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diff --git a/16997-h/16997-h.htm b/16997-h/16997-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..266c9eb --- /dev/null +++ b/16997-h/16997-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,25598 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=us-ascii"> +<meta name="generator" content="NoteTab"> +<title>A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude in 1849-1850, Volumes +1 and 2</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {background: #ffffdc; margin:10%; text-align:justify} +h1 {color:green; text-align:center; word-spacing:0.6em} +h2 {color:green; text-align:center; word-spacing:0.3em} +h3,h5,h6 {color:green; text-align:center} +h4 {color:black; text-align:center} +.centclass {text-align:center;} +blockquote {font-size: .8em} +.s0 {margin-left: 10%;} +.s1 {margin-left: 12%;} /* use for signature lines */ +.s2 {margin-left: 15%;} /* use for signature lines */ +.s3 {margin-left: 18%;} /* use for signature lines */ +.s4 {margin-left: 21%;} /* use for signature lines */ +.s5 {margin-left: 24%;} /* use for signature lines */ +.s6 {margin-left: 27%;} /* use for signature lines */ + +p.ch {margin-bottom: 4em; margin-top:4em; line-height: 1.5} +p.chsum {font-size: smaller; text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 4em; margin-top:4em; line-height: 1.1} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:#00aeed; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red; text-decoration:underline} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, +Volumes I & II, by William Sleeman + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, Volumes I & II + +Author: William Sleeman + +Release Date: November 4, 2005 [EBook #16997] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KINGDOM OF OUDE *** + + + + +Produced by Philip Hitchcock + + + + + +</pre> + +<a name="Vol1" id="Vol1"></a> +<h3>A</h3> +<h1>JOURNEY</h1> +<h3>THROUGH THE</h3> +<h1>KINGDOM OF OUDE,</h1> +<h3>IN 1849—1850;</h3> +<br> +<br> +<h3>BY DIRECTION OF THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE,<br> +GOVERNOR-GENERAL.</h3> +<h3>WITH PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE ANNEXATION<br> +OF OUDE TO BRITISH INDIA, &c.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. H. SLEEMAN, K.C.B.</h3> +<h3>Resident at the Court of Lucknow</h3> +<br> +<br> +<h3><i>IN TWO VOLUMES.</i></h3> +<h3>VOL. I.</h3> +<br> +<a href="#Vol2"><small>VOL. II.</small></a><br> +<h3>LONDON:</h3> +<h3>RICHARD BENTLEY,</h3> +<br> +<h5>Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.</h5> +<br> +<h5>1858.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<blockquote> +<p>[Transcriber's note: The author's spelling of the names of +places and people vary considerably, even within a single +paragraph. The spelling of place names in the text varies from that +shown on the map. The author's spelling is reproduced as in the +printed text.]</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +<br> +<br> +<p>My object in writing this DIARY OF A TOUR THROUGH OUDE was to +prepare, for submission to the Government of India, as fair and +full a picture of the real state of the country, condition, and +feeling of the people of all classes, and character of the +Government under which they at present live, as the opportunities +which the tour afforded me might enable me to draw.</p> +<p>The DIARY must, for the present, be considered as an official +document, which may be perused, but cannot be published, wholly or +in part, without the sanction of Government previously +obtained.*</p> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 1852. </p> +<p>* This permission was accorded by the Honourable Court of +Directors in December last.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[Transcriber's note: <i>Rambles and Recollections of an Indian +Official</i> by W. H. Sleeman 2nd Ed. 1915, p.xxxvi notes that the +date of the permission was not December 1851, but December +1852.]</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</h2> +<br> +<a href="#Bio">Biographical Sketch of Major-General Sir W. H. +Sleeman, K.C.B.</a><br> +<a href="#intro">Introduction</a><br> +<a href="#Private1">Private correspondence preceding the Journey +through the Kingdom of Oude</a><br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#Chap1">CHAPTER I.</a><br> +<p>Departure from Lucknow—Gholam Hazrut—Attack on the +late Prime Minister, Ameen-od-Dowla—A similar attack on the +sons of a former Prime Minister, Agar Meer—Gunga Sing and +Kulunder Buksh—Gorbuksh Sing, of Bhitolee—Gonda +Bahraetch district—Rughbur Sing—Prethee Put, of +Paska—King of Oude and King of the Fairies—Surafraz +mahal</p> +<a href="#Chap2">CHAPTER II.</a> +<p>Bahraetch—Shrine of Syud Salar—King of the Fairies +and the Fiddlers—Management of Bahraetch district for +forty-three years—Murder of Amur Sing, by Hakeem +Mehndee—Nefarious transfer of <i>khalsa</i> lands to +Tallookdars, by local officers—Rajah Dursun Sing—His +aggression on the Nepaul +Territory—Consequences—Intelligence +Department—How formed, managed, and abused—Rughbur +Sing's management of Gonda and Bahraetch for 1846-47—Its +fiscal effects—A gang-robber caught and hung by Brahmin +villagers—Murder of Syampooree Gosaen—Ramdut +Pandee—Fairies and Fiddlers—Ramdut Pandee, the +Banker—the Rajahs of Toolseepoor and Bulrampoor—Murder +of Mr. Ravenscroft, of the Bengal Civil Service, at Bhinga, in +1823.</p> +<a href="#Chapt3">CHAPTER III.</a> +<p>Legendary tale of breach of Faith—Kulhuns tribe of +Rajpoots—Murder of the Banker, Ramdut Pandee, by the Nazim of +Bahraetch—Recrossing the Ghagra river—Sultanpoor +district, State of Commandants of troops become sureties for the +payment of land revenue—Estate of Muneearpoor and the Lady +Sogura—Murder of Hurpaul Sing, Gurgbunsee, of +Kupragow—Family of Rajahs Bukhtawar and Dursun +Sing—Their <i>bynama</i> Lands—Law of +Primogeniture—Its object and effect—Rajah Ghalib +Jung—Good effects of protection to Tenantry—Disputes +about Boundaries—Our army a safety-valve for Oude—Rapid +decay of Landed Aristocracy in our Territories—Local ties in +groves, wells, &c.</p> +<a href="#Chapt4">CHAPTER IV.</a> +<p>Recross the Goomtee river—Sultanpoor +Cantonments—Number of persons begging redress of wrongs, and +difficulty of obtaining it in Oude—Apathy of the +Sovereign—Incompetence and unfitness of his +Officers—Sultanpoor, healthy and well suited for +Troops—Chandour, twelve miles distant, no less so—lands +of their weaker neighbours absorbed by the family of Rajah Dursun +Sing, by fraud, violence, and collusion; but greatly +improved—Difficulty attending attempt to restore old +Proprietors—Same absorptions have been going on in all parts +of Oude—and the same difficulty to be everywhere +encountered—Soils in the district, <i>mutteear</i>, +<i>doomutteea</i>, <i>bhoor</i>, <i>oosur</i>—Risk at which +lands are tilled under Landlords opposed to their +Government—Climate of Oude more invigorating than that of +Malwa—Captain Magness's Regiment—Repair of artillery +guns—Supply of grain to its bullocks—Civil +establishment of the Nazim—Wolves—Dread of killing them +among Hindoos—Children preserved by them in their dens, and +nurtured.</p> +<a href="#Chapt5">CHAPTER V.</a> +<p>Salone district—Rajah Lal Hunmunt Sing of +Dharoopoor—Soil of Oude—Relative fertility of the +<i>mutteear</i> and <i>doomutteea</i>—Either may become +<i>oosur</i>, or barren, from neglect, and is reclaimed, when it +does so, with difficulty—Shah Puna Ata, a holy man in charge +of an eleemosynary endowment at Salone—Effects of his +curses—Invasion of British Boundary—Military Force with +the Nazim—State and character of this Force—Rae +Bareilly in the Byswara district—Bandha, or +Misletoe—Rana Benee Madhoo, of Shunkerpoor—Law of +Primogeniture—Title of Rana contested between Benee Madhoo +and Rogonath Sing—Bridge and avenue at Rae +Bareilly—Eligible place for cantonment and civil +establishments—State of the Artillery—Sobha Sing's +regiment—Foraging System—Peasantry follow the fortunes of +their refractory Landlords—No provision for the king's +soldiers, disabled in action, or for the families of those who are +killed—Our sipahees, a privileged class, very troublesome +in the Byswara and Banoda districts—Goorbukshgunge—Man +destroyed by an Elephant—Danger to which keepers of such +animals are exposed—Bys Rajpoots composed of two great +families, Sybunsies and Nyhassas—Their continual contests for +landed possessions—Futteh Bahader—Rogonath +Sing—Mahibollah the robber and estate of Balla—Notion +that Tillockchundee Bys Rajpoots never suffer from the bite of a +snake—Infanticide—Paucity of comfortable +dwelling-houses—The cause—Agricultural +capitalists—Ornaments and apparel of the females of the Bys +clan—Late Nazim Hamid Allee—His father-in-law Fuzl +Allee—First loan from Oude to our Government—Native +gentlemen with independent incomes cannot reside in the +country—Crowd the city, and tend to alienate the Court from +the people.</p> +<a href="#Chapt6">CHAPTER VI.</a> +<p>Nawabgunge, midway between Cawnpoor and Lucknow—Oosur +soils how produced—Visit from the prime +minister—Rambuksh, of Dhodeeakhera—Hunmunt Sing, of +Dharoopoor—Agricultural capitalists—Sipahees and native +offices of our army—Their furlough, and +petitions—Requirements of Oude to secure good government. The +King's reserved treasury—Charity distributed through the +<i>Mojtahid</i>, or chief justice—Infanticide—Loan of +elephants, horses, and draft bullocks by Oude to Lord Lake in +1804—Clothing for the troops—The Akbery +regiment—Its clothing, &c.,—Trespasses of a great +man's camp in Oude—Russoolabad and Sufeepoor +districts—Buksh Allee, the dome—Budreenath, the contractor +for Sufeepoor—Meeangunge—Division of the Oude Territory +in 1801, in equal shares between Oude and the British +Governments—Almas Allee Khan—His good government—The +passes of Oude—Thieves by hereditary profession, and village +watchmen—Rapacity of the King's troops—Total absence of +all sympathy between the governing and governed—Measures +necessary to render the Oude troops efficient and less mischievous +to the people—Sheikh Hushmut Allee, of Sundeela.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<a name="Bio" id="Bio"></a><br> +<br> +<h2>BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH</h2> +<h5>of</h5> +<h2>MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. H. SLEEMAN. K.C.B.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<p>This distinguished officer, whose career in India extended over +a period of forty years, and whose services were highly appreciated +by three Governors-General—Viscount Hardinge, the Earl of +Ellenborough, and the Marquess of Dalhousie—evinced by their +appointing him to the most difficult and delicate duties—was +the son of Philip and Mary Sleeman, and was born at Stratton, +Cornwall, 8th August, 1788. In early years he evinced a +predilection for the military profession; and at the age of +twenty-one (October, 1809), through the good offices of the late +Lord De Dunstanville, he was appointed an Infantry Cadet in the +Bengal army. Thither he proceeded as soon as possible, and was +promoted successively to the rank of Ensign, 23rd September, 1810; +Lieutenant, 16th December, 1814; Brevet-Captain, 24th April, 1824; +Captain, 23rd September, 1826; Major, 1st February, 1837; +Lieutenant-Colonel, 26th May, 1843; Colonel, 24th November, 1853; +and obtained the rank of Major-General 28th November, 1854.</p> +<p>Early in his career he served in the Nepaulese war. The value of +his talents soon became known, and in 1816, when it was considered +necessary to investigate a claim to property as prize-money arising +out of that war, Lieutenant Sleeman was selected to inquire into +it. The report was accordingly made by him in February 1817, which +was designated by the Government as "able, impartial, and +satisfactory."</p> +<p>In 1820 he was appointed junior Assistant to the Agent of the +Governor-General at Saugur, and remained in the Civil Department in +the Saugur and Nerbudda territories, with the exception of absence +on sick certificate, for nearly a quarter of a century. Here he +manifested that, if he had been efficient in an inferior position, +he was also an able administrator in a superior post. He +distinguished himself so much by his activity in the suppression of +the horrible practice of Thuggism, then so prevalent, that, in +1835, he was employed exclusively in the Thuggee Department; his +appointment in the Saugur and Nerbudda districts being kept open, +and his promotion going on. The very valuable Papers upon Thuggism +submitted to the Governor-General were chiefly drawn up by Sir +William Sleeman, and the department specially commissioned for this +important purpose was not only organised but worked by him. In +consequence of ill-health, however, at the end of 1836, he was +compelled to resign this appointment; but on his return to duty in +February 1839, he was nominated to the combined offices of +Commissioner for the Suppression of Thuggee and Dacoity.</p> +<p>In 1842 he was employed on a special mission in Bundelcund, to +inquire into the causes of the recent disturbances there, and he +remained in that district, with additional duties, as Resident at +Gwalior, from 1844 until 1849, when he was removed to the highly +important office of Resident at the Court of Lucknow. Colonel +Sleeman held his office at Gwalior in very critical times, which +resulted in hostilities and the battle of Maharajpore. But for a +noble and unselfish act he would have received this promotion at an +earlier period. The circumstance was this: Colonel Low, the +Resident at that time, hearing that his father was dangerously ill, +tendered his resignation to Lord Auckland, who immediately offered +the appointment to Colonel Sleeman. No sooner had this occurred, +however, than Colonel Low wrote to his Lordship that, since he had +resigned, the house of Gaunter and Co., of Calcutta, in which his +brother was a partner, had failed, and, in consequence, every +farthing he had saved had been swept away. Under this painful +contingency be begged to place himself in his Lordship's hands. +This letter was sent by Lord Auckland to Colonel Sleeman, who +immediately wrote to Colonel Low, begging that he would retain his +situation at Lucknow. This generous conduct of Colonel Sleeman was +duly appreciated; and Lord Auckland, on leaving India, recommended +him to the particular notice of his successor. Lord Ellenborough, +who immediately appointed Colonel Sleeman to Jhansi with an +additional 1000<i>l</i>. a-year to his income.</p> +<p>Colonel Sleeman held the appointment of Resident at Lucknow from +the year 1849 until 1856. During this period his letters and diary +show his unwearied efforts to arrive at the best information on all +points with regard to Oude. These will enable the reader to form a +just, opinion on the highly-important subject of the annexation of +this kingdom to British India. The statements of Colonel Sleeman +bear inward evidence of his great administrative talents, his high +and honourable character, and of his unceasing endeavours to +promote the best interests of the King of Oude, so that his kingdom +might have been preserved to him. Colonel Sleeman's views were +directly opposed to annexation, as his letters clearly show.</p> +<p>His long and arduous career was now, however, fast drawing to a +close. So early as the summer of 1854 it became evident that the +health of General Sleeman was breaking up, and in the August of +that year he was attacked by alarming illness. "Forty-six years of +incessant labour," observes a writer at this date, "have had their +influence even on his powerful frame: he has received one of those +terrible warnings believed to indicate the approach of paralysis. +With General Sleeman will depart the last hope of any improvement +in the condition of the unhappy country of Oude. Though belonging +to the elder class of Indian officials, he has never been +Hindooized. He fully appreciated the evils of a native throne: he +has sternly, and even haughtily, pointed out to the King the +miseries caused by his incapacity, and has frequently extorted from +his fears the mercy which it was vain to hope from his +humanity."</p> +<p>Later in the year. General Sleeman went to the hills, in the +hope of recruiting his wasted health by change of air and scene; +but the expectation proved vain, and he was compelled to take +passage for England. But it was now too late: notwithstanding the +best medical aid, he gradually sank, and, after a long illness, +died on his passage from Calcutta, on the 10th February, 1856, at +the age of sixty-seven.</p> +<p>His Indian career was, indeed, long and honourable his labours +most meritorious. He was one of those superior men which the Indian +service is constantly producing, who have rendered the name of +Englishman respected throughout the vast empire of British India, +and whose memory will endure so long as British power shall remain +in the East.</p> +<p>It is well known that Lord Dalhousie, on his relinquishing the +Indian Government, recommended General Sleeman and two other +distinguished officers in civil employment for some mark of the +royal favour, and he was accordingly nominated K.C.B., 4th +February, 1856; of which honour his Lordship apprised him in a +highly gratifying letter.</p> +<p>But, however high the reputation of an officer placed in such +circumstances—and none stood higher than Sir William Sleeman, +not only in the estimation of the Governor-General and the +Honourable Company, but also in the opinion of the inhabitants of +India, where he had served with great ability for forty years, and +won the respect and love particularly of the natives, who always +regarded him as their friend, and by whom his equity was profoundly +appreciated—it was to be anticipated, as a matter of course, +that his words and actions would be distorted and misrepresented by +a Court so atrociously infamous. This, no doubt, he was prepared to +expect, The King, or rather the creatures who surrounded him, would +at all cost endeavour to prevent any investigation into their gross +malpractices, and seek to slander the man they were unable to +remove.</p> +<p>The annexation of Oude to the British dominions followed, but +not as a consequence of Sir W. Sleeman's report. No greater +injustice can be done than to assert that he advised such a course. +His letters prove exactly the reverse. He distinctly states, in his +correspondence with the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, that the +annexation of Oude would cost the British power more than the value +of ten such kingdoms, and would inevitably lead to a mutiny of the +Sepoys. He constantly maintains the advisability of frontier +kingdoms under native sovereigns, that the people themselves might +observe the contrast, to the advantage of the Honourable Company, +of the wise and equitable administration of its rule compared with +the oppressive and cruel despotism of their own princes. Sir +William Sleeman had profoundly studied the Indian character in its +different races, and was deservedly much beloved by them for his +earnest desire to promote their welfare, and for the effectual +manner in which, on all occasions in his power, and these were +frequent, he redressed the evils complained of, and extended the +<i>Ægis</i> of British power over the afflicted and +oppressed.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<a name="intro" id="intro"></a><br> +<br> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<p>THE following Narrative of a "Pilgrimage" through the kingdom of +Oude was written by the late Major-General Sir William Sleeman in +1851 (while a Resident at the Court of Lucknow), at the request of +the Governor-General the Marquess of Dalhousie, in order to +acquaint the Honourable Company with the actual condition of that +kingdom, and with the view of pointing out the best measures to be +suggested to the King for the improvement and amelioration of the +country and people.</p> +<p>So early as October, 1847, the King of Oude had been informed by +the Governor-General, that if his system of rule were not +materially amended (for it was disgraceful and dangerous to any +neighbouring power to permit its continuance in its present +condition) before two years had expired, the British Government +would find it necessary to take steps for such purpose in his name. +Accordingly on the 16th September, 1848, the Governor-General +addressed the following letter to Sir William Sleeman, +commissioning him to make a personal visit to all parts of the +kingdom:—</p><br> +<p align="right">"<i>Government House, Sept</i>. 16, +1848. </p> +<p>"MY DEAR COLONEL SLEEMAN,—It was a matter of regret to me +that I had not anticipated your desire to succeed Colonel +Sutherland in Rajpootana before I made arrangements which prevented +my offering that appointment to you. I now regret it no longer, +since the course of events has put it in my power to propose an +arrangement which will, I apprehend, be more agreeable to you, and +which will make your services more <i>actively</i> beneficial to the +State.</p> +<p>"Colonel Richmond has intimated his intention of immediately +resigning the Residency at Lucknow. The communication made by the +Governor-General to the King of Oude, in October, 1847, gave His +Majesty to understand that if the condition of Government was not +very materially amended before two years had expired, the +management for his behoof would be taken into the hands of the +British Government.</p> +<p>"There seems little reason to expect or to hope that in October, +1849, any amendment whatever will have been effected. The +reconstruction of the internal administration of a great, rich, and +oppressed country, is a noble as well as an arduous task for the +officer to whom the duty is intrusted, and the Government have +recourse to one of the best of its servants for that purpose.</p> +<p>"The high reputation you have earned, your experience of civil +administration, your knowledge of the people, and the +qualifications you possess as a public man, have led me to submit +your name to the Council of India as an officer to whom I could +commit this important charge with entire confidence that its duties +would be well performed. I do myself, therefore, the honour of +proposing to you to accept the office of Resident at Lucknow, with +especial reference to the great changes which, in all probability, +will take place. Retaining your superintendency of Thuggee affairs, +it will be manifestly necessary that you should be relieved from +the duty of the trials of Thugs usually condemned at Lucknow.</p> +<p>"In the hope that you will not withhold from the Government your +services in the capacity I have named, and in the further hope of +finding an opportunity of personally making your acquaintance,</p> +<div class="s1">"I have the honour to be,</div> +<div class="s2">"Dear Colonel Sleeman,</div> +<div class="s3">"Very faithfully yours,</div> +<div class="s4">"DALHOUSIE."</div> +<p>"To Colonel Sleeman, &c., &c."</p> +<p>Immediately on receipt of this despatch, Sir William proceeded +to make the necessary inquiry. Doubtless the King (instigated by +his Ministers and favourites, who dreaded the exposure of all their +infamous proceedings) would have prevented this investigation, +which, he was aware, would furnish evidence of gross +mal-administration, cruelty, and oppression almost unparalleled; +but Sir William Sleeman was too well acquainted with the character +of the people of the East to be moved either by cajolery or menaces +from the important duty which had devolved upon him.</p> +<p>Sir William Sleeman's position as Resident enabled him to +ascertain thoroughly the real state of Oude; and the great respect +with which he was universally received manifests the high opinion +entertained of him personally by all ranks. The details he has +given of the prevailing anarchy and lawlessness throughout the +kingdom, would scarcely be believed were they not vouched for by an +officer of established reputation and integrity. Firmness united to +amenity of manner were indeed the characteristics of Sir William in +his important and delicate office at such a Court—a Court +where the King, deputing the conduct of business to Ministers +influenced by the basest motives, and who constantly sacrificed +justice to bribery and low intrigues, gave himself up to the +effeminate indulgence of his harem, and the society of eunuchs and +fiddlers. His Majesty appears to have been governed by favourites +of the hour selected through utter caprice, and to have permitted, +if he did not order, such atrocious cruelties and oppression as +rendered the kingdom of Oude a disgrace to the British rule in +India, and called for strong interference, on the score of humanity +alone, as well as with the hope of compelling amendment.</p> +<p>The letter addressed by Lord Dalhousie to Sir William Sleeman +expresses the desire of the Governor-General that he should +endeavour to inform himself of the actual state of Oude, and render +his Narrative a guide to the Honourable Company in its Report to +the Court of Directors. The details furnish but too faithful a +picture of the miserable condition of the people, equally oppressed +by the exactions of the King's army and collectors, and by the +gangs of robbers and lawless chieftains who infest the whole +territory, rendering tenure so doubtful that no good dwellings +could be erected, and land only partially cultivated; whilst the +numberless cruelties and atrocious murders surpass belief. Shut up +in his harem, the voice of justice seldom reached the ear of the +monarch, and when it did, was scarcely heeded. The Resident, it +will be seen, was beset during his journey with petitions for +redress so numerous, that, anxious as he was to do everything in +his power to mitigate the horrors he witnessed, he frequently gives +vent to the pain he experienced at finding relief +impracticable.</p> +<p>The Narrative contains an unvarnished but unexaggerated picture +of the actual state of Oude, with many remedial suggestions; but +direct annexation formed no part of the policy which Sir William +Sleeman recommended. To this measure he was strenuously opposed, as +is distinctly proved by his letters appended to the Journal. At the +same time, he repeatedly affirms the total unfitness of the King to +govern. These opinions are still further corroborated by the +following letter from his private correspondence, 1854-5, written +when Resident at Lucknow, and published in the <i>Times</i> in +November last:—</p> +<p>"The system of annexation, pursued by a party in this country, +and favoured by Lord Dalhousie and his Council, has, in my opinion, +and in that of a large number of the ablest men in India, a +downward tendency—a tendency to crush all the higher and +middle classes connected with the land. These classes it should be +our object to create and foster, that we might in the end inspire +them with a feeling of interest in the stability of our rule. <i>We +shall find a few years hence the tables turned against us</i>. In +fact, the aggressive and absorbing policy, which has done so much +mischief of late in India, is beginning to create feelings of alarm +in the native mind; and it is when the popular mind becomes +agitated by such alarms that fanatics will always be found ready to +step into Paradise over the bodies of the most prominent of those +from whom injury is apprehended. I shall have nothing new to do at +Lucknow. Lord Dalhousie and I have different views, I fear. If he +wishes anything done that I do not think right and honest, I +resign, and leave it to be done by others. I desire a strict +adherence to solemn engagements, whether made with white faces or +black. We have no right to annex or confiscate Oude; but we have a +right, under the treaty of 1837, to take the management of it, but +not to appropriate its revenues to ourselves. We can do this with +honour to our Government and benefit to the people. To confiscate +would be dishonest and dishonourable. To annex would be to give the +people a government almost as bad as their own, if we put our screw +upon them. My position here has been and is disagreeable and +unsatisfactory: we have a fool of a king, a knave of a minister, +and both are under the influence of one of the cleverest, most +intriguing, and most unscrupulous villains in India."</p> +<p>Major Bird, in his pamphlet "Dacoitee in Excelsis," while +endeavouring to establish a case for the King of Oude, has assumed +that Sir William Sleeman was an instrument in the hands of Lord +Dalhousie, to carry out his purpose of annexing Oude to British +India. The letters, now first printed, entirely refute this hasty +and erroneous statement. Major Bird has, in fact, withdrawn it +himself in a lecture delivered by him at Southampton on Tuesday, +the 16th of February, 1858.</p> +<p>It will be seen that Sir W. Sleeman's "Diary" commences on +December 1, 1849. To preserve chronological order, the letters +written before that date are prefixed; those which refer to a later +period are added at the end of the narrative.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<a name="Private1" id="Private1"></a><br> +<br> +<h2>PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE</h2> +<br> +<h3>PRECEDING THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE KINGDOM OF OUDE.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Camp, 20th February, 1848.</p> +<p>My Dear Sir,</p> +<p>I thank you for your letter of the 10th instant, and am of +opinion that you may be able to make good use of Bhurut Sing under +judicious management, and strict surveillance; but you do not +mention who and what he is—whether he is a prisoner under +sentence, or a free agent, or of what caste and profession. Some +men make these offers in order to have opportunities of escape, +while engaged in the pretended search after associates in crime; +others to extort money from those whom they may denounce, or have +the authority and means to arrest. He should be made to state +distinctly the evidence he has against persons, and the way he got +it; and all should be recorded against the names of the persons in +a Register. Major Riddell is well acquainted with our mode of +proceedings in all such cases, and I recommend you to put yourself +in communication, as soon as possible, with him, and Mr. Dampier, +the Superintendent of Police, who fortunately takes the greatest +possible interest in all such matters. I have no supervision +whatever over the officers of the department employed in Bengal; +all rests entirely with Mr. Dampier. You might write to him at +once, and tell him that you are preparing such a Register as I +suggest; and if he is satisfied with the evidence, he will +authorise the arrest of all or part, and well reward Bhurut Sing +for his services.</p> +<div class="s1">Believe me, my dear Sir,</div> +<div class="s2">With best wishes for your success,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Capt. J. Innes,<br> +Barrackpoor.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Camp, 20th February, 1848. </p> +<p>My Dear Colonel Sutherland,</p> +<p>There are at Jubulpore a good many of the Bagree decoits, who +have been sentenced as approvers, by the Courts of Punchaet, in +Rajpootana, to imprisonment for very short periods. Unless they are +ordered to be retained when these periods expire, on a requisition +of security for their future good behaviour, they will make off, +and assuredly return to their hereditary trade. The ordinary pay of +the grades open to them in our police and other establishments, +will not satisfy them when they find that we have no hold upon +them, and they become more and more troublesome as the time for +their enlargement approaches.</p> +<p>I send you copies of the letters from Government of the 27th +June, 1839, from which you will see that it was intended that all +professional decoits who gave us their services on a promise of +conditional pardon, should have a sentence of imprisonment for life +recorded against them, the execution of which was to be suspended +during their good behaviour, and eventually altogether remitted in +cases where they might be deemed to have merited, by a course of +true and faithful services, such an indulgence. In all other parts, +as well as in our own provinces as in native states, such +sentences, have been recorded against these men, and they have +cheerfully submitted to them, under the assurance that they and +their children would be provided with the means of earning an +honest livelihood; but in Rajpootana it has been otherwise.</p> +<p>By Act 24, of 1843, all such professional gang-robbers are +declared liable to a sentence, on conviction, of imprisonment for +life; and everywhere else a sentence of imprisonment for life has +been passed upon all persons convicted of being gang-robbers by +profession. This is indispensably necessary for the entire +suppression of the system which Government has in view. Do you not +think that in your Courts the final sentence might be left to the +European functionaries, and the verdict only left to the Punchaets? +The greater part of those already convicted in these Courts will +have to be released soon, and all who are so will certainly return +to their trade; and the system will continue in spite of all our +efforts to put it down. I have just been at Jubulpore, and the +bearing of the Bagree decoits, sent from Ajmeer by Buch, is quite +different from that of those who have had a sentence of +imprisonment for life passed against them in other quarters, and is +very injurious to them, for they get so bad a name that no one will +venture to give them service of any kind. Do, I pray you, think of +a remedy for the future. The only one that strikes me is that above +suggested, of leaving the final sentence to the European +officers.</p> +<p>I need not say that I was delighted at your getting the great +Douger Sing by the means you had yourself proposed for the +pursuit—sending an officer with authority to disregard +boundaries.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. S. SLEEMAN</div> +<p>To Col. Sutherland.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 4th March, 1848. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>I had the gratification to receive your Lordship's letter of the +7th of January last, at Nursingpore, in the valley of the Nerbudda, +where I commenced my Civil career more than a quarter of a century +before, and where, of all places, I should have wished to receive +so gracious a testimonial from such high authority. I should have +earlier expressed by grateful acknowledgments, and prepared the +narrative so frequently called for, but I was then engaged in +preparing a Report on Gang-robbery in India, and wished first to +make a little more progress, that I might be able to speak more +confidently of its ultimate completion and submission to +Government. In a less perfect form this Report was, at the earnest +recommendation of the then Lieut.-Governor N.W.P., the Honourable +T. Robertson, and with the sanction of the Governor-General Lord +Auckland, sent to the Government press so long back as 1842, but +his Lordship appeared to me to think that the printing had better +be deferred till more progress had been made in the work of putting +down the odious system of crime which the Report exposed, and I +withdrew it from the press with little hope of ever again having +any leisure to devote to it, or finding any other person able and +willing to undertake its completion.</p> +<p>During the last rains, however, I began again to arrange the +confused mass of papers which I found lying in a box; but in +October I was interrupted by a severe attack of fever, and unable +to do anything but the current duties of my office till I commenced +my tour through the Saugor territories, in November. I have since +nearly completed the work, and hope to be able to submit it to +Government before the end of this month in a form worthy of its +acceptation.</p> +<p>I am afraid that the narrative of my humble services will be +found much longer than it ought to be, but I have written it +hastily that it might go by this mail, and it is the first attempt +I have ever thought of making at such a narrative, for I have gone +on quietly "through evil and through good report," doing, to the +best of my ability, the duties which it has pleased the Government +of India, from time to time, to confide to me, in the manner which +appeared to me most conformable to its wishes and its honour, +satisfied and grateful for the trust and confidence which enabled +me to do so much good for the people, and to secure so much of +their attachment and gratitude to their rulers.</p> +<p>Permit me to subscribe myself, with great respect,<br> +Your Lordship's faithful and obedient humble servant,</p> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Lieut.-General the Right Hon.<br> +Henry Viscount Hardinge,<br> + &c. +&c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 4th March, 1848. </p> +<p>Dear Sir,</p> +<p>Lord Hardinge, in a letter dated the 7th of January last, +requested me to make out a narrative of my humble services in +India, and to send it under cover to you, as he expected to embark +on the 15th, before he could receive it in Calcutta. I take the +liberty to send my reply with the narrative, open, and to request +that you will do me the favour to have them sealed and forwarded to +his Lordship.</p> +<div class="s1">Believe me, dear Sir,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours very faithfully,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To J. Cosmo Melvill,<br> +Secretary to the East India Company,<br> +India House, London.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 28th March, 1848. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>The Court of Directors complain that decoit prisoners are not +tried as soon as they are caught, but they know little of the +difficulties that the officers under me find in getting them tried, +for political officers have, in truth, had little encouragement to +undertake such duties, and it is only a few choice spirits that +have entered upon the duty <i>con amore</i>. General Nott prided, +himself upon doing nothing whatever while he was at Lucknow; +General Pollock did all he could, but it was not much; and Colonel +Richmond does nothing. There the Buduk decoits, Thugs, and +poisoners, remain without sentences, and will do so till Richmond +goes, unless you give him a fillip. If you tell him to apply for an +assistant to aid him in the conduct of the trials, and tell him to +nominate his own, he may go to work, and I earnestly pray you to do +something, or the Oude Turae will become what it had for ages been +before we cleaned it out. Davidson was prevented from doing +anything by technical difficulties, so that out of <i>four +Residents we have not got four days' work</i>.</p> +<p>You will soon get my Report, and it will be worth having, and +the last I shall make on crime in India.</p> +<p>If Hercules had not had better instruments he could not so +easily have cleared out his stable; but he had no "Honourable +Court" to find fault with his mode of doing the thing, I conclude. +The fact is, however, that our prisoners are pretty well tried +before they get into quod. Mr. Bird will be delighted at the manner +in which he is introduced in my first chapter, and many another +good officer well pleased.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,<br> +Secretary to the Government of India,<br> +Calcutta.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 29th March, 1848. </p> +<p>My Dear Maddock,</p> +<p>I hope you will not disapprove of the resolution to which I have +come of resigning the charge of the Saugor territories, now that +tranquillity has been restored,—the best possible feelings +among the people prevail, and the object you had in view in +recommending Lord Ellenborough to confide that charge to me has +been effected,—or of the manner in which I have tendered my +resignation. Were I longer to retain the charge, I should be +subjected to humiliations which the exigencies of the public +service do not require that I should at this time of life submit +to, and I shall have enough of labour and anxiety in the charge +that will still remain to me. If an opening for Sir R. Shakespear +could be found, his salary might be saved by my residence being +transferred to Gwalior. If either Hamilton or I were to be removed +to some other post, it would be well to reduce Gwalior and Indore +to political agencies, under the supervision of an agent, as in +Rajpootana, with Bundelcund added to his charge. The latter of +these two measures has, you know, been under consideration, and +was, I think, proposed by Sutherland when you were at Gwalior with +Lord Auckland. Had the Lieutenant-Governor known more of the Saugor +territories when he wrote the paper on which Government is now +acting, he would not, I think, have described the state of things +as he has done, or urged the introduction of the system which must +end in minutely subdividing all leases, and in having all questions +regarding land tenures removed into the civil Courts, as in the +provinces. It is the old thing, "nothing like leather." I shall not +weary you by anything more on this subject. I hope a good man will +be selected for the charge. The selection of Mr. M. Smith as +successor to Mr. Brown was a good one. My letter will go off +to-day, and be, I trust, well received. I am grieved that Clerk has +been obliged to quit his post; he has been throughout his career an +ornament to your service, but his friends seem all along to have +apprehended that he could not long stand the climate of Bombay. I +am anxious to learn how long you are to remain in Council.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours very sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Hon. Sir T. H. Maddock,<br> + &c. + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 2nd April, 1848. </p> +<p>My dear Elliot,</p> +<p>Till I this morning got the public letter, which will go off +to-day, I never heard one word about Shakespear's intention or wish +to go to the hills, and only thirteen days remain. The orders of +Government as to his <i>locum tenens</i> cannot reach me by the +15th, when he is to leave, and I shall have to put in some one to +take charge, as there is a treasury under his management.</p> +<p>If Government wish to take Major Stevens from the Byza Bae, and +give him some other employment, he might be sent to act for Captain +Ross; but I know nothing of his fitness for such an office.</p> +<p>I believe you know Captain Ross, and I need say nothing more +than what I have said in my public letter. If he be sent to +Gwalior, I hope a good officer may be sent to act for him in +Thalone, for the duties are very heavy and responsible. Blake will +do very well, and so would his second in command, Captain Erskine, +of the 73rd, who is an excellent civil officer. I must pray you to +let me have the orders of Government on the subject as soon as +possible.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>P.S.—I should consider Major Stevens an able man for a +civil charge, but have never seen him.</p> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. S.</div> +<p>To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 6th May, 1848. </p> +<p>My Dear Maddock,</p> +<p>Your kind letter of the 21st ultimo had prepared me for the +public one of the 28th, which I got yesterday from Elliot, and I +wrote off at once, to say simply that I should be glad to suspend +or to withdraw the application contained in my letter of the 29th +of March, as might appear best to Government; and that I should not +have made it at all, had I apprehended that a compliance with it +would have been attended with any inconvenience.</p> +<p>With the knowledge I have acquired of the duties of the several +officers, and the entire command of my time here at a quiet place, +and long-established methodical habits, I can get through the work +very well, though it becomes trying sometimes. Arrears I never +allow to accumulate, and regular hours, and exercise, and sparing +diet, with water beverage, keep me always in condition for office +work. I often wish that you could have half the command of your +hours, mode of living, and movements, that I have. However, they +will soon be much more free than mine. I am very glad that you have +the one year more for a wind up; and hope that good fortune will +attend you to the last. You say nothing, however, about your foot. +The papers and letters from home have just come in. I hear that +Lord John is very unwell, and will not be able to stand the work +many months more, and that Sir R. Peel is obliged to be +<i>cupped</i> once a-week, and could not possibly take office. Who +is to take helm in the troubled ocean, no one knows. I am glad that +Metternich has been kicked out, for he and Louis Philippe are the +men that have put in peril the peace and institutions of all +Europe. I only wish that the middle class was as strong in France +as it is in England; it is no doubt infinitely stronger than it +was; while the lower order is better than that of England, I +believe, for such occasions. They have good men now in the +provisional Government—so they had in 1788; and, like them, +the present men will probably be swept away by the mob. They are +not, however, likely to be embarrassed by other nations, since the +days of Pitt and George III. are passed away, and so are the feudal +times when the barons could get up civil wars for their own selfish +purposes. There are no characters sufficiently prominent to get up +a civil war, but the enormous size of the army is enough to create +feelings of disquiet. It is, however, officered from the middle +classes, who have property at stake, and must be more or less +interested in the preservation of order.</p> +<p>The Government has no money to send to Algiers, and must reduce +its strength there, so that Egypt is in no danger at present; were +it so, we should be called upon to defend it from India, and could +well do so. It is evident that the whole French nation was +alienated from Louis Philippe, and prepared to cast off him and all +his family, though, as you say, I do not believe that there was +anywhere any design to oust him and put down monarchy. Had he +thrown off Guizot a little sooner, and left some able military +leaders free to act, the <i>émeute</i> would have been put +down; but those who could have acted did not feel free to do so: +they did not feel sure of the king, while they were sure of the +odium of the people. I am not at all sorry for the change. I am +persuaded that it will work good for Europe; but still its peace +and best institutions are in peril at present. We are in no danger +here, because people do not understand such things; and because +England is in a prouder position than ever, and will, I trust, +retain it.</p> +<p>Lord Grey seems an able man at home, but he is, I believe, +hot-headed, and Lord Stanley is ten times worse; he would soon have +up the barricades in London. Lord Clarendon seems a safe guide, but +<i>Peel</i> is the man for the time, if he has the stamina. Lord +Palmerston has conducted the duties of his office with admirable +tact of late; and much of the good feeling that prevails in Europe +towards England at present seems to arise from it. Amelie begs to +be most kindly remembered; she is here with her little +boy—two girls at Munsoorie, and two girls and a boy at +home.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours very sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Hon. Sir T. H. Maddock,<br> + &c. + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 14th May, 1848. </p> +<p>My Dear Weston,</p> +<p>I have been directed by Government to name an officer whom I may +consider competent to superintend the suppression of Thuggee in the +Punjaub, where a new class has been discovered, and some progress +has been made in finding and arresting them. I have, in reply, +mentioned that I should have Captain Williams, of the 29th, and +Captain Chambers, of the 21st; but their services might not be +considered available, since the prescribed number of captains are +already absent from their regiments, and, in consequence, I have +you. I know not whether you will like the duties; if not, pray tell +me as soon as possible.</p> +<p>The salary is 700 rupees a-month, with office-rent 40, and +establishments 152. The duties are interesting and important; and +so good a foundation has been laid by Larkins and the other local +authorities, and all are so anxious to have the evil put down, that +you will have the most cordial support and co-operation of all, and +the fairest prospect of success. But you will have to apply +yourself steadily to work, and if you have not <i>passed</i>, you +should do so as soon as possible. I do not see P. opposite your +name, and Government may possibly object on this ground. Let all +this be <i>entre nous</i> for the present.</p> +<p>If you undertake the duties, you will have to go to Lodheeana, +seeing Major Graham at Agra, on the way, to get a little insight +into the work.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>P.S.—You will be in the most interesting scene in India, and +need be under no apprehension about the permanency of the +appointment.</p> +<p>To Lieut. Weston,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 18th May, 1848. </p> +<p>My Dear Maddock,</p> +<p>Things are not going on so well as could be wished in the +Punjaub; and it appears to me that we have been there committing an +error of the same kind that we committed in Afghanistan—that +is, taking upon ourselves the most odious part of the executive +administration. In such a situation this should have been avoided, +if possible. There is a kind of chivalry in this—if there is +anything odious to be done, or repugnant to the feelings of the +people, a young Englishman thinks he must do it himself, lest he +should be thought disposed to shift off a painful burthen upon +others; and he thinks it unbecoming of us to pay any regard to +popular feeling. Of course, also, the officers of the Sikh State +are glad to get rid of such burthens while they see English +gentlemen ready to carry them. Now, it strikes me that we might, +with a little tact, have altered all this, and retained the good +feelings of the people, by throwing the executive upon the officers +of the Sikh State, and remaining ourselves in the dignified +position of Appellate Courts for the redress of grievances +inflicted by these officers in neglect of duty or abuse of +authority. Our duty would have been to guide, control, and check, +and the head of all might have been like the sovereigns of +England—known only by his acts of grace.</p> +<p>By keeping in this dignified position we should not only have +retained the good feelings of the people, but we should have been +teaching the Sikh officers their administrative duties till the +time comes for making over the country; and the chief and Court +would have found the task, made over to them under such a system, +more easy to sustain. In Afghanistan we did the reverse of all +this, and became intolerably odious to the mass of the people; for +they saw that everything that was harsh was done by us, and the +officers of the King were disposed to confirm and increase this +impression because they were not employed. The people of the +Punjaub are not such fanatics, and they are more divided in creed +and caste, while they see no ranges of snowy mountains, barren +rocks, and difficult passes between us and our reinforcements and +resources; but it seems clear that there is a good deal of +excitement and bad feeling growing up amongst them that may be very +mischievous. All the newspapers, English and native, make the +administration appear to be altogether English—it is Captain +This, Mr. That, who do, or are expected to do, everything; and all +over the country the native chiefs will think, that the leaving the +country to the management of the Sirdars was a mere mockery and +delusion.</p> +<p>We should keep our hands as much as possible out of the harsh +and dirty part of the executive work, that the European officers +may be looked up to with respect as the effectual check upon the +native administrators; always prepared to check any disposition on +their part to neglect their duty or abuse their power, and thereby +bring their Government into disrepute. Of course, the outrage at +Mooltan must be avenged, and our authority there established; but, +when this is done, Currie should be advised to avoid the rock upon +which our friend Macnaghten was wrecked. We are too impatient to +jump down the throats of those who venture to look us in the face, +and to force upon them our modes of doing the work of the country, +and to superintend the doing it ourselves in all its details, or +having it done by creatures of our own, commonly ten times more +odious to the people than we are ourselves.</p> +<p>It is unfortunate that this outrage, and the excitement to which +it has given rise, should have come so quickly upon Lord Hardinge's +assurances at the London feast, and amidst the turmoil of popular +movements at home. It has its use in showing us the necessity of +being always prepared.</p> +<p>Baba Bulwunt Row tells me that he has got a letter from you in +the form of Khureela, and claims one from me on that ground. Shall +I comply? We have avoided this hitherto, as the Pundits put him up +to claim everything that the Bae's family had, not even omitting +the Thalone principality; and hints have been dropped of a mission +to England, if the money could be got. I wish to subdue these +pretensions for his own sake, that he may not be entirely ruined by +temptations to expensive displays. He has now got the entire +management of his own affairs, and is a sensible, well-disposed +lad. He was never recognised as the Bae's successor by Government +or the Agent, nor was he written to on the Bae's death. Cunput Row +Bhaca was the person addressed in the letter of condolence. His son +has run through all he has or can borrow, and is in a bad way. +Moresor Row has the reputation of being very rich, though he pleads +poverty always. The whole of the Saugor territories, save Mundla, +have benefited by two very fine seasons, with great demand for land +produce, and the people are happy. I have asked for reductions in +Mundla, to save the little of tillage and population that has been +left. The whole revenue is a mere trifle in such a jungle as you +know it to be, and when once the people go off, there is no getting +them back. Deer destroy the crops upon the few fields left, tigers +come to eat the deer, and malaria follows, to sweep off the +remaining few families.</p> +<p>I must not prose any longer at present. Amelia often talks of +you, and begs to be kindly remembered.</p> +<div class="s3">Ever yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Hon. Sir T. H. Maddock,<br> + &c. + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 28th May, 1848. </p> +<p>My Dear Maddock,</p> +<p>I yesterday sent off by Dawk Bangy an elaborate Report on +Dacoits by hereditary profession, and on the measures adopted by +the Government of India for their suppression, and hope it will +reach Calcutta before the rains set in heavily. Government may be +justly proud of the good which it shows to have been effected for +the people of India in the course of a brief period; and I am glad +that you have for this period been a member of it. There is much in +the Report to interest the general reader, but much of what is +inserted would, of course, have been left out by any one who had to +consult the wishes of such readers only.</p> +<p>At this time last year I had not the slightest hope of ever +being able to lay such a Report before Government; for I never +expected to find leisure in my present office, and could not carry +the requisite records with me, if driven away by sickness, to where +I might find it. The papers lay mouldering in an old box, to which +I had consigned them in 1840, when I withdrew them from the press, +under the impression that Lord Auckland thought that the exposition +of the terrible evil ought not to appear till more progress had +been made in its suppression; as G. Thompson and other itinerant +orators would be glad to get hold of them to abuse the Government. +The Report is infinitely more interesting and complete than it +could have been then, and may bid defiance to all such orators.</p> +<p>If printed, it will take from 400 to 450 pages, such as those of +the late Report on the Indian Penal Code, and be a neat and useful +volume for reference. I began it in the rains last year, but was +stopped short by a fever, and unable to continue it till I set out +on my tour. Three-fourths of it was written in the intervals +between the morning's march and breakfast-time during my tour +through the Saugor territories.</p> +<p>The tables of dacoitees ascertained to have been committed by +the dacoits described, and of the conditionally pardoned offenders, +will follow, and be found useful for reference, but should not, +perhaps, be in the same volume with the text of the Report; of +that, however, I leave Government to judge. I thank God that I have +been able to place before it so complete and authentic a record of +what has been done to carry out its views.</p> +<div class="s3">Ever most sincerely yours,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Hon. Sir T. H. Maddock,<br> + &c. +&c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 15th August, 1848. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>As it is possible that the letter which I addressed to your +Lordship on the 6th of March last, and sent open to Mr. Melvill, +the Secretary at the India House, may have miscarried; I write to +mention that I sent it, lest it might be supposed that I was +insensible of the kindness which induced your Lordship to write to +me before leaving India. The work which made me delay so long to +reply to that letter is now being printed in Calcutta, under the +authority of Government; and, as it contains much that is curious +and entertaining, and honourable to our rule in India, I trust at +no distant day to have the honour of presenting a copy to your +Lordship.</p> +<p>Amidst events of such absorbing interest as are now taking place +every day in Europe, India cannot continue long to engage much of +your thoughts; for, with the exception of the little outbreak at +Mooltan, tranquillity prevails, and is likely to do so for some +time. There has been delay in putting down the Mooltan rebels, but +the next mail will, I hope, take home news of the work having been +effectually done. This delay seems to have arisen from a notion +that troops ought not to be employed in the hot winds and rains; +but when occasion requires they can be employed at all times, and +the people of India require to be assured that they can be so. It +has not, I think, been found that troops actually employed in the +hot winds and rains lose more men than in cantonments, at least +native troops.</p> +<p>It was, I think, your Lordship's intention that, in the Lahore +state, we should guide, direct, and supervise the administration, +but not take all the executive upon ourselves, to the exclusion of +all the old native aristocracy, as we had done in Afghanistan. This +policy has not, I am afraid, been adhered to sufficiently; and we +have, probably, less of the sympathy and cordial good-will of the +higher and middle classes than we should otherwise have had. But I +am too far from the scene to be a fair judge in such matters.</p> +<p>The policy of interposing Hindoo native states between us and +the beggarly fanatical countries to the north-west no wise man can, +I think, doubt; for, however averse our Government may be to +encroach and creep on, it would be drawn on by the intermeddling +dispositions and vainglory of local authorities; and every step +would be ruinous, and lead to another still more ruinous. With the +Hindoo principalities on our border we shall do very well, and +trust that we shall long be able to maintain them in the state +required for their own interests and ours.</p> +<p>I wish England would put forth its energies to raise the colony +of New Zealand, the queen of the Pacific Ocean; for the relations +between that island and India must some day become very intimate, +and the sooner it begins the better. I am very glad to find by the +last mail that the French have put their affairs into better +hands—those of practical men, instead of visionaries.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me, with great respect,</div> +<div class="s1">Your Lordship's obedient, humble servant,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Lieut.-General the Right Hon.<br> +Henry Viscount Hardinge, G.C.B.,<br> + &c. + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 22nd August 1848. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir Erskine,</p> +<p>I thank you for kindly sending me a copy of your Address to the +Native Youth at Bombay and their Parents, and should have done so +earlier, but it has been in circulation among many of my friends +who feel interested in the subject. Whatever may be thought of the +question as to where we should begin, all concur in acknowledging +the truth of your conclusions as to the value and use of the +knowledge we wish to impart, and in admiring the language and +sentiment of your Address.</p> +<p>There are some passages of great beauty, which I wish all +persons could read and remember; and I do not recollect ever having +seen one that has pleased me more, for its truths and elegance, +than that beginning, "But if a manufacturing population." That +which begins with—"The views, young men, as to the true +object and ends to be attained," is no less truthful and +excellent.</p> +<p>It is unfortunate that the education which we have to supplant +in India is so blended with the religion of the people, as far as +Hindoos are concerned, that we cannot make progress without +exciting alarm. Had a nation, endowed with all the knowledge we +have, come into Europe in the days of Galileo and Copernicus, and +attempted to impart it to the mass of the people, or to the higher +classes only, the same alarm would have been raised, or nearly the +same. We must be content with small, or slow progress; but there +are certain branches of knowledge, highly useful to the people, +that are finding their way among them from our metropolitan +establishments, and working good.</p> +<p>I might better have said, that had we come into Greece when +Homer was the Bible of the people, with all our astronomy, +chemistry, and physical science generally, and our literature, +blended as it is with our religion, we should have found our Greek +fellow-subjects as untractable as the Hindoos or Parsees. The fact +is, that every Hindoo, educated through our language in our +literature and science, must be more or less wretched in domestic +life, for he cannot feel or think with his family, or bring them to +feel or think with him. The knowledge which he has acquired +satisfies him that the faith to which they adhere, and which guides +them in all their duties, ceremonies, acts, and habits, is +monstrous and absurd; but he can never hope to impart to them this +knowledge, or to alienate them from that faith; nor does he himself +feel any confidence in any other creed: he feels that he is an +isolated being, who can exchange thoughts and feelings unreservedly +with no one. I have seen many estimable Hindoos in this state, with +minds highly gifted and cultivated, and with abilities for +anything. For such men we cannot create communities, nor can they +create them for themselves: they can enjoy their books and +conversation with men who understand and enjoy them like +themselves; but how few are the men of this class with whom they +can ever hope to associate on easy terms! It is not so with +Mahommedans. All the literature and science in the world has no +more effect on their faith than on ours; and their families +apprehend no alienation in any member who may choose to indulge in +them; and they indulge in them little, merely because they do not +find that they conduce to secure them employment and bread.</p> +<p>I think it would be useful if we could get rid of the terms +<i>education</i>, <i>civilization</i>, &c., and substitute that +of <i>knowledge</i>. It would obviate much controversy, for the +greater part of our disputes arise from the vagueness of the terms +we use. All would agree that certain branches of knowledge are +useful to certain classes, and that certain modes are the best for +imparting them. The subject is deeply interesting and important; +but I must not indulge further.</p> +<div class="s1">Believe me, My Dear Sir Erskine,</div> +<div class="s4">With great respect,</div> +<div class="s5">Yours very faithfully,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir Erskine Perry,<br> +Chief Justice, Bombay.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Jhansee, 24th September, 1848. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>I feel grateful for the offer contained in your Lordship's +letter of the 16th instant, and no less so for the gracious manner +in which it has been conveyed, and beg to say that I shall be glad +to avail myself of it, and be prepared to proceed to take charge as +soon as I am directed to do so, as I have no arrears in any of my +offices to detain me, and can make them over to any one at the +shortest notice, with the assurance that he will find nothing in +them to perplex or embarrass him.</p> +<p>I shall do my best to carry out your Lordship's views in the new +charge; and though I am not so strong as I could wish, I may, with +prudence, hope to have health for a few years to sustain me in +duties of so much interest.</p> +<p>I hope your Lordship will pardon my taking advantage of the +present occasion to say a few words on the state of affairs in the +north-west, which are now of such absorbing interest. I have been +for some time impressed with the belief that the system of +administration in the Punjaub has created doubts as to the ultimate +intention of our Government with regard to the restoration of the +country to the native ruler when he comes of age. The native +aristocracy of the country seem to have satisfied themselves that +our object has been to retain the country, and that this could be +prevented only by timely resistance. The sending European officers +to relieve the chief of Mooltan, and to take possession of the +country and fort, seems to have removed the last lingering doubt +upon this point; and Molraj seems to have been satisfied that in +destroying them he should be acting according to the wishes of all +his class, and all that portion of the population who might aspire +to employment under a native rule. This was precisely the +impression created by precisely the same means in Afghanistan; and +I believe that the notion now generally prevalent is, that our +professed intentions of delivering over the country to its native +ruler were not honest, and that we should have appropriated the +country to ourselves could we have done so.</p> +<p>There are two classes of native Governments in India. In one the +military establishments are all national, and depend entirely upon +the existence of native rule. They are officered by the aristocracy +of the country, chiefly landed, who know that they are not fitted +for either civil or military office under our system, and must be +reduced to beggary or insignificance should our rule be substituted +for that of their native chief. In the other, all the +establishments are foreign, like our own. The Seiks were not +altogether of the first class, like those of Rajpootana and +Bundelcund, but they were so for the most part; and when they saw +all offices of trust by degrees being filled by Captain This and +Mr. That, they gave up all hopes of ever having their share in the +administration.</p> +<p>Satisfied that this was our error in Afghanistan, in carrying +out the views of Lord Ellenborough in the Gwalior State, I did +everything in my power to avoid it, and have entirely succeeded, I +believe; but it has not been done without great difficulty. I +considered Lord Hardinge's measures good, as they interposed Hindoo +States between us and a beggarly and fanatical country, which it +must be ruinous to our finances to retain, and into which we could +not avoid making encroachments, however anxious the Government +might be to avoid it, if our borders joined. But I supposed that we +should be content with guiding, controlling, and supervising the +native administration, and not take all the executive upon +ourselves to the almost entire exclusion of the native aristocracy. +I had another reason for believing that Lord Hardinge's measures +were wise and prudent. While we have a large portion of the country +under native rulers, their administration will contrast with ours +greatly to our advantage in the estimation of the people; and we +may be sure that, though some may be against us, many will be for +us. If we succeed in sweeping them all away, or absorbing them, we +shall be at the mercy of our native army, and they will see it; and +accidents may possibly occur to unite them, or a great portion of +them, in some desperate act. The thing is possible, though +improbable; and the best provision against it seems to me to be the +maintenance of native rulers, whose confidence and affection can be +engaged, and administrations improved under judicious +management.</p> +<p>The industrial classes in the Punjaub would, no doubt, prefer +our rule to that of the Seiks; but that portion who depend upon +public employment under Government for their subsistence is large +in the Punjaub, and they would nearly all prefer a native rule. +They have evidently persuaded themselves that our intention is to +substitute our own rule; and it is now, I fear, too late to remove +the impression. If your Lordship is driven to annexation, you must +be in great force; and a disposition must be shown on the part of +the local authorities to give the educated aristocracy of the +country a liberal share in the administration.</p> +<p>One of the greatest dangers to be apprehended in India is, I +believe, the disposition on the part of the dominant class to +appoint to all offices members of their own class, to the exclusion +of the educated natives. This has been nobly resisted hitherto; but +where every subaltern thinks himself in a condition to take a wife, +and the land opens no prospect to his children but in the public +service, the competition will become too great.</p> +<p>I trust that your Lordship will pardon my having written so +much, and believe me, with great respect, your Lordship's obedient +humble servant,</p> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>P.S.—The Commander-in-Chief has asked me, through the +Quartermaster-General, whether any corps can be spared from +Bundelcund. I shall say that we can spare two regiments—one +from Nagode, whose place can be supplied by a wing of the regiment +at Nowgow, and one from Jhansee, whose place can be supplied from +the Gwalior Contingent, if your Lordship sees no objection, as a +temporary arrangement.</p> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Right Hon.<br> +the Earl of Dalhousie,<br> + &c. +&c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 30th January, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>A salute of twenty-one guns had been fired here by the King for +the sadly dear victory over Shere Sing, and another has been fired +to-day for the fall of Mooltan. The King continues very ill, but no +danger seems to be apprehended. The disease is accompanied by very +untoward secondary symptoms, which are likely ultimately to destroy +him, and render his life miserable while it lasts. How much of +these symptoms he derives from his birth, and how much from his own +excesses, is uncertain.</p> +<p>The impression regarding the minister, mentioned in my last +note, was from a talk with him while he was, it seems, under the +influence of fever. In later conversations he has been more lucid; +but he is a third-rate man, and quite unequal to the burthen that +the favour of the King has placed upon him. That favour will, +however, be but of short duration, for the King is said to have +expressed great distrust in his capacity to do any of the things he +promised, more especially to collect the immense arrears of revenue +now due.</p> +<p>I am preparing tables of the revenue and expenditure, and of the +machinery in all branches, and hope soon to submit a clearer view +of the state of things than Government is in the habit of getting +on such occasions; but I have to wade through vast volumes of +correspondence to ascertain what has been said and done in the +questions that will come under consideration, to conduct current +duties, and to become acquainted with the people in my new field, +European and native.</p> +<p>I want to ask you whether I could, with any prospect of success +just now, propose a plan which I have much at heart in the Thuggee +and Dacoity Department. The Lieutenant-Governor, I feel assured, +will advocate it. Major Graham is about to obtain his regimental +majority, with a certain prospect of soon obtaining the command of +his regiment, which will give him twelve hundred a-month. I am +anxious to retain him; for his services have been, and would +continue to be, of vast importance to the North-West Provinces. I +should like to propose that he be made superintendent of Thuggee +and Dacoity in those provinces upon a salary of, say eleven hundred +rupees a-month. I would at the same time propose that the +Shahjehanpoor office, lately under Major Ludlow, be done up, and +the duties confided to the assistant-magistrate, with a small +establishment, he to receive an extra salary, say, one hundred +rupees a-month. The same with regard to the Azimghur office, now +under Captain Ward, who could be sent to Rajpootana. Elliot is not +suited well to the work, according to those who have seen most of +him and of it; and you might be able to put him to some other for +which he is fitted. Should you think it desirable to retain him in +Rajpootana, Captain Ward may for the present remain where he is; +and the saving from the Shahjehanpoor office will more than cover +the increase for Major Graham. Pray let me know as soon as you can +whether such a proposal would be likely to be well received. +Graham's services have been and will be most valuable to all the +local authorities at and under Agra.</p> +<p>I suppose the fate of the Punjaub is sealed, for though the +Governor-General might wish to spare it, the home authorities and +the home people will hardly brook the prospect or the chance of +another struggle of the same kind, particularly if the Afghans have +really joined the Seiks under Chutter Sing. The tendency to +annexation, already strong at home, will become still stronger when +the news of our late losses arrive. They indicate a stronger +assurance of national sympathy on the part of the chiefs and troops +opposed to us than was generally calculated upon. The fall of +Mooltan will have relieved the Governor-General's mind from much of +the anxiety caused by the inartistic management of the +Commander-in-Chief.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 7th March, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliott,</p> +<p>I may mention what has been the state of feeling at Lucknow +regarding the state of affairs in the Punjaub, though it has become +of less interest to the Governor-General now that so decided a +victory has crowned his efforts. During the whole contest the +Government five per cent. notes have been every day sold in my +office at par, and I question whether this can be said of the +offices in Calcutta. One day during the races, on the King's firing +a salute for victory, the European gentlemen talked about it at the +stand with many of the first of the native aristocracy. They said +that the Seiks could not fight as they were fighting unless there +had been some general feeling of distrust as to our ultimate +intentions with regard to the Punjaub which united them together; +and that this feeling must be as strong with the Durbar and those +who did not fight as with those who did. I was not present, as I +did not attend the races; but I found the same opinion prevailing +among all with whom I conversed. But all seemed to be perfectly +satisfied as to the utter hopelessness of the struggle, as evinced +by the great barometer of the Government paper.</p> +<p>I suppose Dost Mahomed's force in Peshawur will have proceeded +in all haste to the Khyber on hearing of the defeat of their +friends, and that General Gilbert's fine division will find none of +them to contend with; and that Gholab Sing will be glad of an +occasion to display his zeal by keeping Shore Sing and his father +out of the hills.</p> +<p>The river Indus will, I suppose, hardly be considered so safe a +boundary as the hills; for if any danger is to be apprehended from +the west, it would not be safe to leave the enemy so fine a field +to organize their forces upon after emerging from the difficult +passes. Well organized upon that field, a force could cross the +river anywhere in the cold and hot seasons; and the revenue of that +field would aid in keeping up a force that might in the day of need +be used against us. It was a great error committed by Lord Hastings +in allowing the Nepaulese the fertile portion of the Jurac, which +then yielded only two lacs of rupees, but now yields thirteen, and +will, ere long, yield twenty. Without this their military force +would have been altogether insignificant; but it is not so now.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 20th March, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>The King continues much the same as when I last wrote. Under +skilful treatment he might soon get well; but the prescriptions of +his best native physicians are little attended to, and he has not +yet consented to consult an European doctor. He could not have a +better doctor than Leekie, and the natives have great confidence in +him; but his Majesty has not expressed any wish to see or consult +him. If he did so, the chances are one hundred to one against his +taking his medicine.</p> +<p>I do not like to write a public letter on the subject, but am +anxious to know the Governor-General's wishes as to whether any new +engagements should be entered into in case of the King's decease, +and with whom.</p> +<p>The instructions contained in your letter of the 16th August, +1847, referred to in my last, will be carried out; but the +Governor-General may wish to have the new arrangements recorded in +a former treaty, the heads of the royal family consenting thereto, +as at Gwalior, when the regency was appointed. I have no copy of +the treaty made at Lahore, where the regency was appointed.</p> +<p>I should think it desirable to give the members of the regency +each distinct duties, so that he may feel responsible for them, and +take a pride in doing them well. One should be at the head of the +Revenue Department, and another at the head of the Judicial and +Police, each having a deputy; and the Resident, as president, +should have a deputy. These would be sufficient for a regency, and +could form a court, or council, to deliberate and decide about +measures of legislation and administration.</p> +<p>The mother of the King would be the best person to consult upon +the nomination of the members in the first instance; but neither +she nor any other female of the royal family should have any share +in the administration.</p> +<p>All important measures adopted by the Council should be +submitted for the consideration of the Governor-General; and no +member of the Council should be removed without his Lordship's +consent. No important measure adopted by the Council, and +sanctioned by the Governor-General, should at any future time be +liable to be abolished or altered without the sanction of our +Government previously obtained through the Resident.</p> +<p>On the heir-apparent attaining his majority, every member of the +regency who has discharged his duties faithfully should have for +life a pension equal to half the salary enjoyed by him while in +office, and be guaranteed in the enjoyment of this half by the +British Government.</p> +<p>The measures thus adopted during the minority would form a code +for future guidance, and tend at least to give the thing which Oude +most wants—stability to good sales, and to the machinery by +which they are to be enforced.</p> +<p>The King's brother—a very excellent man, who was +Commander-in-Chief during his father's life-time, but is now +nothing—might also be consulted with the mother of the King +in the nomination of the regency, and made a party with her to the +new treaty.</p> +<p>These are all the points which appear to me at present to call +for instructions.</p> +<p>The harvests promise to be abundant, but the collections come in +slowly, and the establishments are all greatly in arrear. I don't +like to write publicly on these subjects, because it is almost +impossible here to prevent what is so written from getting to the +Court; but the Governor-General's instructions were sent to me in +that form without the same risk.</p> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 23rd March, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>It will perhaps be well to add to the regency, in case of the +King's death, a controller of the household, making three members +of equal grade, and to have no deputy for the Resident, or +President of the Regency. It may also be well to add the mother of +the heir apparent to the persons to be consulted in the selection +of the members of the regency, though she is a person of no mark or +influence in either public or private affairs at present.</p> +<p>The mother of the present King, his brother, the mother of the +heir-apparent, and the young heir-apparent himself will be enough +to have a voice in the selection.</p> +<p>I conclude that it will be the Governor-General's wish that the +heir-apparent should be placed on the throne immediately after the +death of his father, for the slightest hesitation or delay in this +matter would be mischievous in such a place as Lucknow. As soon as +this is done, I can proceed to consult about the nomination of the +regency. The members will, of course, be chosen from among the +highest and most able members of the aristocracy present at the +capital, and they can be installed in office the day they are +chosen. I do not apprehend any confusion or disturbance; but +measures must be adopted immediately to pay up arrears due to the +establishments, and dismiss all that are useless.</p> +<p>The, King is not worse—on the contrary, he is said to be +better; but the hot season may be too much for him. His present +state, with a minister weak in body and not very strong in mind, is +very unsatisfactory. Fortunately the harvest is unusually fine.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 8th May, 1849. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>Dr. Bell, has relieved Dr. Leekie from his charge, and I am glad +that so able and experienced a medical officer has been appointed +to it by your Lordship, for he will have the means of doing much +good here if he can secure the confidence and esteem of his native +patients. The way has been well paved for him by Dr. Leekie, who, +in professional ability, large experience, and perfect frankness of +character, is one of the first men I have met; and I regret +exceedingly that the King has never manifested any wish to consult +him or any other European physician.</p> +<p>Being anxious that both Dr. Leekie and Dr. Bell should have an +opportunity of seeing the King, and forming some opinion as to his +state of health, I proposed that his Majesty should receive them at +the same time with Captain Bird on his taking leave previous to his +departure for Simla. As it is usual for the residency surgeon to +wait on his Majesty when he first enters on his charge and when he +quits it, I knew that such a proposal would not give rise to any +feelings of doubt or uneasiness, and he at once expressed his wish +to see them. Yesterday, about noon, all three went to the palace, +and sat for some time in conversation with the King. They found him +much better in bodily health than they expected, and in the course +of conversation, found no signs of any confusion of ideas, and are +of opinion that in the hands of a skilful European physician he +would soon be quite well. His Majesty is hypochondriac, and +frequently under the influence of the absurd delusions common to +such persons; but he is quite sane during long intervals, and on +all subjects not connected with such delusions.</p> +<p>When in health, the King never paid much attention to business, +and his illness is, therefore, less felt than it would have been in +the conduct of affairs; but it is nevertheless felt, and that in a +very vital part—the collection of the revenue. The expenses +of Government are about one hundred (100) lacs a-year; and the +collections this year have not amounted to more than sixty (60), +owing to this illness, and to a deficiency in the autumn harvests. +All establishments are greatly in arrears in consequence; and the +King has been obliged to make some heavy drafts upon the reserved +fund left him by his father. I only wish none had been made for a +less legitimate purpose. The parasites, by whom he has surrounded +himself exclusively, have, it is said, been drawing upon it still +more largely during the King's illness, under the apprehension of a +speedy dissolution. The minister is a weak man, who stands somewhat +in awe of these musicians and eunuchs, who have no fear of anybody +but the Resident, whom it is, of course, their interest to keep as +much as possible in the dark. As soon as his Majesty gets stronger, +I shall see him more frequently than I have yet done, and be better +able to judge of what prospect of amendment there may be while he +reigns. If he ever conversed with his male relations, or any of the +gentlemen at the capital worthy of his confidence, I should have +more hope than I now have.</p> +<div class="s4">With great respect I remain</div> +<div class="s2">Your Lordship's obedient humble servant,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Right Hon.<br> +The Earl of Dalhousie, K.T.,<br> +Governor-General of India.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 11th June, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>It will be desirable to have at least the wing of a regiment +sent as soon as possible to Jhansee. Bukhut Sing, who was allowed +to escape after having been surrendered to Ellis at Kyrma, has been +since allowed to get too much a-head. He is aided by the Khereecha +people openly; and secretly, I fear, by some of the Powar Thakoors +of Gigree under the rose. There are four small fortified places +between thirty and forty miles west of Jhansee, and not far from +the Sinde, held by Powar Thakoors, who are a shade higher in caste +than the Bondeylas; and, in consequence, all the principal chiefs +take their daughters in marriage. They are needy, and as proud as +Lucifer, and will always eke out their means by robbery if they +can. The Jhansee chief cannot keep them in order without our aid. +While I was there, they did not venture to rob after the surrender +of the Jylpoor man in September, 1844; and the Hareecha and Hyrwa +people ventured only to send a few highwaymen into the Gwalior +state west of the Sinde river.</p> +<p>The Powar places I mean are Jignee, Odgow, and Belchree. There +was a fourth near them just as bad, called Nowneer; but the +Thakoors of that place are all well disposed towards the Jbansee +chief, and are obedient. All are in the Jhansee state. If the +marauders are pressed with energy and sagacity, they will be soon +put down; and you may rely upon the native chiefs not supporting +them, though, from their marriage connection, they may afford them +an asylum secretly when fugitives.</p> +<p>Who the Gwalior men are that are plundering I know not; but they +are men of no note, and, if pressed skilfully and rigorously in +time, will soon be put down. The chiefs may all be relied upon, I +believe. They are mere gangs of robbers; and you know how easily a +fanatic or successful robber may collect a body for plunder in any +part of India, where the danger of pursuit is small. Had they been +dealt with properly at first, they would never have got a-head so +far: time has been lost, and they will now give trouble, +particularly at such a season. The evil will be confined to the +tract west of Jhansee occupied by these Powars. The chiefs are to +the east, north, and south of Jhansee; and the marauders would be +allowed to enter their estates. The Governor-General need not feel +uneasy about them. The Nurwar chief was always needy, and disposed +to keep and shelter robbers. His few villages were resumed on his +death last year, and his widows pensioned; but some of his +relations are, I conclude, among the marauders. There is a wild +tract west of the Sinde in the Gwalior territory, to which the +marauders will fly when hard pressed in the Jhansee state.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 18th June, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>I was writing the last sentence of a long Report on Oude affairs +when your note came in. There are some parts that will amuse, some +that will interest, and the whole gives, I believe, a fair +exposition of the evils, with a suggestion for the best remedy that +I can think of. It is the formation of a Board, consisting of a +President and two members nominated by the King, subject to the +confirmation of the Governor-General, and not to be dismissed +without his Lordship's previous sanction. This Board to make the +settlement of the revenue proposed when Lord Hardinge was here, and +to have the carrying it out.</p> +<p>This Board will be a substitute for the Regency, but not so +good. The King is well in body; and, unless he will abdicate, we +cannot get the minority for the Regency. I think, upon the whole, +the Governor-General will think the Report worth reading, and the +remedy worth considering. It will bring little additional trouble +on Government, but a good deal on the Resident, who will require to +have had much administrative experience.</p> +<p>Things are coming fast to the crisis, in which I must be called +upon to advise and act, a thing which the fiddlers and eunuchs +dread. I can't trust the Report in the office, and the hand may not +be so legible as I could wish.</p> +<p>The Court is very averse to the appointment of a successor to +Wilcox; and it is with reluctance they have kept on the native +officers who go on with the work. I told them either to keep them +on or to pension them. I don't think a successor should be urged +upon them in the present state of beggary to which they are +reduced. Nobody sees any use in it, while there are a vast number +of useful things neglected for want of funds; as to the +instruments, the Court care nothing about them, knowing nothing of +their value; and would, no doubt, be glad to give them to any +establishment requiring them.</p> +<p>The minister, singers, and eunuchs are all now sworn to be +united; but this cannot last many days. The "pressure from +without," in the clamour for pay, will soon upset the minister; but +they will find it difficult to get another to undertake the burthen +of forty or fifty lacs of balance, and a score of fiddlers and +eunuchs as privy councillors. Something must be done to +<i>unthrone</i> these wretches, or things will be worse and worse. +The best remedy that occurs to me is to interpose an authority +which they dare not question, and the King cannot stultify; and if +the King objects, to tell him that he must abdicate in favour of +his son. This, of all courses, will be the best, and give no +trouble; things would go on like "marriage bells," without any +trouble whatever to the Governor-General and your +<i>secretariat</i>.</p> +<p>I am glad that the Punjaub Board goes on well. It is a scene of +great importance and interest. The only way to get the confidence +and affection of men is to show that we confide in them; and I +don't think we need fear Seik soldiers while we treat them, and +govern the country well.</p> +<p>We were very anxious about Mrs. Elliot for many days, for the +accounts from Simla were bad; but she is now, I am told, quite +restored. I have suffered much less than I expected: I recovered +much sooner. The doctors tell me that I should have had no right to +expect an earlier recovery had I been twenty years younger.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 24th July, 1849. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>I have to-day written to Lord Fitzroy Somerset to request that +he will do me the favour to have the name of my only son placed, if +possible, upon his Grace the Commander-in-Chiefs list of candidates +for commissions in Her Majesty's Dragoons. He was sixteen years of +age on the 6th of January last, and is now prosecuting his studies +under the care of Mr. C. J. Yeatman, Westow Hill, Norwood, Surrey, +five miles from London.</p> +<p>He is an amiable and gentlemanly lad, and will, I trust, be able +to qualify himself to pass the examination required; and my agents +in London will be prepared to lodge the money for his commission +when available. He is my eldest child, and will have to take care +of four sisters when I am taken from them, as I must be ere long; +and I am anxious to place him in the position from which he can do +so with most advantage. I could wish to have had him placed in the +Bengal Civil Service. But I have no personal friend in the +direction, and no good that I may have had an opportunity of doing +for the people and government of India can be urged as a claim to +any employment for my child.</p> +<p>Having carried out your Lordship's policy successfully over a +large and interesting portion of India, and to the advantage, I +believe, of many millions of people, you will not, I think, be +offended at my soliciting your Lordship's protection for my only +son. He will stand in need of it, since I know no other that I can +solicit for him; and though my name might be of some use to him in +India, it can be of none in England. With a view to his taking care +of his sisters, I could wish him to be in a regiment not likely to +come to India. General Thackwell tells me that the regiments most +likely to come to India soon are the 6th Dragoons, 9th Hussars, and +12th Lancers. Perhaps your Lordship might be willing to speak to +Lord F. Somerset, or even to his Grace the Duke himself, in favour +of my son, who will be proud at any time when commanded to attend +your Lordship. I have the misfortune to have been with some of the +most inefficient sovereigns that ever sat upon a throne, with +deficient harvests last year, and a threat of still more deficient +ones this year; and with a Government so occupied with the new +acquisitions of the Punjaub as to be averse to interfere much with +the management of any other portion of the country.</p> +<p>I remain, your lordship's most obedient, humble servant,</p> +<div class="s5">W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Right Hon. Gen. Viscount Hardinge, G.C.B.,</p> +<div class="s1">&c. &c. + &c.</div> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 24th July, 1849. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>May I, request that your Lordship will do me the favour to have +the name of my only son, Henry Arthur Sleeman, placed upon his +Grace the Commander-in-Chiefs list of candidates for a commission +in one of her Majesty's Dragoon regiments?</p> +<p>He was sixteen years of age on the 6th of January last; and he +is now prosecuting his studies under the care of Mr. C. J. Yeatman, +at Westow Hill, in Surrey, five miles from London, who will be +instructed to have him prepared for the examination he will have to +undergo. My agents, Messrs. Denny, Clark, and Co., Austin Friars, +London, will be prepared to lodge the money, and to forward to me +any letters with which they may be honoured by your Lordship. My +rank is that of Lieut.-Colonel in the Honourable East India +Company's service, and present situation, that of Resident at the +Court of his Majesty the King of Oude.</p> +<div class="s1">I have the honour to be,</div> +<div class="s3">Your Lordship's obedient, humble servant,</div> +<div class="s5">W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Lieut.-General Lord Fitzroy Somerset, G.C.B.,<br> +Military Secretary to his Grace the Commander-in-Chief,<br> +Horse Guards, London.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, August 1849. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>1. I will answer your Lordship's queries in the order in which +they are made.</p> +<p>2. The King, as I shall show in my next official report, is +utterly unfit to have anything to do with the administration, since +he has never taken, or shown any disposition to take any heed of +what is done or suffered in the country. My letters have made no +impression whatever upon him. He spends all his time with the +singers and the females they provide to amuse him, and is for seven +and eight hours together living in the house of the chief singer, +Rajee-od Dowla—a fellow who was only lately beating a drum to +a party of dancing-girls, on some four rupees a-month. These +singers are all Domes, the lowest of the low castes of India, and +they and the eunuchs are now the virtual sovereigns of the country, +and must be so as long as the King retains any power. The minister +depends entirely upon them, and between them and a few others about +Court everything that the King has to dispose of is sold.</p> +<p>3. To secure any reform in the administration, it will be +necessary to require the King to delegate all the powers of +sovereignty to the Board. This he can do, retaining the name of +Sovereign and control of his household; or abdicating in favour of +his son the heir apparent, to whom the Board would be a regency +till he comes of age. If the alternative be given him, and he +choose the former, it should be on the condition, that if his +favourites continue to embarrass the Government, he will be +required to submit to the latter. Oude is now, in fact, without a +Government: the minister sees the King for a few minutes once a +week or fortnight, and generally at the house of the singer above +named. The King sees nobody else save the singers and eunuchs, and +does not even pretend to know anything or care anything about +public affairs. His sons have been put under their care, and will +be brought up in the same manner. He has become utterly despised +and detested by his people for his apathy amidst so much suffering, +and will not have the sympathy of any one, save such as have been +growing rich by abusing his power.</p> +<p>4. The members of such a Board as I propose, invested with full +powers, and secured in office under our guarantee during good +conduct, would go fearlessly to work; they would divide the labour; +one would have the settlement of the land-revenue, with the charge +of the police; the second would have the judicial Courts; and if +the Board be a regency during the minority, the control of the +household; the third would have the army. Each would have the +nomination of the officers of his department, subject to the +confirmation of the whole Board, and the dismissal would depend +upon the sanction of the whole or two-thirds, as might be found +expedient. If the sanction of all three be required. Court +influence may secure one vote, and impunity to great offenders. +Neither of the three would be liable to be deprived of his office, +except with the consent, or on the requisition of the +Governor-General; and this privilege they would value too highly to +risk it by neglect or misconduct. The King's brother—a most +worthy and respectable, though not able man—might be a +member, if agreeable to the King.</p> +<p>5. The abuses they would have to remedy are all perfectly well +understood, and the measures required to remedy them are all simple +and obvious: a settlement would be made with the landholders, based +upon past avowed collections; they would be delighted to bind +themselves to pay such an assessment, as they would escape from the +more than one-third more, which they have now to pay, in one form +or another, to contractors and Court favourites; the large +landholders, who are for the most part now in open resistance to +the Government, would rejoice at the prospect of securing their +estates to their posterity, without the necessity of continually +fighting for them.