Avadhanum Paupiah

Avadhanum (or Avadhanam) Paupiah was a dubash, or interpreter in the service of the British East India Company. He was of Telugu origin.

Avadhanum Paupiah joined the service of the British East India Company factory at Madras as a clerk and rose to become dubash to the Holland brothers, who served as Governors of Madras. 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, a relative of Haliburton, makes a reference to the episode in his book The Surgeon's Daughter (1827).

Early life Avadhanam Paupiah was born into a Tummagunta Dravida Brahmin family in Nellore, which was then in the princely state of Carnatic. Paupiah had little formal education; however, he was well-versed in his native Telugu. The Holland brothers were powerful and influential officers in the Madras establishment. 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, the Governor-General of India 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 Sir Walter Scott, who was a close relative of Haliburton. Scott also makes allusions to Avadhanum Paupiah in his novel The Surgeon's Daughter: