, minted in Qasba Panipat during the tenure of Faizullah Khan, struck in the name of Mughal emperor
Shah Alam II, with having "saya-e-fazle elah" couplet, Swastika and Parasol marks. , established by Faizullah Khan and maintained by
his successors. The
Indian government took it over in 1975. Faizullah was of mixed ancestry. His father was a Nain
Jat and his mother was a Matni
Pashtun. He was the second son of
Nawab Ali Mohammed Khan. Faizullah succeeded his elder brother,
Nawab Saadullah Khan, as chief of the
Rohillas. He fought alongside
Ahmed Shah Abdali in the
Third Battle Of Panipat and was granted
Shikohabad in recognition of his service.
First Rohilla War In 1774, during the invasion of Rohilkhand by the united armies of the Vizier
Shuja-ud-Daula and the British East India Company, Faizullah Khan led a resistance in which many of the Rohilla's principal chiefs were killed. Escaping from the slaughter, Faizullah Khan made his retreat good towards the mountains, with all his treasure. He collected the scattered remains of his countrymen; and as he was the eldest surviving son of Ali Mohammed Khan, he seems at length to have been generally acknowledged by his natural subjects the undoubted heir of his father's authority. Nawab Faizullah Khan with the remaining Rohilla's sought refuge in the forest of the hills of Lal Dang where the war eventually became a war of attrition, after a siege of one month both sides sought peace. Eventually, Shuja ud Daula's plan of realising Hafiz Rehmat Khan's son Mohabbat Khan in order to undermine the authority of Nawab Faizullah Khan, helped bring Faizullah Khan into negotiations. A treaty mediated by Colonel Champion helped resolve the situation, bringing an outcome of desire for both sides. The treaty of Lal Dang allowed Faizullah Khan to choose any area for his future Rohilla State with Faizullah choosing Rampur.
Treaty of Lal Dang The Treaty of Lal Dang included the following provisions: • Faizullah had to reduce his army from 20,000 to 5,000, expelling all other troops to the east of the Ganges • Faizullah was to be diplomatically isolated, only being allowed to enter into correspondence with the British East India Company or the Nawab of Awadh. • Faizullah was to consider the enemies of Awadh as his own and the friends of Awadh as his own. He was further obliged to raise up to 3000 troops in case Awadh went to war. He was additionally required to personally also join the Nawab-Wazir of Awadh if the latter personally led in any war. This treaty helped serve to bring Rampur into the sphere of British control, as soon with the death of Shuja ud Daula, Asaf ud Daula's accession saw the Nawab of Awadh reduced to a British puppet. Desperate, he wrote to the Governor-General in Calcutta that he would be willing to enter into the services of the company if the British insisted on annexing his state. The Governor-General Warren Hastings eventually instructed the Resident at Lucknow,
Nathaniel Middleton to ratify the treaty in the company's name, though not before extracting one lakh rupees for the company. Faizullah was not satisfied with the treaty being ratified by the Resident of Lucknow and requested the Governor-General to ratify the treaty himself. This resulted in an angry missive by Middleton who wrote Faizullah, saying: This sort of argument does little credit to the Khan's usually sound judgment... He knows very well that the Col. Champion had attested the treaty in his private capacity as a witness while the writer has expressly signed it in a representative capacity acting under the orders of the Governor-General in Council. In this treaty of 1778, Faizullah Khan was able to gain a significant advantage in the ability to retain an excess revenue for himself. However the British were insistent of maximising the military and tributary benefits it derived from Rampur, often in violation of previous treaties. The British especially made use of Rampur's Cavalry, as the region of Rohilkhand was impossible to maintain securely without a highly mobile cavalry. During summer times the region often came under security threat from outlaw Rohillas, Sikhs and Gujars who often carried out lightning raids before returning to their base. British attempts to subvert this were in large part frustrated. The answer came in the form of the highly accomplished Rohilla Cavalry of Rampur. General Hibbert, commander of British troops in western Awadh in 1774 addresses the Governor General in Council saying: "Like Marathas they (Sikhs and Gujars) are sudden and rapid... it is therefore necessary to oppose them and check their progress at several fords across the Ganges, the Rohilkhand and the Doab, which at this season of the year are very numerous, and as this cannot be affected by a small body of infantry without the assistance of cavalry, I do not think that a part of those which Faizullah Khan has proposed to retain, can be more advantageously employed there for this purpose" Richard Johnson, an assistant to the Resident at Lucknow was deputed to Rampur and as can be predicted he highly recommended the annexation of Rampur state based on the multiple alleged violations of the treaty by Faizullah Khan. Johnson alleged that Faizullah Khan kept an army of 20,000 soldiers and kept peasants who had deserted Awadh. Faizullah Khan finally relented to the immense pressure and agreed to provide 2000 horse along with 1000 infantry, all this would be accompanied with a year's advance in salary to the troops and funding to the British. This did not stop Hastings from going to Awadh on 19 September 1781, and signing a treaty with Asaf ud Daula, called the Treaty of Chunar, where the company gave its assent to the annexation of Rampur by Awadh in lieu of an alleged breach of the Treaty of Lal Dang. Hastings kept the proposed plan of annexation stalled looking for an opportune moment, however his plans were thwarted by the Court of Directors in February 1783, who deemed the annexation illegitimate. Noting that: Faizullah Khan's merits with company's on the hand, and the Governor General's treatment of him on the other, must be known to all surrounding powers and if such singular marks of attention of the company's interest and government are thus acquitted we have reason to dread future nominations against us, which may end in the utter extirpation of the English from Hindustan (emphasis added).
Further Extortion by British The British continued their pressure of extracting tribute form Rampur, Warren Hastings sent his close friend William Palmer to Faizullah Khan in June 1783. Demanding through Palmer that Faizullah Khan should pay a subsidy for the force of 3000 horse and further reimburse Awadh for the defection of Awadhi peasants to Rampur. Faizullah Khan initially refused, but under further pressure he eventually relented on, paying a lump sum of 15 lakh rupees to the British. Faizullah Khan astutely dealt with the British, occasionally refusing and occasional completely acquiescing to their demands. His endeavours to prevent war with the company and his efforts to maintain peace in Rampur for over 20 years, allowed him to lay the ground works of power for what would allow Rampur to violently challenge colonial domination in 1794 through the
Second Rohilla War.
Religion Faizullah Khan belonged to the
Rohilla dynasty. His state would become one of the important
Shia princely states, along with
Awadh. Faizullah Khan was
Sunni and wanted his son
Muhammad Ali Khan of Rampur to accept the same tradition. However, due to the influence and teaching of
Nawab Asaf-ud-Dauala, his eldest son accepted Shia creed. == Descendants ==