</p> +<p>6. The army would soon become efficient: at present every man +purchases his place in it from the minister and the singers and +eunuchs, and he loses it as soon as he becomes disabled from wounds +or sickness. The only exceptions are the four regiments under +Captain Burlow, Captain Bunbury, Captain Magness, and Soba Sing, +lately Captain Buckley's; in these, all that are disabled from +wounds or sickness are kept on the strength of the corps, and each +corps has with it a large invalid establishment of this kind +unrecognized by the Government. They could not get their men to +fight, without it. These regiments are put up at auction every +season, and often several times during one season; the contractor +who bids highest gets the services of the best for the season or +the occasion; the purchase-money is divided between the minister +and the Court favourites, singers, &c. These are really +efficient corps, and the others might soon be made the same. The +men are as fine-looking and brave as those of our, regular +infantry, for Oude teems with such men, who have from their boyhood +been fighting against contractors under the heads of their clan or +families.</p> +<p>7. The rest are for the most part commanded by boys, or Court +favourites, who seldom see them, keep about two-thirds of what are +borne on the rolls and paid for, and take about one-third of the +pay of what remain for themselves. The singer, Rajee-od Dowla, the +prime favourite above named, has two regiments thus treated, and of +course altogether inefficient, ragged, hungry, and discontented. It +will be easy to remedy all this, get excellent men, and inspire +them with excellent spirit by instituting a modified pension +establishment for men disabled in the discharge of their duties, +and providing for their regular pay and efficient command.</p> +<p>8. This would prevent the necessity of employing British troops, +except on rare and great occasions; the settlement of the +land-revenue, and knowledge that they would be employed if +required, would keep the great landholders in obedience. It would +be well to have back the corps of infantry and two guns that were +taken away from Pertanghurh, in Oude, in 1835. This is all the +addition that would be required to secure an efficient Government; +and the scale to which our troops in Oude had been reduced up to +that time (1835) was generally considered the lowest compatible +with our engagements. A regiment of cavalry had been borrowed from +Pertanghurh for the Nepaul and Mahratta wars in 1814 and 1817; it +was finally withdrawn in 1823.</p> +<p>9. The judicial Courts would be well conducted while the +presiding officers felt secure in their tenure of office, which +they would do when their dismissal depended upon proof of guilt or +incompetency sufficient to satisfy a Board guaranteed by our +Government.</p> +<p>10. The police would soon become efficient under the supervision +and control of respectable revenue-officers, having the same +feeling of security in their tenure of office. All the +revenue-officers would, of course, be servants of Government +instead of contractors. There would be grades answering to our +commissioners of divisions, say four; 2nd, to our collectors of +revenue, say twenty-eight; 3rd, deputy-collectors, say +twenty-eight; all under the Board, and guided by the member +intrusted with that branch of the administration: all would be +responsible for the police over their respective jurisdictions.</p> +<p>11. Oude ought to be, and would soon be, under such a system, a +garden; the soil is the finest in India, so are the men; and there +is no want of an educated class for civil office: on the contrary, +they abound almost as much as the class of soldiers. From the +numerous rivers which flow through the country the water is +everywhere near the surface, and the peasantry would manure and +irrigate every field, if they could do so in peace and security, +with a fair prospect of being permitted to reap the fruits. The +terrible corruption of the Court is the great impediment to all +this good: the savings would more than pay all the increased outlay +required for rendering establishments efficient in all branches, +while the treasury would receive at least one-third more than the +expenditure; that is, 1,50,00,000 Rs., or one crore and a half.</p> +<p>12. From the time the treaty of 1801 was made, up to within the +last few years, the term "internal enemies" was interpreted to mean +the great landholders who might be in resistance to the Government, +and this interpretation was always acted upon; the only difficulty +was in ascertaining whether the resistance was or was not, under +the circumstances, justifiable. While employed in Oude with my +regiment, and on the staff in 1818 and 1819, I saw much of the +correspondence between the Resident and Commandant; many letters +from the Resident, Colonel Baillie, mentioning how bitterly +Saadulullee, with whom that treaty was made, had complained, that +after the sacrifice of half his kingdom for the aid of British +troops in keeping down these powerful and refractory landholders, +he could not obtain their assistance without being subject to such +humiliating remonstrances as he got from officers commanding +stations whenever he asked for it. Aid was often given, and forts +innumerable were reduced from time to time, but the privilege of +building them up again was purchased from the same or another +contractor next season.</p> +<p>13. At this time I have calls for at least two battalions and a +train of artillery, from about six quarters, to enforce orders on +these landholders. Captain Hearsey has had men of his Frontier +Police killed and wounded by them on the western border, and +declares that nothing can be done to secure offenders, refugees +from our districts, with a less force. Captain Orr has had several +men wounded, and prisoners taken from him, by the same class on the +eastern border, and declares to the same effect. Sixteen sepoys of +our army, 59th N. I., on their way home on furlough were attacked +and two of them killed, three weeks ago, by a third Zumeendar, at +Peernugger, his own estate, within ten miles of the Setapore +Cantonments, where we have a regiment. Captain Barlow's regiment +and artillery, and another, with all Captain Hearsey's Frontier +Police, are in pursuit of him. Four others have committed similar +outrages on our officers and sepoys and their families, and the +Government declares its utter inability to enforce obedience or +grant any redress, without a larger force than they have to send. +Great numbers of the same class are plundering and burning +villages, and robbing and murdering on the highway, and laughing at +the impotency of the sovereign. It was certainly for aid in +coercing these "internal enemies" that the Sovereign of Oude ceded +his territories to us, and for no other, and that aid may be +afforded at little cost, and to the great benefit of all under the +system I have submitted for your Lordship's consideration. It will +be very rarely required, and when called for, a mere demonstration +will, in three cases out of four, be sufficient to effect the +object.</p> +<p>14, After a time, or when the heir-apparent comes of age, the +duties of the guaranteed members of the Board may safely be united +to a supervision over the settlement made with the principal +landholders, whose obedience our Government may consider itself +bound to aid in enforcing; all the rest may be left to a competent +sovereign; and there will be nothing in the system opposed to +native usages, feelings, and institutions, to prevent its being +adhered to. I should mention, that many of these landholders have +each armed and disciplined bodies of two thousand foot and five +hundred horse; and, what is worse, the command of as many as they +like of "Passies," armed with bows and arrows. These Passies are +reckless thieves and robbers of the lowest class, whose only +professions are thieving and acting as Chowkedars, or village +police. They are at the service of every refractory Zumeendar, for +what they can get in booty in his depredations. The disorders in +Oude have greatly increased this class, and they are now roughly +estimated at a hundred thousand families; these are the men from +whom travellers on the road suffer most.</p> +<p>15. A second Assistant would be required for a time to enable +the Resident to shift off the daily detail of the treasury, which +has become the largest in India,—I believe, beyond those at +the three Presidencies.<br> +A good English copyist, capable of mapping, will be required in the +Resident's office at 150, and two Persian writers 100; total 250. +These are the only additions which appear to me to be required.</p> +<p>16. I annex a list of the regiments now in the King's service, +Telungas, or regulars, and Nujeebs, or irregulars; and with my next +official report I will submit a list of all the establishments, +civil and military.</p> +<p>17. The King's habits will not alter; he was allowed by his +father to associate, as at present, with these singers from his +boyhood, and he cannot endure the society of other persons. His +determination to live exclusively in their society, and to hear and +see nothing of what his officers do or his people suffer, he no +longer makes any attempt to conceal. It would be idle to hope for +anything from him but a resignation of power into more competent +hands; whatever he retains he will assuredly give to his singers +and eunuchs, or allow them to take. No man can take charge of any +office without anticipating the income by large gratuities to them, +and the average gratuity which a contractor for a year, of a +district yielding three lacs of rupees a-year, is made to pay, +before he leaves the capital to enter upon his charge, is estimated +to be fifty thousand rupees: this he exacts from the landholders as +the first payment, for which they receive no credit in the public +account. All other offices are paid for in the same way.</p> +<p>18. The King would change his minister to-morrow if the singers +were to propose it; and they would propose it if they could get +better terms or perquisites under any other. No minister could hold +office a week without their acquiescence. Under such circumstances +a change of ministers would be of little advantage to the +country.</p> +<p>19. The King will yield to the measure proposed only under the +assurance, that if he did not, the Governor-General would be +reduced to the necessity of having recourse to that which Lord +Hardinge threatened in the 10th, 11th, and 12th paragraphs of his +letter of October, 1847, and the Court of Directors, on the +representation of Lord William Bentinck, sanctioned in 1831. The +Court was at that time so strongly impressed with the conviction +that the threat would be carried into execution, that they +prevailed upon the President to undertake a mission to the Home +Government, with a view to enlarge the President's powers of +interference, in order to save them from the alternative. This led +to Mr. Maddock's removal from the Presidency; all subsequent +correspondence has tended to keep up the apprehension that the +threatened measure would be had recourse to, and to stimulate +sovereigns and ministers to exertion till the present reign. The +present King has, from the time he ascended the throne, manifested +a determination to take no share whatever in the conduct of +affairs; to spend the whole of his time among singers and eunuchs, +and the women whom they provide for his amusement; and carefully to +exclude from access, all who suffer from the maladministration of +his servants, or who could and would tell him what was done by the +one and suffered by the other.</p> +<p>20. But it is not his minister and favourites alone who take +advantage of this state of things to enrich themselves; corruption +runs through all the public offices, and Maharaja Balkishen, the +Dewan, or <i>Chancellor of the Exchequer</i>, is notoriously among +the most corrupt of all, taking a large portion of the heavy +balances due by contractors to get the rest remitted or +misrepresented. There is no Court in the capital, criminal, civil, +or fiscal, in which the cases are not tampered with by Court +favourites, and divided according to their wishes, unless the +President has occasion to interfere in behalf of guaranteed +pensioners, or officers and sepoys of our army. On his appearance +they commonly skulk away, like jackals from a dead carcase when the +tiger appears; but the cases in which he can interfere are +comparatively very few, and it is with the greatest delay and +difficulty that he can get such cases decided at all. A more +lamentable state of affairs it is difficult to conceive.</p> +<div class="s1">With great respect, I remain,</div> +<div class="s2">Your Lordship's obedient humble servant,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +the Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.,<br> + &c. +&c. &c.</p> +<p>P.S.—I find that the King's brother is altogether +incompetent for anything like business or responsibility. The +minister has not one single quality that a minister ought to have; +and the King cannot be considered to be in a sound state of +mind.</p> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<br> +<br> +<div class="s4"><i>Annexures</i>.</div> +<p> 1. Extracts, pars. 9 to 14 of Lord Hardinge's +Memorial.<br> + 2. Statement of British troops in Oude in Jan. 1835 and +1849.<br> + 3. Table of the King of Oude's troops of all kinds.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 6th September, 1849. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>I take the liberty to enclose, for your Lordship's perusal, a +more full and correct Table of the troops and police in Oude than +that which I submitted with my last letter, as also a Table of all +the other branches of expenditure—save those of buildings, +charities, presents, &c., which are ever varying.</p> +<p>It may be estimated that two-thirds of the numbers in the corps +of Telungas and Nujeebs paid for are kept up; and that one-half of +what are kept up are efficient, all having to purchase their +places, and those most unfit being disposed to pay highest.</p> +<p>Further: one-half of what are kept up are supposed to be always +absent; and when they are so, they receive one-half of their pay, +and the other half is divided between the commandant and the +paymaster. These two are supposed to take, on one pretence or +other, one third of the pay of those who are actually present. The +corps of Telungas commanded by Captains Barlow, Bunbury, and +Magness are exceptions; but the pay department is not under their +control, and they are obliged to acquiesce in abuses that impair +the efficiency their corps.</p> +<p>After reducing one-third-of these corps, and rendering the +remaining two-thirds efficient, the force would be sufficient for +all purposes, and we may well dispense with the corps of regular +infantry which in my last letter I proposed to restore to Oude. It +will, however, be desirable to have a good and experienced infantry +officer as inspector, to see that the measures adopted for reform +are effectually carried out. An artillery officer as inspector will +also be desirable, as it will be necessary to have that branch of +the force in the best possible order, when Oude has to depend +chiefly on its own resources. A few European officers, too, for +commandants of corps and seconds in command will be +desirable—such as have been employed with native corps as +sergeant-majors or quartermaster-sergeants, and have obtained +distinctions for good conduct.</p> +<p>I should propose six primary stations as seats for the principal +Revenue and Judicial Courts, and the headquarters of the best corps +with cavalry and artillery; thirty second and third rate stations +for the subordinate Courts and detachments of troops and police. +All to be chosen, with reference to position in districts under +jurisdiction, and to salubrity of climate. At all these Stations +suitable buildings would be provided; and as all would be commenced +upon simultaneously, all would soon be ready.</p> +<p>Your Lordship will observe the small item put down for the +judicial establishments all over Oude. Such as are really kept up +are worthless, and are altogether without the confidence of the +people. The savings in the other branches of the expenditure will +more than cover all the outlay required for good ones.</p> +<p>The King continues to show the same aversion to hear anything +about public affairs, or to converse with any but the singers, +eunuchs, and females. At the great festival of the Eed, on the +first appearance of the present moon, he went out in procession, +but deputed his heir-apparent to receive the compliments in Durbar. +He does not suffer bodily pain, but is said to have long fits of +moping and melancholy, and he is manifestly hypochondriac. He +squanders the state jewels among the singers and eunuchs, who send +them out of the country as fast as they can. The members of his +family who have its interests most at heart, are becoming anxious +for some change; and by the time the two years expire, it will not, +perhaps, be difficult to induce him to put his affairs into other +hands. He would change his minister on the slightest hint from me; +but it would be of no use: the successor, pretending to carry on +the Government under the King's orders, would be little better than +the present minister is, and things would continue to be just as +bad as they now are: they certainly could not be worse.</p> +<p>The Board, composed of the first members of the Lucknow +aristocracy, would be, I think, both popular and efficient; and +with the aid of a few of the ablest of the native judicial and +revenue officers of our own districts, invited to Oude by the +prospect of higher pay and security in the tenure of office, would +soon have at work a machinery capable of securing to all their +rights, and enforcing from all their duties in every part of this, +at present, distracted country. We should soon have good roads +throughout the kingdom; and both they and the rivers would soon be +as secure as in our own provinces. I think, too, that I might +venture to promise that all would be effected without violence or +disturbance; all would see that everything was done for the benefit +of an oppressed people, and in good faith towards the reigning +family.</p> +<p>With great respect, I remain your Lordship's obedient, humble +servant.</p> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +the Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.,<br> + &c. &c. + &c.</p> +<p>P.S.—I may mention that the King is now engaged in turning +into verse a long prose history called Hydree. About ten days ago +all the poets in Lucknow were assembled at the palace to hear his +Majesty read his poem. They sat with him, listening to his poem and +reading their own from nine at night till three in the morning. One +of the poets, the eldest son of a late minister, Mohamid-od Dowla, +Aga Meer, told me that the versification was exceedingly good for a +King. These are, I think, the only men, save the minister, the +eunuchs, and the singers who have had the honour of conversing with +his Majesty since I came here in January last.<br></p> +<div class="s5">W. H. S.</div> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 23rd September, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>I conclude that no further Tables will be required from me on +Oude statistics for the present. Should they be so, pray let me +know, and they shall be sent. I thought at first that it would be +thought bad taste in me to refer to the domestic troubles of the +King, but it is necessary to show the state to which his Majesty is +reduced in his palace. The facts mentioned are known and talked of +all over Lucknow and Oude generally, and tend more than greater +things to bring his conduct and character into contempt.</p> +<p>The time was certainly never so favourable to propose an +arrangement that shall secure a lasting and substantial reform, and +render Oude what it ought to be—a garden. The King is in +constant dread of poison, and would do anything to get relieved +from that dread, and all further importunity on the state of the +country. His chief wife would poison him to bring on the throne her +son, and restore to her her paramour, who is now at Cawnpoor, +waiting for such a change. Her uncle, the minister, would, the King +thinks, be glad to see him poisoned, in the hope of having to +conduct affairs during the minority. He is afraid to admonish his +other wife for her infidelities with the chief favourite and +singer, lest she should poison him to go off with her paramour to +Rampoor, whither he has sent the immense wealth that the King has +lavished upon him.</p> +<p>The whole family are most anxious that the King should resign +the reins into abler hands, and would, I feel assured, hail the +arrangement I have proposed as a blessing to them and the country. +All seems ripe for the change, and I hope the Governor-General will +consent to its being proposed soon. Any change in the ministry +would now be an obstacle to the arrangement, and such a change +might happen any morning. At the head of the Board, or Regency, I +should put Mohsin-od Dowla, grandson of Ghazee-od Deen, the first +King, and son-in-law of Moohummed Alee Shah, the third King. His +only son has been lately united in marriage to the King's daughter. +He is looked up to as the first man in Oude for character, and the +most able member of the royal family. He is forty-five years of +age. I should probably put two of the King's uncles in as the other +members, Azeemoshan and Mirza Khorum Buksh, whose names you will +find in the short appended list of those who have received no +stipends since the present King ascended the throne. These princes +cannot visit, the Resident except when they accompany the King +himself, so that I have never seen the two last that I recollect, +and only once conversed with the first. But their characters stand +very high. They are never admitted to the King, nor have they seen +him for more than a year, I believe.</p> +<p>The King will probably object to members of his family forming +the Board, but I dare say I shall be able to persuade him of the +advantage of it. Such a Board, so constituted, would be a pledge to +all India of the honesty of our intentions, and secure to us the +cordial good-will of all who are interested in the welfare of the +family and the good government of the country.</p> +<p>I should persuade the members to draw from the +<i>élite</i> of their own creed in our service to aid in +forming and carrying out the new system in their several +departments. We can give them excellent men in the revenue and +judicial branches, who will be glad to come when assured that they +will not be removed so long as they do their duty ably and +honestly, and will get pensions if their services are dispensed +with after a time. This is all I shall say at present.</p> +<div class="s4">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir H. M. Elliot, K.C.B.,<br> + &c. + &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>My Official Report went off on the 25th instant, and will have +been submitted, for your Lordship's consideration. It contains, I +believe, a faithful description of the abuses that exist and +require remedy, and of the obstacles which will be opposed to their +removal. But it does not tell all that might be told of the King +himself, who has become an object of odium and contempt to all but +those few despicable persons with whom he associates exclusively. +He eats, drinks, sleeps, and converses with the singers and eunuchs +and females alone, and the only female who has any influence over +him is the sister of the chief singer, Rusee-od Dowlah, whom he +calls his own sister. No member of the royal family or aristocracy +of Oude is ever admitted to speak to or see his Majesty, and these +contemptible singers are admitted to more equality and familiarity +than his own brothers or sons ever were; they go out, too, with +greater pomp than they or any of the royal family can; and are +ordered to be received with more honours as they pass through the +different palaces. The profligacy that exists within the palace +passes all belief, and these things excite more disgust among the +aristocracy of the capital than all the misrule and malversation +that arise from the King's apathy and incapacity.</p> +<p>Should your Lordship resolve upon interposing effectually to +remedy these disorders, I think it will be necessary to have at +Lucknow, for at least the first few months, a corps of irregular +cavalry. We have no cavalry in Oude, and none of the King's can be +depended upon. The first thing necessary will be the disbanding of +the African, or Hubshee corps, of three hundred men. They are +commanded by one of the eunuchs, and a fellow fit for any dark +purpose. They were formed into a corps, I believe, because no man's +life was safe in Lucknow while they were loose upon society.</p> +<p>I think the King will consent without much difficulty or +reluctance to delegate his powers to a Regency, but I am somewhat +afraid that he will object to its being composed of members of his +own family. The Sovereign has always been opposed to employing any +of his own relatives in office. I shall, I dare say, be able to get +over this difficulty, and it will be desirable to employ the best +members of the family in order to show the people of Oude, and of +India generally, that the object of our Government is an honest and +benevolent one.</p> +<p>A corps of irregular cavalry might be sent to Lucknow from +Goruckpoor, and its place there supplied for a season by a wing +from the corps at Legolee. There is little occasion for the +services of cavalry at either of these places at present. Without +any cavalry of our own here, and with this corps of African +assassins at Lucknow at the beck of the singers, eunuchs, and their +creature, the minister, neither the Resident nor any of the Regency +would be safe. The treasury and crown jewels would be open to any +one who would make away with them. If, therefore, your Lordship +should determine upon offering the king the alternative proposed, +no time should be lost in ordering the irregular corps from +Goruckpoor to Lucknow, to be held at the Resident's disposal. Its +presence will be required only for a few months.</p> +<p>I have mentioned, in my private letter to Sir H. M. Elliot, +three persons of high character for the Regency. Two of them are +brothers of the King's father. The third, and best, may be +considered as in all respects the first man in Oude. Mohsin-od +Dowlah is the grandson of the King, Ghasee-od Deen; his wife, and +the mother of his only son, is the sister of the King's father, and +his only son has been lately united in marriage to the present +King's daughter. He and his wife have large hereditary incomes, +under the guarantee of our Government, and his character for good +sense, prudence, and integrity stands higher, I believe, than that +of any other man in Oude.</p> +<p>All three belong to the number of the royal family who never +visit the Resident except in company with the King, and I have, in +consequence, never spoken to Mohsin-od Dowlah but once, and never +seen either of the other two whom I have named, Azeemoshan and +Khorum Bukeh, the King's uncles. The characters of all three are +very high, and in general esteem.</p> +<p>Things are coming to a very critical state. There is no money to +pay any one in the treasury, and the greater part of what comes in +is taken for private purposes, by those who are in power. All see +that there must soon be a great change, and are anxious "to make +hay while the sun shines." The troops are everywhere in a state +bordering on mutiny, but more particularly in and about the +capital, because they cannot indemnify themselves by the plunder of +the people as those in the distant districts do.</p> +<p>Fortunately the rains have this season been very favourable for +tillage, and the crops may be good if we can preserve them by, some +timely arrangement.</p> +<div class="s1">With great respect I remain,</div> +<div class="s2">Your Lordship's obedient, humble servant,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie.</p> +<p>P.S.—I find that the irregular corps of cavalry has been +moved from Goruckpoor to Sultanpoor Benares, and that Lagolee and +Goruckpoor have now only one corps between them.</p> +<p>The Sultanpoor Benares corps might well spare a wing for +Lucknow, and so might the corps at Bareilly spare one.</p> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 11th October, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>Here is a little item of palace news, communicated by one of the +poets who has to assist his Majesty in selecting his verses, and +who knows a good deal about what is going on among the favourites. +Perhaps you may recollect him, Ameen-od Doulah, the eldest son of +the late Aga Meer.</p> +<p>There is not a greater knave than Walee Alee in India, I +believe. That his Majesty will consent to what the Governor-General +may authorise us to propose I have no doubt, for he and his family +are by this time satisfied that we shall propose nothing but what +is good for them and the people of Oude.</p> +<p>But the King is no longer in a sound state of mind, and will say +and do whatever the most plausible of the bad speakers may +recommend. When I see him, I must have his signature before +respectable witnesses to all his answers to distinct propositions, +and act upon them at once, as far as I may be authorised by the +Governor-General, or nothing will be done. It would not do for me +to commune with him about affairs till I get instructions from you, +as he would be sure to tell the singers, eunuchs, and minister all +that has been said the moment I left him.</p> +<p>He has never been a cruel or badly-disposed man, but his mind, +naturally weak, has entirely given way, and is now as helpless as +that of an infant. Every hour's delay will add to our difficulties, +and I wait most anxiously for orders. I am prepared with the new +arrangements, and feel sure that the system will work well, and +have the Governor-General's approval. I can explain it in a few +words, and show the details in a small Table all ready for +transmission when called for.</p> +<p>We shall have the royal family, the court, and people with us, +with the exception of the minister and the favourites, who are in +league with him, and those who share in the fruits of their +corruption. Fifteen lacs are spoken of as the means ready to get +either me out of the way or put a stop to all attempts of +improvement for the present. I have in my public letter mentioned +seven lacs as the average annual perquisites of the +minister—they are at present at least twelve.</p> +<div class="s4">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir H. M. Elliot, K.C.B.,<br> + &c. +&c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="images/map1600.png"> +<img src="images/mapt.png" border="3" alt= +"Map of the Kingdom of Oude, showing the author's route"></a></center> +<br> +<blockquote> +<p>[Transcriber's Note: Map of the Kingdom of Oude - Drawn under the +superintendence of the Late Major General Sir Wm. Sleeman. +Approximate area covered 79° to 84° E by 25° to 28.5° +N.; scale approximately 38 miles to the inch. Map shows the route +taken by the author on his journey, as noted in his diary.]</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<h1>DIARY</h1> +<br> +<h3>of</h3> +<br> +<h1>A TOUR THROUGH OUDE</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="10%" align="center"> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chap1" id="Chap1">CHAPTER I.</a></h2> +<br> +<br> +<p>Departure from Lucknow—Gholam Hazrut—Attack on the +late Prime Minister, Ameen-od-Dowla—A similar attack on the +sons of a former Prime Minister, Agar Meer—Gunga Sing and +Kulunder Buksh—Gorbuksh Sing, of Bhitolee—Gonda +Bahraetch district—Rughbur Sing—Prethee Put, of +Paska—King of Oude and King of the Fairies—Surafraz +mahal.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 1, 1849.—I left Lucknow to proceed on a +tour through Oude, to see the state of the country and the +condition of the people. My wish to do so I communicated to +Government, on the 29th of March last, and its sanction was +conveyed to me, in a letter from the Secretary, dated the 7th of +April. On the 16th of November I reported to Government my +intention to proceed, under this sanction, on the 1st of December, +and on the 19th I sent the same intimation to the King. On the +28th, as soon as the ceremonies of the Mohurrum terminated, His +Majesty expressed a wish to see me on the following day; and on the +29th I went at 9 A.M., accompanied by Captain Bird, the first +Assistant, and Lieutenant Weston, the Superintendant of the +Frontier Police, and took leave of the King, with mutual expression +of good-will. The minister, Alee Nakee Khan, was present. On the +30th I made over charge of the Treasury to Captain Bird, who has +the charge of the department of the Sipahees' Petitions and the +Fyzabad Guaranteed Pensions; and, taking with me all the office +establishments not required in these three departments, proceeded, +under the usual salute, to Chenahut, eight miles.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* My escort consisted, of two companies of sipahees, from the +10th Regiment Native Infantry, and my party of Captain Hardwick, +lieutenant Weston, and Lieutenant and Mrs. Willows and my wife and +children, with occasional visitors from Lucknow and elsewhere.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Minister, Dewan and Deputy Minister, Ghoolam Ruza, came out +the first stage with me, and our friend Moonuwur-od Dowla, drove +out to see us in the evening.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 2, 1849.—We proceeded to Nawabgunge, the +minister riding out with me, for some miles, to take leave, as I +sat in my tonjohn. At sunrise I ventured, for the first time since +I broke my left thigh-bone on the 4th April, to mount an elephant, +the better to see the country. The land, on both sides of the road, +well cultivated, and studded with groves of mango and other trees, +and very fertile.</p> +<p>The two purgunnas of Nawabgunge and Sidhore are under the charge +of Aga Ahmud, the Amil, who has under him two naibs or deputies, +Ghoolam Abbas and Mahummud Ameer. All three are obliged to connive +at the iniquities of a Landholder, Ghoolam Huzrut, who resides on +his small estate of Jhareeapoora, which he is augmenting, in a +manner too common in Oude, by seizing on the estates of his weaker +neighbours. He wanted to increase the number of his followers, and +on the 10th of November 1849, he sent some men to aid the prisoners +in the great jail at Lucknow to break out. Five of them were killed +in the attempt, seven were wounded, and twenty-five were retaken, +but forty-five escaped, and among them Fuzl Allee, one of the four +assassins, who, in April 1847, cut down the late minister, Ameen-od +Dowla, in the midst of his followers, in one of the principal +streets of Lucknow, through which the road, leading from the city +to Cawnpore, now passes. One of the four, Tuffuzzul Hoseyn, was +killed in attempting to escape on the 8th August 1849, and one, +Alee Mahomed, was killed in this last attempt. The third, Fuzl +Allee, with some of the most atrocious and desperate of his +companions, is now with this Ghoolam Huzrut, disturbing the peace +of the country. The leader in this attempt was Ghoolam Hyder Khan, +who is still in jail at Lucknow.</p> +<p>On my remarking to the King's wakeel that these ruffians had all +high-sounding names, he said, "They are really all men of high +lineage; and men of that class, who become ruffians, are always +sure to be of the worst description." "As horses of the best blood, +when they do become vicious, are the most incorrigible, I suppose?" +"Nothing can be more true, sir," rejoined the wakeel. An account of +the attack made by the above-named ruffians on the minister, may be +here given as both interesting and instructive, or at least as +illustrative of the state of society and government in Oude.</p> +<p>At five in the morning of the 8th of April 1847, the minister, +Ameen-od Dowlah, left his house in a buggy to visit the King. Of +his armed attendants he had only three or four with him. He had not +gone far when four armed assassins placed themselves in front of +his buggy and ordered him to stop. One of them, Tuffuzzul Hoseyn, +seized the horse; by the bridle, and told the minister, that he +must give him the arrears of pay due before he could go on. The +other three, Fuzl Allee, Allee Mahomed, and Hyder Khan, came up and +stood on the right side of the buggy. One of the minister's +servants, named Hollas, tried to prevent their coming near, but was +fired upon by Allee Mahomed. He missed him, but Fuzl Allee +discharged his blunderbuss at him, and he fell; but in falling, he +wounded Hyder Khan slightly with his sword. Hyder Khan then threw +away his fire-arms and sprang into the buggy with his naked dagger +in his right hand and the minister in his left. The minister seized +him round the waist, forced him back out of the buggy on the left, +and fell upon him. Tuffuzzul Hoseyn then quitted his hold of the +horse and rushed to his comrade's assistance, but the minister +still holding Hyder Khan in his right hand, seized Tuffuzzul Hoseyn +with his left. Syud Aman Allee, another personal servant of the +minister, was cut down by Fuzl Allee, in attempting to aid his +master, and a third personal servant, Shah Meer, was severely +wounded by Allee Mahomed, and stood at a distance of twenty paces, +calling for help. Fuzl Allee now made two cuts with his sword on +the right shoulder and arm of the minister, below the elbow, and he +quitted his hold on the two assassins and fell. The four assassins +now grasped their victim, and told him that they would do him no +farther harm if no rescue were attempted. As they saw the rest of +the minister's armed attendants and a crowd approach, Fuzl Allee +and Hyder Khan, with their blunderbusses loaded and cocked, stood +one at each end of an open space of about sixty yards, and +threatened to shoot the first man who should venture to approach +nearer. The crowd and attendants of the minister were kept back, +and no one ventured to enter this space, in the centre of which the +minister lay, grasped by Tuffuzzul Hoseyn and Allee Mahomed, who +held their naked daggers at his breast. The minister called out to +his attendants and the crowd to keep back. He was then allowed to +rise and walk to a small raised terrace on the side of the street, +where he lay down on his back, being unable any longer to sit or +stand from the loss of blood. Tuffuzzul Hoseyn and Allee Mahomed +knelt over him, holding the points of their daggers at his breast, +and swearing that they would plunge them to his heart if he +attempted to move, or any one presumed to enter the open space to +rescue him. Hollas and Syud Aman Allee lay bleeding at the spot +where they fell. Hollas died that day, and Syud Aman Allee a few +days after, of lock-jaw.</p> +<p>As soon as the attack on the minister was made, information of +it was sent off to the Resident, Colonel Richmond, who wrote to +request the Brigadier Commanding the Troops in Oude, to send him, +as soon as possible, a regiment of infantry with two guns, from the +Cantonments, which are three miles and a-half distant from the +Residency, on the opposite side from the scene of the attack, to +prevent any tumult that the loose characters of the city might +attempt to raise on the occasion, and repaired himself to the spot +attended by the Assistant, Captain Bird, and a small guard of +sipahees. They reached the open spot, in the centre of which the +minister lay, about a quarter of an hour after he fell. He found +the street, in which the attack took place, crowded with people up +to the place where the two sentries, Fuzl Allee and Hyder Khan, +stood at each end of the open space, in the centre of which the +minister lay, with the daggers of the two other assassins pressing +upon his breast. On reaching one end of the open space, the +Resident directed Captain Bird to advance to the spot where the +minister lay. The assassin who guarded that end at first threatened +to shoot him, but no sooner recognized him than he let him pass on +unattended. He asked the two men, who knelt over the minister, what +they meant by this assault. They told him, that good men were no +longer employed in the King's service, and that they were, in +consequence, without the means of subsistence; and had been +compelled to resort to this mode of obtaining them; that they +required fifty thousand rupees from the minister, with a written +assurance from the British Resident, that they should be escorted +in safety across the Ganges into the British territory with this +sum.</p> +<p>The Resident peremptorily refused to enter into any written +agreement with them, and told them, through the Assistant, that if +they presumed to put the minister to death, or to offer him any +further violence, they should be all four immediately shot down and +cut to pieces; but, if they did him no further harm, their lives +should, be spared; and, to prevent their being killed as soon as +they quitted their hold, that he would take them all with him to +the Residency, and neither imprison them himself, nor have them +made over as prisoners to the Oude Government; but that he declined +being a party to any arrangement that the minister might wish to +make of paying money for his life.</p> +<p>They continued resolutely to threaten instant death to the +minister should any one but the Resident or his Assistant presume +to enter the open space in which he lay. Many thousands of reckless +and desperate characters filled the street, ready to commence a +tumult, for the plunder of the city, the moment that the minister +or the assassins should be killed, while the relations and +dependents of the minister, with loud cries, offered lacs of rupees +to the assassins if they spared his life, so as to encourage them +to hold out. They at last collected and brought to the spot, on +three or four elephants, the fifty thousand rupees demanded by the +assassins, and offered them to his assailants apparently with his +concurrence; and the four ruffians, having assented to the terms +offered by the Resident, permitted Doctor Login, the Residency +Surgeon, to approach the prostrate minister and dress his wounds. +One of the assassins, however, continued to kneel by his side with +his naked dagger resting on his breast till he saw the other three +seated upon the elephants, on which the money was placed, with the +understanding, that the guard of sipahees, which the Resident had +brought with him, should escort them to the Residency, and that +Captain Bird, the Assistant, should accompany them. The fourth man +then quitted his hold on the minister, who had become very faint, +and climbed upon Captain Bird's elephant and took seat behind him. +Captain Bird, however, made him get off, and mount another elephant +with his companions. The crowd shouted <i>shah bash, shah +bash!</i>—well done, well done! and they attempted to scatter +some of the money from the elephants among them, but were prevented +by Captain Bird, who dreaded the consequences in such a tumult. +They were all four taken to the Residency under the guard of +sipahees, and accommodated in one of the lower rooms of the office; +and a guard was placed over the money with orders to keep back the +crowd of spectators, which was very great. Three of the four +ruffians had been wounded by the minister's attendants before they +could secure his person, and their wounds were now dressed by +Doctor Login.</p> +<p>It was now ten o'clock, and at twelve the Resident had an +interview with the King, who had become much alarmed, not only for +the safety of the minister, but for that of the city, threatened by +the thousands of bad characters, anxious for an occasion of +pillage; and he expressed an anxious wish that the assassins should +be made over to him for trial. But the Resident pleaded the solemn +promise which he had made, and his Majesty admitted the necessity +of the promise under the circumstances, and that of keeping it; but +said that he would have the whole affair carefully investigated. As +soon as the Resident left him, he sent a company of sipahees with +fetters to the Residency to receive charge of the prisoners, but +the Resident would not give them up. The King then wrote a letter +to the Resident with his own hand, requesting that the prisoners +might be surrendered to him. The Resident, in his reply to His +Majesty's, letter, told him, that he could not so far violate the +promise he had given, but that he would send them to answer any +other charges that might be brought against them, in any open and +impartial Court that might be appointed to try them; and if they +should be found guilty of other crimes, His Majesty might order any +sentence passed upon them, short of death, to be carried into +execution.</p> +<p>Charges of many successful attempts of the same kind, and many +atrocious murders perpetrated by the ruffians, in distant districts +of Oude, were preferred against them; and they were prevailed upon +to give up their arms, and to submit to a fair and open trial, on +the other charges preferred against them, on condition that they +should neither be put to death nor in any way maimed, or put in +fetters, or subjected to ill-treatment before trial and conviction. +The Resident offered them the alternative of doing this or leaving +the Residency, after he had read to them the King's letter, and +told them, that his promise extended only to saving their lives and +escorting them to the Residency; and, that he would not be +answerable for their lives beyond the court-yard of the Residency, +if they refused the conditions now offered. They knew that their +lives would not be safe for a moment after they got beyond the +court-yard, and submitted. Their arms and the fifty thousand rupees +were sent to the King. At four in the afternoon, the four prisoners +were made over to the King's wakeel, on a solemn promise given +under the express sanction of his Majesty, of safe conduct through +the streets, of freedom from fetters, or any kind of ill-treatment +before conviction, and of fair and open trial.</p> +<p>But they had not gone two paces from the Residency court-yard, +when they were set upon by the very people sent by the King to take +care of them on the way; the King's wakeel having got into his +palkee and gone on before them towards the palace. They were beaten +with whips, sticks, and the hilts of swords, till one of the four +fell down insensible, and the other three were reduced to a +pitiable condition. The Resident took measures to protect them from +further violence, recalled the wakeel; and, after admonishing him +for his dishonourable conduct, had the prisoners taken unfettered +to a convenient house near the prison. The wounded minister wrote +to the King, earnestly praying that the prisoners might not suffer +any kind of ill-treatment before conviction, after a fair and +impartial trial. The Resident reported to Government all that had +occurred, and stated, that he should see that the promises made to +the prisoners were fulfilled, that, should they be convicted before +the Court appointed to conduct the trial, of other crimes +perpetrated before this assault on the minister, they would be +subject to such punishment as the Mahommedan law prescribed for +such crimes. Three of them, Tuffuzzul Hoseyn, Hyder Khan, and Fuzl +Allee, were convicted, on their own confessions, and the testimony +of their own relations, of many cold blooded murders, and +successful attempts to extort money from respectable and wealthy +persons in different parts of Oude, similar to this on the +minister, and all four were sentenced to imprisonment for life. The +Government of India had insisted on their not being executed or +mutilated. Fuzl Allee, as above stated, broke jail, and is still at +large at his old trade, and Hyder Khan is still in prison at +Lucknow.</p> +<p>These ruffians appear to have been encouraged, in this assault +upon the minister, for the purpose of extorting money, by a similar +but more successful attempt made in the year 1824, by a party +headed by a person named Syud Mahomed Eesa Meean, <i>alias</i> Eesa +Meean.</p> +<p>This person came to Lucknow with a letter of recommendation from +Captain Gough. He delivered it in person to the Resident, but was +never after seen or heard of by him till this affair occurred. He +became a kind of saint, or <i>apostle</i>, at Lucknow; and Fakeer +Mahomed Khan Rusaldar, who commanded a corps of Cavalry, and had +much influence over the minister, Aga Meer, became one of his +<i>disciples</i>, and prevailed upon the minister to entertain him +as a mosahib, or aide-de-camp. He soon became a favourite with Aga +Meer, and formed a liaison with a dancing-girl, named Beeba Jan. +His conduct towards her soon became too violent and overbearing, +and she sought shelter with the Khasmahal, or chief consort, of the +minister, who promised her protection, and detained her in her +apartments. Eesa Meean appealed to the minister, and demanded her +surrender. The minister told him that she was mistress of her own +actions, as she had never gone through the ceremonies of permanent +marriage, or <i>nikkah</i>, nor even those of a temporary one, +<i>motah</i>; and most be considered as altogether free to choose +her own lovers or mode of life.</p> +<p>He then appealed to Moulavee Karamut Allee, the tutor of Aga +Meer's children, but was told, that he could not interfere, as the +female was a mere acquaintance of his, and bound to him by no legal +ties whatever; and must, therefore, be considered as free to reside +where and with whom she chose. Eesa Meean then took his resolution, +and prevailed upon some fifteen of the loose and desperate +characters who always swarm at Lucknow, to aid him in carrying it +out. On the 2nd of June 1824, Karamut Allee, the tutor, was +bathing, and Aga Meer's two eldest sons, Aga Allee, aged eleven, +and Nizam-od Dowlah, aged six years were reading their lessons in +the school-room, under the deputy-tutor, Moulavee Ameen Allee. It +was early in the morning, but the minister had gone out to wait +upon the King. Eesa Meean entered the school-room, and approached +the children with the usual courtesy and compliments, followed by +six armed men, and one table attendant, or khidmutgar.</p> +<p>The two boys were sitting beside each other, the eldest, Aga +Allee, on the left, and the youngest, Nizam-od Dowla, on the right. +Eesa Meean sat down on the left side of the eldest, and +congratulated both on the rapid progress they were making in their +studies. Three of his followers, while he was doing this, placed +themselves on the left of the eldest, and the other three on the +right of the youngest. On a concerted signal all drew forth and +cocked their pistols, and placed themselves at the only three doors +that opened from the school-room, two at each, while at a signal +made by the khidmutgar, eight more men came in armed in the same +manner. Two of them with naked daggers in their right hands seized +the two boys with their left, and threatened them with instant +death if they attempted to more or call for help. The other six +threatened to kill any one who should attempt to force his way into +the apartment. The khidmutgar, in the mean time, seized and brought +into the room two large gharahs or pitchers of drinking water, that +stood outside, as the weather was very hot, and the party would +require it They were afraid that poison might be put into the water +if left outside after they had commenced the assault. Eesa Meean +then declared, that he had been driven to this violent act by the +detention of his girl by the Khasmahal, and must have her instantly +surrendered, or they would put the boys to death. Hearing the noise +from his bathing-room, their tutor, Karamut Allee, rushed into the +room with nothing on his person but his waist-band, and began to +admonish the ruffians. Seeing him unarmed, and respecting his +peaceful character, they let him pass in and vociferate, but paid +no regard to what he said.</p> +<p>The alarm had spread through the house and town, and many of the +chief officers of the Court were permitted to enter the room +unarmed. Roshun-od Dowlah, Sobhan Allee Khan, Fakeer Mahomed Khan, +Nuzee Allee Khan, (the Khasmahul's son-in-law,) and others of equal +rank, all in loud terms admonished the assailants, and demanded the +surrender of the children, but all were alike unheeded. The chief +merchant of Lucknow, Sa Gobind Lal, came in; and thinking that all +affairs could and ought to be settled in a business-like way, told +the chief officers to fix the sum to be given, and he would at once +pledge himself to the payment. All agreed to this, and Sobhan Allee +Khan, the Chief Secretary of the minister, set to work and drew up +a long and eloquent paper of conditions. On his beginning to read +it, one of the ruffians, who had one eye, rushed in, snatched it +from his hand, tore it to pieces, and threw the fragments into his +chief's, Eesa Meean's, face, saying, "that this fellow would write +them all out of their lives, as he was writing the people of Oude +every day out of their properties; that if they must die, it should +not be by pen and paper, but by swords and daggers in a fair fight; +that all their lives had been staked, and all should die or live +together." He was overpowered by the others, and other papers were +drawn up by the ready writer and consummate knave Sobhan Allee, but +the one-eyed man contrived to get hold of all, one after the other, +and tear them up.</p> +<p>The minister was with the King when he first heard of the +affair, and he went off forthwith to the Resident, Mr. Ricketts, to +say, that his Majesty had in vain endeavoured to rescue the boys +through his principal civil officers, and had sent all his +available troops, but in vain; and now earnestly entreated the +British Resident to interpose and save their lives. The Resident +consented to do so, on condition that any arrangement he might find +it necessary to make should be binding on his Majesty and the +minister. Aga Meer returned to the King with this message, and his +Majesty agreed to this condition. The Resident then sent his head +moonshie, Gholam Hossein, to promise Eesa Meean, that the woman +should be restored to him, and any grievance he might have to +complain of should be redressed, and his party all saved, if he +gave up the children. But he and his followers now demanded a large +sum of money, and declared, that they would murder the boys unless +it was given and secured to them, with a pledge for personal +security to the whole party.</p> +<p>The minister, on hearing this, came to the Resident, and +implored him to adopt some measures to save the lives of the +children. The Resident had been for three weeks confined to his +couch from illness, but he sent his Assistant, Captain Lockett, +with full powers to make any arrangement, and pledge himself to any +engagements, which might appear to him to be necessary, to save the +lives of the boys. He went, and being unarmed, was permitted to +enter the room. He asked for Eesa Meean, whom he had never before +seen, when one of the party that knelt over the boys rose, and +saluting him, said, "I am Eesa Meean." Captain Lockett told him +that he wanted to speak to him in private, when Eesa Meean pointed +to a door leading into a side room, into which they retired. Eesa +Meean offered Captain Lockett a chair, and at his request sat down +by his side. He then entered into a long story of grievances, which +Captain Lockett considered to be frivolous, and said, "that the +minister had injured his prospects in many ways, and at last +disgraced him in the eyes of all people at Lucknow, by conniving at +the elopement of the dancing-girl that he was a soldier and +regardless of life under such disgrace, and prepared to abide by +the result of his present attempt to secure redress, whatever it +might be; that his terms were the payment down of five lacs of +rupees, the restoration of his dancing-girl, and the security of +his own person and property, with permission to go where he +pleased, unmolested." Captain Lockett reminded him quietly of what +he had just said: "that he was a soldier, and anxious only for the +recovery of his lost honour; that now, to demand, money, was to +show to the world that wounded honour was urged as a mere pretext, +and the seizure of the boys a means adopted for the sole purpose of +extorting money; that he could not condescend to hold further +converse with him if he persisted in such preposterous demands; +that he might murder the children as they seemed to be in his +power, but if he did so, he and his party would be all instantly +put to death, as the house was surrounded by thousands of the +King's soldiers, ready to fall upon them at the slightest signal." +He then recommended him to release the boys forthwith before the +excitement without became more strong, and accompany him to the +Residency, where his real Wrongs would be inquired into and +redressed.</p> +<p>Eesa Meean then rose and said: "Money is not my object. I +despise it. I regard nothing but the preservation of my honour, and +agree to what you propose; but I have several companions here who +require to be consulted: let me speak to them." He then went into +the large room. His companions all made objections of one kind or +another, and what they all agreed to one moment was rejected the +next. They vociferated loudly, and disputed violently with each +other, and with all around them, and at times appeared desperate +and determined to sacrifice the boys, and sell their own lives as +dearly as possible. Eesa Meean himself seemed to be the most +violent and boisterous of all, and had his hand frequently on the +hilt of his sword when he disputed with the King's officers, whom +he abused in the grossest possible terms. They did more harm than +good by their want of temper and patience, but above all by their +utter want of character, since no one could place the slightest +reliance on the word of any one of them in such a trying moment. +They seemed to have no control over their feelings, and to think +that they could do all that was required by harsh language and loud +bawling.</p> +<p>Captain Lockett at last persuaded them to leave the whole affair +in his hands; and had they done so at first, he would have settled +the matter, he thought, in half the time. They had been discussing +matters in this angry manner for four hours and a half, without +making the slightest impression on the ruffians; but when all +became silent, Captain Lockett prevailed on them to release the +boys on the conditions agreed to between him and Eesa Meean, and +recorded on paper. In this paper it was declared—"That Syud Mahomed +Eesa Khan, together with the woman, Beeba Jan, shall be allowed to +go where he liked, with security to his life and honour, and with +all the property and effects he might have, whether he got it from +the King of Oude or from his minister; and that no one, either in +the Honourable Company's or in the King of Oude's dominions, shall +offer him any molestation; that no obstruction shall be thrown in +his way by the officers of the British Government in the countries +of any of the Rajahs at whose courts there may be a British +Resident; and further, that no molestation shall be offered to him +in the British territories in consequence of the disturbance which +took place at Bareilly in 1816.</p> +<div class="s1">"(Signed) A. LOCKETT, <i>Assistant +Resident.</i>"</div> +<p>After this paper had been signed by Captain Lockett, the two +boys were set at liberty, and sent off in palanqeens to their +mother under a guard. The minister had, in the morning, promised to +give the assailants twenty thousand rupees, and they arrived before +the discussions closed, and were placed on the floor of the +school-room.<br> +The girl, Beeba Jan, was now brought into the room, and made over +to Eesa Meean. When first brought before him, she thought she was +to be sacrificed to save the lives of the boys, and was in a state +of great agitation. She implored Captain Lockett to save her life; +but, to the great surprise of all present, Eesa Meean took up one +of the bags of money, containing one thousand rupees, and, with a +smile, put it into her arms, and told her that she was now at +liberty to return to her home or go where she pleased. The joy +expressed by the girl and by all who witnessed this scene was very +great; for they had all considered him to be a mere ruffian, +incapable of anything like a generous action.</p> +<p>It had been arranged that Eesa Meean, with all his party, should +go with Captain Lockett to the Residency; but when the time came, +and the excitement had passed away in the apartment, he began to be +alarmed, and told Captain Lockett that he felt sure he should be +murdered on the road. He wanted to go with Captain Lockett on the +same elephant, but to this Captain Lockett would not consent, as it +would compromise his dignity, to sit on the same elephant with so +atrocious a character. There was no palanqeen available for him, +and he would not allow Captain Lockett to enter his, declaring that +if he did so, he, Eesa Meean, would be instantly cut down by the +King's people. Captain Lockett was, therefore, obliged to walk with +him from the minister's house at Dowlut Poora to the Residency, a +distance of a mile, in the heat of the day, and the hottest month +in the year, followed by the King's troops, and an immense +multitude from the city. About four o'clock Captain Lockett reached +the Residency, and made over Eesa Meean and his sixteen followers +to the Resident, who ratified the written engagement, and sent the +party to the cantonments, three miles distant from the city, to +Brigadier-General Price, who commanded the troops in Oude, to be +taken care of for a few days till arrangements could be made for +their safe conduct to Cawnpore, within the British territory. Their +arms were taken from them, to be sent to the magistrate at +Cawnpore, for delivery to them when they might be released. On the +morning of the 3rd the King came to the Resident to thank him for +what he had done, and express the sense he entertained of the +judicious conduct of his Assistant during the whole of this trying +scene; and to request that he might be permitted to go to the +palace to receive some mark of distinction which his Majesty wished +to confer upon him. Captain Lockett went with the minister, and was +received with marked distinction; and thirteen trays of shawls and +other articles were presented to him. Captain Lockett selected one +pair, which he accepted, and placed, as usual, in the Resident's +Toshuk-khana.</p> +<p>When he signed the paper he remarked the omission of all mention +of Eesa Meean's associates in that document, but did not consider +it to be his duty to point out the oversight, lest it might +increase the excitement, and prolong the angry discussions. In his +report of the circumstances to the Resident, however, he mentioned +it to him, and told him that the omission clearly arose from an +oversight, and unless his associates received the same indulgence +as the principal, Eesa Meean himself, their exclusion from the +benefits of the engagement might be attributed to decoit or +artifice on his part. The Resident concurred in this opinion, and +in his report of the following day to Government, he recommended +that they should all be considered as included in the +engagement.</p> +<p>Government, in its reply of the 25th of June 1824, consents to +this construction of the written engagement, but notices a no less +important oversight on the part of the Resident and his Assistant, +in the free pardon given to Eesa Meean, for the share he had taken +in the Bareilly insurrection, which had caused the loss of so many +lives in April 1816. Government infers, that they could, neither of +them have been aware, that this ruffian was the original instigator +and most active leader in that formidable insurrection; that it was +chiefly, if not entirely, owing to his endeavours to inflame the +popular phrenzy, and to collect partizans from the neighbouring +towns, that the efforts of the local authorities, to quell or avert +the rising storm, failed wholly of success; that he stood charged +as a principal in the murder of Mr. Leycester's son, and that, on +these grounds, he was expressly excluded from the general amnesty, +declared after the successful suppression of the rebellion, and a +reward of two thousand rupees offered for his arrest; that this +written pledge had involved Government in the dilemma of either +cancelling a public act of the British Resident, or pardoning and +setting at large, within its territory, a proclaimed outlaw, and +notorious rebel and most dangerous incendiary; and that it felt +bound in duty to guard the public peace from the hazard of further +interruption, through the violence or intrigue of so desperate and +atrocious an offender; and to annul that part of the engagement +which absolves Eesa Meean from his guilt in the Bareilly +insurrection, since the Resident and his Assistant went beyond +their powers in pledging their Government to such a condition. +Government directed, that he and his associates should be safely +escorted over the border into the British territory, and that he +should not be brought to trial before a Judicial Court, with a view +to his being capitally punished for his crimes at Bareilly, but be +confined, as a state prisoner, in the fortress of Allahabad. The +Government, in strong but dignified terms, expresses its surprise +and displeasure at his having been placed in so confidential a +position, and permitted to bask in the sunshine of ministerial +favour, when active search was being made for him all over India; +for the King and his minister must have been both aware of the part +he had taken in the Bareilly insurrection, since the King himself +alludes to it in a letter submitted by the Resident to Government +on the 8th of June 1824.</p> +<p>The Resident and his Assistant, in letters dated 15th of July, +declare that they were altogether unacquainted with the part which +Eesa Meean had taken in the Bareilly rebellion in 1816, the +Resident being at that time at the Cape of Good Hope, and his +Assistant in England. Eesa Meean was confined, as directed, in the +fort of Allahabad; but soon afterwards released on the occasion of +the Governor-General's visit to that place. He returned again to +Lucknow in the year 1828, soon after Aga Meer had been removed from +his office of minister. As soon as it was discovered that he was in +the city, he was seized and sent across the Ganges; and is said to +have been killed in Malwa or Goozerat, in a similar attempt upon +some native chief or his minister.</p> +<p>The two boys are still living, the eldest, Aga Allee, or +Ameen-od Dowla, at Lucknow, and Nizam-od Dowla, the youngest, at +Cawnpore; both drawing large hereditary pensions, under the +guarantee of the British Government. This is not the Ameen-od Dowla +who was attacked in the streets, as above described, in the year +1847.</p> +<p>About two years ago this Ghoolam Huzrut took by violence +possession of the small estate of Golha, now in the Sibhore +purgunnah; and turned out the proprietor, Bhowannee Sing, a Rathore +Rajpoot, whose ancestors had held it for several centuries. The +poor man was re-established in it by the succeeding contractor, +Girdhara Sing; but on his losing his contract, Ghoolam Huzret, on +the 23rd of September last, again attacked Bhowanne Sing at +midnight, at the head of a gang of ruffians; and after killing five +of his relatives and servants, and burning down his houses, turned +him and his family out, and secured possession of the village, +which he still holds. The King's officers were too weak to protect +the poor man, and have hitherto acquiesced in the usurpation of the +village. Ghoolam Huzrut has removed all the autumn crops to his own +village; and cut down and taken away sixty mango-trees planted by +Bhowannee Sing's ancestors. Miherban Sing, the son of the sufferer, +is a sipahee in the 63rd Regiment Native Infantry, and he presented +a petition through the Resident in behalf of his father. Other +petitions have been since presented, and the Court has been +strongly urged to afford redress. Ghoolam Huzrut has two forts, to +which he retires when pursued, one at <i>Para</i>, and one at +<i>Sarai</i>, and a good many powerful landholders always ready to +support him against the government, on condition of being supported +by him when necessary.</p> +<p>On crossing the river Ghagra, I directed Captain Bunbury, (who +commands a regiment in the King of Oude's service with six guns, +and was to have accompanied me, and left the main body of his +regiment with his guns under his second in command, Captain +Hearsey, at Nawabgunge,) to surprise and capture Ghoolam Huzrut, if +possible, by a sudden march. He had left his fort of Para, on my +passing within a few miles of it, knowing that the minister had +been with me, and thinking that he might have requested my aid for +the purpose. Captain Bunbury joined his main body unperceived, made +a forced march during the night, and reached the fort of Para at +daybreak in the morning, without giving alarm to any one on the +road. In this surprise he was aided by Khoda Buksh, of Dadra, a +very respectable and excellent landholder, who had suffered from +Ghoolam Huzrut's depredations.</p> +<p>He had returned to his fort with all his family on my passing, +and it contained but few soldiers, with a vast number of women and +children. He saw that it would be of no use to resist, and +surrendered his fort and person to Captain Bunbury, who sent him a +prisoner to Lucknow, under charge of two Companies, commanded by +Captain Hearsey. He is under trial, but he has so many influential +friends about the Court, with whom he has shared his plunder, that +his ultimate punishment is doubtful. Captain Bunbury was praised +for his skill and gallantry, and was honoured with a title by the +king.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 3, 1849.—Kinalee, ten miles over a plain, +highly cultivated and well studded with groves, but we could see +neither town, village, nor hamlet on the road. A poor Brahmin, +Gunga Sing, came along the road with me, to seek redress for +injuries sustained. His grandfather was in the service of our +Government, and killed under Lord Lake, at the first siege of +Bhurtpore in 1804. With the little he left, the family had set up +as agricultural capitalists in the village of Poorwa Pundit, on the +estate of Kulunder Buksh, of Bhitwal. Here they prospered. The +estate was, as a matter of favour to Kulunder Buksh, transferred +from the jurisdiction of the contractor to that of the Hozoor +Tehseel.* Kulunder Buksh either could not, or would not, pay the +Government demand; and he employed two of his relatives, Godree and +Hoseyn Buksh, to plunder in the estate and the neighbourhood, to +reduce Government to his own terms. These two persons, with two +hundred armed men, attacked the village in the night; and, after +plundering the house of this Brahmin, Gunga Sing, they seized his +wife, who was then pregnant, and made her point out a hidden +treasure of one hundred and seven gold mohurs, and two hundred and +seventy-seven rupees. She had been wounded in several places before +she did this, and when she could point out no more, one of the two +brothers cut her down with his sword, and killed her. In all the +Brahmin lost two thousand seven hundred and fifty-five rupees' +worth of property; and, on the ground of his grandfather having +been killed in the Honourable Company's service, has been ever +since urging the Resident to interpose with the Oude government in +his behalf.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The term "Hozoor Tehseel" signifies the collections of the +revenue made by the governor himself whether of a district or a +kingdom. The estates of all landholders who pay their land-revenues +direct to the governor, or to the deputy employed under him to +receive such revenues and manage such estates, are said to be in +the "Hozoor Tehseel." The local authorities of the districts on +which such estates are situated have nothing whatever to do with +them.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The estate of Bhitwal has been retransferred to the jurisdiction +of the Amil of Byswara, who has restored it to Kulunder Buksh; and +his two relatives, Godree and Hoseyn Buksh, are thriving on the +booty acquired, and are in high favour with the local authorities. +I have requested that measures may be adopted to punish them for +the robbery and the cruel murder of the poor woman; but have little +hope that they will be so. <i>No government in India is now more +weak for purposes of good than that of Oude</i>.</p> +<p>This village of Kinalee is now in the estate of Ramnuggur +Dhumeereea, held by Gorbuksh, a large landholder, who has a strong +fort, Bhitolee, at the point of the Delta, formed by the Chouka and +Ghagra rivers, which here unite. He has taken refuge with some four +thousand armed followers in this fort, under the apprehension of +being made to pay the full amount of the Government demand, and +called to account for the rescue of some atrocious offenders from +Captain Hearsey, of the Frontier Police, by whom they had been +secured. Gorbuksh used to pay two hundred thousand rupees a-year +for many years for this estate, without murmur or difficulty; but +for the last three years he has not paid the rate, to which he has +got it reduced, of one hundred and fifty thousand. Out of his rents +and the revenues due to Government he keeps up a large body of +armed followers, to intimidate the Government, and seize upon the +estates of his weaker neighbours, many of which he has lately +appropriated by fraud, violence, and collusion. An attempt was this +year made to put the estate under the management of Government +officers; but he was too strong for the Government, which was +obliged to temporise, and at last to yield. He is said to exact +from the landholders the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand +rupees a-year. He holds also the estate of Bhitolee, at the apex of +the delta of the Ghagra and Chouka rivers, in which the fort of +Bhitolee is situated. The Government demand on this estate is fifty +thousand (50,000) rupees a-year. His son, Surubjeet Sing, is +engaged in plunder, and, it is said, with his father's connivance +and encouragement, though he pretends to be acting in disobedience +of his orders. The object is, to augment their estate, and +intimidate the Government and its officers by gangs of ruffians, +whom they can maintain only by plunder and malversation. The +greater part of the lands, comprised in this estate of Ramnuggur +Dhumeereea, of which Rajah Gorbuksh is now the local governor, are +hereditary possessions which have been held by his family for many +generations. A part has been recently seized from weaker +neighbours, and added to them. The rest are merely under him as the +governor or public officer, intrusted with the collection of the +revenue and the management of the police.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 4, 1849.—Gunesh Gunge, <i>alias</i> +Byram-ghat, on the right bank of the river Ghagra, distance about +twelve miles. The country well cultivated, and studded with good +groves of mango and other trees. We passed through and close to +several villages, whose houses are nothing but mud walls, without a +thatched or tiled roof to one in twenty. The people say there is no +security in them from the King's troops and the passies, a large +class of men in Oude, who are village watchmen but inveterate +thieves and robbers, when not employed as such. All refractory +landholders hire a body of passies to fight for them, as they pay +themselves out of the plunder, and cost little to their employers. +They are all armed with bows and arrows, and are very formidable at +night. They and their refractory employers keep the country in a +perpetual state of disorder; and, though they do not prevent the +cultivation of the land, they prevent the village and hamlets from +being occupied by anybody who has anything to lose, and no strong +local ties to restrain him.</p> +<p>The town of Ramnuggur, in which Gorbuksh resides occasionally, +is on the road some five miles from the river. It has a good many +houses, but all are of the same wretched description; mud walls, +with invisible coverings or no coverings at all; no signs of +domestic peace or happiness; but nothing can exceed the richness +and variety of the crops in and around Ramnuggur. It is a fine +garden, and would soon be beautiful, were life and property better +secured, and some signs of domestic comfort created. The ruined +state of the houses in this town and in the villages along the +road, is, in part, owing to the system which requires all the +King's troops to forage for themselves on the march, and the +contractors, and other collectors of revenue, to be continually on +the move, and to take all their troops with them. The troops +required in the provinces should be cantoned in five or six places +most convenient, with regard, to the districts to be controlled, +and most healthy for the people; and provided with what they +require, as ours are, and sent out to assist the revenue collectors +and magistrates only when their services are indispensably +necessary. Some Chundele Rajpoot landholders came to me yesterday +to say, that Ghoolam Huzrut, with his bands of armed ruffians, +seemed determined to seize upon all the estates of his weaker +Hindoo neighbours, and they would soon lose theirs, unless the +British Government interposed to protect them. Gorbuksh has not +ventured to come, as he was ordered, to pay his respects to the +Resident; but has shut himself up in his fort at Bhitolee, about +six miles up the river from our camp. The Chouka is a small river +which there flows into the Ghagra. He is said to have four or five +thousand men with him; and several guns mounted in his fort. The +ferry over the Ghagra is close to our tents, and called +Byram-ghat.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 5, 1849.—Crossed the river Ghagra, in +boats, and encamped at Nawabgunge, on the left bank, where we were +met by one of the collectors of the Gonda Bahraetch district. He +complained of the difficulties experienced in realizing the just +demands of the exchequer, from the number and power of the +tallookdars of the district, who had forts and bands of armed +followers, too strong for the King's officers. There were, he said, +in the small purgunnah of Gouras—</p> +<p>1.—Pretheeput Sing, of Paska, who has a strong fort called +Dhunolee, on the right bank of the Ghagra, opposite to Paska and +Bumhoree, two strongholds, which he has on the left bank of that +river, and he is always ready to resist the Government.</p> +<p>2.—Murtonjee Buksh, of Shahpoor, who is always ready to do +the same; and a great ruffian.</p> +<p>3.—Shere Bahader Sing, of Kuneear.*</p> +<p>4.—Maheput Sing, of Dhunawa.*</p> +<p>5.—Surnam Sing, of Arta.*</p> +<p>6.—Maheput Sing, of Paruspoor.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* All four are at present on good terms with the Government and +its local authorities.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>They have each a fort, or stronghold, mounting five or six guns, +and trained bands of armed and brave men of five or six hundred, +which they augment, as occasion requires, by Gohars, or auxiliary +bands from their friends.</p> +<p>Hurdut Sing, of Bondee, <i>alias</i> Bumnootee, held an estate +for which he paid one hundred and eighty-two thousand (1,82,000) +rupees a year to Government; but he was driven, out of it in +1846-47, by Rughbur Sing, the contractor, who, by rapacity and +outrage, drove off the greater part of the cultivators, and so +desolated the estate that it could not now be made to yield thirty +thousand (30,000) rupees a-year. The Raja has ever since resided +with a few followers in an island in the Ghagra. He has never +openly resisted or defied the Government, but is said to be sullen, +and a bad paymaster. He still holds the estate in its desolate +condition.</p> +<p>The people of Nawabgunge drink the water of wells, close to the +bank of the river, and often the water of the river itself, and say +that they never suffer from it; but that a good many people in +several villages, along the same bank, have the goitre to a very +distressing degree.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 6, 1849.—Halted at Byram-ghat, in order to +enable all our people and things to come up. One of our elephants +nearly lost his life yesterday in the quick-sands of the river. +Capt. Weston rode out yesterday close to Bhitolee, the little fort +of Rajah Gorbuksh Sing, who came out in a litter and told him, that +he would come to me to-day at noon, and clear himself of the +charges brought against him of rescuing and harbouring robbers, and +refusing to pay the Government demand. He had been suffering +severely from fever for fifteen days.</p> +<p>Karamut Allee complains that his father, Busharut Allee, had +been driven out from the purgunnahs of Nawabgunge and Sidhore, by +Ghoolum Huzrut and his associates, who had several times attacked +and plundered the town of Nawabgunge, our second stage, and a great +many other villages around, from which they had driven off all the +cultivators and stock, in order to appropriate them to themselves, +and augment their landed estates; that they had cut down all the +groves of mango-trees planted by the rightful proprietors and their +ancestors, in order to remove all local ties; and murdered or +maimed all cultivators who presumed to till any of the lands +without their permission, that Busharut Allee had held the contract +for the land revenue of the purgunnah for twenty years, and paid +punctually one hundred and thirty-five thousand (1,35,000) rupees +a-year to the treasury, till about four years ago, when Ghoolam +Huzrut commenced this system of spoliation and seizure, since which +time the purgunnah had been declining, and could not now yield +seventy thousand (70,000) rupees to the treasury; that his family +had held many villages in hereditary right for many generations, +within the purgunnah, but that all had, been or were being seized +by this lawless freebooter and his associates.</p> +<p>Seeta Ram, a Brahmin zumeendar of Kowaree, in purgunnah Satrick, +complains, that he has been driven out of his hereditary estate by +Ghoolam Imam, the zumeendar of Jaggour, and his associate, Ghoolam +Huzrut; that his house had been levelled with the ground, and all +the trees, planted by his family, have been cut down and burned; +that he has been plundered of all he had by them, and is utterly +ruined. Many other landholders complain in the same manner of +having been robbed by this gang, and deprived of their estates; and +still more come in to pray for protection, as the same fate +threatens all the smaller proprietors, under a government so weak, +and so indifferent to the sufferings of its subjects.</p> +<p>The Nazim of Khyrabad, who is now here engaged in the siege of +Bhitolee, has nominally three thousand four hundred fighting men +with him; but he cannot muster seventeen hundred. He has with him +only the seconds in command of corps, who are men of no authority +or influence, the commandants being at Court, and the mere +creatures of the singers and eunuchs, and other favourites about +the palace. They always reside at and about Court, and keep up only +half the number of men and officers, for whom they draw pay. All +his applications to the minister to have more soldiers sent out to +complete the corps, or permission to raise men in their places, +remain unanswered and disregarded. The Nazim of Bharaetch has +nominally four thousand fighting men; but he cannot muster two +thousand, and the greater part of them are good for nothing. The +great landholders despise them, but respect the Komutee corps, +under Captains Barlow, Bunbury, and Magness, which is complete, and +composed of strong and brave men. The despicable state to which the +Court favourites have reduced the King's troops, with the exception +of these three corps, is lamentable. They are under no discipline, +and are formidable only to the peasantry and smaller landholders +and proprietors, whose houses they everywhere deprive of their +coverings, as they deprive their cattle of their fodder.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 7, 1849.—Hissampoor, 12 miles north-east, +over a plain of fine soil, more scantily tilled than any we saw on +the other side of the Ghagra, but well studded with groves and fine +single trees, and with excellent crops on the lands actually under +tillage. One cause assigned for so much fine land lying waste is, +that the Rajpoot tallookdars, above named, of the Chehdewara, have +been long engaged in plundering the Syud proprietors of the soil, +and seizing upon their lands, in the same manner as the Mahomedan +ruffians, on the other side of the river, have been engaged in +plundering the small Rajpoot proprietors, and seizing upon their +lands. Four of them are now quiet; but two, Prethee Put and +Mirtonjee, are always in rebellion. Lately, while the Chuckladar +was absent, employed against Jote Sing, of Churda, in the Turae, +these two men took a large train of followers, with some guns, +attacked the two villages of Aelee and Pursolee, in the estate of +Deeksa, in Gonda, killed six persons, plundered all the houses of +the inhabitants, and destroyed all their crops, merely because the +landholders of these two villages would not settle a boundary +dispute in the way 'they proposed'. The lands of the Hissampoor +purgunnah were held in property by the members of a family of +Syuds, and had been so for many generations; but neighbouring +Rajpoot tallookdars have plundered them of all they had, and seized +upon their lands by violence, fraud, or collusion, with public +officers. Some they have seized and imprisoned, with torture of one +kind or another, till they signed deeds of sale, <i>Bynamahs</i>; +others they have murdered with all their families, to get secure +possession of their lands; others they have despoiled by offering +the local authorities a higher rate of revenue for their lands than +they could possibly pay.</p> +<p>The Nazim has eighteen guns, and ten auxiliary ones sent out on +emergency—not one-quarter are in a state for service; and for +these he has not half the draft-bullocks required, and they are too +weak for use; and of ammunition or <i>stores</i> he has hardly any +at all.</p> +<p>Rajah Gorbuksh Sing came yesterday, at sunset, to pay his +respects, and promised to pay to the Oude Government all that is +justly demandable from him. Written engagements to this effect were +drawn up, and signed by both the "high contracting parties." Having +come in on a pledge of personal security, he was, of course, +permitted to return from my camp to his own stronghold in safety. +In that place he has collected all the loose characters and +unemployed soldiers he could gather together, and all that his +friends and associates could lend him, to resist the Amil; and to +maintain such a host, he will have to pay much more than was +required punctually to fulfil his engagements to the State. He +calculates, however, that, by yielding to the Government, he would +entail upon himself a perpetual burthen at an enhanced rate, while, +by the temporary expenditure of a few thousands in this way, he may +still further reduce the rate he has hitherto paid.</p> +<p>The contract for Gonda and Bahraetch was held by Rughbur Sing, +one of the sons of Dursun Sing, for the years 1846 and 1847 A.D., +and the district of Sultanpoor was held by his brother, Maun Sing, +for 1845-46 and 1847 A.D. Rughbur Sing in 1846-47 is supposed to +have seized and sold or destroyed no less than 25,000 +plough-bullocks in Bhumnootee, the estate of Rajah Hurdut Sing, +alone. The estate of Hurhurpoor had, up to that time, long paid +Government sixty thousand (60,000) rupees a-year, but last year it +would not yield five thousand (5,000) rupees, from the ravages of +this man, Rughbur Sing. The estate of Rehwa, held by Jeswunt Sing, +tallookdar, had paid regularly fifty-five thousand (55,000) rupees +a-year; but it was so desolated by Rughbur Sing, that it cannot now +yield eleven thousand (11,000) rupees. This estate adjoins +Bhumnootee, Rajah Hurdut Sing's, which, as above stated, regularly +paid one hundred and eighty-two thousand (182,000) rupees; it +cannot now pay thirty thousand (30,000) rupees. Such are the +effects of the oppression of this bad man for so brief a +period.</p> +<p>Some tallookdars live within the borders of our district of +Goruckpoor, while their lands lie in Oude. By this means they evade +the payment of their land revenues, and with impunity commit +atrocious acts of murder and plunder in Oude. These men maim or +murder all who presume to cultivate on the lands which they have +deserted, without their permission, or to pay rents to any but +themselves; and the King of Oude's officers dare not follow them, +and are altogether helpless. Only two months ago, Mohibollah, a +zumeendar of Kuttera, was invited by Hoseyn Buksh Khan, one of +these tallookdars, to his house, in the Goruckpoor district, to +negotiate for the ransom of one of his cultivators, a weaver by +caste, whom he had seized and taken away. As he was returning in +the evening, he was waylaid by Hoseyn Buksh Khan, as soon as he had +recrossed the Oude borders, and murdered with one of his +attendants, who had been sent with him by the Oude Amil. Such +atrocities are committed by these refractory tallookdars every day, +while they are protected within our bordering districts. Their +lands must lie waste or be tilled by men who pay all the rent to +them, while they pay nothing to the Oude Government. The Oude +Government has no hope of prosecuting these men to conviction in +our Judicial Courts for specific crimes, which they are known every +day to commit, and glory in committing. In no part of India is +there such glaring abuse of the privileges of sanctuary as in some +of our districts bordering on Oude; while the Oude Frontier Police, +maintained by the King, at the cost of about one hundred thousand +(100,000) rupees a-year, and placed under our control, prevents any +similar abuse on the part of the Oude people and local authorities. +Some remedy for this intolerable evil should be devised. At present +the magistrates of all our conterminous districts require, or +expect, that their charges against any offender in Oude, who has +committed a crime in their districts, shall be held to be +sufficient for their arrest; but some of them, on the other band, +require that nothing less than some unattainable judicial proof, on +the part of the officers of the Oude Government, shall be held to +be sufficient to justify the arrest of any Oude offender who takes +refuge in our districts. They hold, that the sole object of the +Oude authorities is to get revenue defaulters into their power, and +that the charges against them for heinous crimes are invented +solely for that purpose. No doubt this is often the object, and +that other charges are sometimes invented, for the sole purpose of +securing the arrest and surrender of revenue defaulters; but the +Oude revenue defaulters who take refuge in our districts are for +the most part, the tallookdars, or great landholders, who, either +before or after they do so, invariably fight with the Oude +authorities, and murder and plunder indiscriminately, in order to +reduce them to their own terms.</p> +<p>The Honourable the Court of Directors justly require that +requisition for the surrender of offenders by and from British +officers and Native States, shall be limited to persons charged +with having committed heinous crimes within their respective +territories; and that the obligation to surrender such offenders +shall be strictly reciprocal, unless, in any special case, there be +very strong reason for a departure from the rule.* But some +magistrates of districts disregard altogether applications made to +them by the sovereign of Oude, through the British Resident, for +the arrest of subjects of Oude who have committed the most +atrocious robberies and murders in the Oude territory in open day, +and in the sight of hundreds; and allow refugees from Oude to +collect and keep up gangs of robbers within their own districts, +and rob and murder within the Oude territory. Happily such +Magistrates are rare. Government, in a letter dated the 25th +February, 1848, state—"that it is the duty of the magistrates +of our districts bordering on Oude to adopt vigorous measures for +preventing the assembling or entertaining of followers by any +party, for the purpose of committing acts of violence on the Oude +side of the frontier."</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* See their letter to the Government of India, 27th May +1835.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>December</i> 8, 1849.—Pukharpoor, a distance of +fourteen miles, over a fine plain of good soil, scantily tilled. +For some miles the road lay through Rajah Hurdut Sing's estate of +Bumnootee, which was, with the rest of the district of Bahraetch +and Gonda, plundered by Rughbur Sing, during the two years that he +held the contract. We passed through no village or hamlet, but saw +some at a distance from the road, with their dwellings of naked mud +walls, the abodes of fear and wretchedness; but the plain is well +studded with groves and fine single trees, and the crops are good +where there are any on the ground. Under good management, the +country would be exceedingly beautiful, and was so until within the +last four years.</p> +<p>In the evening I had a long talk with the people of the village, +who had assembled round our tents. Many of them had the goitre; but +they told me, that in this and all the villages within twenty miles +the disease had, of late years, diminished; that hardly one-quarter +of the number that used to suffer from it had now the disease; that +the quality of the water must have improved, though they knew not +why, as they still drank from the same wells. These wells must +penetrate into some bed of mineral or other substance, which +produces this disease of the glands, and may in time exhaust it. +But it is probable, that the number who suffer from this disease +has diminished merely with the rest of the population, and that the +proportion which the goitered bear to the ungoitered may be still +the same. They told me that they had been plundered of all their +stock and moveable property by the terrible scourge, Rughber Sing, +during his reign of two years, and could not hope to recover from +their present state of poverty for many more; that their lands were +scantily tilled, and the crops had so failed for many years, since +this miscreant's rule, that the district which used to supply +Lucknow with grain was obliged to draw grain from it, and even from +Cawnpore. This is true, and grain has in consequence been +increasing in price ever since we left Lucknow. It is now here +almost double the price that it is at Lucknow, while it is usually +twice as cheap here.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 9, 1849.—Bahraetch, ten miles north-east. +We encamped on a fine sward, on the left bank of the Surjoo river, +a beautiful clear stream. The cultivation very scanty, but the soil +good, with water everywhere, within a few feet of the surface. +Groves and single trees less numerous; and of villages and hamlets +we saw none. Under good government, the whole country might, in a +few years, be made a beautiful garden. The river Surjoo is like a +winding stream in a park; and its banks might, everywhere, be +cultivated to the water's edge. No ravines, jungle, or steep +embankments. It is lamentable to see so fine a country in so +wretched a state.</p> +<p>The Turae forest begins a few miles to the north of Bahraetch, +and some of the great baronial landholders have their residence and +strongholds within it. The Rajah of Toolseepoor is one of them. He +is a kind-hearted old man, and a good landlord and subject; but he +has lately been driven out by his young and reprobate son, at the +instigation and encouragement of a Court favourite. The Rajah had +discharged an agent, employed by him at Court for advocating the +cause of his son while in rebellion against his father. The agent +then made common cause with the son, and secured the interest of +two powerful men at Court, Balkrishen Dewan and Gholam Ruza, the +deputy minister, who has charge of the estates in the Hozoor +Tehsel. The jurisdiction over the estate had been transferred from +the local authorities to the Hozoor Tehsel; and, by orders from +Court, the father's friends, the Bulrampoor and other Rajahs of the +clan, were prevented from continuing the aid they had afforded to +support the father's authority. The father unwilling to have the +estate devastated by a contest with the band of ruffians whom his +son had collected, retired, and allowed him to take possession. The +son seized upon all the property the father had left, and now +employs it in maintaining this band and rewarding the services of +Court favourites. The Nazim of the district is not permitted to +interfere, to restore rights or preserve order in the estate, nor +would he, perhaps, do either, if so permitted, for he has been +brought up in a bad school, and is not a good man. The pretext at +Court is, that the father is deranged; but, though not wise, he is +learned, and no man can be more sober than he is, or better +disposed towards his sovereign and tenants. That he is capable of +managing his estate, is shown by the excellent condition in which +he left it.</p> +<p>Prethee Put, of Paska, is not worse than many of the tallookdars +of Oude, who now disturb the peace of the country; and I give a +brief sketch of his history, as a specimen of the sufferings +inflicted on the people by the wild licence which such landholders +enjoy under the weak, profligate, and apathetic government of +Oude.</p> +<p>Keerut Sing, the tallookdar of Paska, on the left bank of the +Ghagra, between Fyzabad and Byram-ghaut, was one of the Chehdwara +landholders, and had five sons, the eldest Dirgpaul Sing, and the +second Prethee Put, the hero of this brief history. Before his +death, Keerut Sing made over the management of his estate to his +eldest son and heir; but gave to his second son a portion of land +out of it, for his own subsistence and that of his family. The +father and eldest son continued to reside together in the fort of +Dhunolee, situated on the right bank of the Ghagra, opposite Paska. +Prethee Put took up his residence in his portion of the estate at +Bumhoree, collected a gang of the greatest ruffians in the country, +and commenced his trade, and that of so many of his class, as an +indiscriminate plunderer. Keerut Sing and his eldest son, Dirgpaul, +continued to pay the Government demand punctually, to obey the +local authorities, and manage the estate with prudence.</p> +<p>Prethee Put, in 1836, attacked and took a despatch of treasure, +consisting of twenty-six thousand rupees, on its way to Lucknow, +from the Nazim of Bahraetch. In 1840 he attacked and took another +of eighty-five thousand rupees, on its way to Lucknow from the same +place. With these sums, and the booty which he acquired from the +plunder of villages and travellers, he augmented his gang, built a +fort at Bumhoree, and extended his depredations. In January 1842, +his father, who had been long ill, died. The local authorities +demanded five thousand rupees from the eldest son, Dirgpaul Sing, +on his accession. He promised to pay, and sent his eldest son, Dan +Bahader Sing, a lad of eighteen, as a hostage for the payment to +the Nazim. Soon after, Prethee Pat attacked the fort of Dhunolee, +in which his elder brother resided with his family, killed +fifty-six persons, and made Dirgpaul, his wife, and three other +sons prisoners. Dirgpaul's sister tried to conceal her brother +under some clothes; but, under a solemn oath from Prethee Put, that +no personal violence should be offered to him, he was permitted to +take him. His wife and three sons were sent off to be confined +under the charge of Byjonauth Bhilwar, zumeendar of Kholee, in the +estate of Sarafraz Ahmud, one of his associates in crime, on the +left bank of the Goomtee river.