1803

1803

In 1803, the Wahhabis, led by ‘Abd al-Aziz, seized control of Mecca.   ‘Abd al-Aziz had brought back treasures from the sacking of Imam-Hussein, the tomb site of Hussein, the son of ‘Ali.  This victory increased the fame of ‘Abd al-Aziz, while his ruthlessness quashed any lingering desire to resist him. With Imam-Hussein behind him, ‘Abd al-Aziz set his sights on Mecca.  The occupying Turks called Mecca the holy city par excellence, turning in its direction when saying their prayers.  It was also the most revered site in the Ottoman Empire, its sovereignty the highest title conferred on the Ottoman Sultan.  Control of Mecca was the basis of the Ottoman Sultan’s power, the very foundation of the empire, without which neither the Sultan nor the Empire could long survive.  Such, at least, was the belief of the Ottomans, who claimed this on the basis of the public prayer which was said every Friday in Mecca and in all mosques.  The sole title by which the Sultan was addressed in this prayer was that of Servant of the Two Sublime Ahrams of Mecca and Jerusalem.  Were Mecca to be removed from the empire, the Sultan would lose his most important title and, indeed, his claim to be emperor. 

The capture of Mecca was thus for ‘Abd al-Aziz the biggest prize of all.  Once the Wahhabi reformer had made himself master of the holy city, he would, if he remained successful, appear entrusted with nothing less than a divine mission.  ‘Abd al-Aziz lost no time in rising to the challenge.  In order to do so, he took advantage of the prevailing rift between the sharif and his brother ‘Abd al-Mayn.  The sharifat devolved upon the latter by birthright, but in this he had been thwarted by his younger brother.  ‘Abd al-Mayn turned to ‘Abd al-Aziz for help. ‘Abd al-Aziz wrote to Ghaleb appealing to him to renounce his usurpation.  His plea was contemptuously rejected and he forthwith ordered his own eldest son Saud to march on the city with a one hundred thousand strong force.

‘Abd al-Aziz’s first achievement was the capture of Taif, a small town which lies about a half day’s journey from Mecca, in fertile country abundantly supplied with sweet water.  Taif is a land of many fruits and vegetables.  Its grapes were exquisite, its watermelons so large that a single one was sufficient for ten men. In contrast, the city of Mecca lies on more arid soil and consumes the greater part of these fruits, which provide the mainstay of the caravan upon its arrival there every year. The fall of Taif caused consternation in Mecca; and the consternation grew at the news of the massacre of fifteen hundred men, both Jewish and Muslim, by the Wahhabis. Fearing he might not be able to defend himself effectively in an open city, the Sharif Ghaleb marched against ‘Abd al-Aziz hoping to expel him from Taif.  However, their forces were unevenly matched.  Ghaleb was defeated and forced to withdraw into the city with the remnants of his army.   

Meanwhile ‘Abdallah, the pasha of Damascus and leader of the caravan to Mecca, was travelling to this city with pilgrims.  On his arrival at the small desert village of Mezerib, two days from Damascus, ‘Abdallah learned that Taif had fallen to the Wahhabis and that they were then advancing towards Mecca.  He immediately dispatched some Tartars with the news to Istanbul, while proceeding with his own journey, uncertain of what awaited him. At first, ‘Abdallah encountered no obstacles.  However, it was only four days away from Mecca that ‘Abdallah met with a party of four hundred Wahhabis who, under the pretext of levying the tool payable to the Bedouins, demanded four times the amount that was due.  ‘Abdallah refused to pay and, forced to defend himself, defeated the Wahhabis, killing 150 of their men. 

Following these first hostilities, ‘Abdallah felt that it would be unwise to enter into Mecca without first consulting ‘Abd al-Aziz, to whom he wrote complaining of the treatment he had endured.  He pointed out that the Wahhabis had committed an injustice by demanding a higher levy than was the custom, which he would have paid without opposition. He observed that the Wahhabis’ behavior had compelled him to meet force by force.  Fearing that these first hostilities might be the prelude to a greater conflict between himself and ‘Abd al-Aziz, ‘Abdallah wished to know the latter’s wishes before continuing his journey.  He finally asked him to state whether they were to regard each other as friends or enemies, and whether he could proceed towards Mecca without fear. 

It was not within ‘Abd al-Aziz’s intentions to antagonize the Ottoman Sultan, by offending the pasha of Damascus.  He, therefore, sent ‘Abdallah a favorable reply, assuring him that his course of action had been the right one, and that those who had met with death had done so justly.  Their accomplices would be punished.  “I have not come to combat you,” he wrote, “but to wage war on Ghaleb.  You may, therefore, enter Mecca with the pilgrims.  I grant you three days stay there, and during these three days you shall have no reason to fear my men.  At the end of these three days, I shall myself enter Mecca in person and will return ‘Abd al Mayn his rightful title.”

‘Abdallah took advantage of ‘Abd al-Aziz’s friendly disposition to send him Adam Effendi.  This sheikh, formerly qadi of Jerusalem, had left Istanbul to join the pasha in Damascus and travel with him to Mecca.  He was sent to the general of the Wahhabis in order to assure him of the Sultan’s good will.  But in fact, Adam Effendi was sent to the Wahhabis to corrupt and divide the tribal chiefs who had recently adopted the new creed.  It was hoped that such corruption and division would naturally have sown war among the Wahhabis; would restore their lost independence to the different Arab tribes which made them up; and, in so doing, would have brought these Arabs back to a state of weakness.  To that end, Adam Effendi had conferred at length with the muftis and men of law in Istanbul, discussing means of reconciling the tenets of the Wahhabis with the more orthodox Muslims. 

At first it was believed that such a reconciliation would be possible by compromising on a few points.  Adam Effendi, the negotiator, was mandated to confer with Sheikh Hussein, then the head of the new religion.  Adam Effendi had accepted this undertaking with trepidations while in Istanbul.  However, in the face of the Wahhabis’ intolerance and of the perilous attempt to come to some arrangement with zealots who would hear of none, Adam Effendi found the task both difficult and dangerous. The meetings he was entrusted with conducting entailed a degree of discussion.  However, the discussion, in and of itself, was in the eyes of the Wahhabis a crime punishable by death.  Adam Effendi therefore decided – albeit too late – to revoke his commitment and abandon his mission.  ‘Abdallah Pasha, faithfully following the orders of the Ottoman Porte, would not hear of his reasons, and had him taken under guard before ‘Abd al-Aziz.  Nothing further was heard from Adam Effendi, who undoubtedly perished a hostage to the politics of the Porte and the intolerance of the new prophet.

While these meetings between ‘Abd al-Aziz and ‘Abdallah were in progress, Ghaleb, already defeated by the Wahhabis near Mecca, went to see ‘Abdallah.  He begged him to mediate between himself and Saud (the son of ‘Abd al-Aziz), offering peace on the latter’s terms. 

The proposal fell upon deaf ears.  ‘Abd al-Aziz replied that ‘Abdallah should not interfere with his dealings with Ghaleb; that he had already done ‘Abdallah a great favor by allowing him to enter into Mecca; that, without withdrawing it, he was insistent upon the conditional clause which was attached to it, namely that ‘Abdallah should remain in the city for three days only; that after this time, he would himself go to Mecca; and that he would be satisfied with nothing less than Ghaleb’s death.

‘Abdallah pressed the matter no further, entering and departing from Mecca within the agreed period.  Ghaleb, unable to offer any further resistance, seized upon ‘Abdallah’s departure to escape with ‘Abdallah, accompanied by Sharif Pasha of Jeddah.  The two men arrived safely in Medina from where they proceeded onwards to Jeddah a few days later.   

While ‘Abdallah and the Sharif Pasha of Jeddah fortified themselves in that town, ‘Abd al-Aziz appeared before Mecca at the head of his victorious army and entered it unopposed. Mecca’s inhabitants were treated with due leniency.  Nevertheless, the Qadi of Mecca, Menib Effendi, was deposed and put to death since he would not adhere to the precepts of Wahhabism.  Twenty sheikhs followed him as martyrs to their faith.  The others were more cautious, and gave way or simply avoided proclaiming their stand.  Nevertheless, ‘Abd al-Aziz, in keeping with the tenets of the Wahhabi creed, proceeded to destroy all shrines built to prophets both inside and outside Mecca.  Running through the center of the town was a long avenue, called Tawaf in Arabic, which it is the pilgrims’ custom to go round seven times before leaving the city. Over the years, this meeting place had become the center of their trading activities.  It was surrounded with shops displaying the goods brought by caravan.  ‘Abd al-Aziz ordered them all to be destroyed, claiming that they desecrated the Tawaf.  The zeal he brought to converting the inhabitants of the town did not make him forget the treasures contained in the Kaaba, or Holy House.  The shrine of Abraham, which had been preserved, was covered with a rich carpet woven with gold cloth and silk.  ‘Abd al-Aziz ordered its removal and replaced it with a palm mat.  Well aware of the reverence in which the Arabs hold Abraham as their oldest sheikh, ‘Abd al-Aziz dared not destroy his tomb.  However, this was the only one to be respected. Those of Hassan and Qasim, which were revered by the Shi‘a, who had adorned them with great riches, were destroyed along with all the others.

Thus enriched by the spoils of Mecca, ‘Abd al-Aziz sought to secure control of the city itself.  He reinstated ‘Abd al-Mayn to the throne of the sharifs.  However, so that the title should remain a vain one, and in order to keep ‘Abd al-Mayn under Wahhabi control, ‘Abd al-Aziz left ‘Abd al-Mayn a mutasallem, or governor, heading a four hundred strong garrison in charge of the citadel.  Thus assured of his obedience, ‘Abd al-Aziz departed from Mecca to march against Jeddah.

{1217/1218 A.H. - APR 23}

1803 C.C.

MUSLIM HISTORY

ASIA

The Ottoman Empire

Istanbul lost 150,000 to the plague.

Western Asia

Saudia Arabia

The Wahhabis seized control of Mecca.  The pilgrimage route to Mecca was subsequently severed.

The Wahhabis occupied Taif (in March) and Mecca (on April 30).  The Wahhabis destroyed all mausoleums and mosques with domes (an architectural detail they deemed inherently polytheistic) and all buildings that were un-Islamic in architecture.  This was obviously a challenge to the sultan’s supremacy in the region, as guarantor of the sanctity and protection of the holy cities.  It was a challenge for the Meccans as well, particularly when the Wahhabi began formulating rules in Mecca based on their religious principles. 

It should be noted that the strict morals introduced in Mecca by the Wahhabis ran counter to its people’s customs and habits.  The status of the holy city made its inhabitants feel superior to all other Muslims and led them to excuse a certain lewdness of behavior.  Whole blocks of Mecca belonged to prostitutes, who even paid a tax on their occupation.  Homosexuality was widespread.  Alcohol was sold almost at the gate of the Ka‘ba and drunkenness was not uncommon.

The Wahhabi had begun to restrict access to the holy sites by Ottoman pilgrims, particularly Egyptians and Syrians, beginning in 1803.  They also set rules of behavior for pilgrims, many of whom had arrived with musical instruments (which were subsequently banned) and other items considered trappings of earthly pleasure or idolatrous. Restrictions grew annually, as did the fees levied on caravans and their individual travelers.

There were fears the Wahhabi would attack and conquer Syria, declare the sultan as a usurper of the caliphate, and attempt to restore the Umayyads to power.  The Porte asked its governors in Baghdad and Acca (present day Israel) for help in defeating the Wahhabis, but received none.  Ultimately, the Ottomans dispatched only a small group of Turks to Hijaz.  However, the Wahhabi hold on Hijaz proved weak.  Forces laying siege to Jeddah, severely depleted by casualties and weakened by disease, withdrew, retreating to Diriya.  A small garrison the Wahhabi had left in Mecca was defeated by the Ottomans in July of 1803.

The Hijaz came under Wahhabi domination (1803).

The Hijaz is a region in the Arabian Peninsula in which the holy cities of Islam (Mecca and Medina) are located.  By virtue of this circumstance, the Mameluke sultanate and Ottoman Empire could each claim to be the supreme power of Islam by controlling the Hijaz.  The Ottomans took over the Hijaz in 1517.  Except for the period of Wahhabi domination, between 1803 and 1813, the Hijaz remained a part of the Ottoman dominion until the Arab revolt in 1916. 

However, the Hijaz never became a regular Ottoman province.  Its geographical distance from Istanbul and predominantly Bedouin population were only two of the factors that prevented the integration of the Hijaz into the Ottoman administrative system.  The presence of the sherifs(sharifs) of Mecca, who were descendants of the prophet Muhammad and the caliph Ali, possessed local political power that the Ottoman state could not ignore.   Attempts to eliminate their influence in the early 1880s were unsuccessful.  The Hijaz continued to be governed officially by an Ottoman governor appointed from Istanbul, but it was the sherifs who had the real power.  During the period of Abdulhamid II, the Hijaz became an effective tool of the pan-Islamist propaganda of the Ottoman state.  The Hijaz railway, financed by Islamic capital, was considered to be an achievement for pan-Islamism.

***

‘Abd al-Aziz, the Wahhabi leader, was murdered.

In the fall of 1803, ‘Abd al-Aziz was murdered at the age of 82 in the Turaif mosque in Diriya by a Kurdish dervish who had been living as a guest at the court.  The assassin, who was killed on the spot, was thought to be a Shi‘a and a former resident of Karbala who had witnessed the Wahhabi attack and slaughter of his city, and his intended victim was believed to be Saud, the son of ‘Abd al-Aziz. Saud returned to Diriya and received the allegiance of all his father’s allies and supporters.  The great grandson of the original Saud who established the Al Saud dynasty, Saud ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz was 55 when he became emir of Diriya.  Saud was a veteran of Wahhabi campaigns; his first had been more than 35 years before, in 1767.

‘Abd al-Aziz (‘Abd al-‘Aziz bin Muhammad al Sa‘ud) reigned from 1765 to 1803.  He succeeded his father Muhammad bin Sa‘ud as the second leader of the Al Sa‘ud state.  Close to Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of the Wahhabi movement.  ‘Abd al-‘Aziz waged war on towns and regions which remained opposed to the Wahhabi message.  Under his leadership, Saudi control was extended over al-Ahsa, al-Qatif, al-Buraymi, and temporarily over Mecca. 

