Early 1750s India was a buffer between the Mughal-Maratha conflict and the birth of East India Company's territories (not the British Empire). 1757 would be the first time a major battle would be fought between the Mughals and British - the Battle of Plassey - that would start the Company Sarkar or Company Raj on the subcontinent. And then as we all know how things unfolded. But the early 1750s was an interesting time as there were a whole set of different major metropolitan cities which are either small towns or shrunk as villages and rural areas. Even the names of various provinces and states don't exist now and even their new names are hard to decipher. But here's a list of some of those names which are interesting to know, at least.
Before the emergence of cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata as major metropolis, there were towns such as Rajmahal, Machlipatnam, Burhanpur, Aurangabad, Khambhat, Bhatkal, Srirangapatnam etc. which were of both administrative and strategic importance. But with the arrival of the British and the heavy development of new cities which they established at the coast, these inland cities just remained as sites of historic importance. Moreover, as Bombay, Madras and Calcutta flourished, these towns somehow became neglected. This post shall discuss the fate of some of such places which once glorious but are now lost in pages of history.
Atok: Today's Attock, in Pakistan, has been variably spelt on various maps. Marking the frontier of the Mughals in the north, it was also the strongest garrison of the empire and proper documentation (similar to today's passports) would be required for any stranger to enter the Mughal territory.
Hajacan: Also spelt as Hangichan, a province north of Multan. Perhaps its name could be an Anglicized version of Haji Khan, father to Ghazi Khan Mirrani, a Baloch mercenary. The Pakistani city of Dera Ghazi Khan is named after him so this area could be possibly linked to that. The province was inhabited by Baloch people often spelt as Bullochs or Bulloques.
Bacar: or Buckor, today's Bhakkar (in Sind, Pakistan) native to warlike rugged tribes.
Nagracut: Nagarkot was the former name of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. It is recorded that at a famous temple here, devotees would offer a part of their tongue to the goddess Jwala (at Jwalamukhi, spelt by the British as Jallamake).
Jamba: Today's Chamba, mentioned as a mountainous province.
Siba: Situated in today's Kangra district itself, Siba was a state which had a cow-shaped rock from which Ganga (or the Ganges) would flow in the country. The state also consisted of the holy town of Haridwar (spelt as Hardware).
Gehud or Narwar: Today's Gohad, in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh. Gohad fort was awarded to the Wazir of Shinde (Scindia) Shivaddin Pakhre, in the Maratha court, for his years of service to the Emperor.
Nepal was yet to be united and one would find names such as Kenti, Dsomlangu (possibly Lamjung), Nou, Couke (possibly Nuwakot), Pitan (Patan), Tchoucra and Pouronke. Between 1745 to 1775, all the 24 Gorkha principalities would unite to form the Kingdom of Nepal, which till 1814 would extend from today's Himachal Pradesh to Sikkim.
Moving towards the south, the bigger kingdoms at this time were Bijapur (spelt as Visapour), Golconda (Nizam's territory of Hyderabad had already been established but a proper shape to its boundaries would take place later) and Vijayanagar (spelt a Bisnagar). But particularly one such territory that got erased away soon was the Cholanaikkan (spelt as Chilanaiken). They currently are the last remains of the hunter-gatherers of this region. It was later absorbed by the formation of the Madras Presidency.
These were the names of some more of the unusual and unheard kingdoms/states during the Mughal-Maratha regimes. The map here is a replica of a 1751 map bade by Robert de Vaugondy, leading French cartographers of that time.
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