</p> +<p>Three days after, finding that no kind of torture or +intimidation could make his elder brother sign a formal resignation +of his right to the estate in his favour, he took him into the +middle of the river Ghagra, cut off his head with his own hands, +and threw the body into the stream. Deeming this violation of his +pledge a dishonourable act his friend, Byjonauth, from whom he had +demanded the widow and her three sons, released them all, to seek +protection elsewhere, as he was not strong enough to resist Prethee +Put himself. They found shelter with some friends of the family in +another district, and Wajid Allee Khan, the Nazim of Bahraetch, in +the beginning of November 1843, went with the best force he could +muster, drove Prethee Pat out of Dhunolee and Paska, and put Dan +Bahader Sing, the eldest son of Dirgpaul, and rightful heir, into +possession. In the latter end of the same month, however, he was +attacked by his uncle, Prethee Put, and driven out with the loss of +ten men. He again applied for aid to the Nazim; but, thinking it +more profitable to support the stronger party, he took a bribe of +ten thousand rupees from Prethee Put, and recognized him as the +rightful heir of his murdered brother. Dan Bahader collected a +small party of fifteen men, and took possession of a small +stronghold in the jungle of the Shapoor estate, belonging to +Murtonjee, another of the Chehdwara tallookdars, where he was again +attacked by his uncle in March 1844, and driven out with the loss +of four out of his fifteen men. Soon after Prethee Put attacked and +took another despatch of treasure, on its way to Lucknow from +Bahraetch, consisting of eighteen thousand rupees. Soon after, in +June, the Nazim, Ehsan Allee, sent a force with Dan Bahader, and +re-established him in possession of the estate of Paska; but Ehsan +Allee was soon after superseded in the contract by Rughbur Sing, +who adopted the cause of the strongest, and restored Prethee Put, +who continued to hold the estate for 1845.</p> +<p>In April 1847, Mahommed Hossein, one of the Tusseeldars under +Rughbur Sing, seized and confined Prethee Put, once more put Dan +Bahader in possession of the estate, and sent his uncle to Rughbur +Sing. In November 1847, Incha Sing superseded his nephew, Rughbur +Sing; and, thinking Prethee Put's the more profitable cause to +adopt, he turned out Dan Bahader, and restored Prethee Put to the +possession of the Paska estate, which he has held ever since. He +has continued to pursue his system of indiscriminate plunder and +defiance of the Government authorities, and has seized upon the +estates of several of his weaker neighbours.</p> +<p>In 1848, he attacked and plundered the village of Sahooreea, +belonging to Sarafraz Allee, Chowdheree of Radowlee, and this year +he has done the same to the village of Semree, belonging to Rajah +Bukhtawar Sing. He carried off fifty-two persons from this village +of Semree, and confined them for two months, flogging and burning +them with red-hot ramrods, till they paid the ransom of five +thousand rupees required. He has this year plundered another +village, belonging to the same person, called Nowtee, and its +dependent hamlet of Hurhurpoora. He has also this year attacked, +plundered, and burnt to the ground the villages of Tirkolee, in the +Radowlee purgunnah, and Aelee Pursolee, in Bahraetch. The attack on +Tirkolee took place in September last, and five of the inhabitants +were killed; and in the attack on Aelee Pursolee, six of the +zumeendars were killed in defending themselves. In this attack he +was joined by the gang under Murtonjee. He also plundered and +confined a merchant of Gowaris till he paid a ransom of seven +hundred rupees; and about twenty-five days ago he attacked and +plundered two persons from Esanugur, on their way to Ojodheea, on +pilgrimage, and kept them confined and tortured till they paid a +ransom of five hundred rupees.</p> +<p>Prethee Put has, as before stated, in collusion with local +authorities, and by violence, seized upon a great portion of the +lands of Hissampoor, and ruined and turned out the Syud +proprietors, by whose families they had been held for many +generations. He is bound to pay twenty thousand rupees a year; but +has not, for many years, paid more than seven thousand.</p> +<p>Mahommed Hossein, the present Nazim of the Gonda Bahraetch +districts, describes the capture of Prethee Put by himself, as +follows:—"In 1846, the purgunnahs of Gowaris and Hissampoor were +reduced to a state of great disorder by the depredations of Prethee +Put, and the roads leading through them were shut up. He had seized +Syud Allee Asgar, the tallookdar of Aleenughur, in the Hissampoor +purgunnah, taken possession of his estate, and driven out, or +utterly ruined, all the landholders and cultivators. He tried, by +all kinds of torture, to make Allee Asgar sign, in his favour, a +deed of sale; but his family found means to complain to the Durbar, +and Rughbur Sing, the Nazim, was ordered to seize him and rescue +his prisoner. I was sent to manage the two purgunnahs, seize the +offender, and rescue Allee Asgar. When I approached the fort of +Bumhoree, where he kept his prisoner confined, Prethee Put put him +in strong irons, left him in that fort, and, with his followers, +passed over the Ghagra, in boats, to his stronger fort of Dhunolee, +on the right bank. I took possession of Bumhoree without much +resistance, rescued the prisoner, and restored him to the +possession of his estate, and put all the rest of the lands held by +Prethee Put under the management of Government officers. Two months +after, seeing my force much reduced by these arrangements, he came +at the head of a band of seventeen hundred men to attack me in the +village of Dhooree Gunge. The place was not defended by any wall, +but we made the best of it, drove him back, and killed or wounded +about fifty of his men, with the loss on our side, in killed or +wounded, of about twenty-three.</p> +<p>"I kept Prethee Put confined for two months, when Rughbur Sing +sent for him, on pretence that he wished to send him to Lucknow. He +kept him till the end of the year, when he was superseded in the +contract by his uncle, Incha Sing, who released Prethee Put at the +intercession of Maun Sing, the brother of Rughbur Sing, who +expected to make a good deal out of him." Prethee Put, of Paska, +was attacked on the morning of the 26th of March, 1850, in his fort +of Dhunolee, by a force under the command of Captains Weston, +Thompson, Magness, and Orr; and, on their approach, he vacated the +fort, separated himself from his gang, and took shelter in the +house of a Brahmin. He was then traced by a party from Captain +Magness's corps; and, as he refused to surrender, he was cut down +and killed. His clan, the Kulhunsies, refused to take the body for +interment. The head had been cut off to be sent to Lucknow as a +trophy, but Captain Weston opposed this, and it was replaced on the +body, which was sewn up in a winding-sheet and taken into the river +Ghagra by some sipahees, as the best kind of interment for a Hindoo +chief of his rank. The persons employed in the ceremony were +Hindoos, who knew nothing of Prethee Put's history; but it was +afterwards found that the place where the body was committed to the +stream was that on which he had killed his eldest brother, and +thrown his body into the river from his boat. This was a remarkable +coincidence, and tended to impress upon the minds of the people +around a notion that his death was effected by divine +interposition. All, except his followers, were rejoiced at the +death of so atrocious a character. Dan Bahader, the eldest son of +the brother he had murdered, being poor and unable to pay the usual +fees and gratuities to the minister and court favourites, was not, +however, permitted to take possession of his patrimonial estate, +and he died in December, 1850, in poverty and despair. Dhunolee and +Bhumoree have been levelled with the ground.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 9, 1849.—In the news-writer's report of +the 3rd December, 1849, it is stated—"that Ashfakos Sultan, Omrow +Begum, one of the King's wives, reported to his Majesty, that a man +named Sadik Allee had come to Lucknow while the King was suffering +from palpitations of the heart, and, in the disguise of a Durveish, +hired a house in Muftee Gunge, and taken up his residence in it. He +there gave himself out as one of the Kings of the Fairies +(<i>Amil-i-Jinnut</i>); and the fakeer, to whom his Majesty's +confidential servants, the singers, had taken him to be cured of +his disease, was no other than this Sadik Allee. The King, on +hearing this, sent for Sadik Allee, who was seized and brought +before him on the 2nd December. He confessed the imposture, but +pleaded that he had practised it merely to obtain some money, and +that the singers were associated with him in all that he did. The +King soothed his apprehensions, and conferred upon him a dress of +honour, consisting of a doshala and roomul, and then made him over +to the custody of Ashfak-os Sultan. At night the King sent for the +minister, and, summoning Sadik Allee, bid him dress himself exactly +as he was dressed on the night he visited him, and prepare a room +in the palace exactly in the same manner as he had prepared his own +to receive his Majesty on that night. He chose a small room in the +palace, and under the ceiling he suspended a second ceiling, so +that no one could perceive how it was fixed on, and placed himself +between the two. When all was ready the King went to the apartment +with the minister, accompanied by Ruzee-od Dowlah, the head singer. +When the door of the apartment was closed, they first heard a +frightful voice, without being able to perceive whence it came. +Neither the minister nor the King could perceive the slightest +opening or fissure in the ceiling. They then came out and closed +the door, but immediately heard from within the peaceful salutation +of 'salaam aleekom,' and the man appeared within as King of the +Fairies, and presented his Majesty with some jewels and other +offerings. All was here enacted precisely as it had been acted on +the occasion of the King's visit to Muftee Gunge. Turning an angry +look upon Ruzee-od Dowlah, the King said, 'All the evil that I have +so often heard of you, men of Rampoor, I have now with my own eyes +seen realized;' and, turning to the minister, he said, 'How often +have these men spoken evil of you before me!' Ruzee-od Dowlah then +said, 'If your Majesty thinks me guilty, I pray you to punish me as +may seem to you proper; but I entreat you not to make me over to +the minister.' The King, without deigning any reply, summoned Hajee +Shureef, and told him to place mounted sentries of his own corps of +cavalry over the door of Saadut Allee Khan's mausoleum, in which +these singers resided, and infantry sentries in the apartments with +them, with strict orders that no one should be permitted to go out +without, being first strictly searched. The sister of Ruzee-od +Dowla could nowhere be found, and was supposed to have made her +escape."</p> +<p>The King had several interviews of this kind with his Majesty, +the King of the Fairies, who described the symptoms from which he +suffered, and prescribed the remedies, which consisted chiefly of +rich offerings to the Fairies, who were to relieve him. He +frequently received letters from the Fairy King to the same effect, +written in an imperious style, suited to the occasion. The farce +was carried on for several months, and the King at different times +is supposed to have given the Fairy King some two lacs of rupees, +which he shared liberally with the singers.</p> +<p>I had heard of the affair of the Durveish from the minister, +through his wakeel, and from Captain Bird, the first Assistant, in +a letter. I requested that he would ask for an audience, and +congratulate his Majesty on the discovery of the imposture, and +offer any assistance that he might require in the banishment of the +impostors. He was received by the King in the afternoon of the 6th. +He expressed his regret that the King should have been put to so +much trouble by the bad conduct of those who had received from him +all that a king could give-wealth, titles, and intimate +companionship; hinted at the advantage taken of this by Ruzee-od +Dowlah, in his criminal intercourse with one of his Sultanas, +Surafraz Muhal; and earnestly prayed him to put an end to the +misery and disgrace which these men had brought and were still +bringing on himself, his house, and his country. The King promised +to have Ruzee-od Dowlah, his sister, and Kotub-od Dowlah, banished +across the Ganges; but stated, that he could do nothing against +Sadik Allee, however richly he deserved punishment, since he had +pledged his royal word to him, on his disclosing all he knew about +the imposition. The King asked captain Bird, whether he thought +that he had felt no sorrow at parting with Surafraz Muhal, with +whom he had lived so intimately for nine years; that he had, he +said, cast her off as a duty, and did Captain Bird think that he +would spare the men who had so grossly deceived him, caused so much +confusion in his kingdom, and ill-feeling towards him, on the part +of the British Government and its representative? His Majesty +added, "I cherished low-bred men, and they have given me the +low-bred man's reward, had I made friends of men of birth and +character it would have been otherwise;" and concluded by saying, +that he could not touch the money he had given to these fellows, +because people would say that he had got rid of them merely to +recover what he had bestowed upon them.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* When he afterwards confined and banished them in June and +July 1850, he took back from them all that they had retained; but +they had sent to their families and friends, property to the value +of many lacs of rupees.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The King, in the latter end of November, divorced Surafraz +Muhal, and sent her across the Ganges, to go on a pilgrimage to +Mecca. She had long been cohabiting with the chief singer, Gholam +Ruza, and was known to be a very profligate woman. She is said to +have given his Majesty to understand that she would not consent to +remain in the palace with him without the privilege of choosing her +own lovers, a privilege which she had freely enjoyed before she +came into it, and could not possibly forego.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chap2" id="Chap2">CHAPTER II.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Bahraetch—Shrine of Syud Salar—King of the Fairies +and the Fiddlers—Management of Bahraetch district for +forty-three years—Murder of Amur Sing, by Hakeem +Mehndee—Nefarious transfer of <i>khalsa</i> lands to +Tallookdars, by local officers—Rajah Dursun Sing—His +aggression on the Nepaul +Territory—Consequences—Intelligence +Department—How formed, managed, and abused—Rughbur +Sing's management of Gonda and Bahraetch for 1846-47—Its +fiscal effects—A gang-robber caught and hung by Brahmin +villagers—Murder of Syampooree Gosaen—Ramdut +Pandee—Fairies and Fiddlers—Ramdut Pandee, the +Banker—the Rajahs of Toolseepoor and Bulrampoor—Murder +of Mr. Ravenscroft, of the Bengal Civil Service, at Bhinga, in +1823.</p> +<p>Bahraetch is celebrated for the shrine of Syud Salar, a +<i>martyr</i>, who is supposed to have been killed here in the +beginning of the eleventh century, when fighting against the +Hindoos, under the auspices of Mahmood Shah, of Ghuznee, his +mother's brother. Strange to say, Hindoos as well as Mahommedans +make offerings to this shrine, and implore the favours of this +military ruffian, whose only recorded merit consists of having +destroyed a great many Hindoos in a wanton and unprovoked invasion +of their territory. They say, that he did what he did against +Hindoos in the conscientious discharge of his duties, and could not +have done it without God's permission—that God must then have +been angry with them for their transgressions, and used this man, +and all the other Mahommedan invaders of their country, as +instruments of his vengeance, and means to bring about his +purposes: that is, the thinking portion of the Hindoos say this. +The mass think that the old man must still have a good deal of +interest in heaven, which he may be induced to exercise in their +favour, by suitable offerings and personal applications to his +shrine.</p> +<p>The minister reports to the Resident on the 9th, that the King +had relented, and wished to retain the singer, Ruzee-od Dowlah, and +his sister, and Kotub Allee, at Lucknow, with orders never to +approach the presence. Captain Bird, in a letter, confirms this +report.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 11, 1849.—Left Bahraetch and came +south-east to Imaleea, on the road to Gonda, over a plain in the +Pyagpoor estate, almost entirely waste. Few groves or single trees +to be seen; scarcely a field tilled or house occupied; all the work +of the same atrocious governor, Rughbur Sing. No oppressor ever +wrote a more legible hand.</p> +<p>The brief history of the management of this district for the +last forty-three years, is as follows. The district consisted in +1807, of</p> +<pre> + Khalsa Lands Present Khalsa Lands +Bahraetch . . . 2,50,000 4,000 +Hissampoor . . . 2,00,000 40,000 +Hurhurpoor . . . 1,25,000 10,000 +Buhareegunge . . . 1,50,000 15,000 + ________ ______ + 7,25,000 69,000 + <b>________ ______</b> +</pre> +<p>The contract was held by Balkidass Kanoongoe, for five years, +from 1807 to 1811, when he died, and was succeeded in the contract +by his son, Amur Sing, who held it till 1816. In the end of that +year, or early in 1817, Amur Sing was seized, put into confinement, +and murdered by Hakeem Mehndee, who held the contract for 1817 and +1818. In the year 1816, Hakeem Mehndee, who held the contract for +the Mahomdee district, at four lacs of rupees a-year, and that for +Khyrabad at five, heard of the great wealth of Amur Sing, and the +fine state to which he and his father had brought the district by +good management; and offered the Oude government one lac of rupees +a-year more than he paid for the contract for the ensuing year. +Hakeem Mehndee resided chiefly at the capital of Lucknow, on the +pretence of indisposition, while his brother, Hadee Allee Khan, +managed the two districts for him. He had acquired a great +reputation by his judicious management of these two districts, and +become a favourite with the King, by the still more skilful +management of a few male and female favourites about his Majesty's +person. The minister, Aga Meer, was jealous of his growing fame and +favour, and persuaded the King to accept the offer, in the hope +that he would go himself to his new charge, in order to make the +most of it. As soon as he heard of his appointment to the charge of +Bahraetch, Hakeem Mehndee set out with the best body of troops he +could collect, and sent on orders for Amur Sing to come out and +meet him. He declined to do so until he got the pledge of Hadee +Allee Khan, the Hakeem's brother, for his personal security. This +mortified the Hakeem, and tended to confirm him in the resolution +to make away with Amur Sing, and appropriate his wealth. Both +Hakeem Mehndee and his brother are said to have sworn on their +Koran that no violence whatever should be offered to or restraint +put upon him; and, relying on these oaths and pledges, Amur Sing +met them on their approach to Bahraetch.</p> +<p>After discussing affairs and adjusting accounts for some months +at Bahraetch, the Hakeem, by his courteous manners and praises of +his excellent management, put Amur Sing off his guard. When sitting +with him one evening in his tents, around which he had placed a +select body of guards, he left him on the pretext of a sudden call, +and Amur Sing was seized, bound, and confined. Meer Hyder and Baboo +Beg, Mogul troopers, were placed in command of the guards over him, +with orders to get him assassinated as soon as possible. Sentries +were, at the same time, placed over his family and wealth. At +midnight he was soon after strangled by these two men and their +attendants. Baboo Beg was a very stout, powerful man; and he +attempted to strangle him with his own hands, while his companions +held him down; but Amur Sing managed to scream out for help, and, +in attempting to close his mouth with his left hand, one of his +fingers got between Amur Sing's teeth, and he bit off the first +joint, and kept it in his mouth. His companions finished the work; +and Baboo Beg went off to get his fingers dressed without telling +any one what had happened. In the morning Hakeem Mehndee gave out, +that Amur Sing had poisoned himself, made the body over to his +family, and sent off a report of his death to the minister, +expressing his regret at Amur Sing's having put an end to his +existence by poisoning, to avoid giving an account of his +stewardship. The property which Hakeem Mehndee seized and +appropriated, is said to have amounted, in all, to between fifteen +and twenty lacs of rupees!</p> +<p>Amur Sing's family, in performing the funeral ceremonies, had to +open his mouth, to put in the usual small bit of gold, Ganges +water, and leaf of the toolsee-tree; and, to their horror, they +there found the first joint of a man's finger. This confirmed all +their suspicions, that he had been murdered during the night, and +they sent off the joint of the finger to the minister, demanding +vengeance on the murderer. Aga Meer was delighted at this proof of +his rival's guilt, and would have had him seized and tried for the +murder forthwith, but Hakeem Mehndee gave two lacs of rupees, out +of the wealth he had acquired from the murder, to Rae Doulut Rae, +Meer Neeaz Hoseyn, Munshee Musaod, Sobhan Allee Khan, and others, +in the minister's confidence; and they persuaded him, that he had +better wait for a season, till he could charge him with the more +serious offence of defalcations in the revenue, when he might crush +him with the weight of manifold transgressions.</p> +<p>They communicated what they had done to Hakeem Mehnde, who, by +degrees, sent off all his disposable wealth to Shabjehanpoor and +Futtehghur, in British territory. In April 1818, the +Governor-General the Marquess of Hastings passed through the +Khyrabad and Bahraetch districts, attended by Hakeem Mehndee, on a +sporting excursion, after the Mahratta war; and the satisfaction +which he expressed to the King with the Hakeem's conduct during +that excursion, added greatly to the minister's hatred and alarm. +He persuaded his Majesty to demand from Hakeem Mehndee an increase +of five lacs of rupees upon nine lacs a-year, which he already paid +for Mahomdee and Khyrabad; and resolved to have him tried for the +murder of Amur Sing, as soon as he could get him into his power. +Hakeem Mehndee knew all this from the friends he had made at Court, +refused to keep the contract at the increased rate, and, on +pretence of settling his accounts, went first to Seetapoor from +Bahraetch, and thence over the border to Shahjehanpoor, with all +his family, and such of the property as he had not till then been +able to send off. The family never recovered any of the property he +had taken from Amur Sing, nor was any one of the murderers ever +punished, or called to account for the crime.</p> +<p>On the departure of Hakeem Mehndee, Hadee Allee Khan (not the +brother of Hakeem Mehndee, but a member of the old official +aristocracy of Oude) got the contract of the district of Bahraetch +with that of Gonda, which had been held in Jageer by and for the +widow of Shoja-od Dowlah, the mother of Asuf-od Dowlah, commonly +known by the name of the Buhoo Begum, of Fyzabad, where she +resided. Hadee Allee Khan held the contract of these two districts +for nine years, up to 1827. He was succeeded by Walaeut Allee Khan, +who held the contract for only half of the year 1828, when he was +superseded by Mehndoo Khan, who held it for two years and a half, +to the end of 1830, when Hadee Allee Khan again got the contract, +and he held it till he died in 1833. He was succeeded by his +nephew, Imdad Allee Khan, who held the contract till 1835.</p> +<p>Rajah Dursun Sing superseded him in 1836, and was the next year +superseded by the widow of Hadee Allee, named "Wajee-on-Nissa +Begum," who held the contract for one year and a half to 1838. For +the remainder of 1838, the contract was held by Fida Allee Khan and +Ram Row Pandee jointly; and for 1839, by Sunker Sahae Partuk. For +1840, it was held by Sooraj-od Dowlah, and for 1841 and up to +September 1843, Rajah Dursun Sing held it again. For 1844 and 1845, +Ehsan Allee and Wajid Allee held it. For 1846 and 1847, Rughbur +Sing, one of the three sons of Rajah Dursun Sing, held it. For +1848, it was held by Incha Sing, brother of Dursun Sing; and for +1849, it has been held by Mahummud Hasun. The Gonda district +consisted of the purgunnahs of Gonda and Nawabgunge, and a number +of tallooks, or baronial estates.</p> +<p>Under the paternal government of Balukram and his son, Amur +Sing, hereditary canoongoes of the district, life and property were +secure, the assessment moderate, and the country and people +prosperous. It was a rule, strictly adhered to, under the reign of +Saadut Allee Khan, from 1797 to 1814, never under any circumstances +to permit the transfer of <i>khalsa</i> or allodial lands (that is, +lands held immediately under the Crown) to tallookdars or baronial +proprietors, who paid a quit-rent to Government, and managed their +estates with their own fiscal officers, and military and police +establishments. Those who resided in or saw the district at that +time, describe it as a magnificent garden; and some few signs of +that flourishing state are still to be seen amidst its present +general desolation.</p> +<p>The adjoining district of Gonda became no less flourishing under +the fostering care of the Buhoo Begum, of Fyzabad, who held it in +Jageer till her death, which took place 18th December, 1815. +Relying upon the pledge of the British Government, under the treaty +of 1801, to protect him against all foreign and domestic enemies, +and to put down for him all attempts at insurrection and rebellion +by means of its own troops, without any call for further pecuniary +aid, Saadut Allee disbanded more than half his army, and reduced +the cost, while he improved the efficiency of the other half, to +bring his expenditure within his income, now so much diminished by +the cession of the best half of his dominions to the British +Government. He assessed, or altogether resumed, all the rent-free +lands in his reserved half of the territory; and made all the +officers of his two lavish and thoughtless predecessors,* disgorge +a portion of the wealth which they had accumulated by the abuse of +their confidence; and, at the same time, laboured assiduously to +keep within bounds the powers and possessions of his landed +aristocracy.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Asuf-od Dowlah and Wuzeer Allee.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Hakeem Mehndee exacted from the landholders of Bahraetch two +annas in the rupee, or one-eighth, more than the rate they had +hitherto paid; and his successor, Hadee Allee, exacted an increase +of two annas in the rupee, upon the Hakeem's rate. It was difficult +to make the landholders and cultivators pay this rate, and a good +deal of their stock was sold off for arrears; and much land fell +out of cultivation in consequence. To facilitate the collection of +this exorbitant rate, and at the same time to reduce the cost of +collection, he disregarded systematically the salutary rule of +Saadut Allee Khan, who had died in 1814, and been succeeded by his +do-nothing and see-nothing son, Ghazee-od Deen Hyder; and +transferred the khalsa estates of all defaulters to the +neighbouring tallookdars, who pledged themselves to liquidate the +balances due, and pay the Government demand punctually in future. +This arrangement enabled him to reduce his fiscal, military, and +police establishments a good deal for the time, and his tenure of +office was too insecure to admit of his bestowing much thought on +the future.</p> +<p>As soon as these tallookdars got possession of khalsa villages, +they plundered them of all they could find of stock and other +property; and, with all possible diligence, reduced to beggary all +the holders and cultivators who had any claim to a right of +property in the lands, in order to prevent their ever being again +in a condition to urge such claims in the only way in which they +can be successfully urged in Oude—cut down all the trees +planted by them or their ancestors, and destroyed all the good +houses they had built, that they might have no local ties to link +their affections to the soil. As the local officers of the Oude +government became weak, by the gradual withdrawal of British +troops, from aiding in the collection of revenue and the +suppression of rebellion and disorder, and by the deterioration in +the character of the Oude troops raised to supply their places, the +tallookdars became stronger and stronger. They withheld more and +more of the revenue due to Government, and expended the money in +building forts and strongholds, casting or purchasing cannon, and +maintaining large armed bands of followers. All that they withheld +from the public treasury was laid out in providing the means for +resisting the officers of Government; and, in time, it became a +point of honour to pay nothing to the sovereign without first +fighting with his officers.</p> +<p>Hadee Allee Khan's successors continued the system of +transferring khalsa lands to tallookdars, as the cheapest and most +effectual mode of collecting the revenue for their brief period of +authority. The tallookdars, whose estates were augmented by such +transfers, in the Gonda Bahraetch district, are Ekona, Pyagpoor, +Churda, Nanpoora, Gungwal, Bhinga, Bondee, Ruhooa, and the six +divisions of the Gooras, or Chehdwara estate. The hereditary +possessions of the tallookdars, and, indeed, all the lands in the +permanent possession of which they feel secure, are commonly very +well cultivated; but those which they acquire by fraud, violence, +or collusion, are not so, till, by long suffering and "hope +deferred," the old proprietors have been effectually crushed or +driven out of the country. The old proprietors of the lands so +transferred to the tallookdars of the Gonda Baraetch districts from +time to time had, under a series of weak governors, been so crushed +or driven out before 1842, and their lands had, for the most part, +been brought under good tillage.</p> +<p>The King of Oude, in a letter, dated the 31st of August 1823, +tells the Resident, "that the villages and estates of the large +refractory tallookdars are as flourishing and populous as they can +possibly be; and there are many estates among them which yield more +than two and three times the amount at which they have been +assessed; and even if troops should be stationed there, to prevent +the cultivation of the land till the balances are liquidated, the +tallookdars immediately come forward to give battle; and, in spite +of everything, cultivate the lands of their estates, so that their +profits from the land are even greater than those of the +Government." This picture is a very fair one, and as applicable to +the state of Oude now as in 1823.</p> +<p>But if a weak man, by favour, fraud, or collusion, gets +possession of a small estate, as he often does, the consequences +are more serious than where the strong man gets it. The ousted +proprietors fight "to the death" to recover possession; and the new +man forms a gang of the most atrocious ruffians he can collect, to +defend his possession. He cannot afford to pay them, and permits +them to subsist on plunder. In the contest the estate itself and +many around it become waste, and the fellow who has usurped it, +often—nolens-volens—becomes a systematic leader of +banditti; and converts the deserted villages into strongholds and +dens of robbers. I shall have occasion to describe many instances +of this kind as I proceed in my Diary.</p> +<p>Dursung Sing was strong both in troops and Court favour, and he +systematically plundered and kept down the great landholders +throughout the districts under his charge, but protected the +cultivators, and even the smaller land proprietors, whose estates +could not be conveniently added to his own. When the Court found +the barons in any district grow refractory, under weak governors, +they gave the contract of it to Dursun Sing, as the only officer +who could plunder and reduce them to order. During the short time +that he held the districts of Gonda and Bahraetch in 1836, he did +little mischief. He merely ascertained the character and substance +of the great landholders, exacted from the weaker all that they +could pay, and "bided his time." When he resumed the charge in +1842, the greater landholders had become strong and substantial; +and he was commanded by the Durbar to coerce and make them pay all +the arrears of revenue due, or pretended to be due, by them.</p> +<p>Nothing loth, he proceeded to seize and plunder them all, one +after the other, and put their estates under the management of his +own officers. The young Rajah of Bulrampoor had gone into the +Goruckpoor district, to visit his friend, the Rajah of Basee, +Mahpaul Sing, when Dursun Sing marched suddenly to his capital at +the head of a large force. The garrison of the small stronghold was +taken by surprise; and, in the absence of their chief, soon induced +to surrender, on a promise of leave to depart with all their +property. They passed over into a small island in the river, which +flows close by; and as soon as Dursun Sing saw them collected +together in that small space, he opened his guns and musketry upon +them, and killed between one and two hundred. The rest fled, and he +took possession of all their property, amounting to about two +hundred thousand rupees. The Rajah was reduced to great distress; +but his personal friend, Matabur Sing, the minister of Nepaul, +aided him with loans of money; and gave him a garden to reside in, +about five hundred yards from the village of Maharaj Gunge, in the +Nepaul territory, fifty-four miles from Bulrampoor, where Dursun +Sing remained encamped with his large force.</p> +<p>The Rajah had filled this garden with small huts for the +accommodation of his family and followers during the season of the +rains, and surrounded it with a deep ditch, knowing the +unscrupulous and enterprising character of his enemy. In September +1843, Dursun Sing, having had the position and all the road leading +to it well reconnoitred, marched one evening, at the head of a +compact body of his own followers, and reached the Rajah's position +at daybreak the next morning. The garden was taken by a rush; but +the Rajah made his escape with the loss of thirty men killed and +wounded. Dursun Sing's party took all the property the Rajah and +his followers left behind them in their flight, and plundered the +small village of Maharaj Gunge; but in their retreat they were +sorely pressed by a sturdy landholder of the neighbourhood, who had +become attached to his young sporting companion, the Rajah, and +whose feeling of patriotism had been grievously outraged by this +impudent invasion of his sovereign's territory; and they had five +sipahees and one trooper killed. The Bulrampoor Rajah had been +plundered in the same treacherous manner in 1839, by the Nazim, +Sunkersahae and Ghalib Jung, his deputy or <i>collector</i>. He had +invited them to a feast, and they brought an armed force and +surrounded and plundered his house and capital. He escaped with his +mother into British territory; and tells me, that he was a lad at +the time, and had great difficulty in making his mother fly with +him, and leave all her wardrobe behind her.</p> +<p>The Court of Nepaul complained of this aggression on their +territory, and demanded reparation. The Governor-General Lord +Ellenborough called upon the Oude government, in dignified terms, +to make prompt and ample atonement to that of Nepaul. "Promptness," +said his Lordship, "in repairing an injury, however unintentionally +committed is as conducive to the honour of a sovereign, as +promptness in demanding reparation where an injury has been +sustained." The Nepaul Court required, that Dursun Sing should be +seized and sent to Nepaul, to make an apology in person to the +sovereign of that state; should be deprived of all his offices, +with an assurance, on the part of Oude, that he should never be +again employed in any office under that government; and, that the +amount of injury sustained by the subjects of Nepaul should be +settled by arbitrators sent to the place on the part of both +States, and paid by the Oude government. The Governor-General did +not insist upon Oude's complying with the first of these +requirements; but Dursun Sing was dismissed from all employments, +arbitrators were sent to the place, and the Oude government paid +the nine hundred and fourteen rupees, which they decided to be due +to the subjects of Nepaul.</p> +<p>Dursun Sing at first fled in alarm into the British territory, +as the Nepaul government assembled a large force on the border, and +appeared to threaten Oude with invasion; while the Governor-General +held in readiness a large British force to oppose them; and he knew +not what the Oude government, in its alarm, might do to the servant +who had wantonly involved it in so serious a scrape. His brother, +Bukhtawar Sing, the old courtier, knew that they had enemies, or +interested persons at Court, who would take advantage of the +occasion to exasperate the King, and persuade him to plunder them +of all they had, and confiscate their estates, unless Dursun Sing +appeared and pacified the King by his submission, and aided him in +a judicious distribution of the ready money at their command; and +he prevailed upon him to hasten to Court, and throw himself at his +Majesty's feet.</p> +<p>He came, acknowledged that he had been precipitate in his +over-zeal for his Majesty's service; but pleaded, in excuse, that +the young Rajah of Bulrampore had been guilty of great contumacy, +and owed a large balance to the Exchequer, which he had been +peremptorily commanded to recover; and declared himself ready to +suffer any punishment, and make any reparation or atonement that +his master, the King, might deem proper. The British and Nepaul +governments had expressed themselves satisfied; but other parties +had become deeply interested in the dispute. The King, with many +good qualities, was a very parsimonious man, who prided himself +upon adding something every month to his reserved treasury; and he +thought, that advantage should be taken of the occasion, to get a +large sum out of so wealthy a family. Three of his wives, Hoseynee +Khanum, Mosahil Khanum, and Sakeena Khanum, had at the time great +influence over his Majesty, and they wished to take advantage of +the occasion, not only to screw out of the family a large sum for +the King and themselves, but to confiscate the estates, and +distribute them among their male relations. The minister, +Menowur-od Dowlah, the nephew and heir of Hakeem Mehndee, who has +been and will be often mentioned in this Diary, thought that, after +paying a large sum to gratify his Majesty's ruling passion, and +enable him to make handsome presents to the three favourites, +Dursun Sing ought to be released and restored to office, for he was +the only man then in Oude capable of controlling the refractory and +turbulent territorial barons; and if he were crushed altogether for +subduing one of them, the rest would all become unmanageable, and +pay no revenue whatever to the Exchequer. He, therefore, +recommended the King to take from the two brothers the sum of +twenty-five lacs of rupees, leave them the estates, and restore +Dursun Sing to all his charges, as soon as it could be done without +any risk of giving umbrage to the British Government.</p> +<p>The King thought the minister's advice judicious, and consented; +but the ladies called him a fool, and told him, that the brothers +had more than that sum in stores of seed-grain alone, and ought to +be made to pay at least fifty lacs, while the brothers pleaded +poverty, and declared that they could only pay nineteen. The +minister urged the King, to take even this sum, give two lacs to +the three females, and send seventeen to the reserved treasury; and +called upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to give in his accounts +of the actual balance due by the two brothers, on their several +contracts, for the last twenty-five years. He, being on good terms +with the minister, and anxious to meet his wishes, found a balance +of only one lac and thirty-two thousand due by Dursun Sing, and one +of only fifteen lacs due by his brother, Bukhtawar Sing, in whose +name the contracts had always been taken up to 1842. The King, +sorely pressed by the females, resolved to banish Dursun Sing, and +confiscate all his large estates; but the British Resident +interposed, and urged, that Dursun Sing should be leniently dealt +with, since he had made all the reparation and atonement required. +The King told him, that Dursun Sing was a notorious and terrible +tyrant, and had fearfully oppressed his poor subjects, and robbed +them by fraud, violence, and collusion, of lands yielding a +rent-roll of many lacs of rupees a-year; and, that unless he were +punished severely for all these numerous atrocities, his other +servants would follow his example, and his poor subjects be +everywhere ruined!</p> +<p>The Resident admitted the truth of all these charges; but urged, +in reply, that the Oude government had, in spite of all these +atrocities, without any admonition, continued to employ him with +unlimited power in the charge of many of its finest districts, for +twenty-five or thirty years; and, that it would now be hard to +banish him, and confiscate all his fine estates, when his Majesty +had so lately offered, not only to leave them all untouched, but to +restore him to all his charges, on the payment of a fine of +twenty-five lacs. The King was perplexed in his desire to please +the Resident, meet the wishes of his three ladies, and add a good +round sum to his reserved treasury; and at last closed all +discussions by making Dursun Sing pay the one lac and thirty-two +thousand rupees, found to be due by him, and sending him into +banishment; holding Bukhtawar Sing responsible for the fifteen lacs +due by him, and seizing upon his estates, and putting them under +the management of Hoseyn Allee, the father of Hoseynee Khanum, the +most influential of the three favourites, till the whole should be +paid. She satisfied herself that she should be able to make the +banishment of the man and the confiscation of the estate perpetual; +and, before he set out, she secured the transfer of the strong fort +of Shahgunge, with all its artillery and military stores, from +Dursun Sing's to the King's troops. Dursun Sing went into +banishment on the 17th of March 1844; but before he set out he +addressed a remonstrance to the British Resident, +stating—"that he had paid all that had been found to be due +by him to the Exchequer, and made every atonement required for the +offence charged against him; but had, nevertheless, been ordered +into banishment—had all his charges taken from him, and his +lands, houses, gardens, &c., worth fifty lacs, taken from him, +and made over to strangers and Court favourites."</p> +<p>Hoseyn Allee had promised to pay to the Exchequer one lac of +rupees a-year for these estates more than Dursun Sing had paid. He +had paid annually for the Mehdona estates two lacs and eight +thousand two hundred and seventy-six; and for the Asrewa estates, +in the same district of Sultanpoor, one lac thirty-one thousand and +eighty-nine-total, three lacs and thirty-nine thousand three +hundred and sixty-five; and they probably yielded to him an annual +rent of nearly double that sum, or at least five lacs of rupees. +Hoseyn Allee, however, found it impossible to fulfil his pledges. +The landholders and cultivators would not be persuaded that the +sovereign of Oude could long dispense with the services of such a +man as Dursun Sing, or bring him back without restoring to him his +landed possessions; or that he would, when he returned, give them +credit for any payments which they might presume to make to any +other master during his absence. They, therefore, refused to pay +any rent for the past season, and threatened to abandon their lands +before the tillage for the next season should commence, if any +attempt were made to coerce them. All the great revenue contractors +and other governors of districts declared their inability to coerce +the territorial barons into paying anything, since they had lost +the advantage of the prestige of his great name; and the minister +found that he must either resign his office or prevail upon his +sovereign to recall him. The King, finding that he must either draw +upon his reserved treasury or leave all his establishments unpaid +under such a falling off in the revenue, yielded to his minister's +earnest recommendation, and in May 1844, consented to recall Dursun +Sing from our district of Goruckpoor, in which he had resided +during his banishment.</p> +<p>On the 10th of that month he was taken by the minister to pay +his respects to his Majesty, who, on the 30th, conferred upon him +additional honours and titles, and appointed him Inspector-general +of all his dominions, with orders "to make a settlement of the land +revenue at an increased rate; to cut down all the jungles, and +bring all the waste lands into tillage; to seize all refractory +barons, destroy all their forts, and seize and send into store all +the cannon mounted upon them; to put down all disturbances, protect +all high roads, punish all refractory and evil-minded persons; to +enforce the payment of all just demands of his sovereign upon +landholders of all degrees and denominations; to invite back all +who had been driven off by oppression, and re-establish them on +their estates, or punish them if they refused to return; to +ascertain the value of all estates transferred from the +jurisdiction of the local authorities to the 'Hozoor Tehsel,' +without due inquiry; and report, for the consideration of his +Majesty and his minister, any <i>nankar</i> or rent-free lands, +assigned, of late years, by Amils and other governors of districts; +to enforce the payment of all recoverable balances, due on account +of past years; to muster the troops, and report, through the +commander-in-chief, all officers and soldiers borne on the +muster-rolls, and paid from the treasury, but in reality dead, +absent without leave, or unfit for further service;" in short, to +reform all abuses, and make the government of the country what the +King and his minister thought it ought to be. Dursun Sing assured +them that he would do his best to effect all the objects they had +in view; and, after recovering possession of his estates, and +conciliating, by suitable gratuities, all the reigning favourites +at Court, he went to work heartily at his Herculean task after his +wonted way. But he, soon after, became ill, and retired to his +residence at Fyzabad, where he died on the 20th of August, 1844, +leaving his elder brother, Bukhtawar Sing—my +Quartermaster-general—at Court; and his three sons, Ramadeen, +Rughbur Sing, and Mann Sing, to fight among themselves for his +landed possessions and immense accumulated wealth.</p> +<p>The minister was a man of good intentions; and, having inherited +an immense fortune from his uncle, Hakeem Mehndee, he cared little +about money; but he was an indolent man, and indulged much in +opiates, and his object was to reform the administration at the +least possible cost of time and trouble to himself. He had, he +thought, found the man who could efficiently supervise and control +the administration in all its branches; and he invested him with +plenary powers to do so. Of the duty, on his part and that of his +master; efficiently to supervise and control the exercise of these +plenary powers on the part of the man of their choice, in order to +prevent their being abused to the injury of the state and the +people; or of the necessity of taking from Court favourites the +nomination of officers to the charge of all districts and all +fiscal and judicial Courts, and to the command of all corps and +establishments, in order to render them efficient and honest, and +prevent justice from being perverted, and the revenues of the state +from being absorbed on their way to the treasury, they took no +heed. Court favourites retained their powers, and the King and his +minister relied entirely, as heretofore, upon the reports of the +news-writers, who attend officially upon all officers in charge of +districts, fiscal and judicial Courts, corps and establishments of +all kinds, for the facts of all cases on which they might have to +pass orders; and remained as ignorant as their predecessors of the +real state of the administration and the real sufferings of the +people, if not of the real losses to the Exchequer.</p> +<p>The news department is under a Superintendent-general, who has +sometimes contracted for it, as for the revenues of a district, but +more commonly holds it in <i>amanee</i>, as a manager. When he +contracts for it he pays a certain sum to the public treasury, over +and above what he pays to the influential officers and Court +favourites in gratuities. When he holds it in <i>amanee</i>, he +pays only gratuities, and the public treasury gets nothing. His +payments amount to about the same in either case. He nominates +his-subordinates, and appoints them to their several offices, +taking from each a present gratuity and a pledge for such monthly +payments as he thinks the post will enable him to make. They +receive from four to fifteen rupees a-month each, and have each to +pay to their President, for distribution among his patrons or +patronesses at Court from one hundred to five hundred rupees +a-month in ordinary times. Those to whom they are accredited have +to pay them, under ordinary circumstances, certain sums monthly, to +prevent their inventing or exaggerating cases of abuse of power or +neglect of duty on their part; but when they happen to be really +guilty of great acts of atrocity, or great neglect of duty, they +are required to pay extraordinary sums, not only to the +news-writers, who are especially accredited to them, but to all +others who happen to be in the neighbourhood at the time. There are +six hundred and sixty news-writers of this kind employed by the +King, and paid monthly three thousand one hundred and ninety-four +rupees, or, on an average, between four and five rupees a-month +each; and the sums paid by them to their President for distribution +among influential officers and Court favourites averages above one +hundred and fifty thousand rupees a-year. Many, whose avowed salary +is from four to ten rupees a-month, receive each, from the persons +to whom they are accredited, more than five hundred, three-fourths +of which they must send for distribution among Court favourites, or +they could not retain their places a week, nor could their +President retain his. Such are the reporters of the circumstances +in all the cases on which the sovereign and his ministers have to +pass orders every day in Oude. Some of those who derive part of +their incomes from this source are "persons behind the throne, who +are greater than the throne itself." The mother of the +heir-apparent gets twelve thousand rupees a-year from it.</p> +<p>But their exactions are not confined to government officers of +all grades and denominations; they are extended to contractors of +all kinds and denominations, to him who contracts for the supply of +the public cattle with grain, as well as to him who contracts for +the revenue and undivided government of whole provinces; and, +indeed, to every person who has anything to do under, or anything +to apprehend from, government and its officers and favourites; and, +in such a country, who has not? The European magistrate of one of +our neighbouring districts one day, before the Oude Frontier Police +was raised, entered the Oude territory at the head of his police in +pursuit of some robbers, who had found an asylum in one of the +King's villages. In the attempt to secure them some lives were +lost; and, apprehensive of the consequences, he sent for the +official news-writer, and <i>gratified</i> him in the usual way. No +report of the circumstances was made to the Oude Durbar; and +neither the King, the Resident, nor the British Government ever +heard anything about it. Of the practical working of the system, +many illustrations will be found in this Diary.</p> +<p>The Akbar, or Intelligence Department, had been farmed out for +some years, at the rate of between one and two lacs of rupees +a-year, when, at the recommendation of the Resident, the King +expressed his willingness to abolish the farm, and intrust the +superintendence to <i>men of character and ability</i>, to be paid +by Government. This resolution was communicated to Government by +the Resident on the 24th of April, 1839; and on the 6th of May the +Resident was instructed to communicate to his Majesty the +satisfaction which the Governor-General derived on hearing that he +had consented to abolish this farm, which had produced <i>so large +a revenue to the state</i>. This was considered by the Resident to +be a great boon obtained for the people of Oude, as the farmers of +the department consented to pay a large revenue, only on condition +that they should be considered as the only legitimate reporters of +events—the only recognised <i>masters in the Oude Chancery</i>; +and, as the Resident observed, "they choked up all the channels the +people had of access to their sovereign;" but they have choked them +up just as much since the abolition of the farm, and have had to +pay just as much as before.</p> +<p>A brief sketch of the proceedings of Rughbur Sing, the son of +Dursun Sing, in his government of these districts of Gonda and +Baraetch, for the years 1846 and 1847, may here be given as further +illustration of the Oude government and its administration, in this +part of the country at least. It had not suffered very much under +his uncle's brief reign in 1842 and 1843, and the governors who +followed him, up to 1846, were too weak to coerce the Tallookdars, +or do much injury to their estates. Rughbur Sing had a large body +of the King's troops to aid him in enforcing from them the payment +of the current revenue and balances, real or pretended, for past +years; and a large body of armed retainers of his own to assist him +in his contest with his brothers for the possessions of the Mehdona +and Asrewa estates, which had been going on ever since the death of +their father.</p> +<p>I have stated that Rughbur Sing held in contract the districts +of Gonda and Bahraetch for the years 1846 and 1847, and shown to +what a state of wretchedness he managed to reduce them in that +brief period. In 1849, some months after I took charge of my +office, I deputed a European gentleman of high character, Captain +Orr, of the Oude Frontier Police, to pass through these districts, +and inquire into and report upon the charges of oppression brought +against him by the people, as his agents were diligently employed +at Lucknow in distributing money among the most influential persons +about the Court, and a disposition to restore him to power had +become manifest. He had purchased large estates in our districts of +Benares and Goruckpoor, where he now resided for greater security, +while he had five thousand armed men, employed under other agents, +in fighting with his brother, Maun Sing, for the possession of the +<i>bynamah</i> estates, above described, in the Sultanpoor +district. In this contest a great many lives were lost, and the +peace of the country was long and much disturbed, but, after +driving all his brother's forces and agents out of the district. +Maun Sing retained quiet possession of the estates. This contest +would, however, have been again renewed, and the same desolating +disorders would have again prevailed, could Rughbur Sing's agents +at the capital, by a judicious distribution of the money at their +disposal, have induced the Court to restore him to the government +of these or any other districts in Oude.</p> +<p>On the 23rd of July 1849, Captain Orr sent in his report, giving +a brief outline of such of the atrocities committed by Rughbur Sing +and his agents in these districts as he was able, during his tour, +to establish upon unquestionable evidence; but they made but a +small portion of the whole, as the people in general still +apprehended that he would be restored to power by Court favour, and +wreak his vengeance upon all who presumed to give evidence against +him; while many of the most respectable families in the districts +were ashamed to place on record the suffering and dishonour +inflicted on their female members; and still more had been reduced +by them to utter destitution, and driven in despair into other +districts. To use his own words—"The once flourishing +districts of Gonda and Bahraetch, so noted for fertility and +beauty, are now, for the greater part, uncultivated; villages +completely deserted in the midst of lands devoid of all tillage +everywhere meet the eye; and from Fyzabad to Bahraetch I passed +through these districts, a distance of eighty miles, over plains +which had been fertile and well cultivated, till Rughbur Sing got +charge, but now lay entirely waste, a scene for two years of great +misery ending in desolation."</p> +<p>Rajah Hurdut Sahae, the proprietor of the Bondee estate, was the +head of one of the oldest Rajpoot families in Oude. Having placed +the most notorious knaves in the country as revenue collectors over +all the subdivisions of his two districts, Rajah Rughbur Sing, in +1846, demanded from Hurdut Sahae an increase of five thousand +rupees upon the assessment of the preceding year. The Rajah pleaded +the badness of preceding seasons, and consequent poverty of his +tenants and cultivators; but at last he consented to pay the +increase, and on solemn pledges of personal security he collected +all his tenants, to take upon themselves the responsibility of +making good this demand. To this they all agreed; but they had no +sooner done so, than Rughbur Sing's agent, Prag Pursaud, demanded a +gratuity of seven thousand rupees for himself, over and above the +increase of five thousand upon the demand of the preceding year. +The Rajah would not agree to pay the seven thousand, but went off +to request some capitalists to furnish securities for the punctual +payment of the rent.</p> +<p>The agent sent off secretly to Rughbur Sing to say, that unless +he came at the head of his forces he saw no chance of getting the +revenues from the Rajah or his tenants, who were all assembled and +might be secured if he could contrive to surprise them. Rughbur +Sing came with a large force at night, surrounded his agent's camp, +where the tenants and the Rajah's officers were all assembled, and +seized them. He then sent out parties of soldiers of from one +hundred to two hundred each, to plunder all the towns and villages +on the estate, and seize all the respectable residents they could +find. They plundered the town of Bondee, and pulled down all the +houses of the Rajah, and those of his relatives and dependents; +and, after plundering all the other towns and villages in the +neighbourhood, they brought in one thousand captives of both sexes +and all ages, who were subjected to all manner of torture till they +paid the ransom demanded, or gave written pledges to pay. Five +thousand head of cattle were, at the same time, brought in and +distributed as booty.</p> +<p>The Rajah made his escape, but his agents were put to the same +tortures as his tenants. Rughbur Sing, among other things, +commanded them to sign a declaration, to the effect that his +predecessor and enemy, Wajid Allee Khan, had received from them the +sum of thirty thousand rupees more than he had credited to his +government, but this they all refused to do. Rughbur Sing remained +at Bondee for six weeks, superintending personally all these +atrocities; and then went off, leaving, as his agent, Kurum Hoseyn. +He continued the tortures upon the tenants and officers of the +Rajah, and the captives collected in his camp. He rubbed the beards +of the men with moist gunpowder; and, as soon as it became dry in +the sun, he set fire to it. Other tortures, too cruel and indecent +to be named, were inflicted upon four servants of the Rajah, Kunjun +Sing, Bustee Ram, Admadnt Pandee, and Bhugwant Rae, and upon +others, who were likely to be able to borrow or beg anything for +their ransom.</p> +<p>Finding that the tenants did not return, and that the estate was +likely to be altogether deserted, unless the Rajah returned, Kurum +Hoseyn was instructed by Rughbur Sing to invite him back on any +terms. The poor Rajah, having nothing in the jungles to which he +had fled to subsist upon, ventured back on the solemn pledge of +personal security given by Pudum Sing, a respectable capitalist, +whom the collector had induced, by solemn oaths on the holy Koran, +to become a mediator; and, as a token of reconciliation and future +friendship, the Rajah and collector changed turbans. They remained +together for five months on the best possible terms, and the +Rajah's tenants returned to their homes and fields. All having been +thus lulled into security, Rughbur Sing suddenly sent another +agent, Maharaj Sing, to supersede Kurum Hoseyn, and seize the Rajah +and his confidential manager, Benee Ram Sookul. They, however, went +off to Balalpoor, forty miles distant from Bondee, and kept aloof +from the new collector, till he prevailed upon all the officers, +commanding corps and detachments under him, to enter into solemn +written pledges of personal security. The Rajah had been long +suffering from ague and fever, and had become very feeble in mind +and body. He remained at Balalpoor; but, under the assurance of +these pledges from military officers of rank and influence, Benee +Ram and other confidential officers of the Rajah came to his camp, +and entered upon the adjustment of their accounts.</p> +<p>When he found them sufficiently off their guard, Maharaj Sing, +while sitting one evening with Benee Ram, who was a stout, powerful +man, asked him to show him the handsome dagger which he always wore +in his waistband. He did so, and as soon as he got it in his hand, +the collector gave the concerted signal to Roshun Allee, one of the +officers present, and his armed attendants, to seize him. As he +rose to leave the tent he was cut down from behind by Mattadeen, +khasburdar; and the rest fell upon him and cut him to pieces in +presence of the greater part of the officers who had given the +solemn pledges for his personal security. Not one of them +interposed to save him. Doulut Rae, another confidential servant of +the Rajah, however, effected his escape, and ran to the Rajah, who +prepared to defend himself at Balalpoor, where Maharaj Sing tried, +in vain, to persuade his troops' to attack him. For two months the +towns and villages were deserted, but the crops were on the ground, +and guarded by the Passee bowmen, who are usually hired for the +purpose.</p> +<p>Beharee Lal, the principal agent of Rughbur Sing in these +districts, now wrote a letter of condolence to the Rajah, on the +death of his faithful servant, Benee Ram—told him that he had +dismissed from all employ the villain Maharaj Sing, and appointed +to his place Kurum Hoseyn, who would make all reparation and +redress all wrongs. This letter he sent by a very plausible man, +Omed Rae, the collector of the Rahooa estate. Kurum Hoseyn resumed +charge of his office, and went unattended to the Rajah, with whom +he remained some days feasting, and swearing on the Koran, that all +had been without his connivance or knowledge, and that he had come +back with a full determination to see justice done to his friend, +the Rajah, and his landholders and cultivators in everything. +Having thus soothed the poor old Rajahs apprehensions, he prevailed +on him to go back with him to Bondee, where he behaved for some +time with so much seeming frankness and cordiality, and swore so +solemnly on the Koran to respect the persons of all men who should +come to him on business, that the Rajah's tenants and agents lost +all their fears, and again came freely to his camp. The Rajah now +invited all his tenants as before, to enter into engagements to pay +their rents to officers appointed by the collector as jumogdars; +and the people had hopes of being permitted to gather their +harvests in peace. Kurum Hoseyn now suggested to Beharee Lal, to +come suddenly with the largest force he could collect, and seize +the many respectable men who had assembled-at his invitation.</p> +<p>He made a forced march daring the night, appeared suddenly at +Bondee with a large force, and seized all who were there assembled, +save the Rajah and his family, who escaped to the jungles. +Detachments of from one hundred to two hundred were sent out as +before, to plunder the country, and seize all from whom anything +could be extorted. All the towns and villages on the estate were +plundered of everything that could be found, and fifteen hundred +men, and about five hundred women and children, were brought in +prisoners, with no less than eighty thousand animals of all kinds. +There were twenty-five thousand head of cattle; and horses, mares, +sheep, goats, ponies, &c., made up the rest. All with the men, +women, and children were driven off, pell-mell, a distance of +twenty miles to Busuntpoor, in the Hurhurpoor district, where +Beharee Lal's headquarter had been fixed. For three days heavy rain +continued to fall. Pregnant women were beaten on by the troops with +bludgeons and the butt-ends of muskets and matchlocks. Many of them +gave premature birth to children and died on the road; and many +children were trodden to death by the animals on the road, which +was crowded for more than ten miles.</p> +<p>Rughbur Sing and his agents, Beharee Lal, Kurum Hoseyn, Maharaj +Sing, Prag Sing, and others, selected several thousand of the +finest cattle, and sent them to their homes; and the rest were left +to the officers and soldiers of the force to be disposed of; and, +for all this enormous number of animals, worth at least one hundred +thousand rupees, the small sum of one hundred and thirty rupees was +credited in the Nazim's accounts to the Rajah's estate. At +Busuntpoor the force was divided into two parties, for the purpose +of torturing the surviving prisoners till they consented to sign +bonds, for the payment of such sums as might be demanded from them. +Beharee Lal presided over the first party, in which they were +tortured from day-break till noon. They were tied up and flogged, +had red-hot ramrods thrust into their flesh, their tongues were +pulled out with hot pincers and pierced through; and, when all +would not do, they were taken to Kurum Hoseyn, who presided at the +other party, to be tortured again till the evening. He sat with a +savage delight, to witness this brutal scene and invent new kinds +of torture. No less than seventy men, besides women and children, +perished at Busuntpoor from torture and starvation; and their +bodies were left to rot in the mud, and their friends were afraid +to approach them. Bustee's body was stolen at night by his son, and +Guyadut's was sold to his family by the soldiers.</p> +<p>Among the persons of respectability who died under the tortures, +several are named below.* Buldee Sing, the husband of the Rajah's +sister, took poison and died; and Ramdeen, a Brahmin of great +respectability, stabbed himself to death, to avoid further torture +and dishonour. For two months did these atrocities continue at +Busuntpoor; and during that time the prisoners got no food from the +servants of Government. All that they got was sent to them by their +friends, or by the charitable peasantry of the country around; and +when sweetmeats were sent to them as food, which the most +scrupulous could eat from any hand, the soldiers often snatched +them from them and ate them themselves, or took them to their +officers. The women and children were all stripped of their +clothes, and many died from cold and want of sustenance. It was +during the months of September and October that these atrocities +were perpetrated. The heavy rain had inundated the country, and the +poor prisoners were obliged to lie naked and unsheltered on the +damp ground.</p> +<blockquote> +<DIV CLASS="s0">[* 1. Byjonauth, the Rajah's accountant.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">2. Gijraj Sing, Rajpoot.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">3. Sheopersaud.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">4. Rampersaud.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">5. Jhow Lal.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">6. Guyadut.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">7. Duyram.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">8. Budaree Chobee.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">9. Mungul Sing, Rajpoot.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">10. Seodeen Sing, ditto.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">11. Akber Sing.</DIV> +<DIV CLASS="s1">12. Bustee, a farmer. ]</DIV> +</blockquote> +<p>Apreel Sing, a respectable Jagheerdar of Bondee, was tortured +till he consented to sell his two daughters, and pay the money; and +a great many respectable females, who were taken from Bondee to +Busuntpoor, have never been heard of since. Whether they perished +or were sold their friends have never been able to discover. The +sipahees and other persons, employed to torture, got money from +their victims or their friends, who ventured to approach, or from +the pitying peasantry around; and all laughed and joked at the +screams of the sufferers. Several times, during the two months, +Rughbur Sing paid off heavy arrears, due to his personal servants, +by drafts on his agents for prisoners, to be placed at the disposal +of the payee, ten and twenty at a time. It is worthy of remark, +that an old Subadar of one of our regiments of Native Infantry, who +was then at home in furlough, happened to pass Busuntpoor with his +family, on his way to Guya, on a pilgrimage. He and his family had +saved what was to them a large sum, to be spent in offerings, for +the safe passage of his deceased relatives through purgatory. On +witnessing the sufferings of the poor prisoners at Busuntpoor, he +and his family offered all they had for a certain number of women +and children, who were made over to them. He took them to their +homes, and returned to his own, saying, that he hoped God would +forgive them for the sake of the relief which they had afforded to +sufferers.</p> +<p>In the latter end of October, Beharee Lal took off all the force +that could be spared, to attack the Rajah of Bhinga, and plunder +his estate in the same manner; and Kurum Hoseyn took another to +plunder Koelee, Murdunpoor, Budrolee, and some other villages of +the Bondee estate, which had suffered least in the last attack. He +collected two thousand plough-bullocks, and sold them for little to +Nuzur Allee and Sufder Allee, who commanded detachments under him. +He soon after made an attack upon Sookha and other villages, in the +vicinity of Busuntpoor, and collected between twenty and thirty +thousand head of cattle; but, on his way back, he was attacked by a +party of twenty brave men (under a landholder named Nabee Buksh, +whom he wished to seize), and driven back to his camp at +Busuntpoor, with the loss of all his booty. He attempted no more +enterprises after this check. The tortures ceased, and ten days +after he ran off, on hearing that Rughbur Sing had been deprived of +his charge by orders from Lucknow. At this time one hundred and +fifty prisoners remained at Busuntpoor, and they were released by +Incha Sing, the successor and uncle of Rughbur Sing.</p> +<p>The Akhbar Naveeses, so far from admonishing the perpetrators of +these atrocities, were some of them among the most active promoters +of them. Jorakhun, the news-writer at Bondee, got one anna for +every prisoner brought in; and from two to three rupees for every +prisoner released. He got every day subsistence for ten men from +Kurum Hoseyn. All the news-writers in the neighbourhood got a share +of the booty in bullocks, cows, and other animals. Two chuprassies +are said to have come from Government, and remained at Busuntpoor +for nearly the whole two months, while these tortures were being +inflicted, without making any report of them. When the order for +dismissing Rughbur Sing came from the Durbar, Maharaj Sing went +off, saying, that he would soon smother all complaints, in the +usual way, at Lucknow.</p> +<p>In September 1847, Rughbur Sing's agents, with a considerable +force, encamped at Parbatee-tolah, in the Gonda district, and made +a sudden attack upon the fine town of Khurgoopoor. After plundering +the town, the troops seized forty of the most respectable merchants +and shopkeepers of the place, and made them over to Rughbur Sing's +agents, at the rate agreed upon, of so much a head, as the +perquisites of the soldiers; and these agents confined and tortured +them till they each paid the ransom demanded, and rated according +to their supposed means. The troops did the same by Bisumberpoor, +Bellehree Pundit, Pyaree, Peepree, and many other towns and +villages in the same district of Gonda. A trooper and his son, who +tried to save the honour of their family, by defending the entrance +to their house, were cut down and killed at Khurgapoor; and in +Bisumberpoor one of the soldiers, with his sword, cut off the arm +of a respectable old woman, in order the more easily to get her +gold bracelets. The poor woman died a few hours afterwards. The +only relative of the poor old woman who could have assisted her was +seized, with forty other respectable persons, and taken off to the +camp at Parbatee-tola, where they were all tortured till they paid +the ransom demanded, and a gratuity, in addition, to the soldiers +who had seized them. One of the persons died under the tortures +inflicted upon him.</p> +<p>In the Gungwal district similar atrocities were committed by +Rughbur Sing's agents and their soldiers. These agents were Gouree +Shunkur and Seorutun Sing. The district formed the estate of Rajah +Sreeput Sing, who resided with his family in the fort of Gungwal. +The former Nazim, Suraj-od Dowlah, had attacked this fort on some +frivolous pretence; and, having taken it by surprise, sacked the +place and plundered the Rajah and his family of all they had. The +Rajah died soon after of mortification, at the dishonour he and his +family had suffered, and was succeeded by his son, Seetul Persaud +Sing, the present Rajah, who was now plundered again, and driven an +exile into the Nepaul hills. The estate was now taken possession of +by the agents, Goureeshunker and Seorutun Sing. Seorutun Sing +seized a Brahmin who was travelling with his wife and brother, and, +on the pretence that he must be a relation of the fugitive Rajah, +had him murdered, and his head struck off on the spot. The wife +took the head of her murdered husband in her arms, wrapped it up in +cloth, and, attended by his brother, walked with it a distance of +fifty miles to Ajoodheea, where Rughbur Sing was then engaged in +religious ceremonies. The poor woman placed the head before him, +and demanded justice on her husband's murderers. He coolly ordered +the head to be thrown into the river, and the woman and her +brother-in-law to be driven from his presence. Many other +respectable persons were seized and tortured on similar pretext of +being related to, or having served or assisted, the fugitive Rajah. +Moistened gunpowder was smeared thickly over the beards of the men, +and when dry set fire to; and any friend or relatives who presumed +to show signs of pity was seized and tortured, till he or she paid +a ransom. All the people in the country around, who had moveable +property of any kind, were plundered by these two atrocious agents, +and tortured till they paid all that they could beg and borrow. +Many respectable families were dishonoured in the persons of wives, +sisters, or daughters, and almost all the towns and villages around +became deserted.</p> +<p>In Rajah Nirput Sing's estate of Pyagpoor, the same atrocities +were committed. Rajah Rughbur Sing seized upon this estate as soon +as he entered upon his charge in 1846, and put it under the +management of his own agents; and, after extorting from the tenants +more than was justly due, according to engagement, he attacked the +Rajah's house by surprise, and plundered it of property to the +value of fifteen thousand rupees. The Rajah, however, contrived to +make his escape with his family. He had nothing with him to subsist +upon, and in 1847 he was invited back on solemn pledges of personal +security; and, from great distress, was induced again to undertake +the management of his own estate, at an exorbitant rate of +assessment.</p> +<p>In spite of this engagement, Goureeshunker, when the tenants had +become lulled into security by the hope of remaining under their +own chief, suddenly, with his troops, seized upon all he could +catch, plundered their houses, and tortured them till they paid all +that they could prevail upon their relatives and friends to lend +them. Eighteen hundred of their plough-bullocks were seized and +sold by him, together with many of their wives and daughters. While +under torture, Seetaram, a respectable Brahmin, of Kandookoeea, put +an end to his existence, to avoid further sufferings and dishonour. +Sucheet, another respectable Brahmin, of Pagaree, did the same by +opening a vein in his thigh. A cloth steeped in oil was bound round +the hands of those who appeared able, but unwilling, to pay +ransoms, and set fire to, so as to burn like a torch. In these +tortures, Lala Beharee Lal, Rughbur Sing's deputy, was the chief +agent. "I found," says Captain Orr, "the estate of Pyagpoor in a +desolate condition; village after village presenting nothing but +bare walls—the finest arable lands lying waste, and no sign +of cultivation was anywhere to be seen. Even the present Nazim, +Mahommed Hussan, after conciliating and inviting in the Rajah on +further solemn assurances of personal security, seized him and all +his family, and kept them confined in prison for several months, +till they paid him an exorbitant ransom. The poorer classes told +me, that it was impossible for them to plough their fields, since +all their plough-bullocks had been seized and sold by the Nazim's +agents. Great numbers in this and the adjoining estates have +subsisted entirely upon wild fruits, and some species of aquatic +plants, since they were ruined by these atrocities."</p> +<p>This picture is not at all overdrawn. In passing through the +estate, and communing with the few wretched people who remain, I +find all that Captain Orr stated in his report to be strictly +correct.</p> +<p>In the Hurhurpoor district similar atrocities were committed by +Rughbur Sing and his agents. He confided the management to his +agent, Goureeshunker. In 1846 he made his settlement of the land +revenue, at an exorbitant rate, with the tallookdar, Chinghy Sing; +and, in the following year, he extorted from him an increase to +this rate of twenty-five thousand rupees. He was, in consequence, +obliged to fly; but he was soon invited back on the usual solemn +assurances for his personal security, and induced to take on +himself the management of the estate. But he was no sooner settled +in his house than he was again attacked at night and plundered. One +of his attendants was killed, and another wounded; and all the +respectable tenants and servants who had ventured to assemble +around him on his return were seized and tortured till they paid +ransoms. No less than two thousand and five hundred bullocks from +this estate were seized and sold, or starved to death. A great many +women were seized and tortured till they paid ransoms like the men; +and many of them have never since been seen or heard of. Some +perished in confinement of hunger and cold, having been stripped of +their clothes, and exposed at night to the open air on the damp +ground, while others threw themselves into wells and destroyed +themselves after their release, rather than return to their +families after the exposure and dishonour they had suffered.</p> +<p>In the Bahraetch district, the same atrocities were practised by +Rughbur Sing and his agents. Here also Goureeshunker was the chief +agent employed, but the few people who remained were so terrified, +that Captain Orr could get but little detailed information of +particular cases. The present Nazim had been one of Rughbur Sing's +agents in all these atrocities, and the people apprehended that he +was in office merely as his "locum tenens;" and that Rughbur Sing +would soon purchase his restoration to power, as he boasted that he +should. The estate of the Rajah of Bumunee Paer was plundered in +the same manner; and Rughbur Sing's agents seized, drove off, and +sold two thousand bullocks, and cut down and sold or destroyed five +hundred and five mhowa-trees, which had, for generations, formed +the strongest local ties of the cultivators, and their best +dependence in seasons of drought.</p> +<p>In the Churda estate, in the Tarae forest, the same sufferings +were inflicted on the people by the same agents, Goureeshunker and +Beharee Lal. They seized Mudar Buksh, the manager, and made him +over to Moonshee Kurum Hoseyn, who had him beaten to death. The +estate of the Rajah of Bhinga was treated in the same way. Beharee +Lal attacked the town with a large force, plundered all the houses +in it, and all the people of their clothes and ornaments. They +seized all the plough-bullocks and other cattle, and had them +driven off and sold. The women were all seized and driven off in +crowds to the camp of Rughbur Sing at Parbatee-tolah. Many of them +who were far gone in pregnancy perished on the road, from fatigue +and harsh treatment The estate of the Rajah of Ruhooa was treated +in the same manner; and the Rajah, to avoid torture and disgrace, +fled with his family to the jungles. In July 1846, being in great +distress, he was induced to come back on the most solemn assurances +from Rughbur Sing of personal security for himself, family, and +attendants. He left the Rajah his <i>nankar</i> lands for his +subsistence, pledging himself to exact no rents or revenues from +them; but put the estate under the management of his own agents, +Lala Omed Rae and others. He at the same time pledged himself not +to exact from any of the poor Rajah's tenants higher rates than +those stipulated for in the engagements then made. But he +immediately after saddled the Rajah with the payment of five +hundred armed men, on the pretence that they were necessary to +protect him, and aid him in the management of these <i>nankar</i> +lands. In May 1847, when the harvests had been gathered, and he had +exacted from the tenants and cultivators the rates stipulated, +Goureeshunker was put into the management. He seized all the +tenants and cultivators by a sudden and simultaneous attack upon +their several villages, and extorted from them a payment of fifty +thousand rupees more. Not satisfied with this, Goureeshunker seized +the Rajah's chief manager, Mungul Pershad, tied him up to a tree, +and had him beaten to death. Many of the Rajah's tenants and +servants were beaten to death in the same manner; and no less than +forty villages were attacked and plundered. A good many +respectable females were seized and compelled to make up the +ransoms of their husbands and fathers who were under torture. Many +of the females who had been seized perished from the cruel +treatment and from want of food. Two thousand head of cattle, +chiefly plough-bullocks, were seized and sold from this estate.</p> +<p>I have passed through all the districts here named, save two, +Churda and Bhinga, and I can say, that everything I saw and heard +tended to confirm the truth of what has here been told. Rughbur +Sing and the agents employed by him were, by all I saw, considered +more as terrible demons who delighted in blood and murder than as +men endowed with any feelings of sympathy for their +fellow-creatures; and the government, which employed such men in +the management of districts with uncontrolled power, seemed to be +utterly detested and abhorred.</p> +<p>It will naturally be asked, whether the circumstances described +were ever reported to the Oude Government or to the British +Resident; and whether they did anything to punish the guilty and +afford redress and relief to the sufferers. The following are the +reports which were made to the Oude Durbar by the news-writers, +employed in the several districts, and communicated to the Resident +and his Assistant, by the Residency news-writer, in his daily +reports, which are read out to them every morning.</p> +<p><i>July</i> 10, 1847.—Report from Bondee states, that +Rajaram, Rughbur Sing's collector of Mirzapoor and other villages +in that estate, had attacked and plundered Mirzapoor, and carried +off sixty head of cattle.</p> +<p><i>August</i> 12, 1847.—Report from Bondee states, that the +estates of Bondee and Tiperha, which yielded one hundred and fifty +thousand rupees a-year, had become so desolated by the oppression +of Beharee Lal and Kurum Hoseyn, the agents of Rughbur Sing, that +they could not possibly yield anything for the ensuing year; that +Kurum Hoseyn had seized all the cattle and other property of the +peasantry, sold them and appropriated the money to his own use, and +had so beaten the landholders and cultivators, that many of them +had died. Order by the Durbar, that these two agents be deterred +from such acts of oppression, fined five thousand rupees, and made +to release the remaining prisoners, and restore the property taken. +Nothing whatever was done!</p> +<p><i>August</i> 14, 1847.—Report from Bondee states, that +although the landholders and cultivators of this estate had paid +all that was due, according to engagements, Beharee Lal and Kurum +Hoseyn were having them flogged and tortured every day to extort +more; selling off all their stock and other property, and selecting +all the good bullocks and cows and sending them to their own +houses. Order by the Durbar, that the minister punish the +oppressors, and cause their property to be given back to the +oppressed. The minister ordered his deputy, Ramchurn, to see this +done. He did nothing whatever!</p> +<p><i>September</i> 6, 1847.—Report from Gonda states, that +all the lands from Bondee and Pyagpoor had been left waste from the +oppression of Rughbur Sing. Order by the Durbar, that the minister +hasten to get the lands tilled, as the season was passing away. +Nothing whatever was done!</p> +<p><i>September</i> 24, 1847.—Report from the same place +states, that Rughbur Sing had seized no less than eighteen thousand +bullocks, from the villages of the Bondee estate, collected them at +Neemapoor, and ordered his agents to get them all sold off as fast +as possible; and that the cultivators could till none of the lands +in consequence. Order by the Durbar, that the minister put a stop +to all this oppression. Nothing whatever was done!</p> +<p><i>September</i> 24, 1847.—Report from the same place +states, that Kurum Hoseyn had seized Ahlad Sing, the malgoozar of +Hurkapoor in Bondee, and had red-hot ramrods thrust into his flesh, +on account of a balance due, and then had him put upon an ass and +paraded through the streets. Order by the Durbar, that the minister +see to this. Nothing whatever was done!</p> +<p><i>August</i> 2, 1847.—Report from Gonda states, that the +troops under Beharee Lal were robbing all the females of the +country of their ornaments; and that Beharee Lal neither did nor +said anything to prevent them. Order by the Durbar, that Rughbur +Sing be directed to restrain his soldiers and restore the +ornaments. Nothing whatever was done!</p> +<p><i>September</i> 6, 1847—Report from the same place +states, that Luchman Naraen, malgoozar of Bhurduree in Gonda, had +paid all the rents due, according to his engagements; that Beharee +Lal had, nevertheless, sent a force of three hundred men, who +attacked his house, plundered it of all that it contained, and took +off five thousand seven hundred and thirty-one maunds of stored +grain. Order by the Durbar, that the minister punish and restrain +the oppressors, and cause all the property to be restored. Nothing +whatever was done in the matter!</p> +<p><i>October</i> 2, 1847.—Report from Gonda states, that +Jafir Allee and Hemraj Sing, Rughbur Sing's agents, had, with a +body of sixteen hundred troops, attacked the town of Khurgapoor in +Gonda, plundered it, and attacked and plundered five villages in +the vicinity, and seized Sudasook and thirty other merchants and +shopkeepers of Khurgapoor, Chungul Sing, the farmer of that place, +Kaleechurn, a writer, and Benee, the agent of the Gonda Rajah, and +no less than one hundred landholders and cultivators. Order by the +Durbar: Let the minister seize all the offenders, and release and +satisfy all the sufferers. Nothing whatever was done in the +matter.</p> +<p><i>October</i> 5, 1847.—Report from Gonda states, that +Rughbur Sing's troops had seized and brought off from Gonda to +Nawabgunge, two hundred men and women, and shut up the road where +they were confined, that no one might pass near them—that three or +four of the women were pregnant, and near their confinement, and +suffered much from harsh treatment and want of food. Order by the +Durbar: Let the minister grant redress, and send a suzawal to see +that the sufferers are released. A suzawal was sent, it appears, +but he remained a quiet spectator of the atrocities, having +received something for doing so.</p> +<p><i>September</i> 1, 1847.—Report from Hissampoor states, +that Byjonauth Sing, agent of Rughbur Sing, in Hissampoor, had +seized all the plough-bullocks and cows he could find, sent the +best to his own home, and made the rest over to Wazeer Allee, +Canongoe, to be sold. Order by the Durbar, that Rughbur Sing be +directed to restore all that has been taken, and collect the +revenue with more moderation. Nothing whatever was done.</p> +<p><i>September</i> 11, 1847.—Report from Bahraetch states, +that the estate of Aleenugger in Hissampoor, which yielded eighteen +thousand rupees a-year, had become so deserted from the oppressions +of Rughbur Sing, that it could no longer yield anything. Order by +the Durbar, that Rughbar Sing be directed to restore the tillage, +or hold himself responsible for the King's revenue!</p> +<p><i>July</i> 28, 1847.—Report from Gonda states, that +Goureeshunker, the collector of Gungwal and Pyagpoor, had, by order +of Beharee Lal, attacked the village of Ruhooa, and seized and +carried off sixty-four cultivators, and confined them in his camp. +No order whatever was passed by the Durbar.</p> +<p><i>September</i> 7, 1847.—From Nawabgunge in Gonda +reports, that Beharee Lal's soldiers were then engaged in sacking +that town, and carrying off the property. Order by the Durbar. Let +the minister see that the property be restored and wrongs +redressed. Nothing whatever was done.</p> +<p><i>September</i> 18, 1847.—Report from Bahraetch states, +that Cheyn Sing, the tallookdar of Bahmanee Paer, had fled into the +British territory, but returned to his fort; that Beharee Lal heard +of his return and sent two thousand men to seize him; that the +tallookdar had only sixty men, but held out for three hours, killed +ten of the King's soldiers, and then evacuated the fort and fled; +that Beharee Lal's soldiers had collected two thousand bullocks +from the estate, and brought them all off to his camp. Order by the +Durbar, that the minister give stringent orders in this case. +Nothing whatever was done.</p> +<p><i>October</i> 2, 1847.—Report from Seerora states, that +Mahommed Hussan (the present Nazim), one of Rughbur Sing's +collectors, with one thousand horse and foot and one gun, had come +to the hamlet of Sondun Lal, and the village of Seerora, attacked +and plundered these places, and seized and taken off one hundred +men and women, and two hundred bullocks, killed two hundred +Rajpoots in a fight, and then gone back to his camp at +Bahoreegunge. Order by the Durbar, that the minister seize and send +the oppressors to Lucknow, and restore the property to its proper +owners. The minister did nothing of the kind; and soon after made +this oppressor the governor of these districts.</p> +<p><i>September</i> 20, 1847.—Report from Radowlee states, +that armed men belonging to Kurum Hoseyn, escorting one thousand +selected bullocks, sent by Rughbar Sing, had come to Radowlee, on +their way to his fort of Shahgunge. Order by the Durbar: Let the +minister see to this affair. Nothing was done.</p> +<p>On the 28th September 1847 an order was addressed by the Durbar +to Rughbur Sing, that his agent, Kurum Hoseyn, appeared to have +attacked the house of Seodeen, though he had paid all that was due +by him to the State, according to his engagements, and plundered it +of property to the value of eighteen thousand rupees, and seized +and confined all his relations—that he must cause all the +property to be restored, and obtain acquittances from the +sufferers. Rughbur Sing took no notice whatever of this order.</p> +<p>On the 2nd of October 1847, the Resident, Colonel Richmond, +wrote to the King, acquainting him, that he had heard, that Rughbur +Sing had seized and sold all the ploughs and bullocks in the +Bahraetch district, and, seized and sold also five hundred men, +women, and children of the landholders and cultivators; that he +regrets all this and prays that his Majesty will cause inquiries to +be made; and, should the charges prove true, cause the articles +taken, or their value, to be restored, and the men, women, and +children to be released. On the 25th of October 1847, the Resident +again addressed the King, stating, that he had heard, that, on the +2nd of October, Jafir Allee and Maharaj Sing, agents of Rughbur +Sing, with eleven hundred soldiers, had attacked and plundered the +town of Khurgapoor and five villages in its neighbourhood, and +seized and taken off Ramdeen Sudasook, and thirty merchants, +shopkeepers and other respectable persons, also Junglee, the farmer +of that town, Kaleechurn Mutsudee, Dabey Pershad, the Rajah's +manager, and one hundred landholders and cultivators; and praying +that orders be given for inquiry and redress. Nothing whatever was +done; but on the 30th of October, the King replied to these +letters, and to one written to him by the Resident on the 31st of +August 1847, transmitting a list of unanswered letters. His Majesty +stated, that he had sent orders to Rughbur Sing and to his brother +Maun Sing, in all the cases referred to by the Resident; but that +they were contumacious servants, as he had before described them to +the Resident to be; and had taken no notice whatever of his +orders!</p> +<p><i>August</i> 20, 1846.—Report from Bahraetch states, that +Goureeshunkur, the agent of Rughbur Sing, in Bahraetch, had taken +four persons from among the many whom he had in confinement on +account of balances, had them suspended to trees, and cruelly +flogged, and then had their hands wrapped up in thick cloth, +steeped in oil, and set fire to till they burned like torches; and +that he sat listening to their screams and cries for mercy with +indifference. Order by the King: Let the minister, Ameen-od Dowlah, +be furnished with a copy of this report, and let him send out three +troopers, as suzawuls, to bring in Goureeshunkur and the four men +whose hands had been burnt, and let him employ Mekhlis Hoseyn, to +inquire into the affair, and report the result. Nothing was +done.</p> +<p>On the 29th of August, the Resident, Mr. Davidson, addressed a +letter to the King stating, that he had before represented the +cruelties which Rughbur Sing was inflicting upon the people of his +district, but had heard of no redress having been afforded in any +case; that he had received another report on the same subject, and +now forwards it to show what atrocities his agent, Goureeshunkur, +was committing in Bahraetch; that in no other country could the +servants of the sovereign commit such cruel outrages upon his +subjects; that he had been wrapping up the bodies of the King's +subjects in oilcloths, and setting, fire to them as to torches; +that he could not do all this without the knowledge and sanction of +his master, Rughbur Sing; and the Resident prays, that he may be +punished, and that his punishment may be intimated to him, the +Resident. Nothing was ever done, nor was any answer given to this +letter, till it was, on the 30th of August 1847, acknowledged with +the many others contained in the list sent to the King, in his +letter of the 31st August 1847, by the then Resident, Colonel +Richmond.</p> +<p>No report appears to have reached either the Durbar or the +Resident, of the atrocious proceedings of Rughbur Sing's agents at +Busuntpoor, where so many persons perished from torture, +starvation, and exposure; nor was any notice taken of them till I +took charge of my office in January 1849. Incha Sing had offered +for the contract of the two districts four lacs less than Rughbur +Sing had pledged himself to pay, and obtained it, and quietly +superseded his nephew, with whom he was on cordial good terms. +Rughbur Sing went into the British territory, to evade all demands +for balances, and reside for +an interval, with the full assurance that he would be able to +purchase a restoration to favour and power in Oude, unless the +Resident should think it worth while to oppose him, which my +predecessor did not.* I had his agents arrested, and charges sent +in against them, with all the proofs accumulated, by Captain Orr; +but they all soon purchased their way out, and no one was punished. +At my suggestion the King proclaimed Rughbur Sing as an outlaw, and +offered three thousand rupees for his arrest, if he did not appear +within three months. He never appeared, but continued to carry on +his negociations for restoration to power at Lucknow, through the +very agents whom he had employed in the scenes above described, +Beharee Lal, Goureeshunker, Kurum Hoseyn, Maharaj Sing, &c.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Incha Sing absconded before the end of the season, and has +never returned to Oude. Mahommed Hussan got the contract on a +reduction of two hundred and thirty-one thousand rupees, below the +rates which Incha Sing bound himself to pay. But in 1850, he +consented to an increase of three hundred and ninety-nine thousand, +with, I believe, the deliberate intention to raise the funds for +the payment by the murder of Ramdut Pandee, and the confiscation of +his estate.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Amjud Allee Shah, who was something of a man of business, died +13th February 1847, and was succeeded by his eldest son, the +present King, who knows nothing of, and cares nothing whatever +about, business. His minister, Ameen-od Dowlah, who had some +character of his own, was removed some three or four months after, +and succeeded by the present minister, Allee Nakee Khan, who has +none.</p> +<p>The following table of the actual payments into the treasury, +from these two districts of Gonda-Bahraetch, for four years from +1845, will serve to show the fiscal effects of such atrocities as +were permitted to be perpetrated in them for a brief period of two +years:—</p> +<pre> +For 1845, under Wajid Allee . 11,65,132 5 3 +For 1846, under Rughbur Sing . 14,01,623 7 6 +For 1847, under ditto . 10,27,898 4 6 +For 1848, under Incha Sing . . 6,05,492 0 3 +</pre> +<p>But what table can show the sufferings of the people, and the +feelings of hatred and abhorrence of the Government and its +officers, to which they gave rise! Not one of the agents, employed +in the atrocities above described, was ever punished. The people +see that all the members of the Government are accessaries, either +before or after the fact, in all these dreadful cruelties and +outrages, and, that the more of them a public officer commits, the +more secure is he of protection and favour at Court. Their hatred +and abhorrence of the individual, in consequence, extend to and +embrace the whole of the Government, and would extend also to the +British Government, by whom that of Oude is supported, did they not +see how earnestly the British Resident strives to alleviate their +sufferings, and make the Oude sovereign and minister do their duty +towards them; and how much all British officers sympathise with +their sufferings as they pass through the country.