Persian Gulf States

The greatest of the Qawasim chiefs, Sultan bin Saqr, came to power in Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah.

Sultan bin Saqr al Qasimi is remembered as the pre-eminent among the Al Qawasim rulers. Sultan (his name, not his title) ruled over the Qawasim dominions of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah as well as Qishm on the Persian side of the Gulf, from 1803 to 1866.  He was the principal rival of the Bani Yas rulers in Abu Dhabi but supported the trucial system imposed by the British.  Following his death, at an age variously estimated from the late 80s to the advanced 90s, the large Qawasim state soon split, with branches of the Al Qasimi clan ruling in Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah.

The Qawasim are a tribe to which the ruling families of the emirates of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates belong.  By the late 18^th century, the Qawasim had established a powerful tribal confederation that ruled the lower Gulf coast from Sharjah to the Musandam Peninsula.  Allied on land with the burgeoning power of the first Saudi state, their ships numbering in the hundreds and manned by some 20,000 skilled, tough sailors, dominated the lower Guld and contested Oman’s mercantile supremacy.  It was Qasimi attacks on British vessels and British Indian subjects (contemporary British reports, reflecting the pronunciation of the local dialect, referred to “Joasmees”) that drew the British deeply into Gulf affairs in the early 19^th century. First came a series of naval expeditions against the Qawasim, then the imposition of a series of treaty agreements on them and the other local Gulf Arab powers to preserve maritime peace.

For the first two-thirds of the 19^th century, the Qawasim, centered on Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah, contested with the Bani Yas tribal confederation of Abu Dhabi for primacy in what came to be called the Trucial Coast.  In part because the Bani Yas commanded the greater land resources and the Qawasim’s Saudi allies suffered Egyptian invasion, the former prevailed.  The greatest of the Qawasim chiefs, Sultan bin Saqr, ruled Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah from 1803 to 1866 and strove to restore their earlier position.  After his death, however, a pattern of family intrigue and internal contention severely weakened the Qasimi state and led to Ras al-Khaimah’s split from Sharjah, not officially recognized by the British until 1921.  Two branches of the Qawasim continue to rule these emirates to the present day, and in Sharjah the tradition of intra-family contention has continued.  The Qawasim remain proud of their former ascendance in the southern Gulf and betray a certain resentment at having to play a secondary role in the United Arab Emirates behind Abu Dhabi, on whose largesse Ras al-Khaimah has been heavily dependent.

A Saudi expedition to the Batinah Coast on the Gulf of Oman sacked the town of al-Suwayq and successfully staged a siege on Suhar.  Only with the payment of zakat (used by the Saudis as a type of tribute but paid by the Omani Sultans as a form of protection) did they withdraw.

Caucasus

Between 1803 and 1829, many of the areas of the Caucasus became Russian provinces.

The Caucasus is a geographical region located east of the Black Sea and is bordered by Iran, Russia, and Turkey.  At present the sovereign states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in the south and autonomous republics of the Russian Federation north of the Caucasian range – Adyge, Chechnya, Daghestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and northern Ossetia – constitute the region of the Caucasus.

The earliest Ottoman presence in the Caucasus dates back to the period of Mehmed II, when Batumi, together with Trebizond, became Ottoman territories (1461).  With the victory at the Battle of Caldiran (1514), Ottoman influence increased in the Caucasus.  The war of 1533-34 with Iran resulted in the temporary occupation of the Caucasus and Azerbaijan.  Tabriz was assigned the status of a beylerbeyilik.  In 1555, the western Caucasus (Abkhasia, Mingrelia, Imeretia, and Guria) entered the Ottoman administrative realm.  During the Persian Wars (1578-1603), the Ottomans occupied the central and eastern parts of the Caucasus.  Erivan, Tiflis, Nahichevan, Karabagh, Shirvan, Daghestan, and Tabriz became beylerbeyiliks until 1603-1604, when these regions were again left to Iran.  There was a short lived Ottoman presence in Erivan around 1634-36, and the Ottomans annexed the central and eastern parts of the Caucasus for the second time between 1722-23 and 1734-35, but they again returned these areas to Iran.  In contrast to the western Caucasus, the Ottomans were unable to establish a constant presence in the central and eastern Caucasus.

The Russian expansionist policy in the Caucasus in the 19^th century undermined the Ottoman presence in this region.  Between 1803 and 1829, Abkhasia, Mingrelia, Imeretia, Guria, and Akhiska became Russian provinces.  As a result of the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-78, Russia annexed Batumi, Artvin, Ardahan, Cildir, and Kars.  In 1921, Artvin, Ardahan, Cildir, and Kars were ceded to Turkey.  In the course of the 19^th century, waves of Muslim immigrants from the Caucasus (Abkhazians, Circassians, Chechens, and Georgians) were settled in the empire.

***

Central Asia

Afghanistan

Between 1803 and 1809, there was a period of disorder in Afghanistan.  Shah Shuja deposed Shah Mahmud, and Shah Mahmud was expelled.

Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk was born about 1792, the seventh son of Timur Shah.  He became governor of Peshawar in 1801 during the reign of his full brother Shah Zaman.  In 1803, he captured Kabul, imprisoned his brother Mahmud, and proclaimed himself king.  He accepted a British mission in 1809 under Mountstuart Elphinstone and concluded a treaty of alliance.  This treaty was to prevent a Franco-Persian invasion of India that never occurred; but it did not protect the amir from attack by Persia alone.  At that time, Mountstuart Elphinstone described the Afghan ruler as “a handsome man … his address princely,” and he marveled “how much he had of the manners of a gentleman, or how well he preserved his dignity, while he seemed only anxious to please.”

Two years later, Mahmud, who had managed to escape, captured Kabul and forced Shah Shuja to flee to Bukhara and later to India where he remained as an exile for almost 30 years. En route to India, he had to pass through the territory of the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh who took from him the Koh-i Nur, a prized diamond that is now part of the British crown jewels. The internecine fighting between the Sadozal princes brought Dost Muhammad to power and marked to end of the Sadozai dynasty.  In 1839, Britain invaded Afghanistan and restored Shah Shuja to the throne in a campaign that became known as the First Anglo-Afghan War.  At that time, the amir was described as “elderly, stout, pompous and unheroic.” The Sadozai ruler was not able to govern without British protection.  He remained ensconced in the protection of the Bala Hisar and was assassinated by a Barakzai sardar on April 25, 1842, only a few months after the British army was forced to a disastrous retreat.

Prince Kamran, the son of Mahmud Shah, was driven from the city of Kandahar.

During the wars of succession, following the ouster of Zaman Shah, Kamran supported his father, who became the Afghan king in 1800.

Kamran recovered Peshawar for his father and was appointed governor of Kandahar.  When his father was defeated by Shah Shuja in 1803, Kamran was driven from the city by Qaisar, son of Zaman Shah, and forced to seek safety in Herat.  During the second reign of Mahmud Shah, he established himself in Herat where Fateh (Fath) Khan, the oldest son of Painda Khan, was wazir.  Kamran was ambitious and resented the power of the wazir. Therefore, he had Fateh Khan blinded and subsequently killed.  This started a struggle for power between the Sadozai and Muhammadzai branches of the Durrani clan, resulting in the fall of the Sadozai dynasty.  In 1818, Dost Muhammad captured the Kabul throne, and in 1819, Mahmud Shah proclaimed himself king at Herat and made Kamran his wazir.  Mahmud Shah died in 1829 under mysterious circumstances and was succeeded by Kamran.  Kamran had the reputation of being a cruel and power-hungry man.  He eventually ignored the conduct of the affairs of state and delegated much authority to his wazir, Yar Muhammad Alekozai.  Trying to assert his power, he made preparations to rid himself of the wazir but was captured and killed in 1842, after ruling Herat for for twelve years. He was the last of the Sadozai rulers.

