Naib Dewan Bachhe Rao : 1744 - 1804 (Living)
Naib Dewan Bachhe Rao (also referred to as Butcherow by Mark Wilks; butcharow by Francis Buchanan; Butche Row by Arthur Wellesley; and Buche Rao by others; the spelling now adopted is based on the way the name is written in Haidar Nama and other Kannada publications) was the son of Khande Rao Banaji (Appendix VI).
Although Haidar killed Khande Rao and punished his partisans, he did not harm his family members. Bachhe Rao was born in1744 (?) and was 17 years old when his father, Khande Rao, was killed. He was aware of the misunderstanding between his father and Haidar; the efforts made by Khande Rao to enlist the help of the Marhatta and the English armies to drive Haidar out of Mysore kingdom; the gun fire at Srirangapatna and escape of Haidar; subsequent wars and surrender of his father to Haidar.
Bachhe Rao was a key official along with Purnaiya, Bishtopant Badami and others during the regime of Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar (1776-96). (Srimanmaharajara Vamshavali, page 220) (Appendix VII). That he could wield considerable influence and power is borne out of an incident narrated by Hayavadan Rao. It appears, when Purnaiya was initially recruited, he worked as an Accountant in the Toshekhane (treasury). In 1779, one Anche Shamaiah (Shama Iyengar from Kolar), chief of postal and intelligence departments, implicated Purnaiya in some financial fraud. He charged that Purnaiya had misappropriated some 11,000 varahas of revenue collected during the year. Rao states “Purnaiya was even tortured to prepare false returns (sullu patti) and would have been put to death but for Bachhe Rao who prevailed upon Barakki Srinivasa Rao to represent to Haidar to restrict the punishment to merely keeping him under guard. At length, Purnaiya was released on sowcar security of Annadana Setty, his mentor, and others and reinstated in office” (History of Mysore, Vol 3, page 294). After this incident, Bachhe Rao became a personal friend of Purnaiya and also his adviser.
During the reign of his son, Tippu Sultan, many of the officers of the Durbar like Bishtopant Badami and Toshekhane Krishna Rao were subdued as they were afraid of their getting implicated in some false cases against them. Bishtopant Badami stabbed himself to commit suicide when he was imprisoned at Srirangapatna. When Tippu heard this, he realised his mistake and released him. Toshekhane Krishna Rao, who had earlier been honoured by Haidar, was not that lucky. He was branded as a ’traitor’ and shot dead with muskets in his own house. His body was dragged out and thrown in a drain in the bazaar. . Hayavadan Rao quotes M.H.A. Kirmani “Krishna Rao’s wife, a beautiful and virtuous lady, was tyrannically forced after her husband’s death into the Sultan’s own seraglio”. (Ibid, Vol. 3, page 895). Even Purnaiya did not intervene to save his colleague, Krishna Rao. Bachhe Rao, being a pragmatist, remained non-controversial and did not interfere in matters unrelated to him.
Mark wilks narrates an incident that took place in1798 which was told to him by Bachhe Rao himself. Wilks states “Tippu thought of ’exterior distinctions’ for the ‘Zumra’ (muslim) as well as other corps of the army and also for the brahmins and other Hindoos of the different departments……each their appropriate colour of the turban and patterns for their articles of dress; and it was upon this occasion that Butcherow, on being questioned by a courtier regarding his dress made answer __ ‘he (Tippu) may strike off my head; but he shall never put a new turban on it’”. (Vol 2, page 609 and foot note).
In the siege of Srirangapatna, on 4th May 1799, Tippu was defeated and killed by the English troops. The forces led by General Baird (whom Tippu had imprisoned earlier at Srirangapatna) stormed the Fort at about 1 P.M. Tippu, who was having his lunch, rushed to the northern face of the fort. In the heavy gun fire, Tippu’s horse was killed and Tippu himself was wounded in the chest. An unknown British soldier who attempted to snatch Tippu’s sword-belt found some resistance and shot him with his musket without realising that he had shot and killed Tippu Sultan.!
On 30th June 1799, Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, son of Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar, was installed as the King of Mysore kingdom in a glittering ceremony at Mysore. General Harris and other senior British officers were present. General Harris delivered the King the seal and signet of the kingdom. Purnaiya was appointed as the “Dewan” and advised “to loyally advance the interests of the King ( who was at that time five years old) till he reached the age of discretion”. General Harris also appointed Bachhe Rao as Finance and Political Affairs Minister and Bishtopant Badami as Bakshi of the cavalry force.." (M. Shama Rao, Modern Mysore, page 266).
(Appendix VIII).
