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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dhondia Wagh
| image = Death of Dhondji Wagh.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Body of Dhondia Wagh on gun carriage with Arthur Wellesley in foreground
| other_names = Dhondji Wagh, Dhondi Vagh, Dhundia, Dhoondia Waugh, Dhoondaji Waug, Dhoondiah Waugh, Dhundhia Wagh, Dundia Wagh, Dhondia Wagh, Dhoondia Wao, Doondia Wao, Shaikh Ahmad, Malik Jahan Khan
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Channagiri]]
| death_date = 10 September 1800
| death_place = Hire kotnekal (in present-day [[Manvi Taluk Raichur district]], [[India]])
| nationality = [[Kingdom of Mysore]]
| occupation = Soldier, Freebooter
| years_active = 18th century
| known_for = anti-East India Company insurgency in northern [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]]
| notable_works =
}}
'''Dhondia Wagh''' (died 10 September 1800) was a military soldier and adventurer in 18th century India. He started his career in the service of [[Hyder Ali]], the ruler of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]]. During the [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]], he deserted Ali's successor [[Tipu Sultan]], and subsequently raided territories on the [[Maratha Confederacy|Maratha]]-Mysore border. After the Marathas forced him to retreat, he sought refuge from Tipu and converted to [[Islam]], changing his name to '''Malik Jahan Khan'''. After Tipu's death in the [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]], he raised a force comprising soldiers from the former Mysore Army, and took control of northern part of the Mysore Kingdom. He styled himself as ''Ubhaya-Lokadheeshwara'' ("King of two Worlds"). The [[British East India Company]] as well as the Maratha [[Peshwa]] sent armies to check his rising power. He was ultimately defeated and killed by a British force led by [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]].

== Early life ==

Dhondia Wagh was born at [[Channagiri]] in the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] (present-day Karnataka).<ref name="MH_2005">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkbJ6xA1_jEC&pg=PA271 |title=History of Tipu Sultan |author=Mohibbul Hasan |publisher=Aakar |year=2005 |isbn=9788187879572 |pages=271–272 }}</ref> He belonged to a [[Maratha people|Maratha]] family of the Pawar clan. During the reign of [[Hyder Ali]], he joined Mysore's army as a trooper under the command of Bishnu Pandit. Gradually, he rose to the position of a [[shiledar]] (cavalry officer) during the reign of [[Tipu Sultan]].<ref name="DBP_1917">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/sanglistate00pararich#page/24/mode/2up/search/waugh |title=The Sangli state |author=Dattatray Balwant Parasnis |author-link=Dattatray Balwant Parasnis |publisher=Lakshmi Art |location=Bombay |year=1917 |pages=24–37 }}</ref>

== After Third Anglo-Mysore War ==

During the [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]], Wagh left Tipu's service, taking along several soldiers as well as considerable wealth. He took shelter under the [[desai]] (Maratha revenue collector) of [[Lakshmeshwara]]. After the war ended in 1792, he proclaimed himself as the ruler of the areas on the Maratha-Mysore border. He started plundering villages and levied taxes in areas around [[Dharwad]]. In January 1793, he captured [[Haveri]], and occupied [[Savanur State|Savanur]]. He also started raiding other territories ceded by Mysore to the Marathas as per the [[Treaty of Seringapatam]].<ref name="MH_2005"/>

In 1794, the Maratha general [[Parashuram Bhau]] sent an army commanded by Dhondopant Gokhale (also known as Dhondu Pant) to check Wagh's rising power. Gokhale forced him to flee and seek shelter with Tipu Sultan in June 1794. Recognizing his ability as a warrior, Tipu forgave his past act of desertion and asked him to convert to [[Islam]]. Wagh adopted Islam, and was given a new name "Shaikh Ahmad", although he preferred to style himself as "Malik Jahan Khan". He was given a military command in the Mysore Army. However, sometime later, he fell out of Tipu's favour, and was imprisoned. At one point, Tipu considered releasing Wagh, but his minister [[Mir Sadiq]] dissuaded him from doing so.<ref name="MH_2005"/>