Southern Asia

At the Battle of Assaye, the British troops under Arthur Wellesley defeated the Marathas in the Second Marathas War.  Shah ‘Alam II reclaimed the throne, but the Moghul dynasty no longer had any credible power.

Shah ‘Alam II (Jalal al-Din ‘Ali Jawhar Shah ‘Alam II) was a Mughal emperor (r.1760-1788 and 1788-1806).  Throughout his long reign, he was a puppet in the hands of others.  He gave half-hearted support of Mir Qasim, the Nawwab-Nazim of Bengal, who was defeated by the British in 1764.  After that, Shah ‘Alam became a pensioner of the latter.

Delhi fell to the British (September 14).

Delhi was captured by Lord Lake on September 14 against the combined forces of the Sikhs and the Marathas in the Second Anglo-Maratha war.  The blinded Emperor Shah Alam II came under British protection from Scindia.  In the Treaty of Surji Arjangaon on December 30, the British acquired the control of Delhi, Agra, Broach and other territories.  This treaty was, in fact, the true end of the Mughal Empire.

The eighteenth century decline of the Mughal Empire in India, continued and intensified in the early nineteenth century.  The areas under British control grew and the nature of that control changed.  Although the East India Company was still the agent for this growing British domination, it had become more and more of a local government rather than a trading company.  The India Act of 1784 made company officials responsible to the British parliament, and India was gradually transformed into a crown colony in a process that was completed in 1857-58, when both the East India Company’s administrative roles and the Mughal sultanate were brought to an end.  Already in 1803, the Mughal sultan had accepted the formal protection of the East India Company, much to the distress of Shah Abd al-Aziz, the son of the eighteenth century renewalist Shah Wali Allah.  In response, Shah Abd al-Aziz wrote a legal ruling – a fatwa -- declaring that India was no longer part of the formally recognized Islamic world, -- no longer part of the “Dar al-Islam.”

Southeastern Asia

Three Minangkabau pilgrims returned from Mecca.  The return of the pilgrims initiated the Padri movement.

Padri (Padries, Padaries) is the name given in Dutch literature to the Paderi -- the men from Pedir in Aceh who, in the early decades of the nineteenth century, wished to carry through by force in Minangkabau (Central Sumatra) the reformation of Islam initiated by the Wahhabis.  The local chiefs felt their power jeopardized, and the Dutch authorities supported them. The so-called Padri War lasted from 1803 until 1837.

There was a religious war -- the Padri war -- involving the Wahhabi movement and the Minangkabau of southern Sumatra and the Batak of central Sumatra.  The war was launched from Atjeh (Aceh).  The war was against the worship of saints, the consumption of alcohol and other non-Islamic practices.

In Southeast Asia, the renewalism of such eighteenth century teachers as Tuanku Nan Tua in Sumatra laid the foundations for more activist revivalism at the beginning of the nineteenth century.  Among the most important of the resulting groups was the Padri movement.  In 1803, a small group including a former student of Tuanku Nan Tua, Hajji Miskin, returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca. Their pilgrimage experience had confirmed their conviction of the need for more explicit adherence to the fundamentals of Islam.  The results of their first efforts at reform were limited, and soon Padri leaders established control over certain villages, which were reorganized as special separate communities in which popular religious customs were forbidden, the inhabitants wore distinctive clothing, and Islamic practice was enforced.  The Padri villages engaged in jihads against non-adherent villages and the local monarchy, and by 1819 they seemed poised to gain full control over the Minangkabau region.  At that time, however, the Dutch had returned to Southeast Asia following Napoleon’s defeat and worked to establish control in Sumatra and other major islands. The remaining leaders of the local monarchy and anti-Padri village leaders quickly accepted Dutch sovereignty and joined the Dutch in fighting Padri control. 

The relationship between the rise of the Padri movement and the expansion of European states is complex. In many ways the Padri movement can be viewed as a continuation of long-established renewalist traditions.  However, the socioeconomic context of village life in Sumatra was being changed significantly already in the eighteenth century.  Later that century the demand for coffee in the world market expanded rapidly and provided new wealth for the coffee growing areas of Sumatra.  The more formal Islamic school centers had provided important regulation for the developing trade networks. When the Padri movement developed, some of its important centers were coffee villages, and this may have provided the economic resources necessary for the establishment of the independent renewalist village communities.  In this way, although the early goals were within the older renewalist traditions, the context was new.  Soon, however, the early renewalist jihad became the Padri War of 1821-1838, a war of anti-imperialist resistance as well as a jihad.

The Minangkabau (also “Menangkabau”) are closely related in culture and language to the Malays, from whom they differ in certain important characteristics of social organization.  Unlike Malays and unlike most other Islamic peoples, the Minangkabau are matrilineal, organized into kinship groups according to the principle of descent through women.  Folk explanations of their name refer symbolically to this fact.  For example, one such folk etymology of the term minangkabau is based upon its resemblance to the words menang (winning) and kerbau (water buffalo). This similarity has been elaborated into a story about an ancient time in which an unweaned and starving female calf owned by the Minangkabau unwittingly castrated and thereby defeated a champion Javanese bull.  The incident is supposed to have given the Minangkabau their name (“buffalo victory”).  Another folk etymology notes that minang refers to the harness that prevents a calf from nursing, and yet another notes that minang refers to the ceremony before marriage in which engagement gifts are offered, both noting the importance of water buffalo for milk, capital and labor in the settled agriculture of the Minangkabau.  All Minangkabau are Sunni, adhering to the Shafi school of Muslim law.

Today, the Minangkabau are a people who make up approximately ninety percent (90%) of the inhabitants of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra.  The Minangkabau are one of the largest matrilineal societies in the world and at the same time a devoutly Islamic people.  Their original settlements were in the upland valleys of the region, particularly around the volcano of Mount Merapi in the three districts (lubak) of Agam, Tanan Datar, and Limapuluh Kota. 

The first historical record of the Minangkabau appears in 1347 when inscriptions indicate that Adityavarman, a prince of mixed Javanese-Sumatran parentage, threw off allegiance to the East Java kingdom of Majapahit and ruled the gold-rich regions of Tanah Datar until at least 1375.  Oral tradition traces the two systems of social organization that characterize the independent Minangkabau villages (nagari) from this period.  Essentially federations of kinship groups governed by lineage headmen and with no effective supravillage authority, the nagari adopted either an autocratic or more democratic system of governance.

The Minangkabau region is traditionally known as Alam Minangkabau (the land of the Minangkabau) rather than by a state name.  Two broad customary law traditions existed:  Kota Piliang in the Tanah Datar region and Bodi Caniago in Agam and Limapuluh Kota.  Gold mines in the Tanah Datar area were the principal economic base of Minangkabau communities and up to the seventeenth century the area was the main gold-producer on the archipelago.  A VOC post was established on the coast under the Treaty of Painan in 1663.