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Beharee Lal is now (June 1851) employed in a confidential +situation, in the office of the deputy minister. Goureeshunker is a +Tusseeldar, or native collector, in the same district of Bahraetch, +under the new contractor, Mann Sing. Moonshee Kurum Hoseyn holds a +similar office in some other district. Maharaj Sing, and the rest, +all hold, I believe, situations of equal emolument and +respectability.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Almost all the khalsa lands of the Hissampoor purgunnah belonged +to the different branches of a very ancient and respectable family +of Syuds. Their lands have, as already stated, been almost all +transferred to powerful tallookdars, and absorbed by them in their +estates, by the usual process. It is said, and I believe truly, +that Hadee Allee Khan tried to induce the head of the Syud family +to take his daughter in marriage for his eldest son, as he was also +a Syud, (lineal descendant of the prophet.) The old Syud was too +proud to consent to this; and he and all his relations and +connection were ruined in consequence. The son, to whom Hadee Allee +wished to unite his daughter, still lives on his lands, but in +poverty and fear. The people say that family pride is more +inveterate among the aristocracy of the country than that of the +city; and had the old man lived at Lucknow, he would probably have +given his son, and saved his family and estate.</p> +<p>Captain Hardwick, while out shooting on the 10th, saw a dead man +hanging by the heels in a mango-tree, close to the road. He was one +of a gang of notorious robbers who had attacked a neighbouring +village belonging to some Brahmins. They killed two, and caught a +third member of the gang, and hung him up by the heels to die. He +was the brother-in-law of the leader of the gang, Nunda Pandee. +There he still hangs, and the greater part of my camp took a look +at him in passing.</p> +<pre> +Tallookdars of Bahraetch-Government Land Revenue according + to the Estimate of this Year. +___________________________________________________________________ +Names of Villages Government Present Condition + Demand +___________________________________________________________________ +Bandee . . . . . 65,000 Almost waste +Ruhooa . . . . . 20,000 Ditto +Nanpara . . . . . 1,50,000 Falling off +Gungwal . . . . . 26,000 Much out of tillage +Pyagpoor . . . . . 59,000 Ditto +Ekona . . . . . . 1,80,000 Ditto +Bulrampoor . . . . 1,50,000 Well tilled +Toolseepoor . . . . 1,05,000 Ditto +Atrola . . . . . 80,000 Much out of tillage +Munkapoor . . . . 35,000 Ditto +Bahmanee Paer . . . 12,000 Ditto +___________________________________________________________________ +Gowras alias Chehdwara +Paruspoor. . . . . 14,000 Well tilled +Aruta . . . . . . 18,000 Ditto +Shahpoor . . . . . 30,000 Ditto +Dhunawa . . . . . 42,000 Ditto +Paska . . . . . . 20,000 Ditto +Kumeear . . . . . 48,000 Ditto +___________________________________________________________________ +Churda . . . . . 62,000 Falling off +<b>___________________________________________________________________</b> + + + Gonda Pergunnah. +___________________________________________________________________ +Desumberpoor. . . . 95,000 Rajah Davey Buksh, in + good order. +Bhinga. . . . . . 64,000 Recovering. +Akkerpoor. . . . . 46,015 In good order under + Ramdut Pandee. +Sagha Chunda. . . . 1,20,729 Ramdut Pandee, in good + order. +Birwa . . . . . . 24,000 A little out of tillage. +<b>___________________________________________________________________</b> +</pre> +<p><i>December</i> 12, 1849.—Gungwal, thirteen miles. The +road lay through the estate of Pyagpoor to within a mile of +Gungwal. Little cultivation was to be seen the whole way, and what +we could see was bad. Little variety of crops, and the tillage +slovenly, and without manure or irrigation. The tallookdar was +ruined by Rughbur Sing, and is not on terms with the present Nazim, +and he did not appear. The estate of Gungwal is not better +cultivated than that of Pyagpoor; nor better peopled—both may +be considered as mere wastes, and their assessments as merely +nominal. The tallookdar did not appear. Both were ruined by the +rapacious Nazim and his atrocious agents, Goureeshunker, Beharee +Lal, Kurum Hoseyn, and others.</p> +<p>The Rajah of Toolseepoor, Dirgraj Sing, has an only son, +Sahibjee, now 17 years of age. The Rajah's old servants, thinking +they could make more out of the boy than out of the prudent father, +first incited him to go off, with all the property he could +collect, to Goruckpoor, where he spent it in ten months of revelry. +The father invited him back two mouths ago, on condition that he +should come alone. When he got within six miles of Toolseepoor, +however, the father found, that three thousand armed followers had +there been assembled by his agents, to aid him in seizing upon him +and the estate. Fearing that his estate might be desolated, and he +himself confined, and perhaps put to death, the Rajah ran off to +his friend, the Rajah of Bulrampore, for protection.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 13, 1849.—Purenda, eleven miles. The first +half of the way, through the lands of Gungwal, showed few signs of +tillage or population; the latter half through, those of Purenda +and other villages of Gonda, held by Ramdut Pandee, showed more of +both. Some nice villages on each side, at a small distance, and +some fine groves of mango-trees. On the road this morning, Omrow +Pooree, a non-commissioned officer of the Gwalior Contingent, whose +family resided in a neighbouring village, came up to me as I passed +along, and prayed me to have the murderer of his father seized and +punished. He described the circumstances of the case, and on +reaching camp, I requested Captain Weston to take the depositions +of the witnesses, and adopt measures for the arrest of the +offenders. Syampooree was the name of the father of the +complainant. He resided in a small hamlet, near the road, called +after himself, as the founder, "Syampooree ka Poorwa," or +Syampooree's Hamlet. He had four sons, all fine, stout men. The +eldest, Omrow Pooree, a corporal in the Gwalior Contingent, Bhurut +Pooree, a private in Captain Barlow's regiment, Ramchurun and +Ramadeen, the two youngest, still at home, assisting their father +in the management of their little estate, which the family had held +for many generations. One day in the beginning of December 1848, a +short, thick-set man passed through the hamlet, accosted Syampooree +and his two sons, as they sat at the door, and asked for some +tobacco, and entered into conversation with them. He pretended that +his cart had been seized by the Nazim's soldiers; and, after +chatting with them for a short time, departed.</p> +<p>The second morning after this, before daylight, Ramadeen, the +youngest son, was warming himself at a fire on a small terrace in +front of the door, when he saw a party of armed men approaching. He +called out, and asked who they were and what they wanted. They told +him that they were Government servants, had traced a thief to the +village, and come to seize him. Four of the party, who carried +torches, now approached the fire and lighted them. Syampooree and +his other son, Ramchurun, hearing the noise, came out, and placed +themselves by the side of Ramadeen. By the light of the torches +they now recognised the short, thick-set man with whom they had +been talking two days before, at the head of a gang of fifteen men, +carrying fire-arms with matches lighted, and five more armed with +swords and shields. The short, thick-set man was Nunda Pandee, the +most notorious robber in the district. He ordered his gang to +search the house: on the father and sons remonstrating, he drew his +sword and cut down Ramchurun. The father and Ramadeen having left +their swords in the house, rushed back to secure them; but Nunda +Pandee, calling out to one of his followers, Bhowaneedeen, to +despatch the son, overtook the father, and at one cut severed his +right arm from his body. He inflicted several other cuts upon him +before the old man could secure his sword with his left arm. Having +got it, he placed the scabbard under his foot, drew forth the +blade, and cut Nunda Pandee across his sword-arm which placed him +<i>hors-de-combat</i>; and rushing out among the assailants, he cut +down two more, when he was shot dead by a third and noted robber, +Goberae. Bhowaneedeen and others of the gang had cut down Ramadeen, +and inflicted several wounds upon him as he lay on the ground. The +gang then plundered the house, and made off with property to the +value of one thousand and fifty rupees, leaving the father and both +sons on the ground. The brave old father died soon after daybreak; +but before he expired he named his assailants.</p> +<p>The two youngest sons were too severely wounded to admit of +their pursuing the murderers of their father, but their brother, +Bhurut Pooree, obtaining leave of absence, returned home, and +traced the leader of the gang, Nunda Pandee, to the house of one of +his relatives in the village of Kurroura, in Pyagpoor, where he had +had his wound sewn up and dressed, and lay concealed. The family +then tried, in vain, to get redress from all the local authorities, +none of whom considered it to be their duty to look after murderers +and robbers of this kind. Captain Weston succeeded in arresting +this atrocious gang-leader, Nunda Pandee, who described to him +minutely many of the numerous enterprises of this kind in which he +had been engaged, and seemed to glory in his profession. He +mentioned that the man whom he had seen suspended in the tree was +his brother-in-law; that he had had two other members of his gang +killed by the villagers on that occasion, but had succeeded in +carrying off their bodies; that Goberae, Bhowaneedeen, and the rest +of his followers were still at large and prosecuting their trade. +Nunda Pandee was by the Resident made over for trial and punishment +to the Durbar; and Goberae and Bhowaneedeen have since been +arrested and made over also. They both acknowledged that they +murdered the Gosaen in the manner above described, May 1851. The +Mahommedan law-officer before whom the case was tried declared, +that he could not, according to law, admit as valid the evidence of +the wife and two sons of the murdered Gosaen, because they were +relatives and prosecutors; and, as the robbers denied before him +that they were the murderers, he could not, or pretended he could +not, legally sentence them to punishment The King was, in +consequence, obliged to take them from his Court, and get them +sentenced to perpetual imprisonment by another Court, not +trammelled by the same law of evidence. This difficulty arises from +<i>blood</i> having its <i>price</i> in money in the country where +the law was made, or the <i>Deeut</i>; any person who had a right +to share in this <i>Deeut</i>, or price of blood, was therefore +held to be an invalid or incompetent witness to the fact.</p> +<p>On the road from Bahraetch to Gungwal we saw very few groves or +fine single trees on either side. The water is close to the +surface, and the soil good, but for the most part flooded during +the rains, and fit only for rice-cultivation. To fit it for the +culture of other autumn crops would require a great outlay in +drainage; and this no one will incur without better security for +the returns than the present government can afford. Ramdut Pandee +is the greatest agricultural capitalist in these parts.</p> +<p>On the 8th of December it had become known all over the city of +Lucknow, that the King had promised Captain Bird that he would +banish Gholam Ruza and his sister, and Kotub Allee, across the +Ganges; and it was entered in the news-writer's report, though +Captain Bird had spoken of it to no one. He was asked by the +minister whether he would excuse the King for not keeping his word +so far, and said he could not. He demanded an audience of the King, +who tried to avoid a meeting by pleading indisposition; but the +first Assistant, being very urgent, he was admitted. He found the +King in a small inner room lying on a cot covered with a ruzae or +quilt.</p> +<p>There were closed doors on the side of the room where the cot +stood, and Captain Bird perceived that persons were behind +listening to the conversation. On the minister advancing to meet +him at the door. Captain Bird declined taking his proffered hand, +and in a loud voice declared—"that he believed that he was mixed +up with the fiddlers, and was afraid of their being removed, or he +would have carried his Majesty's order for their dismissal into +effect." He then advanced to the King, shook him by the hand, +apologized for intruding upon him after his excuse of illness, and +stated—"that his own character was at stake, and he had been +obliged to take this step to save it, and requested that the +minister might be told to retire during the conversation, as he had +already shown his partiality for the characters whom his Majesty +had stigmatized as low, intriguing, and untrustworthy—as ruiners of +his good name and his kingdom, and the cause of ill-feeling between +the British Government and himself. The King expressed a wish that +the minister might remain, that he might have an opportunity to +listen to what Captain Bird had to state, as it appeared to be +against him. Captain Bird replied, that he had no complaint to make +against the minister; that his object in coming was, to claim the +fulfilment of the promise which his Majesty had so solemnly made to +him, to dismiss Gholam Ruza and his sister, and Kotub Allee, and +send them across the Ganges; that he was induced to demand this +audience by the minister's visit of the preceding evening, to ask +him to excuse his Majesty's fulfilling the promise which he had +made; and by the written report given to him that morning by the +news-writer, stating, that his Majesty had changed his mind, and +pardoned the parties."</p> +<p>The King declared that he had never given Captain Bird any such +promise. Captain Bird then repeated to his Majesty the conversation +which had taken place on that occasion. The King seemed to be +staggered; but the minister came to his aid, and said—"that +his Majesty had ascertained from Sadik Allee himself, that Gholam +Ruza was not an accomplice in that affair." Captain Bird +replied—"that the King had told him, that the deception had +been so fully proved, that they were speechless; and that his +Majesty had spit in their faces." The King said "not in Gholam +Ruza's. His sister and Kotub Allee are alone guilty." Captain Bird +urged, that all were alike guilty, and he besought the King to +fulfil his promise, saying,—"that his, Captain Bird's, name +was at stake; that if the parties were not removed, the whole city +would say, that the King had bribed him, and +bought off his promise." The King replied, "This is all nonsense; +do you wish me to swear that Gholam Ruza is innocent, and that I +never gave the promise you mention?" and, calling the minister, he +placed his right hand on his head, and said,—"I swear, as if +this was my son's head, and by God, that I believe Gholam Ruza to +be entirely innocent; and that I never promised to turn him out, or +to send him across the Ganges." Captain Bird then heard a movement +of feet in the next room behind the closed doors. He was horrified; +but returning to the charge, said, "Your Majesty has, at any rate, +acknowledged the guilt of Gholam Ruza's sister, and that of Khotub +Allee; pray fulfil your promise on the guilty." The King +said—"When absent from my sight, they are as far off as +across one hundred rivers. I know they are intriguers, and shall +keep my eyes upon them." Captain Bird said—"I have reported +the circumstances of the case thus far to the Resident. Your +Majesty has made me a participator in the breaking of your word. I +have told Colonel Sleeman you would turn these men out." The King +said—"This case has reference only to my house—it has no +connection with the Government; but if you wish to use force, take +me also by the beard, and pull me from my throne!" Captain Bird +said—"I pray your Majesty to recollect how often, when force +might have been used, under your own sign-manual and seal, on these +fiddlers interfering in State affairs, the Resident has hesitated +to put your written permission for their removal into force; and +now who can be your friend, or save you from any danger, which may +hereafter threaten your life or your well-being? I must, of course, +report all to the Resident." The minister now said—"Yes, +report to the Resident that the King has changed his mind, broken +his word, and will not fulfil his promise; and ask for permission +to employ direct force for the removal of these men: see if he will +give permission." Captain Bird replied, "that any orders he +received from the Resident would certainly be carried, into effect; +but if his Majesty's own acknowledgment of the deceitfulness of +these men, and their intriguing rascality were not sufficient to +induce him to remove them—if the King set so little value on +his promise—a promise now known to the whole city, and which +he must in self-defence now speak openly of, he foresaw the speedy +downfall of the kingdom. Who, he asked, will subject themselves to +be deceived in an endeavour to prop it up by the removal of those +who were living on its heart's blood, or be made liars by reporting +promises never to be fulfilled?" Thus ended this interview.</p> +<p>The next day Sadik Allee had a dress of honour conferred upon +him, and an increase of one hundred rupees a-month made to his +salary; and Gholam Ruza, and his relative the fiddler, Anees-od +Dowla, were seated behind his Majesty in his carriage-and-four, and +paraded through the city, as in full possession of his favour. +After the King had alighted from the carriage at the palace, the +coachman drove the two singers to their apartments in the Mukbura, +seated as before in the khuwas, or hind seat. [On the 25th of May +1850, the King caused the chief singer, Gholam Ruza, his father, +Nathoo, his sister, and her husband, Dummun Khan, Gholam Hyder +Khan, Kotub Allee, his brother, Sahib Allee, and the females of his +family, in all fourteen persons, to be seized and confined in +prison. On the 2nd of June, all but Gholam Ruza and Dummun Khan +were transported across the Ganges into British territory; and, on +the 23rd of July, these two men were transported in the same +manner. The immediate cause of the King's anger was the discovery +that his divorced and banished wife, Surafrazmahal, had actually +come back, and remained concealed for seven days and seven nights +in the palace, in the apartments of the chief singer, Gholam Ruza. +They were all made to disgorge the Company's notes and jewels found +upon them, but the King visited Gholam Ruza the day before his +departure, and treated him with great kindness, and seemed very +sorry to part with him.]</p> +<p>On the 10th, I had written to Captain Bird to mention the +distinction which he appeared to have overlooked in his zeal to get +the fiddlers removed. The offence with which these persons stood +charged in this case was a personal affront to the King, or an +affront to his understanding, and not any interference with the +administration of the Government; and the first Assistant was +requested by the Resident to wait upon his Majesty, merely with a +view to encourage him in his laudable resolution to banish them, +and to offer his aid in doing so should his Majesty manifest any +wish to have it; and not to demand their punishment on the part of +the British Government. In the one case, if the King promised to +punish the offenders and relented and forgave them, we could only +regret his weakness; but in the other, if he promised to punish +them and failed to do so, we should consider it due to the +character of our Government to insist upon the fulfilment of his +promise. On the evening of the 11th I got the above report of his +interview with the King from Captain Bird; and, on the 12th, I +wrote to tell him, that I considered him to have acted very +indiscreetly; that he had brought this vexation and mortification +upon himself by his overweening confidence in his personal +influence over the King; that he ought to have waited for +instructions from me, or at least for a reply from me to his +letter, regarding the former interview at Court; that I could not +now give him the support he required, as I could neither demand +that his requisitions should be complied with, nor tell the King +that I approved of them that he had been authorized by me to act on +his own discretion in any case of great emergency, but this could +not be considered of such a character, for no evil or inconvenience +was to be apprehended from a day or two's delay, since the question +really was, whether his Majesty should have a dozen fiddlers or +only ten.</p> +<p>In the beginning of September 1850, the King became enamoured of +one of his mother's waiting-maids, and demanded her in marriage. +See was his mother's favourite bedfellow, and she would not part +with her. The King became angry, and to soothe him his mother told +him that it was purely out of regard for him and his children that +she refused to part with this young woman; that she had a +"<i>sampun</i>," or the coiled figure of a snake in the hair on the +back of her neck. No man, will purchase a horse with such a mark, +or believe that any family can be safe in which a horse or mare +with such a mark is kept. His mother told him, that if he cohabited +with a woman having such a mark, he and all his children must +perish. The King said that he might probably have, among his many +wives, some with marks of this kind; and that this might account +for his frequent attacks of palpitation of the heart. "No doubt," +said the old Queen Dowager; "we have long thought so; but your +Majesty gets into such a towering passion when we venture to speak +of your wives, that we have been afraid to give expression to our +thoughts and fears." "Perhaps," said the King, "I may owe to this +the death, lately, of my poor son, the heir-apparent." "We have +long thought so," replied his mother. The chief eunuch, Busheer, +was forthwith ordered to inspect the back of the necks of all save +that of the chief consort, the mother of the late and present +heir-apparent. He reported that he had found the <i>fatal mark</i> +upon the necks of no less than eight of the King's wives, +Nishat-mahal, Koorshed-mahal, Sooleeman-mahal, Huzrut-mahal, Dara +Begum, Buree Begum, Chotee Begum, and Huzrut Begum. The chief +priest was summoned, and the divorce, from the whole eight, +pronounced forthwith; and the ladies were ordered to depart with +all that they had saved while in the palace. Some of their friends +suggested to his Majesty, that Mahommedans were but unskilful +judges in such matters, and that a Court of Brahmins should be +assembled, as they had whole volumes devoted exclusively to this +science. The most learned were accordingly collected, and they +declared that though there were marks resembling in some degree the +<i>sampun</i>, it was of no importance; and the evil it threatened +might be averted by singeing the head of the snake with a hot iron. +The ladies were very indignant, and six of them insisted upon +leaving the palace, in virtue of the divorce. Two only consented to +remain, the Buree Begum and Chota Begum.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 14, 1849.—Came on twelve miles to Gonda. +The country well studded with groves and fine single trees; the +soil naturally fertile, and water near the surface. Cultivation +good about Gonda, and about some of the villages along the road it +is not bad; but there is nowhere any sugar-cane to be seen beyond a +small garden patch. The country is so wretchedly stocked with +cattle that little manure is available for tillage.</p> +<p>The Bulrampore Rajah, a lively, sensible, and active young man, +joined me this morning, and rode along by the side of my elephant, +with the capitalist, Ramdut Pandee, the Nazim, Mahommed Hussan, and +old Bukhtawar Sing, the brother of the late Dursun Sing, whom I +have often mentioned in this Diary. Rajah Bukhtawar Sing is the +King's Mohtamin, or Quartermaster-General of the Resident's' camp. +The Rajah of Toolseepore also, who has been ousted by his son from +his estate, joined me last night; but he was not well enough to +ride with me. Dogs, hawks, and panthers attend for sport, but they +afford little or no amusement. Hawking is a very dull and very +cruel sport. A person must become insensible to the sufferings of +the most beautiful and most inoffensive of the brute creation +before he can feel any enjoyment in it. The cruelty lies chiefly in +the mode of feeding the hawks. I have ordered all these hunting +animals to return to Lucknow.</p> +<p>Although the personal character of the Toolseepoor Rajah is not +respected, that of his son is much worse; and the Bulrampoor Rajah +and other large landholders in the neighbourhood would unite and +restore him to the possession of his estate, but the Nazim is held +responsible for their not moving in the matter, in order that the +influential persons about the Court may have the plucking of it at +their leisure. The better to insure this, two companies of one of +the King's regiments have been lately sent out with two guns, to +see that the son is not molested in the possession. The father was +restored to his estate in 1850, and the son fled again to the +Goruckpoor district. He became reconciled to his father some months +after, through the mediation of the magistrate, Mr. Chester, and +returned to Toolseepoor. The father and son, however, distrusted +each other too much to live long together on amicable terms, and +the son has gone off again to Goruckpoor.</p> +<p>The Toolseepoor estate extends along from east to west for about +one hundred miles, in a belt of from nine to twelve miles wide, +upon the southern border of that part of the Oude Tarae forest +which we took from Nepaul in 1815, and made over to the Oude +Government by the treaty of the 11th May 1816, in lieu of the one +crore of rupees which our Government borrowed from Oude for the +conduct of that war. The rent-roll of Toolseepoor is now from two +to three lacs of rupees a-year; but it pays to the Oude Government +a revenue of only one lac and five thousand, over and above +gratuities to influential officers. The estate comprises that of +Bankee, which was held by a Rajah Kunsa. Dan Bahader, the father of +the present Rajah of Toolseepoor, attacked him one night in 1832, +put him and some two hundred and fifty of his followers and family +to death, and absorbed the estate. Mahngoo, the brother of Kunsa, +escaped and sought redress from the Oude Durbar; but he had no +money and could get no redress; and, in despair, he went off to +seek employment in Nepaul, and died soon after. Dan Bahader, +enriched by the pillage of Bankee, came to Lucknow, and purchased +permission to incorporate Bankee with his old estate of +Toolseepoor.</p> +<p>Khyreeghur and Kunchunpoor, on the western border of that +forest, were made over by us to Oude at the same time, as part of +the cession. They had been ceded to our Government by the treaty of +1801, at an estimated value of two hundred and ten thousand, but, +up to 1816, they had never yielded to us fifty thousand rupees +a-year. They had, however, formerly yielded from two to three lacs +of rupees a-year to the Oude Government, and under good management +may do so again; but, at present, Oude draws from them a revenue of +only sixteen thousand, and that with difficulty. The rent-roll, +however, exceeds two hundred thousand, and may, in a few years, +amount to double that sum, as population and tillage are rapidly +extending.</p> +<p>The holders of Khyreegur and Kunchunpoor are always in a state +of resistance against the Oude Government, and cannot be coerced +into the payment of more than their sixteen thousand rupees a-year; +and hundreds of lives have been sacrificed in the collection of +this sum. The climate is so bad that no people from the open +country can venture into it for more than four months in the +year—from the beginning of December to the end of March. The +Oude Government occasionally sends in a body of troops to enforce +the payment of an increased demand during these four months. The +landholders and cultivators retire before them, and they are sure +to be driven out by the pestilence, with great loss of life, in a +few months; and the landholders refuse to pay anything for some +years after, on the ground that all their harvests were destroyed +by the troops. The rest of the Tarae lands ceded had little of +tillage or population at that time, and no government could be less +calculated than that of Oude to make the most of its capabilities. +It had, therefore, in a fiscal point of view, but a poor equivalent +for its crore of rupees; but it gained a great political advantage +in confining the Nepaulese to the hills on its border. Before this +arrangement took place there used to be frequent disputes, and +occasionally serious collisions between the local authorities about +boundaries, which were apt to excite the angry feelings of the +sovereigns of both States, and to render the interposition of the +paramount power indispensable.</p> +<p>It was at Bhinga, on the left bank of the Rabtee River, in the +Gonda district, and eight miles north-east from Bulrampoor, that +Mr. George Ravenscroft, of the Bengal Civil Service, was murdered +on the night of the 6th May, 1823. He had been the collector of the +land revenue of the Cawnpore district for many years; but, having +taken from the treasury a very large sum of money, and spent it in +lavish hospitality and unsuccessful speculations, he absconded with +his wife and child, and found an asylum with the Rajah of Bhinga, +on the border of the Oude Tarae, where he intended to establish +himself as an indigo planter. Strict search was being made for him +throughout India by the British Government, and his residence at +Bhinga was concealed from the Oude Government by the local +authorities. The Rajah made over to him a portion of land for +tillage, and a suitable place in a mango grove, about a mile from +his fort, to build a house upon. He built one after the +Hindoostanee fashion, with bamboos and grass from the adjoining +jungle. It consisted of a sitting-room, bed-room, and bathing-room, +all in a line, and forming one side of a quadrangle, and facing +inside, with only one small door on the outside, opening into the +bathing-room. The other three sides of the quadrangle consisted of +stables, servants' houses, and out-offices, all facing inside, and +without any entrances on the outside, save on the front side, +facing the dwelling-house, where there was a large entrance.</p> +<br> +<pre> + PLAN OF MR. RAVENSCROFT'S HOUSE. + _____________________________________ ___ + | | | | + | | Bathing| + | Sitting Room. | Bed Room. Room. | + |_______ ________|____ ______|_______| + | | | | + | | | | + | ___ | + | | | | + | | | | | | + |_____| |___| |_______| + | | Cot | | + | | | | + | O S | + | u t | + | t | | a | + | | | b | + |__O__| |___l___| + | f | | e | + | f | | s | + | i | | | + | c | + | e | + | s | | | + | | | | + |_____| |_______| + | | | | + | | + | | Entrance | | + | |___ _____ ____ ____| | + | | | | + | | | | + |________________| |__________________| +</pre> +<br> +<p>The Rajah, Seo Sing, was a worthy old man. He had four sons, +Surubjeet Sing, the eldest, Omrow Sing, Kaleepurkas Sing, and +Jypurkas Sing. The eldest was then married, and about the age of +twenty-five; the other three were still boys. The old man left the +management of the estate to the eldest son, a morose person, who +led a secluded life, and was never seen out of the female +apartments, save twice a-year, on the festival of the hooley and +the anniversary of his marriage. Mr. Ravenscroft had never seen or +held any communion with him, save through his father, brothers, or +servants; but he was in the habit of daily seeing and conversing +with the father and his other sons on the most friendly terms. The +eldest son became alarmed when he saw Mr. Ravenscroft begin to +plant indigo, and prepare to construct vats for the manufacture; +and apprehended that he would go on encroaching till he took the +whole estate from him, unless he was made away with. He therefore +hired a gang of Bhuduk dacoits from the neighbouring forest of the +Oude Tarae to put him to death, after he had been four months at +Bhinga. During this time Mrs. Ravenscroft had gone on one occasion +to Cawnpoor, and on another to Secrora, on business.</p> +<p>Bhinga lies fifty miles north-east from Secrora, where the 20th +Regiment of Native Infantry, under the command of Colonel Patton, +was then cantoned. On the 6th of May 1823, Ensign Platt, of that +corps, had come out to see him. In the evening, the old Rajah and +his second and third sons came to visit Mr. Ravenscroft as usual, +and they sat conversing with the family on the most friendly terms +till nine o'clock, when they took leave, and Mrs. Ravenscroft, with +her child and two female attendants, retired to the sleeping-room +in the house. Ensign Platt went to his small sleeping-tent outside +the quadrangle, under a mango-tree. This tent was just large enough +to admit his small cot, and a few block-tin travelling-boxes, which +he piled away inside, to the right and left of his bed. Mr. +Ravenscroft slept on a cot in the open air, in the quadrangle, a +few paces from the door leading to Mrs. Ravenscroft's +sleeping-apartment. He that night left his arms in the +sitting-room, and Ensign Platt had none with him. Mr. Ravenscroft +was the handsomest and most athletic European gentleman then in +India, and one of the most expert in the use of the sword and +shield.</p> +<p>His servants had been accustomed to stand sentry, by turns, at +the entrance of the quadrangle, and it was his groom Munsa's turn +to take the first watch that night. He was to have been relieved by +the chowkeedar, Bhowaneedeen; but, in the middle of his watch, he +roused the chowkeedar, and told him that he had been taken suddenly +ill, and must go to his house for relief. The chowkeedar told him +that he might go at once, and he would get up and take his place +immediately; but he lay down and soon fell asleep again.</p> +<p>About eleven o'clock the whole quadrangle was filled by a gang +of about sixty dacoits, who set their torches in a blaze, and began +to attack Mr. Ravenscroft with their spears. He sprang up, and +called loudly for his sword and shield, but there was no one to +bring them. He received several spears through his body as he made +for the door of Mrs. Ravenscroft's apartment, calling out to her in +English to fly and save herself and child, and defending himself as +well as he could with his naked arms. Mosahib, a servant who slept +by his cot, got to Mrs. Ravenscroft's room and assisted her to +escape, with her child and two female attendants, through the +bathing-room to the outside. A party had been placed to stab Ensign +Platt with their long spears through the sides of his small tent; +but they passed through and through the block-tin boxes, and roused +without hurting him. He rushed out and attempted to defend himself +by seizing the spears of his assailants; but he received several of +them through his arms. He made for the entrance to the quadrangle, +and there, by the blaze of the torches, saw Mr. Ravenscroft still +endeavouring to defend himself, but covered with blood, which was +streaming from his wounds and mouth.</p> +<p>On seeing Ensign Platt at the entrance, he staggered towards +him, but the dacoits made a rush at Ensign Platt with their spears +at the same time. He saved himself by springing over a thick and +thorny hedge on one side of the quadrangle, and ran round behind to +the small door leading into the bathing-room, which he reached in +time to assist Mrs. Ravenscroft to escape, as the dacoits were +forcing their way through the screen into her bed-room from the +sitting-room. As soon as he saw her under the shade of the trees, +beyond the blaze of the torches, he left her and her child, and the +two female attendants, to the care of Mosahib, and went round to +the entrance in search of her husband. He had got to a tree, +outside the entrance, into which Deena, Ensign Platt's servant, had +climbed to save himself as soon as he saw his master attacked, and +was leaning against it; but, on seeing Ensign Platt, he again +staggered towards him, saying faintly <i>bus, bus</i>—enough, +enough. These were the last words he was heard to utter, and must +have referred to the escape of his wife and child, of which he had +become conscious. By this time the gang had made off with the +little booty they found. On attacking Mr. Ravenscroft at first, +some of them were heard to say, "You have run from Cawnpoor to come +and seize upon the estate of Bhinga, but we will settle you." Mrs. +Ravenscroft, her infant, and female attendants, remained concealed +under the shade of the trees, and her husband was now taken to her +with eighteen spear wounds through his body. The Rajah and his two +young sons soon after made their appearance, and in the evening the +survivors were all taken by the old man to a spacious building, +close outside the fort, where they received every possible +attention; but the eldest son never made his appearance. Out of the +twenty-nine men who composed the party when the attack commenced, +seven had been killed and eighteen wounded. Mr. Ravenscroft died +during the night of the 7th, after great suffering. He retained his +consciousness till near the last; but the blood continued to flow +from his mouth, and he could articulate nothing. On the morning of +the 8th, he was buried in the grove, and Ensign Platt read the +funeral service over his grave. Mrs. Ravenscroft and her child were +taken to Colonel Patton, at Secrora, and soon after sent by him to +Lucknow.</p> +<p>On the 10th, he reported the circumstances of this murder to the +Resident, Mr. Ricketts; and sent him the narratives of Mosahib and +Deena; and his report, with translations of these narratives, was +submitted by the Resident to Government on the 12th of that month. +But in these narratives no mention whatever was made of a British +officer having been present at the murder and the burial of Mr. +Ravenscroft. This suppression arose, no doubt, from the +apprehension that Government might be displeased to find that the +military authorities at Secrora had become aware of Mr. +Ravenscroft's residence at Bhinga without reporting the +circumstance to Government; and still more so to find, that he had +been there visited by a British officer, when search was being made +for him throughout India.</p> +<p>In acknowledging the receipt of the Resident's letter on the +23rd of May, the Secretary, Mr. George Swinton, observes, that the +Governor-General in Council concludes, that he shall receive a more +full and satisfactory report on the subject from Colonel Patton +than that to which his letter had given cover, since he considered +that report to be very imperfect; that one of the narrators, +Mosahib, states, that he himself conducted Mrs. Ravenscroft and her +child to a neighbouring village, and yet he brought no message +whatever from that lady to Colonel Patton at Secrora; that none of +the wounded people or servants of the deceased, except Deena, +appear to have found their way to Sacrora, though four days had +elapsed from the date of the murder to that of the despatch of the +report; that the body seemed to have been hastily interred by the +people of the village, without any notice having been sent to the +officer commanding the troops at Secrora; that such an atrocious +outrage as that described in these narratives, on the person of a +subject and servant of the British Government, demanded the +exertion of every effort to ascertain the real facts of the case by +local inquiry; yet it did not appear that any person had been +despatched to the spot to verify the evidence of the two men +examined by Colonel Patton, or to clear up the doubts to which all +these circumstances must naturally have given rise; nor did it +appear that the defects in Colonel Patton's report had occurred to +the Resident, or that he had directed any further inquiry to be +made.</p> +<p>The Resident was, therefore, directed to instruct Colonel +Patton, to depute one or more officers to the place where the +murder was said to be perpetrated, with orders to hold an inquiry +on the spot in communication with the King of Oude's officers, to +take the evidence of the wounded men, and that of any other persons +who might have been witnesses to any part of the transaction, and +to the burial of Mr. Ravenscroft; and to examine the grave in which +the body of the deceased was said to have been deposited; and +further, to call upon Colonel Patton to state whether any +information had previously reached Secrora of Mr. Ravenscroft's +actually residing at Bhinga, or at any other place within the +dominions of the King of Oude. "His Lordship in Council was," Mr. +Swinton says, "satisfied, from the known humanity of Colonel +Patton's character, that every possible aid and comfort had been +extended to Mrs. Ravenscroft and her child; and the information +which that lady and her attendants must have it in their power to +give, could not fail to place the whole affair in its proper +light." Extracts from this letter were sent by the Resident to +Colonel Patton, on the 2nd of June, with a request that he would +adopt immediate measures to carry the orders of Government into +effect; and reply to the question whether any information of Mr. +Ravenscroft's residing at Bhinga had previously reached him.</p> +<p>A committee of British officers was assembled at Bhinga on the +11th June, and their proceedings were transmitted to the Resident +on the 18th of that month; but the committee, for some reasons +stated in the report, did not examine "the grave in which the body +of the deceased was said to have been deposited." Though in this +committee Ensign Platt stated that he was present when the murder +was perpetrated; that he attended the deceased till he died the +next night, and performed the funeral ceremonies over the body on +the morning of the 8th; still he seemed to narrate the +circumstances of the event with some reserve, while there was a +good deal of discrepancy in the evidence of the other +eye-witnesses, as recorded in the report, seemingly from the dread +of compromising Ensign Platt.</p> +<p>The Resident did not, therefore, think that Government would be +satisfied with the result of this inquiry; and, on the 20th of June +he directed Colonel Patton to reassemble the committee at Bhinga, +and require it to hold an inquest on the body, and take the +depositions of all the witnesses on oath. On the same day the +Resident reported to Government what he had done. The second +committee proceeded to Bhinga, and, on the 13th of July, Colonel +Patton transmitted its report to the Resident, who submitted it to +Government on the 17th of that month. The committee had taken the +evidence of the witnesses on oath, and held an inquest on the body; +but, in doing so, it had been necessary to dig through the tomb +which Mrs. Ravenscroft had, in the interval, caused to be erected +over the remains of her husband; and, at the suggestion of Colonel +Patton, this tomb was rebuilt and improved at the cost of +Government, who were perfectly satisfied with the result.</p> +<p>But in its reply, dated the 31st July, Government very justly +remarks, that all the unnecessary trouble which had attended this +investigation, as well as the very painful step of having the body +disinterred, which the Resident found himself compelled to adopt in +obedience to its orders, arose from a want of those obvious +precautions in the first instance which ought to have suggested +themselves to Colonel Patton. Had he made the requisite inquiries +at Secrora, he must have learnt that an English officer belonging +to his own regiment, who had been present at the interment, had +been wounded when Mr. Ravenscroft was murdered, and, for a time, +rendered unfit for duty. The facts since deposed to on oath by +Ensign Platt might have been elicited, and his testimony, if +necessary, might have been confirmed by the evidence of the widow +of the deceased; and had such conclusive evidence been submitted to +Government in the first instance, the doubts excited by the +extraordinary circumstances of the whole affair would never have +existed. When ordered on the inquiry to Bhinga, had Ensign Platt at +once declared at Secrora that he could there afford all the +information required as to the fact of the murder and interment of +the body, the necessity of further inquiry on the spot would have +been obviated. He had apparently been deterred from doing this by +the apprehension of compromising both himself and his commanding +officer. Colonel Patton had no knowledge of Mr. Ravenscroft being +at Bhinga, though he had heard a rumour of his being somewhere in +the Oude territory; and, in his application for a few days' leave, +Ensign Platt made no mention of him or of his intention to visit +him. This is stated in a subsequent letter from Colonel Patton to +the Resident, dated 27th of August 1823.</p> +<p>The opinion that the Rajah had nothing whatever to do with the +murder, and that the gang was secretly hired for the purpose by his +eldest son, Surubjeet, has been confirmed by time, and is now +universal among the people of these parts. He died soon after of +dropsy, and the people believe that the disease was caused by the +crime. He left an only son, Krishun Dutt Sing. The Rajah, Seo Sing, +survived his eldest son some years; and, on his death, he was +succeeded by Krishun Dutt Sing, who now leads precisely the same +secluded life that his father led, and leaves the management of the +Bhinga estate entirely to his only surviving uncle, Kaleepurkas +Sing, the youngest of the two boys who visited Mr. Ravenscroft on +the evening of the murder. The other three sons of the old Rajah +are dead. The actual perpetrators of the murder were never punished +or discovered. Mrs. Ravenscroft afterwards became united in +marriage to the Resident at the time, Mr. Mordaunt Ricketts, and +still lives. Her child, a boy, was drowned at the Lucknow Residency +some time after his mother's marriage with the Resident. He had +been shut up by his mother in a bathing-room for some fault; and, +looking into a bathing-tub at his image in the water, he lost his +balance, fell in, and was drowned. When the servants went to let +him out they found him quite dead.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt3" id="Chapt3">CHAPTER III.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Legendary tale of breach of Faith—Kulhuns tribe of +Rajpoots—Murder of the Banker, Ramdut Pandee, by the Nazim of +Bahraetch—Recrossing the Ghagra river—Sultanpoor +district, State of Commandants of troops become sureties for the +payment of land revenue—Estate of Muneearpoor and the Lady +Sogura—Murder of Hurpaul Sing, Gurgbunsee, of +Kupragow—Family of Rajahs Bukhtawar and Dursun +Sing—Their <i>bynama</i> Lands—Law of +Primogeniture—Its object and effect—Rajah Ghalib +Jung—Good effects of protection to Tenantry—Disputes +about Boundaries—Our army a safety-valve for Oude—Rapid +decay of Landed Aristocracy in our Territories—Local ties in +groves, wells, &c.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 15, 1849.-Wuzeergunge. On the way this morning, +we passed Koorassa, which is said once to have been the capital of +a formidable Rajah, the head of the Kulhuns tribe of Rajpoots. The +villages which we see along the road seem better, and better +peopled and provided with cattle. The soil not naturally very +fertile, but yields fine returns under good culture, manure, and +irrigation. Water everywhere very near the surface. The place is +called after the then <i>Nawab Wuzeer</i>, Asuf-od Dowlah, who +built a country-seat here with all appurtenances of mosque, courts, +dwelling-houses, &c., on the verge of a fine lake, formed in +the old bed of the Ghagra river, with tillage and verdure extending +down to the water's edge. The garden-wall, which surrounds a large +space of ground, well provided with fruit and ornamental trees, is +built of burnt bricks, and still entire. The late minister, +Ameen-od Dowlah, persuaded his master, Amjad Allee Shah, to give +this garden and the lands around, with which it had been endowed, +to his moonshee, Baker Allee Khan, who now resides at Fyzabad, and +subsists upon the rents which he derives from them, and which are +said to be about twelve hundred rupees a-year.</p> +<p>The Bulrampoor Rajah, Ramdut Pandee, the banker, and Rajah +Bukhtawar Sing, rode with me this morning. The Rajah of Bulrampoor +is an intelligent and pleasing young man. He was a child when Mr. +Ravenscroft was killed, but said he had heard, that the Bhinga +chief had suffered for the share which he had had in the murder; +his body swelled, and he died within a month or two. "If men's +bodies swelled for murder, my friend," I said, "we should have no +end of swelled bodies in Oude, and among the rest, that of Prethee +Put's, of Paska." "Their bodies all swell, sooner, or later," said +old Bukhtawar Sing, "when they commit such atrocious crimes, and +Prethee Puts will begin to swell when he finds that you are +inquiring into his." "I am afraid, my friends, that the propensity +to commit them has become inveterate. One man hears that another +has obtained lands or wealth by the murder of his father or +brother, and does not rest till he has attempted to get the same by +the murder of his, for he sees no man punished for such crimes." +"It is not all nor many of our clan" (Rajpoots), said the Rajah of +Bulrampoor, "that can or will do this: we never unite our sons or +daughters in marriage with the family of one who is so stained with +crimes. Prethee Put and all who do as he has done, must seek an +union with families of inferior caste." I asked him whether the +people, in the Tarae forest, were still afraid to point out tigers +to sportsmen. "I was lately out with a party after a tiger," he +said, "which had killed a cowherd, but his companions refused to +point out any trace of him, saying, that their relatives' spirit +must be now riding upon his head, to guide him from all danger, and +we should have no chance of shooting him. We did shoot him, +however," said the Rajah, exultingly, "and they were all, +afterwards, very glad of it. The tigers in the Tarae do not often +kill men, sir, for they find plenty of deer and cattle to +eat."—"Can you tell me, Rajah Sahib," said I, "why it is that +among the Arabs, the lion is called 'the father of cultivation,' +'<i>abol hurs</i>, or <i>abo haris</i>.'" "No," replied the Rajah; +"it is an odd name for a beast that feeds on nothing but the flesh +of deer, cattle, and men." "It is, I suppose, Rajah Sahib," I +remarked, "because he feeds upon the deer, which are the greatest +enemies of their young crops."</p> +<p>The Rajahs of Toolseepoor and Bulrampoor, and all the merchants +and respectable landholders in these parts assure me, that all the +large colonies of Bhuduks, or gang robbers by hereditary +profession, who had, for so many generations, up to A.D. 1840, been +located in the Oude Terae forest, have entirely disappeared under +the operation of the "Special Police," of the Thuggee and Dacoitee +Department, aided and supported by the Oude Government; and that +not one family of them can now be found anywhere in Oude. They have +not been driven out as formerly, to return as soon as the temporary +pressure ceased, but hunted down and punished, or made to blend +with the rest of society in service or at honest labour.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 16, 1849.—Nawabgunge, eight miles, over a +plain of the same good soil, but not much better cultivated. The +people tell me, that garden tillage is now almost unknown in these +districts; first, because kachies or gardeners (here called moraes) +having been robbed, ruined, and driven into exile by Rughbur Sing, +cannot be induced to return to and reside in places, where they +would have so little chance of reaping the fruits of their labour; +and, secondly, because there are no people left who can afford to +purchase their garden produce. They tell me also, that the best +classes of ordinary cultivators, the Koormies and Lodhees, have +been almost all driven out of the district from the same cause. The +facts are manifest—there are no gardeners, and but few +Koormies and Lodhees left; and there is, in consequence, little +good tillage of any kind, and still less of garden cultivation.</p> +<p>The Rajah of Bulrampoor and Ramdut Pandee, the banker, rode with +me, and related the popular tradition regarding the head of the +Kulhuns family of Rajpoots, Achul Sing, who, about a century and a +quarter ago, reigned over the district intervening between Gonda +and Wuzeer Gunge, and resided at his capital of Koorassa. The Rajah +had a dispute with one of his landholders, whom he could not get +into his power. He requested Rutun Pandee, the banker, to mediate a +reconciliation, and invite the landholder to an amicable adjustment +of accounts, on a pledge of personal security. The banker +consented, but made the Rajah swear by the <i>River Sarjoo</i>, +which flowed near the town, that he should be received with +courtesy, and escorted back safely. The landholder relied on the +banker's pledge and came; but the Rajah no sooner got him into his +power, than he caused him to be put to death. The banker could not +consent to live under the dishonour of a violated pledge; and, +abstaining from food, died in twenty-one days, invoking the +vengeance of the <i>River Sarjoo</i>, on the head of the perfidious +Prince. In his last hours the banker was visited by one of the +Rajah's wives, who was then pregnant, and implored him to desist +from his purpose in mercy to the child in her womb; but she was +told by the dying man, that he could not consent to survive the +dishonour brought upon him by her perjured husband; and that she +had better quit the place and save herself and child, since the +incensed river Sarjoo would certainly not spare any one who +remained with the Rajah. She did so. The banker died, and his death +was followed by a sudden rise of the river and tempest. The town was +submerged, and the Rajah with all who remained with him perished. +The ruins of the old town are said to be occasionally still +visible, though at a great depth under the water in the old bed of +the Sarjoo, which forms a fine lake, near the present village of +Koorassa, midway between Gonda and Wuzeer Gunge.</p> +<p>The pregnant wife fled, and gave birth to a son, whose +descendant is now the head of the Kulhuns Rajpoots, and the Rajah +of Bahmanee Paer, a district on the eastern border of Oude towards +Goruckpoor. But, it is a remarkable fact, that the male descendants +have been all blind from their birth, or, at least, the reigning +portion of them, and the present Rajah is said to have two blind +sons. This is popularly considered to be one of the effects of the +Rajah's violated pledge to the banker. A handmaid of the Rajah, +Achul Sing, is said to have fled at the same time, and given birth +to a son, from whom are descended the Kulhuns tallookdars of the +Chehdwara, or Gowaris district, already noticed. The descendants of +Rutun Pandee are said still to hold rent-free lands, under Achul +Sing's descendant, in Bahmanee Paer; and the Pandee is worshipped +throughout the districts as a saint or martyr. He has a shrine in +every village, at which offerings are made on all occasions of +marriage, and blessings invoked for the bride and bridegroom, from +the spirit of one who set so much value on his plighted faith while +on earth. The two branches of the Kulhuns family above mentioned, +propitiate the spirit of the deceased Pandee by offerings; but +there is a branch of the same family at Mohlee, in the Goruckpoor +district, who do not. Though Hindoos, they adopt some Mussulman +customs, and make offerings to the old Mussulman saint, at +Bahraetch, in order to counteract the influence of the Pandee's +spirit.</p> +<p>Such popular traditions, arising from singular coincidences of +circumstances, have often a salutary effect on society, and seem to +be created by its wants and wishes; but rivers have, of late years, +become so much less prompt in the vindication of their honour, that +little reliance is placed, upon the oaths taken in their names by +the Prince, his officers or his landowners in Oude.</p> +<p>Nawabgunge, Munkapoor, and Bahmanee transferred to the British +Government, with the other lands, under the treaty of 1801; and +retransferred to Oude, by the treaty of the 11th of May 1816, in +exchange for Handeea, alias Kewae, a slip of land extending along +the left bank of the Ganges, between Allahabad and Benares.</p> +<pre> + Rent Roll. Kankur. Govt. demand +Nawabgunge, Wuzeergunge,.} l,08,000 32,000 76,000 + Mahadewa . . . . .} +Munkapoor . . . . . 40,000 12,000 28,000 +Bahmanee Paer . . . . 12,000 3,000 9,000 +</pre> +<p>The landholders and cultivators complain sadly of the change of +sovereigns; and the tillage and population have greatly diminished +under the Oude Government since 1816, but more especially, since +the monster, Rughbur Sing got the government. Here Ramdut Pandee, +the Rajah of Bulrampoor, and the Nazim of the district, have taken +leave of me, this being my last stage in their district. Ramdut +Pandee holds two estates in this district, for which he pays an +annual revenue to Government of 1,66,744 13 3.* He holds, at the +same time, a small estate in our district of Goruckpoor, where he +resides and keeps his family, till he obtains solemn written +pledges, confirmed on oath, for their security, not only from the +local authority of the day, but from all the commandants of corps +and establishments, comprising the military force employed under +him. These pledges include all his clients, who may have occasion +to visit or travel with him, as the Rajah of Bulrampoor is now +doing. These pledges require to be renewed on every change in the +local authorities and in the military officers employed under them. +He is one of the most substantial and respectable of the +agricultural capitalists of Oude, and the highest of his rank and +class in this district. He every year stands security for the +punctual payment of the revenues due, according to existing +engagements, by the principal landholders of the district, to the +extent of from six to eight lacs of rupees; and for this he gets a +certain per centage, varying with the character and capability of +the landholders. Some are of doubtful ability, others of doubtful +character, and he rates his risks and per centage accordingly. He +does much good, and is more generally esteemed than any other man +in the district; but he has, no doubt, enlarged his own landed +possessions occasionally, by taking advantage of the necessities of +his clients, and his influence over the local authorities of +government The lands he does get, however, he improves by +protecting and aiding his tenants, and inviting and fostering a +better class of cultivators, He is looked up to with respect and +confidence by almost all the large landholders of the district, for +his pledge for the punctual payment of the revenues saves their +estates from the terrible effects of a visit from the Nazim and his +disorderly and licentious troops; and this pledge they can always +obtain, when necessary, by a fair assurance of adherence to their +engagements.</p> +<blockquote> +<pre> +[* The estate of Ramdut Pandee, for this year, 1849, comprises + Sirgha, Chunda, &c. . . . 1,20,729 11 0 + Akberpoor, &c. . . . . . 46,015 2 3 + Total . . 1,66,744 13 3 ] +</pre></blockquote> +<p>On the 8th of November 1850, Ramdut Pandee lent the Nazim eighty +thousand rupees on his bond, after paying all that was due to the +State for the season, by him and all his clients, and on the 16th +of that month he went to Gonda, where the Nazim, Mahommed Hussan, +was encamped with his force, to take leave preparatory to his going +to bathe at Ajoodheea, on the last day of the month of Kartick, as +was his invariable custom. He was accompanied by the Rajah of +Bulrampoor, and they encamped separately in two mango-groves near +to each other, and about a mile and a half from the Nazim's camp. +About nine at night the Nazim sent two messengers, with silver +sticks, to invite and escort them to his tent. They set out +immediately, leaving all their armed followers in their camps, and +taking only a few personal attendants and palankeen bearers. No +person is permitted to take arms into the Nazim's tent; nor does +any landholder or merchant of Oude enter his tent without the +pledges for personal security above mentioned. Ramdut Pandee and +the Rajah entered with only a few personal servants, leaving all +their other attendants outside the outer curtain. This curtain +surrounded the tent at a distance of only a few yards from it, and +the tent was pitched in the centre. They were received with all due +ceremony, and in the same friendly manner as usual. The Rajah had +no business to talk about, while the Nazim and banker had; and, +after a short conversation, he took leave to return to his tents +and break his fast, which he had kept that day for some religious +purpose. He left in the tent the Nazim, his deputy, Jafir Allee, +and his nephew and son-in-law, Allee Hoseyn, sitting together on +the carpet, on the right, all armed, and Ramdut sitting unarmed, on +the left, with a Brahmin lad, Jowahir, standing at the door, with +the banker's paundan and a handkerchief. Kurunjoo, a second person, +with the banker's shoes, and a third attendant of his standing +outside the tent door.</p> +<p>The Nazim and Ramdut talked for some time together, seemingly on +the most friendly and cordial terms; but the Nazim, at last, asked +him for a further loan of money, and further securities for +landholders of doubtful character, before he went to bathe. The +banker told him, that he could lend him no more money till he came +back from bathing, as he had lent him eighty thousand rupees only +eight days before; and, that he could not increase his pledges of +security without further consultation with the landholders, as he +had not yet recovered more than four out of the seven lacs of +rupees which he had been obliged to advance to the Treasury, on the +securities given for them during the last year. He then took leave +and rose to depart. The Nazim turned and made some sign to his +deputy, Jafir Allee, who rose, presented his gun and shot Ramdut +through the right side close under the arm-pit. Exclaiming "Ram! +Ram!"—God! God!—the banker fell; and the Nazim, seizing +and drawing the sword which lay on the carpet before him, cut the +falling banker across the forehead. His nephew and deputy drew +theirs; and together they inflicted no less than twenty-two cuts +upon the body of Ramdut.</p> +<p>The banker's three attendants, seeing their master thus shot +down and hacked to pieces, called out for help; but one of the +three ruffians cut Jowahir, the Brahmin lad, across the shoulder, +with his sword, and all ran off and sought shelter across the +border in the British territory. The Nazim and his attendants then +buried the body hastily near the tent, and ordered the troops and +artillery to advance towards and fire into the two camps. They did +so, and the Bulrampoor Rajah had only just reached his tents when +the shot came pouring in upon them from the Nazim's guns. He +galloped off as fast as he could towards the British border, about +twenty miles distant, attended only by a few mounted followers, +some of whom he sent off to Bulrampoor, to bring his family as fast +as possible across the border to him. The rest he ordered to follow +him. His followers and those of the murdered banker fled before the +Nazim's forces, which had been concentrated for this atrocious +purpose, and both their camps were plundered. Before the Rajah +fled, however, the murdered banker's son-in-law, who had been left +in the camp, ran to him with a small casket, containing Ramdut's +seals, the bond for the eighty thousand rupees, and the written +pledges given by the Nazim and commanding officers of corps, for +the banker's and the Rajah's personal security. He mounted him upon +one of his horses, and took both him and the casket off to the +British territory.</p> +<p>It was now about midnight, and the Nazim took his forces to the +towns and villages upon the banker's estate, in which his family +and relatives resided, and in which he kept the greater part of his +moveable property. He sacked and plundered them all without regard +to the connection or relationship of the inhabitants with the +murdered banker. The property taken from the inhabitants of these +towns and villages is estimated at from ten to twelve lacs of +rupees. As many as could escape fled for shelter across the border, +into the British territory. The banker's brother, Kishen Dutt, who +resided in the British territory, came over, collected all he could +of his brother's followers, attacked the Amil's forces, killed and +wounded some forty or fifty of his men, and captured two of his +guns. The body of the banker was discovered two days after, and +disinterred by his family and friends, who counted the twenty-two +wounds that had been inflicted upon it by the three assassins, and +had it burned with due ceremonies.</p> +<p>The Nazim's agent at Court, on the 18th of November, submitted +to the minister his master's report of this affair, in which it was +stated, that the banker was a defaulter on account of his own +estate, and those of the other landholders for whom he had given +security—that he, the Nazim, had earnestly urged him to some +adjustment of his accounts, but all in vain—that the banker +had disregarded all his demands and remonstrances, and had with him +five hundred armed followers, one of whom had fired his pistol at +him, the Nazim, and killed one of his men—that they had all +then joined in an attack upon the Nazim and his men, and that, in +defending themselves, they had killed the banker. On the 19th, +another report, dated the 16th, reached the minister from the +Nazim's camp, stating, that the banker had come to his tent at ten +at night, with his armed followers, and had an interview [with] +him—that as the banker rose to depart, the Nazim told him +that he must not go without some settlement of his accounts; and a +dispute followed, in which the banker was killed, and two of the +Nazim's followers were severely wounded-that so great was the +confusion that the Durbar news-reporters could not approach to get +information.</p> +<p>On the 20th, a third report reached the minister, stating, that +the Rajah of Bulrampoor had come with the banker to visit the +Nazim, but had taken leave and departed before the collision took +place—that the Nazim urged the necessity of an immediate +settlement of accounts, but the banker refused to make any, grossly +abused the Nazim, and, at last, presented his pistol and fired at +him; and thereby wounded two of his people—that he was, in +consequence, killed by the Nazim's people, who joined the banker's +own people in the plunder of his camp.</p> +<p>On receiving this last report, the minister, by order of his +Majesty, presented to the agent of the Nazim a dress of honour of +fourteen pieces, such as is given to the highest officers for the +most important services; and ordered him to send it to his master, +to mark the sense his sovereign entertained of his gallant conduct +and valuable services, in crushing so great <i>a rebel and +oppressor</i>, and to assure him of a long-continued tenure of +office.</p> +<p>By the interposition of the British Resident and the aid of the +magistrate of Goruckpoor, Mr. Chester, the real truth was elicited, +the Nazim was dismissed from office, and committed for trial, +before the highest judicial Court at Lucknow. He at first ran off +to Goruckpoor, taking with him, besides his own, two elephants +belonging to the Rajah of Gonda, with property on them to the value +of fifty thousand rupees, which he overtook in his flight. The +Rajah had sent off these elephants with his valuables, on hearing +of the assassination of the banker, thinking that the Nazim would +secure impunity for this murder, as Hakeem Mehndee had for that of +Amur Sing, and be tempted to extend his operations. Finding the +district of Goruckpoor unsafe, the Nazim came back and surrendered +himself at Lucknow. Jafir Allee was afterwards seized in Lucknow. +There is, however, no chance of either being punished, since many +influential persons about the Court have shared in the booty, and +become accessaries interested in their escape. Moreover, the Nazim +is a Mahommedan, a Syud, and a Sheeah. No Sheeah could be sentenced +to death, for the murder, even of a Soonnee, at Lucknow, much less +for that of a Hindoo. If a Hindoo murders a Hindoo, and consents to +become a Mussulman, he cannot be so sentenced; and if he consents +to become so after sentence has been passed, it cannot be carried +into execution. Such is the law, and such the every-day +practice.</p> +<p>The elephants were recovered and restored through the +interposition of the Resident, but none of the property of the +Rajah or the banker has been recovered. May 18, 1851.—The family of +the banker has obtained a renewal of the lease of their, two +estates, on agreeing to pay an increase of forty thousand rupees +a-year.</p> +<pre> + +Sirgha Chunda . . . . 1,20,729 11 0 + Increase . . . . 30,000 0 0 + _______________ 1,50,729 11 0 +Akberpoor . . . . . 46,015 2 3 + Increase. . . . . 10,000 0 0 + _______________ 56,015 2 3 + _______________ +Total annual demand . . . . . . . 2,06,744 13 3 + <b>_______________</b> +</pre> +<p>They bold the Nazim's bond for the eighty thousand rupees, +borrowed only eight days before his murder.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 17, 1849.—Five miles to the left bank of +the Ghagra, whence crossed over to Fyzabad, on platformed boats, +prepared for the purpose by the Oude authorities. Our tents are in +one of the large mango-groves, which are numerous on the right bank +of the river, but scanty on the opposite bank. From the time we +crossed this river at Byram-ghaut on the 5th, till we recrossed it +this morning, we were moving in the jurisdiction of the Nazim of +the Gonda and Bahraetch district. After recrossing the Ghagra we +came within that of the Nazim of Sultanpoor, Aga Allee, who was +appointed to it this year, not as a contractor, but manager, under +the Durbar. The districts under contractors are called +<i>ijara</i>, or farmed districts; those under the management of +non-contracting servants of Government are called <i>amanee</i>, or +districts under the <i>amanut</i>, or trust of Government officers. +The morning was fine, the sky clear, and the ground covered with +hoar frost. It was, pleasing to see so large a camp, passing +without noise, inconvenience, or disorder of any kind in so large a +river.</p> +<p>The platformed boats were numerous, and so were the pier-heads +prepared on both sides, for the convenience of embarking and +landing. Carriages, horses, palankeens, camels and troops, all +passed without the slightest difficulty. The elephants were +preparing to cross, some in boats and some by swimming, as might +seem to them best. Some refuse to swim, and others to enter boats, +and some refuse to do either; but the fault is generally with their +drivers. On the present occasion, two or three remained behind, one +plunged into the stream from his boat, in the middle of the river, +with his driver on his back, and both disappeared for a time, but +neither was hurt. Those that remained on the left bank, got tired +of their solitude, and were at last coaxed over, either in boats +or in the water.</p> +<p>The Sarjoo rejoins the Ghagra a little above Fyzabad, and the +united stream takes the old name of the Sarjoo. This is the name +the river bears, till it emerges from the Tarae forest, when the +large body takes that of the Ghagra, and the small stream, which it +throws off, or which perhaps flows in the old bed, retains that of +the Sarjoo. The large branch absorbs the Kooreeala, Chouka, and +other small streams, on its way to rejoin the smaller. Some +distance below Fyzabad, the river takes the name of <i>Dewa</i>; +and uniting, afterwards, with the Gunduck, flows into the Ganges. +Fyzabad is three miles above Ajoodheea, on the same bank of the +river. It was founded by the first rulers of the reigning family, +and called for some time <i>Bungalow</i>, from a bungalow which +they built on the verge of the stream. Asuf-od Dowlah disliked +living near his mother, after he came to the throne, and he settled +at Lucknow, then a small village on the right bank of the Goomtee +river. This village, in the course of eighty years, grown into a +city, containing nearly a million of souls. Fyzabad has declined +almost in the same proportion.</p> +<p>The Nazim has six regiments, and part of a seventh, on duty +under him, making, nominally, six thousand fighting men, but that +he cannot, he tells me, muster two thousand; and out of the two +thousand, not five hundred would, he says be ready to fight on +emergency. All the commandants of corps reside at Court, knowing +nothing whatever of their duties, and never seeing their regiments. +They are mere children, or Court favourites, worse than children. +He has, nominally, forty-two guns, of various calibre; but he, with +great difficulty, collected bullocks enough to draw the three small +guns he brought with him from Sultanpoor, to salute the Resident, +on his entering his district. I looked at them in the evening. They +were seventy-four in number, but none of them were in a serviceable +condition, and the greater part were small, merely skin and bone. +He was obliged to purchase powder in the bazaar for the salutes; +and said, that when he entered his charge two months ago, the usual +salute of seven guns, for himself, could not be fired for want of +powder, and he was obliged to send to the bazaar to purchase what +was required. The bazaar-powder used by the Oude troops is about +one-third of the strength of the powder used by our troops. His +authority is despised by all the tallookdars of the district, many +of whom refuse to pay any rent, defy the Government, and plunder +the country, as all their rents are insufficient to pay the armed +bands which they keep up. All his numerous applications to Court, +for more and better troops and establishments, are disregarded, and +he is helpless. He cannot collect the revenue, or coerce the +refractory landholders and robbers, who prey upon the country.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The Nazim for 1850-51, got both Captain Magness's and +Captain Banbury's regiments.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>He says that the two companies and two guns, which were sent out +at the Resident's urgent recommendation, to take possession of +Shahgunge, and prevent the two brothers, Maun Sing and Rughbur +Sing, from disturbing the peace of the country, in their contests +with each other, joined Maun Sing, as partisan; to oppose his +brother; and that Maun Sing has taken for himself all the +<i>bynamah</i> lands, from which his brother, Rughbur Sing, has +been ousted, under the favour of the minister. He tells me also, +that Beebee Sogura, the lady who holds the estate of Muneearpoor, +and pays fifty thousand rupees a-year to the Government, was seized +by Wajid Allee, his predecessor, before he made over charge of the +district to him, and made over to a body of troops, on condition, +that she should enter into engagement to pay to them the ten +months' arrears of pay due to them, out of the rents of the ensuing +year; and that they should give him receipts for the full amount of +these arrears of pay at once, to be forwarded to the Durbar, that +he might get credit for the amount in his accounts for last +year—that she has paid them fifteen thousand rupees, but can +collect no more from her tenants, as the crops are all being cut or +destroyed by the troops, and she is in close confinement, and +treated with cruel indignity. The rent-roll of her estate is, it is +said, equal to one hundred thousand rupees a year.</p> +<p>This was a common practice among governors of districts at the +close of last year; and thus they got credit, on account, for large +sums, pretended to have been paid out of the revenues of last year; +but, in reality, to be paid out of the revenues of the ensuing +year. But the collections are left to be made by the troops, for +whose arrears of pay the revenue has been assigned, and they +generally destroy or extort double what they are entitled to from +their unhappy debtors. This practice of assigning revenues due, or +to be due, by landholders, for the arrears of pay due to the +troops, is the source of much evil; and is had recourse to only +when contractors and other collectors of revenue are unable to +enforce payment in any other way; or require to make it appear that +they have collected more than they really have; and to saddle the +revenue of the ensuing year with the burthens properly incident +upon those of the past. The commandant of the troops commonly takes +possession of the lands, upon the rents, or revenues, of which the +payments have been assigned, and appropriates the whole produce to +himself and his soldiers, without regard to the rights of +landholders, farmers, cultivators, capitalists, or any other class +of persons, who may have invested their capital and labour in the +lands, or depend upon the crops for their subsistence. The troops, +too, are rendered unfit for service by such arrangements, since all +their time is taken up in the more congenial duty of looking after +the estate, till they have desolated it. The officers and soldiers +are converted into manorial under-stewards of the worst possible +description. They are available for no other duty till they have +paid themselves all that may have been due or may become due to +them during the time of their stay, and credit to Government but a +small portion of what they exact from the landholders and +cultivators, or consume or destroy as food, fodder, and fuel.</p> +<p>This system, injurious alike to the sovereign, the troops, and +the people, is becoming every season more and more common in Oude; +and must, in a few years, embrace nearly the whole of the +land-revenue of the country. It is denominated <i>kubz</i>, or +contract, and is of two kinds, the "<i>lakulame kubz</i>," or +pledge to collect and pay a certain sum, for which the estate is +held to be liable; and "<i>wuslee kubz</i>," or pledge to pay to +the collector or troops the precise sum which the commandant may be +able to collect from the estate put under him. In the first, the +commandant who takes the <i>kubz</i> must pay to the Government +collector or the troops the full sum for which the estate is held +to be liable, whether he be able to collect it or not, and his +<i>kubz</i> is valid at the Treasury, as so much money paid to the +troops. In the second, it is valid only as a pledge, to collect as +much as he can, and to pay what he collects to the Government +collector, or the troops he commands. The collector, however, +commonly understands that he has shifted off the burthen of payment +to the troops—to the extent of the sum named—from his +own shoulders to those of the commandant of the troops; and the +troops understand, that unless they collect this sum they will +never get it, or be obliged to screw it out of their commandant; +and they go to the work <i>con amore</i>. If they can't collect it +from the sale of all the crops of the season, they seize and sell +all the stock and property of all kinds to be found on the estate; +and if this will not suffice, they will not scruple to seize and +sell the women and children. The collector, whose tenure of office +seldom extends beyond the season, cares little as to the mode as +long as he gets the money, and feels quite sure that the sovereign +and his Court will care just as little, and ask no questions, +should the troops sell every living thing to be found on the +estate.</p> +<p>The history, for the last few years, of the estate of +Muneearpoor, involves that of the estate of Kupragow and Seheepoor, +held by the family of the late Hurpaul Sing, and may be interesting +as illustrative of the state of society in Oude. Hurpaul Sing's +family is shown in the accompanying note.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Purotee Sing had two sons, Gunga Persaud and Nihal Sing. +Gunga Persaud had one son, Seosewak, who had three sons, Seoumber +Sing, Hobdar Sing, and Hurpaul Sing. Seoumber Sing had one son, +Ramsurroop Sing, the present head of the family, who holds the fort +and estate of Kupradehee. Hobdar Sing had one son, who died young. +Hurpaul Sing died young, Nihal Sing had no son, but left a widow, +who holds his share of one-half of the estate, and resides at +Seheepoor.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In the year A.D. 1821, after the death of Purotee Sing, his +second son, Nihal Sing, held one-half of the estate, and resided in +Seheepoor, and the family of his eldest son, Gunga Persaud, held +the other half, and resided in Kupragow. The whole paid a revenue +to Government of between six and seven hundred rupees a-year, and +yielded a rent-roll of something more than double that sum. The +neighbouring estate of Muneearpoor, yielding a rent-roll of about +three hundred and fifty thousand rupees a-year, was held by Roshun +Zuman Khan, in whose family it had been for many generations. He +had an only brother, Busawan Khan, who died, leaving a widow, +Bussoo, and a daughter, the Beebee, or Lady, Sogura. Roshun Zuman +Khan also died, leaving a widow Rahamanee, who succeeded to the +estate, but soon died, and left it to the Lady Sogura and her +mother. They made Nihal Sing, Gurgbunsee, of Seheepoor, manager of +their affairs. From the time that he entered upon the management, +Nihil Sing began to increase the number of his followers from his +own clan, the Gurgbunsies; and, having now become powerful enough, +he turned out his mistress, and took possession of her estate, in +collusion with the local authorities.</p> +<p>Rajah Dursun Sing, who then, 1836, held the contract for the +district, wished to take advantage of the occasion, to seize upon +the estate for himself, and a quarrel, in consequence, took place +between him and Nihal Sing. Unable, as a public servant of the +State, to lead his own troops against him, Dursun Sing instigated +Baboo Bureear Sing, of Bhetee, a powerful tallookdar, to attack +Nihal Sing at night, with all the armed followers he could muster, +and, in the fight, Nihal Sing was killed. Hurpaul Sing, his nephew, +applied for aid to the Durbar, and Seodeen Sing was sent, with a +considerable force, to aid him against Bureear Sing. When they were +ready for the attack, Dursun Sing sent a reinforcement of troops, +secretly, to Bureear Sing, which so frightened Seodeen Sing, that +he retired from the conflict.</p> +<p>The Gurgbunsee family had, however, by this time added a great +part of the Muneearpoor estate to their own, and many other estates +belonging to their weaker neighbours; and, by the plunder of +villages, and robbery on the highways, become very powerful. Dursun +Sing was superseded in the contract, in 1837, by the widow of Hadee +Allee Khan; and Hurpaul recovered possession of the Muneearpoor +estate, which he still held in the name of the <i>Lady Sogura</i>. +In 1843, she managed to get the estate transferred from the +jurisdiction of the contractor for Sultanpoor, to that of the +Hozoor Tehseel, and held it till 1845, when Maun Sing, who had +succeeded to the contract for the district, on the death of his +father, Dursun Sing, in 1844, managed through his uncle, Bukhtawar +Sing, to get the estate restored to his jurisdiction. Knowing that +his object was to absorb her estate, as he and his father had done +so many others, she went off to Lucknow to seek protection; but +Maun Sing seized upon all her nankar and seer lands, and put the +estate under the management of his own officers. The Lady Sogura, +unable to get any one to plead her cause at Court, in opposition to +the powerful influence, of Bukhtawur Sing, returned to Muneearpoor. +Maun Sing, after he had collected the greater part of the revenue +for 1846, made over the estate to Hurpaul and Seoumber Sing, who +put the lady into confinement, and plundered her of all she had +left.</p> +<p>Feeling now secure in the possession of the Muneearpoor estate, +Hurpaul and Seoumber Sing left a small guard to secure the lady, +and went off, with the rest of their forces, to seize upon the +estate of Birsingpoor, in the purgunnah of Dehra, belonging to the +widow of Mahdoo Sing, the tallookdar. She summoned to her aid +Roostum Sa and other Rajkomar landholders, friends of her late +husband. A fight ensued, in which Seoumber Sing and his brother, +Hobdar Sing were killed. Hurpaul Sing fled and returned to his fort +of Kupragow. The Lady Sogura escaped, and presented herself again +to the Court of Lucknow, under better auspices; and orders were +sent to Maun Sing, and all the military authorities, to restore her +to the possession of her estate, and seize or destroy Hurpaul Sing. +In alarm Hurpaul Sing then released the mother of the Lady Sogura, +and prepared to fly.</p> +<p>Maun Sing sent confidential persons to him to say, that he had +been ordered by the Court of Lucknow to confer upon him a dress of +honour or condolence, on the death of his two lamented brothers, +and should do so in person the next day. Hurpaul Sing was +considered one of the bravest men in Oude, but he was then sick on +his bed, and unable to move. He received the message without +suspicion, being anxious for some small interval of repose; and +willing to believe that common interests and pursuits had united +him and Maun Sing in something like bonds of friendship.</p> +<p>Maun Sing came in the afternoon, and rested under a banyan-tree, +which stood opposite the gateway of the fort. He apologized for not +entering the fort, on the ground, that it might lead to some +collision between their followers, or that his friend might not +wish any of the King's servants, who attended with the dress of +honour, to enter his fortress. Hurpaul Sing left all his followers +inside the gate, and was brought out to Maun Sing in a litter, +unable to sit up without support. The two friends embraced and +conversed together with seeming cordiality till long after sunset, +when Maun Sing, after investing his friend with the dress of +honour, took leave and mounted his horse. This was the concerted +signal for his followers to despatch his sick friend, Hurpaul. As +he cantered off, at the sound of his kettle-drum and the other +instruments of music, used by the Nazims of districts, his armed +followers, who had by degrees gathered round the tree, without +awakening any suspicion, seized the sick man, dragged him on the +ground, a distance of about thirty paces, and then put him to +death. He was first shot through the chest, and then stabbed with +spears, cut to pieces with swords, and left on the ground. They +were fired upon from the fort, while engaged in this foul murder, +but all escaped unhurt. Maun Sing had sworn by the holy Ganges, and +still more holy head of Mahadeo, that his friend should suffer no +personal hurt in this interview; and the credulous and no less +cruel and rapacious Gurgbunsies were lulled into security. The +three persons who murdered Hurpaul, were Nujeeb Khan, who has left +Mann Sing's service, Benee Sing, who still serves him, and Jeskurun +Sing, who has since died. Sadik Hoseyn and many others aided them +in dragging their victim to the place where he was murdered, but +the wounds which killed him were inflicted by the above-named +persons.</p> +<p>The family fled, the fort was seized and plundered of all that +could be found, and the estate seized and put under the management +of Government officers. Maun Sing had collected half the revenues +of 1847, when he was superseded in the contract by Wajid Allee +Khan, who re-established the Lady Sogura in the possession of all +that remained of her estate. He, at the same time, reinstated the +family of Hurpaul Sing, in the possession of their now large +estate—that is, the widow of Nihal Sing, to Seheepoor, +comprising one-half; and Ramsurroop Sing, the son of Seoumber Sing, +to Kupragow, comprising the other half.* The rent-roll of the whole +is now estimated at 1,29,000 a-year; and the <i>nankar</i>, or +recognized allowance for the holders, is 73,000, leaving the +Government demand at 56,000, of which they hardly ever pay +one-half, or one-quarter, being inveterate robbers and rebels. +Wajid Allee Khan had been commissioned, by the Durbar, to restore +the Lady Sogura to her patrimonial estate, and he brought her with +him from Lucknow for the purpose; but he soon after made over a +part of the estate to his friend, Bakir Allee, of Esoulee, and +another part to Ramsurroop, the son of Seoumber Sing, for a +suitable consideration, and left only one-half to the Lady Sogura. +This she at first refused to take, but he promised to restore the +whole the next year, when he saw she was resolved to return again +to her friends at Lucknow, and she consented to take the offered +half on condition of a large remission of the Government demand +upon it. When the season of collections came, however, he would +make no remission for the half he had permitted her to retain, or +give her any share in the perquisites of the half he had made over +to others; nor would he give her credit for any portion of the +collections, which had been anticipated by Maun Sing. He made her +pledge the whole rents of her estate to Hoseyn Allee Khan, the +commandant of a squadron of cavalry, on detached duty, under him. +Unable to conduct the management under all these outrages and +exactions, she begged to have the estate put under Government +officers. Her friends at Court got an order issued for her being +restored to the possession of the whole estate, having credit for +the whole amount collected by Maun Sing, and a remission in the +revenue equal to all that Government allowed to the proprietors of +such estates.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* In May 1851, the Nazim besieged Ramsurroop, in Kupragow, with +a very large force, including Bunbury's and Magness's Regiments and +Artillery. After the loss of many lives from fighting, and more +from cholera, on both sides, Ramsurroop marched out with all his +garrison and guns at night, and passed, unmolested, through that +part of the line where the non-fighting corps were posted.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Wajid Allee Khan disregarded the order, and made over or sold +Naraenpoor and other villages belonging to the estate, to Rughbur +Sing, the atrocious brother of Maun Sing, who sent his myrmidons to +take possession. They killed the Lady Sogura's two agents in the +management, plundered her of all she had of property, and all the +rents which she had up to that time collected, for payment to +Government; and took possession of Naraenpoor and the other +villages, sold to their master by Wajid Allee. Wajid Allee soon +after came with a large force, seized the lady and carried her off +to his camp, put all her officers and attendants into confinement, +and refused all access to her. When she became ill, and appeared +likely to sink under the treatment she received, he made her enter +into written engagements to pay to the troops, in liquidation of +their arrears of pay, all that he pretended that she owed to the +State. He prevailed upon Ghuffoor Beg, who commanded the artillery, +to take these her pledges, and give him, Wajid Allee, corresponding +receipts for the amount, for transmission to the Treasury; and then +made her over a prisoner to him. Ghuffoor Beg took possession of +the lady and the estate, kept her in close confinement, and +employed his artillery-men in making the collections in their own +way, by appropriating all the harvests to themselves.</p> +<p>Wajid Allee was superseded in October 1849, by Aga Allee, who, +on entering on his charge, directed that martial-law should cease +in Muneearpoor; but Ghuffoor Beg and his artillery-men were too +strong for the governor, and refused to give up the possession of +so nice an estate. When I approached the estate in my tour, +Ghuffoor Beg took the lady off to Chundoly, where she was treated +with all manner of indignity and cruelty by the artillery. The +estate was going to utter ruin under their ignorant and reckless +management, and the Nazim, Aga Allee, prayed me to interpose and +save it, and protect the poor Lady Sogura. I represented the +hardship of the case to the Durbar, but with little hope of any +success, under the present government, who say, that if the troops +are not allowed to pay themselves in this way, they shall have to +pay them all the arrears for which the estate is pledged, not one +rupee of which is reduced by the collections they make. If they +were to hold the estate for twenty years, they would not allow it +to appear that any portion of the arrears had been paid off. The +estate is a noble one, and, in spite of all the usurpations and +disorders from which it has lately suffered, was capable last year +of yielding to Government a revenue of fifty thousand rupees +a-year, after providing liberally for all the requirements of the +poor Lady Sogura and her family, or a rent-roll of one hundred +thousand rupees a-year.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 19, 1849.—Shahgunge, distance twelve +miles. This town is surrounded by a mud wall, forty feet thick, and +a ditch three miles round, built thirty years ago, and now much out +of repair. It belongs to the family of Rajah Bukhtawar Sing. The +wall, thirty feet high, was built of the mud taken from the ditch, +in which there is now some six or seven feet of water. The wall has +twenty-four bastions for guns, but there is no platform, or road +for guns, round it on the inside. A number of respectable merchants +and tradesmen reside in this town, where they are better protected +than in any other town in Oude. It contains a population of between +twenty and thirty thousand persons. They put thatch over the mud +walls during the rains to preserve them. The fortifications and +dwelling-houses together are said to have cost the family above ten +lacs of rupees. There are some fourteen old guns in the fort. Though +it would be difficult to shell a garrison out of a fort of this +extent, it would not be difficult to take it. No garrison, +sufficient to defend all parts of so extended a wall, could be +maintained by the holder; and it would be easy to fill the ditch +and scale the walls. Besides, the family is so very unpopular among +the military classes around, whose lands they have seized upon, +that thousands would come to the aid of any government force +brought to crush them, and overwhelm the garrison. They keep their +position only by the purchase of Court favour, and have the respect +and attachment of only the better sort of cultivators, who are not +of the military classes, and could be of little use to them in a +collision with their sovereign. The family by which it is held has +long been very influential at Court, where it has been represented +by Bukhtawar Sing, whose brother, Dursun Sing, was the most +powerful subject that Oude has had since the time of Almas Allee +Khan. They live, however, in the midst of hundreds of sturdy +Rajpoots, whom they have deprived of their lands, and who would, as +I have said, rise against them were they to be at any time opposed +to the Government The country over which we have passed this +morning is well studded with groves, and well cultivated; and the +peasantry seemed contented and prosperous. The greater part of the +road lay through the lands acquired, as already described, by this +family. Though they have acquired the property in the land by abuse +of authority, collusion and violence, from its rightful owners, +they keep their faith with the cultivators, effectually protect +them from thieves, robbers, the violence of their neighbours, and, +above all, from the ravages of the King's troops; and they +encourage the settlement of the better or more skilful and +industrious classes of cultivators in their villages, such as +Kachies, Koormies, and Lodhies. They came out from numerous +villages, and in considerable bodies, to salute me, and expressed +themselves well satisfied with their condition, and the security +they enjoyed under their present landholders. We came through the +village of Puleea, and Rajah Bukhtawar Sing seemed to have great +pleasure in showing me the house in which he was born, seventy-five +years ago, under a fine tamarind-tree that is still in vigour. The +history of this family is that of many others in the Oude +territory.</p> +<p>The father of Bukhtawar Sing, Porunder, was the son of Mungul, a +Brahmin, who resided in Bhojpoor, on the right bank of the Ganges, +a little below Buxar. The son, Porunder, was united in marriage to +the daughter of Sudhae Misser, a respectable Brahmin, who resided +in Puleea, and held a share of the lands. He persuaded his +son-in-law to take up his residence in the same village. Prouder +had five sons born to him in this village:— 1. Rajah Bukhtawar +Sing, my Quartermaster-General. 2. Pursun Sing, died without issue. +3. Rajah Dursun Sing, died 1844, leaving three sons. 4. Incha Sing +lives, and has two sons. 5. Davey Sing died, leaving two sons.</p> +<p>The eldest son was a trooper in the Honourable Company's 8th +Regiment of Light Cavalry; and while still a very young man, and +home on furlough, he attracted the attention of Saadnt Allee Khan, +the sovereign of Oude, whom he attended on a sporting excursion. He +was very tall, and exceedingly handsome; and, on one occasion, +saved his sovereign's life from the sword of an assassin. He became +one of Saadut Alee's favourite orderlies, and rose to the command +of a squadron. In a fine picture of Saadut Allee and his Court on +the occasion of a Durbar, at which the Resident, Colonel Scott, and +his suite were present, Bukhtawar Sing is represented in the dress +he wore as an orderly cavalry officer. This picture is still +preserved at Lucknow. His brothers, Dursun, Incha, and Davey Sing +became, one after the other, orderlies in the same manner, under +the influence of Bukhtawar Sing, during the reign of Saadnt Allee, +and his son, Ghazee-od Deen. Dursan Sing got the command of a +regiment of Nujeebs in 1814, and Incha Sing and Davey Sing rose in +favour and rank, both civil and military.</p> +<p>Bhudursa and five other villages were held in proprietary right +by the members of a family of Syuds. They enjoyed Bhudursa rent +free, and still hold it; but the other five villages (Kyl, Mahdono, +Tindooa, Teroo, and Pursun) were bestowed, in jagheer, upon another +Syud, a Court favourite, Khoda Buksh, in 1814. He fell into +disfavour in 1816, and all these and other villages were let, in +1817, to Dursun Sing, in farm, at 60,000 rupees a-year. The +bestowal of an estate in jagheer, or farm, ought not to interfere +with the rights of the proprietors of the lands comprised in it, as +the sovereign transfers merely his own territorial rights, not +theirs; but Dursun Sing, before the year 1820, had, by +rack-renting, lending on mortgage, and other fraudulent or violent +means, deprived all the Syud proprietors of their lands in the +other five villages. They were, however, still left in possession +of Bhudursa. He pursued the same system, as far as possible, in the +other districts, which were, from time to time, placed under him, +as contractor for the revenue. He held the contract for Sultanpoor +and other districts, altogether yielding fifty-nine lacs of rupees +a-year, in 1827; and it was then that he first bethought himself of +securing his family permanently in the possession of the lands he +had seized, or might seize upon, by <i>bynamahs</i>, or deeds of +sale, from the old proprietors.</p> +<p>He imposed upon the lands he coveted, rates which he knew they +could never pay; took all the property of the proprietors for rent, +or for the wages of the mounted and foot soldiers, whom he placed +over them, or quartered upon their villages, to enforce his +demands; seized any neighbouring banker or capitalist whom he could +lay hold of, and by confinement and harsh treatment, made him stand +security for the suffering proprietors, for sums they never owed; +and when these proprietors were made to appear to be irretrievably +involved in debt to the State and to individuals, and had no hope +of release from prison by any other means, they consented to sign +the <i>bynamahs</i>, or sale deeds for lands, which their families +had possessed for centuries. Those of the capitalists who had no +friends at Court were made to pay the money, for which they had +been forced to pledge themselves; and those who had such friends, +got the sums which they had engaged to pay, represented as +irrecoverable balances due by proprietors, and struck off. The +proprietors themselves, plundered of all they had in the world, and +without any hope of redress, left the country, or took service +under our Government, or that of Oude, or descended to the rank of +day-labourers or cultivators in other estates.