The first assignment of Bachhe Rao after he took charge was to return the idols of gods and goddesses and jewels belonging to the various temples including Melkote and Nanjangud which were in the treasury at Srirangapatna. This was promptly executed on the order of General Harris. Other British officers, however, felt that they were part of the prize money and should have been equally shared. General Harris intervened and saved Bachhe Rao’s embarrassment. In his letter dated 26th December 1799, addressed to Col. Close (Letter No. 12), Arthur Wellesley (brother of Marquis Wellesley, Governor General of India) discusses the case in detail and writes
“After the capture of Srirangapatam, and before the country was given to the Rajah, some brass swamies which were in the Toshekhanah were given to the brahmins of different pagodas (temples) by order of Macleod and the General (Harris). The prize agents require payment for them and say that they are not paid for, the committee will charge the value against them. This amounts to about 500 pagodas. Butcherow, to whom I have spoken upon the subject, says, that as they were given to the brahmins by the order of the General, and before the country was given to the Rajah, it is not proper that he should pay for them. I have desired him to give the prize agents a receipt for the swamies, and, as it appears that they are to be paid for, you will be the best judge, whether by the Rajah, by the company or the General”.
(The Mysore Letters and Despatches of the Duke of Wellington-Arthur Wellesley, letter no.12, pages 11 to 13) (Appendix IX).
Bachhe Rao also renovated the temple at Nanjangud at his own expense. In this connection, it may be of interest to mention the observations of Francis Buchanan who visited Srirangapatna and Nanjangud between 5th September 1800 and 5th October 1800. Buchanan writes
“Tippu Sultan had gradually deprived the brahmins of the whole of their lands and gave them a monthly pension of 100 pagodas. On the re-establishment of the Rajah’s government, they were put on the same footing with the brahmins of Mail-kotay (Melkote) and they receive the income of a whole district……In the reign of Tippo, the Nanjinagodu (Nanjangud) temple suffered much, but at the expense of Butcharow, the Naib Dewan, it is now undergoing repair” ( A Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar by Francis Buchanan, Vol 2, page 148) (Appendix X). (Shama Rao, Modern Mysore, page 291)
Lord Valentia, nephew of Marquis Wellesley, Governor General of India, visited Srirangapatna and Mysore on 29th February 1804. He was received by Bachhe Rao who accompanied him to Mysore where, on 2nd March 1804, he was received by the Wodeyar king.
Mark Wilks spent nearly 25 years in India and was the ‘Resident’ of Mysore State during 1803-08. He had an intimate knowledge of all the affairs of the state. He knew a number of persons who had served the Royal family, Haidar and Tippu Sultan. Bachhe Rao was his personal friend whom he consulted on several occasions. At Wilk’s request, the best informed persons who were known to possess historical data pertaining to the Mysore kingdom were assembled to prepare a manuscript on the history of Mysore and this manuscript constituted one of the six references Wilks utilised to prepare his magnum opus titled “Historical sketches of the South India in an attempt to trace the History of Mysoor” (in two volumes) published in 1810. In the preface of this book, Wilks acknowledges that the Memoir was prepared “under the direction of Purnea (Purnaiya)…..and his intelligent assistant, Butcherow” (Vol.1 page 3).
Wilks consulted Bachhe Rao on many other matters like Indian customs, religious ceremonies, etc. Some one had told Wilks that prayers were “ordered to be offered in mosques and ‘Jebbum’ (Japam) were performed in Hindoo temples in Srirangapatna for the success of a war campaign”. He must have consulted Bachhe Rao for, he writes
" According to Butcherow, an intelligent brahmin, ‘Jebbum’ is a Hindoo ceremony for the attainment of a desired object. It should be performed during four successive periods, of twelve days each, until the object is attained or its attainment indicated by certain prognostic… the time being the mystical period of 48 days".
Bachhe Rao apparently explained in detail the types of Japams that are performed, the number of priests required, duration of each ceremony, etc. and they are all mentioned in the book (Vol. 1, page 813) (Appendix XI).
A British officer had told Wilks that Tippu Sultan was born in july 1750 and he was 49 years and nine months old at the time of his death. After consulting Bachhe Rao Wilks writes
“Butche Row repeated to me the canerese verse, recording his birth, in the year Angera, 17th of the month of Margeser, which would date his birth about January 1753, and his age at the time of his death (as Butcherow, a confidential public officer, positively affirmed) forty six years and four months, solar reckoning”.
It is needless to mention that Wilks accepted Bachhe Rao’s version. (mark Wilks, Vol. 2, page 760). +++(Actual birthdate from another source - Dec 1 1751 Gregorian.)+++
Bachhe Rao, as the accounts indicate, was not only a good and a non-controversial administrator but also a multifaceted personality. He was a linguist proficient in Marathi, English, Kannada, Sanskrit and other (?) languages. He was a respected friend and adviser to Purnaiya, Mark Wilks and others. The memoir on the History of Mysore which he got made received Wilks’s approbation and formed one of the main references for his book on the subject. Philanthropy also attracted Bachhe Rao. He got the temple at Nanjangud repaired at his own expense. He also returned the idols of gods and goddesses, jewels,etc, to the temples where they belonged at the earlist opportunity at some personal risk. He was also well acquainted with the Indian philosophy, religion, customs, vedic scriptures, astrology, etc. Very little, however, is known about his family members except his son Gangadhar Rao, and another person, Anoo Rama Rao (Bachhe Rao’s brother in law ?), who was in intially in Bachhe Rao’s household and later became a “Muhasib” to the King. (Modern Mysore, by Shama Rao, page 405).