The joined forces of British and oudh invaded Rohilkhand. Rohillas fought fiercely but when their leader Hafiz Rahmat khan was killed, they faced defeat in April 1774. the whole Rohilkhand was plundered and hundreds of thousands of Rohillas flee to jungles across Ganges to save their lives. Later Rohilla began a guerilla war against British occupation. In response, the Rohillas were hunted down and slaughtered by the British and were subsequently scattered in the countryside and settled in many small towns. Later charges of destroying a nation were brought against Hastings by Edmund Burke and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Later, the British transferred Rohilkhand to the British Empire in 1774. The Rohillas took an active part in War of Independence of 1857 against British imperial forces (referred to as the Mutiny by the British historians, or the Indian Rebellion of 1857). The revolt was bitterly suppressed, and in its wake the British dramatically reorganized the government of India, bringing an end to the British East India Company's regime and leading to almost a century of direct rule of the Indian subcontinent by Britain under the British Raj.

Other Rohilla Notables

1-Nawab Ameer Khan of tonk 2-Nawab Faizullah khan 3-General Bakht khan 4-Mohammed Ali jauhar and Shaukat Ali 5-Shabzada Yaqaub Khan Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.

Nawab was the title of notables during the Mughal era in India, who helped the central authority govern different statelets within the subcontinent. During the British Period, new Nawabs were created because of the allocation of arable land to the pro-British elite.