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Estates held by the family under <i>bynamahs</i> or sale +deeds:</p> +<pre> + 1. Puchumrath . . . . . . . . . 1,13,000 + 2. Howelee . . . . . . . . . . 45,000 + 3. Mogulsee, including Hindoo Sing's + estate of Shapoor, obtained by + fraud and violence . . . . . . 28,000 + 4. Bhurteepoor and Laltapoor . . . . 30,000 + 5. Rudowlee . . . . . . . . . 12,000 + Turolee in Huldeemow. . . . . . 17,000 + 6. Bahraetch in Sagonputtee . . . . 4,000 + 7. Gosaengunge . . . . . . . . 3,000 + ________ + Total Company's Rupees . . . 2,52,000 + <b>________</b> +</pre> +<p>Dursun Sing's contracts, for the land revenue, of districts, +amounted from 1827 to 1830, to 59,00,000 rupees a year. From 1830 +to 1836, to 58,00,000. In 1836 to 46,100,000. In 1837 to 47,00,000. +He continued to hold the whole or greater part of these districts +up to September 1843.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>There were four brothers, the sons of a Canoongo, of Fyzabad; +first, Birj Lal; second, Lala; third, Humeer Sing, a corporal in +one of our Regiments of Native Infantry; fourth, Hunooman Persaud; +fifth, Gunga Persaud. The family held-eight villages, in hereditary +right, with a rent-roll of 6,000, of which they paid 3,000 to +Government, and took 3,000 for themselves. While Dursun Sing was +dying, in 1844, his eldest son, Ramadeen, tried to get possession +of this estate. He seized and confined, in the usual way, Gunga +Persaud, the Canoongo, and kept him with harsh treatment, for 1844; +and when his brother the corporal complained, in the usual way, +through the Resident, Gunga Persaud was released, and he attended +the Residents Court, as his brother's attorney, till 1847, when the +family recovered possession of the estate. But in 1846, when Dursun +Sing's son saw that the case was going against him, he made their +local agent, Davey Persaud, plunder all the eight villages of all +the stock in cattle, grain, &c., that they contained, and all +the people, of whatever property they possessed.</p> +<p>Dursun Sing's family now pay to the Oude Government, a revenue +of 1,88,000 rupees a-year, for their <i>bynamah</i> estates, which +were acquired by them in the manner described. The rent-roll, +recognized in the Exchequer, is 2,56,000; and the <i>nankar</i> +68,000; but the real rent-roll is much greater-perhaps double. The +village of Tendooa, in Mehdona, belonged, in hereditary right, to +Soorujbulee Sing and Rugonauth Sing, Rajpoots, whom the family of +Dursun Sing wished to coerce, in the usual mode, into signing a +<i>bynamah</i>, or deed of sale. They refused, and some of the +family are said to have been in confinement in consequence, since +the year A.D. 1844. When Gunga Persaud, the Canoongo, was confined +by Dursun Sing's family, on account of his own estate, they +extorted from him, on the pretence of his being security for the +punctual payment of what might be demanded from these two men, +Soorujbulee' and Rugonauth, the sum of 4,000 rupees. One of the +eight villages, held by the Canoongoes, named Aboo Surae, Ghalib +Jung, alias Dursun Sing, another Court favourite, is now trying to +take by violence, for himself, following the practice of his +namesake. He has possessed himself of many by the same means, +keeping the troops he commands upon them at exercise and +target-practice, till he drives both cultivators and proprietors +out, or shoots them.</p> +<p>This Rajah, Ghalib Jung, is now a great favourite with the +minister, and no man manifests a stronger disposition to make his +influence subservient to his own interest and that of his family. +By fraud and violence, and collusion with the officers who have +charge of districts and require his aid at Court, he seizes upon +the best lands of his weaker neighbours, in the same manner as his +namesake, Rajah Dursun Sing, used to do; and of the money which he +receives for contracts of various kinds, he appropriates by far the +greater part to himself. He is often sent out, with a considerable +force, to adjust disputes between landholders and local +authorities, and he decides in favour of the party most able and +willing to pay, under the assurance that, if called to account, he +will be able to clear himself, by giving a share of what he gets to +those who send and support him. He commands a large body of mounted +and foot police, and he is often ordered to go and send detachments +in pursuit of daring offenders, particularly those who have given +offence to the British authorities. In such cases he generally +succeeds in arresting and bringing in some of the offenders; but he +as often seizes the landholders and others who may have given them +shelter, intentionally or otherwise; and, after extorting from them +as much as they can be made to pay, lets them go. He is not, of +course, very particular as to the quantity or quality of the +evidence forthcoming to prove that a person able to pay has +intentionally screened the offenders from justice.</p> +<p>Rajah Ghalib Jung was the superintendent of the City Police, and +commandant of a Brigade of Infantry, and a prime favourite of the +King, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, for two years, up to November 1835. He +had many other employments, was always in attendance upon the King, +and was much liked by him, because he saw his orders carried into +immediate effect, without any regard to the rank or sufferings of +the persons whom they were to affect. For these two years he was +one of the most intimate companions of his sovereign, in his +festivities and most private debaucheries. He became cordially +detested throughout the city for his reckless severity, and still +more throughout the Court, for the fearless manner in which he +spoke to the King of the malversation and peculations of the +minister and all the Court favourites who were not in his interest. +He thwarted the imbecile old minister, Roshun-od Dowlah, in +everything; and never lost an opportunity of turning him into +ridicule, and showing his contempt for him.</p> +<p>The King had become very fond of a smart young lad, by name +Duljeet, who had been brought up from his infancy by the minister, +but now served the King as his most confidential personal +attendant. He was paid handsomely by the minister for all the +services he rendered him, and deeply interested in keeping him in +power and unfettered, and he watched eagerly for an opportunity to +remove the man who thwarted him. <i>Mucka</i>, the King's head +tailor, was equally anxious, for his own interests, to get rid of +the favourite, and so was <i>Gunga Khowas</i>, a boatman, another +personal servant and favourite of the King. These three men soon +interested in their cause some of the most influential ladies of +the palace, and all sought with avidity the opportunity to effect +their object. Ghalib Jung was the person, or one of the persons, +through whom the King invited females, noted for either their +beauty or their accomplishments, and he was told to bring a +celebrated dancing-girl, named Mogaree. She did not appear, and the +King became impatient, and at last asked Dhuneea Mehree the reason. +She had often been employed in a similar office, and was jealous of +Ghalib Jung's rivalry. She told his Majesty, that he had obstructed +his pleasures on this as on many other occasions, and taken the +lady into his own keeping. All the other favourites told him the +same thing, and it is generally believed that the charge was true; +indeed the girl herself afterwards confessed it. The King, however, +"bided his time," in the hope of finding some other ground of +revenging himself upon the favourite, without the necessity of +making him appear in public as his rival.</p> +<p>On the 7th of October, 1835, the King was conversing with Ghalib +Jung, in one of his private apartments, on affairs of state. +Several crowns stood on the table for the King's inspection. They +had been prepared under Mucka, the tailor's, inspection, from +materials purchased by him. He always charged the King ten times +the price of the articles which he was ordered to provide, and +Ghalib Jung thought the occasion favourable to expose his +misconduct to his master. He took up one of the crowns, put his +left hand into it, and, turning it round on his finger, pointed out +the flimsy nature of the materials with which it had been made. His +left finger slipped through the silk on the crown, whether +accidentally, or designedly, to prove the flimsy nature of the silk +and exasperate the King, is not known; but on seeing the finger +pass through the crown, his Majesty left the room without saying a +word. Soon after several attendants came in, surrounded Ghalib +Jung, and commanded him to remain till further orders. In this +state they remained for about two hours, when other attendants came +in, struck off his turban on the floor, and had it kicked out of +the room by sweepers.</p> +<p>They then dragged out Ghalib Jung, and thrust him into prison. +The next day heavy iron fetters were put upon his legs, and upon +those of three of his principal followers, who were imprisoned +along with him; and his mother, father, wife, and daughters were +made prisoners in their own houses; and all the property of the +family that could be found was confiscated. On the third day, while +still in irons, Ghalib Jung and his three followers were tied up +and flogged severely, to make them point out any hidden treasure +that they might have. That night the King got drunk, and, before +many persons, ordered the minister to have Ghalib Jung's right hand +and nose cut off forthwith. The minister, who prayed forgiveness +and forbearance, was abused and again commanded, but again +entreated his Majesty to pause, and prayed for a private audience. +It was granted, and the minister told his Majesty that the British +Government would probably interpose if the order were carried into +effect.</p> +<p>The King then retired to rest, but the next morning had Ghalib +Jung and his three followers again tied up and flogged. Six or +seven days after, all Ghalib Jung's attendants were taken from him, +and no person was permitted to enter the room where he lay in +irons, and he could in consequence get neither food nor drink of +any kind. On the 19th of October, the King ordered all the females +of Ghalib Jung's family to be brought on foot from their houses to +the palace by force, and publicly declared that they should all on +the next day have their hair shaved off, be stripped naked, and in +that state turned out into the street. After giving these orders, +the King went to bed, and the females were all brought, as ordered, +to the palace; but the sympathies of the King's own servants were +excited by the sufferings of these unoffending females, and they +disobeyed the order for their being made to walk on foot through +the streets, and brought them in covered litters.</p> +<p>The Resident, apprehending that these poor females might be +further disgraced, and Ghalib Jung starved to death, determined to +interpose, and demanded an interview, while the King was still in +bed. The King was sorely vexed, and sent the minister to the +Resident to request that he would not give himself the trouble to +come, if his object was to relieve Ghalib Jung's family, as he +would forthwith order the females to be taken to their homes. The +minister had not been to the Resident for ten or twelve days, or +from the first or second day after the fall of the favourite. He +prayed that the Resident would not speak harshly to the King on the +subject of the treatment Ghalib Jung and his family had received, +lest he, the minister, should himself suffer. The Resident insisted +upon an audience. He found the King sullen and doggedly silent. The +minister was present, and spoke for his master. He denied, what was +known to be true, that the prisoner had been kept for two days and +two nights' without food or drink; but admitted that he had been +tied up and flogged severely, and that the females of his family +were still there, but he promised to send them back. He said that +it was necessary to confiscate the property of the prisoner, since +he owed large sums to the State. The females were all sent back to +their homes, and Ghalib Jung was permitted, to have four of his own +servants in attendance upon him.</p> +<p>The Resident reported all these things to Government, who +entirely approved of his proceedings; and desired that he would +tell his Majesty that such savage and atrocious proceedings would +ruin his reputation, and, if persisted in, bring on consequences +most injurious to himself. When the Resident, at the audience above +described, remonstrated with the King for not calling upon his +officers periodically to render their accounts, instead of letting +them run on for indefinite periods, and then confining them and +confiscating their property, he replied—"What you state is +most true, and you may be assured that I will in future make every +one account to me every three months for the money he has received, +and never again show favour to any one."</p> +<p>Rajah Dursun Sing, the great revenue contractor, and at that +time the most powerful of the King's subjects beyond the precincts +of the Court, had, like the minister himself, been often thwarted +by Ghalib Jung when in power; and, after the interposition of the +Resident, he applied to have him put into his power. The King and +minister were pleased at the thought of making their victim suffer +beyond the immediate supervision of a vigilant Resident, and the +minister made him over to the Rajah for a <i>consideration</i>, it +is said, of three lacs of rupees; and at the same time assured the +Resident that this was the only safe way to rescue him from the +further vengeance of an exasperated King; that Rajah Dursun Sing +was a friend of his, and would provide him and his family and +attendants with ample accommodation and comfort. The Rajah had him +put into an iron cage, and sent to his fort at Shahgunge, where, +report says, he had snakes and scorpions put into the cage to +torment and destroy him, but that Ghalib Jung had "a charmed life," +and escaped their poison. The object is said to have been to +torment and destroy him without leaving upon his body any marks of +violence.</p> +<p>On the death of Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, Ghalib Jung was released +from confinement, on the payment, it is said, of four lacs of +rupees, in Government securities, and a promise of three lacs more +if restored to office. He went to reside at Cawnpore, in British +territory; but, on the dismissal of the minister, Roshun-od Dowlah, +three months after, and the appointment of Hakeem Mehndee to his +place, Ghalib Jung was restored to his place. The promise of the +three lacs was communicated to the new King, Mahommed Allee Shah, +by Roshun-od Dowlah himself, while in confinement; and it is said +that Ghalib Jung paid one-half, or one hundred and fifty +thousand.</p> +<p>Ghalib Jung had, in many other ways, abused the privileges of +intimate companionship which he enjoyed with his master, as better +servants under better and more guarded masters will do; and the +King, having discovered this, had for some time resolved to take +advantage of the first fair occasion to discharge him. The people +of Lucknow liked their King, with all his faults—and they +were many—and hated the favourite as much for the injury +which he did to his master's reputation, as for the insults and +injuries inflicted by him on themselves. But when the unoffending +females of the favourite were dragged from their privacy to the +palace, to be disgraced, the feelings of the whole city were +shocked, and expressed in tones which alarmed the minister as much +as the Resident's interposition alarmed the King. They had no +sympathy for the fallen favourite, but a very deep one for the +ladies and children of his family, who could have no share in his +guilt, whatever it might be.</p> +<p>Ghalib Jung was raised, from a very humble grade, by Ghazee-od +Deen Hyder, and about the year 1825 he had become as great a +favourite with him as he afterwards became with his son, Nuseer-od +Deen Hyder, and he abused his master's favour in the same manner. +The minister, Aga Meer, finding his interference and vulgar +insolence intolerable, took advantage one day of the King's anger +against him, had him degraded, seized, and sent off forthwith to +one of his creatures, Taj-od Deen Hoseyn, then in charge of the +Sultanpoor district, where he was soon reduced almost to death's +door by harsh treatment and want of food, and made to disgorge all +the wealth he had accumulated. Four years after the death of +Ghazee-od Deen and the accession of his son, Nuseer-od Deen, Ghalib +Jung was, in the year 1831, again appointed to a place of trust at +Court by the minister, Hakeem Mehndee, who managed to keep him in +order during the two years that he held the reins of +government.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Ghalib Jung died on the 1st of May 1851, at Lucknow, aged +about 80 years.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>December</i> 20, 1849.—Saleepoor, ten miles. The +country, on both sides of the road, well studded with trees, +hamlets, and villages, and well cultivated and peopled. The +landholders and peasantry seem all happy and secure under their +present masters, the brother and son of the late Dursun Sing. They +are protected by them from thieves and robbers, the attacks of +refractory barons, and, above all, from the ravages of the King's +troops; and the whole face of the country, at this season, is like +that of a rich garden. The whole is under cultivation, and covered +with the greatest possible variety of crops. The people showed us, +as we passed, six kinds of sugar-cane, and told us that they had +many more, one soil agreeing best with one kind, another with +another. The main fault in the cultivation of sugar-cane is here, +as in every other part of India that I have seen, the want of room +and the disregard of cleanliness. They crowd the cane too much, and +never remove the decayed leaves, and sufficient air is never +admitted.</p> +<p>Bukhtawar Sing has always been considered as the head of the +family to whom Shahgunge belongs, but he has always remained at +Court, and left the local management of the estate and the +government of the districts, placed under their charge in contract +or in trust, to his brothers and nephews. Bukhtawar Sing has no +child of his own, but he has adopted Maun Sing, the youngest son of +his brother, Dursun Sing, and he leaves all local duties and +responsibilities to him. He is a small, slight man, but shrewd, +active, and energetic, and as unscrupulous as a man can be. Indeed +old Bukhtawar Sing himself is the only member of the family that +was ever troubled with scruples of any kind whatever; for he is the +only one whose boyhood was not passed in the society of men in the +every-day habit of committing with impunity all kinds of cruelties, +atrocities, and outrages. There is, perhaps, no school in the world +better adapted for training thoroughbred ruffians (men without any +scruple of conscience, sense of honour, or feeling of humanity) +than the camp of a revenue-contractor in Oude. It has been the same +for the last thirty years that I have known it, and must continue +to be the same as long as <i>we maintain, in absolute sway over the +people, a sovereign who never bestows a thought upon them, has no +feeling in common with them, and can never be persuaded that his +high office imposes upon him the obligation to labour to promote +their good, or even to protect them against the outrage and +oppression of his own soldiers and civil officers</i>. All Rajah +Bukhtawar Sing's brothers and nephews were bred up in such camps, +and are thorough-bred ruffians.</p> +<p>They have got the lands which they hold by much fraud and +violence no doubt, but they have done much good to them. They have +invited and established in comfort great numbers of the best +classes of cultivators from other districts, in which they had +ceased to feel secure, and they have protected and encouraged those +whom they found on the land. To establish a new cultivator of the +better class, they require to give him about twenty-five rupees for +a pair of bullocks; for subsistence for himself and family till his +crops ripen, thirty-six more, for a house, wells, &c., thirty +more, or about ninety rupees, which he pays back with or without +interest by degrees. Every village and hamlet is now surrounded by +fine garden cultivation, conducted by the cultivators of the +gardener caste, whom the family has thus established.</p> +<p>The greatest benefit conferred upon the lands which they hold +has been in the suppression of the fearful contests which used to +be perpetual between the small proprietors of the military classes, +among whom the lands had become minutely subdivided by the law of +inheritance, about boundaries and rights to water for irrigation. +Many persons used to be killed every year in these contests, and +their widows and orphans had to be maintained by the survivors. Now +no such dispute leads to any serious conflict. They are all settled +at once by arbitrators, who are guided in their decisions by the +accounts of the Putwaries of villages and Canoongoes of districts. +These men have the detailed accounts of every tenement for the last +hundred years; and, with their assistance, village traditions, and +the advice of their elders, all such boundary disputes and +misunderstandings about rights to water are quickly and amicably +adjusted; and the landlords are strong, and able to enforce +whatever decision is pronounced. They are wealthy, and pay the +Government demand punctually, and have influence at Court to +prevent any attempt at oppression on the part of Government +officers on themselves or their tenants. Not a thief or a robber +can live or depredate among their tenants. The hamlets are, in +consequence, numerous and peopled by peasantry, who seem to live +without fear. They adhere strictly to the terms of their +engagements with their tenants of all grades; and their tenants all +pay their rents punctually, unless calamities of season deprive +them of the means, when due consideration is made by landlords, who +live among them, and know what they suffer and require.</p> +<p>The climate must be good, for the people are strong and +well-made, and without any appearance of disease. Hardly a beggar +of any kind is to be seen along the road. The residence of +religious mendicants seems to be especially discouraged, and we see +no others. It is very pleasing to pass over such lands after going +through such districts as Bahraetch and Gonda, where the signs of +the effects of bad air and water upon men, women, and children are +so sad and numerous; and those of the abuse of power and the +neglect of duty on the part of the Government and its officers are +still more so.</p> +<p>Last evening I sent for the two men above named, who had been +confined for six or seven years, and were said to have been so +because they would not sign the <i>bynamahs</i> required from them +by Mann Sing: their names are Soorujbulee Sing and Rugonath Sing. +They came with the King's wakeel, accompanied by their cousin, +Hunooman Sing, on whose charge they were declared to have been +confined. I found that the village of Tendooa had been held by +their family, in proprietary right, for many generations, and that +they were Chouhan Rajpoots by caste. When Dursun Sing was securing +to himself the lands of the district, those of Tendooa were held in +three equal shares by Soorujbulee and his brothers, Narind and +Rugonath; Hunooman Sing, their cousin; and Seoruttun, their +cousin.</p> +<p>Maun Sing took advantage of a desperate quarrel between them, +and secured Soorujbulee and Rugonath. Narind escaped and joined a +refractory tallookdar, and Seoruttun and Hunooman did the same. +Hunooman Sing was, however, invited back, and intrusted, by Maun +Sing, with the management of the whole estate, on favourable terms. +In revenge for his giving in to the terms of Maun Sing, and serving +him, the absconded co-sharers attacked his house several times, +killed three of his brothers, and many other persons of his family, +and robbed him of almost all he had. This was four years ago. He +complained, and the two brothers were kept more strictly confined +than ever, to save him and the village. Hunooman Sing looked upon +the two prisoners as the murderers of his brothers, though they +were in confinement when they were killed, and had been so for more +than two years, and was very violent against them in my presence. +They were no less violent against him, as the cause of their +continued confinement They protested to me, that they had no +communication whatever with Seoruttun or Narind Sing, but thought +it very likely, that they really did lead the gangs in the attacks +upon the village, to recover their rights. They offered to give +security for their future good behaviour if released; but declared, +that they would rather die than consent to sign a <i>bynamah</i>, +or deed of sale, or any relinquishment whatever of their hereditary +rights as landholders.</p> +<p>Bukhtawar and Maun Sing said,—"That the people of the +village would not be safe, for a moment, if these two brothers were +released, which they would be, on the first occasion of +thanksgiving, if sent to Lucknow; that people who ventured to seize +a thief or robber in Oude must keep him, if they wished to save +themselves from his future depredations, as the Government +authorities would have nothing to do with them."</p> +<p>I ordered the King's wakeel to take these two brothers to the +Chuckladar, and request him to see them released on their +furnishing sufficient security for their future good behaviour, +which they promised to produce.* They were all fine-looking men, +with limbs that would do honour to any climate in the world. These +are the families from which our native regiments are recruited; and +hardly a young recruit offers himself for enlistment, on whose body +marks will not be found of wounds received in these contests, +between landlords themselves, and between them and the officers and +troops of the sovereign. I have never seen enmity more strong and +deadly than that exhibited by contending co-sharers and landholders +of all kinds in Oude. The Rajah of Bulrampoor mentioned a curious +instance of this spirit in a village, now called the <i>Kolowar</i> +village, in the Gonda district, held in copartnership by a family +of the Buchulgotee tribe of Rajpoots. One of them said he should +plant sugar-cane in one of his fields. All consented to this. But +when he pointed out the place where he should have his mill, the +community became divided. A contest ensued, in which all the +able-bodied men were killed, though not single cane had been +planted. The widows and children survived, and still hold the +village, but have been so subdued by poverty that they are the +quietest village community in the district. The village from that +time has gone by the name of <i>Kolowar</i> village, from Koloo, +the sugar-mill, though no sugar-mill was ever worked in the +village, he believed. He says, the villagers cherish the +recollection of this <i>fight</i>; and get very angry when their +neighbours <i>twit</i> them with the folly of it.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* They were released, and have been ever since at large on +security. One of them visited me in April 1851, and said, that as a +point of honour, they should abstain from joining in the fight for +their rights, but felt it very hard to be bound to do so.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In our own districts in Upper India, they often kill each other +in such contests; but more frequently ruin each other in litigation +in our Civil Courts, to the benefit of the native attorneys and +law-officers, who fatten on the misery they create or produce. In +Oude they always decide such questions by recourse to arms, and the +loss of life is no doubt fearful. Still the people generally, or a +great part of them, would prefer to reside in Oude, under all the +risks to which these contests expose them, than in our own +districts, under the evils the people are exposed to from the +uncertainties of our law, the multiplicity and formality of our +Courts, the pride and negligence of those who preside over them, +and the corruption and insolence of those who must be employed to +prosecute or defend a cause in them, and enforce the fulfilment of +a decree when passed.</p> +<p>The members of the landed aristocracy of Oude always speak with +respect of the administration in our territories, but generally end +with remarking on the cost and uncertainty of the law in civil +cases, and the gradual decay, under its operation, of all the +ancient families. A less and less proportion of the annual produce +of their lands is left to them in our periodical settlements of the +land revenue, while family pride makes them expend the same sums in +the marriage of their children, in religious and other festivals, +personal servants, and hereditary retainers. They fall into +balance, incur heavy debts, and estate after estate is put up to +auction, and the proprietors are reduced to poverty. They say, that +four times more of these families have gone to decay in the half of +the territory made over to us in 1801, than in the half reserved by +the Oude sovereign; and this is, I fear, true. They named the +families—I cannot remember them.</p> +<p>In Oude, the law of primogeniture prevails among all the +tallookdars, or principal landholders; and, to a certain extent, +among the middle class of landholders, of the Rajpoot or any other +military class. If one co-sharer of this class has several sons, +his eldest often inherits all the share he leaves, with all the +obligations incident upon it, of maintaining the rest of the +family.</p> +<p>The brothers of Soorujbulee, above named, do not pretend to have +any right of inheritance in the share of the lands he holds; but +they have a prescriptive right to support from him, for themselves +and families, when they require it. This rule of primogeniture is, +however, often broken through during the lifetime of the father, +who, having more of natural affection than family pride, divides +the lands between his sons. After his death they submit to this +division, and take their respective shares, to descend to their +children, by the law of primogeniture, or be again subdivided as +may seem to them best; or they fight it out among themselves, till +the strongest gets all. Among landholders of the smallest class, +whether Hindoos or Mahommedans, the lands are subdivided according +to the ordinary law of inheritance.</p> +<p>Our army and other public establishments form a great +"safety-valve" for Oude, and save it from a vast deal of fighting +for shares in land, and the disorders that always attend it. +Younger brothers enlist in our regiments, or find employment in our +civil establishments, and leave their wives and children under the +protection of the elder brother, who manages the family estate for +the common good. They send the greater part of their pay to him for +their subsistence, and feel assured that he will see that they are +provided for, should they lose their lives in our service. From the +single district of Byswara in Oude, sixteen thousand men were, it +is said, found to be so serving in our army and other +establishments; and from Bunoda, which adjoins it to the east, +fifteen thousand, on an inquiry ordered to be made by Ghazee-od +Deen Hyder some twenty-five years ago.</p> +<p>The family of Dursun Sing, like good landholders in all parts of +Oude, assigned small patches of land to substantial cultivators, +merchants, shopkeepers, and others, whom it is useful to retain in +their estates, for the purpose of planting small groves of mango +and other trees, as local ties. They prepare the well and plant the +trees, and then make over the land to a gardener or other good +cultivator, to be tilled for his own profit, on condition that he +water the trees, and take care to preserve them from frost during +the cold season, and from rats, white ants, and other enemies; and +form terraces round them, where the water lies much on the surface +during the rains, so that it may not reach and injure the bark. The +land yields crops till the trees grow large and cover it with their +shade, by which time they are independent of irrigation, and begin +to bear fruit. The crops do not thrive under the shade of the +trees, and the lands they cover cease to be of any value for +tillage. The stems and foliage of the trees, no doubt, deprive the +crops of the moisture, carbonic gas and ammonia, they require from +the atmosphere. They are, generally, watered from six to ten years. +These groves form a valuable local tie for the cultivators and +other useful tenants. No man dare to molest them or their +descendants, in the possession of their well and grove, without +incurring, at least, the odium of society; and, according to their +notion, the anger of their gods.</p> +<p>The cultivators always point out to them, in asserting their +rights to the lands they hold; and reside and cultivate in the +village, under circumstances that would drive them away, had they +no such ties to retain them. They feel a-great pride in them; and +all good landlords feel the same in having their villages filled +with tenants who have such ties.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 21, 1849.—Bhurteepoor, ten miles, almost +all the way through the estate of Maun Sing. No lands could be +better cultivated than they are all the way, or better studded with +groves and beautiful single trees. The villages and hamlets along +the road are numerous, and filled with cultivators of the gardener +and other good classes, who seem happy and contented. The season +has been favourable, and the crops are all fine, and of great +variety. Sugar-cane abounds, but no mills are, as yet, at work. We +passed through, and by three or four villages, that have been +lately taken from Maun Sing, and made over to farmers by the local +authorities, under instructions from Court; but they are not so +well cultivated, as those which he retains. The cultivators and +inhabitants generally do not appear to enjoy the same protection or +security in the engagements they make. The soil is everywhere good, +the water near the surface, and the climate excellent. The soil is +here called doomuteea, and adapted to all kinds of tillage.</p> +<p>I should mention, with regard to the subdivision of landed +property, that the Rajahs and tallookdars, among whom the law of +primogeniture prevails, consider their estates as principalities, +or <i>reeasuts</i>. When any Rajah, or tallookdar, during his +lifetime, assigns portions of the land to his sons, brothers, or +other members of the family, they are separated from the +<i>reeasut</i>, or principality, and are subdivided as they descend +from generation to generation, by the ordinary Hindoo or Mahommedan +law of inheritance. This is the case with portions of the estate of +the Rajah of Korwar, in the Sultanpoor district, one of the oldest +Hindoo principalities in Oude, which are now held by his cousins, +nephews, &c., near this place, Bhurteepoor.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Sunkur Sing, of Korwar, had four sons: first, Dooneeaput died +without issue; second, Sookraj Sing, whose grandson, Madhoo +Persaud, is now the Rajah; third, Bureear Sing, who got from his +brother lands yielding forty thousand rupees a-year out of the +principality. They are now held by his son, Jydut; fourth, Znbar +Sing, who got from his brother lands yielding nineteen thousand +rupees a-year, which are now held by his son, Moheser Persaud. +Sunkir Sing was the second brother, but his elder brother died +without issue.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Dooneeaput succeeded to the <i>reeasut</i> on the death of his +uncle, the Rajah, who died without issue; and he bestowed portions +of the estate on his brothers, Burear and Zubur Sing, which their +descendants enjoy, but which do not go to the eldest son, by the +law of primogeniture. He was succeeded by his brother, Sookraj, +whose grandson, Madhoo Persaud, now reigns as Rajah, and has the +undivided possession of the lands belonging to this branch. All the +descendants of his grandfather, Sookraj, and their widows and +orphans, have a right to protection and support from him, and to +nothing more. Jydut, who now holds the lands, yielding forty +thousand rupees a-year, called upon me, this morning, and gave me +this history of his family. The Rajah himself is in camp, and came +to visit me this afternoon.</p> +<p>It is interesting and pleasing to see a large, well-controlled +camp, moving in a long line through a narrow road or pathway, over +plains, covered with so rich a variety of crops, and studded with +such magnificent evergreen trees. The solitary mango-tree, in a +field of corn, seems to exult in its position-to grow taller and +spread wider its branches and rich foliage, in situations where +they can be seen to so much advantage. The peepul and bargut trees, +which, when entire, are still more ornamental, are everywhere torn +to pieces and disfigured by the camels and elephants, buffaloes and +bullocks, that feed upon their foliage and tender branches. There +are a great many mhowa, tamarind, and other fine trees, upon which +they do not feed, to assist the mango in giving beauty to the +landscape.</p> +<p>The Korwar Rajah, Madhoo Persaud, a young man of about +twenty-two years of age, came in the evening, and confirmed what +his relative, Jydut, had told me of the rule which required that +his lands should remain undivided with his eldest son, while those +which are held by Jydut, and his other relatives, should be +subdivided among all the sons of the holder. This rule is more +necessary in Oude than elsewhere, to preserve a family and its +estate from the grasp of its neighbours and Government officers. +When there happens to be no heir left to the portion of the estate +which has been cut off, it is re-annexed to the estate; and the +head of the family frequently anticipates the event, by murdering +or imprisoning the heir or incumbent, and seizing upon the lands. +Another Rajah, of the same name, Mahdoo Persaud, of Amethee, in +Salone, has lately seized upon the estate of Shahgur, worth twenty +thousand rupees a-year, which had been cut off from the Amethee +estate, and enjoyed by a collateral branch of the family for +several generations. He holds the proprietor, Bulwunt Sing, in +prison, in irons, and would soon make away with him were the Oude +Government to think it worth while to inquire after him. He has +seized upon another portion, Ramgur, held by another branch of the +family, worth six thousand rupees a-year, and crushed all the +proprietors. This is the way in which estates, once broken up, are +reconsolidated in Oude, under energetic and unscrupulous men. Of +course when they think it worth while to do so, they purchase the +collusion of the local authorities of the day, by promising to pay +the revenues, which the old proprietors paid during their tenure of +office. The other barons do not interfere, unless they happen to be +connected by marriage with the ousted proprietors, or otherwise +specially bound, by interest and honour, to defend them against the +grasp of the head of their family. Many struggles of this kind are +taking place every season in Oude.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt4" id="Chapt4">CHAPTER IV.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Recross the Goomtee river—Sultanpoor +Cantonments—Number of persons begging redress of wrongs, and +difficulty of obtaining it in Oude—Apathy of the +Sovereign—Incompetence and unfitness of his +Officers—Sultanpoor, healthy and well suited for +Troops—Chandour, twelve miles distant, no less so—lands +of their weaker neighbours absorbed by the family of Rajah Dursun +Sing, by fraud, violence, and collusion; but greatly +improved—Difficulty attending attempt to restore old +Proprietors—Same absorptions have been going on in all parts +of Oude—and the same difficulty to be everywhere +encountered—Soils in the district, <i>mutteear</i>, +<i>doomutteea</i>, <i>bhoor</i>, <i>oosur</i>—Risk at which +lands are tilled under Landlords opposed to their +Government—Climate of Oude more invigorating than that of +Malwa—Captain Magness's Regiment—Repair of artillery +guns—Supply of grain to its bullocks—Civil +establishment of the Nazim—Wolves—Dread of killing them +among Hindoos—Children preserved by them in their dens, and +nurtured.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 22, 1849.—Sultanpoor, eight miles. +Recrossed the Goomtee river, close under the Cantonments, over a +bridge of boats prepared for the purpose, and encamped on the +parade-ground. The country over which we came was fertile and well +cultivated. For some days we have seen and heard a good many +religions mendicants, both Mahommedans and Hindoos, but still very +few lame, blind, and otherwise helpless persons, asking charity. +The most numerous and distressing class of beggars that importune +me, are those who beg redress for their wrongs, and a remedy for +their grievances,—"their name, indeed, is <i>Legion</i>," and +their wrongs and grievances are altogether without remedy, under +the present government and inveterately vicious system of +administration. It is painful to listen to all these complaints, +and to have to refer the sufferers for redress to authorities who +want both the power and the will to afford it; especially when one +knows that a remedy for almost every evil is hoped for from a visit +such as the poor people are now receiving from the Resident. He is +expected "to wipe the tears from off all faces;" and feels that he +can wipe them from hardly any. The reckless disregard shown by the +depredators of all classes and degrees to the sufferings of their +victims, whatever be the cause of discontent or object of pursuit, +is lamentable. I have every day scores of petitions delivered to me +"with quivering lip and tearful eye," by persons who have been +plundered of all they possessed, had their dearest relatives +murdered or tortured to death, and their habitations burnt to the +ground, by gangs of ruffians, under landlords of high birth and +pretensions, whom they had never wronged or offended; some, merely +because they happened to have property, which the ruffians wished +to take—others, because they presumed to live and labour upon +lands which they coveted, or deserted, and wished to have left +waste. In these attacks, neither age, nor sex, nor condition are +spared. The greater part of the leaders of these gangs of ruffians +are Rajpoot landholders, boasting descent from the sun and moon, or +from the demigods, who figure in the Hindoo religious fictions of +the Poorans. There are, however, a great many Mahommedans at the +head of similar gangs. A landholder of whatever degree, who is +opposed to his government from whatever cause, considers himself in +a state of <i>war</i>', and he considers a state of war to +authorize his doing all those things which he is forbidden to do in +a state of peace.</p> +<p>Unless the sufferer happens to be a native officer or sipahee of +our army, who enjoys the privilege of urging his claims through the +Resident, it is a cruel mockery to refer him for redress to any +existing local authority. One not only feels that it is so, but +sees, that the sufferer thinks that he must know it to be so. No +such authority considers it to be any part of his duty to arrest +evil-doers, and inquire into and redress wrongs suffered by +individuals, or families, or village communities. Should he arrest +such people, he would have to subsist and accommodate them at his +own cost, or to send them to Lucknow, with the assurance that they +would in a few days or a few weeks purchase their way out again, in +spite of the clearest proofs of the murders, robberies, torturings, +dishonourings, house-burning, &c., which they have committed. +No sentence, which any one local authority could pass on such +offenders, would be recognised by any other authority in the State, +as valid or sufficient to justify him in receiving and holding them +in confinement for a single day. The local authorities, therefore, +either leave the wrong-doers unmolested, with the understanding +that they are to abstain from doing any such wrong within their +jurisdictions as may endanger or impede the <i>collection of +revenues</i> during their period of office, or release them with +that understanding after they have squeezed all they can out of +them. The wrong-doers can so abstain, and still be able to +<i>murder, rob, torture, dishonour, and burn</i>, upon a pretty +large scale; and where they are so numerous, and so ready to unite +for purposes "offensive and defensive," and the local authorities +so generally connive at or quietly acquiesce all their misdeeds, +any attempt on the part of an honest or overzealous individual to +put them down would be sure to result in his speedy and utter +ruin!</p> +<p>To refer such sufferers to the authorities at Lucknow would be a +still more cruel mockery. The present sovereign never hears a +complaint or reads a petition or report of any kind. He is entirely +taken up in the pursuit of his personal gratifications. He has no +desire to be thought to take any interest whatever in public +affairs; and is altogether regardless of the duties and +responsibilities of his high office. He lives, exclusively, in the +society of fiddlers, eunuchs, and women: he has done so since his +childhood, and is likely to do so to the last. His disrelish for +any other society has become inveterate: he cannot keep awake in +any other. In spite of average natural capacity, and more than +average facility in the cultivation of light literature, or at +least "<i>de faire des petits vers de sa focon</i>," his +understanding has become so emasculated, that he is altogether +unfit for the conduct of his domestic, much less his public, +affairs. He sees occasionally his prime minister, who takes care to +persuade him that he does all that a King ought to do; and nothing +whatever of any other minister. He holds no communication whatever +with brothers, uncles, cousins, or any of the native gentlemen at +Lucknow, or the landed or official aristocracy of the country. He +sometimes admits a few poets or poetasters to hear and praise his +verses, and commands the unwilling attendance of some of his +relations, to witness and applaud the acting of some of his own +silly comedies, on the penalty of forfeiting their stipends; but +any one who presumes to approach him, even in his rides or drives, +with a petition for justice, is instantly clapped into prison, or +otherwise severely punished.</p> +<p>His father and grandfather, while on the throne, used to see the +members of the royal family and aristocracy of the city in Durbar +once a-day, or three or four times a-week, and have all petitions +and reports read over in their own presence. They dictated the +orders, and their seal was affixed to them in their own presence, +bearing the inscription <i>molahiza shud</i>, "it has been seen." +The seal was then replaced in the casket, which was kept by one +confidential servant, Muzd-od Dowlah, while the key was confided to +another. Documents were thus read and orders passed upon them twice +a-day-once in the morning, and once again in the evening; and, on +such occasions, all heads of departments were present. The present +King continued this system for a short time, but he soon got tired +of it, and made over seal and all to the minister, to do what he +liked with them; and discontinued altogether the short Durbar, or +levees, which his father, grandfather, and all former sovereigns +had held—before they entered on the business of the +day—with the heads of departments and secretaries, and at +which all the members of the royal family and aristocracy of the +city attended, to pay their respects to their sovereign; and soon +ceased altogether to see the heads of departments and secretaries, +to hear orders read, and to ask questions about state affairs.</p> +<p>The minister has become by degrees almost as inaccessible as his +sovereign, to all but his deputies, heads of departments, +secretaries, and Court favourites, whom it is his interest to +conciliate. Though the minister has his own confidential deputies +and secretaries, the same heads of departments are in office as +under the present King's father and grandfather; and, though no +longer permitted to attend upon or see the King, they are still +supposed to submit to the minister, for orders, all reports from +local authorities, intelligence-writers, &c., and all petitions +from sufferers; but, in reality, he sees and hears read very few, +and passes orders upon still less. Any head of a department, +deputy, secretary, or favourite, may receive petitions, to be +submitted to the minister for orders; but it is the special duty of +no one to receive them, nor is any one held responsible for +submitting them for orders. Those only who are in the special +confidence of the minister, or of those about Court, from whom he +has something to hope or something to fear, venture to receive and +submit petitions; and they drive a profitable trade in doing so. A +large portion of those submitted are thrown aside, without any +orders at all; a portion have orders so written as to show that +they are never intended to be carried into effect; a third portion +receive orders that are really intended to be acted upon. But they +are taken to one of the minister's deputies, with whose views or +interests some of them may not square well; and he may detain them +for weeks, months, or years, till the petitioners are worn out with +"hope deferred," or utterly ruined, in vain efforts to purchase the +attention they require. Nothing is more common than for a +peremptory order to be passed for the immediate payment of the +arrears of pension due to a stipendiary member of the royal family, +and for the payment to be deferred for eight, ten, and twelve +months, till he or she consents to give from ten to twenty per +cent., according to his or her necessities, to the deputy, who has +to see the order carried out. A sufferer often, instead of getting +his petition smuggled on to the minister in the mode above +described, bribes a news-writer to insert his case in his report, +to be submitted through the head of the department.</p> +<p>At present the head of the intelligence department assumes the +same latitude, in submitting reports for orders to the minister, +that his subordinates in distant districts assume in framing and +sending them to him; that is, he submits only such as may suit his +views and interests to submit! Where grave charges are sent to him +against substantial men, or men high in office, he comes to an +understanding with their representatives in Lucknow, and submits +the report to the minister only as a <i>dernière resort</i>, +when such representatives cannot be brought to submit to his terms. +If found out, at any time, and threatened, he has his feed +<i>patrons</i> or <i>patronesses</i> "behind the throne, and +greater than the throne itself," to protect him.</p> +<p>The unmeaning orders passed by the minister on reports and +petitions are commonly that <i>so and so</i> is to inquire into the +matter complained of; to see that the offenders are seized and +punished; that the stolen property and usurped lands be restored; +that <i>razeenamas</i>, or acquittances, be sent in by the friends +of persons who have been murdered by the King's officers; that the +men, women, and children, confined and tortured by King's officers, +or by robbers and ruffians, be set at liberty and satisfied; the +said <i>so and so</i> being the infant commander-in-chief, the +King's chamberlain, footman, coachman, chief fiddler, eunuch, +barber, or person uppermost in his thoughts at the time. Similar +orders are passed in his name by his deputies, secretaries, and +favourites upon all the other numerous petitions and reports, which +he sends to them unperused. Not, perhaps, upon one in five does the +minister himself pass any order; and of the orders passed by him, +not one in five, perhaps, is intended to be taken notice of. His +deputies and favourites carry on a profitable trade in all such +reports and petitions: they extort money alike from the wrong-doer +and the wrong-sufferer; and from all local authorities, or their +representatives, for all neglect of duty or abuses, of authority +charged against them.</p> +<p>As to any investigation into the real merits of any case +described in these reports from the news-writers and local +authorities, no such thing has been heard of for several reigns. +The real merits of all such cases are, however, well and generally +known to the people of the districts in which they occur, and +freely discussed by them with suitable remarks on the "darkness +which prevails under the lamp of royalty;" and no less suitable +execrations against the intolerable system which deprives the King +of all feeling of interest in the well-being of his subjects, all +sense of duty towards them, all feeling of responsibility to any +higher power for the manner in which he discharges his high trust +over the millions committed to his care.</p> +<p>As I have said, the King never sees any petition or report: he +hardly ever sees even official notes addressed to him by the +British Resident, and the replies to almost all are written without +his knowledge.* The minister never puts either his seal or +signature to any order that passes, or any document whatsoever, +with his own hand: he merely puts in the date, as the 1st, 5th, or +10th; the month, year, and the order itself are inserted by the +deputies, secretaries, or favourites, to whom the duty is confided. +The reports and petitions submitted for orders often accumulate so +fast in times of great festivity or ceremony, that the minister has +them tied up in bundles, without any orders whatever having been +passed on them, and sent to his deputies for such as they may think +proper to pass, merely inserting his figure 1, 5, or 10, to +indicate the date, on the outermost document of each bundle. If any +orders are inserted by his deputies on the rest, they have only to +insert the same date. There is nothing but the <i>figure</i> to +attest the authenticity of the order; and it would be often +impossible for the minister himself to say whether the figure was +inserted by himself or by any other person. These deputies are the +men who adjust all the nuzuranas, or unauthorized gratuities, to be +paid to the minister.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* On the 17th of October, 1850, Hassan Khan, one of the +<i>khowas</i>, or pages, whose special duty it is to deliver all +papers to the King, fell under his Majesty's displeasure, and his +house was seized and searched. Several of the Resident's official +notes were found unopened among his papers. They had been sent to +the palace as emergent many months before, but never shown to the +King. Such official notes from the Resident are hardly every shown +to the King, nor is he consulted about the orders to be passed upon +them.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>They share largely in all that he gets; and take a great deal, +for which they render him no account. Knowing all that he takes, +and <i>ought not to take</i>, he dares not punish them for their +transgressions; and knowing this, sufferers are afraid to complain +against them. In ordinary times, or under ordinary sovereigns, the +sums paid by revenue authorities in <i>nazuranas</i>, or +gratuities, before they were permitted to enter on their charges, +amounted to, perhaps, ten or fifteen per cent.: under the present +sovereign they amount, I believe, to more than twenty-five per +cent. upon the revenue they are to collect. Of these the minister +and his deputies take the largest part. A portion is paid in +advance, and good bonds are taken for the rest, to be paid within +the year. Of the money collected, more than twenty-five per cent., +on an average, is appropriated by those intrusted with the +disbursements, and by their patrons and patronesses. The sovereign +gets, perhaps, three-fourths of what is collected; and of what is +collected, perhaps two-thirds, on an average, reaches its +legitimate destination; so that one-half of the revenues of Oude +may be considered as taken by officers and Court favourites in +unauthorized gratuities and perquisites. The pay of the troops and +establishments, on duty with the revenue collectors, is deducted by +them, and the surplus only is sent to the Treasury at Lucknow. In +his accounts he receives credit for all sums paid to the troops and +establishments on duty under him. Though the artillery-bullocks get +none of the grain, for which he pays and charges Government, a +greater portion of the whole of what he pays and charges in his +accounts reaches its legitimate destination, perhaps, than of the +whole of what is paid from the Treasury at the capital. On an +average, however, I do not think that more than two-thirds of what +is paid and charged to Government reaches that destination.</p> +<p>I may instance the two regiments, under Thakur Sing, Tirbaydee; +which are always on duty at the palace. It is known that the +officers and sipahees of those regiments do not get more than +one-half of the pay which is issued for them every month from the +Treasury; the other half is absorbed by the commandant and his +patrons at Court. On everything sold in the palace, the vender is +obliged to add one-third to the price, to be paid to the person +through whom it is passed in. Without this, nothing can be sold in +the palace by European or native. Not a single animal in the King's +establishments gets one-third of the food allowed for it, and +charged for; not a building is erected or repaired at less than +three times the actual outlay, two-thirds at least of the money +charged going to the superintendent and his patrons.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 23, 1849.—Halted at Sultanpoor, which is +one of the healthiest stations in India, on the right bank of the +Goomtee river, upon a dry soil, among deep ravines, which drain off +the water rapidly. The bungalows are on the verge, looking down +into the river, upon the level patches of land, dividing the +ravines. The water in the wells is some fifty feet below the +surface, on a level with the stream below. There are no groves +within a mile of the cantonments; and no lakes, marshes, or jungles +within a great many; and the single trees in and near the +cantonments are few. The gardens are small and few; and the water +is sparingly used in irrigating them, as the expense of drawing it +is very great.</p> +<p>There is another good site for a cantonment at Chandour, some +twelve miles up the river, on the opposite bank, and looking down +upon the stream, from the verge, in the same manner. Chandour was +chosen for his cantonments by Rajah Dursun Sing when he had the +contract for the district; and it would be the best place for the +head-quarters of any establishments, that any new arrangements +might require for the administration of the Sultanpoor and +surrounding districts. Secrora would be the best position for the +head-quarters of those required for the administration of the +Gonda-Bahraetch, and other surrounding districts. It is central, +and has always been considered one of the healthiest places in +Oude. It was long a cantonment for one of our regiments of infantry +and some guns, which were, in 1835, withdrawn, and sent to increase +the force at Lucknow, from two to three regiments of infantry. The +regiment and guns at Sultanpoor were taken away in 1837. Secrora +was, for some years after our regiment and guns had been withdrawn, +occupied by a regiment and guns under Captain Barlow, one of the +King of Oude's officers; but it is now altogether deserted. +Sultanpoor has been, ever since 1837, occupied by one of the two +regiments of Oude local Infantry, without any guns or cavalry of +any kind. There was also a regiment of our regular infantry at +Pertabghur, three marches from Sultanpoor, on the road to +Allahabad, with a regiment of our light cavalry. The latter was +withdrawn in 1815 for the Nepaul war, and employed again under us +during the Mahratta war in 1817 and 1818. It was sent back again in +1820; but soon after, in 1821, withdrawn altogether, and we have +since had no cavalry of any kind in Oude. Seetapoor was also +occupied by one of our regular regiments of infantry and some guns +till 1837, when they were withdrawn, and their place supplied by +the second regiment of Oude Local Infantry. Our Government now pays +the two regiments of Oude Local Infantry stationed at Sultanpoor +and Seetapoor; but the places of those stationed at Secrora and +Pertabghur have never been supplied. One additional regiment of +infantry is kept at Lucknow, so that our force in Oude has only +been diminished by one regiment of infantry, one of cavalry, and +eight guns, with a company and half of artillery. To do our duty +<i>honestly</i> by Oude, we ought to restore the regiment of +infantry; and in the place of the corps of light, send one of +irregular cavalry. We ought also to restore the company and half of +artillery and eight guns which have been withdrawn. We draw +annually from the lands ceded to as in 1801, for the protection +which we promised to the King and his people from "all internal and +external enemies," no less than two crores and twelve lacs of +rupees, or two millions sterling a-year; while the Oude Government +draws from the half of its territories which it reserved only +one-half that sum, or one crore of rupees.</p> +<p>Maun Sing is to leave my camp to-day, and return to Shahgunge. +Of the fraud and violence, abuse of power, and collusion with local +authorities, by which he and his father seized upon the lands of so +many hundreds of old proprietors, there can be no doubt; but to +attempt to make the family restore them now, under such a +government, would create great disorder, drive off all the better +classes of cultivators, and desolate the face of the country, which +they have rendered so beautiful by an efficient system of +administration. Many of the most powerful of the landed aristocracy +of Oude have acquired, or augmented, their estates in the same +manner and within the same time; and the same difficulty would +attend the attempt to restore the old proprietors in all parts. A +strong and honest government might overcome all these difficulties, +and restore to every rightful proprietor the land unjustly taken +from him, within a limited period; but it should not attempt to +enforce any adjustment of the accounts of receipts and +disbursements for the intervening period. The old proprietor would +receive back his land in an improved condition, and the usurper +might fairly be considered to have reimbursed himself for all his +outlay. The old proprietor should be required to pledge himself to +respect the rights of all new tenants.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 24, 1849.—Meranpoor, twelve miles. Soil +between this and Sultanpoor neither so fertile nor so well +cultivated, as we found it on the other side of the Goomtee river, +though it is of the same denomination—generally doomut, but +here and there mutear. The term mutear embraces all good +argillaceous earth, from the light brown to the black, humic or +ulmic deposit, found in the beds of tanks and lakes in Oude. The +natives of Oude call the black soil of Malwa and southern India, +and Bundlekund, <i>muteear</i>. This black soil has in its +exhausted state abundance of silicates, sulphates, phosphates, and +carbonates of alumina, potassa, lime, &c., and of organic +acids, combined with the same unorganic substances, to attract and +fix ammonia, and collect and store up moisture, and is exceedingly +fertile and strong.</p> +<p>Both saltpetre and common salt are made by lixiviation from some +of the poor oosur soils; but, from the most barren in Oude, +carbonates of soda, used in making <i>glass</i> and <i>soap</i>, +are taken. The earth is collected from the surface of the most +barren spots and formed into small, shallow, round tanks, a yard in +diameter. Water is then poured in, and the tank filled to the +surface, with an additional supply of the earth, and smoothed over. +This tank is then left exposed to the sun for two days, during the +hottest and driest months of the year. March, April, and May, and +part of June, when the crust, formed on the surface, is taken off. +The process is repeated once; but in the second operation the tank +is formed around and below by the debris of the first tank, which +is filled to the surface, after the water has been poured in, with +the first <i>crust</i> obtained. The second crust is called the +<i>reha</i>, which is carbonate or bicarbonate of soda. This is +formed into small cakes, which are baked to redness in an oven, or +crucible, to expel the moisture and carbonic acid which it +contains. They are then powdered to fine dust, which is placed in +another crucible, and fused to liquid glass, the <i>reha</i> +containing in itself sufficient silica to form the coarse glass +used in making bracelets, &c.</p> +<p>A superabundance of nitrates seem also to impair or destroy +fertility in the soil, and they may arise from the decomposition of +animal or vegetable matter, in a soil containing a superabundance +of porous lime. The atmospheric air and water, contained in the +moist and porous soil, are decomposed. The hydrogen of the water +combines with the nitrogen of the air, and that given off by the +decomposing organic bodies, and forms ammonia. The nitrogen of the +ammonia then takes up the oxygen of the air and water, and becoming +nitric acid, forms nitrates with the lime, potash, soda, &c., +contained in the soil. Without any superabundance of lime in the +soil, however, the same effects may be produced, when there is a +deficiency of decaying vegetable and animal matter, as the oxygen +of the decomposed air and water, having no organic substances to +unite with, may combine with the nitrogen of the ammonia, and form +nitric acid; which, uniting with the lime, potash, soda, &c., +may form the superabounding nitrates destructive of fertility.</p> +<p>This superabundance of reha, or carbonate of soda, which renders +so much of the surface barren, must, I conclude, arise from +deposits of common salt, or chloride of sodium. The water, as it +percolates through these deposits towards the surface, becomes +saturated with their alkaline salts; and, as it reaches the surface +and becomes evaporated in the pure state, it leaves them behind at +or near the surface. On its way to the surface, or at the surface, +the chloride of sodium becomes decomposed by contact with +<i>carbonates of ammonia and potassa—sulphuric and nitric +acids</i>. In a soil well supplied with decaying animal or +vegetable matter, these carbonates or sulphates of soda, as they +rise to the surface, might be formed into nutriment for plants, and +taken up by their roots; or in one well flooded occasionally with +fresh water, any superabundance of the salts or their bases might +be taken up in solution and carried off. The people say, that the +soil in which these carbonates of soda (reha) abound, are more +unmanageable than those in which nitrates abound: they tell me +that, with flooding, irrigating, manuring, and well ploughing, they +can manage to get crops from all but the soils in which this +<i>reha</i> abounds.</p> +<p>The process above described, by which the bracelet makers +extract the carbonates of soda and potash from the earth of the +small, shallow tanks, is precisely the same as that by which they +are brought from the deep bed of earth below and deposited on or +near the surface. In both processes, the water which brings them +near the surface goes off into the atmosphere in a pure state, and +leaves the salts behind. To make soap from the reha, they must +first remove the silex which it contains.</p> +<p>There are no rocks in Oude, and the only form in which lime is +found for building purposes and road-pavements is that of kunkur, +which is a carbonate of lime containing silica, and oxide of iron. +In proportion as it contains the last, the kunkur is more or less +red. That which contains none is of a dirty-white. It is found in +many parts of India in thin layers, or amorphous masses, formed by +compression, upon a stiff clay substratum; but in Oude I have seen +it only in nodules, usually formed on nuclei of flint or other hard +substances. The kingdom of Oude must have once been the bed, or +part of the bed, of a large lake, formed by the diluvial detritus +of the hills of the Himmalaya chain, and, as limestone abounds in +that chain, the bed contains abundance of lime, which is taken up +by the water that percolates through it from the rivers and from +the rains and floods above. The lime thus taken up and held in +solution with carbonic add gas, is deposited around the small +fragments of flint or other hard substances which the waters find +in their way. Where the floods which cover the surface during the +rains come in rivers, flowing from the Himmalaya or other hills +abounding in limestone rocks, they of course contain lime and +carbonic-acid gas, which add to the kunkur nodules formed in the +bed below; but in Oude the rivers seldom overflow to any extent, +and the kunkur is, I believe, formed chiefly from the lime already +existing in the bed.</p> +<p>Doctor O'Shaughnessy, the most eminent chemist now in India, +tells me that there are two marked varieties of kunkur in +India—the red and the white; that the red differs from the +white solely in containing a larger proportion of peroxide of iron; +that the white consists of carbonate of lime, silica, alumina, and +sometimes magnesia and protoxide of iron. He states that he +considers the kunkur to be deposited by calcareous waters, +abounding in infusorial animalculæ; that the waters of the +annual inundation are rich in lime, and that all the facts that +have come under his observation appear to him to indicate that this +is the source of the kunkur deposit, which is seen in a different +form in the Italian travertine, and the crescent nodules of the +Isle of Sheppey and of Bologne.</p> +<p>Doctor O'Shaughnessy further states, that the <i>reha</i> earth, +which I sent to him from Oude, is identical with the <i>sujjee +muttee</i> of Bengal, and contains carbonate of soda and sulphate +of soda as its essential characteristic ingredients, with silicious +clay and oxide of iron. But in Oude, the term "<i>sujjee</i>" is +given to the carbonate and sulphate of soda which remains after the +silex has been removed from the reha. The reha is fused into glass +after the carbonic acid and moisture have been expelled by heat, +and the sujjee is formed into soap, by the addition of lime, fat, +and linseed oil, in the following proportions, I am told:—6 +sujjee, 4 lime, 2½ fat, and 1½ ulsee oil.</p> +<p>The sujjee is formed from the reha by filtration. A tank is +formed on a terrace of cement. In a hole at one corner is a small +tube. Rows of bricks are put down from one end to the other, with +intervals between for the liquor to flow through to the tube. On +these rows a layer of stout reeds is first placed, and over them +another layer composed of the leaves of these reeds. On this bed +the coarse reha earth is placed without being refined by the +process described in the text above. Some coarse common salt +(kharee nimuck) is mixed up with the reha. The tank is then filled +with water, which filters slowly through the earth and passes out +through the tube into pans, whence it is taken to another tank upon +a wider terrace of cement, where it evaporates and leaves the +sujjee deposited. The second tank is commonly made close under the +first, and the liquor flows into it through the tube, rendering +pans unnecessary. It is only in the hot months of March, April, +May, and part of June, till the rains begin to fall, that the reha +and sujjee are formed. During the other nine months, the +<i>Looneas</i>, who provide them, turn their hands to something +else. The <i>reha</i>, deprived of its carbonic acid and moisture +by heat, is fused into glass. Deprived of silex by this process of +filtration, it is formed into sujjee, from which the soap is +made.</p> +<p>On this process of filtration. Doctor O'Shaughnessy observes: +—"I do not clearly understand the use of the common salt, used +in the extraction of soda, in the process you described. But many of +the empirical practices of the natives prove, on investigation, to +square with the most scientific precepts. For example, their +proportions in the manufacture of corrosive sublimate are precisely +identical with those which the <i>atomic theory</i> leads the +European chemist to follow. The filtering apparatus which you +describe is really admirable, and I doubt much whether the best +practical chemist could devise any simpler or cheaper way of +arriving at the object in view."</p> +<p>The country is well provided with mango and other fine trees, +single, and in clusters and groves; but the tillage is slovenly and +scanty, strongly indicative of want of security to life, property, +and industry. No symptom of the residence of gardeners and other +cultivators of the better classes, or irrigation, or the use of +manure in tillage.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 25, 1849.—Nawabgunge, eleven miles. The +soil good, as indicated by the growth of fine trees on each side of +the road as far as we could see over the level plain, and by the +few fields of corn in sight; but the cultivation is deficient and +slovenly. A great part of the road lay through the estate of +Mundone, held by Davey Persaud, the tallookdar; and the few +peasants who stood by the side of the road to watch their fields as +we passed, and see the cavalcade, told me that the deficient +tillage and population arose from his being in opposition to +Government and diligently employed in plundering the country +generally, and his own estates in particular, to reduce the local +authorities to his own terms. The Government demand upon him is +twenty thousand rupees. He paid little last year, and has paid +still less during the present year, on the ground that his estate +yields nothing. This is a common and generally successful practice +among tallookdars, who take to fighting against the Government +whether their cause be just or unjust. These peasants and +cultivators told us that they had taken to the jungles for shelter, +after the last harvest, till the season for sowing again commenced; +remained in the fields, still houseless, during the night, worked +in their fields in fear of their lives during the day; and +apprehended that they should have to take to the jungles again as +soon as their crops were gathered, if they were even permitted to +gather them. They attributed as much blame to their landlord as to +the Nazim, Wajid Allee Khan. He, however, bears a very bad +character, and is said to have designedly thrown a good deal of the +districts under his charge out of tillage in the hope that no other +person would venture to take the contract for it in that condition, +and that he should, in consequence, be invited to retain it on more +favourable terms. He was twelve lacs of rupees in balance when +superseded at the end of the year, in September last, by the +present governor, Aga Allee, who manages the same districts on a +salary of two thousand rupees a-month, without any contract for the +revenues, but with the understanding that he is to collect, or at +least to pay, a certain sum.</p> +<p>The late contractor will no doubt relieve himself from the +burthen of this balance in the usual way. He will be imprisoned for +a time till he pays, or enters into engagements to pay, to the +minister and the influential men at Court, as much as they think he +can be made to pay, in bribes, and some half of that sum into the +Treasury, and have all the rest struck out of the accounts as +irrecoverable—perhaps two lacs in bribes, and one to the Treasury +may secure him an acquittance, and a fair chance of employment +hereafter. His real name is Wajid Allee; but as that is the name of +the King, he is commonly called Ahmud Allee, that the royal ears +may not take offence.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 26, 1849.—Pertabghur, distance eight miles. In +the course of fourteen years, almost all signs of one of the most +healthful and most agreeable cantonments of the Bengal army have +been effaced. Fine crops of corn now cover what were the parades +for cavalry, infantry, and artillery, and the gardens and compounds +of officers' bungalows. The grounds, which were once occupied by +the old cantonments, are now let out to cultivators, immediately +under Government, and they are well cultivated; but the tillage of +the rest of the country we have this morning passed over is scanty +and slovenly. The Rajah of Pertabghur has, for some time, been on +bad terms with the contractors, greatly in arrears, and commonly in +opposition to the Government, having his band of armed followers in +the jungles, and doing nothing but mischief. This is the case with +most of the tallookdars of the country over which I have passed. +Not one in five, or I may say one in ten, attends the viceroys, +because it would not be safe to do so; or pays the demands of +Government punctually, because there is no certainty in them.</p> +<p>I passed down the line of Captain Magness's corps, which is at +present stationed at Pertabghur. It is as well-dressed, and as fine +a looking corps as any infantry regiment in our own native army, +and has always shown itself as good on service. It has eight guns +attached to it, well provided and served. The artillery-men, +drivers, &c., are as well dressed and as fit for their duties +as our own. Stores and ammunition are abundant, but the powder is +execrable. Captain Magness is a good officer. The guns are six +6-pounders, drawn by bullocks; and two gallopers of very small +calibre, drawn by horses. They are not adapted for the duties they +have to perform, which is chiefly against mud-forts and +strongholds; and four 9-pounders, two howitzers, and two mortars +would be better. They are, however, well manned and provided with +bullocks, ammunition and stores. The finest young men in Oude are +glad to take service under Captain Magness; and the standard height +of his men is at present five feet ten inches. He has some few men, +good for nothing, called <i>sufarishies</i>, whom he is obliged to +keep in on account of the persons by whom they are recommended, +eunuchs, fiddlers, and Court favourites, of all kinds. In no +country are there a body of finer looking recruits than Captain +Magness now has at drill. All of the first families in the country, +and of unquestionable courage and fidelity to their salt. He has +four hundred Cavalry, of what is called the <i>body guard</i>, men +well dressed, and of fine appearance. These Cavalry are, however, +likely soon to be taken from him, and made over to some +good-for-nothing Court favourite.* He has about seven hundred men +present with his Infantry corps. His adjutant, Yosuf Khan, speaks +English well, and has travelled a good deal in England, Europe +generally, and Palestine. He is a sensible, unprejudiced man, and +good soldier. Captain Magness attends the Nazim of the district; +but, unfortunately, like all the commandants of corps and public +servants of the State, he is obliged to forage for fodder and fuel. +A foraging party is sent out every day, be where they will, to take +these things gratis, wherever they can find them most conveniently. +Bhoosa, grass and wood are the things which they are authorized to +take, without payment, wherever they can find them; but they, of +course, take a good many other things. The Government allows +nothing to any of its troops or establishments, for these things, +except when they are in Lucknow. The consequence is, that there is +hardly a good cover to any man's house, or sufficient fodder for +the cattle of any village, during the hot season and rains.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* They were soon after taken from Captain Magness and given to +Mr. Johannes; and soon after taken from him, and made over to an +eunuch, who turned out all the good men, to sell their places to +men good for nothing. They mutinied; but the King and minister +supported the eunuch, and the greater part of the men were +discharged and their officers ruined.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>December</i> 27, 1849—Halted at Pertabghur. I had a +visit from many of the persons who were in my service, when I was +here with my regiment thirty years ago, as watchmen, gardeners, +&c. They continue to hold and till the lands, which they or +their fathers then tilled; and the change in them is not so great +as that which has taken place within the same time among my old +native friends, who survive in the Saugor and Nerbudda districts, +where the air is less dry, and the climate less congenial to the +human frame. The natives say that the air and water of Malwa may +produce as good trees and crops as those of Oude, but can never +produce such good soldiers. This, I believe, is quite true. The +Sultanpoor district is included in the Banoda division of Oude; and +the people speak of the <i>water</i> of this division for +<i>tempering</i> soldiers, as we talk of the water of Damascus, for +tempering sword blades. They certainly never seem so happy as when +they are fighting in earnest with swords, spears, and matchlocks. +The <i>water</i> of the Byswara division is considered to be very +little inferior to that of Banoda, and we get our sipahees from +these two divisions almost exclusively.</p> +<p>Captain Magness's corps is, at present, attached to the Nazim of +this district, with its guns, and squadron of horse, as an +auxiliary force. Over and above this force, he has nine regiments +of Nujeebs, detachments of other Corps, Artillery, Pioneers, +&c., amounting, in all, according to the musters and +pay-drafts, to seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight men, +for whom thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-three +rupees a-month are drawn. Of these, fifteen hundred are dead or +have deserted, or are absent on leave without pay. Their pay is all +appropriated by the commandants of corps or Court favourites. +Fifteen hundred more are in attendance on the commandants of corps, +who reside at the capital, and their friends or other influential +persons about the Court, or engaged in their own trades or affairs, +having been put into the corps by influential persons at Court, to +draw pay, but do no duty. Of the remaining four thousand seven +hundred and seventy-eight, one-third, or one thousand five hundred +and ninety-two, are what is called <i>sufarishies</i>, or men who +are unfit for duty, and have been put in by influential persons at +Court, to appear at muster and draw pay. Of the remaining three +thousand one hundred and eighty-six present, there would be no +chance of getting more than two-thirds, or two thousand one hundred +and twenty-four men to fight on emergency—indeed, the Nazim +would think himself exceedingly lucky if he could get one-third to +do so.</p> +<p>Of the forty-two guns, thirteen are utterly useless on the +ground; and out of the remaining twenty-nine, there are draft +bullocks for only five. But there are no stores or ammunition for +any of them; and the Nazim is obliged to purchase what powder and +ball he may require in the bazaars. None of the gun-carriages have +been repaired for the last twenty years, and the strongest of them +would go to pieces after a few rounds. Very few of them would stand +one round with good powder. Five hundred rupees are allowed for +fitting up the carriage and tumbril of each gun, after certain +intervals of from five to ten years; and this sum has, no doubt, +been drawn over and over for these guns, during the twenty years, +within which they have had no repairs whatever. If the local +governor is permitted to draw this sum, he is sure never to expend +one farthing of it on the gun. If the person in charge of the +ordnance at Lucknow draws it, the guns and tumbrils are sent in to +him, and returned with, at least, a coating of paint and putty, but +seldom with anything else. The two persons in charge of the two +large parks at Lucknow, from which the guns are furnished, Anjum-od +Dowlah, and Ances-od Dowlah, a fiddler, draw the money for the corn +allowed for the draft bullocks, at the rate of three pounds per +diem for each, and distribute, or pretend to distribute it through +the agents of the grain-dealers, with whom they contract for the +supply; and the district officers, under whom these draft bullocks +are employed, are never permitted to interfere. They have nothing +to do but pay for the grain allowed; and the agents, employed to +feed the bullocks, do nothing but appropriate the money for +themselves and their employers. Not a grain of corn do the bullocks +ever get.</p> +<p>The Nazim has charge of the districts of Sultanpoor, Haldeemow, +Pertabghur, Jugdeespoor, and that part of Fyzabad which is not +included in the estate of Bukhtawar Sing, yielding, altogether, +about ten and a half lacs of rupees to Government. He exercises +entire fiscal, judicial, magisterial and police authority over all +these districts. To aid him in all these duties, he has four +deputies—one in each district—upon salaries of one +hundred and fifty rupees each a-month, with certain fees and +perquisites. To inquire into particular cases, over all these +districts, he employs a special deputy, paid out of his own salary. +All the accountants and other writers, employed under him, are +appointed by the deputies and favourites of the minister; and, +considering themselves as their creatures, they pay little regard +to their immediate master, the Nazim. But over and above these men, +from whom he does get some service, he has to pay a good many, from +whom he can get none. He is, before he enters upon his charge, +obliged to insert, in his list of civil functionaries, to be paid +monthly, out of the revenues, a number of writers and officers, of +all descriptions, <i>recommended</i> to him by these deputies and +other influential persons at Court. Of these men he never sees or +knows anything. They are the children, servants, creatures, or +dependents of the persons who recommend them, and draw their pay. +These are called <i>civil sufarishies</i>, and cost the State much +more than the <i>military sufarishies</i>, already +mentioned—perhaps not less than six thousand rupees a-month +in this division alone.</p> +<p>The Nazim is permitted to levy for incidental expenses, only ten +per cent. over and above the Government demand; and required to +send one-half of this sum to Court, for distribution. He is +ostensibly required to limit himself to this sum, and to abstain +from taking the gratuities, usually exacted by the <i>revenue +contractors</i>, for distribution among ministers and other +influential persons at Court. Were he to do so, they would all be +so strongly opposed to the <i>amanee</i>, or trust system of +management, and have it in their power so much to thwart him, in +all his measures and arrangements, that he could never possibly get +on with his duties; and the disputes between them generally results +in a compromise. He takes, in gratuities, something less than his +contracting predecessors took, and shares, what he takes, +liberally, with those whose assistance he requires at Court. These +gratuities, or nuzuranas, never appeared, in the public accounts; +and were a governor, under the <i>amanee</i> system, to demand the +full rates paid to contractors, the more powerful landholders would +refer him to these public accounts, and refuse to pay till he could +assure them of the same equivalents in <i>nanker</i> and other +things, which they were in the habit of receiving from contractors. +These, as a mere trust manager, he may not be able to give; and he +consents to take something less. The landholders know that where +the object is to exact the means to gratify influential persons +about Court, the Nazim would be likely to get good military +support, if driven to extremity, and consent to pay the greater +part of what is demanded. When the trust manager, by his liberal +remittances to Court patrons, gets all the troops he requires, he +exacts the full gratuities, and still higher and more numerous if +strong enough. The corps under Captains Magness, Bunbury, Barlow, +and Subha Sing, are called <i>komukee</i>, or auxiliary regiments; +and they are every season, and sometimes often in the same season, +sold to the highest bidder as a perquisite by the minister. The +services of Captain Magness and Captain Bunbury's corps were +purchased in this way for 1850 and 1851, by Aga Allee, the Nazim of +Sultanpoor, and he has made the most of them. No <i>contractor</i> +ever exacted higher <i>nazuranas</i> or <i>gratuities</i> than he +has, by their aid, this season, though he still holds the district +as a trust manager. Ten, twenty, or thirty thousand rupees are paid +for the use of one of these regiments, according to the exigency of +the occasion, or the time for which it may be required.</p> +<p>The system of government under which Oude suffers during the +reign of the best king is a fearful one; and what must it be under +a sovereign, so indifferent as the present is, to the sufferings of +his people, to his own permanent interests, and to the duties and +responsibilities of his high station? Seeing that our Government +attached much importance to the change, from the <i>contract</i> to +the <i>trust</i> system of management, the present minister is +putting a large portion of the country under that system in the +hope of blinding us. But there is virtually little or no change in +the administration of such districts; the person who has the charge +of a district under it is obliged to pay the same gratuities to +public officers and court favourites, and he exacts the same, or +nearly the same from the landholders; he is under no more check +than the contractor, and the officers and troops under him, abuse +their authority in the same manner, and commit the same outrages +upon the suffering people. Security to life and property is +disregarded in the same manner; he confines himself as exclusively +to the duties of collecting revenue, and is as regardless of +security to life and property, and of fidelity to his engagements, +as the landholders in his jurisdiction. The trust management of a +district differs from that of the contractors, only as the +<i>wusoolee kubaz</i> differs from the <i>lakulamee</i>; though he +does not enter into a formal contract to pay a certain sum, he is +always expected to pay such a sum, and if he does not, he is +obliged to wipe off the balance in the same way, and is kept in +gaol till he does so, in the same way. Indeed, I believe, the +people would commonly rather be under a contractor, than a trust +manager under the Oude Government; and this was the opinion of +Colonel Low, who, of all my predecessors, certainly knew most about +the real state of Oude.</p> +<p>The Nazim of Sultanpoor has authority to entertain such +Tehseeldars and <i>Jumogdars</i> as he may require, for the +collection of the revenue. Of these he has, generally, from fifty +to sixty employed, on salaries varying from fifteen to thirty +rupees a-month each. The Tehseeldar is employed here, as elsewhere, +in the collection of the land revenue, in the usual way; but the +<i>Jumogdar</i> is an officer unknown in our territories. Some are +appointed direct from Court, and some by the Nazims and Amils of +districts. When a landholder has to pay his revenue direct to +Government (as all do, who are included in what is called the +Hozoor Tehseel), and he neglects to do so punctually, a Jumogdar is +appointed. The landholder assembles his tenants, and they enter +into pledges to pay direct to the Jumogdar the rents due by them to +the landholder, under existing engagements, up to a certain time. +This may be the whole, or less than the whole, amount due to +Government by the landholder. If any of them fail to pay what they +promise to the Jumogdar, the landholder is bound to make good the +deficiency at the end of the year. He also binds himself to pay to +Government whatever may be due over and above what the tenants +pledge themselves to pay to the Jumogdar. This transfer of +responsibility, from the landholder to his tenants, is called +"<i>Jumog Lagana</i>," or transfer of the jumma. The assembly of +the tenants, for the purpose of such-adjustment, is called +<i>zunjeer bundee</i>, or linking together. The adjustment thus +made is called the <i>bilabundee</i>. The salary of the Jumogdar is +paid by the landholder, who distributes the burthen of the payment +upon his tenants, at a per centage rate. The Jumogdar takes written +engagements from the tenants; and they are bound not to pay +anything to the landholder till they have paid him (the Jumogdar) +all that they are, by these engagements, bound to pay him. He does +all he can to make them pay punctually; but he is not, properly, +held responsible for any defalcation. Such responsibility rests +with the landlords. Where much difficulty is expected from the +refractory character of the landholder, the officer commanding the +whole, or some part of the troops in the district, is often +appointed the Jumogdar; and the amount which the tenants pledge +themselves to pay to him is debited to him, in the pay of the +troops, under his command.</p> +<p>The Jumogdars, who are appointed by the Nazims and Amils, act in +the same manner with regard to the landlords and tenants, to whom +they are accredited, and are paid in the same manner. There may be +one, or there may be one hundred, Jumogdars in a district, +according to the necessity for their employment, in the collection +of the revenue. They are generally men of character, influence, and +resolution; and often useful to both, or all three parties; but +when they are officers commanding troops, they are often very +burthensome to landlords and tenants. The Jumogdar has only to +receive the sums due, according to existing engagements between the +parties, and to see that no portion of them is paid to any other +person. He has nothing to do with apportioning the demand, or +making the engagements between tenants and landlords, or landlords +and Government officers.</p> +<p>The Canoongoes and Chowdheries in Oude are commonly called +Seghadars, and their duties are the same here as everywhere else in +India.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 28, 1849.—Twelve miles to Hundore, over a +country more undulating and better cultivated than any we have seen +since we recrossed the Goomtee river at Sultanpoor. It all belongs +to the Rajah of Pertabghur, Shumshere Babadur, a Somebunsee, who +resides at Dewlee, some six miles from Pertabghur. His family is +one of the oldest and most respectable in Oude; but his capital of +Pertabghur, where he used to reside till lately, is one of the most +beggarly. He seems to have concentrated there all the beggars in +the country, and there is not a house of any respectable to be +seen. The soil, all the way, has been what they call the doomut, or +doomuteea, which is well adapted to all kinds of tillage, but +naturally less strong than muteear or argillaceous earth, and +yields scanty crops, where it is not well watered and manured.</p> +<p>The Rajah came to my camp in the afternoon, and attended me on +his elephant in the evening when I went round the town, and to his +old mud fort, now in ruins, within which is the old residence of +the family. He does not pay his revenue punctually, nor is he often +prepared to attend the viceroy when required; and it was thought +that he would not come to me. Finding that the Korwar and other +Rajahs and large landholders, who had been long on similar terms +with the local authorities, had come in, paid their respects, and +been left free, he also ventured to my camp. For the last thirty +years the mutual confidence which once subsisted between the +Government authorities and the great landholders of these districts +has been declining, and it ceased altogether under the last +viceroy, Wajid Allee Khan, who appears to have been a man without +any feeling of humanity or sense of honour. No man ever knew what +he would be called upon to pay to Government in the districts under +him; and almost all the respectable landholders prepared to defend +what they had by force of arms; deserted their homes, and took to +the jungles with as many followers as they could collect and +subsist, as soon as he entered on his charge. The atrocities +charged against him, and upon the best possible evidence, are +numerous and great.</p> +<p>The country we have passed through to-day is well studded with +fine trees, among which the mhowa abounds more than usual. The +parasite plant, called the bandha, or Indian mistletoe, ornaments +the finest mhowa and mango trees. It is said to be a disease, which +appears as the tree grows old, and destroys it if not cut away. The +people, who feel much regard for their trees, cut these parasite +plants away; and there is no prejudice against removing them among +Hindoos, though they dare not cut away a peepul-tree which is +destroying their wells, houses, temples, or tombs; nor do they, +with some exceptions, dare to destroy a wolf, though he may have +eaten their own children, or actually have one of them in his +mouth. In all parts of India, Hindoos have a notion that the family +of a man who kills a wolf, or even wounds it, goes soon to utter +ruin; and so also the village within the boundaries of which a wolf +has been killed or wounded. They have no objection to their being +killed by other people away from the villages; on the contrary, are +very glad to have them so destroyed, as long as their blood does +not drop on their premises. Some Rajpoot families in Oude, where so +many children are devoured by wolves, are getting over this +prejudice. The bandha is very ornamental to the fine mhowa and +mango trees, to the branches of which it hangs suspended in +graceful festoons, with a great variety of colours and tints, from +deep scarlet and green to light-red and yellow.</p> +<p>Wolves are numerous in the neighbourhood of Sultanpoor, and, +indeed, all along the banks of the Goomtee river, among the ravines +that intersect them; and a great many children are carried off by +them from towns, villages, and camps. It is exceedingly difficult +to catch them, and hardly any of the Hindoo population, save those +of the very lowest class who live a vagrant life, and bivouac in +the jungles, or in the suburbs of towns and villages, will attempt +to catch or kill them. All other Hindoos have a superstitious dread +of destroying or even injuring them; and a village community within +the boundary of whose lands a drop of wolf's blood has fallen +believes itself doomed to destruction. The class of little vagrant +communities above mentioned, who have no superstitious dread of +destroying any living thing, eat jackalls and all kinds of +reptiles, and catch all kinds of animals, either to feed upon +themselves, or to sell them to those who wish to keep or hunt +them.</p> +<p>But it is remarkable, that they very seldom catch wolves, though +they know all their dens, and could easily dig them out as they dig +out other animals. This is supposed to arise from the profit which +they make by the gold and silver bracelets, necklaces and other +ornaments worn by the children whom the wolves carry to their dens +and devour, and are left at the entrance of their dens. A party of +these men lately brought to our camp alive a very large +hyæna, which was let loose and hunted down by the European +officers and the clerks of my office. One of the officers asked +them whether this was not the reason why they did not bring wolves +to camp, to be hunted down in the same way, since officers would +give more for brutes that ate children, than for such as fed only +on dogs or carrion. They dared not deny, though they were ashamed +or afraid to acknowledge, that it was. I have myself no doubt that +this is the reason, and that they do make a good deal in this way +from the children's ornaments, which they find at the entrance of +wolves' dens. In every part of India, a great number of children +are every day murdered for the sake of their ornaments, and the +fearful examples that come daily to the knowledge of parents, and +the injunctions of the civil authorities are unavailing against +this desire to see their young children decked out in gold and +silver ornaments.