Islam reached the region in the sixteenth century, spreading first through Islamic schools (surau).  Economic change in the late eighteenth century stimulated the dramatic spread of Islam.  Gold production declined, production of cinnamon, coffee, gambier, and salt expanded and Minangkabau men became increasingly involved in long-distance trade with the outside world.  Islam offered not only a means for creating a trading diaspora, whose members helped each other with credit and commercial information, but also provided a platform for a political challenge to the old order.  This challenge took the form of the so-called Paderis (Padris), a radical modernist Muslim movement which fought the adat chiefs for authority.  The Paderi War lasted from 1803 to 1837 and included raids by Paderis far north into the country of the Bataks.  The Dutch used the hostilities as an excuse to become involved in Minangkabau politics, joining the traditional leaders against the Muslim forces.  They succeeded in defeating the Paderi forces in 1837 but at the cost of entrenching Islam as the religion of Minangkabau. 

AFRICA

         North Africa, Egypt and Sudan

Muhammad Bey al-Alfi traveled to England to seek British help for the Mamelukes against the Ottomans. 

Khusrau Pasha, the Ottoman governor, was unable to bring the Mamelukes under control and was deserted by his commander, Tahir Pasha (May). 

Before his death, Tahir Pasha requested the Ottoman Porte to send a new governor to Egypt. Tahir’s successor as commander of the Albanian regiment gave his support to the Mameluke challenger Uthman al-Bardisi. Al-Bardisi was installed in power.

Khusrau was defeated in battle by Muhammad Ali (July).

Ottoman governor of Egypt, Khusrau Pasha was appointed by the head of the Ottoman forces, Yusuf Pasha, before his withdrawal from Egypt following the French defeat.  Khusrau was soon overtaken by the internecine struggle for power by the beys.  Muhammad Bey al-Alfi defeated Khusrau’s troops in 1802, before departing for England to seek British support for the Mamelukes.  Khusrau was also unable to suppress the revolt of Uthman and Ibrahim bey and was deserted by his own commander, Tahir Pasha, after a pay dispute.  Although Khusrau managed to get Tahir assassinated after he had attempted a brief coup, Tahir had sent a message to Istanbul requesting the appointment of a more effective governor.  Tahir was succeeded as head of the Albanian regiment by Muhammad Ali, who supported the Mameluke Uthman al-Bardisi against Khusrau.  Muhammad Ali pursued and captured Khusrau in the Delta, but the former governor was later released and returned to Istanbul.

British troops withdrew from Egypt, two years after the French.

Albanian troops in Egypt mutinied over arrearages in pay.  The new governor, Ali Pasha Jazairili, who had been sent from Istanbul, was assassinated after arrival in Egypt and was succeeded by Muhammad ‘Ali.

American naval operations continued against the Barbary pirates of Tripoli.

On October 31, 1803, the frigate Philadelphia grounded on a reef off of Tripoli and ws captured by pirate ships, floated free and towed into port as a prize.  While negotiations went on regarding the payment of ransom for release of the crew Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, United States Navy, and a force including Marines under the command of Sergeant Solomon Wren slipped into Tripoli Harbor, overcame the pirates aboard the Philadelphia, burned it to the waterline and escaped without a casualty.

Western Africa

Uthman dan Fodio was summoned from retirement to Gobir.

Uthman dan Fodio (Usman dan Fodio) (‘Uthman ibn Fudi) (1754-1817) was the founder of the state of Sokoto and the initiator of the Islamic revolution in the Hausa states of Northern Nigeria.  He was a Tukolor shaykh from Senegal, belonging to the Torodo (plural form, Torodbe) caste, a Sufi, philosopher and revolutionary reformer.  He founded the state of Sokoto in 1801 and led a Holy War between 1804 and 1808. 

Little is known about his early life, even reports of his physical appearance are in conflict.  He was born into the Fula Toronkawa clan, which had migrated into Hausaland in the mid-fifteenth century.  He grew up in the town of Degel in the Hausa state of Gobir, where his father was a religious leader (imam).  He was a charismatic figure who early in his life gained a reputation for his intellectual abilities.  Much of his time was devoted to study and writing B especially poetry which he composed in both Arabic and the Fula language.

As a young man, he set out on the pilgrimage to Mecca, but was recalled by his father.  His failure to fulfill this religious duty was rued in his later poetry.  While a student he was highly influenced by the fundamentalist teachings of Shaikh Jibril ibn ‘Umar, who preached a hellfire and damnation doctrine.  ‘Uthman rejected the more intolerant aspects of Jibril’s teaching, however.

Around 1774, ‘Uthman became an itinerant missionary in Gobir.  In 1786, he continued his work in neighboring Zamfara.  When he returned to Gobir five years later, he found the Hausa ruler repressing Islam.  However, ‘Uthman alone was allowed to continue teaching.  According to tradition, he even tutored Yunfa, the future Gobir ruler.  Apparently ‘Uthman gathered so many adherents that the authorities were forced to make concessions

From around 1789 to around 1804, ‘Uthman had a series of visions.  He began to preach a doctrine which emphasized a renewal of the faith among “wayward” Muslims -- by jihad (holy war) if necessary.  During this period, he was influenced by the wave of Sufism -- a form of mystical Islam -- and by the militant Wahhabi movement in Arabia which preached a return to fundamental Islam.  There is disagreement on how the latter movement affected his thinking.

When Yunfa became ruler of Gobir (around 1801), he attempted to accommodate ‘Uthman.  He eventually came to see ‘Uthman as a threat, and according to some accounts tried to assassinate him.  The failure of the attempt gave credence to the growing belief in ‘Uthman’s special powers.  ‘Uthman left the capital, equating his migration with the Prophet Muhammad’s flight from Mecca.  He and his followers settled in Gudu, within the Gobir state, and attracted ever more people. Those who joined him were not all inspired by religious ideals.  To many Fula pastoralists, the movement represented an opportunity to seize control of land occupied by their Hausa hosts, who placed restrictions on their activities.  People were also aroused by Hausa slave raiding, which was probably increasing during this period.  Some adherents were mere freebooters. 

War broke out between ‘Uthman and Gobir in 1804. After four years and some heavy losses ‘Uthman emerged victorious.  Meanwhile he persuaded Fula leaders in the surrounding states to take up the jihad.  As they swore their allegiance to him they were given green flags as symbols of formal affiliation.  By 1812, the conquest of Northern Nigeria was largely completed.  The new Fula empire reached to Adamawa east of Hausaland, and to the edges of Yorubaland to the south.  To the northeast it encroached upon Bornu.

Two major problems confronted the new state: revolts among ‘Uthman’s Fula followers, and an ongoing war with Bornu.  Bornu’s ruler, al-Kanemi, also a Muslim, accused ‘Uthman of attacks upon his state in violation of Islamic law.  An acrimonious correspondence between the two men failed to settle the issue and war dragged on until the 1820s.  ‘Uthman, however, left these problems to his brother, ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad, and to his son, Muhammad Bello, who divided the empire. Muhammad Bello built the new capital at Sokoto.  ‘Uthman retired to study and to write.

At his death in 1817, there was a brief, non-violent dispute between Muhammad Bello and ‘Abdullah for control of the Sokoto Empire, resolved in favor of the former.

