Background
He was adopted the son of Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, who had no son. He adopted a boy who was son of daughter of a servant.
He was adopted the son of Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, who had no son. He adopted a boy who was son of daughter of a servant.
At 13 years of age Ali, was married at the cost of £300000 in Lucknow. Within four months they accused him of being unfaithful. Ali was granted a pension of 3,00,000 Rupees and removed to Benares.
The government in Calcutta decided that he should be removed further from his former realm.
Cherry, a British resident, relayed this order to him on 14 January 1799 during a breakfast invitation at which Ali had appeared with an armed guard. During the ensuing argument Cherry abused and ignored Ali"s request which resulted in Ali striking Cherry a blow with his sabre, whereupon the guards killed the resident and two more Europeans.
Subsequently Ali assembled a rebellious army of several thousand mentor A quickly assembled force commanded by General Erskine moved into Benares and "restored order" by 21 January.
Ali fled to Butwal, Rajputana and was granted asylum by the Raja of Jaipur.
On request of Arthur Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, the raja turned Ali over to the British on the condition that he neither be hanged nor be put in fetters. Ali surrendered to the British authorities in December 1799, and was placed in rigorous confinement at Fort William, Calcutta. The colonial government complied with this: Ali spent the rest of life – 17 years – in an iron cage in Vellore Fort in the Madras Presidency.
They then set out to attack the house of Samuel Davis, the Magistrate of Benares, who defended himself on the staircase of his house with a pike until rescued by British troops.