</p> +<p>There is now at Sultanpoor a boy who was found alive in a wolf's +den, near Chandour, about ten miles from Sultanpoor, about two +years and a half ago. A trooper, sent by the native governor of the +district to Chandour, to demand payment of some revenue, was +passing along the bank of the river near Chandour about noon, when +he saw a large female wolf leave her den, followed by three whelps +and a little boy. The boy went on all fours, and seemed to be on +the best possible terms with the old dam and the three whelps, and +the mother seemed to guard all four with equal care. They all went +down to the river and drank without perceiving the trooper, who sat +upon his horse watching them. As soon as they were about to turn +back, the trooper pushed on to cut off and secure the boy; but he +ran as fast as the whelps could, and kept up with the old one. The +ground was uneven, and the trooper's horse could not overtake them. +They all entered the den, and the trooper assembled some people +from Chandour with pickaxes, and dug into the den. When they had +dug in about six or eight feet, the old wolf bolted with her three +whelps and the boy. The trooper mounted and pursued, followed by +the fleetest young men of the party; and as the ground over which +they had to fly was more even, he headed them, and turned the +whelps and boy back upon the men on foot, who secured the boy, and +let the old dam and her three cubs go on their way.</p> +<p>They took the boy to the village, but had to tie him, for he was +very restive, and struggled hard to rush into every hole or den +they came near. They tried to make him speak, but could get nothing +from him but an angry growl or snarl. He was kept for several days +at the village, and a large crowd assembled every day to see him. +When a grown-up person came near him, he became alarmed, and tried +to steal away; but when a child came near him, he rushed at it, +with a fierce snarl like that of a dog, and tried to bite it. When +any cooked meat was put before him, he rejected it in disgust; but +when any raw meat was offered, he seized it with avidity, put it on +the ground under his paws, like a dog, and ate it with evident +pleasure. He would not let any one come near him while he was +eating, but he made no objection to a dog coming and sharing his +food with him. The trooper remained with him four or five days, and +then returned to the governor, leaving the boy in charge of the +Rajah of Hasunpoor. He related all that he had seen, and the boy +was soon after sent to the European officer commanding the First +Regiment of Oude Local Infantry at Sultanpoor, Captain Nicholetts, +by order of the Rajah of Hasunpoor, who was at Chandour, and saw +the boy when the trooper first brought him to that village. This +account is taken from the Rajah's own report of what had taken +place.</p> +<p>Captain Nicholetts made him over to the charge of his servants, +who take great care of him, but can never get him to speak a word. +He is very inoffensive, except when teased, Captain Nicholetts +says, and will then growl surlily at the person who teases him. He +had come to eat anything that is thrown to him, but always prefers +raw flesh, which he devours most greedily. He will drink a whole +pitcher of butter-milk when put before him, without seeming to draw +breath. He can never be induced to keep on any kind of clothing, +even in the coldest weather. A quilt stuffed with cotton was given +to him when it became very cold this season, but he tore it to +pieces, and ate a portion of it, cotton and all, with his bread +every day. He is very fond of bones, particularly uncooked ones, +which he masticates apparently with as much ease as meat. He has +eaten half a lamb at a time without any apparent effort, and is +very fond of taking up earth and small stones and eating them. His +features are coarse, and his countenance repulsive; and he is very +filthy in his habits. He continues to be fond of dogs and jackals, +and all other small four-footed animals that come near him; and +always allows them to feed with him if he happens to be eating +when they approach.</p> +<p>Captain Nicholetts, in letters dated the 14th and 19th of +September, 1850, told me that the boy died in the latter end of +August, and that he was never known to laugh or smile. He +understood little of what was said to him, and seemed to take no +notice of what was going on around him. He formed no attachment for +any one, nor did he seem to care for any one. He never played with +any of the children around him, or seemed anxious to do so. When +not hungry he used to sit petting and stroking a pareear or vagrant +dog, which he used to permit to feed out of the same dish with him. +A short time before his death Captain Nicholetts shot this dog, as +he used to eat the greater part of the food given to the boy, who +seemed in consequence to be getting thin. The boy did not seem to +care in the least for the death of the dog. The parents recognised +the boy when he was first found, Captain Nicholetts believes; but +when they found him to be so stupid and insensible, they left him +to subsist upon charity. They have now left Hasunpoor, and the age +of the boy when carried off cannot be ascertained; but he was to +all appearance about nine or ten years of age when found, and he +lived about three years afterwards. He used signs when he wanted +anything, and very few of them except when hungry, and he then +pointed to his mouth. When his food was placed at some distance +from him, he would run to it on all fours like any four-footed +animal; but at other times he would walk upright occasionally. He +shunned human beings of all kinds, and would never willingly remain +near one. To cold, heat, and rain he appeared to be indifferent; +and he seemed to care for nothing but eating. He was very quiet, +and required no kind of restraint after being brought to Captain +Nicholetts. He had lived with Captain Nicholetts' servants about +two years, and was never heard to speak till within a few minutes +of his death, when he put his hands to his head, and said "it +ached," and asked for water: he drank it, and died.</p> +<p>At Chupra, twenty miles east from Sultanpoor, lived a cultivator +with his wife and son, who was then three years of age. In March, +1843, the man went to cut his crop of wheat and pulse, and the +woman took her basket and went with him to glean, leading her son +by the arm. The boy had lately recovered from a severe scald on the +left knee, which he got in the cold weather, from tumbling into the +fire, at which he had been warming himself while his parents were +at work. As the father was reaping and the mother gleaning, the boy +sat upon the grass. A wolf rushed upon him suddenly from behind a +bush, caught him up by the loins, and made off with him towards the +ravines. The father was at a distance at the time, but the mother +followed, screaming as loud an she could for assistance. The people +of the village ran to her aid, but they soon lost sight of the wolf +and his prey.</p> +<p>She heard nothing more of her boy for six years, and had in that +interval lost her husband. At the end of that time, two sipahees +came, in the month of February, 1849, from the town of Singramow, +which is ten miles from Chupra, on the bank of the Khobae rivulet. +While they sat on the border of the jungle, which extended down to +the stream, watching for hogs, which commonly come down to drink at +that time in the morning, they saw there three wolf cubs and a boy +come out from the jungle, and go down together to the stream to +drink. The sipahees watched them till they had drank, and were +about to return, when they rushed towards them. All four ran +towards a den in the ravines. The sipahees followed as fast as they +could; but the three cubs had got in before the sipahees could come +up with them, and the boy was half way in when one of the sipahees +caught him by the hind leg, and drew him back. He seemed very angry +and ferocious, bit at them, and seized in his teeth the barrel of +one of their guns, which they put forward to keep him off, and +shook it. They however secured him, brought him home, and kept him +for twenty days. They could for that time make him eat nothing but +raw flesh, and they fed him upon hares and birds. They found it +difficult to provide him with sufficient food, and took him to the +bazaar in the village of Koeleepoor; and there let him go to be fed +by the charitable people of the place till he might be recognised +and claimed by his parents. One market-day a man from the village +of Chupra happened to see him in the bazaar, and on his return +mentioned the circumstance to his neighbours. The poor cultivator's +widow, on hearing this, asked him to describe the boy more +minutely, when she found that the boy had the mark of a scald on +the left knee, and three marks of the teeth of an animal on each +side of his loins. The widow told him that her boy when taken off +had lately recovered from a scald on the left knee, and was seized +by the loins when the wolf took him off, and that the boy he had +seen must be her lost child.</p> +<p>She went off forthwith to the Koelee bazaar, and, in addition to +the two marks above described, discovered a third mark on his +thigh, with which her child was born. She took him home to her +village, where he was recognised by all her neighbours. She kept +him for two months, and all the sporting landholders in the +neighbourhood sent her game for him to feed upon. He continued to +dip his face in the water to drink, but he sucked in the water, and +did not lap it up like a dog or wolf. His body continued to smell +offensively. When the mother went to her work, the boy always ran +into the jungle, and she could never get him to speak. He followed +his mother for what he could get to eat, but showed no particular +affection for her; and she could never bring herself to feel much +for him; and after two months, finding him of no use to her, and +despairing of even making anything of him, she left him to the +common charity of the village. He soon after learnt to eat bread +when it was given him, and ate whatever else he could get during +the day, but always went off to the jungle at night. He used to +mutter something, but could never be got to articulate any word +distinctly. The front of his knees and elbows had become hardened +from going on all fours with the wolves. If any clothes are put on +him, he takes them off, and commonly tears them to pieces in doing +so. He still prefers raw flesh to cooked, and feeds on carrion +whenever he can get it. The boys of the village are in the habit of +amusing themselves by catching frogs and throwing them to him; and +he catches and eats them. When a bullock dies, and the skin is +removed, he goes and eats it like a village dog. The boy is still +in the village, and this is the description given of him by the +mother herself, who still lives at Chupra. She has never +experienced any return of affection for him, nor has he shown any +such feeling for her. Her story is confirmed by all her neighbours, +and by the head landholders, cultivators, and shopkeepers of the +village.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* In November, 1850, Captain Nicholetts, on leaving the +cantonments of Sultanpoor, where he commanded, ordered this boy to +be sent in to me with his mother, but he got alarmed on the way and +ran to a jungle. He will no doubt find his way back soon if he +lives.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Rajah of Hasunpoor Bundooa mentions, as a fact within his +own knowledge, besides the others, for the truth of which he +vouches, that, in the year 1843, a lad came to the town of +Hasunpoor, who had evidently been brought up by wolves. He seemed +to be twelve years of age when he saw him—was very dark, and +ate flesh, whether cooked or uncooked. He had short hair all over +his body when he first came, but having, for a time, as the Rajah +states, eaten salt with his food, like other human beings, the hair +by degrees disappeared. He could walk, like other men, on his legs, +but could never be taught to speak. He would utter sounds like wild +animals, and could be made to understand signs very well. He used +to sit at a bunneea's shop in the bazaar, but was at last +recognised by his parents, and taken off. What became of him +afterwards he knows not. The Rajah's statement regarding this lad +is confirmed by all the people of the town, but none of them know +what afterwards became of him.</p> +<p>About the year 1843, a shepherd of the village of Ghutkoree, +twelve miles west from the cantonments of Sultanpoor, saw a boy +trotting along upon all fours, by the side of a wolf, one morning, +as he was out with his flock. With great difficulty he caught the +boy, who ran very fast, and brought him home. He fed him for some +time, and tried to make him speak, and associate with men or boys, +but he failed. He continued to be alarmed at the sight of men, but +was brought to Colonel Gray, who commanded the first Oude Local +Infantry, at Sultanpoor. He and Mrs. Gray, and all the officers in +cantonments, saw him often, and kept him for several days. But he +soon after ran off into the jungle, while the shepherd was asleep. +The shepherd, afterwards, went to reside in another village, and I +could not ascertain whether he recovered the boy or not.</p> +<p>Zoolfukar Khan, a respectable landholder of Bankeepoor, in the +estate of Hasunpoor, ten miles east from the Sultahpoor +cantonments, mentions that about eight or nine years ago a trooper +came to the town, with a lad of about nine or ten years of age, +whom he had rescued from wolves among the ravines on the road; that +he knew not what to do with him, and left him to the common charity +of the village; that he ate everything offered to him, including +bread, but before taking it he carefully smelt at it, and always +preferred undressed meat to everything else; that he walked on his +legs like other people when he saw him, though there were evident +signs on his knees and elbows of his having gone, very long, on all +fours; and when asked to run on all fours he used to do so, and +went so fast that no one could overtake him; how long he had been +with the trooper, or how long it took him to learn to walk on his +legs, he knows not. He could not talk, or utter any very articulate +sounds. He understood signs, and heard exceedingly well, and would +assist the cultivators in turning trespassing cattle out of their +fields, when told by signs to do so. Boodhoo, a Brahmin cultivator +of the village, took care of him, and he remained with him for +three months, when he was claimed and taken off by his father, a +shepherd, who said that the boy was six years old when the wolf +took him off at night some four years before; he did not like to +leave Boodhoo, the Brahmin, and the father was obliged to drag him +away. What became of him afterwards he never heard. The lad had no +hair upon his body, nor had he any dislike to wear clothes, while +he saw him. This statement was confirmed by the people of the +village.</p> +<p>About seven years ago a trooper belonging to the King, and in +attendance on Rajah Hurdut Sing of Bondee, alias Bumnotee, on the +left bank of the Ghagra river, in the Bahraetch district, was +passing near a small stream which flows into that river, when he +saw two wolf cubs and a boy drinking in the stream. He had a man +with him on foot, and they managed to seize the boy, who appeared +to be about ten years of age. He took him up on the pummel of his +saddle, but he was so wild and fierce that he tore the trooper's +clothes and bit him severely in several places, though he had tied +his hands together. He brought him to Bondee, where the Rajah had +him tied up in his artillery gun-shed, and gave him raw-flesh to +eat: but he several times cut his ropes and ran off; and after +three months the Rajah got tired of him, and let him go. He was +then taken by a Cashmeeree mimic, or comedian (<i>bhand</i>), who +fed and took care of him for six weeks*; but at the end of that +time he also got tired of him (for his habits were filthy), and let +him go to wander about the Bondee bazaar. He one day ran off with a +joint of meat from a butcher's shop, and soon after upset some +things in the shop of a <i>bunneeah</i>, who let fly an arrow at +him. The arrow penetrated the boy's thigh. At this time Sanaollah, +a Cashmere merchant of Lucknow, was at Bondee, selling some shawl +goods to the Rajah, on the occasion of his brother's marriage. He +had many servants with him, and among them Janoo, a khidmutgar lad, +and an old sipahee, named Ramzan Khan. Janoo took compassion upon +the poor boy, extracted the arrow from his thigh, had his wound +dressed, and prepared a bed for him under the mango-tree, where he +himself lodged, but kept him tied to a tent-pin. He would at that +time eat nothing but raw flesh. To wean him from this, Janoo, with +the consent of his master, gave him rice and pulse to eat. He +rejected them for several days, and ate nothing; but Janoo +persevered, and by degrees made him eat the balls which he prepared +for him: he was fourteen or fifteen days in bringing him to do +this. The odour from his body was very offensive, and Janoo had him +rubbed with mustard-seed soaked in water, after the oil had been +taken from it (<i>khullee</i>), in the hope of removing this smell. +He continued this for some months, and fed him upon rice, pulse, +and flour bread, but the odour did not leave him. He had hardened +marks upon his knees and elbows, from having gone on all fours. In +about six weeks after he had been tied up under the tree, with a +good deal of beating, and rubbing of his joints with oil, he was +made to stand and walk upon his legs like other human beings. He +was never heard to utter more than one articulate sound, and that +was "Aboodeea," the name of the little daughter of the Cashmeer +mimic, who had treated him with kindness, and for whom he had shown +some kind of attachment. In about four months he began to +understand and obey signs. He was by them made to prepare the +hookah, put lighted charcoal upon the tobacco, and bring it to +Janoo, or present it to whomsoever he pointed out.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Transcriber's note—'six weeks' was printed as 'six +months', but is corrected by the author, in Volume ii, in a P.S. to +his letter, dated 20th November, 1852, to Sir James Weir Hogg.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>One night while the boy was lying under the tree, near Janoo, +Janoo saw two wolves come up stealthily, and smell at the boy. They +then touched him, and he got up; and, instead of being frightened, +the boy put his hands upon their heads, and they began to play with +him. They capered around him, and he threw straw and leaves at +them. Janoo tried to drive them off but he could not, and became +much alarmed; and he called out to the sentry over the guns, Meer +Akbur Allee, and told him that the wolves were going to eat the +boy. He replied, "Come away and leave him, or they will eat you +also;" but when he saw them begin to play together, his fears +subsided and he kept quiet. Gaining confidence by degrees, he drove +them away; but, after going a little distance, they returned, and +began to play again with the boy. At last he succeeded in driving +them off altogether. The night after three wolves came, and the boy +and they played together. A few nights after four wolves came, but +at no time did more than four come. They came four or five times, +and Janoo had no longer any fear of them; and he thinks that the +first two that came must have been the two cubs with which the boy +was first found, and that they were prevented from seizing him by +recognising the smell. They licked his face with their tongues as +he put his hands on their heads.</p> +<p>Soon after his master, Sanaollah, returned to Lucknow, and +threatened Janoo to turn him out of his service unless he let go +the boy. He persisted in taking the boy with him, and his master +relented. He had a string tied to his arm, and led him along by it, +and put a bundle of clothes on his head. As they passed a jungle +the boy would throw down the bundle and try to run into the jungle, +but on being beaten, he would put up his hands in supplication, +take up the bundle and go on; but he seemed soon to forget the +beating, and did the same thing at almost every jungle they came +through. By degrees he became quite docile. Janoo was one day, +about three months after their return to Lucknow, sent away by his +master for a day or two on some business, and before his return the +boy had ran off, and he could never find him again. About two +months after the boy had gone, a woman, of the weaver caste, came +with a letter from a relation of the Rajah, Hurdut Sing, to +Sanaollah, stating that she resided in the village of +Chureyrakotra, on his estate, and had had her son, then about four +years of age, taken from her, about five or six years before, by a +wolf; and, from the description which she gave of him, he, the +Rajah's relation, thought he must be the boy whom his servant, +Janoo, took away with him. She said that her boy had two marks upon +him, one on the chest of a boil, and one of something else on the +forehead; and as these marks corresponded precisely with those +found upon the boy, neither she nor they had any doubt that he was +her lost son. She remained for four months with the merchant +Sanaollah, and Janoo, his kidmutghur, at Lucknow; but the boy could +not be found, and she returned home, praying that information might +be sent to her should he be discovered. Sanaollah, Janoo, and +Ramzan Khan, are still at Lucknow, and before me have all three +declared all the circumstances here stated to be strictly true. The +boy was altogether about five months with Sanaollah and his +servants, from the time they got him; and he had been taken about +four months and a half before. The wolf must have had several +litters of whelps during the six or seven years that the boy was +with her. Janoo further adds, that he, after a month or two, +ventured to try a waist-band upon the boy, but he often tore it off +in distress or anger. After he had become reconciled to this, in +about two months, he ventured to put on upon him a vest and a pair +of trousers. He had great difficulty in making him keep them on, +with threats and occasional beatings. He would disencumber himself +of them whenever left alone, but put them on again in alarm when +discovered; and to the last often injured or destroyed them by +rubbing them against trees or posts, like a beast, when any part of +his body itched. This habit he could never break him of.</p> +<p>Rajah Hurdut Sewae, who is now in Lucknow on business, tells me +(28th January, 1851) that the sowar brought the boy to Bondee, and +there kept him for a short time, as long as he remained; but as +soon as he went off, the boy came to him, and he kept him for three +months; that he appeared to him to be twelve years of age; that he +ate raw meat as long as he remained with him, with evident +pleasure, whenever it was offered to him, but would not touch the +bread and other dressed food put before him; that he went on all +fours, but would stand and go awkwardly on two legs when threatened +or made to do so; that he seemed to understand signs, but could not +understand or utter a word; that he seldom attempted to bite any +one, nor did he tear the clothes that he put upon him; that +Sanaollah, the Cashmeeree merchant, used at that time to come to +him often with shawls for sale, and must have taken the boy away +with him, but he does not recollect having given the boy to him. He +says that he never himself sent any letter to Sanaollah with the +mother of the boy, but his brother or some other relation of his +may have written one for her.</p> +<p>It is remarkable that I can discover no well-established +instance of a man who had been nurtured in a wolf's den having been +found. There is, at Lucknow, an old man who was found in the Oude +Tarae, when a lad, by the hut of an old hermit who had died. He is +supposed to have been taken from wolves by this old hermit. The +trooper who found him brought him to the King some forty years ago, +and he has been ever since supported by the King comfortably. He is +still called the "wild man of the woods." He was one day sent to me +at my request, and I talked with him. His features indicate him to +be of the Tharoo tribe, who are found only in that forest. He is +very inoffensive, but speaks little, and that little imperfectly; +and he is still impatient of intercourse with his fellow-men, +particularly with such as are disposed to tease him with questions. +I asked him whether he had any recollection of having been with +wolves. He said "the wolf died long before the hermit;" but he +seemed to recollect nothing more, and there is no mark on his knees +or elbows to indicate that he ever went on all fours. That he was +found as a wild boy in the forest there can be no doubt; but I do +not feel at all sure that he ever lived with wolves. From what I +have seen and heard I should doubt whether any boy who had been +many years with wolves, up to the age of eight or ten, could ever +attain the average intellect of man. I have never heard of a man +who had been spared and nurtured by wolves having been found; and, +as many boys have been recovered from wolves after they had been +many years with them, we must conclude that after a time they +either die from living exclusively on animal food, before they +attain the age of manhood, or are destroyed by the wolves +themselves, or other beasts of prey, in the jungles, from whom they +are unable to escape, like the wolves themselves, from want of the +same speed. The wolf or wolves, by whom they have been spared and +nurtured, must die or be destroyed in a few years, and other wolves +may kill and eat them. Tigers generally feed for two or three days +upon the bullock they kill, and remain all the time, when not +feeding, concealed in the vicinity. If they found such a boy +feeding upon their prey they would certainly kill him, and most +likely eat him. If such a boy passed such a dead body he would +certainly feed upon it. Tigers often spring upon and kill dogs and +wolves thus found feeding upon their prey. They could more 'easily +kill boys, and would certainly be more disposed to eat them. If the +dead body of such a boy were found anywhere in the jungles, or on +the plains, it would excite little interest, where dead bodies are +so often found exposed, and so soon eaten by dogs, jackals, +vultures, &c., and would scarcely ever lead to any particular +inquiry.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt5" id="Chapt5">CHAPTER V.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Salone district—Rajah Lal Hunmunt Sing of +Dharoopoor—Soil of Oude—Relative fertility of the +<i>mutteear</i> and <i>doomutteea</i>—Either may become +<i>oosur</i>, or barren, from neglect, and is reclaimed, when it +does so, with difficulty—Shah Puna Ata, a holy man in charge +of an eleemosynary endowment at Salone—Effects of his +curses—Invasion of British Boundary—Military Force with +the Nazim—State and character of this Force—Rae +Bareilly in the Byswara district—Bandha, or +Misletoe—Rana Benee Madhoo, of Shunkerpoor—Law of +Primogeniture—Title of Rana contested between Benee Madhoo +and Rogonath Sing—Bridge and avenue at Rae +Bareilly—Eligible place for cantonment and civil +establishments—State of the Artillery—Sobha Sing's +regiment—Foraging System—Peasantry follow the fortunes of +their refractory Landlords—No provision for the king's +soldiers, disabled in action, or for the families of those who are +killed—Our sipahees, a privileged class, very troublesome +in the Byswara and Banoda districts—Goorbukshgunge—Man +destroyed by an Elephant—Danger to which keepers of such +animals are exposed—Bys Rajpoots composed of two great +families, Sybunsies and Nyhassas—Their continual contests for +landed possessions—Futteh Bahader—Rogonath +Sing—Mahibollah the robber and estate of Balla—Notion +that Tillockchundee Bys Rajpoots never suffer from the bite of a +snake—Infanticide—Paucity of comfortable +dwelling-houses—The cause—Agricultural +capitalists—Ornaments and apparel of the females of the Bys +clan—Late Nazim Hamid Allee—His father-in-law Fuzl +Allee—First loan from Oude to our Government—Native +gentlemen with independent incomes cannot reside in the +country—Crowd the city, and tend to alienate the Court from +the people.</p> +<br> +<p><i>December</i> 29, 1849.—Ten miles to Rampoor. Midway we +passed over the border of the Sultanpoor district into that of +Salone, whose Amil, Hoseyn Buksh, there met us with his +<i>cortège</i>. Rampoor is the Residence of Rajah Hunmunt +Sing, the tallookdar of the two estates of Dharoopoor and +Kalakunkur, which extend down to and for some miles along the left +bank of the river Ganges. There is a fort in each of these estates, +and he formerly resided in that of Dharoopoor, four miles from our +present encampment. That of Kalakunkur is on the bank of the +Ganges. The lands along, on both sides the road, over which we are +come, are scantily cultivated, but well studded with good trees, +where the soil is good for them. A good deal of it is, however, the +poor oosur soil, the rest muteear, of various degrees of fertility. +The territory of Oude, as I have said above, must once have formed +part of the bed of a lake,* which contained a vast fund of soluble +salts. Through this bed, as the waters flowed off, the rivers from +the northern range of hills, which had before fed the lake, cut +their way to join the larger stream of the Ganges; and the smaller +streams, which have their sources in the dense forest of the Tarae, +which now extends along the southern border of that range, have +since cut their way through this bed in the same manner to the +larger rivers. The waters from these rivers percolate through the +bed; and, as they rise to the surface, by the laws of capillary +attraction, they carry with them these salts in solution. As they +reach the surface in dry weather, they give off by evaporation pure +water; and the salts, which they held in solution, remain behind in +the upper surface. The capillary action goes on; and as the pure +water is taken off in the atmosphere in vapour, other water +impregnated with more salts comes up to supply its place; and the +salts near the surface either accumulate or are supplied to the +roots of the plants, shrubs, or trees, which require them.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Caused, possibly, by the Vendeya range once extending E. N. +E. up to the Himmalaya chain, which runs E. S. E. It now extends up +only to the right bank of the Ganges, at Chunar and Mirzapoor.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Rain-water,* which contains no such salts, falls after the dry +season is over, and washes out of the upper surface a portion of +the salts, which have thus been brought up from below and +accumulated, and either takes them off in floods or carries them +down again to the beds below. Some of these salts, or their bases, +may become superabundant, and render the lands oosur or unfit for +ordinary tillage. There may be a superabundance of those which are +not required, or cannot be taken up by the plants, actually on the +surface, or there may be a superabundance of the whole, from the +plants and rain-water being insufficient to take away such as +require to be removed. These salts are here, as elsewhere, of great +variety; nitrates of ammonia, which, combining with the inorganic +substances—magnesia, lime, soda, potash, alumina, and oxide of +iron—form double salts, and become soluble in water, and fit +food for plants. Or there may be a deficiency of vegetable mould +(humus) or manure to supply, with the aid of carbonic acid, air, +water, and ammonia, the organic acids required to adapt the +inorganic substances to the use of plants.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Rain-water contains small quantities of carbonic acid, +ammonia, atmospheric air, and vegetable or animal matter.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>All are, in due proportion, more or less conducive to the growth +and perfection of the plants, which men and animals require from +the soil: some plants require more of the one, and some more of +another; and some find a superabundance of what they need, where +others find a deficiency, or none at all. The muteear seems to +differ from the doomuteea soil, in containing a greater portion of +those elements which constitute what are called good clay soils. +The inorganic portions of these elements—silicates, +carbonates, sulphates, phosphates, and chlorides of lime, potash, +magnesia, alumina, soda, oxides of iron and manganese—it +derives from the detritus of the granite, gneiss, mica, and +chlorite slate, limestone and sandstone rocks, in which the +Himmalaya chain of mountains so much abounds; and the organic +elements—humates, almates, geates, apoerenates, and +crenates—it derives from the mould, formed from the decay of +animal and vegetable matter. It is more hydroscopic, or capable of +absorbing and retaining moisture, and fixing ammonia than the +doomuteea. It is of a darker colour, and forms more into clods to +retain moisture. I may here mention that the Himmalaya chain does +not abound in volcanic rocks, like the chains of Central and +Southern India; and that the soils, which are formed from its +detritus, contain, in consequence, less phosphoric acid, and is +less adapted to the growth of that numerous class of plants which +cannot live without phosphates. The volcanic rocks form a plateaux +upon the sandstone, of almost all the hills of Central and Southern +India; and the soil, which is formed from their detritus, is +exceedingly fertile, when well combined, as it commonly is, with +the salts and double salts formed by the union of the organic acids +with the inorganic bases of alkalies, earths, and oxides which have +become soluble, and been brought to the surface from below by +capillary attraction. I may also mention, that the basaltic +plateaux upon the sandstone rocks of Central and Southern India are +often surmounted with a deposit, more or less deep, of laterite, or +indurated iron clay, the detritus of which tends to promote +fertility in the soil. I have never myself seen any other deposit +than this iron clay or <i>laterite</i> above the basaltic plateaux. +I believe that this laterite is never found, in any part of the +Himmalaya chain. I have never seen it there, nor have I ever heard +of any one having seen it there. In Bundelkund and other parts of +Central and Southern India, the basaltic plateaux are sometimes +found deposing immediately upon beds of granite.</p> +<p>The doomuteea is of a light-brown colour, soon powders into fine +dust, and requires much more outlay in manure and labour than the +muteear. The oosur soil appears to be formed out of both, by a +superabundance of one or other of the salts or their bases, which +are brought to the surface from the beds below, and not carried off +or taken back into these beds. It is known that salts of ammonia +are injurious to plants, unless combined with organic acids, +supplied to the soil by decayed vegetable or animal matter. This +matter is necessary to combine with, and fix the ammonia in the +soil, and give it out to plants as they require it.</p> +<p>It is possible that nitrates may superabound in the soil from +the oxydizement of the nitrogen of a superfluity of ammonia. The +people say that all land may become <i>oosur</i> from neglect; and +when <i>oosur</i> can never be made to bear crops, after it has +been left long fallow, till it has been flooded with rain-water for +two or three seasons, by means of artificial embankments, and then +well watered, manured, and ploughed. When well tilled in this way, +all but the very worst kinds of <i>oosur</i> are said to bear +tolerable crops. In the midst of a plain of barren oosur land, +which has hardly a tree, shrub, or blade of grass, we find small +<i>oases</i>, or patches of low land, in which accumulated +rain-water lies for several months every year, covered with stout +grasses of different kinds, a sure indication of ability to bear +good crops, under good tillage. From very bad <i>oosur</i> lands, +common salt or saltpetre, or both, are taken by digging out and +washing the earth, and then removing the water by evaporation. The +clods in the muteear soil not only retain moisture, and give it out +slowly as required by the crops, but they give shelter and coolness +to the young and tender shoots of grain and pulse. Of course trees, +shrubs, and plants, of all kind in Oude, as elsewhere, derive +carbonic acid gas and ammonia from the atmosphere, and decompose +them, for their own use, in the same manner.</p> +<p>In treating of the advantages of greater facilities for +irrigation in India, I do not recollect ever having seen any +mention made of that of penetrating by wells into the deep deposits +below of the soluble salts, or their bases, and bringing them to +the surface in the water, for the supply of the plants, shrubs, and +trees we require. People talk of digging for valuable metals, and +thereby "developing resources;" but never talk of digging for the +more valuable solutions of soluble salts, to be combined with the +organic acids already existing in the soil, or provided by man in +manures—and with the carbonic acid, ammonia, and water from +the atmosphere—to supply him with a never-ending succession +of harvests. The practical agriculturists of Oude, however, say, +that brackish water in irrigation is only useful to tobacco and +shama; and where the salts which produce it superabound, rain-water +tanks and fresh-water rivers and canals would, no doubt, be much +better than wells for irrigation. All these waters contain carbonic +acid gas, atmospheric air, and solutions of salts, which form food +for plants, or become so when combined with the organic acids, +supplied by the decayed animal and vegetable matter in the +soil.</p> +<p>Soils which contain salts, which readily give off their water of +crystallization and <i>effloresce</i>, sooner become barren than +those which contain salts that attract moisture from the air, and +deliquesce, as chlorides of calcium and magnesia, carbonates and +acetates of potassa, alumina, &c. Canals flowing over these +deep dry beds, through which little water from the springs below +ever percolates to the surface, are not only of great advantage for +irrigating the crops on the surface, but for supplying water as +they flow along, to penetrate through these deep dry beds; and, as +they rise to the surface by capillary attraction, carrying along +with them the soluble salts which they pick up on their way. In +Oude, as in all the districts that extend along to the north of the +Ganges, and south of the Himmalaya chain, easterly winds prevail, +and bring up moisture from the sea of the Bay of Bengal. All these +districts are, at the same time, abundantly studded with groves of +fine trees and jungle, that attract this moisture to the earth in +rain and dew. Through Goozerat, Malwa, Berar, and Bundelkund, and +all the districts bordering the Nerbudda river, from its mouth to +its sources, westerly winds prevail, and bring up moisture from the +Gulf of Cambay; and these districts are all well studded with +groves, &c., and single trees, which act in the same manner, in +attracting the moisture from the atmosphere to the earth, in rain +and dew. In Rajpootana and Sinde no prevailing wind, I believe, +comes from any sea nearer than the Atlantic ocean; and there are +but few trees to attract to the earth the little moisture that the +atmosphere contains. The rain that falls over these countries is +not, I believe, equal to more than one-third of what falls over the +districts, supplied from the Bay of Bengal, or to one-fourth of +what falls in those supplied from the Gulf of Cambay. Our own +districts of the N. W. Provinces, which intervene between those +north of the Ganges and Rajpootana, have the advantage of rivers +and canals; but their atmosphere is not so well supplied with +moisture from the sea, nor are they so well studded as they ought +to be with trees. The Punjab has still greater advantages from +numerous rivers, flowing from the Himmalaya chain, and is, like +Egypt, in some measure independent of moisture from the atmosphere +as far as tillage is concerned; but both would, no doubt, be +benefited by a greater abundance of trees. They not only tend to +convey to and retain moisture in the soil, and to purify the air +for man, by giving out oxygen and absorbing carbonic acid gas, but +they are fertilizing media, through which the atmosphere conveys to +the soil most of the carbon, and much of the ammonia, without which +no soil can be fertile. It is, I believe, generally admitted that +trees derive most of their carbon from the air through their +leaves, and most of their ammonia from the soil through their +roots; and that when the trees, shrubs, and plants, which form our +coal-measures, adorned the surface of the globe, the atmosphere +must have contained a greater portion of carbonic acid gas than at +present. They decompose the gases, use the carbon, and give back +the oxygen to the atmosphere.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 30, 1849.—Ten miles to Salone, over a +pretty country, well studded with fine trees and well tilled, +except in large patches of oosur land, which occur on both sides of +the road. The soil, doomuteea, with a few short intervals of +muteear. The Rajah of Pertabghur, and other great landholders of +the Sultanpoor division, who had been for some days travelling with +me, and the Nazim and his officers, took leave yesterday. The +Nazim, Aga Allee, is a man of great experience in the convenances +of court and city life, and of some in revenue management, having +long had charge of the estates comprised in the "Hozoor Tehseel," +while he resided at Lucknow. He has good sense and an excellent +temper, and his manners and deportment are courteous and +gentlemanly. The Rajah of Pertabghur is a very stout and fat man, +of average understanding. The rightful heir to the principality was +Seorutun Sing, whom I have mentioned in my <i>Rambles and +Recollections</i>, as a gallant young landholder, fighting for his +right to the succession, while I was cantoned at Pertabghur in +1818. He continued to fight, but in vain, as the revenue +contractors were too strong for him. Gholam Hoseyn, the then Nazim, +kept him down while he lived, and Dursun Sing got him into his +power by fraud, and confined him for three years in gaol.</p> +<p>He died soon after his release, leaving one son. Rajah Dheer +Sing,* who still lives upon the portion of land which his father +inherited. He has taken up the contest for the right bequeathed to +him by his father; and his uncle, Golab Sing, the younger brother +of Seorutun, a brave, shrewd, and energetic man, has been for some +days importuning me for assistance. The nearest relations of the +family told me yesterday, that they were coerced by the Government +authorities into recognising the adoption of the present Rajah, +though it was contrary to all Hindoo law and usage. Hindoos, they +said, never marry into the same gote or family, and they never +ought to adopt one of the relations of their wives, or a son of a +sister, or any descendant in the female line, while there is one of +the male line existing. Seoruttun Sing was the next heir in the +male line; but the Rajah, having married a young girl in his old +age, adopted as his heir to the principality her nearest relative, +the present Rajah, who is of a different <i>gote</i>. The desire to +keep the land in the same family has given rise to singular laws +and usages in all nations in the early stages of civilization, when +industry is confined almost exclusively to agriculture, and land is +almost the only property valued. Among the people of the Himmalaya +hills, as in all Sogdiana, it gave rise to polyandry; and, among +the Israelites and Mahommedans, to the marriage of many brothers in +succession to the same woman.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Rajah Deer Sing died in April 1851, leaving a very young son +under the guardianship of his uncle, Golab Sing.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Rajah of Dharoopoor, who resides at Rampoor, our last +halting-place, holds, as above stated, a tract of land along the +left bank of the Ganges, called the Kalakunkur, in which he has +lately built a mud-fort of reputed strength. He is a very sensible +and active man of pleasing manners. He has two grown-up sons, who +were introduced to me by him yesterday. The Government authorities +complain of his want of punctuality in the payment of his revenue; +and he complains, with much more justice, of the uncertainty in the +rate of the demand on the part of Government and its officers or +Court favourites, and in the character of the viceroys sent to rule +over them; but, above all, of the impossibility of getting a +hearing at Court when they are wronged and oppressed by bad +viceroys. He went twice himself to Lucknow, to complain of grievous +wrongs suffered by him and his tenants from an oppressive viceroy; +but, though he had some good friends at Court, and among them Rajah +Bukhtawar Sing, he was obliged to return without finding access to +the sovereign or his minister, or any one in authority over the +viceroy. He told me that all large landholders, who had any regard +for their character, or desire to retain their estates, and protect +their tenants, were obliged to arm and take to their strongholds or +jungles as their only resource, when bad viceroys were +sent—that if they could be assured that fair demands only +would be made, and that they would have access to authority, when +they required to defend themselves from false charges, and to +complain of the wrong doings of viceroys and their agents, none of +them would be found in resistance against the Government, since all +were anxious to bequeath to their children a good name, as well as +a good estate. He promised punctual payment of his revenues to +Government, and strict obedience in all things, provided that the +contractor did not enhance his demand upon him, as he now seemed +disposed to do, in the shape of gratuities to himself and Court +favourites. "To be safe in Oude" he said, "it is necessary to be +strong, and prepared always to use your strength in resisting +outrage and oppression, on the part of the King's officers."</p> +<p>At Salone resides a holy Mahommedan, Shah Puna Ata, who is +looked up to with great reverence by both Mahommedans and Hindoos, +for the sanctity of his character, and that of his ancestors, who +sat upon the same religions <i>throne</i>, for throne his simple +mattress is considered to be. From the time that the heir is called +to the <i>throne</i>, he never leaves his house, but stays at home +to receive homage, and distribute blessings and food to needy +travellers of all religions. He gets from the King of Oude twelve +villages, rent free, in perpetuity; and they are said to yield him +twenty-five thousand rupees a-year, with which he provides for his +family, and for needy travellers and pilgrims. This eleemosynary +endowment was granted, about sixty years ago, by the then +sovereign, Asuf-od Dowlah. The lands had belonged to a family of +Kumpureea Rajpoots, who were ousted for contumacy or rebellion, I +believe. He was plundered of all he had, to the amount of some +twenty thousand rupees, in 1834, during the reign of Nuseer-on Deen +Hyder, by Ehsan Hoseyn, the Nazim of Byswara and Salone, one of the +sons of Sobhan Allee Khan, the then virtual minister; but some +fifteen days after, he attacked the tallookdar of Bhuderee, and +lost his place in consequence. The popular belief is, that he +became insane in consequence of the holy man's curses, and that his +whole family became ruined from the same cause.</p> +<p>Bhuderee, which lies a few miles to the south of Salone, was +then held by two gallant Rajpoot brothers, Jugmohun Sing and +Bishonath Sing, the sons of Zalim Sing. In the month of October, +A.D. 1832, Dhokul Sing got the contract of the district, and +demanded from Bhuderee an increase of ten thousand rupees in its +revenue. They refused to pay this increase. At the established rate +they had always paid the Government demand punctually, and been +good subjects and excellent landlords. Dhokul Sing was superseded +by Ehsan Hoseyn, in March 1833; and he insisted upon having the +increase of ten thousand. They refused to pay, and Ehsan Hoseyn +besieged and attacked their fort in September. After defending +themselves resolutely for five days, Bishonath Sing consented to +visit Ehsan Hoseyn, in his camp, on a solemn assurance of personal +security; but he no sooner came to his tent than he was seized and +taken to Rae Bareilly, the headquarters, a prisoner, in the suite +of the Nazim. He there remained confined, in irons, under charge of +a wing of a regiment, commanded by Mozim Khan, till February 1834, +when he effected his escape, and went back to Bhuderee. In March, a +large force was collected, with an immense train of artillery, to +aid the Nazim, and he again laid siege to the fort. Having sent off +their families before the siege began, and seeing, in the course of +a few days, that they could not long hold out against so large a +force, the two brothers buried eight out of their ten guns, left +the fort at midnight with the other two, cut their way through the +besiegers, and passed over a plain six miles to Ramchora, on the +left bank of the Ganges, and within the British territory, followed +by the whole of the Nazim's force.</p> +<p>A brisk cannonade was kept up, on both sides, the whole way, and +a great many lives were lost The two brothers thought they should +be safe at Ramchora, under the protection of the British +Government; but the Nazim's force surrounded the place, and kept up +a fire upon it. The brothers contrived, however, to send over the +Ganges the greater part of their followers, under the protection of +their two guns, and the few men retained to defend and serve them. +Jugmohun Sing at last consented to accept the pledge of personal +security tendered by Rajah Seodeen Sing, the commander-in-chief of +the attacking forces; but while he and his brother were on their +way to the camp, with a few armed attendants, the soldiers of the +Nazim, by whom they were escorted, attempted to seize and disarm +them. They resisted and defended themselves. Others came to their +rescue, and the firing recommenced. Jugmohun Sing, and his brother, +Bishonath Sing and all their remaining followers were killed. The +two brothers lost about one hundred and fifty men, and the Nazim +about sixty, in killed. The heads of the two brothers were taken +off, forthwith, and sent to the King. Three villages in the British +territory were plundered by the Oude troops on this occasion. This +violation of our territory the King of Oude was called upon to +punish; and Ehsan Hoseyn was deprived of his charge, and heavily +fined, to pay compensation to our injured subjects.</p> +<p>Roshun-od Dowlah, the minister, was entirely in the hands of +Sobhan Allee Khan; and, as long as he retained office, the family +suffered no other punishment. When he, Roshun-od Dowlah, was +afterwards deprived of office, he went to Cawnpore to reside, and +Sobhan Allee and all his family were obliged to follow his +fortunes. On his dismissal from office, Roshun-od Dowlah was put +into gaol, and not released till he paid twenty-two lacs of rupees +into the Treasury. He had given eight lacs, in our Government +promissory notes, to his wife, and three to his son, and he took +some lacs with him to Cawnpore, all made during the five years he +held office. Sobhan Allee Khan, his deputy, was made to pay into +the Treasury seven lacs, and five in gratuities—all made +during the same five years. Sobhan Allee died last year on a +pilgrimage to Mecca, with the character of one of the ablest and +least scrupulous of men; and his sons continue to reside at +Cawnpore and Allahabad, with the character of having all the bad, +without any of the good, qualities of their father. The widow of +Jugmohun manages the estate; but she has adopted the nearest heir +to her husband, the present Rajah of Bhuderee, a fine, handsome, +and amiable youth, of sixteen years of age, who is now learning +Persian. He was one of the many chiefs who took leave of me +yesterday, and the most prepossessing of all. His adoptive mother, +however, absorbs the estates of her weaker neighbours, by fraud, +violence, and collusion, like other landholders, and the +dispossessed become leaders of gang robbers as in other parts.</p> +<p>The Shah receives something from the local authorities, and +contributions from Mahommedan Princes, in remote parts of India, +such as Bhopal, Seronge, &c. Altogether his income is said to +amount to about fifty thousand rupees a-year. He has letters from +Governors-General of India, Lieutenant-Governors of the +North-Western Provinces and their Secretaries; and from Residents +at the Court of Lucknow, all of a complimentary character. He has +lately declared his eldest son to be his heir to the throne, and is +said to have already put him upon it. I received from him the usual +letter of compliments and welcome, with a present of a tame +antelope, and some fruit and sugar; and I wrote him a reply in the +usual terms. His name is Shah Puna Ata, and his character is held +in high esteem by all classes of the people, of whatever creed, +caste, or grade.</p> +<p>The Bhuderee family give their daughters in marriage to the +Bugheela Rajahs of Rewa and the Powar Rajahs of Ocheyra, who are +considered to be a shade higher in caste than they are among the +Rajpoots. Not long ago they gave one hundred thousand rupees, with +one daughter, to the only son of the Rewa Rajah, as the only +condition on which he would take her. Golab Sing, the brother of +Seoruttun Sing, of Pertabghur, by caste a Sombunsee, is said to +have given lately fifty thousand rupees, with another daughter, to +the same person. Rajah Hunmunt Sing, of Dharoopoor, who is by caste +a Beseyn Rajpoot, the year before last went to Rewa, accompanied by +some fifty Brahmins, to propose an union between his daughter and +the same son of the Rewa Rajah. A large sum was demanded, but he +pleaded poverty, and at last got the Rajah to consent to take fifty +thousand rupees down, and seventy-five thousand at the last +ceremony of the barat, or fetching home of the bride. When all had +been prepared for this last ceremony, the Rajah of Rewa pleaded the +heat of the weather, and his son would not come to complete it, and +take away his bride. Hunmunt Sing collected one hundred <i>resolute +Brahmins</i>, and proceeded with them to Rewa, where they sat +<i>dhurna</i> at the Rajah's door, without tasting food, and +declared that they would all die there unless the marriage were +completed.</p> +<p>The Rajah did all he could, or could make his people do, to get +rid of them; but at last, afraid that some of the Brahmins would +really die, he consented that his son should go and fetch his +bride, if Hunmunt Sing would pay down twenty-five thousand rupees +more, to defray the cost of the procession, in addition to the +seventy-five thousand. He did so, and his daughter was taken off in +due form. He has another daughter to dispose of in the same way. +The Rewa Rajah has thus taken five or six wives for his son, from +families a shade lower in caste; but the whole that he has got with +them will not be enough to pay one of the Rajpoot families, a shade +higher in caste than he is, in Rajpootana, to take one daughter +from him. It costs him ten or twelve lacs of rupees to induce the +Rajah of Oudeepoor, Joudhpoor, or Jypoor, to take away, as his +bride, a daughter of Rewa. All is a matter of bargain and sale. +Those who have money must pay, in proportion to their means, to +marry their daughters into families a shade higher in caste or +dignity, or to get daughters from them when such families are +reduced to the necessity of selling their daughters to families of +a lower grade.</p> +<p>Among Brahmins it is the same. Take, for example, the Kunojee +Brahmins, among whom there are several shades of caste. The member +of a family a shade higher will not give his son in marriage to a +daughter of a family a shade lower, without receiving a sum in +proportion to its means; nor will he give a daughter in marriage to +such a family till he is so exalted as to be able to disregard the +feelings of his clan, or reduced to such a degree of poverty as +shall seem to his clan sufficient to justify it. This bargain and +sale of sons and daughters prevails, more or less, throughout all +Hindoo society, and is not, even now, altogether unknown among +Christian nations. In Oude, this has led to the stealing of young +girls from our own districts. Some men and women from our districts +make a trade of it. They pretend to be of Rajpoot caste, and +inveigle away girls from their parents, to be united in marriage to +Rajpoots in Oude. They pretend to have brought them with the +consent of their parents, of the same or higher caste, in our +territories, and make large sums by the trade.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 31, 1849.—Eight miles to Sotee, over a +country well studded with trees, and generally well cultivated. The +soil is, all the way, doomuteea. The road, the greater part of the +way, lies in the purgunnah of Nyn, held by Jugunnath Sing, a +Kumpureea Rajpoot, and his nephew, and the collateral branches of +their family. They have a belt of jungle, extending for some twelve +miles along the right bank of the Saee river, and on the right side +of the road, and within from two to six miles from it—in some +parts nearer, and in others more remote. Wild hogs, deer, neelgae, +and wild cattle abound in this jungle, and do great injury to the +crops in its vicinity. The peasantry can kill and eat the hogs and +deer, but dare not kill or wound the wild cattle or neelgae. The +wild cattle are said to be from a stock which strayed or were let +loose in this jungle some centuries ago. They are described as fat, +while the crops are on the ground, and well formed—some black, +some red, some white, and some mixed—and to be as wild and +active as the deer of the same jungle. They are sometimes caught by +being driven into the Saee river; but the young ones are said to +refuse all food, and die soon, if not released. Hindoos soon +release them, from the religious dread that they may die in +confinement. The old ones sometimes live, and are considered +valuable. They are said to be finer in form than the tame cattle of +the country; and from July to March, when grass abounds, and the +country around is covered successively with autumn and spring +crops, more fat and sleek.</p> +<p>The soil is good and strong, and the jungle which covers it very +thick. It is preserved by a family of Kumpureea Rajpoots, whose +whole possessions, in 1814, consisted of nine villages. By degrees +they have driven out or murdered all the other proprietors, and +they now hold no less than one hundred and fifty, for which they +pay little or no revenue to Government. The rents are employed in +keeping up large bands of armed followers and building strongholds, +from which they infest the surrounding country. The family has +become divided into five branches, each branch having a fort or +stronghold in the Nyn jungle, and becoming by degrees subdivided +into smaller branches, who will thrive and become formidable in +proportion as the Government becomes weak. Each branch acts +independently in its depredations and usurpations from weaker +neighbours but all unite when attacked or threatened by the +Government.</p> +<p>Rajah Dursun Sing held the district of Salone from 1827 to 1836, +and during this time he made several successful attacks upon the +Kumpureea Rajpoots of the Nyn jungle; and during his occasional +temporary residence he had a great deal of the jungle around his +force cut down, but he made no permanent arrangement for subduing +them. In 1837, the government of this district was transferred to +Kondon Lal Partak, who established a garrison in the centre of the +jungle, had much of it cut down, and kept the Kumpureea barons +effectually in check. He died in 1838, and Rajahs Dursun Sing and +Buktawar Sing again got the government, and continued the +<i>partaks</i> system for the next five years, up to 1843. They +lost the government for 1844 and 1845, but their successors +followed the same system, to keep the Kumpureeas in order. +Bukhtawar Sing got the government again for 1846 and 1847, and +persevered in this system; but in 1848 the government was made over +to Hamid Allee, a weak and inexperienced man. His deputy, Nourouz +Allee, withdrew the garrison, and left the jungle to the +Kumpureeas, who, in return, assigned to him three or four of their +villages, rent free, in perpetuity, which in Oude means as long as +the grantee may have the power or influence to be useful to the +granters, or to retain the grants. Since that time the Kumpureeas +have recovered all the lands they had lost, restored all the jungle +that had been cut down, and they are now more powerful than ever. +They have strengthened their old forts and built some new, and +added greatly to the number of their armed followers, so that the +governor of the district dares not do anything to coerce them into +the payment of the just demands of Government, or to check their +usurpations and outrages.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* This Nourouz Allee was, 1851, the agent of the Kumpureea +barons of this jungle, at the Durbar, where he has made, in the +usual way, many influential friends, in collusion with whom he has +seized upon many estates in the vicinity of the jungle, and had +them made over to these formidable barons.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The present Nazim has with him two Nujeeb Regiments, one of nine +hundred and fifty-five, and the other of eight hundred and thirty +men; a squadron of horse and fourteen guns. The two corps are +virtually commanded by fiddlers and eunuchs at Court. Of the men +borne on the muster rolls and paid, not one-half are present; of +the number present, not one-half are fit for the duties of +soldiers; and of those fit for such duties, not one-half would +perform them. They get nominally four rupees a-month, liable to +numerous deductions, and they are obliged to provide their own +clothing, arms, accoutrements, and ammunition, except on occasions +of actual fighting, when they are entitled to powder and ball from +the Government officer under whom they are employed. He purchases +powder in the bazaars, or has it sent to him from Lucknow; and, in +either case, it is not more than one-third of the strength used by +our troops. It is made in villages and supplied to contractors, +whose only object is to get the article at the cheapest possible +rate; and that supplied to the most petted corps is altogether +unfit for service.</p> +<p>The arms with which they are expected to provide themselves are +a matchlock and sword. They are often ten or twelve months in +arrears, and obliged to borrow money for their own subsistence and +that of their families, at twenty-four per cent. interest. If they +are disabled, they have little chance of ever recovering the +arrears of pay due to them; and if they are killed, their families +have still less. Even the arms and accoutrements which they have +purchased with their own money are commonly seized by the officers +of Government, and sold for the benefit of the State. Under all +these disadvantages, the Nazim tells me that he thinks it very +doubtful whether any of the men of the two corps would fight at all +on emergency. The cavalry are still worse off, for they have to +subsist their horses, and if any man's horse should be disabled or +killed, he would be at once dismissed with just as little chance of +recovering the arrears of pay due to him. Of the fourteen guns, two +only are in a state fit for service. Bullocks are provided for six +out of fourteen, but they are hardly able to stand from want of +food, much less to draw heavy guns. I looked at them, and found +that they had had no grain for many years, and very little grass or +chaff, since none is allowed by Government for their use, and +little can be got by forage, or plunder, which is the same thing. +One seer and half of grain, or three pounds a-day for each bullock, +is allowed and paid for by Government, but the bullocks never get +any of it. Of the six best guns, for which he has draft bullocks, +the carriage of one went to pieces on the road yesterday, and that +of another went to pieces this-morning in my camp, in firing the +salute, and both guns now lie useless on the ground. He has one +mortar, but only two shells for it; and he has neither powder nor +ball for any of the guns. He was obliged to purchase in the bazaar +the powder required for the salute for the Resident.</p> +<p>The Nazim tells me, that he has entertained at his own cost two +thousand Nujeebs or Seobundies, on the same conditions as those on +which the others serve in the two Regiments, on duty under +him—that is, they are to get four rupees a-month each, and +furnish themselves with food, clothing, a matchlock, sword, +accoutrements, and ammunition, except on occasions of actual +fighting, when he is to provide them with powder and ball from the +bazaar. The minister, he tells me, promised to send him another +Nujeeb corps—the Futteh Jung—from Khyrabad; but he has +heard so bad an account of its discipline, that he might as well be +without it. All the great landholders see the helpless state of the +Nazim, and not only withhold from him the just dues of Government, +but seize upon and appropriate with impunity the estates of the small +proprietors in their neighbourhood.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 1, 1850.—Fourteen miles to Rae Bareilly, +over a plain with more than usual undulation, and the same +doomuteea light soil, tolerably cultivated, and well studded with +trees of the finest kind. The festoons of the bandha hang +gracefully from the branches, with their light green and yellow +leaves, and scarlet flowers, in the dark green foliage of the mango +and mhowa trees in great abundance. I saw them in no other, but +they are sometimes said to be found in the banyan, peepul, and +other trees, with large leaves, though not in the tamarind, babul, +and other trees, with small leaves. I examined those on the mango +and mhowa trees, and they are the same in leaf and flower, and are +said to be the same in whatever tree found. Rae Bareilly is in the +estate of Shunkurpoor, belonging to Rana Benee Madho, a large +landholder. He resides at Shunkurpoor, ten miles from this, and is +strong, and not very scrupulous in the acquisition, by fraud, +violence, and collusion, of the lands of the small proprietors in +the neighbourhood. I asked Rajah Hunmunt Sing, of Dharoopoor, as he +was riding by my side, this morning, whether he was not a man of +bad character. He said, "No, by no means; he is a man of great +possessions, credit, and influence, and of good repute." "But does +he not rob smaller proprietors of their hereditary lands?" "If," +replied the Rajah, "you estimate men's character in Oude on this +principle, you will find hardly any landholder of any rank with a +good one, for they have all been long doing the same +thing—all have been augmenting their own estates by absorbing +those of smaller proprietors, by what you will call fraud, +violence, and collusion, but they are not thought the worse of for +this by the Government or its officers." Nothing could be more +true. Men who augment their estates in this way, purchase the +acquiescence of temporary local officers, either by gratuities, or +promises of aid, in putting down other powerful and refractory +landholders; or they purchase the patronage of Court favourites, +who get their estates transferred to the "Hozoor Tehseel," and +their transgressions overlooked. Those who augment their resources +in this way, employ them in maintaining armed bands, building +forts, and purchasing cannon, to secure themselves in the +possession, and to resist the Government and its officers, who +might otherwise make them pay in some proportion to their +usurpations.</p> +<p>Benee Madho called upon me after breakfast, and gave me the +little of his history that I desired to hear. He is of the Byans +Rajpoot clan, and his ancestors have been settled in Oude for about +twenty-five generations, as landholders of different grades. The +tallook or estate now belongs to him, and is considered to be a +principality, to descend entire by the law of primogeniture, to the +nearest male heir, unless the lands become divided during his +life-time among his sons. Such a division has already taken place, +as will be seen by the annexed note :*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Abdool-Sing, the tallookdar of Shunkurpoor, had three sons; +first, Doorga Buksh, to whom he gave three shares; second, Chundha +Buksh, to whom he gave two shares; third, Bhowanee Buksh, to whom +he gave one and half share. The three shares of Doorga Buksh +descended to his son, Sheopersaud, who died without issue. Chunda +Buksh left two sons, Ramnaraen and Gor Buksh, Ramnaraen inherited +the three shares of Sheopersaud, as well as the two shares of his +father. He had three sons, Rana Benee Madho, Nirput Sing, and +Jogray Sing; Benee Madho inherited the three shares, and one of the +other two was given to Nirput Sing, and the other to Jogray Sing. +Gorbuksh Sing left one son, Sheopersaud, who gets the one and half +share of Bhowanee Buksh, whose son, Joorawun, died without issue. +Benee Madho is now the head of the family; and he has more than +quadrupled his three shares by absorptions, made in the way above +mentioned.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The three and half shares held by his brothers and cousins are +liable to subdivision by the Hindoo law of inheritance, or the +custom of his family and clan; but his own share must descend +undivided, unless he divides it during his lifetime, or his heirs +divide it during theirs, and consent to descend in the scale of +landholders. He says that, during the five years that Fakeer +Mahommed Khan was Nazim, a quarrel subsisted between him and the +tallookdar of Khujoor Gow, Rugonath Sing, his neighbour; that Sahib +Rae, the deputy of Fakeer Mahommed, who was himself no man of +business, adopted the cause of his enemy, and persuaded his master +to attack and rob him of all he had, turn him out of his estate, +and make it over to Rugonath Sing. He went to Lucknow for redress, +and remained there urging his claims for fourteen months, when he +got an order from the minister, Ameen-od Dowlah, for the estate +being restored to him and transferred to the Hozoor Tehseel. He +recovered his possessions, and the transfer was made; and he has +ever since lived in peace. He might have added that he has been, at +the same time, diligently employed in usurping the possessions of +his weaker neighbours.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Benee Madho and Rugonath Sing have since quarrelled about the +title of Rana. Benee Madho assumed the title, and Rugonath wished +to do the same, but Benee Madho thought this would derogate from +his dignity. They had some fighting, but Rugonath at last gave in, +and Benee Madho purchased, from the Court a recognition of his +exclusive right to the title, which is a new one in Oude. They had +each a force of five thousand brave men, besides numerous +auxiliaries.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>On our road, two miles from Rae Bareilly, we passed over a +bridge on the Saee river, built by <i>Reotee Ram</i>, the deputy of +the celebrated eunuch, Almas Allee Khan, some sixty or seventy +years ago. He at the same time planted an avenue of fine trees from +Salone to Rae Bareilly, twenty miles; and from Rae Bareilly to +Dalamow, on the Ganges, south, a distance of fourteen miles more. +Many of the trees are still standing and very fine; but the greater +part have been cut down during the contests that have taken place +between the Government officers and the landholders, or between the +landholders themselves. The troops in attendance upon local +government authorities have, perhaps, been the greatest enemies to +this avenue, for they spare nothing of value, either in exchange or +esteem, that they have the power to take. The Government and its +officers feel no interest in such things, and the family of the +planter has no longer the means to protect the trees or repair the +works.</p> +<p>Rae Bareilly is the head-quarters of the local authorities in +the Byswara district, and is considered to be one of the most +healthy places in Oude. It is near the bank of the small river +Saee, in a fine, open plain of light soil, and must be dry at all +seasons, as the drainage is good; and there are no jheels or +jungles near. It would be an excellent cantonment for a large +force, and position for large civil establishments. The town is a +melancholy ruin, and the people tell me that whatever landholder in +the district quarrels with the local authorities is sure, as his +first enterprise, to sack <i>Rae Bareilly</i>, as there is no +danger in doing it. The inhabitants live so far from each other, +and are separated by such heaps of ruins and deep water-courses, +that they can make no resistance. The high walls and buildings, all +of burnt brick, erected in the time of Shahjehan, are all gone to +ruin. The plain, around the town, is open, level, well cultivated, +and beautifully studded with trees. There is a fine tank of puckah +masonry to the north-west of the town, built by the same Reotee +Ram, and repaired by some member of his family, who holds and keeps +in good order the pretty garden around it. The best place for a +cantonment, courts, &c., is the plain which separates the town +from the river Saee to the south-east: they should extend along +from the town to the bridge over the Saee river. The water of this +river is said to be excellent, though not quite equal to that of +the Ganges. There is good water in most of the wells, but in some +it is said to be brackish. The bridge requires repair.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 2, 1850.—We halted at Rae Bareilly, and I +inspected the bullocks belonging to the guns of Sobha Sing's +regiment and some guns belonging to the Nazim. The bullocks have +been starved, are hardly able to walk, and quite unfit for any +work. Some of the carriages of the guns are broken down, and those +that are still entire are so rotten that they could not bear a +march. This regiment of Sobha Sing's was as good as any of those +commanded by Captains Magness, Bunbury, and Barlow, while commanded +by the late Captain Buckley;* and the native officers and sipahees +trained under him are all still excellent, but they are not well +provided. Like the others, this regiment was to have had guns +permanently attached to it, but the want of Court influence has +prevented this. They now have them only when sent on service from +one or other of the batteries at Lucknow, and the consequence is +that they are good for nothing. Sobha Sing is at Court, in +attendance on the minister; and his adjutant, Bhopaul Sing, a near +relative of the Rajah of Mynpooree, commands: he seems to be a good +soldier, and an honest and respectable man.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Captain Buckley was the son of Colonel Buckley, of the +Honourable Company's service, a good soldier and faithful servant +of the Oude Government. His mother, widow, and son, were left +destitute; but on my earnest recommendation, the King granted the +lad a pension of fifty rupees a-month.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Nazim has with him this one <i>Komukee</i>, or auxiliary +regiment, and half of three regiments of Nujeebs, amounting, +according to the pay abstracts and muster-rolls, to fifteen hundred +men. He has one hundred cavalry and seven guns, of which one only +is fit for use, and for that one he has neither stores nor +ammunition. He was obliged to purchase in the bazaar the powder and +cloth required to make up the cartridges for a salute for the +Resident. Of the fifteen hundred Nujeebs not two-thirds are +present, and of these hardly one-half are efficient: they are paid, +armed, clothed, and provided like the corps of Nujeebs placed under +the other local officers. The tallookdars of the districts have not +as yet presented themselves to the Nazim, but they have sent their +agents, and, with few exceptions, shown a disposition to pay their +revenues. The chief landholder in the district is Rambuksh, of +Dondeea Kherah, a town, with a fort, on the bank of the river +Ganges. He holds five of the purgunnahs as hereditary +possessions:—1, Bhugwuntnuggur; 2, Dondeea Kherah; 3, +Mugraen; 4, Punheen; 5, Ghutumpoor. The present Nazim has put all +five under the management of Government officers, as the only safe +way to get the revenues, as Rambuksh is a bad paymaster. Had he not +been so, as well to his <i>own retainer</i> as to the <i>King's +officers</i>, the Nazim would not have been able to do this. It is +remarked as a singular fact among Rajpoot landholders that Rambuksh +wants courage himself, and is too niggardly to induce others to +fight for him with spirit. The last Nazim, Hamid Allee, a weak and +inexperienced man, dared not venture upon such a measure to enforce +payment of balances.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Rambuksh recovered the management of his estate, and had it +transferred to the Hozoor Tehseel: but he failed in the payment of +the expected gratuities; and in April, 1851, he was attacked by a +large force, and driven across the Ganges, into British territory. +He had gone off on the pretence of a visit to some shrine, and his +followers would not fight. The fort was destroyed, and estate +confiscated. He is still, January, 1851, negotiating for the +purchase of both, and will succeed, as he has plenty of money at +command. The King's troops employed committed all manner of +atrocities upon the poor peasantry: many men were murdered, many +women threw themselves down in wells, after they had been +dishonoured; and all were indiscriminately plundered.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>He married the daughter of Fuzl Allee, the prime minister for +fifteen months, during which time he made a fortune of some thirty +or thirty-five lacs of rupees, twelve of which Hamid Allee's wife +got. He was persuaded by Gholam Allee, his deputy, and others, that +he might aspire to be prime minister at Lucknow if he took a few +districts in farm, to establish his character and influence. In the +farm of these districts he has sunk his own fortune and that of his +wife, and is still held to be a defaulter to the amount of some +eighteen lacs, and is now in gaol. This balance he will wipe off in +time in the usual manner: he will beg and borrow to pay a small sum +to the Treasury, and four times the amount in gratuities to the +minister, and other persons, male and female, of influence at +Court. The rest will be struck off as irrecoverable, and he will be +released. He was a man respected at Delhi, as well on account of +his good character as on that of his wealth; but he is here only +pitied as an ambitious fool.</p> +<p>The wakeel, on the part of the King, with the Resident, has been +uniting his efforts to those of Hoseyn Buksh,* the present Nazim of +Salone, to prevail upon Rajah Hunmunt Sing, the tallookdar of +Dharoopoor, to consent to pay an addition of ten or fifteen +thousand rupees to the present demand of one hundred and sixteen +thousand rupees a-year for his estate. He sturdily refused, under +the assurance of the good offices of Rajah Bukhtawar Sing, who has +hitherto supported him. Among other things urged by him to account +for his inability to pay is the obligation he is under to +liquidate, by annual instalments, a balance due to Bukhtawar Sing; +himself, when he held the contract of the district many years ago. +Bukhtawar Sing acknowledges the receipt of the instalments, and +declares that they are justly due; but these payments are, in +reality, nothing more than gratuities, paid for his continued good +offices with the minister and Dewan.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Hoseyn Buksh was killed in March following, by the followers +of a female landholder, whom he was trying to coerce into payment. +He was killed by a cannon shot through the chest, while engaged in +the siege of Shahmow, held by Golab Kour, the widow of Rajah Dirguj +Sing, who had succeeded to the estate, and would not or could not +pay her revenue.</p> +<p>A few days before, Hoseyn Buksh attached the crops of another +tallookdar, Seodut Sing, of Dhunawan, who would pay no revenue. A +body of the King's cavalry was sent to guard the crops, but the +tallookdar drove them off, and killed one and wounded another. +Hoseyn Buksh then sent a regiment, the Futtehaesh, a corps of his +own Seobundies, and six guns, to coerce the tallookdar. Two guns +were mounted on one battery, under the Futtehaesh regiment, and +four on another, under the Seobundies. A crowd of armed peasants +attacked the battery with the two guns, drove back the regiment, +captured the guns, and fired upon the soldiers as they fled. They +then attacked the battery with the four guns, and the Seobundies +fled, taking their guns with them for four miles. In their flight +they had three men killed, and twelve wounded. Hoseyn Buksh, on +hearing this, sent his whole force, under his brother, Allee Buksh, +to avenge the insult. Seodut, thinking he could not prudently hold +out any longer, evacuated his fort during the night, and retired, +and Hoseyn Buksh took possession of the fort, and recovered his two +guns. His successor restored both Seodut and the widow, Golab Kour, +to their estates, on their own terms, after trying in vain to +arrest them.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>While Dursun Sing, and his brother, Bukhtawar, held the contract +of Salone, the estate was put under management, and yielded one +hundred and seventy-four thousand rupees a-year, out of which they +allowed a deduction, on account of nankar, or subsistence, of some +twenty thousand. The Rajah and Bukhtawar Sing urge that this was, +for the most part, paid out of the property left by Byree Saul, to +whom Himmut Sing succeeded; and that the estate can now be made to +yield only one hundred and sixteen thousand, from which is to be +deducted a nankar of forty thousand. They offer him a deduction of +this forty thousand, out of a rent-roll rated at one hundred and +thirty thousand; and threaten him with the vengeance of his Majesty +if he refuses. He looks at their military force and smiles. The +agents of all the tallookdars, who are in attendance on the Nazim, +do the same. They know that they are strong, and see that the +Government is weak, and they cease to respect its rights and +orders. They see at the same time that the Government and its +officers regard less the rights than the strength of the +landholders; and, from fear, favour the strong while they oppress +and crush the weak.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Rajah Hunmunt Sing afterwards brought the contractor to +consent to take the same rate as had been paid to his predecessor; +but he was obliged to pay above six thousand rupees in +gratuities.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>January</i> 3, 1850.—Gorbuksh Gunge, <i>alias</i> Onae, +fourteen miles. The soil of the country over which we came is +chiefly a light doomuteea; but there is a good deal of what they +call bhoor, or soil in which sand superabounds. The greater part +belongs to the estate of Benee Madho, and is admirably cultivated, +and covered with a great variety of crops. The country is better +peopled than any other part that we have seen since we recrossed +the Goomtee. We passed through several villages, the people of +which seemed very happy. But their habitations had the same +wretched appearance—naked mud walls, with invisible mud +coverings. The people told me that they could not venture to use +thatched or tiled roofs, for the King's troops, on duty with the +local authorities, always took them away, when they had any. They +were, they said, well secured from all other enemies by their +landlord. Bhopaul Sing, acting commandant of Sobha Sing's Regiment, +riding with me, said,-"Nothing can be more true than what the +people tell you, sir; but the <i>Koomukee</i> Regiments, of which +mine is one, have tents provided for them, which none of the Nujeeb +and other corps have, and in consequence, these corps never take +the choppers of the peasantry for their accommodations. The +peasantry, however, always suffer more or less even from the +Koomukee corps, sir, for they have to forage for straw, wood, fuel, +bhoosa, &c., like the rest, and to take it wherever they can +find it. When we have occasion to attack, or lay siege to a +stronghold, all the roofs, doors, and windows of the people are, of +course, taken to form scaling-ladders, batteries, &c.; and it +is lamentable, sir, to see the desolation created around, after +even a very short siege."</p> +<p>Rajah Hunmunt Sing and Benee Madho were riding with me, and when +we had passed through a large crowd of seemingly happy peasantry in +one village, I asked Benee Madho (whose tenants they were), whether +they would all have to follow his fortunes if he happened to take +up arms against the Government.</p> +<p>"Assuredly," said he, "they would all be bound in honour to +follow me, or to desert their lands at least."</p> +<p>"And if they did not, I suppose you would deem it a <i>point of +honour</i> to plunder them?"</p> +<p>"That he assuredly would," said Rajah Hunmunt Sing; "and make +them the first victims."</p> +<p>"And if any of them fell fighting on his side, would he think it +a <i>point of honour</i> to-provide for their families?"</p> +<p>"That we all do," said he; "they are always provided for, and +taken the greatest possible care of."</p> +<p>"And if any one is killed in fighting for the King?"</p> +<p>They did not reply to this question, but the adjutant, Bhopaul +Sing, said,—"his family would be left to shift for +themselves,—no one asks a question about them."</p> +<p>"This," observed Rajah Bukhtawar Sing, "is one of the great +sources of the evil that exists in Oude. How can men be expected to +expose their lives when they know that no care will be taken of +their families if they are killed or disabled?"</p> +<p>It is the rule to give a disabled man one month's pay and +dismiss him; and to give the family of any one killed in the +service two months' pay. But, though the King is charged for this, +it is seldom that the wounded man, or the family of the killed, get +any portion of it. On the contrary, the arrears of pay due-which +are at all times great—are never paid to the disabled +sipahee, or the family of the sipahee killed. If issued from the +Treasury, they are appropriated by the commandants and their +friends at Court; and the arms and accoutrements, which the +deceased has purchased with his own money, are commonly sold for +the benefit of the State or its officers.</p> +<p>They mentioned, that the family of the person who planted a +mango-tree, or grove, continued to hold it as their exclusive +property in perpetuity; but, that the person who held the mhowa +trees, was commonly expected to pay to the landlord, where there +was one, and to the Government officers, where there was not, a +duty amounting to from four annas to two rupees a-year for each +tree, according to its fruitfulness—that the proprietor often +sold the fruit of one tree for twenty rupees the season. The fruit +of one mango-tree has, indeed, often been sold for a hundred rupees +the season, where the mangoes are of a quality much esteemed, and +numerous. The groves and fine solitary trees, on the lands we have +to-day passed through, are more numerous than usual; and the +country being undulating and well cultivated, the scenery is +beautiful; but, as everywhere else, it is devoid of all +architectural beauty in works of ornament or utility—not even +a comfortable habitation is anywhere to be seen. The great +landholders live at a distance from the road, and in forts or +strongholds. These are generally surrounded by fences of living +bamboos, which are carefully kept up as the best possible defence +against attacks. The forts are all of mud, and when the walls are +exposed to view they look ugly. The houses of the peasants in the +villages are, for the most part, covered with mud, from which the +water is carried off, by tubes of wood or baked clay, about two +feet long. There are parapets around the roof a foot or two high, +so that it cannot be seen, and a village appears to be a mass of +dead mud walls, which have been robbed of their thatched or tiled +roofs. Most of the tubes used for carrying off the water from the +roofs, are the simple branches of the palm-tree, without their +leaves.</p> +<p>Among the peasantry we saw a great many sipahees, from our +Native Infantry Regiments, who have come home on furlough to their +families. From the estate of Rajah Hunmunt Sing, in the Banoda +district, there are one thousand sipahees in our service. From that +of Benee Madho, in the Byswara district, there are still more. They +told us that they and their families were very happy, and they +seemed to be so; but Hunmunt Sing said, they were a privileged +class, who gave much trouble and annoyance, and were often the +terror of their non-privileged neighbours and co-sharers in the +land. Benee Madho, as I have stated above, sometimes makes use of +his wealth, power, and influence, to rob his weaker neighbours of +their estates. The lands on which we are encamped he got two years +ago from their proprietor, Futteh Bahader, by foreclosing a +mortgage, in which he and others had involved him. The gunge or +bazaar, close to our tents, was established by Gorbuksh, the uncle +of Futteh Bahader, and became a thriving emporium under his +fostering care; but it has gone to utter ruin under his nephew, and +heir, and the mortgagee. The lands around, however, could never +have been better cultivated than they are; nor the cultivators +better protected or encouraged. It rained slightly before sunset +yesterday, and heavily between three and four this morning; but not +so as to prevent our marching.</p> +<p>This morning, a male elephant belonging to Benee Madho killed +one of his attendants near to our camp. He had three attendants, +the driver and two subordinates. The driver remained in camp, while +the two attendants took the elephant to a field of sugar-cane, to +bring home a supply of the cane for his fodder for the day. A third +subordinate had gone on to cut the cane and bind it into bundles. +One of the two was on the neck of the elephant, and another walking +by the side, holding one of the elephant's teeth in his left hand +all the way to the field, and he seemed very quiet. The third +attendant brought the bundles, and the second handed them up to the +first on the back to be stowed away. When they had got up about a +dozen, the elephant made a rush at the third attendant, who was +bringing the bundles, threw him to the ground with his foot, knelt +down upon him, and crushed him to death with his front. The second +attendant ran off as soon as he saw the elephant make a rush at the +third; and the first fell off under the bundles of sugar-cane, as +soon as the elephant knelt down to crush the third to death. When +the elephant rose from the poor man, he did not molest, or manifest +any wish to molest either of the other two, but stood still, +watching the dead body. The first, seeing this, ventured to walk up +to him, to take him by the ear and ask him what he meant. At first +he seemed surly, and shoved the man off, and he became alarmed, and +retired a few paces; but seeing the elephant show no further signs +of anger, he again walked up, and took him by the ear familiarly. +Had he ran or shown any signs of fear, the elephant would, he +thought, have killed him also, for he had killed three men in the +service of his former proprietor, and was now in his annual fit of +madness, or must. Holding the elephant by the ear, he led him to +the first tree, and placed himself on the opposite side to see +whether the animal had become quite sober. Seeing that he had, he +again approached, and put upon his two forelegs the chain fetters, +which they always have with them, suspended to some part of the +body of elephants in this state. He could not venture to command +the elephant to kneel down in the usual way, that he might get upon +his neck; and, ascending the tree, he let himself down from one of +the branches upon his back, where he sat. He then made the animal +walk on in fetters, towards camp, and on the way, met the mahout, +or driver, to whom the second attendant had reported the accident. +The driver came up, and, after the usual volume of abuse on the +elephant, his mother, father, and sundry female relations, he +ordered the attendant to make him sit down that he might get on his +neck. He did so in fear and trembling, and the driver got on his +neck, while the attendant sat on his back, and the elephant took +them to Benee Madho's village, close to my camp, where he was +fastened in chains to a tree, to remain for some months on reduced +allowances, till he should get over his madness. The body of the +poor man was burnt with the usual ceremonies, and the first +attendant told me, that his family would be provided for by Benee +Madho, as a matter of course.</p> +<p>I asked him how he or any other person could be found to attend +a beast of that kind? Pointing to his stomach, he said—"We +poor people are obliged to risk our lives for this, in all manner +of ways; to attend elephants has been always my profession, and +there is no other open to me; and we make up our minds to do +whatever our duties require from us, and trust to Providence." He +told me that when the elephant shoved him off, he thought that in +his anger he might have forgotten him, and called out as loud as he +could,—"What, have you forgotten a service of six years, and do +you intend to kill the man who has fed you so long?" That the beast +seemed to recollect his voice and services, and became, at once, +quiet and docile—"that had he not so called out, and reminded +the animal of his long services, he thought he should have been +killed; that the driver came, armed with a spear, and showed himself +more angry than afraid, as the safest plan in such cases."</p> +<p>Dangerous as the calling of the elephant-driver is, that of the +snake-keepers, in the King's service, seems still greater. He has +two or three very expert men of this kind, whose duty it is to +bring him the snakes, when disposed to look at them, and see the +effects of their poison on animals. They handle the most venomous, +with apparently as much carelessness as other men handle +fighting-cocks or quail. When bitten, as they sometimes are, they +instantly cut into the part, and suck out the poison, or get their +companions to suck it out when they can't reach the part with their +own mouths. But they depend chiefly upon their wonderful dexterity +in warding off the stoops or blows of the snakes, as they twist +them round their necks and limbs with seeming carelessness. While +they are doing so, the eye of the spectator can hardily detect the +<i>stoops</i> of the one and the guards of the other. After playing +in this way with the most venomous snakes, they apply them to the +animals. Elephants have died from their bites in a few +hours—smaller animals sooner. I have never, myself, seen the +experiments, but any one may see them at the palace. Elephants and +the larger animals are too expensive to be often experimented +on.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 4, 1850.—Halted at the village of Onae, +alias Gorbuksh Gunge. It lost the name of Onae, after the +proprietor, Gorbuksh, who had built the Gunge, and made it a great +emporium of trade in corn, cotton cloth, &c.; but is recovering +it again, now that the Gunge has become a ruin, and the family of +the builder has been dispossessed of the lands. I rode out in the +morning to look at the neighbouring village of Doolarae-ka Gurhee, +or the fort of Doolarae, and have some talk with the peasantry, who +are Bys Rajpoots, of one of the most ancient Rajpoot families in +Oude. They told me,—"That their tribe was composed of two +great families, Nyhussas and Synbunsies—that the acknowledged +head of the Synbunsies was, at present, Rugonath Sing, of Kojurgow, +and that Hindpaul, tallookdar of Korree Sudowlee, was the head of +the Nyhussas; that Baboo Rambuksh, tallookdar of Dhondeea Kheera, +had the title of Row, and Dirg Bijee Sing, tallookdar of Morarmow, +that of Rajah—that is, he was the acknowledged Rajah of the +clan, and Baboo Rambuksh, the Row, an inferior grade—that +these families had been always fighting with each other, for the +possession of each others lands, from the time their ancestors came +into Oude, a thousand years ago, except when they were united in +resistance against the common enemy, the governor or ruler of the +country—that one family got weak by the subdivision of the +lands, among many sons or brothers, or by extravagance, or +misfortune, while another became powerful, by keeping the lands +undivided, and by parsimony and prudence; and the strong increased +their possessions by seizing upon the lands of the weak, by +violence, fraud or collusion with the local authorities—that +the same thing had been going on among them for a thousand years, +with some brief intervals, during which the rulers of Oude managed, +by oppression, to unite them all against themselves, or by +prudence, to keep them all to their respective rights and +duties—that Doolarae, who gave his name to the village, by +building the fort, was of the Nyhussa family, and left two sons, +and only two villages, Gurhee and Agoree, out of a very large +estate, the rest having been lost in the contests with the other +families of the tribe—that these two had become minutely +subdivided among their descendants: and Bhugwan Das, Synbunsee of +Simree, four years ago, seized upon the Gurhee, in collusion with +the local authorities; that Thakoor Buksh Nyhussa, talookdar of +Rahwa seized upon Agoree in the same way that the local authorities +designedly assessed these villages at a higher rate than they could +be made to pay, and then, for a bribe, transferred them to the +powerful tallookdars, on account of default."</p> +<p>Gorbuksh Sing, Synbunsee, died some twenty years ago, leaving an +estate, reduced from a greater number to ninety-three villages. His +nephew, Futteh Bahader, a child, was adopted by his widow, who +continued to manage the whole till she died, four years after. The +heir was still a boy; and Rugonath Sing, of Kojurgow, the head of +the Synbunsee family, took advantage of his youth, seized upon the +whole ninety-three villages, and turned him out to beg subsistence +among his relatives. In this he, Rugonath Sing, was, as usual, +acting in collusion with the local authorities of the Government. +He continued to possess the estate for ten years, but to reside in +his fort of Hajeepoor. Koelee Sing, a Guhlote, by caste, and a +zumeendar of Bheeturgow, and its eight dependent villages, which +formed part of the estate of Futteh Bahader, went to Court at +Lucknow, and represented, that Rugonath Sing had no right whatever +to the lands he held, and the Court had better make them over to +him and the other zumeendars, if they did not like to restore them +to their rightful heir. Bheeturgow and its dependent eight +villages, were made over to him; and ten sipahees, from Captain +Hyder Hearsey's Regiment, were sent to establish and support him in +possession. Rugonath attacked them, killed two of the sipahees, and +drove out Koelee Sing. He repaired to Court; and Mahomed Khan was +sent out, as Special Commissioner, with orders to punish Rugonath +Sing. He and Captain Hearsey attacked him in his fort of Hajeepoor, +drove him out, and restored Futteh Bahader, to twenty-four +villages; and re-established Koelee Sing, in Bheeturgow, and the +eight villages dependent upon it. Futteh Bahader was poor, and was +obliged to tender the security of Benee Madho, the wealthy +tallookdar of this place, for the punctual payment of the revenue. +The year before last, when a balance of revenue became due, he, the +deputy, in collusion with Gholam Allee, seized upon all the +twenty-four villages.