Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Raja Sri Chait Singh's
Raja Balwant Singh
) father Balwant Singh
was merely an Amil
or farmer and collector of the revenues, for Shuja-ud-Daulla
) the nawab Wazir
of Oudh (Ayodhya
When, upon the death of his father, Chait Singh was confirmed in the
office of collector for the Wazir, he paid 200,000 pounds as a gift or Nuzzeranah
and an additional rent of 30,000 pounds per annum.
As his father was no more than an Amil, Chait Singh succeeded only to his rights and pretensions.
But by a Sanad
to him by the Nawab Shuja-ud-Daulla
in September 1773 AD,
through the influence of Warren Hastings
, he acquired a legal title to
property in the land, and was raised from
the office of Amil
to the rank of Zamindar
The Kjng of Oudh, Suja-ud-Daula
died in 1775 AD, and Warren Hastings,
then Governor-General, took advantage of the death of the old ally of the
British to extend British dominion and power. In
May 1775 a new treaty was ratified between his son
and successor, Asaf-ud-Daula
, by which Benares was
ceded to the East India Company, and Raja Chait Sing became a vassal of the British.
Thus five years after the death of Balwant Singh
, the Governor General and
Council of Bengal obtained the sovereignty paramount of the province of Benares
On the transfer of this sovereignty, the Governor and Council proposed a new grant
to Chait Singh
, confirming his former privileges,
and conferring upon him the addition of the sovereign rights of the Mint
and the powers of criminal justice with regard to life and death.
He was then recognized by the Company as one of their
Zamindars of the British empire in India.
In 1778, Hastings (then Governor General
) made an extraordinary demand
of five lack rupees on Raja Chait Singh
In July 1778 Warren Hastings wrote to Chait Singh, "War having been declared between the Courts of Great Britain and France, by the former
on the 18th March ... I am to request of you, in my own name and that of the Board, as a subject of
the Company, bound to promote their interest on every occasion, to contribute your share of the burden of the
The fact is that the Zamindars paid as much to Government as their lands could afford.
A second year's contribution of five lakhs (£ 50,000) was demanded from Chait Singh,
then a third year's contribution of five lakhs, and then a fourth year's contribution,
besides expenses of troops.
Chait Singh had to pay above fifty lacks, whereas his rent was not even twenty-four lacks.
He refused to comply with the engagements requiring the contribution of cavalry and maintenance
grants for battalions of sepoys, and began corresponding with the company's enemies.
In September 1781 AD Hastings came to Benaras to collect the fine which he had levied upon Raja Chait Singh, on behalf of the East India
Company. Hastings sent a couple of hundred native soldiers, sepoys under command of 3 young English lieutenants. The Raja
submitted without a word. Chait Singh was stripped of his position and placed under house arrest
pending an interview with Hastings.
The arrest enraged Chait Singh's people, and all Benaras came storming about the palace and threatening vengeance.
The mob broke into the fort and massacared the helpless soldiers and their officers.
Chait Singh escaped by climbing down to the river from a small window on the north wall
of his fort aided by his followers who fashioned a rope out of their turbans.
In skirmishes with the Company forces, Chait Singh's troops were easily defeated,
the rebellion crushed and the zamindari
confiscated and given over to his nephew
Raja Sri Mahip Narayan Singh on 14th
Chait Singh himself fled to Awadh
, then to Gwalior, where he was granted a
jagir for a while until it was later confiscated.
He died in Gwalior on 29th
March 1810 in obscurity, leaving three sons.