Katagum was established.

Katagum is a town in the Bauchi State that was established in 1803 by Malam Zaki. Malam Zaki, after the death of his father, went to Uthman dan Fodio, the originator of the jihad of the early 19^th century of the Christian calendar, received a flag from Uthman dan Fodio and became the Emir of the town.  This was an important victory for the Fulani led jihad in that it extended the area under their control into the western frontier of the kingdom of Bornu.  The headquarters of the Katagum was removed to Azare in 1910 for administrative convenience.

Eastern Africa

Sultan Abdallah I, the ruler of Nzwani in the Comoro Islands, was deposed by Sultan Alaoui I.

The Comoro Islands are an archipelago of four islands and several islets located halfway between the island of Madagascar and eastern Africa at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel.  The total area of the four islands is 863 square miles (2,236 square kilometers).  The Comoros lie along a northwest-southeast axis within sight of each other but are quite distinct.

Ngazidja (formerly called Grande Comore) is the largest of the islands and youngest in geologic age.  It is dominated by an active volcano, Karthala, that rises to a height of 9,186 feet (2,800 meters), and its landscape is marked by jagged rocks of lava and the absence of any streams or rivers.  The capital, major seaport, and largest town of the islands, Moroni, lies on its western shore. 

Southeast of Ngazidja is Mwali (formerly called Moheli), the smallest of the four islands.  It is a fertile island with a central mountain range rising 2,556 feet (790 meters) above sea level.  The chief town, Fomboni, is located on its northern shore.

East of Mwali is Nzwani (formerly called Anjouan), the most densely populated of the islands.  Its central peak rises 5,072 feet (1,575 meters) above sea level.  With its black, sandy beaches, fast-moving streams, and luxurious tropical forest, it is often referred to as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean.” The largest town is Mutsamudu, located on a northwestern bay of the island. The bay was a stopover for many centuries, and today the town is the second most important port in the islands.

The most easterly of the islands and the closest to Madagascar, Mahore (formerly called Mayotte), is geologically the oldest. It is the most eroded and consequently the lowest of the islands with slow meandering streams and mangrove swamps.  There is also an extensive coral reef.  Its chief town, Dzaoudzi, used to be the French administrative capital of the archipelago.  It is a port located on the islet of Pamandzi off the east coast of Mahore.  The island remains under French administration.

Islam is the official (and predominant) religion of the Comoros.  Comorians are Sunni Muslims following the Shafi’i school of law. Several different Tariqa, includingthe Shadiliya, Qadiriya, and Rifaiya, are currently active in the islands.  According to local legend, Islam was first introduced to the islands in 650 A.D., not long after the Hegira of the Prophet Muhammad in 622 A.D. which marks the beginning of Islam.  An individual named Mohamed Athoumani is specifically mentioned as the person who introduced Islam to the Comoros.  His tomb is near Ntsaoueni on Ngazidja.

Sultan Abdallah I was the ruler of Nzwani from 1792 to 1803.  The vizier of Sultan Ahmed, Abdallah came to power as the result of the assassination of Cheikh Salim, Sultan Ahmed’s son.  Known as Mwenye Fani, Abdallah too the name Sultan Abdallah when he ascended to the sultanate.  He built up the defensive citadel at Mutsamudu and transferred the capital of Nzwani from Domoni to Mutsamudu.  Relatives of Cheikh Salim, vowing revenge, enlisted the aid of Malagasy mercenaries who attacked Mutsamudu and burned the neighboring town of Wani.  In 1801, he abdicated in favor of his granddaughter Halima II, but she died soon after and he became sultan again.  In 1803, Abdallah traveled to Bombay where he offered to cede the Comoros to the British.  On his way back to the Comoros, Abdallah learned that he had been deposed by Sultan Alaoui I.  When he finally returned to the Comoros it was to Mahore, where he died several years later.   

As for Sultan Alaoui I, he was the ruler of Nzwani from 1803 until 1823, when he died.  Abdallah I had traveled to Bombay when Alaoui I claimed that Abdallah was dead and took over as sultan of the island.

            EUROPE

         Great Britain

From 1803 to 1804, Muhammad Bey al-Alfi, a Mameluke, visited London.

      Southeastern Europe

Extortions carried out by the Janissaries in Serbia provoked the first Serbian rebellion led by Karageorgios (Karadorde).  The Serbian rebellion was supported by Austria and Russia.

The Janissaries were the Christian conscript foot soldiers in the Ottoman army who converted to Islam and who were trained to use firearms.  The term janissary is taken for the Turkish phrase yeni-ceri – a phrase which literally means “new troops” or “new army.”  The janissaries comprised the elite regiments of the Ottoman regime.  They played an important role in Ottoman politics from the time of the assassination of Sultan ‘Uthman II in 1622. The corps was abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826.

The janissaries became famous for their military skills, but also because they were staffed by youths conscripted from Christian families in the Balkans.  After the conscription, they were defined as the property of the sultan, and virtually all of them converted to Islam.

The janissaries were subject to strict rules, limiting their freedom and demanding higher moral standards than usual in the society.  In the first couple of centuries, they were forced to celibacy, but this would later change.  The janissaries were not allowed to grow beards, which were the sign of a free man.

The need for the bey/sultan to form the janissary corps, came from the fragility of an army put together by freemen from many different tribes from areas often wide apart.  Their allegiance was normally to their own tribal leaders, leaders that often were tempted to oppose the power of the sultan, and to find allies among the main enemies of the Ottoman Empire.

At first, the Janissaries were comprised of war prisoners.  However, from the 1420’s young men were taken from their homes at an early age, and contact with their old communities were cut.  This system was called devshirme.  They were even denied contact with the normal society in the areas where they were stationed.  Through their training, they were learned to put their allegiance to the bey/sultan.  At least so was the intention.  And despite strict rules, they enjoyed high living standards and a social status which intended to give logic and force to their loyalty.

Over time, the Janissaries were so successful that they grew into one of the strongest power institutions in the empire.  They could exercise this strength to influence the policy and to defend their own interests.  From the 17^th century and onward, the Janissaries staged many palace coups to exercise this power.  (Indeed, in 1648, Janissary troops discharged and killed Sultan Ibrahim I.)  But this would eventually be the main reason for their downfall – their strength made them dangerous to the sultan, and when the final battle over power came, the Janissaries lost, and all troops were killed or banished. 

Other reasons for the sultan to want to remove the Janissaries were that they had grown into a large number, up rom 20,000 in 1574 to 135,000 in their last year of 1826.  This was expensive and, in addition, the Janissaries had found their own (unacceptable) way of financing their military activities as well as their high living standard: they performed various trades and were more and more in contact with the society.  They had truly become a state within the state.

Notable Births

Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti (b. 1803 in the Azawad region north of Timbuktu – d. 1865 in Timbuktu), a West African Islamic and political leader, was born.

Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti was one of the last principal spokesmen in pre-colonial Western Sudan for an accommodationist stance towards the threatening Christian European presence, and even provided protection to Heinrich Barth from an attempted kidnapping by the ruler of Massina (Ahmad Ahmad ibn Muhammad Lobbo). In a letter to the ruler, which was rather a fatwa, he denied the former's right to have Barth arrested or killed and his belongings confiscated, as the Christian was neither a dhimmi (a non-Muslim subject of a Muslim ruler) nor an enemy of Islam, but the native of a friendly country, that is Great Britain.