</p> +<p>Futteh Bahader went to seek redress at Lucknow, but had no money +to pay his way at Court, while Benee Madho had abundance, and used +it freely, to secure the possession of so fine an addition to his +estate. Futteh Bahader, as his last resource, got his uncle, Bustee +Sing, of the 3rd Cavalry, whom he called his father,* to present a +petition for redress to the Resident, in April 1849. Gholam Allee +was ordered to release Futteh Bahader, whom Benee Madho had +confined, and send him to Lucknow. The order was not obeyed, and it +was repeated in December without effect; but his uncle's agent, +Gorbuksh, was diligent at the Residency, and the case was made over +for investigation and decision to the Ameen, Mahomed Hyat. Finding +Futteh Bahader still in confinement, with sundry members of his +family, when I came here yesterday, I ordered him to be made over +to the King's wakeel, in attendance upon me, to be sent to the +Court, to prosecute his claim, and produce proofs of his right. Of +his right there can be no question, and the property of which he +was robbed, in taking possession, and the rents since received, if +duly accounted for, would more than cover any balance due by Futteh +Bahader. When he gave the security of Benee Madho, for the payment +of the revenue, he gave, at the same time, what is called the Jumog +of his villages to him; that is, bound his tenants to pay to him +their rents at the rate they were pledged to pay to him; and the +question pending is, simply, what is fairly due to Benee Madho, +over and above what he may have collected from them. Benee Madho +had before, by the usual process of violence, fraud, and collusion, +taken eighteen of the ninety-three villages, and got one for a +servant; and all the rest had, by the same process, got into the +possession of others; and Futteh Bahader had not an acre left when +his uncle interposed his good offices with the Resident.** The dogs +of the village of Doolarae-kee Gurhee followed us towards camp, and +were troublesome to the horses and my elephant. I asked the +principal zumeendar why they were kept. He said they amused the +children of the village, who took them out after the hares, and by +their aid and that of the sticks with which they armed themselves, +they got a good many; that all they got for food was the last +mouthful of every man's dinner, which no man was sordid enough to +grudge them—that when they wished to describe a very sordid +man, they said—"he would not even throw his last mouthful +(koura) to a dog!"</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* He called Bustee Sing his <i>father</i>, as sipahees can seek +redress through the Resident, for wrongs suffered by no others than +their mothers, fathers, their children, and themselves.]</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote> +<p>[** A punchaet was assembled at Lucknow, to decide the suit +between Benee Madho and Futteh Bahader, at the instance of the +Resident: and they awarded to Benee Madho a balance due on account +of thirty thousand rupees, which Futteh Bahader has to pay before +he can recover possession of his estate.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>January</i> 5, 1851.—Halted at Onae, in consequence of +continued rain, which incommodes us, but delights the landholders +and cultivators, whose crops will greatly benefit by it. The +halting of so large a camp inconveniences them, however, much more +than us; for they are called upon to supply us with wood, grass, +and straw, for which they receive little or no payment; for the +Kings people will not let us pay for these things, and pay too +little themselves. Those who attend us do not plunder along the +road; but the followers of the local authorities, who attend us, +through their respective jurisdictions, do so; and sundry fields of +fine carrots and other vegetables disappear, as under a flight of +locusts along the road. The camp-followers assist them, and as our +train extends from the ground we leave to that to which we are +going, for twelve or fourteen miles, it is impossible, altogether, +to prevent such injuries from so undisciplined a band. The people, +however, say, they suffer much less than they would from one-fourth +of the number under a contractor marching without an European +superior, and I give compensation in flagrant cases. Captain Weston +acts as our Provost Marshal. He leaves the ground an hour or two +after I do, and seizes and severely punishes any one found +trespassing.</p> +<p>In my ride this morning I found that Nyhussa and Synbunsee are +two villages distant about ten miles from our camp, to the +south-east—that all the Byses, who give the name of Byswara +to this large district, are called Tilokchundees, from Tilokchund, +the founder of the family in Oude. He had two sons, <i>Hurhur +Deo</i> and <i>Prethee Chund</i>. Hurhur Deo had two sons, one of +whom, Kurun Rae, established himself in Nyhussa, and the other, +Khem Kurun, in Synbunsee. Their descendants have taken their titles +from their respective villages. Prethee Chund's descendants +established themselves in other parts, and the descendants of both +bear the appellation of Tilokchundee Byses. The Rajahs and Rows are +of the same family, and are so called from their ancestors having, +at some time, had the title of Rajah and Row conferred upon +them.</p> +<p>Rajah Seodursun Sing, of Simrotee, who resides in the village of +Chundapoor upon his estate, four miles east of Bulla, has been with +me for the last five days. He is a strong man, and has been +refractory occasionally; but at present he pays his revenue +punctually, and keeps his estate in good order. He rendered good +service yesterday in the way in which all of his class might, by +good management, be made to aid the government of Oude. A ruffian, +by name Mohiboollah, who had been a trooper in the King of Oude's +service, contrived to get the lease of the estate of Bulla, which +is about twenty miles north-east from our camp; and turning out all +the old landholders and cultivators, he there raised a gang of +robbers, to plunder his neighbours and travellers. He had been only +two months in possession, when he attacked the house of an old +invalid subadar-major of the Honourable Company's service, +(fifty-seventh Native Infantry,) on the 21st of December, 1849, +robbed him of all he had, and confined him and all his family, till +he promised, under good security, to pay, within twenty days, a +ransom of one thousand two hundred rupees more. He had demanded a +good deal more, but hearing that the Resident's camp was +approaching, he consented to take this sum four days ago, and +released all his prisoners. The subadar presented a petition to me, +and, after taking the depositions of the old zumeendars and other +witnesses, I requested the king's wakeel, to send off a company of +Soubha Sing's Regiment, to arrest him and his gang.</p> +<p>They went off from Rae Bareilly on the night of the 1st instant; +but, finding that the subadar-major and his family had been +released the day before, and that the village was full of armed +men, ready to resist, they returned on the evening of the 2nd. On +the 3rd, the whole regiment, with its artillery, and three hundred +auxiliaries, under Rajah Seodursun Sing, left my camp, at Onae, at +midnight, and before daylight surrounded the village. There were +about one hundred and fifty armed men in it; and, after a little +bravado, they all surrendered, and were brought to me. Mohiboollah +had, however, gone off, on the pretence of collecting his rents, +two days before; but his father and brother were among the +prisoners. All who were recognised as having been engaged in the +robbery, were sent off prisoners to Lucknow, and the rest were +disarmed and released.</p> +<p>Among those detained were some notorious robbers, and the gang +would soon have become very formidable but for the accident of my +passing near. He had got the lease of the estate through the +influence of Akber-od Dowlah, one of the Court favourites, for the +sole purpose of converting it into a den of robbers; and, the +better to secure this object, he had got it transferred from the +jurisdiction of the Nazim to the Hozoor Tehseel, over the manager +of which the Court favourite had paramount influence. He was to +share with his client the fruits of his depredations, and, in +return, to secure him impunity for his crimes. Many of his +retainers were among the prisoners brought in to me, having been +present at the distribution of the large booty acquired from the +old subadar, some thirty or forty thousand rupees. The subadar had +resided upon the estate of Seodursun Sing; but having, seven years +ago complained through the Resident of over-exactions for the small +patch of land he held, and got back the grain which had been +attacked for the rent, he was obliged to give it up and reside in +the hamlet he afterwards occupied near Bulla, whose zumeendars +assured him of protection.* He had a large family, and a great deal +of property in money and other valuables concealed under ground. +Mohiboollah first seized and sent off the subadar, and then had +ramrods made red-hot and applied to the bodies of the children till +the females gave him all their ornaments, and pointed out to him +all the hidden treasures: they were then all taken to Bulla and +confined till the subadar had pledged himself to pay the ransom +demanded.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The greater part of this property is understood to have been +confided, in trust, to the old subadar, by some other minion of the +Court, and the chief object of the gang was to get hold of it; as +their patron, Akber-od Dowlah, had become aware that his +fellow-minion had intrusted his wealth to the old subadar, after he +had taken up his residence near Bulla. The estate was made over, in +farm, to Benee Madho, as the best man to cope with Mohiboollah, +should he return and form a new gang.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I requested the King to take the estate from this ruffian and +restore it to its old proprietors, whose family had held it for +several centuries, or bestow it in lease to some other strong and +deserving person.</p> +<p>The Tilokchundee Byses take the daughters of other Rajpoots, who +are a shade lower in caste, in marriage for their sons, but do not +give their daughters in marriage to them in return. They have a +singular notion that no snake ever has destroyed or ever can +destroy one of the family, and seem to take no precautions against +its bite. If bitten by a snake they do not attempt any remedy, nor +could Benee Madho recollect any instance of a Tilokchundee Bysee +having died from a bite. He tells me that some families in every +Rajpoot tribe in Oude destroy their female infants to avoid the +cost of marrying them, though the King prohibited infanticide and +suttee in the year 1833. That infanticide does still prevail among +almost all the Rajpoot tribes in Oude is unquestionable.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 6, 1850.—Yesterday evening we moved to +Omrowa West, [Transcriber's note: this appears to be a misspelling +for Morowa West] a distance of twelve miles, over a plain of bad +oosur soil, scantily cultivated near the road. To the left and +right of the road, at a little distance, there are some fine +villages, thickly peopled, and situated in fine and well-cultivated +soil. The country is well wooded, except in the worst parts of the +soil, where trees do not thrive. We saw a great deal of sugar-cane +in the distance and a few pawn-gardens. The population of the +villages came to the high road to see us pass; and among them were +a great many native officers and sipahees of our Regiments, who are +at their homes on furlough, Government having given a very large +portion of the native army the indulgence of furlough during the +present cold season. They all seemed happy; but, to my discomfort, +a vast number take advantage of this furlough and my movements to +urge their claims against the Government, its officers, and +subjects. Nothing can be more wretched than the appearance of the +buildings in which the people of all grades live in these +villages—mud walls without any appearance of coverings, and +doors and windows worse than I have seen in any other part of +India. Better would not be safe against the King's troops, and +these would certainly not be safe against a slight storm; a good +shower and a smart breeze would level the whole of the villages +with the ground in a few hours. "But," said the people, "the mud +would remain, and we could soon raise up the houses again without +the aid of masons, carpenters, or blacksmiths." It is enough that +they are used to them.</p> +<p>Morowa is a large town, well situated and surrounded with groves +of the finest trees in great variety; and, to the surprise of the +officers with me, they saw a respectable house of burnt brick. It +belongs to the most substantial banker and agricultural capitalist +in these parts, <i>Chundun Lal</i>. These capitalists and their +families are, generally, more safe than others, as their aid is +necessary to the Government and its officers, and no less so to the +landholders, cultivators, and people of all classes. Their wealth +consists in their credit in different parts of India; and he who +has most of it may have little at his house to tempt the robber, +while the Government officers stand generally too much in daily +need of his services and mediation to molest him. A pledge made by +these officers to landholders and cultivators, or to these officers +by such persons, is seldom considered safe or binding till the +respectable banker or capitalist has ratified it by his mediation, +to which all refer with confidence.</p> +<p>He understands the characters and means of all, and will not +venture to ratify any pledge till he is assured of both the +disposition and ability of the party to fulfil it. Chundun Lal is +one of the most respectable of this class in Oude. He resides at +this place, Morowa, but has a good landed estate in our +territories, and banking establishments at Cawnpoor and many other +of our large stations. He is a very sensible, well-informed man, +but not altogether free from the ailing of his class—a +disposition to abuse the confidence of the Government officers; +and, in collusion with them, to augment his possessions in land at +the cost of his weaker neighbours.</p> +<p>I am told here that the Tilokchund Byses, when bitten by a +snake, do sometimes condescend to apply a remedy. They have a +vessel full of water suspended above the head of the sufferer, with +a small tube at the bottom, from which water is poured gently on +the head as long as he can bear it. The vent is then stopped till +the patient is equal to bear more; and this is repeated four or +five times till the sufferer recovers. I have not yet heard of any +one dying under the operation, or from the bite of a snake. I find +no one that has ever heard of a member of this family dying of the +bite of a snake. One of the Rajahs of this family, who called on me +to-day, declared that no member of his family had ever been known +to die of such a bite, and he could account for it only "from their +being descended from Salbahun, the rival and conqueror of +Bickermajeet, of Ojein."</p> +<p>This Salbahun* is said to have been a lineal descendant of the +<i>sake-god!</i> He told me that the females of this family could +never wear cotton cloth of any colour but plain white; that when +they could not afford to wear silk or satin they never wore +anything but the piece of white cotton cloth which formed, in one, +the waistband, petticoat, and mantle, or robe (the dhootee and +loongree), without hemming or needlework of any kind whatever. +Those who can afford to wear silk or satin wear the petticoat and +robe, or mantle of that material, and of any colour. On their +ankles they can wear nothing but silver, and above the ankles, +nothing but gold; and if not, nothing, not even silver, except on +the feet and ankles. No Hindoo of respectability, however high or +wealthy, can wear anything more valuable than silver below the +waist. The Tilokchundee Byses can never condescend to hold the +plough; and if obliged to serve, they enlist in the army or other +public establishments of the Oude or other States.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Salbahun must have been one of the leaders of the Scythian +armies, who conquered India in the reign of Vickramadittea.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The late governor of this district, Hamid Allee Khan, is now, as +I have already stated, in prison, as a great defaulter, at Lucknow. +He was a weak and inexperienced man, and guided entirely by his +deputies, Nourooz Allee and Gholam Allee. Calamities of season and +other causes prevented his collecting one-quarter of the revenue +which he had engaged in his contract to pay. Gholam Allee persuaded +the officers commanding regiments under him to pledge themselves +for the personal security of some of the tallookdars whom he +invited in to discuss the claims of Government, and their ability +to meet them. Four of them came—Hindooput, of Sudowlee, who +called on me this morning; Rugonath Sing, of Khojurgow; Rajah Dirg +Bijee Sing, of Morarmow; and Bhoop Sing, of Pahor. They were all +seized and put into confinement as soon as they appeared, by the +officers who had pledged themselves for their personal safety; and +Gholam Allee went off to Lucknow to boast of his prowess in seizing +them. There he was called upon to pay the balance due, and seeing +no disposition to listen to any excuse on the ground of calamity of +season, he determined to escape across the Ganges. He wrote to +Hamid Allee to suggest that he should do the same, and meet him at +Horha, on the bank of the Ganges, on a certain night.</p> +<p>Hamid Allee sent his family across the Ganges, and prepared to +meet Gholam Allee at the appointed place; but the commandants of +corps, who suspected his intentions, and had not received from him +any pay for their regiments for many months, seized him, and sent +him a prisoner to Lucknow. Gholam Allee, however, effected his +escape across the Ganges, and is now at Delhi. The story of his +having run away with three lacs of Hamid Allee's money is +represented here as a fiction, as the escape had been concerted +between them, and they had sent across the Ganges all that they +could send with that view. This may or may not be the real state of +the case. Hamid Allee, as I have above stated, married a daughter +of Fuzl Allee. Fuzl Allee's aunt, Fyz-on Nissa, had been a great +favourite with the Padshad Begum, the wife of the King, Ghazee-od +Deen, and adoptive mother of his successor, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, +who ascended the throne in 1827. She had been banished from Oude by +Ghazee-od Deen, but on his death she returned secretly to Lucknow; +and, in December of that year, her nephew, Fuzl Allee, who had been +banished with her, returned also, and on the 31st of that month he +was appointed prime minister, in succession to Aga Meer. Hakeem +Mehndee had been invited from Futtehghur to fill the office, and +had come so far as Cawnpoor, when Fyz-on Nissa carried the day with +the Queen Dowager, and he was ordered back. In November, 1828, the +King, at his mother's request, gave him the sum of 21,85,722 1 11, +the residue of the principal of the pension of Shums-od Dowlah, the +King's uncle, who had died. The whole principal amounted to +33,33,333 5 4, but part had been appropriated as a fund to provide +for some members of the King's family.</p> +<p>In February, 1829, Fuzl Allee resigned the office of prime +minister, and was protected by the Government of India, on the +recommendation of the Resident, and saved, from the necessity of +refunding to the State any of the wealth (some thirty-five lacs of +rupees) which he had acquired during his brief period of office. +This was all left to his three daughters and their husbands on his +death, which took place soon after. He was succeeded in office by +Hakeem Mehndee. Shums-od Dowlah's pension of 16,666 10 6 a-month, +was paid out of the interest, at 6 per cent., of the loan of one +crore, eight lacs, and fifty thousand rupees, obtained from the +sovereign of Oude (Ghazee-od Deen Hyder, who succeeded his father +on the 11th of July, 1814,) by Lord Hastings, in October, 1814, for +the Nepaul war. All the interest (six lacs and fifty-one thousand) +was, in the same manner, distributed in stipends to different +members of the family, and the principal has been paid back as the +incumbents have died off. Some few still survive.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The ground, on the north-west side of Morowa, would be good +for a cantonment, as the soil is sandy, and the plain well drained. +Water must lie during the rains on all the other sides, and the +soil has more clay in it.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>January</i> 7, 1850.—To Mirree, twelve miles, over a +plain of light doomuteea soil, sufficiently cultivated, and well +studded with trees. We passed Runjeet-ka Poorwa half-way—once +a large and populous town, but now a small one. The fog was, +however, too thick to admit of my seeing it. From this place to +Lucknow, thirty miles, Seetlah Buksh, a deputy of Almas Allee +Khan's, planted an avenue of the finest kind of trees. We had to +pass through a mile of it, and the trees are in the highest +perfection, and complete on both sides. I am told that there are, +however, many considerable intervals in which they have been +destroyed. The trees must have been planted about sixty years +ago.</p> +<p>I may here remark that no native gentleman from Lucknow, save +such as hold office in districts, and are surrounded by troops, can +with safety reside in the country. He would be either suspected and +destroyed by the great landholders around him, or suspected and +ruined by the Court. Under a better system of government, a great +many of these native gentlemen, who enjoy hereditary incomes, under +the guarantee of the British Government, would build houses in +distant districts, take lands, and reside on them with their +families, wholly or occasionally, and Oude [would] soon be covered +with handsome gentlemen's seats, at once ornamental and useful. +They would tend to give useful employment to the people, and become +bonds of union between the governing and the governed. Under such +an improved system, our guarantees would be of immense advantage to +the whole country of Oude, in diffusing wealth, protection, +education, intelligence, good feeling, and useful and ornamental, +works. At present, these guarantees are not so. They have +concentrated at the capital all who subsist upon them, and +surrounded the Sovereign and his Court with an overgrown +aristocracy, which tends to alienate him more and more from his +people. The people derive no benefit from, and have no feeling or +interest in common with, this city aristocracy, which tends more +and more to hide their Sovereign from their view, and to render him +less and less sensible of his duties and high responsibilities; and +what would be a blessing under a good, becomes an evil under a bad +system, such as that which has prevailed since those guarantees +began.</p> +<p>In this overgrown city there is a perpetual turmoil of +processions, illuminations, and festivities. The Sovereign spends +all that he can get in them, and has not the slightest wish to +perpetuate his name by the construction of any useful or ornamental +work beyond its suburbs. All the members of his family and of the +city aristocracy follow his example, and spend their means in the +same way. Indifferent to the feelings and opinions of the landed +aristocracy and people of the country, with whom they have no +sympathy, they spend all that they can spare for the public in +gratifying the vitiated tastes of the overgrown metropolis. Hardly +any work calculated to benefit or gratify the people of the country +is formed or thought of by the members of the royal family or +aristocracy of Lucknow; and the only one formed by the Sovereign +for many years is, I believe, the metalled road leading from +Lucknow to Cawnpoor, on the Ganges.</p> +<p>One good these guarantees certainly have effected—they +have tended greatly to inspire the people of the city with respect +for the British Government, by whom the incomes of so large and +influential a portion of the community and their dependents are +secured. That respect extends to its public officers and to +Europeans generally; and in the most crowded streets of Lucknow +they are received with deference, courtesy, and kindness, while in +those of Hydrabad, their lives, I believe, are never safe without +an escort from the Resident.</p> +<p>The people of the country respect the British Government, its +officers, and Europeans generally, from other causes. Though the +Resident has not been able to secure any very substantial or +permanent reform in the administration, still he has often +interposed with effect, in individual cases, to relieve suffering +and secure redress for grievous wrongs. The people of the country +see that he never interposes, except for such purposes, and their +only regret is that he interposes so seldom, and that his efforts, +when he does so, should be so often frustrated or disregarded. In +the remotest village or jungle in Oude, as in the most crowded +streets of the capital, an European gentleman is sure to be treated +with affectionate respect; and the humblest European is as sure to +receive protection and kindness, unless be forfeits all claim to it +by his misconduct.</p> +<p>The more sober-minded Mahommedans of Lucknow and elsewhere are +much scandalized at the habit which has grown up among them, in the +cities of India, of commemorating every event, whether of sadness +or of joy, by brilliant illuminations and splendid processions, to +amuse the idle populations of such cities. It is, they say, a +reprehensible departure from the spirit of their creed, and from +the simple tastes of the early Mahommedans, who laid out their +superfluities in the construction of great and durable works of +ornament and utility. Certainly no event can be more sorrowful +among Mahommedans than that which is commemorated in the mohurrum +by illuminations and processions with the Tazeeas; and yet no +illuminations are more brilliant, and no processions more noisy, +costly, and splendid. It is worthy of remark, that Hindoo princes +in Central and Southern India, even of the Brahmin caste, +commemorate this event in the same way; and in no part of India are +these illuminations and processions more brilliant and costly. +Their object is solely to amuse the population of their capitals, +and to gratify the Mahommedan women whom they have under their +protection, and their children, who must all be Mahommedans.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt6" id="Chapt6">CHAPTER VI.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Nawabgunge, midway between Cawnpoor and Lucknow—Oosur +soils how produced—Visit from the prime +minister—Rambuksh, of Dhodeeakhera—Hunmunt Sing, of +Dharoopoor—Agricultural capitalists. Sipahees and native +offices of our army—Their furlough, and +petitions—Requirements of Oude to secure good government. The +King's reserved treasury—Charity distributed through the +<i>Mojtahid</i>, or chief justice—Infanticide—Loan of +elephants, horses, and draft bullocks by Oude to Lord Lake in +1804—Clothing for the troops—The Akbery +regiment—Its clothing, &c.,—Trespasses of a great +man's camp in Oude—Russoolabad and Sufeepoor +districts—Buksh Allee, the dome—Budreenath, the contractor +for Sufeepoor—Meeangunge—Division of the Oude Territory +in 1801, in equal shares between Oude and the British +Governments—Almas Allee Khan—His good government—The +passes of Oude—Thieves by hereditary profession, and village +watchmen—Rapacity of the King's troops—Total absence of +all sympathy between the governing and governed—Measures +necessary to render the Oude troops efficient and less mischievous +to the people—Sheikh Hushmut Allee, of Sundeela.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 8, 1850.—Nawabgunge, eleven miles over a +plain, the soil of which, near the road, is generally very poor +oosur. No fruit or ornamental trees, few shrubs, and very little +grass. Here and there, however, even near the road, may be seen a +small patch of land, from which a crop of rice has been taken this +season; and the country is well cultivated all along, up to within +half a mile of the road, on both tides [sides]. Nawabgunge is +situated on the new metalled road, fifty miles long, between +Lucknow and Cawnpoor, and about midway between the two places.* It +was built by the late minister, Nawab Ameen-od Dowlah, while in +office, for the accommodation of travellers, and is named after +him. It is kept up at his expense for the same purpose now that he +has descended to private life. There is a small house for the +accommodation of European gentlemen and ladies, as well as a double +range of buildings, between which the road passes, for ordinary +travellers, and for shopkeepers to supply them.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The term Gunge, signifies a range of buildings at a place of +traffic, for the accommodation of merchants, and all persons +engaged in the purchase and sale of goods and for that of their +goods and of the shopkeepers who supply them.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Some people told me, that even the worst of this oosur soil +might be made to produce fair crops under good tillage; while +others denied the possibility, though all were farmers or +landholders. All, however, agreed that any but the <i>worst</i> +might be made so by good tillage—that is, by flooding the +land by means of artificial embankments, for two or three rainy +seasons, and then cross-ploughing, manuring, and irrigating it +well. All say that the soil hereabouts is liable to become oosur, +if left fallow and neglected for a few years. The oosur, certainly, +seems to prevail most near the high roads, where the peasantry have +been most exposed to the rapacity of the King's troops; and this +tends to confirm the notion that tillage is necessary in certain +soils to check the tendency of the carbonates or nitrates, or their +alkaline bases, to superabundance. The abundance of the chloride of +sodium in the soil, from which the superabounding carbonates of +soda are formed, seems to indicate, unequivocally, that the bed +from which they are brought to the surface by capillary attraction +must at some time have been covered by salt water.</p> +<p>The soil of Scind, which was at one time covered by the sea, +seems to suffer still more generally from the same superabundance +of the carbonates of soda, formed from the <i>chlorides of +sodium</i>, and brought to the surface in the same manner. But in +Scind the evil is greater and more general from the smaller +quantity of rain that falls. Egypt would, no doubt, suffer still +more from the same cause, inasmuch as it has still less rain than +Scind, but for the annual overflowing of the Nile. The greater part +of the deserts which now disfigure the face of the globe in hot +climates arise chiefly from the same causes, and they may become +covered by tillage and population as man becomes wiser, more +social, and more humane.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 9, 1850.—Halted at Nawabgunge. A vast deal +of grain of all sorts has for the last two years passed from +Cawnpoor to Lucknow for sale. The usual current of grain is from +the northern and eastern districts of Oude towards Cawnpoor; but +for these two years it has been from Cawnpoor to these districts. +This is owing to two bad seasons in Oude generally, and much +oppression in the northern and eastern districts, in particular, +and the advantage which the navigation of the Ganges affords to the +towns on its banks on such occasions. The metalled road from +Cawnpoor to Lucknow is covered almost with carts and vehicles of +all kinds. Guards have been established upon it for the protection +of travellers, and life and property are now secure upon it, which +they had not been for many years up to the latter end of 1849. This +road has lately been completed under the superintendence of Lient. +G. Sim of the engineers, and cost above two lacs of rupees.</p> +<p>The minister came out with a very large cortège yesterday +to see and talk with me, and is to stay here to-day. I met him this +morning on his way out to shoot in the lake; and it was amusing to +see his enormous train contrasted with my small one. I told him, to +the amusement of all around, that an English gentleman would rather +get no air or shooting at all than seek them in such a crowd. The +minister was last night to have received the Rajahs and other great +landholders, who had come to my camp, but they told me this morning +that they had some of them waited all night in vain for an +audience; that the money demanded by his followers, of various +sorts and grades, for such a privilege was much more than they +could pay; that to see and talk with a prime minister of Oude was +one of the most difficult and expensive of things. Rajah Hunmunt +Sing, of Dharoopoor, told me that he feared his only alternative +now was a very hard one, either to be utterly ruined by the +contractor of Salone, or to take to his jungles and strongholds and +fight against his Sovereign.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The Rajah was too formidable to be treated lightly, and the +Amil was obliged to give in, and consent to take from him what he +had paid to his predecessor; but to effect this, the Rajah was, +afterwards obliged to go to Lucknow, and pay largely in +gratuities.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Rajah Rambuksh, of Dondhea Kheera, is in the same predicament. +He tells me, that a great part of his estate has been taken from +him by Chundun Lal, of Morowa, the banker already mentioned, in +collusion with the Nazim, Kotab-od Deen, who depends so much on him +as the only capitalist in his district; that he is obliged to +conciliate him by acquiescing in the spoliation of others; that he +has already taken much of his lands by fraud and collusion, and +wishes to take the whole in the same way; that this banker now +holds lands in the district yielding above two lacs of rupees +a-year, can do what he pleases, and is every day aggrandizing +himself and family by the ruin of others. There is some truth in +what Rambuksh states, though he exaggerates a little the wrong +which he himself suffers; and it is lamentable that all power and +influence in Oude, of whatever kind or however acquired, should be +so sure to be abused, to the prejudice of both sovereign and +people. When these great capitalists become landholders, as almost +all do, they are apt to do much mischief in the districts where +their influence lies, for the Government officers can do little in +the collection of the revenue without their aid; and as the +collection of revenue is the only part of their duty to which they +attach much importance, they are ready to acquiesce in any wrong +that they may commit in order to conciliate them. The Nazim of +Byswara, Kotab-od Deen, is an old and infirm man, and very much +dependent upon Chundun Lal, who, in collusion with him, has +certainly deprived many of their hereditary possessions in the +usual way in order to aggrandize his own family. He has, at the +same time, purchased a great deal of land at auction in the +Honourable Company's districts where he has dealings, keeps the +greater part of his wealth, and is prepared to locate his family +when the danger of retaining any of either in Oude becomes +pressing. The risk is always great; but they bind the local +authorities, civil and military, by solemn oaths and written +pledges, for the security of their own persons and property, and +those of their families and clients.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 10, 1850.—At Nawabgunge, detained by rain, +which fell heavily yesterday, with much thunder and lightning, and +has continued to fall all night. It is painful and humiliating to +pass through this part of Oude, where the families of so many +thousands of our sipahees reside, particularly at this time when so +large a portion of them are at their homes on furlough. The Punjab +war having closed, all the corps engaged in it have this year been +sent off to quiet stations in our old provinces, and their places +supplied by others which have taken no share in that or any other +war of late. As a measure of economy, and with a view to indulge +the native officers and sipahees of the corps engaged in that war, +Government has this season given a long furlough to all the native +army of Bengal. Some three hundred and fifty native officers and +sipahees from each regiment are, or are to be, absent on leave this +season. This saves to Government a very large sum in the extra +allowance which is granted to native officers and sipahees, during +their march from one station to another, and in the deductions +which are made from the pay and allowances of those who go on +furlough. During furlough, subadars receive 52 rupees a-month +instead of 67; jemadars 17, instead of 24; havildars 9, instead of +14; naicks 7, instead of 12; and sipahees 5-8, instead of 7.</p> +<p>These native officers and sipahees, with all their gallantry on +service and fidelity to their salt, are the most importunate of +suitors, and certainly among the most untruthful and unscrupulous +in stating the circumstances of their claims, or the grounds of +their complaints. They crowd around me morning and evening when I +venture outside my tent, and keep me employed all day in reading +their petitions. They cannot or will not understand that the +Resident is, or ought to be, only the channel through which their +claims are sent for adjustment through the Court to the Oude +tribunals and local authorities; and that the investigation and +decision must, or ought to, rest with them. They expect that he +will at once himself investigate and decide their claims, or have +them investigated and decided forthwith by the local authorities of +the district through which he is passing; and it is in vain to tell +them that the "<i>law's delay</i>" is as often and as justly +complained of in our own territory as in Oude, whatever may be the +state of its <i>uncertainty</i>.</p> +<p>The wrongs of which they complain are of course such as all men +of their class in Oude are liable to suffer; but no other men in +Oude are so prone to exaggerate the circumstances attending them, +to bring forward prominently all that is favourable to their own +side, and keep back all that is otherwise, and to conceal the +difficulties which must attend the search after the truth, and +those still greater which must attend the enforcement of an award +when made. Their claims are often upon men who have well-garrisoned +forts and large bands of armed followers, who laugh at the King's +officers and troops, and could not be coerced into obedience +without the aid of a large and well-appointed British force. For +the immediate employment of such a force they will not fail to urge +the Resident, though they have, to the commanding officer of their +company and regiment represented the debtor or offender as a man of +no mark, ready to do whatever the Resident or the Oude authorities +may be pleased to order. On one occasion no less than thirty lives +were lost in attempting to enforce an award in favour of a sipahee +of our army.</p> +<p>I have had several visits from my old friend Sheikh Mahboob +Allee, the subadar-major, who is mentioned in my <i>Essay on +Military Discipline</i>. He is now an invalid pensioner in Oude, +and in addition to the lands which his family held before his +transfer to the invalids, he has lately acquired possession of a +nice village, which he claimed in the usual way through the +Resident. He told me that he had possession, but that he found it +very difficult to keep cultivators upon it.</p> +<p>"And why is this, my old friend?" I asked. "Cultivators are +abundant in Oude, and glad always to till lands on which they are +protected and encouraged by moderate rents and a little occasional +aid in seed, grain, and stock, and you are now in circumstances to +afford them both."</p> +<p>"True, sir," said the old subadar, "but the great refractory +landholder, my neighbour, has a large force, and he threatens to +bring it down upon me, and my cultivators are afraid that they and +their families will all be cut up some dark night if they stay with +me."</p> +<p>"But what has your great neighbour to do with your village? Why +do you not make friends with him?"</p> +<p>"Make friends with him, sir!" replied the subadar; "the thing is +impossible."</p> +<p>"And why, subadar sahib?"</p> +<p>"Sir, it was from him that the village was taken by the orders +of the Durbar, through the interposition of the Resident, to be +made over to me, and he vows that he will take it back, whatever +number of lives it may cost him to do so."</p> +<p>"And how long may he and his family have held it?"</p> +<p>"Only thirty or thirty-five years, sir."</p> +<p>"And neither you nor your family have ever held possession of it +for that time?"</p> +<p>"Never, sir; but we always hoped that the favour of the British +Government would some day get it for us."</p> +<p>"And in urging your claim to the village, did you ever tell the +Resident that you had been so long out of possession?"</p> +<p>"No, sir, we said nothing about <i>time</i>"</p> +<p>"You know, subadar sahib, that in all countries a limit is +prescribed in such cases, and at the Residency that limit is six +years; and had the Resident known that your claim was of so old a +date he would never have interposed in your favour, more especially +when his doing so involved the risk of the loss of so many lives, +first in obtaining possession for you, and then keeping you in it." +Cases of this kind are very numerous.</p> +<p>The estate of Rampoor which we lately passed through belonged to +the grandfather of Rajah Hunmunt Sing. His eldest son, Sungram +Sing, died without issue, and the estate devolved on his second +son, Bhow Sing, the father of Rajah Hunmunt Sing. The third brother +separated from the family stock during the life of his father, and +got, as his share, Sursae, Kuttra Bulleepoor, and other villages. +He had five sons: first, Lokee Sing; second, Dirguj Sing; third, +Hul Sing; fourth, Dill Sing; and fifth, Bul Sing, and the estate +was, on his death, subdivided among them. Kuttra Bulleepoor +devolved on Lokee Sing, the eldest, who died without issue; and the +village was subdivided among his four brothers or their +descendants. But Davey Buksh, the grandson, by adoption of the +second brother, Dirguj Sing, unknown to the others, assigned, in +lieu of a debt, the whole village to a Brahmin named Bhyroo +Tewaree, who forthwith got it transferred to Hozoor Tehseel, +through Matadeen, a havildar of the 5th Troop, 7th-Regiment of +Cavalry, who, in an application to the Resident, pretended that the +estate was his own. It is now beyond the jurisdiction of the local +authorities, who could ascertain the truth; and all the rightful +co-sharers have been ever since trying in vain to recover their +rights. The Bramin [Brahmin] and the Havildar, with Sookhal a +trooper in the same regiment, now divide the profits between them, +and laugh at the impotent efforts of the old proprietors to get +redress. Gholam Jeelanee, a shopkeeper of Lucknow, seeing the +profits derived by sipahees, from the abuse of this privilege, +purchased a cavalry uniform—jacket, cap, pantaloon, boots, +shoes, and sword—and on the pretence of being an invalid +trooper of ours, got the signature of the brigadier commanding the +troops in Oude to his numerous petitions, which were sent for +adjustment to the Durbar through the Resident. He followed this +trade profitably for fifteen years. At last he got possession of a +landed estate, to which he had no claim of right. Soon after he +sent a petition to say that the dispossessed proprietor had killed +four of his relations and turned him out. This led to a more strict +inquiry, when all came out. In quoting this case to the Resident, +in a letter dated the 16th of June 1836, the King of Oude observes: +"If a person known to thousands in the city of Lucknow is able, for +fifteen years, to carry on such a trade successfully, how much more +easy must it be for people in the country, not known to any in the +city, to carry it on!"</p> +<p>The Resident communicated to the King of Oude the resolution of +the Honourable the Court of Directors to relieve him from the +payment of the sixteen lacs of rupees a-year for the auxiliary +force; and on the 29th of July 1839, he reported to Government the +great gratification which his Majesty had manifested and expressed +at this opportune relief. But his gratification at this +communication was hardly so great as that which he had manifested +on the 14th of December 1837, when told by the Resident that the +British Government would not insist upon giving to the subjects of +Oude who might enlist into that force the privilege of forwarding +complaints about their village affairs and disputes, through their +military superiors and the Resident; and it appeared to the +Resident, "that this one act of liberality and justice on the part +of the British Government had done more to reconcile the King of +Oude to the late treaty, in which the Oude auxiliary force had +originated, than all that he had said to him during the last three +months as to the prospective advantages which that treaty would +secure to him and his posterity." The King observed: "This kindness +on the part of the British Government has relieved my mind from a +load of disagreeable thoughts." The prime minister, Hakeem Mehndee, +who was present, replied: "All will now go on smoothly. When the +men have to complain to their own Government, they will seldom +complain without just cause, being aware that a false story will +soon be detected by the native local authorities, though it could +not be so by European officers at a distance from the villages; and +that in all cases of real grievances their claims will soon be +fairly and speedily adjusted. If," added he, "the sipahees of this +force had been so placed that they could have enlisted their +officers on their side in making complaints, while such officers +could know nothing whatever of the circumstances beyond what the +sipahees themselves told them, false and groundless complaints +would have become endless, and the vexations thereby caused to +Government and their neighbours would have become intolerable. +These troops," said he, "will now be real soldiers; but if the +privileges enjoyed by the Honourable Company's sipahees had been +conferred upon the seven regiments composing this force, with the +relations and pretended relations of the sipahees, it would have +converted into corrupt traders in village disputes sixteen or +seventeen thousand of the King's subjects, settled in the heart of +the country, privileged to make false accusations of all kinds, and +believed by the people to be supported in these falsehoods by the +British Government." Both the King and the minister requested the +Resident earnestly and repeatedly to express to the +Governor-General their most sincere thanks for having complied with +his Majesty's solicitations on this point.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* See King of Oude's letter to the Governor-General, dated 5th +October, 1837, and Residents letters of the 7th idem and 14th +December, 1837.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This privilege which the native officers and sipahees of our +native army enjoy of petitioning for redress of grievances, through +the Resident, has now been extended to all the regular, irregular, +and local corps of the three Presidencies—that is, to all +corps paid by the British Government, and to all native officers +and sipahees of contingent corps employed in and paid by native +States, who were drafted into them from the regular corps of our +army up to a certain time; and the number cannot be less than fifty +or sixty thousand. But European civil and political functionaries, +in our own provinces and other native States, have almost all some +men from Oude in their offices or establishments, whose claims and +complaints they send for adjustment to the Resident; and it is +difficult for him to satisfy them, that he is not bound to take +them up in the same manner as he takes up those of the native +officers and sipahees of our native army; and he is often induced +to yield to their importunity, and thereby to furnish grounds for +further applications of the same sort. This privilege is not +recognized or named in any treaty, or other engagement with the +Sovereign of Oude; nor does any one now know its origin, for it +cannot be found in any document recorded in the Resident's +office.</p> +<p>If the Resident happens to be an impatient, overbearing man, he +will often frighten the Durbar and its Courts, or local officers, +into a hasty decision, by which the rights of others are sacrificed +for the native officers and sipahees; and if he be at the same time +an unscrupulous man, he will sometimes direct that the sipahee +shall be put in possession of what he claims in order to relieve +himself from his importunity, or that of his commanding officer, +without taking the trouble to inform himself of the grounds on +which the claim is founded. Of all such errors there are unhappily +too many instances recorded in the Resident's office. This privilege +is in the hands of the Resident an instrument of <i>torture</i>, +which it is his duty to apply every day to the Oude Durbar. He may +put on a <I>screw more</I> or a <I>screw less</I>, according to his +temper or his views, or the importunity of officers commanding corps +or companies, and native officers and sipahees in person, which never +cease to oppress him more or less.</p> +<p>The most numerous class of complaints and the most troublesome +is that against the Government of Oude or its officers and +landholders, for enhanced demands of rents; and whenever these +officers or landholders are made to reduce these demands in favour +of the privileged sipahees, they invariably distribute the burthen +in an increased rate upon their neighbours.</p> +<p>Officers who have to pass through Oude in their travels or +sporting excursions have of late years generally complained that +they receive less civility from villages in which our invalid or +furlough sipahees are located than from any others; and that if +they are anywhere treated with actual disrespect, such sipahees are +generally found to be either the perpetrators or instigators. This +complaint is not, I fear, altogether unfounded; and may arise from +the diminished attachment felt by the sipahees for their European +officers in our army, and partly from the privilege of urging their +claims through the Resident, enjoyed by native officers and +sipahees, now ceasing on their being transferred to the invalid +establishment.</p> +<p>But the privilege itself is calculated to create feelings of +dissatisfaction with their European officers, among the honest and +hard-working part of our native army. Such men petition only when +they have just cause; and not one in five of them can obtain what +they demand, and believe to be their just right, under an +administration like that of Oude, whatever efforts the Resident may +make to obtain it for them; and where one is satisfied, four become +discontented; while the dishonest and idle portion of their brother +soldiers, who have no real wrongs to complain of, and feign them +only to get leave of absence, throw all the burthen of their duties +upon them. Others again, by fraud and collusion with those whose +influence they require to urge their claims, often obtain more than +they have any right to; and their unmerited success tends to +increase the dissatisfaction felt by the honest, and more +scrupulous portion of the native officers and sipahees who have +failed to obtain anything.</p> +<p>Government will not do away with the privilege without first +ascertaining the views and wishes of the military authorities. They +are not favourable to the abolition, for though the honest and +hard-working sipahees may say that it is of no use to them, the +idle and unscrupulous, who consider it as a lottery in which they +may sometimes draw a prize, or a means of getting leave of absence +when they are not entitled to it, will tell them that the fidelity +of the whole native army depends upon its being maintained and +extended. I am of opinion, after much consideration, and a good +deal of experience in the political working of the system, that the +abolition of the privilege would be of great advantage to the +native army; and it would certainly relieve the European officers +from much importunity and annoyance which they now suffer from its +enforcement. It is not uncommon for a sipahee of a regiment in +Bombay to obtain leave of absence for several times over for <i>ten +months</i> at a time, on the pretence of having a case pending in +Oude. When his leave is about to expire, he presents a petition to +the Resident, who obtains for him from the Court an order for the +local authorities to settle his claim. This order is sent to the +officer commanding his regiment. The man then makes up a piteous +story of his having spent the whole ten months in prosecuting his +claim in vain, when, in reality, he has been enjoying himself at +home, and had no claim whatever to settle. The next year, or the +year after, he gets another ten months' leave, for the same +purpose, and when it is about to expire, he presents himself to the +Resident, and declares that the local authorities have been +changed, and the new officers pay no regard to the King's orders. +New orders are then got for the new officers, and sent to his +regiment, and the same game is played over again.</p> +<p>Native officers and sipahees, in the privilege of presenting +petitions through the Resident, are now restricted to their own +claims and those of their wives, fathers, mothers, sons, and +daughters. They cannot petition through the Resident for the +redress of wrongs suffered, or pretended to have been suffered, by +any other relations. In consequence, it has become a common custom +with them to lend or sell their names to more remote relations, or +to persons not related to them at all. The petition is made out in +their own name, and the real sufferer or pretended sufferer, who is +to prosecute the claim, is named as the mookteear or attorney. A +great many bad characters have in this way deprived men of lands +which their ancestors had held in undisputed right of property for +many generations or centuries; for the Court, to save themselves +from the importunity of the Residency, has often given orders for +the claimant being put in possession of the lands without due +inquiry or any inquiry at all. The sipahees are, in consequence, +much dreaded by the people among whom they reside; for there really +is no class of men from whom it is more difficult to get the truth +in any case. They have no fear of punishment, because all charges +against them for fraud, falsehood, or violation of the rules laid +down by Government have to be submitted either to a court-martial, +composed of native officers, or to the Governor-General. Both +involve endless trouble, and it would, I fear, be impossible to get +a conviction before a court-martial so composed. No Resident will +ever submit to a Governor-General the scores of flagrant cases that +every month come before him; still less will he worry unoffending +and suffering people by causing them to be summoned to give +evidence before a military court.</p> +<p>In a recent instance (July 1851), a sipahee in a regiment +stationed at Lucknow was charged before a court-martial with three +abuses of the privilege. He required no less than seventy-four +witnesses to be summoned in his defence. The Court had to wait till +what could be got out of the seventy-four appeared, and the man +became an object of sympathy, because he was kept so long in +arrest. He named the first Assistant to the Resident, who has +charge of the Sipahee Petition Department, as a witness; and he was +not, in consequence, permitted to attend the Court on the part of +the Resident, who preferred the charges, though he was never called +or examined by the Court on the part of the defence. The naming +him, and the summoning of so many witnesses were mere <i>ruses</i> +on the part of the sipahee to escape. No person on the part of the +Resident was allowed to attend the Court and see that his witnesses +were examined; nor had he any means of knowing whether they were or +not. He had reason to believe that the most important were not. The +sipahee was of course acquitted, as sipahees charged with such +abuses of the privilege always will be. This man's regiment was at +Lucknow, and near the place where the cause of action arose, his +own village, and the Resident's office. How much more difficult +would it be to get a conviction against a sipahee whose regiment +happens to be many hundred miles off!</p> +<p>The transfer of their lands from the jurisdiction of the local +authorities to that of the Hozoor Tehseel is often the cause of +much suffering to their copartners and neighbours. Their co-sharers +in the land often find much inconvenience from it, and apprehend +that, sooner or later, the influence of the sipahee will enable him +to add their shares to his own. The village so transferred, being +removed from the observation and responsibility of the local +authorities, often becomes a safe refuge for the bad characters of +the district, who thence depredate upon the country around with +impunity. Claims to villages, to which the claimant had really no +right whatever, have been successfully prosecuted by or through +sipahees, for the sole purpose of having them transferred to the +Hozoor Tehseel, and made dens of thieves and highway robbers. The +person in charge of the Hozool Tehseel villages has generally a +good deal of influence at Court, and this he lends to such +claimants, for a consideration, without fear or scruple, as he +feels assured that he shall be able to counteract any +representations on the part of the local authorities of the evils +suffered from the holders and occupants of such villages. He never +pretends to be able to watch over or control the conduct of the +holders and occupiers of the villages under his charge, situated, +as they mostly are, in remote districts. The transfer of such +villages can be justified only in districts that are held in +contract, and even in them it might be easy to provide effectually +for the protection of the holders from over-exactions on the part +of the contractors.</p> +<p>This privilege is attended with infinite difficulty and +perplexity to the Resident and Government; and is at the same time +exceedingly odious to the people and Government of Oude. Officers +commanding regiments and companies have much trouble with such +petitions. Able to hear only one side of any question, they think +that the evils suffered by the sipahees are much greater and more +numerous than they really are, and grant leave to enable them to +prosecute their claims to redress more often than is necessary. Men +who want leave, when they are not otherwise entitled to it, feign +wrongs which they never suffered, or greatly exaggerate such as may +really have been inflicted on them in order to obtain it; or, as I +have stated, lend their names to others and ask leave to prosecute +claims with which they have really nothing whatever to do. The +sipahees and native officers of our army are little better with +than they would be without the privilege; and a great many enlist +or remain in the service solely with the view of better prosecuting +their claims, and resign or desert as soon as they have effected +their purpose, or find that the privilege is no longer necessary. +They make a convenience in this way of our service, and are the +most useless soldiers in our ranks. I am persuaded that we should +have from Oude just as many and as good recruits for our army +without as with this privilege.</p> +<p>The regiments of the Gwalior Contingent get just as good +recruits from Oude as those of the Line, though they do not enjoy +the privilege. I believe that those corps which did not enjoy the +privilege till within the last two years got just as good recruits +from Oude as they now do, since it has been extended to them. Till +1848 the privilege was limited to the native officers and soldiers +of our regular army, and to such as had been drafted from our +regular army into local corps up to a certain date; but in July of +that year the privilege was extended to all corps, regular and +irregular, attached to the Bengal, Madras, and Bombay Presidencies, +which are paid by the British Government. The feelings and opinions +of the Oude Government had not been consulted in the origin of this +privilege, nor were they now consulted in the extension given to +it.</p> +<p>Officers commanding regiments and companies complain that the +sipahees and native officers never get redress, whatever trouble +they take to obtain it for them; and, I believe, they hardly ever +hear a sipahee or native officer acknowledge that he has had +redress. A sipahee one day came to the first Assistant, Captain +Shakespear, clamouring for justice, and declared that not the +slightest notice had been taken of his petition by the Oude +Government or its local authorities. On being questioned, he +admitted that no less than forty persons had been seized and were +in prison on his requisition; but he would not admit that this was +any proof of the slightest notice having been taken of his +complaint. All are worried, and but few benefited by the privilege, +and the advantage of it to the army never can counterbalance all +the disadvantages. Invalid pensioners do not now enjoy the +privilege, but are left to prefer their claims direct to the King's +Courts, like others of the King's subjects, on the ground that they +cannot—like <i>sipahees still serving</i>—plead +distance from their homes; but a large proportion of the sipahees +still serving who have, or pretend to have, claims, obtain leave of +absence from their regiments to prosecute them in person.</p> +<p>The objection once raised by Lord William Bentinck against our +employing troops in support of the Government of Oude against +refractory landholders, is equally valid against our advocacy of +the claims of sipahees to lands. "If," said his Lordship, "British +troops be lent to enforce submission, it seems impossible to avoid +becoming parties to the terms of submission and guarantees of their +observance afterwards on both sides; in which case we should become +mixed up in every detail of the administration." If the sipahee +does not pay punctually the assessment upon the lands which he has +obtained through the Resident, the Oude Government calls upon the +Resident to enforce payment; and if the Oude Government ventures to +add a rupee to the rate demanded for the year, or for any one year, +the sipahee, through the commandant of his corps, and, perhaps, the +Commander-in-Chief and Governor-General, calls upon the Resident to +have the rate reduced, or to explain the grounds upon which it has +been made; or if the sipahee has a dispute with his numerous +co-sharers, the Resident is called upon to settle it. If the King's +troops have trespassed, if the crops have suffered from calamities +of season or marauders, or the village has been robbed, the sipahee +refuses to pay, and demands a remission of the Government demand; +and if he does not get it, appeals in the same manner to the +Resident. If a sipahee be arrested or detained for defalcation, a +demand comes for his immediate release; and if his crops or stock +be distrained for balance, or lands attached, the Resident is +called upon to ascertain and explain the reason why, and obtain +redress. All such distraint is represented as open robbery and +pillage.</p> +<p>It is not at all uncommon for a sipahee to obtain leave of +absence from his regiment three or four times to enable him to +prosecute the same case in person at Lucknow, though he might +prosecute it just as well through an attorney. He often enjoys +himself at his home while his attorney prosecutes his claim, if he +really has any, at Lucknow. The commanding officers of his regiment +and company of course believe all he says regarding the pressing +necessity for his presence at Lucknow; and few of them know that +the cases are derided in the King's Courts, and that the Resident +could not possibly decide them himself if he had five times the +establishment he has and full powers to do so. If the Resident +finds that a sipahee has lent his name to another, and reports his +conduct, he makes out a plausible tale, which his commanding +officer believes to be true; the Commander-in-Chief is referred to; +the case is submitted to the Governor-General, and sometimes to the +Court of Directors, and a voluminous correspondence follows, till +the Resident grows weary, and the sipahee escapes with impunity. In +the mean time, troops of witnesses have been worried to show that +the sipahee has no connection whatever with the estate, or thing +claimed in his name, or with the family to whom his name was lent. +Many a man has, in this way, as above stated, been robbed of an +estate which his family had held for many generations; and many a +village which had been occupied by an honest and industrious +peasantry has been turned into a den of robbers. In flagrant cases +of false claims, the Resident may get the attorney, employed by the +sipahee in prosecuting it, punished by the Durbar, but he can +rarely hope to get the sipahee himself punished.</p> +<p>In a case that occurred shortly before I took charge, a sipahee +complained that a tallookdar had removed him, or his friends, from +their village by over exactions, demanding two thousand eight +hundred rupees a-year instead of eight hundred. An ameen was sent +out to the district to settle the affair. Having some influence at +Court, he got the sipahee put into possession, at the rate of eight +hundred, and obtained from him a pledge to pay to him, the ameen, a +large portion of the <i>two thousand</i> profit! The tallookdar, +being a powerful man, made the contractor reduce his demand upon +his estate, of which the village was a part, in proportion; and the +contractor made the Government give him credit for the whole two +thousand eight hundred, which the estate was well able to pay, in +any other hands, and ought to have paid. The holder continued, I +believe, to pay the ameen, who continued to give him the benefit of +his influence at Court. Cases of this kind are not uncommon. The +Resident is expected by commandants of corps and companies to +secure every native officer and sipahee in the possession of his +estate at a fixed rate, in perpetuity; and as many of their +relations and friends as may contrive to have their claims +presented through the Resident in their names. He is expected to +adjust all disputes that may arise between them and their +co-sharers and neighbours; or between them and their landholders +and Government officers; to examine all their complicated accounts +of collections and balances, fair payments, and secret +gratuities.</p> +<p>Sipahees commonly enter the service under false names, and give +false names to their relatives and places of abodes, in order that +they may not be traced if they desert; or that the truth may not be +discovered if they pretend to be of higher caste than they really +are, or otherwise offend. When they find, in the prosecution of +their claims through the Resident, that this is discovered, they +find an alias for each name, whether of person, place, or thing: +the troubles and perplexities which arise from this privilege are +endless.</p> +<p>The Court of Directors, in a despatch dated the 4th March, 1840, +remarking on a report dated the 29th November, 1838, from the +Resident, Colonel Low, relating to abuses arising from the +interference of the Resident in respect to complaints preferred by +subjects of Oude serving in our army, observes, "that these abuses +appear to be even more flagrant than the Court had previously +believed them to be, and no time ought to be lost in applying an +effectual remedy: cases are not wanting in which complaints and +claims, that are utterly groundless, meet with complete success, +the officers of the Oude Government finding it less troublesome to +comply with the unjust demand than to investigate the case in such +a manner as to satisfy the Resident; and the Oude Government, for +the purpose of getting rid of importunity, reduces the assessment +on the lands of these favoured individuals, making up the loss by +increased exactions from their neighbours." The Court orders the +immediate abolition of the privilege in the case of invalided and +pensioned sipahees, and directs that those still serving in our +army be no longer allowed to complain in respect of all their +relatives, real or pretended, but only in cases in which they +themselves, their parents, wives, or children are actually +interested. "All unfounded complaints, and all false allegations +made in order to render complaints cognizable, ought to be, when +discovered, <i>punishable by our own military authorities, who +ought not to be remiss in inflicting such punishment when justly +incurred</i>." "Under the restrictions which we have enjoined," +continues the Court, "the trial may once more be made whether this +privilege is compatible with good government in Oude, and with the +rightful authority of the King of Oude and his officers. Should the +abuses which have prevailed still continue under the altered +system, the whole subject must be again taken into consideration, +and the Resident is to be required to submit a report on the +operation of the privilege after the expiration of one year."</p> +<p>How the rule with regard to relationship is evaded has been +already stated, and among the numerous instances of this evasion +that have been discovered every year since this order of the +Honourable Court was passed, the offence has never been punished by +any military authority in one. The Resident has no hope, nor the +sipahee any fear, that such an offence will ever be punished by a +court-martial; and the former feels averse to trespass on the time +and attention of the Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief +with such references. He hardly ever submits them till the +necessity is forced upon him by references made to the +Commander-in-Chief, by officers commanding regiments, in behalf of +offenders in whose veracity they are disposed to place too much +confidence.</p> +<p>In one of the cases quoted by Colonel Low in his letter of the +29th November, 1838, Reotee Barn, a sipahee, claimed a village, +which was awarded to him by the Court, without due inquiry, to +avoid further importunity. The owner in possession would not give +it up. A large force was sent to enforce the award; lives were +lost; the real owner was seized and thrown into gaol, and there +died. Reotee Ram had no right whatever to the village, and he could +not retain possession among such a sturdy peasantry. His commanding +officer again appealed to the Commander-in-Chief, and the case was +referred to the Governor-General and to the Honourable the Court of +Directors, and a voluminous correspondence took place. It was +afterwards fully proved, that the sipahee, Reotee Ram, had never +had the slightest ground of claim to the village; and had been +induced to set up one solely at the instigation of an interested +attorney with whom he was to share the profits.</p> +<p>In another case quoted by Colonel Low in that letter, a pay +havildar of the 58th Regiment complained, jointly with his brother +Cheyda, through the Commander-in-Chief, to the Governor-General, in +June 1831, stating, that Rajah Prethee Put had murdered two of his +relations, plundered his house, burnt his title-deeds, cut down +five of his mango-groves, seized seventy-three beegahs of land +belonging to him, of hereditary right, turned all his family out of +the village, including the widows of the two murdered men, and +still held in confinement his relative Teekaram, a sipahee of the +Bombay army. On investigation before the Assistant Resident, +Captain Shakespear, the havildar and Cheyda admitted-first, that +Teekaram had rejoined his regiment before they complained; second, +that of the two murdered men, one had been killed fifty-five years +before, and the other twenty years, and that both had fallen in +affrays between landholders, in which many lives had been lost on +both sides; third, that he had never himself held the lands, and +that his father had been forty years before deprived of them by the +father of Cheyda, who had the best claim to them, and had mortgaged +them to a Brahmin, from whom Prethee Put had taken them for +defalcation; fourth, that it was not his own claim he was urging, +but that of Cheyda, who was not his brother, but the great grandson +of his grandfather's brother, and that he had never been in the +British service; fifth, that the lands had been taken from his +father by Cheyda's father fourteen years before he, the havildar, +entered the British service twenty-eight years ago; sixth, that his +family had lost nothing in the village, by Prethee Put, and that +the persons deprived of their mango-groves were only very distantly +related to him.</p> +<p>Fuzl Allee, a notorious knave, having, in collusion with the +local authorities of the district, taken from Hufeez-ollah the +village of Dewa, which had been held by his family in proprietory +right for many generations, and tried to extort from him a written +resignation of all his rights to the lands, Hufeez-ollah made his +escape, and went to Lucknow to seek redress. During his absence his +relations tried to recover possession, and in the contest one of +Fuzl Allee's followers was killed. Fuzl Allee then prevailed upon +Ihsan Allee, a pay havildar in the 9th Regiment of our Cavalry, who +was in no way whatever connected with the parties, and had no claim +whatever on the lands, to present a petition to the Resident, +charging Hufeez-ollah with having committed a gang-robbery upon his +house, and murdered one of his servants. Hufeez-ollah was seized +and thrown into prison, and the case was made over for trial to +Zakir Allee. No proof whatever having been adduced against him for +four months, Zakir Allee declared him innocent, and applied for his +release; but before his application reached the Durbar, another +petition was presented to the Resident, Colonel Richmond, in the +name of the pay havildar; and the Durbar ordered that the case +should be made over to the Court of Mahommed Hyat, and that the +prisoner should not be released without a settlement and the +previous sanction of the Durbar, as the affair related to the +English.</p> +<p>The prisoner proved that he was at Lucknow at the time of the +affray, and that the lands in dispute had belonged to his family +for many generations. No proof whatever was produced against him, +but by frequently changing the attorneys of the pay havildar, +pretending that he required to attend in person but could not get +leave of absence, and other devices, Fuzl Allee contrived to +postpone the final decision till the 27th of February, 1849, when +Mahommed Hyat acquitted the prisoner, and declared that the pay +havildar had in reality no connection whatever either with the +parties or with the lands; that his name had been used by Fuzl +Allee for his own evil purposes; that he had become very uneasy at +the thought of keeping an innocent man so long in prison merely to +gratify the malice and evil designs of his enemy; and prayed the +Durbar to call upon the prosecutor to prove his charges before the +Minister or other high officer within a certain period, or to +direct the release of the poor man.</p> +<p>On the 16th of January, 1852, the prisoner sent a petition to +the Resident, Colonel Sleeman, to say, that after he had been +acquitted by Mahommed Hyat on the 27th of February, 1849, his +enemy, Fuzl Allee, had contrived to prevail upon the Durbar to have +his case made over to the Court of the Suder-os Sudoor, by whom he +had been a third time acquitted; but that the Durbar dared not +order his release, as the case was one in which British officers +were concerned. He therefore prayed that the Resident would request +the King to order his release, on his giving security for his +appearance when required, as he had been in prison for more than +four years. On the 24th of January, 1852, the Resident requested +the King to have the prisoner immediately released. This was the +first time that the case came to the notice of Colonel Sleeman, +though Hufeez-ollah had been four years in prison, under a +fictitious charge from the pay havildar.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 11, 1850.—At Nawabgunge, detained by rain, +which fell heavily all last night, to the great delight of the +<i>landed interest</i>, and great discomfort of travellers. Nothing +but mud around us—our tents wet through, but standing, and +the ground inside of them dry. Fortunately there has been no strong +wind with the heavy rain, and we console ourselves with the thought +that the small inconvenience which travellers suffer from such rain +at this season is trifling, compared with the advantage which +millions of our fellow-creatures derive from it. This is what I +have heard all native travellers say, however humble or however +great—all sympathise with the landed interests in a country +where industry is limited almost exclusively to the culture of the +soil, and the revenue of the sovereign derived almost exclusively +from the land. After such rains the cold increases—the +spirits rise—the breezes freshen—the crops look +strong—the harvest is retarded—the grain gets more sap +and becomes perfect—the cold season is prolonged, as the +crops remain longer green, and continue to condense the moisture of +the surrounding atmosphere. Without such late rain, the crops ripen +prematurely, the grain becomes shrivelled, and defective both in +quantity and quality. While the rain lasts, however, a large camp +is a wretched scene; for few of the men, women, and children, and +still fewer of the animals it contains, can find any shelter at +all!</p> +<p><i>January</i> 12, 1850.-At Nawabgunge, still detained by rain. +The Minister had ordered out tents for himself and suite on the +8th, but they had not come up, and I was obliged to lend him one of +my best, and some others as they came up, or they would have been +altogether without shelter. When he left them on the 10th, his +attendants cut and took away almost all the ropes, some of the +kanats or outer walls, and some of the carpets. He knew nothing +about it, nor will he ever learn anything till told by me. His +attendants were plundering in all the surrounding villages while he +remained; and my people tried in vain to prevent them, lest they +should themselves be taken for the plunderers. Of all this the +Minister knew nothing. The attendants on the contractors and other +local officers are, if possible, still worse; and throughout the +country the King's officers all plunder, or acquiesce in the +plunder, utterly regardless of the sufferings of the people and the +best interests of their Sovereign. No precaution whatever is taken +to prevent this indiscriminate plunder by the followers of the +local authorities; nor would any one of them think it worth his +while to interpose if he saw the roofs of the houses of a whole +village moving off on the heads of his followers to his camp; or a +fine crop of sugar-cane, wheat, or vegetables cut down for fodder +by them before his face. It is the fashion of the country, and the +Government acquiesces in it.</p> +<p>Among the people no man feels mortified, or apprehends that he +shall stand the worse in the estimation of the Government or its +officers, for being called and proved to be a robber. It is the +trade of every considerable landholder in the country occasionally, +and that of a great many of them perpetually; the murder of men, +women, and children generally attends their depredations. A few +days ago, when requested by the King to apply to officers +commanding stations, and magistrates of bordering districts, for +aid in the arrest of some of the most atrocious of these rebels and +robbers, I told his Majesty, that out of consideration for the poor +people who suffered, I had made a requisition for that aid for the +arrest of three of the worst of them; but that I could make no +further requisition until he did something to remove the impression +now universal over Oude, that those who protected their peasantry +managed their estates well, obeyed the Government in all things, +and paid the revenue punctually, were sure to be oppressed, and +ultimately ruined by the Government and its officers, while those +who did the reverse in all these things were equally sure to be +favoured and courted.</p> +<p>As an instance, I mentioned Gholam Huzrut, who never paid his +revenues, oppressed his peasantry, murdered his neighbours, and +robbed them of their estates, attacked and plundered the towns +around with his large band of robbers, and kept the country in a +perpetual state of disorder; yet, when seized and sent in a +prisoner to Lucknow by Captain Bunbury, he managed to bribe +courtiers, and get orders sent out to the local authorities to have +his son kept in possession of all his ill-gotten lands, and +favoured and protected in all possible ways. I knew that such +orders had been obtained by bribery; and the Minister told me, that +he had ordered nothing more than that the son should have the +little land which had been held of old by the family, and should be +required to give up all that he had usurped. I showed him a copy of +the order issued by his confidential servant, Abid Allee, to all +commanders of troops in the district, which had been obtained for +me for the occasion of the Minister's visit to my camp; and he +seemed much ashamed to see that his subordinates should so abase +the confidence he placed in them. The order was as follows: +—</p> +<p align="center">"<i>To the Officers commanding the Forces in the +District of Sidhore, Nawabgunge, Dewa, &c.</i></p> +<p> "By Order of the Minister.—The King's chuprassies have +been sent to Para to invite in Bhikaree the son of Gholam Huzrut; +and you all are informed that the said Bhikaree is to be honoured +and cherished by the favour of the King; and if any of you should +presume to prevent his coming in, or molest him in the possession +of any of the lands he holds, you will incur the severe displeasure +of his Majesty. You are, on no account, to molest or annoy him in +any way connected with his affairs.</p> +<div class="s3">(Signed) "ABID ALLEE."</div> +<p>The thing necessary in Oude is a system and a machinery that +shall inspire all with a feeling-first, of security in their tenure +in office so long as the duties of it are performed ably and +honestly; second, in their tenure in their lands assessed at +moderate rates, as long as the rents and revenues so assessed are +fully and punctually paid, and the duties of the holders towards +the Government, their tenants, and the public, are faithfully +discharged; third, in the safety of life, person, and property on +the roads and in the towns, villages, and hamlets scattered over +the country. This good can never be effected with the present +system and machinery, whatever be the ability and diligence of the +King, the Minister, and the Resident; be they of the highest +possible order, the good they can effect must be small and +temporary; there can be, under such a system, no stability in any +rule, no feeling of security in any person or thing!</p> +<p>A tribunal, formed under the guarantee of the British +Government, might, possibly—first, form a settlement of the +land revenue of the whole country, and effectually enforce from all +parties, the fulfilment of the conditions it imposed; second, +decide, finally, upon all charges against public +officers—protect the able and honest, and punish all those +who neglect their duties or abuse their authority; third, reform +the military force in all its branches—give it the greatest +possible efficiency, compatible with the outlay—concentrate +it at five or six stations, and protect the people of the country +from its rapacity; fourth, raise and form a police, distinct +altogether from this military force, and efficient for all the +duties required from it; fifth, create and maintain judicial courts +to which all classes might look up with confidence and respect. But +to effect all this it would require to transfer at least +twenty-five lacs of rupees a-year from the pockets of official +absorbants and Court favourites to those of efficient public +officers; and, finally, to set aside the present King, Minister, +and Commander-in-Chief, and take all the executive upon itself.</p> +<p>The expenditure is now about twenty lacs of rupees a-year above +the income, and the excess is paid out of the reserved treasury. +This reserved treasury was first established by Saadut Allee Khan +in A.D. 1801, when he had serious thoughts of resigning the +government of his country into the hands of the Honourable Company, +and retiring into private life. Up to this time he used to drink +hard, and to indulge in other pleasures, which tended to unfit him +for the cares and duties of sovereignty; but, in 1801, he made a +solemn vow at the shrine of Huzrut Abbas at Lucknow to cease from +all such indulgences, and devote all his time and attention to his +public duties. This vow he kept, and no Sovereign of Oude has ever +conducted the Government with so much ability as he did for the +remaining fourteen years of his life. On his death, which took +place on the 12th of July, 1814, he left in this reserved treasury +the sum of fourteen crores of rupees, or fourteen millions +sterling, with all his establishments paid up, and his just debts +liquidated. When he ascended the musnud on the 21st January, 1798, +he found nothing in the Treasury, and the public establishments all +much in arrears.</p> +<p>Out of this reserved treasure, the <i>zukaat</i>, or two and +a-half per cent., is every year paid to the mojtahid for +distribution among the poor of the Sheea sect at Lucknow. No person +of the Sonnee sect is permitted to partake of this charity. Syuds +or lineal descendants of the Prophet are not permitted to take any +part of this charity, except for the <i>bonâ fide</i> payment +of debt due. The mojtahid is, at the same time, the high priest and +the highest judicial functionary in the State. Being a Syud, +neither he nor any member of his family can legally take any part +of this charity for themselves, except for the <i>bonâ +fide</i> purpose of paying debts; but they get over the difficulty +by borrowing large sums before the money is given out, and +appropriate the greater part of the money to the liquidation of +these debts, though they all hold large sums in our Government +securities. To his friends at Court he sends a large share, with a +request that they will do him the favour to undertake the +distribution among the poor of their neighbourhood. To prevent +popular clamour, a small portion of the money given out is actually +distributed among the poor of the Sheea sect at Lucknow; but that +portion is always small.</p> +<p>Saadut Allee's son and successor, Ghazee-od Deen Hyder, spent +four crores out of the reserved treasury over and above the whole +income of the State; and when he died, on the 20th of October, +1827, he left ten crores of rupees in that treasury. His son and +successor, Nusseer-od Deen Hyder, spent nine crores and thirty +lacs; and when he died, on the 7th of July, 1837, he left only +seventy lacs in the reserved treasury. His successor, Mahommed +Allee Shah, died on the 16th of May, 1842, leaving in the reserved +treasury thirty-five lacs of rupees, one hundred and twenty-four +thousand gold mohurs, and twenty-four lacs in our Government +securities—total, seventy-eight lacs and eighty-four thousand +rupees. His son and successor, Amjud Allee Shah, died on the 13th +of February, 1847, leaving in the reserved treasury ninety-two lacs +of rupees, one hundred and twenty-four thousand gold-mohurs, and +twenty-four lacs in our Government securities—total, one +crore and thirty-six lacs. His son and successor, his present +Majesty, Wajid Allee Shah, is spending out of this reserved +treasury, over and above the whole income of the country, above +twenty lacs of rupees a-year; and the treasury must soon become +exhausted. His public establishments, and the stipendiary members +of the royal family, are, at the same time, kept greatly in +arrears.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* <i>November</i> 30, 1851.—The gold-mohurs have been all +melted down, and the promissory notes of our Government all, save +four lacs, given away; and of the rupees, I believe, only three +lacs remain; so that the reserved treasury must be entirely +exhausted before the end of 1851; while the establishments and +stipendiary members of the royal family are in arrears for from one +to three years. Fifty lacs of rupees would hardly suffice to pay +off these arrears. The troops on detached duty, in the provinces +with local officers, are not so much in arrears as those in and +about the capital. They are paid out of the revenues as they are +collected, and their receipts sent in to the treasury. For some +good or pleasing services rendered by him to the minister this +year, in the trial of offenders whom that minister wished to +screen, three lacs of rupees have been paid to the mojtahid as +<i>zukaat</i> for distribution to the poor. This has all been +appropriated by the mojtahid, the minister, and Court +favourites.</p> +<p>The State, like individuals, is bound to pay this <i>zukaat</i> +only when it is free from debts of all kinds. The present King's +father was free from debt, and had his establishments always paid +up; and he always paid this charity punctually. The present King is +not bound to pay it, but the high-priest, minister, and Court +favourites are too deeply interested in its payment to permit its +discontinuance; and the king, like a mere child in their hands, +acquiesces in all they propose. The <i>zukaat</i> has, in +consequence, increased as the treasury has become exhausted.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>January</i> 13, 1850.—Russoolabad, twelve miles, over a +country better peopled and cultivated than usual, where the soil +admits of tillage. There is a good deal that requires drainage, and +still more that is too poor to be tilled without great labour and +outlay in irrigation, manure, &c. The villages are, however, +much nearer to each other than in any other part of the country +that we have passed over; and the lands, close around every +village, are well cultivated. The landholders and cultivators told +me, that the heavy rain we have had has done a vast deal of good to +the crops; and, as it has been followed by a clear sky and fine +westerly wind, they have no fear of the blight which might have +followed had the sky continued cloudy, and the winds easterly. +Certainly nothing could look better than the crops of all kinds do +now, and the people are busily engaged in ploughing the land for +sugar-cane, and for the autumn crops of next season.</p> +<p>I had some talk with the head zumeendar of Naraenpoor about +midway. He is of the Ditchit family of Rajpoots, who abound in the +district we have now entered. We passed over the boundary of +Byswara, about three miles from our last encampment, and beyond +that district there are but few Rajpoots of the Bys clan. These +Ditchits give their daughters in marriage to the Bys Rajpoots, but +cannot get any of theirs in return. Gunga Sing, the zumeendar, with +whom I was talking, told me that both the Ditchits and Byses put +their infant daughters to death, and that the practice prevailed +more or less in all families of these and, he believed, all other +clans of Rajpoots in Oude, save the Sengers.* I asked him whether +it prevailed in his own family, and he told me that it did, more or +less, as in all others. I bade him leave me, as I could not hold +converse with a person guilty of such atrocities, and told him that +they would be all punished for them in the next world, if not in +this.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The Sengers are almost the only class of Rajpoots in +Bundelkund, and Boghilcund, Rewa, and the Saugor territories, who +used to put their female infants to death; and here, in Oude, they +are almost the only class who do not.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Rajah Bukhtawar Sing, who was on his horse beside my elephant, +said, "They are all punished in this world, and will, no doubt, be +punished still more in the next. Scarcely any of the heads of these +landed aristocracy are the legitimate sons of their predecessors; +they are all adopted, or born of women of inferior grade. The heads +of families who commit or tolerate such atrocities become leprous, +blind, deaf or dumb, or are carried off in early life by some +terrible disease. Hardly any of them attain a good old age, nor can +they boast of an untainted line of ancestors like other men. If +they get sons, they commonly die young. They unite themselves to +women of inferior castes for want of daughters in families of their +own ranks, and there is hardly a family among these proud Rajpoots +unstained by such connections.* Even the reptile <i>Pausies</i> +become <i>Rajpoots</i> by giving their daughters to Powars and +other Rajpoot families, when by robbery and murder they have +acquired wealth and landed property. The sister of Gunga Buksh, of +Kasimgunge, was married to the Rajah of Etondeea, a Powar Rajpoot +in Mahona; and the present Rajah—Jode Sing—is her son. +Gunga Buksh is a Pausee, but the family call themselves Rawats, and +are considered to be Rajpoots, since they have acquired landed +possessions by the murder and ruin of the old proprietors. They all +delight in murder and rapine—the curse of God is upon them, +sir, for the murder of their own innocent children!"</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* A great number of girls are purchased and stolen from our +territories, brought into Oude, and sold to Rajpoot families, as +wives for their sons, on the assurance, that they are of the same +or higher caste, and that their parents have been induced to part +with them from poverty. A great many of our native officers and +sipahees, who marry while home on furlough, and are pressed for +time, get such wives. Some of their neighbours are always bribed by +the traders in such girls, to pledge themselves for the purity of +their blood. If they ever find out the imposition, they say nothing +about it.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>"When I was sent out to inquire into the case of Brigadier +Webber, who had been attacked and robbed while travelling in his +palkee, with relays of bearers, from Lucknow to Seetapoor, I +entered a house to make some inquiries, and found the mistress +weeping. I asked the cause, and she told me that she had had four +children, and lost all—that three of them were girls, who had +been put to death in infancy, and the last was a fine boy, who had +just died! I told her that this was a just punishment from God for +the iniquities of her family, and that I would neither wash my +hands nor drink water under her roof. I never do under the roof of +any family in which such a cruel practice prevails. These Rajpoots +are all a bad set, sir. When men murder their own children, how can +they scruple to murder other people? The curse of God is upon them, +sir.</p> +<p>"In the district of Byswara," he continued, "through which we +have just passed, you will find at least fifty thousand men armed +to fight against each other, or their government and its officers: +in such a space, under the Honourable Company's dominion, you would +not find one thousand armed men of the same class. Why is this, but +because you do not allow such crimes to be perpetrated? Why do you +go on acquiring dominion over one country after another with your +handful of European troops and small force of native sipahees, but +because God sees that your rule is just, and that you have an +earnest desire to benefit the people and improve the countries you +take?"</p> +<p>He told me that he had charge of the cattle under Saadut Allee +Khan when Lord Lake took the field at the first siege of Bhurtpoor; +that his master lent his Lordship five hundred elephants, eight +thousand artillery bullocks, and five hundred horses; that two +hundred and fifty of the elephants returned; but whether any of the +bullocks and horses came back or not he could not say.</p> +<p>The country we came over to-day is well studded with groves and +fine single trees, but the soil is generally of the lighter +doomuteea kind, which requires much labour and outlay in water and +manure. The irrigation is all from wells and pools. In the villages +we came through, we saw but few of the sipahees of our army home on +furlough; they are chiefly from the Byswara and Bunoda districts. +We found our tents pitched upon a high and dry spot, with a tight +soil of clay and sand. After the heavy rain we have had, it looked +as if no shower had fallen upon it for an age. The mud walls of the +houses we saw on the road were naked, as usual. The rapacity of the +King's troops is everywhere, directly or indirectly, the cause of +this: and till they are better provided and disciplined the houses +in the towns and villages can never improve.</p> +<p>The commandant, Imdad Hoseyn, of the Akberee or Telinga +Regiment, on duty with the Amil of the Poorwa district, in which +our camp was last pitched, followed me a few miles this morning to +beg that I would try to prevail upon the Durbar to serve out +clothing for his corps. He told me that the last clothing it got +from the Government was on the occasion of Lord Hastings' visit to +Lucknow, some thirty-three years ago, in 1817; that many orders had +been given since that time for new clothing, but there was always +some one about Court to counteract them, from malice or +selfishness; that his father, Zakir Allee, commanded the corps when +it got the last clothing, and he succeeded him many years ago. The +Telinga Regiments are provided with arms, accoutrements, and +clothing by Government. The sipahees formerly got five rupees +a-month, but for only ten months in the year; they now get four +rupees and three and a-half annas a-month for all the twelve +months. 'He is, he says, obliged to take a great many +<i>sufarashies</i>, or men put in by persons of influence at Court, +out of favour, or for the purpose of sharing in their pay; and, +under the deductions and other disadvantages to which they are +liable, he could get no good men to enlist. The corps, in +consequence, has a wretched appearance, and certainly could not be +made formidable to an enemy. The "Akbery" is one of the Telinga +corps of infantry, and was intended to be, in all things, like +those of Captains Barlow, Bunbury, and Magness; but Imdad Hoseyn +told me that they had a certain weight at Court, which secured for +their regiments many advantages necessary to make the corps +efficient, while he had none: that they had occasional intercourse +with the Resident, and were all at Court for some months in the +year to make friends, while he was always detached.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 14, 1850.—Halted at Russoolabad, for our +second set of tents, which did not come up till night, when it was +too late to send them on to our next ground. We have two sets of +sleeping and dining tents—one to go on and the other to +remain during the night—but only one set of office tents. +They are struck in the afternoon, when the office duties of the day +are over, and are ready by the time we reach our ground the next +morning. This is the way in which all public functionaries march in +India. Almost all officers who have revenue charges march through +the districts under their jurisdiction during the cold season, and +so do many political officers who have control over more than one +native principality. I have had charges that require such moving +ever since the year 1822, or for some twenty-eight years; and with +the exception of two intervals of absence on medical certificate in +1826 and 1836, I have been every cold season moving in the way I +describe.