The chief next in importance was the Nawáb of Arkát (Arcot). After Aurangzeb had subjugated the Bijapur and Golconda kingdoms, he sent a force under Zulfikár Khán, with one Dáúd Khán as second in command, to reduce the fortress of Jinjí or Chenji[1], then held by Ráma, son of Sivají. The place was carried by assault in 1698, but as it proved unhealthy, Arcot was in 1716 selected as the capital. The imperial deputy, Kásim Khán, having been assassinated, Zulfikár Khán was nominated as his successor, and after him Dáúd Khán; but this chief, being summoned to Delhi to aid the party which ultimately put Sháh Álam on the throne, left Muhammad Saíd, called Saádat Ullah Khán, as his substitute. Saádat Ullah Khan ruled with success from 1710 to 1732, but, having no son, left the masnad to his nephew Dost Alí Khán, who invaded Mysore, but was disgracefully defeated by the troops of Rájá Chikka Krishnaráj. It was during the rule of this Nawáb that his son-in-law, Hussén Dost Khán, better known as Chandá Sáhib, acquired by fraud the territory of Trichinopoli, and subsequently sided with the
- ↑ This remarkable fortress is in South Arcot, and is built on three hills, from 500 to 600 feet high, connected together by strong walls of circumvallation. The Rájágiri, or principal hill, is inaccessible on all sides, save the south-west, where a steep ravine permits access to the top; but even here three lines of walls protected the citadel from an assault, the only approach to the summit being by a bridge thrown over a chasm, opposite to which was a gateway, with flanking defences. The place was first fortified by the Vijayanagar kings in the fourteenth century, and after falling into many hands, was captured by the French in 1750 in a brilliant manner.
