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| The well at the place of Nandakumar's execution |
The trial and execution of Maharaja Nandakumar (referred
to in contemporary documents as Nuncomar) was one of the most infamous episodes
of the early days of the East India Company’s rule in India. Nandakumar was an
Indian tax official, appointed collector of Burdwan and given the title “Maharaja”
by Emperor Shah Alam II in 1764. A bitter enemy of Warren Hastings, Nanadkumar
accused him, through a letter, of accepting a bribe from Mir Jafar’s widow Munny
Begum for securing for her the guardianship of the Nawab Mubarak-ud-Daulah,
then a minor. The case was taken up in the Supreme Council of Bengal by
Hastings’ rival, Philip Francis. But Hastings was able to overrule the Council,
and even though he admitted to accepting a bribe, could not be brought to book.