== After Fourth Anglo-Mysore War ==

After the [[British East India Company]] [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|defeated]] Tipu Sultan in 1799, Dhondia Wagh and other prisoners were freed by the British troops. Wagh reached [[Shikaripur]], where he raised a band of soldiers from Tipu's former army. He gained support of Krishnappa Nayaka of Balam, and declared himself ''Ubhaya-[[Loka]]dheeshwara'' (King of the Two Worlds). He also assumed the title of [[Nayak (title)|Nayaka]] of [[Bidnur]] (in the style of the [[Nayakas of Keladi]]). While the British were busy strengthening their hold over Mysore, Wagh started collecting taxes from traders and cultivators in and around [[Shimoga]]. The [[polygar]] feudal lords of [[Hangal]], [[Harpanahalli]], [[Ranebennuru]], [[Savanur]], [[Sodhe]] and [[Vittal]] acknowledged his suzerainty. At the height of his power, he is believed to have gathered an army of 90,000 cavalry and 80,000 infantry.<ref name="DharwadGaz">{{cite web |url=http://www.karnataka.gov.in/Gazetteer/Publications/District%20Gazetteers/Dharwad%20District/2003/Chapter%2002%20History%20Dharwad%20Dist%20Gaz%202002.pdf |title=Dharwad District Gazetteer |publisher=Government of Karnataka |accessdate=29 December 2015 }}</ref> By July 1799, he had become enough of a nuisance for the British to send a force against him.<ref name="CLK_1916">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/storyofdukeofcam00king#page/44/mode/2up/search/Doondia |title=The Story of the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) |author=Charles Lethbridge Kingsford |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |location=New York |year=1916 |pages=45–46 }}</ref>

In 1799, Wagh led a small band northwards, and raided territories located around the Maratha-Mysore border. He entered the present-day [[Dharwad district]] with 300 men, and sought an alliance with the Maratha chief Dhondopant Gokhale, who had earlier helped rogue mercenaries plunder territories in Dharwad. However, Gokhale did not entertain him.<ref name="DharwadGaz"/> In fact, he launched a surprise attack on Wagh's camp and plundered it. Wagh then vowed to "dye his mustache in the blood of Gokhale's heart".<ref name="DBP_1917"/> Subsequently, he took shelter in [[Kolhapur State|Kolhapur]] but had to leave after a conflict with the local authorities. He returned to Shimoga and then re-entered Dharwad with a larger force. In 1800, he occupied Savannur, followed by [[Dambal]] on 4 May. By this time, he controlled all the forts in the present-day [[Haveri district]], with the exception of [[Havanur]]. He also captured the [[Jamalabad]] fort built by Tipu. Several soldiers disbanded from [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]], [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] and [[Kadapa]] joined him.<ref name="DharwadGaz"/>

=== Wellesley's campaign ===
[[File:Pursuit of Dhondji Wagh.jpg|thumb|Map to illustrate the march of the British Army in pursuit of Dhondia Wagh in July, August and September 1800]]
Alarmed at his rising power, the British decided to send a strong force against him. In May 1800, the newly-appointed British Governor of Mysore [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|General Wellesley]] was given his first independent command.<ref name="CLK_1916" /> Describing the seriousness of Wagh's insurgency, General Wellesley wrote to the [[Governor General of India|Governor General]] [[Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley|Marquess Wellesley]] on 26 May:<ref name="JG_1844">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwU-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA106 |title=The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington Volume I |editor=John Gurwood |publisher=Parker, Furnivall, and Parker |location=London |year=1844 |pages=106–107 }}</ref>

{{quotation|If we do not get him, we must expect a general insurrection of all the discontented and disaffected of these countries. I have information that letters have been received by most of them, either from him, or from others written in his name, calling upon them to take the opportunity to rebel against the Company's government, or that of their allies; and his invasion of our territory is looked to as a circumstance favorable to their views. The destruction of this man, therefore, is absolutely necessary for our tranquillity.}}