Al-Bakkai was also one of the last Kunta family shaykhs, whose prestige and religious influence were interwoven with the Qadiri brotherhood and the economic fortunes of the Timbuktu region. His voluminous correspondence provides a rare, detailed glimpse into political and religious thought in 19th century West Africa regarding the primary concerns about the nature of the imamate/caliphate in Sahelian and Sudanese communities, issues surrounding the encroaching Christian powers, and the growing politicalization of Sufi tariqa affiliation.

James Brooke, a future governor of Sarawak, was born.

James Brooke (1803-1868) was an English traveler who, on his way to Maluku in 1839, arrived at the Sarawak River (Old Sarawak).  There he found a Brunei prince, Pengiran Raja Muda Hassim, struggling to suppress a rebellion led by the local Sarawak Malays and Land Dayaks.  Raja Muda Hassim requested James Brooke’s help in quelling the uprising, whereupon, James was bestowed the governorship of the Sarawak River in 1841.  Raja Muda Hassim then returned to the Brunei capital to resume his post as Bendahara (Chief Minister), but his alliance with James Brooke created suspicion and Raja Muda Hassim, together with his family, was exterminated by the Sultan’s faction in 1846. As a result, James Brooke declared himself as an independent ruler and initiated a policy of territorial expansion at Brunei’s expense. James Brooke’s expansionist policies witnessed the annexation of several important rivers, such as the Samarahan, Batang Lupar, Skrang, Saribas, Rejang, Oya, Mukah and Bintulu.  As such, he is considered the founder of modern-day Sarawak.  On his death in 1868, and due to the fact that James Brooke had no children, the throne of Sarawak was bestowed upon his nephew Charles Brooke.

Makhambet Otemisuly (c.1803 – October 20, 1846), a Kazakh poet and political figure, is believed to have been born in this year.

Makhambet Otemisuly is best known for his activity as a leader (with friend Isatay Taymanuly) of rebellions against Russian colonialism. This activity is believed to have resulted in his murder in 1846. His first rebellions took place against Zhangir-Kerey Khan of the Bukey Horde. Because the rebellion was badly defeated and a bounty was placed on Utemisov, he had to flee the region.

Makhambet's early education took place at a Russian language school in Orenburg. At any rate, his poetry was more closely tied to Kazakh culture and literary tradition. The major themes of his poetry were of two types: political criticism of Russia or the khan, or more general poetry devoted to themes about human existence and life.

 

Mir Babbar Ali Anees (Mir Anis) (1803, in Faizabad in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh - 1874), an Urdu poet known for his Marsia, was born.

Marsiya (Marsia) is an elegiac poem written (especially in Persia and India) to commemorate the martyrdom and valor of Hussain ibn Ali and his comrades of the Karbala. They are essentially religious.

The famous marsia writers who inherited the tradition of Mir Anis among his successive generations are Mir Nawab Ali “Munis”, Dulaha Sahab “Uruj”, Mustafa Meerza urf Piyare Sahab “Rasheed”, Syed Muhammad Mirza Uns, Ali Nawab “Qadeem”, Syed Sajjad Hussain “Shadeed”,  and Syed Sajjad Hussain "Shadeed" Lucknavi.

The Majlis of 25 Rajab, is an historically important Majlis of Marsiya in Lucknow. In this majlis Mir Anis used to recite Marsiya. After Mir Anis, well known marsiya writers of Mir Anis's family as Dulaha Sahab “Uruj”, Mustafa Meerza urf Piyare Sahab “Rasheed”, Ali Nawab “Qadeem” and Syed Sajjad Hussain “Shadeed”, inherited the legacy of reciting marsiya.

Mir Anis composed salāms, elegies, nauhas, and quatrains. While the length of elegy initially had no more than forty or fifty stanzas, with Mir Anis the length of elegy went beyond one hundred fifty stanzas or bunds, as each unit of marsia in musaddas format is known.

Muharram and Mir Anis became synonymous among Urdu-philes of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Mir Anis was a great teacher and inspiration for generations. Undoubtedly, Urdu derives much of its strength from the Marsias of Mir Anis. Mir Anis drew upon the vocabulary of Arabic, Persian, Urdu/Hindi/Awadhi in such a good measure that he symbolizes the full spectrum of the cultural mosaic that Urdu came to be.

Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer (1803–1875), a leading Urdu poet who excelled and perfected the art of Marsiya writing, was born. He is considered the leading exponent of Marsiya Nigari or marsiya writing along with Mir Anis.

Mirza Dabeer was born in 1803 in Delhi. He started reciting marsiya in his youth during muharram ceremonial gatherings called majalis (singular-majlis). He started writing poetry under the tutelage of Mir Muzaffar Husain Zameer.  Dabeer himself was an erudite scholar of his time. He migrated from Delhi to Lucknow, where he found suitable environment to develop and demonstrarte his skills in marsiya writing. According to Maulana Muhammad Husain Azad in Aab-e-Hayat quoting Tazkira-e-Sarapa Sukhan, there is confusion regarding his father's name because of two different names mentioned in Tazkira-as-Ghulam Husain /Mirza Agha Jan Kaghazfarosh. Mirza Dabeer died in Lucknow in 1875 and is buried there.

In his lifetime, Mirza Dabeer wrote at least three thousand elegies.

The Anis and Dabeer rivalry is the most debated and talked about rivalry in Urdu literature.  Their rivalry led to the development of two distinct styles/schools of Marsiya-nigari or marsiya writing at its inception. The staunch supporters of each of the masters identified themselves as "Aneesiya" and "Dabeeriya". The impact of rivalry was so intense that the followers could neither free themselves from their influence nor surpass either master's brilliance. Although the populace divided itself into two separate groups the two poets remained at cordial terms and acknowledged each other with great respect. When Anis died in 1874, Dabeer penned a couplet as a tribute to the departed poet.

Dabeer, along with Anis, left an everlasting influence on Urdu literature and marsiya in particular. Marsiya, in its content and matter, allowed the two masters to demonstrate their artistry and command of Urdu language and idiom. At the same time, the epical nature of marsiya covered and dealt with the entire range of emotions and ideas. It has both mystical and romantic appeal. All the contemporary and succeeding generations of poets who adopted marsiya as the genre of poetic expression and also others who took to other forms of poetry found it difficult to break away from the trends and standards set by these two masters. The names of Dabeer and Anis are inextricable whenever Urdu Marsia is mentioned. In short, marsiya attained its zenith under the poetic genius of Anis and Dabeer. Marsiya became synonymous with the names of these two masters and also the form-the musaddas- adopted by them became synonymous with the identity of marsiya. Dabeer along with Anis influenced two major aspects of the socio-cultural life of the Indian sub-continent. One is literature and the other is the azadari tradition of the sub-continent.

Mohammed IV (1803 – 16 September 1873), a Sultan of Morocco from 1859 to 1873, and a member of the Alaouite dynasty, was born. He was born is Fes. In 1844, he commanded the Moroccan army which was defeated by the French at the Isly. The Spanish-Moroccan War (1859) occurred during his reign, and the Moroccan city of Tétouan fell to Spanish forces in 1861.


