Avadhanum (or Avadhanam) Paupiah was a ''dubash'', or interpreter in the service of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. He was of

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

origin. Avadhanum Paupiah joined the service of the British East India Company factory at Madras as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

and rose to become ''dubash'' to the Holland brothers, who served as

Governors of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized be ...

. Paupiah and the Hollands were guilty of trying to "dispose" David Haliburton, an important official and rival of the Hollands. While the Hollands managed to escape to the United Kingdom, Paupiah was convicted and fined. The trial was the subject of a book and the Scottish writer

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

, a relative of Haliburton, makes a reference to the episode in his book '' The Surgeon's Daughter''.

Early life

Avadhanam Paupiah was born into a family from

Nellore Nellore is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of the district, as well as Nellore mandal and Nellore revenue division. It is the List of cities in ...

, which was then in the princely state of Carnatic. Paupiah had little formal education; however, he was well-versed in his native

. Apart from this, he could also converse in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, which was the court language of the princely state and learnt English.

Service with the British East India Company and rise to power

Paupiah joined the service of the

at an early age. He worked as a "writer" (clerk who writes or copies documents and papers) in the Sea Customs Department of the British East India Company factory at Madras for sometime and was in charge of keeping the accounts of the Company.

''Dubash'' to the Holland brothers

Soon, Paupiah became the chief ''dubash'' to the Holland brothers, John Holland and Edward J. Holland. The Holland brothers were powerful and influential officers in the Madras establishment. As ''dubash'', Paupiah exerted as much influence over the Holland brothers. The Holland brothers were extremely corrupt and when both of them were elected to the assembly, Paupiah assisted them in the unlawful ways by which they made money. John Holland reached the pinnacle of his career in 1789 when he was appointed

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized be ...

. John served as governor from 7 February 1789 to 13 February 1790 and was succeeded by his brother Edward who served just one week. The two brothers amassed a lot of wealth during their terms as governor. During this time, Paupiah became the most influential Indian in the Presidency; even the

Nawab of Arcot The Carnatic Sultanate was a kingdom in South India between about 1690 and 1855, and was under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until their demise. They initially had their capital at Arcot in the present-day Indian state of Tamil N ...

had to pass through him to approach the governor.

The Haliburton affair

Edward and John Holland found their

nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

in David Haliburton, a member of the Board of Revenue who wished to expose their corrupt practices. Soon, the Hollands grew wary of him and his persistent campaign against them and desired to get rid of him through Paupiah. Paupiah forged evidence against Haliburton and thus brought an end to his period of service in India. However, the scheme was exposed by

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

, the

Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

who unravelled the corrupt practices of the Hollands. The Hollands managed to escape and sail to England, but Paupiah was convicted along with three other Indians. Paupiah was tried between 11 and 13 July 1792 for conspiracy against David Haliburton in the Court of Quarter Sessions presided over by Charles Medows. He was pronounced guilty and sentenced to three years imprisonment and to pay a fine of 2,000 pagodas or one thousand rupees. Avadhanum Paupiah's trial was one of the most famous criminal prosecutions of the time. Paupiah's trial was the subject of a 1793 book of the same name by David Haliburton, which was co-written by the Scottish writer

, who was a close relative of Haliburton. Scott also makes allusions to Avadhanum Paupiah in his novel ''The Surgeon's Daughter'':

Notes

{{Reflist, 2 People of British India British East India Company civil servants 18th-century Indian people