In June 1800, Wellesley gathered a force made up of the [[25th Light Dragoons]], [[73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot|73rd Foot]], [[77th Foot]] and native troops at [[Chitradurga Fort|Chitradurga]]. As the British advanced towards him, Wagh fled to Maratha-controlled territory. General Wellesley obtained permission from the Maratha [[Peshwa]] to pursue Wagh in the Maratha territory. The Peshwa also dispatched a Maratha force led by Chintamanrao Patwardhan against Wagh.<ref name="DBP_1917"/> Wellesley reached [[Harihar]] on 16 June; Wagh, meanwhile, fled and reached Hubli on 19 June. On 20 June, Wellesley's men captured the [[Airani]] fort. Over the next week, the British also captured the [[Ranibennur]] fort. The British handed over all these forts to Patwardhan for his help.<ref name="DharwadGaz"/> The British also stormed the Bidnur fort on 27 June, but Wagh still remained elusive.<ref name="CLK_1916"/>

Meanwhile, Dhondopant Gokhale, with his two nephews Appaji Ganesh and Bapuji Ganesh, also joined Patwardhan's Maratha force. On 30 June, the Marathas attacked Wagh at Dawangi Nala near [[Kittur]]. Dhondopant Gokhale and his few men, separated from the main army, were caught in an ambush. Wagh killed Gokhale and his nephew Appaji at [[Londa, Karnataka|Londa]], and is said to have literally fulfilled his vow by colouring his mustache with Gokhale's blood. Patwardhan then attacked Wagh, but was severely injured in the battle. Along with Bapuji Gokhale and other Marathas, he had to take refuge in the British-controlled fort at [[Haliyal]].<ref name="DBP_1917"/>

On 4 July 1800, General Wellesley sent a letter to Patwardhan, praising his bravery in the battle, and invited him to join the British operations against Wagh. The British forces continued pursuing Wagh, and took control of [[Savanur]] on 12 July. Wellesley's advance was slowed down by bad weather.<ref name="DBP_1917"/> Meanwhile, Wagh had advanced towards [[Kittur]], before retreating to [[Kundgol]] after hearing about Wellesley's army. He left 600 soldiers at Kundgol, and reached [[Annigeri]] on 17 July, via [[Kanavi]].<ref name="DharwadGaz"/> On 25 July, Wellesley met Patwardhan, and made plans to fight Wagh.<ref name="DBP_1917"/> The next day, a joint British-Maratha force captured the Dambal fort, which was being guarded by a thousand of Wagh's men. Wagh continue to evade the enemy forces, traversing [[Saundatti]], Annigeri, Munavalli, Kittur, [[Khanapur]] and [[Badami]].<ref name="DharwadGaz"/> By the end of July, Wellesley's forces had captured nearly all of Wagh's former territories. After several of Wagh's men deserted him, he fled towards the [[Nizam of Hyderabad|Nizam]]'s territory. On 30 July, the British managed to launch a surprise attacked on Wagh's forces when the latter were crossing the [[Malaprabha River]] at Manoh. Wagh managed to escape, but Wellesley's force pursued him in three separate [[column (formation)|columns]], supported by the Marathas and the Nizam.<ref name="DBP_1917"/><ref name="CLK_1916"/> There were several confrontations between the two parties during August 1800.<ref name="DharwadGaz"/>

On 25 August, Wagh managed to cross the Malaprabha river. On 9 September, a column led by [[James Stevenson (East India Company officer)|Colonel Stevenson]] succeeded in intercepting Wagh.<ref name="CLK_1916"/> The next morning, Wagh was killed in a battle with General Wellesley's [[19th Light Dragoons]] near Konagal or Conaghalli (in present-day [[Raichur district]]).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/240779/he-kept-british-guessing.html |title=He kept the British guessing |author=D C Bakshi |date=10 April 2012 |newspaper=Deccan Herald }}</ref> According to the Maratha chronicles, Wellesley took away his blood-stained mustaches to England as a trophy. Wellesley offered protection to Wagh's 4-year old son Salabat Khan, and paid for his maintenance before he left for Europe. When he grew up, Salabat Khan was employed by the King of Mysore. He died of cholera in 1822.<ref name="DBP_1917"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagh, Dhondia}}
[[Category:Indian outlaws]]
[[Category:Indian warriors]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:People of the Kingdom of Mysore]]
[[Category:People from Raichur district]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam from Hinduism]]
[[Category:Islam in India]]

Dhondia Wagh - Revision history

Bot at 13:08, 15 October 2022