Nasir-ud-din Haidar (b. c. 1803 – d. 7 July 1837), the second King of Oudh from October 19/20, 1827 to July 7, 1837, is believed to have been born in this year.

Nasir-ud-din Haidar was the son of Ghaziuddin Haider.  After the death of Ghazi-ud-din Haider, his son Nasir-ud-din Haider ascended the throne on October 20, 1827.

Nasir-ud-din Haidar was fond of woman and wine and he had a strong interest in astrology and astronomy.

Nasir-ud-din Haidar set up an observatory at Lucknow The Tarunwali Kothi which was bedecked with exceptionally good astronomical instruments.

Nasir-ud-din Haidar made additions of Darshan Vilas, a European style Kothi, to Claude Martin's house - Farhat Buksh in 1832.

Nasir-ud-din Haidar reproduced a Karbala at lradatnagar for his place of burial.

By the time of Nasir-ud-din Haidar, the Oudh government had started deteriorating. The administration of the kingdom was left in the hands of Wazir Hakim Mahdi and later to Raushan-ud-Daula.

Nasir-ud-din Haidar was poisoned by his own friends and favorites.

Nasir-ud-din Haider died without an heir and Ghazi-ud-din Haider's queen 'Padshah Begum' put forward Munna Jan, as a claimant to the throne though both Ghazi-ud-din Haider and Nasir-ud-din Haider had refused to acknowledge him as belonging to the royal family. The Begum forcibly enthroned Munna           Jan at Lalbaradari. The British intervened and exploited the situation to their interest. They arrested both the Begum and Munna Jan and arranged for the accession of the late Nawab Saadat Ali Khan's son, Nasir-ud-daula, under title of 'Muhammad Ali Shah'. Nasir-ud-daula had promised to pay a large sum of money to the British for this.

Tun Muhammad Tahir, better known as Tun Mutahir (Bendahara Seri Maharaja, Raja Bendahara Pahang V (1847-1863)), the last Bendahara of the Old Johor Sultanate was born. As also the last Raja Bendahara of Pahang, he ruled the vassal state of Pahang until his death in 1863 following the Pahang Civil War.

Tun Mutahir (1803-1863) was born in 1803. His father was Tun Ali, Bendahara Siwa Raja and his mother was Che Wan Ngah of the Bendahara family. He was privately educated as was the customs of the nobility then. In 1832, he was proclaimed as Bendahara Muda (Bendahara in waiting) in a ceremony in Lingga, then capital of the Johore Empire. He had 3 spouses: Tengku Kechik, the princess of the Johore Sultan, Sultan Abdul Rahman; Tengku Chik, the princess of the Kedah Sultan, Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin II; and Tengku Chik princess of the Johore Sultan, Sultan Muhammad. Tun Ali also married Chik Puan Lingga in 1832 and Tun Ahmad was born from this union.

Tun Ali entered into a semi-retirement in 1847 and handed the reins to Tun Mutahir. Tun Mutahir followed the policy of Bendahara Ali and not much is written about his reign. In 1857 Bendahara Ali signed a proclamation indicating that Tun Ahmad be put to death due to his misconduct. Bendahara Ali wanted Tun Ahmad and his accomplice be put to death.

Tun Ahmad immediately fled to Singapore and returned to Pahang at the time of the death of Tun Ali. Conflict broke between both parties which resulted in a civil war which engulfed Pahang. This conflict not only involved the Pahang princes but also involved Temenggung of Johore, the Terengganu Sultan as well as the British playing a political role. The war was the most decisive in the history of the Old Johore Sultanate. The conflict ended when Tun Mutahir was mortally wounded in 1863.

Tun Mutahir was buried in Bukit Timbalan, Johor Bahru, Johor.  Although Tun Ahmad ousted Tun Mutahir, he had no interest in continuing as the Bendahara of Johor. Instead, he was proclaimed as Sultan Ahmad I in 1882 and founded the modern Pahang Sultanate which sealed the breakup of the Johor Sultanate. The Temenggung of Johor (Maharaja 1868–1885) was given recognition by the British and proclaimed the Sultan of Johor three years later.

 

Notable Deaths

1803

Delhi was captured by Lord Lake on September 14 against the combined forces of the Sikhs and the Marathas in the Second Anglo-Maratha war.  The blinded Emperor Shah Alam II came under British protection from Scindia.  In the treaty of Surji Anjangaon on December 30, the British acquired the control of Delhi, Agra, Broach and other territories.  Historians mark this as the true end of the Mughal Empire.

The Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon was signed on December 30, 1803 between the British and Daulat Rao Sindhia, chief of the Maratha people at Anjangaon town located Maharashtra.  

On December 30, 1803, the Scindia signed the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon (Surji-Arjangaon) with the British after the Battle of Assaye and Battle of Argaon.  The agreement was the result of Major General Arthur Wellesley's military campaigns in Central India in the first phase of the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-1805). As a result of this treaty, Ganges-Jumna Doab, the Delhi-Agra region, parts of Bundelkhand, Broach, some districts of Gujarat and the fort of Ahmadnagar, eventually cam under the control of the British East India Company. 

The treaty was revised twice (once in November 1805 and again on November 5, 1817). The first revision mostly entailed restoring the territories of Gwalior and Gohad to Scindia. The second revision of the treaty entailed granting Scindia more power in return for providing help to the British in their fight against the Pindaris in the Third Anglo-Maratha War. 

Shah ʿĀlam II, original name ʿAlī Gauhar (b. June 15, 1728, Delhi [India] - d. November 10, 1806, Delhi), was the nominal Mughal emperor of India from 1759 to 1806.

Son of the emperor 'Alamgir II, Shah 'Alam was forced to flee Delhi in 1758 by the minister ʿImād al-Mulk, who kept the emperor a virtual prisoner. He took refuge with Shuja al-Dawlah, nawab of Oudh (Ayodhya), and after his father’s assassination in 1759 he proclaimed himself emperor. With the intention of seeking to capture Delhi, he demanded tribute from Bihar and Bengal and thereby came into conflict with the East India Company. After Shujāʿ al-Dawlah’s defeat at Buxar (in modern Bihar state) in 1764, however, Shah ʿĀlam became the company’s pensioner, in return for which he legalized the company’s positions in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa (1765) by granting the right to collect revenue. Comfortably settled at the city of Allahabad, he sought Delhi, and in 1771 an agreement with the Maratha people of western India returned it to him. During 1772–82 his minister, Najaf Khan, asserted imperial authority over the Delhi territory from the Sutlej to the Chambal river and from the state of Jaipur to the Ganges (Ganga) River.  In 1788, however, the chief of the Rohillas (warlike Afghan tribes settled in India), Ghulām Qādir, seized Delhi and, enraged at his failure to find treasure, blinded Shah ʿĀlam.

Shah ʿĀlam spent his last years under the protection of the Maratha chief Sindhia, and, after the Second Maratha War (1803–05), of the British. With power only inside his palace, he saved more than a million rupees in his treasury. He was called “King of Delhi” by the British, who issued coins bearing his name for 30 years after his death.

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On September 18, the British captured Puri from the Marathas without any struggle.

In the Treaty of Deogaon with Bhonsle on December 12, Orissa along with Cuttack came under control of the East India Company.