Cite
MLA
“Revolt of Muhammad Yusuf Khan (Siege of Madurai).” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/yusuf-khan-revolt-1763/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Revolt of Muhammad Yusuf Khan (Siege of Madurai). Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/yusuf-khan-revolt-1763/
After a long siege of Madurai, Yusuf Khan was seized by his own officers, handed over and hanged on 15 October 1764.
01The Company’s commandant
Maruthanayagam was born near Ramanathapuram, took the name Muhammad Yusuf Khan, and made his name as a soldier in the Carnatic wars, above all in the defence of Madras in 1758–59. The Company and the Nawab then sent him south against the palaiyakkarars of Tirunelveli, Puli Thevar among them, and gave him Madurai and Tirunelveli to govern. He repaired tanks and temples and kept order, but the Nawab wanted the revenue in his own hands and treated him as a servant.
02Siege and betrayal
In 1763 Yusuf Khan refused to submit and raised the French flag over Madurai with the help of a French officer, Marchand. Company and Nawabi troops closed on the city. The first assault failed and the siege dragged on through 1764, while hunger grew inside the walls. In October 1764 Marchand and two of Yusuf Khan’s own men seized him at prayer and gave him up. He was hanged on 15 October at Sammatipuram outside Madurai.
Madurai passed firmly to the Nawab and, through his debts, to the Company. Tamil ballads still remember Khan Sahib, and his grave stands at Sammatipuram.
