Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah (1717–1795) was the Nawab of Arcot in India and an ally of the British East India Company. Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was born to Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, by his second wife, Fakhr un-nisa Begum Sahiba, was a niece of Sayyid Ali Khan Safavi ul-Mosawi of Persia, sometime Naib suba of Trichonopoly on 7 July 1723 at Delhi. Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah the Nawab of Arcot often referred to himself as the Subedar of the Carnatic in his letters and correspondence with the then Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.
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His official name was Amir ul Hind, Wala Jah, 'Umdat ul-Mulk, Asaf ud-Daula, Nawab Muhammad 'Ali Anwar ud-din Khan Bahadur, Zafar Jang, Sipah-Salar, Sahib us-Saif wal-qalam Mudabbir-i-Umur-i-'Alam Farzand-i-'Aziz-az Jan, Biradarbi Jan-barabar [Nawab Jannat Aramgah], Subadar of the Carnatic.
It was said of Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah, that he could be courteous, immensely hospitable, always emulating English customs and manners, such as taking breakfast and tea, and sitting on chairs rather than cushions. He even held two investitures, bestowing the KB upon Sir John Lindsay and Sir Hector Munro, in 1771 and 1779, respectively. .
Sir John Macpherson, writing to Lord Macartney in November 1781 declared,
The Nawab was an ally of the British East India Company, but still harboured great ambitions of power in the South Indian arena, where Hyder Ali of Mysore, the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad were constant rivals. The Nawab could also be unpredictable and devious, and his breach of promise in failing to surrender Tiruchirappalli to Hyder Ali in 1751 was at the root of so many confrontations between Hyder Ali and the British. When Hyder Ali swept into the Carnatic towards Arcot on 23 July 1781, with a terrifying army estimated at 86-100,000 men, it was not Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah, however but the British who provoked Hyder Ali's wrath, after seizing the French port of Mahé, which was under Hyder Ali's protection. Much of the ensuing war was fought on the Nawab's territory.
For the defence of his territory, he paid the British 400,000 pagodas per annum (about £160,000) and 10 out of the 21 battalions of the Madras army were posted to garrison his forts. The British derived income from his jagirs (land grants).[1]
He died from gangrene poisoning, at Madras on 13 October 1795. He was buried outside the gate of the Gunbad of Shah Chand Mastan, Trichinopoly. He was succeeded by his son and successor Umdat Ul-Umra, who was later accused of supporting Tipu Sultan the heir of Hyder Ali during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.
| Preceded by Chanda Sahib |
Nawab of Carnatic (de facto) (Confirmed by Carnatic Treaty of 1754) 1752 – 16 October 1795 |
Succeeded by Umdat Ul-Umra |
| Preceded by Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan |
Nawab of Carnatic (de jure) (Confirmed by 1763 Treaty of Paris) 31 July 1749 – 16 October 1795 |