Maharaja Nandakumar
M Nandakumar, also called Nuncomar (1705? - died 5 August 1775) was a collector of taxes, more so a diwan for various areas in what is now West Bengal. He was appointed by the East India Company to be the collector of taxes for Burdwan, Nadia and Hoogly in 1764, following the removal of Warren Hastings from the post.[1]
In 1773, when Warren Hastings was re-instated as governor-general of Bengal, Nandakumar brought accusations of peculation against him that were entertained by Sir Philip Francis and the other members of the Supreme Council of Bengal. However, Warren Hastings could overrule the Council's charges. Thereafter, in 1775 Warren Hastings brought charges of fraud against the Maharaja. The Maharaja was tried under Elijah Impey, India’s first Chief Justice, and friend of Warren Hastings, was found guilty, and hanged in Kolkata in 5 August 1775.
Hastings, along with Sir Elijah Impey, the chief justice, were impeached by Parliament. They were accused by Burke (and later by Macaulay) of committing judicial murder; but Sir James Stephen, who examined the trial in detail, states that the indictment for forgery arose in the ordinary course, was not brought forward by Hastings, and that Impey conducted the trial with fairness and impartiality.
Contents
Early life
The title "Maharaja" was conferred on Nandakumar by Shah Alam II in 1764.[1] He was appointed Collector of Burdwan, Nadia, and Hugli by the East India Company in 1764, in place of Warren Hastings. He learnt Vaishnavism from Radhamohana Thakura.[1]
Charges against Hastings
Maharaja Nandakumar accused Hastings of bribing him with more than one-third of a million rupees and claimed that he had proof against Hastings in the form of a letter.[2]
Hanging
Warren Hastings was then with the East India Company and happened to be a school friend of Sir Elijah Impey. Some historians are of the opinion that Maharaja Nandakumar was falsely charged with forgery and Sir Elijah Impey, the first Chief Justice of Supreme Court in Calcutta, gave judgement to hang Nandakumar.[3] Nandakumar's hanging was called a judicial murder by certain historians.[3] Macaulay also accused both men of conspiring to commit a judicial murder.[3] Maharaja Nandakumar was hanged at Calcutta, near present day Vidyasagar Sethu, during Warren Hasting's rule on 5 August 1775.[4] In those days the punishment for forgery by any native was hanging.[5]
Aftermath
Maharaja Nandakumar was a reasonably respectable person, and his hanging created a local panic in that resulted in a Bengali exodus from Calcutta to places like Benaras etc.[3]
Books
- Sir James Stephen, The Story of Nuncomar (2 vols., 1885)
- H Beveridge, The Trial of Nanda Kumar (Calcutta, 1886).
Legacy
- A college in his honor, Maharaja Nandakumar Vidyalaya, was established in Calcutta in 2007, and the college is affiliated with Vidyasagar University.[6]
- A road in Kolkata is named Maharaja Nandakuamr Road.[7]
- Nandakumar is also the name of a locality in the West Bengal district of East Midnapur.[8]
External links
- The story of Nuncomar and the impeachment of Sir Elijah Impey Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. {Reprinted by} Cornell University Library Digital Collections
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.- Charges against Sir Elijah Impey
References
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