Surat by Moin Mir

 

Surat by Moin Mir

This book by Moin Mir describes an event which falls in the period intervening the fall of Tippu Sultan (1799) and the Second Anglo Maratha War (1803). The fall of Surat through the machinations of the East India Company in 1800, is an event critical in the rise of Bombay as the principal port on the west of India, a position held by Surat until then. That this took place without a grand war, is probably why it is ignored in History despite the momentous reset in trade from the Moghul controlled Indian coast to the British owned island of Bombay, that it heralded. Mir deserves praise for highlighting this event, and the subsequent fight that the Nawab carried out successfully within the precincts of the British Parliament rather than violently in the battlefields of India. As the very first prince from India to directly take up this fight in Britain, he carved out a new paradigm in forging a relationship between the ruling and the ruled.

Mir’s narration however has two major shortcomings. His attempts to fit the Nawab’s personality in the mold of the ideal Moghul ruler fails entirely. Strange as it may seem today, the ideal Moghul ruler was expected to combine within himself the qualities of a warrior and of a poet. Somewhat like expecting Shakespeare to lead the English army to a war with Scotland or expecting General Manoj Pandey (the current Chief of Staff) to compose poems of devotion, romance, or of unrequited love. However, the Hero of Surat, Mir Jaffar Ali, never fought a war. Moin Mir tries to make up for this failing by repeatedly reminding us of his Hero’s marksmanship as a sixteen year old when he helped his father in fighting off a local rebellion, and of his love for Sufi poetry. A prince who takes up his pen in his fight for justice, is a hero in his own right. He need not necessarily also wield the sword. He could be a good swordsman, but this is irrelevant to the path he has chosen. The narrative loses its tightness by this needless diversion. A Moghul ruler is also expected to be a great lover. In the present case, the Hero of Surat, while in London fighting his case in the British Parliament makes a conquest- a white woman. But this like in the case of so many Indian princes, is an affair not with a princess or even a minor member of the royalty, but a woman from the stage- a relationship far below the social status of a prince. It is a conquest not of manliness but of the purse! Pages devoted to the Nawab’s pursuit of love in London makes for tiresome reading.

Another major historical slip- the author Moin Mir is confused about the identity of the Earl of Mornington and calls him Arthur Wellesley. The Earl of Mornington, is Richard Wellesley, the Governor General. His brother Arthur (an early instance of nepotism) led the East India Company forces against Tippu Sultan and the Marathas. He was promoted to Major General after the latter campaign and later became the Duke of Wellington. As such the man who annexed the Kingdoms of Hindustan and is Richard and not Arthur. A serious error that seems to have even missed the Editors in Britain!

Mir mentions in passing that the Nawab established the first modern textile mill in Surat. If true, that would be most important achievement of the Nawab, which would set him apart from his dissolute contemporaries, and would put him in the same class of entrepreneurs as the incomparable J. N. Tata. It is sad that the author glosses over this most important achievement.