</p> +<p>No Resident at the Court of Lucknow ever before moved, over the +country as I am doing to inquire into the condition of the people, +the state of the country, and character of the administration; nor +would it be desirable for them to do so unless trained to civil +business, and able and disposed to commune freely with the people +of all classes. The advantages would hardly counterbalance the +disadvantages. When I apologize to the peasantry for the +unavoidable trespasses of my camp, they always reply +good-humouredly, "The losses we suffer from them are small and +temporary, while the good we hope from your visit is great and +permanent." Would that I could realize the hopes to which my visit +gives rise.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 15, 1850.—To Meeangunge, five miles, over a +plain of good doomuteea soil, well studded with trees; but much of +the land lies waste, and many of the villages and hamlets are +unoccupied and in ruins. We passed the boundary of the Russoolabad +district, about two miles from our last ground, and crossed into +that of Meeangunge or Safeepoor. The Russoolabad district was held +in contract for some years by one of the greatest knaves in Oude, +Buksh Allee, a dome by caste, whose rise to wealth and influence +may be described as illustrative of the manners and customs of the +Lucknow Court and Government. This man and his deputy, Munsab +Allee, reduced a good deal of the land of the district to waste, +and depopulated many of its villages and hamlets by over-exactions +and by an utter disregard of their engagements with the landholders +and cultivators; and they were in league with many atrocious +highway robbers, who plundered and murdered so many travellers +along the high road leading from Lucknow to Cawnpoor, which runs +through the district, that it was deemed unsafe to pass it except +in strong bodies.</p> +<p>When I took charge of my office in January last, they used to +seize every good-looking girl or young woman, passing the roads +with parents and husbands, who were too poor to purchase redress at +Court, and make slaves or concubines of them; and, feeling strong +in the assurance of protection from the fiddlers in the palace, who +are of the same caste—domes—Buksh Allee defied all +authority, and kept those girls and women in his camp and house at +Lucknow, while their parents and husbands, for months and years, in +vain besought all who were likely to have the least influence or +authority to interpose for their release. Some of them came to me +soon after I took charge, and, having collected sufficient proof of +these atrocities, and of some robberies which he had committed or +caused to be committed along the high road, I insisted upon his +being deprived of his charges and punished. He remained for many +months concealed in the city, but was at last seized by some of the +Frontier Police, under the guidance of an excellent officer, +Lieutenant Weston, the Superintendent.</p> +<p>I had prevailed on the King to offer two thousand rupees for his +apprehension, and the two thousand rupees were distributed among +the captors. The girls and young women were released, their parents +and husbands compensated for the sufferings they had endured, and +many of the persons who had been robbed by him and his deputy had +the value of their lost property made good. Great impediments were +thrown in the way of all this by people of influence about Court; +but they were all surmounted by great skill and energy on the part +of Lieutenant Weston and steady perseverance on mine; and Buksh +Allee remained in gaol, treated as a common felon, till all was +effected. All had, in appearance, been done by the King's officers, +but in reality by ours, under his Majesty's sanction, for it was +clear that nothing would be done unless we supervised and guided +their proceedings. The district is now held in contract by a very +respectable man, Mahommed Uskaree, who has taken it for four +years.</p> +<p>The district of Safeepoor, in which we are now encamped, has +been held in contract for five years by Budreenath, a merchant of +Lucknow, who had given security for the former contractor. He could +not fulfil his engagements to Government, and the contract was made +over to him as surety, on condition that he paid the balance. He +has held it ever since, while his younger brother, Kiddernath, has +conducted their mercantile affairs at Lucknow. Budreenath has +always considered the affair as a mercantile speculation, and +thought of nothing but the amount he has to pay to Government and +that which he can squeeze out of the landholders and cultivators. +He is a bad manager; the lands are badly tilled, and the towns, +villages, and hamlets are scantily peopled and most wretched in +appearance.</p> +<p>Near the border, we passed one village, Mahommedpoor, entirely +in ruins. After some search we found a solitary man of the Pausee +tribe, who told us that it had been held for many generations by +the family of Rugonath, a Gouree Rajpoot, who paid for it at an +uniform rate of six hundred rupees a-year. About three years ago +the contractor demanded from him an increased rate, which he could +not pay. Being sorely pressed, he fled to the jungles with the few +of his clan that he could collect, and ordered all the cultivators +to follow his fortunes. They were of a different clan—mostly +Bagheelas—and declined the honour. He urged that, if they +followed him for a season or two, the village would be left +untilled, and yield nothing to the contractor, who would be +constrained to restore him to possession at the rate which his +ancestors had paid; that his family had nothing else to depend +upon, and if they did not desert the land and take to the jungles +and plunder with him, he must, of necessity, plunder them. They had +never done so, and would not do so now. He attacked and plundered +the village three times, killed three men, and drove all the rest +to seek shelter and employment in other villages around. Not a soul +but himself, our informant, was left, and the lands lay waste. +Rogonath Sing rented a little land in the village of Gouree, many +miles off, and in another district, still determined to allow no +man but himself to hold the village or restore its tillage and +population. This, said the Pausee, is the usage of the country, and +the only way in which a landholder can honestly or effectually +defend himself against the contractor, who would never regard his +rights unless he saw that he was prepared to defend them in this +way, and determined to involve all under him in his own ruin, +depopulate his estate, and lay waste his lands.</p> +<p>Meean Almas, after whom this place, Meeangunge, takes his name, +was an eunuch. He had a brother, Rahmut, after whom the town of +Rahmutgunge, which we passed some days ago, took its name. Meean +Almas was the greatest and best man of any note that Oude has +produced. He held for about forty years this and other districts, +yielding to the Oude Government an annual revenue of about eighty +lacs of rupees. During all this time he kept the people secure in +life and property, and as happy as people in such a state of +society can be; and the whole country under his charge was, during +his life-time, a garden. He lived here in a style of great +magnificence, and was often visited by his sovereign, who used +occasionally to spend a month at a time with him at Meeangunge. A +great portion of the lands held by him were among those made over +to the British Government, on the division of the Oude territory, +by the treaty of 1801, concluded between Saadut Allee Khan and the +then Governor-General Lord Wellesley.</p> +<p>The country was then divided into equal shares, according to the +rent-roll at the time. The half made over to the British Government +has been ever since yielding more revenue to us, while that +retained by the sovereign of Oude has been yielding less and less +to him; and ours now yields, in land-revenue, stamp-duty, and the +tax on spirits, two crore and twelve lacs a-year, while the +reserved half now yields to Oude only about one crore, or one crore +and ten lacs. When the cession took place, each half was estimated +at one crore and thirty-three lacs. Under good management the Oude +share might, in a few years, be made equal to ours, and perhaps +better, for the greater part of the lands in our share have been a +good deal impoverished by over-cropping, while those of the Oude +share have been improved by long fallows. Lands of the same natural +quality in Oude, under good tillage, now pay a much higher rate of +rent than they do in our half of the estate.</p> +<p>Almas Allee Khan, at the close of his life, was supposed to have +accumulated immense wealth; but when he died he was found to have +nothing, to the great mortification of his sovereign, who seized +upon all. Large sums of money had been lent by him to the European +merchants at Lucknow, as well as to native merchants all over the +country. When he found his end approaching, he called for all their +bonds and destroyed them. Mr. Ousely and Mr. Paul were said to have +at that time owed to him more than three lacs of rupees each. His +immense income he had expended in useful works, liberal +hospitality, and charity. He systematically kept in check the +tallookdars, or great landholders; fostered the smaller, and +encouraged and protected the better classes of cultivators, such as +Lodhies, Koormies, and Kachies, whom he called and considered his +children. His reign over the large extent of country under his +jurisdiction is considered to have been its golden age. Many of the +districts which he held were among those transferred to the British +Government by the treaty of 1801; and they were estimated at the +revenue which he had paid for them to the Oude Government. This was +much less than any other servant of the Oude Government would have +been made to pay for them; and this accounts, in some measure, for +the now increased rate they yield to us. Others pledged themselves +to pay rates which they never did or could pay; and the nominal +rates in the accounts were always greater than the real rates. He +never pledged himself to pay higher rates than he could and really +did pay.</p> +<p>Now the tallookdars keep the country in a perpetual state of +disturbance, and render life, property, and industry everywhere +insecure. Whenever they quarrel with each other, or with the local +authorities of the Government, from whatever cause, they take to +indiscriminate plunder and murder over all lands not held by men of +the same class; no road, town, village, or hamlet is secure from +their merciless attacks; robbery and murder become their +diversion—their sport; and they think no more of taking the +lives of men, women, and children who never offended them, than +those of deer or wild hogs. They not only rob and murder, but +seize, confine, and torture all whom they seize, and suppose to +have money or credit, till they ransom themselves with all they +have, or can beg or borrow. Hardly a day has passed since I left +Lucknow in which I have not had abundant proof of numerous +atrocities of this kind committed by landholders within the +district through which I was passing, year by year, up to the +present day. The same system is followed by landholders of smaller +degrees and of this military class—some holders of single +villages or co-sharers in a village. This class comprises Rajpoots +of all denominations, Mussulmans, and Pausies. Where one co-sharer +in a village quarrels with another, or with the Government +authorities, on whatever subject, he declares himself in a <i>state +of war</i>, and adopts the same system of indiscriminate plunder +and reckless murder. He first robs the house and murders all he can +of the family of the co-sharer with whom he has quarrelled, or +whose tenement he wishes to seize upon; and then gets together all +he can of the loose characters around, employs them in +indiscriminate plunder, and subsists them upon the booty, without +the slightest apprehension that he shall thereby stand less high in +the estimation of his neighbours, or that of the officers of +Government; on the contrary, he expects, when his <i>pastime</i> is +over, to be at least more feared and courted, and more secure in +the possession of increased lands, held at lower rates.</p> +<p>All this terrible state of disorder arises from the Government +not keeping faith with its subjects, and not making them keep faith +with each other. I one day asked Rajah Hunmunt Sing how it was that +men guilty of such crimes were tolerated in society, and he +answered by quoting the following Hindee couplet:—"Men +reverence the man whose heart is wicked, as they adore and make +offerings to the evil planet, while they let the good pass +unnoticed, or with a simple salute of courtesy."*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* There is another Hindee verse to the same effect. "Man dreads +a crooked thing—the demon Rahoo dares not seize the moon till +he sees her full." They consider the eclipse to be caused by the +demon Rahoo seizing the moon in his mouth.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The contractor for this district, Budreenath, came to call in +the afternoon, though he is suffering much from disease. He bears a +good character with the Government, because he contrives to pay its +demand; but a very bad one among the people, from whom he extorts +the means. He does not adhere to his engagements with the +landholders and cultivators, but exacts, when the crops are ripe, a +higher rate than they had engaged to pay at the commencement of +tillage; and the people suffer not only from what he takes over and +above what is due, but from the depredations of those whom such +proceedings drive into rebellion. Against such persons he is too +weak to protect them; and as soon as the rebels show that they can +reduce his income by plundering and murdering the peasantry, and +all who have property in the towns and villages, he re-establishes +them on their lands on their own terms. He had lately, however, by +great good luck, seized two very atrocious characters of this +description, who had plundered and burnt down several villages, and +murdered some of their inhabitants; and as he knew that they would +be released on the first occasion of thanksgiving at Lucknow, +having the means to bribe Court favourites, he begged my permission +to make them over to Lieutenant Weston, superintendent of the +Frontier Police, as robbers by profession. "If they come back, sir, +they will murder all who have aided in their capture, or given +evidence against them, and no village or road will be safe."</p> +<p>Some shopkeepers in the town complained that the contractor was +in the habit of forcing them to stand sureties for the fulfilment, +on the part of landholders, of any engagements they might make, to +pay him certain sums, or to make over to him certain land produce +at the harvest. This, they said, often involved them in heavy +losses, as the landholders frequently could not, or would not, do +either when the time came, and they were made to pay. This is a +frequent practice throughout Oude. Shopkeepers and merchants who +have property are often compelled by the contractors and other +local officers to give such security for bad or doubtful paymasters +with whom they may happen to have had dealings or intercourse, and +by this means robbed of all they have. All manner of means are +resorted to to compel them: they and their families are seized and +confined, and harshly or disgracefully treated, till they consent +to sign the security bonds. The plea that the bonds had been forced +from them would not avail in any tribunal to which they might +appeal: it would be urged against them that the money was for the +State; and this would be considered as quite sufficient to justify +the Government officer who had robbed them. The brief history which +I propose to give of Buksh Allee, the late contractor for the +Russoolabad district, is as follows:—</p> +<p>Mokuddera Ouleea, one of the consorts of the King, Nuseer-od +Deen Hyder, was the daughter of Mr. George Hopkins Walters, a +half-pay officer of one of the regiments of British Dragoons, who +came to Lucknow as an adventurer. He there united himself (though +not in marriage) to the widow of Mr. Whearty, an English merchant +or shopkeeper of that city, who had recently died, leaving this +widow, who was the daughter of Mr. Culloden, an English merchant of +Lucknow, and one son, now called Ameer Mirza, and one daughter, now +called Shurf-on Nissa. By Mr. Walters this widow had one daughter, +who afterwards became united to the King in marriage (in 1827), +under the title of "Mokuddera Ouleea." Mr. Walters died at Lucknow, +and the widow and two daughters went to reside at Cawnpoor. The +daughters were good-looking, and the mother was disposed to make +the most of their charms, without regard to creed or colour.</p> +<p>Buksh Allee, a dome by caste, who had been by profession a +drummer to a party of dancing-girls, served them as a coachman and +table attendant. At Cawnpoor he cohabited with Mrs. Walters, and +prevailed upon her to take her children back to Lucknow as the best +possible market for them, as he had friends at Court who would be +able to bring them to the notice of the sovereign. They were shown +to the King as soon as he succeeded his father on the throne in +1827. He was captivated with the charms of Miss Walters, though +they were not great, demanded her hand from the mother, and was +soon after united to her in marriage according to the Mahommedan +law. A suitable establishment was provided by the King for her +mother, father-in-law, brother, and sister; and as his Majesty +considered that the manner in which Buksh Allee and her mother had +hitherto lived together was unsuitable to the connection which now +subsisted between them, he caused them to be married in due form +according to the Mahommedan law. The mother and her three children +now changed their creed for that of Islamism, and took Mahommedan +names.</p> +<p>By a deed of engagement with the British Government, hearing +date the 1st of March 1829, the King contributed to the five per +cent loan the sum of sixty-two lacs and forty thousand rupees, the +interest of which, at five per cent., our Government pledged itself +to pay to the four females.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Mulika Zumanee, 10,000; Taj Mahal, 6,000; Mokuddera Ouleea, +6,000; Zeenut-on Nissa, the daughter of Mulika Zumanee, 4,000.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>These pensions were to descend in perpetuity to their heirs, if +they left any; and if they left none, they were to have the power +to bequeath them by will to whomsoever and for what purposes soever +they chose, the British Government reserving to itself the power to +pay to the heirs the principal from which the pensions arose, +instead of continuing the pensions.</p> +<p>The King died in July 1837, and Mokuddera Ouleea went to reside +near her mother and Buksh Allee, taking with her great wealth in +jewels and other things, which she had accumulated during the +King's lifetime. Her sister, Ashrof—<i>alias</i> Shurf-on +Nissa—resided in the same house with her mother and Buksh +Allee. Mokuddera Ouleea had from the time she became estranged from +her husband, the King, led a very profligate life, and she +continued to do the same in her widowhood. On the 14th of September +1839, the mother died; and the sister, Shurf-on Nissa, supplied her +place, as the wife or concubine of Buksh Allee.</p> +<p>Mokuddera Ouleea became pregnant, and on the 9th of November +1840, she was taken very ill from some violent attempt to produce +abortion. She continued insensible and speechless till the evening +of the 12th of that month, when she expired. The house which Buksh +Allee occupied at that time is within the Residency compound, and +had been purchased by Mr. John Culloden, the father of Mrs. +Walters, from Mr. George Prendergast on the 22nd of February 1802. +Mr. Prendergast purchased the house from Mr. S. M. Taylor, an +English merchant at Lucknow, who obtained it from the Nawab +Assuf-od Dowlah, as a residence. The Nawab afterwards, on the 5th +of January 1797, gave him, through the Resident, Mr. J. Lumsden, +permission to sell it to Mr. Prendergast. The remains of Mokuddera +Ouleea were interred within the compound of that house, near those +of her mother, though the King, Mahommed Allee Shah, wished to have +them buried by the side of those of her husband, the late King. The +house is still occupied by Shurf-on Nissa, who succeeded to her +sister's pension and property, under the sanction of the British +Government, and has built, or completed within the enclosure, a +handsome mosque and mausoleum.</p> +<p>On the death of Mr. Walters, Mrs. Whearty made application, +through the house of Colvin and Co., for the arrears of pension or +half-pay due to him up to the time of his death, and for some +provision for herself as his widow; but she was told that unless +she could produce the usual certificate, or proof of her marriage +with him, she could get neither. No proof whatever of the marriage +was forthcoming, and the claim was prosecuted no further. Shurf-on +Nissa, and her brother and his son, continued to live with Buksh +Allee, who, upon the wealth and pension left by Mokuddera Ouleea to +her sister, kept up splendid establishments both at Lucknow and +Cawnpoor.</p> +<p>At the latter place he associated on terms of great intimacy +with the European gentlemen, and is said to have received visits +from the Major-General commanding the Division and his lady. With +the aid of his wealth and the influence of his brother domes (the +singers and fiddlers who surround the throne of his present +Majesty), Buksh Allee secured and held for some years the charge of +this fertile and populous district of Russoolabad, through which +passes the road from Lucknow to Cawnpoor, where, as I have already +stated, he kept up bands of myrmidons to rob and murder travellers, +and commit all kinds of atrocities. This road became, in +consequence, the most unsafe of all the roads in Oude, and hardly a +day passed in which murders and robberies were not perpetrated upon +it. Proof of his participation in these atrocities having been +collected, Buksh Allee was, in October 1849, seized by order of the +Resident, tried before the King's Courts, convicted and sentenced +to imprisonment, and ordered to restore or make good the property +which he was proved to have taken, or caused to be taken, from +travellers. His house had become filled with girls of all ages, +whom he had taken from poor parents, as they passed over this road, +and converted into slaves for his seraglio. They were all restored +to their parents, with suitable compensation; and the Cawnpoor road +has become the most safe, as well as the best, road in Oude.</p> +<p>On the death of Mokuddera Ouleea, a will was sent to the +Resident by her sister, who declared that it had been under her +sister's pillow for a year, and that she had taken it out on +finding her end approaching, and made it over to her, declaring it +to contain her last wishes. By this document pensions were +bequeathed to the persons mentioned in the note below* out of +one-third, and the other two-thirds were bequeathed to her sister +and brother. In submitting this document to Government, the +Resident declared that he believed it to be a forgery; and in reply +he was instructed to ascertain whether the persons named in the +document had any objections to consider Shurf-on Nissa sole heir to +her sister's property and pension. Should they have none to urge, +he was directed to consider her as sole heir, and the pretended +will as of no avail. They all agreed to consider her as sole heir; +and the Resident was directed to make over to her the property, and +pay to her the pension or the principal from which it arose. The +Resident considered the continuance of the pension as the best +arrangement for the present, and of this Government approved.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Buksh Allee, 1,000 rupees per month; Allee Hoseyn, 75; Sooraj +Bhan, 40; Syud Hoseyn, 30; Sheik Hingun, 20; Mirza Allee, 30; Ram +Deen, 12; Meea Sultan, 15; Sudharee, 10; Imam Buksh, 3; Ala Rukhee, +10; Sadoo Begum, 20; Akbar, 15; Mahdee Begum, 30.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Shurf-on Nissa has no recognised children, and her brother and +his reputed son are her sole heirs, so that no injury can arise to +him from the omission, on the part of Government and the Resident, +of all mention of his right as co-sharer in the inheritance. +Neither brother nor sister had really any legal right whatever to +succeed to this pension, for Mokuddera Ouleea was an illegitimate +child, and had no legal heirs according to either English or +Mahommedan law. This fact seems to have been concealed from the +Resident, for he never mentioned it to Government. It was the dread +that this fact would cause the whole pension to be sent to the +shrines in Turkish Arabia, that made them forge the will. All +readily consented to consider Shurf-on Nissa the heir, when they +found that our Government had no objection to consider her as such. +The King wished to have the money to lay out on bridges and roads +in Oude, and the Resident advocated this wish; but our Government, +ignorant of the fact of the illegitimacy of the deceased, and with +the guaranteed bequest of the late King before them, could not +consent to any such arrangement.</p> +<p>Government has long been strongly and justly opposed to all such +guarantees, and the Resident was told on the 14th November 1840, +"that the Governor-General in Council could not consent to grant +the absolute and unqualified pledge of protection which the King +was solicitous of obtaining in favour of four other females; and +directed to state to his Majesty that, although in the instances he +had cited, such guarantees had certainly been afforded in former +times, yet they were always given either under the impression of an +overruling necessity, or in consequence of some acknowledged +claims, or previously existing engagements, the force of which +could not be avoided; that their existence had often operated +practically in the most embarrassing manner, while it constituted a +standing and perpetual infringement of the rights of the Government +of Oude; and that his Lordship in Council was, consequently, +decidedly opposed to the continuance of a system so plainly at +variance with every just principle of policy." The objections of +the British Government to such guarantees are stated in letters +dated 18th February, 28th March, 20th May, 3rd October, and 19th +December 1839, and 11th May 1848.</p> +<p>In a despatch from the Honourable the Court of Directors, dated +4th March 1840, their just disapprobation of such guarantees is +expressed; and reference is made to former strong expressions of +disapprobation. In their despatch of the 28th March 1843, the +Honourable Court again express their disapprobation of such +guarantees; and refer to their letter of the 16th March, in which +they gave positive orders that no such engagement should ever be +concluded without a previous reference to the Court. The argument +that the arrangement did not, in any particular case, add to the +number of guaranteed persons, such persons being already under +guarantee, did not in the opinion of the Court touch the stronger +objection to such a measure, that of the impropriety of our aiding, +especially by the grant of peculiar privileges, the appropriation +of the resources of the State to the advantage of individuals. The +Court expresses a hope that they shall never have occasion to +notice any future violation of their orders as respects such +engagements.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 16, 1850.—We were to have gone this morning +to Ouras, but were obliged to encamp at Burra, eight miles from +Meeangunge, on the left bank of the Saee river, which had been too +much increased by the late rains to admit of our baggage and tents +passing over immediately on anything but elephants. As we have but +few of them, our tents were pitched on this side of the river, that +our things might have the whole day before them to pass over on +carts and camels, as the river subsided. Ouras is three miles from +our camp, and we are to pass through it and go on to Sundeela +to-morrow. There is no bridge, and boats are not procurable on this +small river, which we have to cross and recross several times.</p> +<p>The country from Meeangunge is scantily cultivated, but well +studded with trees, and generally fertile under good tillage. The +soil is the light doomuteea, but here and there very sandy and +poor, running into what is called bhoor. The villages and hamlets +which we could see are few and wretched. We have few native +officers and sipahees in our army from the districts we are now in, +and I am in consequence less oppressed with complaints from this +class of the Oude subjects.</p> +<p>We met, near our tents, a party of soldiers belonging to Rajah +Ghalib Jung, a person already mentioned, and at present +superintendent of police, along the Cawnpoor road, escorting a band +of thieves, who robbed Major Scott some ten months ago on his way, +by dawk, from Lucknow, and an European merchant, two months ago, on +his way, by dawk, from Cawnpoor to Lucknow. They had been seized in +the Sundeela districts, and the greater part of the stolen property +found in their houses. They are of the Pausie tribe, and told me +that thieving was their hereditary trade, and that they had long +followed it on the Cawnpoor road with success. The landholder, who +kept them upon his estate and shared in their booty, was also +seized, but made over to the revenue contractor, who released him +after a few days' imprisonment for a gratuity.</p> +<p>Of these Pausies there are supposed to be about one hundred +thousand families in Oude. They are employed as village watchmen, +but, with few exceptions, are thieves and robbers by hereditary +profession. Many of them adopt poisoning as a trade, and the +numbers who did so were rapidly increasing when Captain Hollings, +the superintendent of the Oude Frontier Police, arrested a great +many of them, and proceeded against them as Thugs by profession, +under Act III. of 1848. His measures have been successfully +followed up by Captain Weston, his successor, and this crime has +been greatly diminished in Oude. It prevails still, however, more +or less, in all parts of India.</p> +<p>These Pausies of Oude generally form the worst part of the gangs +of refractory tallookdars in their indiscriminate plunder. They use +the bow and arrow expertly, and are said to be able to send an +arrow through a man at the distance of one hundred yards. There is +no species of theft or robbery in which they are not experienced +and skilful, and they increase and prosper in proportion as the +disorders in the country grow worse. They serve any refractory +landholder, or enterprising gang-robber, without wages, for the +sake of the booty to be acquired.</p> +<p>Many of the sipahees of the Mobarick Pultun, on detached duty +with the king's wakeel in attendance upon me, were this morning +arrested, while taking off the choppers from the houses of villages +along the road and around my camp, for fuel and fodder, in what +they called the "<i>usual way</i>." The best beams and rafters and +the whole of the straw were fast moving off to my camp; and when +seized, the sipahees seemed much surprised, and asked me what they +were to do, as they had not received any pay for six months, and +the Government expected that they would help themselves to straw +and timber wherever they could most conveniently find it. All were +fined; but the hope to put a stop to this intolerable evil, under +the present system, is a vain one. The evil has the acquiescence +and encouragement of the Government and its functionaries of all +kinds and grades throughout the country. It is distressing to +witness every day such melancholy proofs of how much is done that +ought not to be done, and how much that ought to be done is left +undone, in so fine a country.</p> +<p>A want of sympathy or fellow-feeling between the governing and +governed is common in all parts of India, but in no part that I +have seen is it so marked as in Oude. The officers of the +Government delight in plundering the peasantry, and upon every +local Governor who kills a landholder of any mark, rewards and +honours are instantly bestowed, without the slightest inquiry as to +the cause or mode. They know that no inquiry will be made, and +therefore kill them when they can; no matter how, or for what +cause. The great landholders would kill the local Governors with +just as little scruple, did they not fear that it might make the +British Government interpose and aid in the pursuit after them.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 17, 1850.—Sundeela, about thirteen miles +from our last camp, on the bank of the little River Saee, over a +plain of good doomuteea soil, very fertile, and well cultivated in +the neighbourhood of villages. The greater portion of the plain is, +however, uncultivated, though capable of the best tillage, and +shows more than the usual signs of maladministration. In this +district there are only three tallookdars, and they do not rob or +resist the Government at present. They distrust the Government +authorities, however, and never have any personal intercourse with +them. The waste is entirely owing to the bad character of the +contractors, and the license given to the troops and establishments +under them. The district is now held in <i>amanee</i> tenure, and +under the management of Hoseyn Buksh, who entered into his charge +only six weeks ago. He is without any experience in, or knowledge +of, his duties; he has three regiments of Nujeebs on duty under +him, and all who are present came out to meet me. Anything more +unlike soldiers it would be difficult to conceive. They are feared +only by the honest and industrious. Wherever the Amil goes they go +with him, and are a terrible scourge to the country—by far +the worst that the country suffers under.</p> +<p>The first thing necessary to effect a reform is—to form +out of these disorderly and useless bodies a few efficient +regiments; do away with the purveyance system, on which, they are +now provided with fuel, fodder, carriage, &c.; pay them +liberally and punctually; supply them with good clothing, arms, +accoutrements, and ammunition; and concentrate them at five or six +points in good cantonments, whence they can move quickly to any +part where their services may be required. No more than are +indispensably required should attend the local authorities in their +circuits. All the rest should remain in cantonments till called for +on emergency; and when so called for, they should have all the +conveyance they require, and the supplies provided for +them—the conveyance at fixed rates, and the supplies at the +market price, in good bazaars. For police duties and revenue +collections there should be a sufficient body of men kept up, and +at the disposal of the revenue and police authorities. The military +establishments should be under the control of a different +authority. But all this would be of no avail unless the corps were +under able commanders, relieved from the fear of Court favourites, +and under a Commander-in-Chief who understood his duty and had +influence enough to secure all that the troops required to render +them efficient, and not a child of seven years of age.</p> +<p>Several of the villages of Sundeela are held by Syud zumeendars, +who are peaceable and industrious subjects, and were generally +better protected than others under the influence of Chowdhere, +Sheik Hushmut Allee, of Sundeela, an agricultural capitalist and +landholder, whom no local authority could offend with impunity. His +proper trade was to aid landholders of high and low degree, by +becoming surety for their punctual payment of the Government +demand, and advancing the instalments of that demand himself when +they had not the means, and thereby saving them from the visits of +the local authorities and their rapacious and disorderly troops: +but in an evil hour he ventured to extend his protection a little +further, and, to save them from the oppressions of an unscrupulous +contractor, he undertook to manage the district himself, and make +good all the Government demand upon it. He was unable to pay all +that he had bound himself to pay. His brother was first seized by +the troops and taken to Lucknow. He languished under the discipline +to which he was there subjected, and when on the point of death +from what his friends call a <i>broken heart</i>, and the +Government authorities <i>cholera-morbus</i>, he was released. He +died immediately after his return home, and Hushmut Allee was then +seized and taken to Lucknow, where he is now confined. The people +here lament his absence as a great misfortune to the district, as +he was the only one among them who ever had authority and +influence, united with a fellow-feeling for the people, and a +disposition to promote their welfare and happiness.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Hushmut Allee is still in confinement, but under the troops +at Sundeela, and not at Lucknow. July 20, 1851.]</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<p align="center"><small>END OF VOL. 1.</small></p> +<br> +<br> +<a name="Vol2" id="Vol2"></a><br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>A</h3> +<h1>JOURNEY</h1> +<h3>THROUGH THE</h3> +<h1>KINGDOM OF OUDE</h1> +<h3>IN 1849—1850;</h3> +<br> +<br> +<h3>BY DIRECTION OF THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE,<br> +GOVERNOR-GENERAL.</h3> +<h3>WITH PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE ANNEXATION<br> +OF OUDE TO BRITISH INDIA, &c.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. H. SLEEMAN, K.C.B.</h3> +<h3>Resident at the Court of Lucknow</h3> +<br> +<br> +<h3><i>IN TWO VOLUMES.</i></h3> +<h3>VOL. II.</h3> +<br> +<a href="#Vol1"><small>VOL. I.</small></a><br> +<h3>LONDON:</h3> +<h3>RICHARD BENTLEY</h3> +<br> +<h5>Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.</h5> +<br> +<h5>1858.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<blockquote> +<p>[Transcriber's note: The author's spelling of the names of +places and people vary considerably, even within a single +paragraph. The spelling of place names in the text varies from that +shown on the map. The author's spelling is reproduced as in the +printed text.]</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.</h2> +<a href="#Chapt2-1">CHAPTER 1.</a> +<p>Sundeela—The large landholders of the +district—Forces with the Amil—Tallookdars, of the +district—Ground suited for cantonments and civil +offices—Places consecrated to worship—Kutteea +Huron—Neem Sarang, traditions regarding—Landholders and +peasantry of Sundeela—Banger and Sandee Palee, strong against +the Government authorities from their union—<i>Nankar</i> and +<i>Seer</i>. Nature and character of—Jungle—Leaves of +the peepul, bur, &c., used as fodder—Want of good houses +and all kinds of public edifices—Infanticide—Sandee +district—Security of tenure in groves—River +Gurra—Hafiz Abdulla, the governor—Runjeet Sing, of +Kutteearee—Thieves in the Banger +district—Infanticide—How to put down the +crime—Palee—Richness of the foliage, and carpeting of +spring-crops—Kunojee Brahmins—Success of the robber's +trade in Oude—Shahabad—Timber taken down the little +river Gurra to the Ganges, from the Tarae forest—Fanaticism +of the Moosulman population of Shahabad; and insolence and impunity +with which they oppress the Hindoos of the town.</p> +<a href="#Chapt2-2">CHAPTER II.</a> +<p>Infanticide—Nekomee Rajpoots—Fallows in Oude created +by disorders—Their cause and effect—Tillage goes on in +the midst of sanguinary conflicts—Runjeet Sing, of +Kutteearee—Mahomdee district—White +Ants—Traditional decrease in the fertility of the Oude +soil—Risks to which cultivators are exposed—Obligations +which these risks impose upon them—Infanticide—The Amil +of Mahomdee's narrow escape—An infant disinterred and +preserved by the father after having been buried +alive—Insecurity of life and property—Beauty of the +surface of the country, and richness of its foliage—Mahomdee +district—State and recent history of—Relative fertility +of British and Oude soil—Native notions of our laws and their +administration—Of the value of evidence in our +Courts—Infanticide—Boys only saved—Girls +destroyed in Oude—The priests who give absolution for the +crime abhorred by the people of all other classes—Lands in +our districts becoming more and more exhausted from +over-cropping—Probable consequences to the Government and +people of India—Political and social error of considering +land private property—Hakeem Mehndee and subsequent managers +of Mahomdee—Frauds on the King in charges for the keep of +animals—Kunojee Brahmins—Unsuccessful attempt to +appropriate the lands of weaker neighbours—Gokurnath, on the +border of the Tarae—The sakhoo or saul trees of the +forest.</p> +<a href="#Chapt2-3">CHAPTER III.</a> +<p>Lonee Sing, of the Ahbun Rajpoot tribe—Dispute between +Rajah Bukhtawar Sing, and a servant of one of his +relatives—Cultivation along the border of the Tarae +forest—Subdivision of land among the Ahbun +families—Rapacity of the king's troops, and establishments of +all kinds—Climate near the Tarae—Goitres—Not +one-tenth of the cultivable lands cultivated, nor one-tenth of the +villages peopled—Criterion of good tillage—Ratoon +crops—Manure available—Khyrabad district better peopled +and cultivated than that of Mahomdee, but the soil +over-cropped—Blight—Rajah Ajeet Sing and his estate of +Khymara—Ousted by collusion and bribery—Anrod Sing of +Oel, and Lonee Sing—State of Oude forty years ago compared +with its present state—The Nazim of the Khyrabad +district—Trespasses of his followers—Oel +Dhukooa—<i>Khalsa</i> lands absorbed by the Rajpoot +barons—Salarpoor—Sheobuksh Sing of +Kuteysura—<i>Bhulmunsee</i>, or property-tax—Beautiful +groves of Lahurpoor—Residence of the Nazim—Wretched +state of the force with the Nazim—Gratuities paid by officers +in charge of districts, whether in contract or trust—Rajah +Arjun Sing's estate of Dhorehra—Hereditary gang-robbers of +the Oude Tarae suppressed—Mutiny of two of the King's +regiments at Bhitolee—Their rapacity and +oppression—Singers and fiddlers who govern the King—Why +the Amils take all their troops with them when they +move—Seetapoor, the cantonment of one of the two regiments of +Oude Local Infantry—Sipahees not equal to those in Magness's, +Barlow's, and Bunbury's, or in our native regiments of the +line—Why—The prince Momtaz-od Dowlah—Evil effects +of shooting monkeys—Doolaree, <i>alias</i> Mulika +Zumanee—Her history, and that of her son and daughter.</p> +<a href="#Chapt2-4">CHAPTER IV.</a> +<p>Nuseer-od Deen Hyder's death—His repudiation of his son, +Moona Jan, leads to the succession of his uncle, Nuseer-od +Dowlah—Contest for the succession between these two +persons—The Resident supports the uncle, and the Padshah +Begum supports the son—The ministers supposed to have +poisoned the King—Made to disgorge their ill-gotten wealth by +his successor—Obligations of the treaty of 1801, by which +Oude was divided into two equal shares—One transferred to the +British Government, one reserved by Oude—Estimated value of +each at the time of treaty—Present value of each—The +sovereign often warned that unless he governs as he ought, the +British Government cannot support him, but must interpose and take +the administration upon itself—All such warnings have been +utterly disregarded—No security to life or property in any +part of Oude—Fifty years of experience has proved, that we +cannot make the government of Oude fulfil its duties to its +people—The alternative left appears to be to take the +management upon ourselves, and give the surplus revenue to the +sovereign and royal family of Oude—Probable effects of such a +change on the feelings and interests of the people of Oude.</p> +<a href="#Chapt2-5">CHAPTER V.</a> +<p>Baree-Biswa district—Force with the Nazim, Lal +Bahader—Town of Peernuggur—Dacoitee by Lal and Dhokul +Partuks—Gangs of robbers easily formed out of the loose +characters which abound in Oude—The lands tilled in spite of +all disorders—Delta between the Chouka and Ghagra +rivers—Seed sown and produce yielded on land—Rent and +stock—Nawab Allee, the holder of the Mahmoodabad +estate—Mode of augmenting his estate—Insecurity of +marriage processions—Belt of jungle, fourteen miles west from +the Lucknow cantonments—Gungabuksh Rawat—His attack on +Dewa—The family inveterate robbers—Bhurs, once a +civilized and ruling people in Oude—Extirpated systematically +in the fourteenth century—Depredations of +Passees—Infanticide—How maintained—Want of +influential middle class of merchants and +manufacturers—Suttee—Troops with the Amil—Seizure +of a marriage procession by Imambuksh, a gang +leader—Perquisites and allowances of Passee watchmen over +corn-fields—Their fidelity to trusts—Ahbun Sing, of +Kyampoor, murders his father—Rajah Singjoo of +Soorujpoor—Seodeen, another leader of the same +tribe—Principal gang-leaders of the Dureeabad Rodowlee +district—Jugurnath Chuprassie—Bhooree Khan—How +these gangs escape punishment—Twenty-four belts of jungle +preserved by landholders always, or occasionally, refractory in +Oude—Cover eight hundred and eighty-six square miles of good +land—How such atrocious characters find followers, and +landholders of high degree to screen, shelter, and aid them.</p> +<a href="#Chapt2-6">CHAPTER VI.</a> +<p>Adventures of Maheput Sing of Bhowaneepoor—Advantages of a +good road from Lucknow to Fyzabad—Excellent condition of the +artillery bullocks with the Frontier Police—Get all that +Government allows for them—Bred in the Tarae—Dacoits of +Soorujpoor Bareyla—The Amil connives at all their +depredations, and thrives in consequence—The Amil of the +adjoining districts does not, and ruined in consequence—His +weakness—Seetaram, a capitalist—His account of a +singular <i>Suttee</i>—Bukhtawar Sing's notions of +<i>Suttee</i>, and of the reason why Rajpoot widows seldom become +<i>Suttees</i>—Why local authorities carry about prisoners +with them—Condition of prisoners—No taxes on +mangoe-trees—Cow-dung cheaper than wood for fuel—Shrine +of "Shaikh Salar" at Sutrik—Bridge over the small river +Rete—Recollection of the ascent of a balloon at +Lucknow—End of the pilgrimage.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#Private2">Private Correspondence subsequent to the +Journey through the Kingdom of Oude,</a> and relating to the +Annexation of Oude to British India.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>DIARY</h1> +<br> +<br> +<h1>A TOUR THROUGH OUDE</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="10%" align="center"> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt2-1" id="Chapt2-1">CHAPTER I.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Sundeela—The large landholders of the +district—Forces with the Amil—Tallookdars, of the +district—Ground suited for cantonments and civil +offices—Places consecrated to worship—Kutteea +Huron—Neem Sarang, traditions regarding—Landholders and +peasantry of Sundeela—Banger and Sandee Palee, strong against +the Government authorities from their union—<i>Nankar</i> and +<i>Seer</i>. Nature and character of—Jungle—Leaves of +the peepul, bur, &c., used as fodder—Want of good houses +and all kinds of public edifices—Infanticide—Sandee +district—Security of tenure in groves—River +Gurra—Hafiz Abdulla, the governor—Runjeet Sing, of +Kutteearee—Thieves in the Banger +district—Infanticide—How to put down the +crime—Palee—Richness of the foliage, and carpeting of +spring crops—Kunojee Brahmins—Success of the robber's +trade in Oude—Shahabad—Timber taken down the little +river Gurra to the Ganges, from the Tarae forest—Fanaticism +of the Moosulman population of Shahabad; and insolence and impunity +with which they oppress the Hindoos of the town.</p> +<p>The baronial proprietors in the Sundeela district are Murdun +Sing, of Dhurawun, with a rent-roll of 38,000; Gunga Buksh, of +Atwa, with one of 25,000; Chundeeka Buksh, of Birwa, with one of +25,000; and Somere Sing, of Rodamow, with one of 34,000. This is +the rent-roll declared and entered in the accounts; but it is much +below the real one. The Government officers are afraid to measure +their lands, or to make any inquiries on the estates into their +value, lest they should turn robbers and plunder the country, as +they are always prepared to do. They have always a number of armed +and brave retainers, ready to support them in any enterprise, and +can always add to their number on emergency. There is never any +want of loose characters ready to fight for the sake of plunder +alone. A tallookdar, however, when opposed to his government, does +not venture to attack another tallookdar or his tenants. He stands +too much in need of his aid, or at least of his neutrality and +forbearance.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 18, 1850.—Halted at Sundeela. To the north +of the town there is a large uncultivated plain of <i>oosur</i> +land, that would answer for cantonments; but the water lies, for +some time after rain, in many places. The drainage is defective, +but might be made good towards a rivulet to the north and west. +There is another open plain to the west of the town, between the +suburbs and the small village of Ausoo Serae, where the +Trigonometrical Survey has one of its towers. It is about a mile +from east to west, and more from north to south, and well adapted +for the location of troops and civil establishments. The climate is +said to be very good. The town is large and still populous, but the +best families seem to be going to decay, or leaving the place. Many +educated persons from Sundeela in our civil establishments used to +leave their families here; but life and property have become so +very insecure, that they now always take them with them to the +districts in which they are employed, or send them to others. I +observed many good houses of burnt brick and cement, but they are +going fast to decay, and are all surrounded by numerous mud-houses +without coverings, or with coverings of the same material, which +are hidden from view by low parapets. These houses have a wretched +appearance.</p> +<p>The Amil has twelve guns with him; but the bullocks are all so +much out of condition from want of food that they can scarcely +walk; and the Amil was obliged to hire a few plough-bullocks from +the cultivators, to draw out two guns to my camp to fire the +salute. They get no grain, and there is little or no grass anywhere +on the fallow and waste lands, from the want of rain during June, +July, and August. The Amil told me, that he had no stores or +ammunition for the guns; and that their carriages were all gone, or +going, to pieces, and had received no repairs whatever for the last +twelve years. I had in the evening a visit from Rajah Murdun Sing, +of <i>Dharawun</i>, a stout and fat man, who bears a fair +character. He is of the Tilokchundee Bys clan, who cannot +intermarry with each other, as they are all of the sama gote or +family. It would, according to their notions, be incestuous.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 19, 1850.—Hutteeah Hurrun, thirteen miles. +The plain level as usual, and of the loose doomuteea soil, fertile +in natural powers everywhere, and well tilled around the villages, +which are more numerous than in any other part that we have passed +over. The water is everywhere near the surface, and wells are made +at little cost. A well is dug at a cost of from five to ten rupees; +and in the muteear, or argillaceous soil, will last for irrigation +for forty years. To line it with burnt bricks without cement will +cost from one to two hundred rupees; and to add cement will cost a +hundred more. Such lining is necessary in light soil, and still +more so in sandy or <i>bhoor</i>. They frequently line their wells +at little cost with long thick cables, made of straw and twigs, and +twisted round the surface inside. The fields are everywhere +irrigated from wells or pools, and near villages well manured; and +the wheat and other spring crops are excellent. They have been +greatly benefited by the late rains, and in no case injured. The +ground all the way covered with white hoar frost, and the dews +heavy in a cloudless sky. Finer weather I have never known in any +quarter of the world.</p> +<p>This place is held sacred from a tradition, that Ram, after his +expedition against Cylone, came here to bathe in a small tank near +our present camp, in order to wash away the sin of having killed a +<i>Brahmin</i> in the person of Rawun, the monster king of that +island, who had taken away his wife, Seeta. Till he had done so, he +could not venture to revisit his capital, Ajoodheea. There are many +legends regarding the origin of the sanctity of this and the many +other places around, which pilgrims must visit to complete the +<i>pykurma</i>, or holy circuit. The most popular seems to be this. +Twenty-eight thousand sages of great sanctity were deputed, with +the god Indur at their head, on a mission to present an address to +Brimha, as he reposed upon the mountain Kylas, praying that he +would vouchsafe to point out to them the place in Hindoostan most +worthy to be consecrated to religious worship. He took a discus +from the top-knot on his head, and, whirling it in the air, +directed it to proceed in search. After much search it rested at a +place near the river Goomtee, which it deemed to be most fitted for +the purification of one's faith, and which thenceforth took the +name of <i>Neem Sarung</i>, a place of devotion. The twenty-eight +thousand sages followed, and were accompanied by Brimha himself, +attended by the Deotas, or subordinate gods. He then summoned to +the place no less than <i>three crores and half</i>, or thirty +millions and half of <i>teeruts</i>, or angels, who preside each +over his special place of religions worship. All settled down at +places within ten miles of the central point, Neem Sarung; but +their departure does not seem to have impaired the sanctity of the +places whence they came. The angels, or spirits, who presided over +them sent out these offshoots to preside at Neemsar and the +consecrated places around it, as trees send off their grafts +without impairing their own powers and virtues.</p> +<p>Misrik, a few miles from this, and one of the places thus +consecrated, is celebrated as the residence of a very holy sage, +named Dudeej. In a great battle between the Deotas and the Giants, +the Deotas were defeated. They went to implore the aid of the +drowsy god, Brimha, upon his snowy mountain top. He told them to go +to Misrik and arm themselves with the <i>bones</i> of the old sage, +Dudeej. They found Dudeej alive and in excellent health; but they +thought it their duty to explain to him their orders. He told them, +that he should be very proud indeed to have his bones used as arms +in so holy a cause; but he had unfortunately vowed to bathe at all +the sacred shrines in India before he died, and must perform his +vow. Grievously perplexed, the Deotas all went and submitted their +case to their leader, the god Indur. Indur consulted his chaplain, +Brisput, who told him, that there was really no difficulty whatever +in the case—that the angels of all the holy shrines in India +had been established at and around Neemsar by Brimha himself; and +the Deotas had only to take water from all the sacred places over +which they presided, and pour it over the old sage, to get both him +and themselves out of the dilemma. They did so, and the old sage, +expressing himself satisfied, gave up his life. In what mode it was +taken no one can tell me. The Deotas armed themselves with his +bones, attacked the Giants forthwith, and gained an easy and +complete victory. The wisdom of the orders of drowsy old Brimha, in +this case, is as little questioned by the Hindoos of the present +day as that of the orders of drunken old Jupiter was in the case of +Troy, by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Millions, "wise in their +generation," have spent their lives in the reverence of both.</p> +<p>There is hardly any sin that the waters of these dirty little +ponds are not supposed to be capable of washing away; and, over and +above this, they are supposed to improve all the good, and reduce +to order all the bad passions and emotions of those who bathe in +them, by propitiating the aid of the deity, and those who have +influence over him.</p> +<p>A good deal of the land, distant from villages, lies waste, +though capable of good tillage; and from the all pervading cause, +the want of confidence in the Government and its officers, and of +any feeling of security to life, property, and industry. Should +this cause be removed, the whole surface of the country would +become the beautiful garden which the parts well cultivated and +peopled now are. It is all well studded with fine +trees—single and in clusters and groves. The soil is good, +the water near the surface, and to be obtained in any abundance at +little outlay, and the peasantry are industrious, brave, and +robust. Nothing is wanted but good and efficient government, which +might be easily secured. I found many Kunojee Brahmins in the +villages along the road, who tilled their own fields without the +aid of ploughmen; and they told me, that when they had no longer +the means to hire ploughmen, they were permitted to hold their own +ploughs—that is, they were not excommunicated for doing +so.</p> +<p>In passing along, with wheat-fields close by on our left, while +the sun is a little above the horizon on the right, we see a +<i>glory</i> round the shadows of our heads as they extend into the +fields. All see these <i>glories</i> around their own heads, but +cannot see them around those of their neighbours. They stretch out +from the head and shoulders, with gradually-diminished splendour, +to some short distance. This beautiful and interesting appearance +arises from the leaves and stalks of the wheat being thickly +bespangled with dew. The observer's head being in the direct rays +of the sun, as they pass over him to that of his shadow in the +field, he carries the glory with him. Those before and behind him +see the same glory around the shadows of their own heads, but +cannot see it round that of the head of any other person before or +behind; because he is on one or other side of the direct rays which +pass over them. It is best seen when the sky is most clear, and the +dew most heavy. It is not seen over bushy crops such as the arahur, +nor on the grass plains.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 20, 1850.—Beneegunge, eight miles, over a +slightly-undulating plain of light sandy soil, scantily cultivated, +but well studded with fine trees of the best kind. Near villages, +where the land is well watered and manured, the crops are fine and +well varied. All the pools are full from the late rain, and they +are numerous and sufficient to water the whole surface of the +country, with a moderate fall of rain in December or January. If +they are not available, the water is always very near the surface, +and wells can be made for irrigation at a small cost. The many +rivers and rivulets which enter Oude from the Himmalaya chain and +Tarae forest, and flow gently through the country towards the +Ganges, without cutting very deeply into the soil, always keep the +water near the surface, and available in all quarters and in any +quantity for purposes of irrigation. Never was country more +favoured, by nature, or more susceptible of improvement under +judicious management. There is really hardly an acre of land that +is not capable of good culture, or that need be left waste, except +for the sites of towns and villages, and ponds for irrigation, or +that would be left waste under good government. The people +understand tillage well, and are industrious and robust, capable of +any exertion under protection and due encouragement.</p> +<p>The Government has all the revenues to itself, having no public +debt and paying no tribute to any one, while the country receives +from the British Government alone fifty lacs, or half a million +a-year; first, in the incomes of guaranteed pensioners, whose +stipends are the interest of loans received by our Government at +different times from the sovereigns of Oude, as a provision for +their relatives and dependents in perpetuity, and as endowments for +their mausoleums and mosques, and other religious and eleemosynary +establishments; second, in the interest paid for Government +securities held by people residing in Oude; third, in the payment +of pensions to the families of men who have been killed in our +service, and to invalid native officers and sipahees of our army +residing there, fourth, in the savings of others who still serve in +our army, while their families reside in Oude; and those of the +native officers of our civil establishments, whose families remain +at their homes in Oude; fifth, in the interest on a large amount of +our Government securities held by people at Lucknow, who draw the +interest not from the Resident's Treasury, but from the General +Treasury in Calcutta, or the Treasuries of our bordering districts, +in order to conceal their wealth from the King and his officers. +Over and above all this our Government has to send into Oude, to be +expended there, the pay of five regiments of infantry and a company +of artillery, which amounts to some six or seven lacs more. Oude +has so many places of pilgrimage, that it receives more in the +purchase of the food and other necessaries required by the +pilgrims, during their transit and residence, than it sends out +with pilgrims who visit shrines and holy places in other countries. +It requires little from other countries but a few luxuries for the +rich—in shawls from Kashmere and the Punjab, silks, satins, +broad-cloth, muslins, guns, watches, &c. from England.</p> +<p>A great portion of the salt and saltpetre required is raised +within Oude, and so is all the agricultural produce, except in +seasons of drought; and the arms required for the troops are +manufactured in Oude, with the exception of some few cannon and +shells, and the muskets and bayonets for the few disciplined +regiments. The royal family and some of the Mahommedan gentlemen at +Lucknow send money occasionally to the shrines of Mecca, Medina, +Kurbala, and Nujuf Ashruf, in Turkish Arabia; and some Hindoos send +some to Benares and other places of worship, to be distributed in +charity or laid out in useful works in their name. Some of the +large pensions enjoyed by the relatives and dependents of former +sovereigns, under the guarantee of our Government, go in perpetuity +to the shrines in Turkish Arabia, in default of both <i>will</i> and +<i>heir</i>. +When Ghazee-od Deen succeeded his father on the musnud in 1814, +contrary to his expectation and to his father's wish, he gave the +minister about fifty lacs of rupees to be expended in charity at +those shrines, and in canals, saraees, and other works of utility. +Letters, full of expressions of gratitude and descriptions of these +useful works, were often shown to him; but the minister, Aga Meer, +is said to have kept the whole fifty lacs to himself, and got all +these letters written by his private secretaries. Some few Hindoo +and Mahommedan gentlemen, when they have lost their places and +favour at the Oude Court, go and reside at Cawnpoor, and some few +other places in the British territory for greater security; but +generally it may be said, that in spite of all disadvantages +Mahommedan gentlemen from Oude, in whatever country they may serve, +like to leave their families in Oude, and to return and spend what +they acquire among them. They find better society there than in our +own territories, or society more to their tastes; better means for +educating their sons; more splendid processions, festivals, and +other inviting sights, in which they and their families can +participate without cost; more consideration for rank and learning, +and more attractive places for worship and religious observances. +The little town of Karoree, about ten or twelve miles from Lucknow, +has, I believe, more educated men, filling high and lucrative +offices in our civil establishments, than any other town in India +except Calcutta. They owe the greater security which they there +enjoy, compared with other small towns in Oude, chiefly to the +respect in which they are known to be held by the British +Government and its officers, and to the influence of their friends +and relatives who hold office about the Court of Lucknow.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 21, 1849.—Sakin, ten miles north-west. The +country well studded with fine trees, and pretty well cultivated, +but the soil is light from a superabundance of sand; and the crops +are chiefly autumn, except in the immediate vicinity of villages, +and cut in December. The surface on which they stood this season +appears to be waste, except where the stalks of the jowar and +bajara, are left standing for sale and use, as fodder for cattle. +These stalks are called kurbee, and form good fodder for elephants, +bullocks, &c., during the cold, hot, and rainy season. They are +said to keep better when left on the ground, after the heads have +been gathered, than when stacked. The sandy soil, in the vicinity +of villages, produces fine spring crops of all kinds, wheat, gram, +sugarcane, arahur, tobacco, &c., being well manured by drainage +from the villages, and by the dung stored and spread over it; and +that more distant would produce the same, if manured and irrigated +in the same way.</p> +<p>The head men or proprietors of some villages along the road +mentioned, "that the fine state in which we saw them was owing to +their being strong, and able to resist the Government authorities +when disposed, as they generally were, to oppress or rack-rent +them; that the landholders owed their strength to their union, for +all were bound to turn out and afford aid to their neighbour on +hearing the concerted signal of distress; that this league, +'<i>offensive and defensive</i>,' extended all over the Baugur +district, into which we entered about midway between this and our +last stage; and that we should see how much better it was peopled +and cultivated in consequence than the district of Mahomdee, to +which we were going; that the strong only could keep anything under +the Oude Government; and as they could not be strong without union, +all landholders were solemnly pledged to aid each other, <i>to the +death</i>, when oppressed or attacked by the local officers." They +asked Captain Weston, who was some miles behind me, what was the +Resident's object in this tour, whether the Honourable Company's +Government was to be introduced into Oude? He told them that the +object was solely to see the state of the country and condition of +the people, with a view to suggest to the King's Government any +measures that might seem calculated to improve both; and asked them +whether they wished to come under the British rule? They told him, +"that they should like much to have the British rule introduced, if +it could be done without worrying them with its complicated laws +and formal and distant courts of justice, of which they had heard +terrible accounts."</p> +<p>The Nazim of the Tundeeawun or Baugur district met me on his +border, and told me, "that he was too weak to enforce the King's +orders, or to collect his revenues; that he had with him one +efficient company of Captain Bunbury's corps, with one gun in good +repair, and provided with draft-bullocks, in good condition; and +that this was the only force he could rely upon; while the +landholders were strong, and so leagued together for mutual +defence, that, at the sound of a matchlock, or any other concerted +signal, all the men of a dozen large villages would, in an hour, +concentrate upon and defeat the largest force the King's officers +could assemble; that they did so almost every year, and often +frequently within the same year; that he had nominally eight guns +on duty with him, but the carriage of one had already gone to +pieces; and those of the rest had been so long without repair that +they would go to pieces with very little firing, that the +draft-bullocks had not had any grain for many years, and were +hardly able to walk; and he was in consequence obliged to hire +plough-bullocks, to draw the gun required to salute the Resident; +but he had only ten days ago received an order to give them grain +himself, charge for it in his accounts, and hold himself +responsible for their condition; that they had been so starved, +that he was obliged to restrict them to a few ounces a-day at +first, or they would have all died from over-eating." This order +has arisen from my earnest intercession in favour of the artillery +draft-bullocks; but so many are interested in the abuse, that the +order will not be long enforced. Though the grain will, as +heretofore, be paid for from the Treasury, it will, I hear, be +given to the bullocks only while I am out on this tour.</p> +<p>In the evening some cultivators came to complain that they had +been robbed of all their bhoosa (chaff) by a sipahee from my camp. +I found, on inquiry, that the sipahee belonged to Captain Hearsey's +five companies of Frontier Police; that these companies had sixteen +four-bullock hackeries attached to them for the carriage of their +tents and luggage; and that these hackeries had gone to the +village, and taken all that the complainants had laid up for their +own cattle for the season; that such hackeries formerly received +twenty-seven rupees eight annas a-month each, and their owners were +expected to purchase their own fodder; but that this allowance had +for some years been cut down to fourteen rupees a-month, and they +were told <i>to help themselves to fodder wherever they could find +it</i>; that all the hackeries hired by the King and his local +officers, for the use of troops, establishments, &c. had been +reduced at the same rate, from twenty-seven eight annas a-month to +fourteen, and their owners received the same order. All villages +near the roads along which the troops and establishments move are +plundered of their bhoosa, and all those within ten miles of the +place, where they may be detained for a week or fortnight, are +plundered in the same way.</p> +<p>The Telinga corps and Frontier Police are alone provided with +tents and hackeries by Government. The Nujeeb corps are provided +with neither. The Oude Government formerly allowed for each +four-bullock hackery thirty rupees a-month, from which <i>two +rupees and half</i> were deducted for the perquisites of office. +The owners of the hackeries were expected to purchase bhoosa and +other fodder for their bullocks at the market price; but they took +what they required without payment, in <i>collusion with</i> the +officers under whom they were employed, or in <i>spite</i> of them; +and the Oude Government in 1845 cut the allowance down to seventeen +rupees and half, out of which <i>three rupees and half</i> are cut +for perquisites, leaving fourteen rupees for the hackeries: and +their owners and drivers have the free privilege of helping +themselves to bhoosa and other fodder wherever they can find them. +Some fifty or sixty of these hackeries were formerly allowed for +each Telinga corps with guns, now only twenty-two are allowed; and +when they move they must, like Nujeeb corps, seize what more they +require. They are allowed to charge nothing for their extra +carriage, and therefore pay nothing.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 22, 1849.—Tundeeawun, eight miles west. The +country level, and something between doomuteen and muteear, very +good, and in parts well cultivated, particularly in the vicinity of +villages; but a large portion of the surface is covered with +jungle, useful only to robbers and refractory landholders, who +abound in the purgunnah of Bangur. In this respect it is reputed +one of the worst districts in Oude. Within the last few years the +King's troops have been frequently beaten and driven out with loss, +even when commanded by an European officer. The landholders and +armed peasantry of the different villages unite their <i>quotas of +auxiliaries</i>, and concentrate upon them on a concerted signal, +when they are in pursuit of robbers and rebels. Almost every +able-bodied man of every village in Bangur is trained to the use of +arms of one kind or another, and none of the King's troops, save +those who are disciplined and commanded by European officers, will +venture to move against a landholder of this district; and when the +local authorities cannot obtain the aid of such troops, they are +obliged to conciliate the most powerful and unscrupulous by +reductions in the assessment of the lands or additions to their +<i>nankar</i>.</p> +<p>To illustrate the spirit and system of union among the chief +landholders of the Bangur district, I may here mention a few facts +within my own knowledge, and of recent date. Bhugwunt Singh, who +held the estate of Etwa Peepureea, had been for some time in +rebellion against his sovereign; and he had committed many murders +and robberies, and lifted many herds of cattle within our bordering +district of Shajehanpoor; and he had given shelter, on his own +estate, to a good many atrocious criminals, from that and others of +our bordering district. He had, too, aided and screened many gangs +of Budhuks, or dacoits by hereditary profession. The Resident, +Colonel Low, in 1841, directed every possible effort to be made for +the arrest of this formidable offender, and Captain Hollings, the +second in command of the 2nd battalion of Oude local infantry, +sent intelligencers to trace him.</p> +<p>They ascertained that he had, with a few followers, taken up a +position two hundred yards to the north of the village of Ahroree, +in a jungle of palas-trees and brushwood in the Bangur district, +about twenty-eight miles to the south-west of Seetapoor, where that +battalion was cantoned, and about fourteen miles west from Neemkar. +Captain Hollings made his arrangements to surprise this party; and +on the evening of the 3rd of July 1841, he marched from Neemkar at +the head of three companies of that battalion, and a little before +midnight he came within three-quarters of a mile of the rebel's +post. After halting his party for a short time, to enable the +officers and sipahees to throw off all superfluous clothing and +utensils, Captain Hollings moved on to the attack. When the +advanced guard reached the outskirts of the robber's position about +midnight, they were first challenged and then fired upon by the +sentries. The subadar in command of this advance guard fell dead, +and a non-commissioned officer and a sipahee severely wounded.</p> +<p>The whole party now fired in upon the gang and rushed on. One of +the robbers was shot, and the rest all escaped out on the opposite +side of the jungle. The sipahees believing, since the surprise had +been complete, that the robbers must have left all their wealth +behind them, dispersed, as soon as the firing ceased and the +robbers disappeared, to get every man as much as he could. While +thus engaged they were surrounded by the Gohar, (or body of +auxiliaries which these landholders send to each other's aid on the +concerted signal,) and fired in upon from the front, and both right +and left flanks. Taken by surprise, they collected together in +disorder, while the assailants from the front and sides continued +to pour in their fire upon them; and they were obliged to retire in +haste and confusion, closely followed by the auxiliaries, who +gained confidence, and pressed closer as their number increased by +the quotas they received from the villages the detachment had to +pass in their retreat.</p> +<p>All efforts on the part of Captain Hollings to preserve order in +the ranks were vain. His men returned the fire of their pursuers, +but without aim or effect. At the head of the auxiliaries were +Punchum Sing, of Ahroree, and Mirza Akbar Beg, of Deureea; and they +were fast closing in upon the party, and might have destroyed it, +when Girwur Sing, tomandar, came up with a detachment of the +Special Police of the Thuggee and Dacoitee Department. At this time +the three companies were altogether disorganized and disheartened, +as the firing and pursuit had lasted from midnight to daybreak; but +on seeing the Special Police come up and join with spirit in the +defence, they rallied, and the assailants, thinking the +reinforcement more formidable than it really was, lost confidence +and held back. Captain Hollings mounted the fresh horse of the +tomandar, and led his detachment without further loss or +molestation back to Neemkar. His loss had been one subadar, one +havildar, and three sipahees killed; one subadar, two havildars, +one naik, and fourteen sipahees wounded and missing. Captain +Hollings' groom was shot dead, and one of his palankeen-bearers was +wounded. His horse, palankeen, desk, clothes, and all the +superfluous clothing and utensils, which the sipahees had thrown +off preparatory to the attack fell into the hands of the +assailants. Attempts were made to take up and carry off the killed +and wounded; but the detachment was so sorely pressed that they +were obliged to leave both on the ground. The loss would have been +much greater than it was, but for the darkness of the night, which +prevented the assailants from taking good aim; and the detachment +would, in all probability, have been cut to pieces, but for the +timely arrival of the Special Police under Girwur Sing.</p> +<p>Such attacks are usually made upon robber bands about the first +dawn of day; and this attack at midnight was a great error. Had +they not been assailed by the auxiliaries, they could not, in the +darkness, have secured one of the gang. It was known, that at the +first shot from either the assailing or defending party in that +district, all the villages around concentrate their quotas upon the +spot, to fight to the death against the King's troops, whatever +might be their object; and the detachment ought to have been +prepared for such concentration when the firing began, and returned +as quickly as possible from the place when they saw that by staying +they could not succeed in the object.</p> +<p>Four months after, in November, Punchum Sing, of Ahroree, +himself cut off the head of the robber, Bhugwunt Sing, with his own +hand, and sent it to the governor, Furreed-od Deen, with an apology +for having <i>by mistake</i> attacked Captain Hollings' detachment. +The governor sent the head to the King, with a report stating that +he had, at the peril of his life, and after immense toil, hunted +down and destroyed this formidable rebel; and his Majesty, as a +reward for his valuable services, conferred upon Furreed-od Deen a +title and a first-rate dress of honour. Soon after, in the same +month of July 1841, his Majesty the King of Oude's second regiment +of infantry, under the command of a very gallant officer, Captain +W. D. Bunbury, was encamped near the village of Belagraon, when +information was brought that certain convicts, who had escaped from +the gaol at Bareilly, had taken refuge in the village of +Parakurown, about fifty miles to the north-west of his camp. +Captain Bunbury immediately detached three companies, with two +six-pounders, under his brother, Lieutenant A. C. Bunbury, to +arrest them. After halting for a short time at Gopamow, to allow +his men to take breath. Lieutenant Bunbury pushed on, and reached +the place a little before the dawn of day. He demanded the +surrender of the outlaws from the chief of the village, named +Ajrael Sing, a notoriously bad character, who insolently refused to +give them up. A fight commenced, in which one of the convicts, and +some others, were killed; but at last Lieutenant Bunbury succeeded +in securing Arjael Sing himself, with some few of his followers, +and the outlaws.</p> +<p>Hearing the firing of the field-pieces, the surrounding villages +concentrated their quotas of auxiliaries upon the place, and +attacked Lieutenant Bunbury's detachment on all sides. He had taken +possession of the village; but finding it untenable against so +large and increasing a body of assailants, he commenced his +retreat. He had scarcely reached the outskirts when he found +himself surrounded by overwhelming numbers of these auxiliaries, +through whom he was obliged to fight his way for a distance of +fourteen miles to Pahanee. The armed peasantry of every village, on +the right and left of the road as they passed, turned out and +joined the pursuers in their attempt to rescue his prisoners. +Lieutenant Bunbury's conduct of this retreat was most gallant and +judicious; and his men behaved admirably. When the assailants +appeared likely to overwhelm him, he abandoned one of his two guns, +and hastened on, leaving three men lying under them apparently +wounded, and unable to move. On this they pressed on, sword in +hand, to despatch the wounded men, and seize the guns. When the +assailants were within thirty or forty yards of the gun, they +started up, and poured in upon the dense crowd a discharge of grape +with deadly effect. A party then doubled back from the main body of +the detachment, protected the artillery men in limbering up the +gun, and escorting it to the main body, which again resumed its +march. This experiment was repeated several times with success as +they passed other villages, from which further auxiliaries poured +out, till they approached Pahanee, where they found support. In +this retreat Lieutenant Bunbury lost sixty men out of his three +companies, or about one-third of his number; but he retained all +his prisoners. Ajrael Sing soon after died of the wounds he had +received in defending the convicts in his village; and the rest of +the prisoners were all sent to the Oude Durbar. Lieutenant Bunbury +is now in the Honourable Company's Service, and in the 34th +Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry.</p> +<p>On the 23rd of January 1849, Captain Hearsey, of the Oude +Frontier Police, sent his subadar-major, Ramzan Khan, with a party +of one hundred and fifty men of that police, to arrest a notorious +robber, Mendae Sing, and other outlaws, from the Shajehanpoor +district, who had found an asylum in the village of Sahurwa, in the +Mahomdee district, whence they carried on their depredations upon +our villages across the border. The party reached Sahurwa the next +morning a little before sunrise. The subadar-major having posted +his men so as to prevent the escape of the outlaws, demanded their +surrender from the village authorities. They were answered by a +volley of matchlock-balls; and finding the village too strong to be +taken by his small detachment without guns, he withdrew to a more +sheltered position to the westward, and detached a havildar with +fifty men to take possession of a large gateway to the south of the +village. During this movement the villagers continued to fire upon +them; and the quotas of auxiliaries from the surrounding villages, +roused by the firing, came rushing on from all quarters. Seeing no +chance of being able either to take the village or to maintain his +position against such numbers, the subadar-major drew off his +detachment, and proceeded for support to Pahanee, a distance of +twelve miles. He reached that place pursued by the auxiliaries, and +with the loss of one havildar and one sipahee killed, and three +sipahees very severely wounded. There are numerous instances of +this sort in which the King's troops have been attacked and beaten +back, and their prisoners rescued by the landholders of Bangur, and +the adjoining districts of Mahomdee and Sandee Palee. They are +never punished for doing so, as the King is too weak, and the aid +of the British troops, for the purpose, has seldom been given.</p> +<p>It would be of advantage to remove the Regiment of Oude Local +Infantry from Seetapoor to Tundeeawun, where its presence and +services are much more required. The climate is as good, and all +that native soldiers require for food and clothing are cheaper. The +drainage is good; and to the east of the town there is one of the +finest plains for a cantonment that I have ever seen. There are but +few wells, but new ones can be made at a trifling cost; and the +Oude Government would willingly incur the outlay required for these +and for all the public buildings required for the new cantonments, +to secure the advantage of such a change. The cost of the public +buildings would be only 12,000 rupees; and the same sum would have +to be given in compensation for private buildings-total 24,000. The +refractory landholders would soon be reduced to order, and +prevented from any longer making their villages dens of robbers as +they now do; and the jungles around would all soon disappear. These +jungles are not thick, or unhealthy, consisting of the small dhak +or palas tree, with little or no underwood; and the surface they +now occupy would soon be covered with fine spring crops, and +studded with happy village communities, were people encouraged by +an assurance of protection to settle upon it, and apply their +capital and labour to its cultivation. The soil is everywhere of +the finest quality, the drainage is good, and there are no jheels. +A few ponds yield the water required for the irrigation of the +spring crops, during their progress to maturity, from November to +March: they are said all to become dry in the hot season. It is, I +think, capable of being made the finest part of this fine country +of Oude.</p> +<p>It was in contemplation to make the road from Lucknow to +Shajehanpoor and Bareilly pass through this place, Tundeeawun, by +which some thirty miles of distance would be saved, and a good many +small rivers and watercourses avoided. Why this design was given up +I know not; but I believe the only objection was the greater +insecurity of this line from the bad character of the great +landholders of the Bangur and Sandee Palee districts; and the +greater number of thieves and robbers who, in consequence, reside +in them. There has been but little outlay in works of any kind in +the whole line through Seetapore; and when measures have been taken +to render this line more secure, a good road will, I hope, be made +through Tundeeawun. It was once a populous place, but has been +falling off for many years, as the disorders in the district have +increased. The Nazim resides here. The last Nazim, Hoseyn Allee, +who was removed to Khyrabad, at the end of last year, is said to +have given an increase of <i>nankar</i> to the refractory +landholders of this district during that year, to the extent of +forty thousand rupees a-year, to induce them to pay the Government +demand, and desist from plunder. By this means he secured a good +reputation at Court, and the charge of a more profitable and less +troublesome district; and left the difficult task of resuming this +lavish increase of the <i>nankar</i> to his successor, Seonath, the +son of Dilla Ram, who held the contract of the district for some +twenty years up to the time of his death, which took place last +year. Seonath is a highly respectable and amiable man; but he is +very delicate in health, and, in consequence, deficient in the +vigour and energy required to manage so turbulent a district. He +has, however, a deputy in Kidder Nath, a relative, who has all the +ability, vigour, and energy required, if well supported and +encouraged by the Oude Durbar. He was deputy under Dilla Ram for +many years, and the same under Hoseyn Allee last year. He is a man +of great intelligence and experience; and one of the best officers +of the Oude Government that I have yet seen.</p> +<p>There are two kinds of recognised perquisites which landholders +enjoy in Oude and in most other parts of India—the +<i>nankar</i> and the <i>seer</i> land. The <i>nankar</i> is a +portion of the recognised rent-roll acknowledged by the ruler to be +due to the landholder for the risk, cost, and trouble of +management, and for his perquisite as hereditary proprietor of the +soil when the management is confided to another. It may be ten, +twenty, or one hundred percent upon the rent-roll of the estate, +which is recognised in the public accounts, as the holder happens +to be an object of fear or of favour, or otherwise; and the real +rent-roll may be more or less than that which is recognised in the +public accounts. The actual rent which the landholder receives may +increase with improvements, and he may conceal the improvement from +the local authorities, or bribe them to conceal it from Government; +or it may diminish from lands falling out of tillage, or becoming +impoverished by over-cropping, or from a diminution of demand for +land produce; and the landholder may be unable to satisfy the local +authorities of the fact, or to prevail upon them to represent the +circumstance to Government. The amount of the <i>nankar</i> once +recognised remains the same till a new rate is recognised by +Government; but when the Government becomes weak, the local +authorities assume the right to recognise new rents, to suit their +own interest, and pretend that they do so to promote that of their +sovereign.</p> +<p>I may instance the Amil of this district last year. He was weak, +while the landholders were strong. They refused to pay, on the plea +of bad seasons. He could send no money to the Treasury, and was in +danger of losing his place. The man who had to pay a revenue of ten +thousand could not be induced to pay five: he enjoyed an +acknowledged <i>nankar</i> of two thousand upon a recognised +rent-roll of twelve thousand; and, to induce him to pay, he gives +him an increase to this <i>nankar</i> of one thousand, making the +<i>nankar</i> three thousand, and reducing the revenue to nine +thousand. Being determined to render the increase to his +<i>nankar</i> permanent, whether the Government consents or not, +the landholder agrees to pay the ten thousand for the present year. +The collector sends the whole or a part of the one thousand as +gratuities to influential men at Court, and enters it in the public +accounts as irrecoverable balance. The present Amil, finding that +the increase to the <i>nankar</i> has not been acknowledged by +Government, demands the full ten thousand rupees for the present +year. The landholder refuses to pay anything, takes to the jungles, +and declares that he will resist till his permanent right to the +increase be acknowledged.</p> +<p>The Amil has taken the contract at the rate of last year, as the +Government had sanctioned no increase to the <i>nankar</i>, and he +pleads in vain for a remission in the rate, which he pledged +himself to pay, or an increase of means to enforce payment among so +turbulent and refractory a body of landholders. As I have before +mentioned, the Oude Government has this season issued an order to +all revenue collectors to refuse to recognise any increase to the +<i>nankar</i> that has been made since the year A.D. 1814, or +Fusilee 1222, when Saadut Allee died, as none has since that year +received the sanction of Government, though the <i>nankar</i> has +been more than doubled within that period in the manner above +described by local authorities. The increase to the <i>nankar</i>, +and the alienation in rent-free tenure of lands liable to +assessment in 1814 by local authorities and influential persons at +Court, are supposed to amount in all Oude to forty lacs of rupees +a-year. None of them have been formally recognised by the Court, +but a great part of them has been tacitly acquiesced in by the +minister and Dewan for the time being. They cannot enforce the +order for reverting to the <i>nankar</i> of 1814, and if they +attempt to do so the whole country will be in disorder. Indeed, the +minister knows his own weakness too well to think seriously of ever +making such an attempt. The <i>seer</i> lands are those which the +landholders and their families till themselves, or by means of +their servants or hired cultivators. Generally they are not entered +at all in the rent-rolls; and when they are entered, it is at less +rates than are paid for the other lands. The difference between the +no rent, or less rates, and the full rates is part of their +perquisites. These lands are generally shared out among the members +of the family as hereditary possessions.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 23, 1850.—Behta, ten miles, over a plain of +fine muteear soil. The greater part of the surface is, however, +covered by a low palas jungle. The jungle remains, because no one +will venture to lay out his capital in rooting up the trees and +shrubs, and bringing the land under culture where the fruits of his +industry, and his own life and those of his family, would be so +very insecure, and because the powerful landholders around require +the jungles to run to when in arms against the Government officers, +as they commonly are. The land under this jungle is as rich in +natural powers as that in tillage; and nothing can be finer than +the crops in the cultivated parts, particularly in those +immediately around villages. There are numerous large trees in the +jungles, but the fine peepul and banyan trees are torn to pieces +for the use of the elephants and camels of the establishments of +the local officers, and for the cows, bullocks, and buffaloes of +the peasantry. The cows and buffaloes are said to give greater +quantities of milk when fed on the leaves of these trees than when +fed on anything else available in the dry season; but the milk is +said to be of inferior quality. All the cultivated and peopled +parts are beautifully studded with single trees and groves.</p> +<p>No respectable dwelling-house is anywhere to be seen, and the +most substantial landholders live in wretched mud-hovels with +invisible covers. I asked the people why, and was told that they +were always too insecure to lay out anything in improving their +dwelling-houses; and, besides, did not like to have such local +ties, where they were so liable to be driven away by the Government +officers or by the landholders in arms against them, and their +reckless followers. The local officers of Government, of the +highest grade, occupy houses of the same wretched description, for +none of them can be sure of occupying them a year, or of ever +returning to them again when once removed from their present +offices; and they know that neither their successors nor any one +else will ever purchase or pay rent for them. No mosques, +mausoleums, temples, seraees, colleges, courts of justice, or +prisons to be seen in any of the towns or villages. There are a few +Hindoo shrines at the half-dozen places which popular legends have +rendered places of pilgrimage, and a few small tanks and bridges +made in olden times by public officers, when they were more secure +in their tenure of office than they are now. All the fine buildings +raised by former rulers and their officers at the old capital of +Fyzabad are going fast to ruin. The old city of Ajoodhea is a ruin, +with the exception of a few buildings along the bank of the river +raised by wealthy Hindoos in honour of Ram, who once lived and +reigned there, and is believed by all Hindoos to have been an +incarnation of Vishnoo.</p> +<p>I have often mentioned that the artillery draft-bullocks receive +no grain, and are everywhere so poor that they can hardly walk, +much less draw heavy guns and tumbrils. The reason is this, the +most influential men at Court obtain the charge of feeding the +cattle in all the different establishments, and charge for a +certain quantity of grain or other food at the market price for +each animal. They contract for the supply of the cattle with some +grain-merchant of the city, who undertakes to distribute it through +his own agents. The contractor for the supply of the artillery +draft-bullocks sends an agent with those in attendance upon every +collector of the land revenue, and he gives them as little as +possible. The contractor, afraid of making an enemy of the +influential man at Court, who could if he chose deprive him of his +contract or place, never presumes to interfere, and the agent gives +the poor bullocks no grain at all. The collector, or officer in +charge of the district, is, however, obliged every month to pay the +agent of the contractor the full market price of the grain supposed +to be consumed—that is, one seer and half a-day by every +bullock. The same, or some other influential person at Court, +obtains and transfers in the same way the contract for the feeding +of the elephants, horses, camels, bullocks, and other animals kept +at Lucknow for use or amusement, and none of them are in much +better condition than the draft-bullocks of the artillery in the +remote districts—all are starved, or nearly starved, and +objects of pity. Those who are responsible for their being fed are +too strong in Court favour to apprehend any punishment for not +feeding them at all.</p> +<p>In my ride this morning I asked the people of the villages +through and near which we passed whether infanticide prevailed: +they told me that it prevailed amongst almost all the Rajpoot +families of any rank in Oude; that very poor families of those +classes retained their daughters, because they could get something +for them from the families of lower grade, into which they married +them; but that those who were too well off in the world to +condescend to take money for their daughters from lower grades, and +were obliged to incur heavy costs in marrying them into families of +the same or higher grade, seldom allowed their infant daughters to +live.</p> +<p>"It is strange," I observed, "that men, who have to undergo such +heavy penance for killing a cow, even by accident, should have to +undergo none for the murder of their own children, nor to incur any +odium among the circle of society in which they live—not even +among Brahmins and the ministers of their religion."</p> +<p>"They do incur odium, and undergo penance," said Rajah Bukhtawur +Sing; "do they not?" said he to some Brahmins standing near. They +smiled, but hesitated to reply. "They know they do," said the +Rajah, "but are afraid to tell the truth, for they and their +families live in villages belonging to these proud Rajpoot +landholders, and would be liable to be turned out of house and home +were they to tell what they know." One of the Brahmins then said, +"All this is true, sir; but after the murder of every infant the +family considers itself to be an object of displeasure to the +deity, and after the twelfth day they send for the family priest +(Prohut), and, by suitable gratuities, obtain absolution. This is +necessary, whether the family be rich or poor; but when the +absolution is given, nothing more is thought or said about the +matter. The Gour and other Rajpoots who can afford to unite their +daughters in marriage to the sons of Chouhans, Byses, and other +families of higher grade, though they cannot obtain theirs in +return for their sons, commit less murders of this kind than +others; but all the Rajpoot clans commit more or less of them. +Habit has reconciled them to it; but it appears very shocking to us +Brahmins and all other classes. They commonly bury the infants +alive as soon as possible after their birth. We, sir, are helpless, +living as we do among such turbulent and pitiless landholders, and +cannot presume to admonish or remonstrate: our lives would not be +safe for a moment were we to say anything, or seem to notice such +crimes."</p> +<p>I do not think that any landholder of this class, in the Bangur +district, would feel much compunction for the commission of any +crime that did not involve their expulsion from caste, or +degradation in rank. Great crimes do not involve these penalties: +they incur them only by small peccadillos, or offences deemed venal +among other societies. The Government of Oude, as it is at present +constituted, will never be able to put down effectually the great +crimes which now stain almost every acre of land in its dominions. +It is painful to pass over a country abounding so much in what the +evil propensities of our nature incite men to do, when not duly +restrained; and so little in what the good prompt us to perform and +create, when duly protected and encouraged, under good +government.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 24, 1850.—Sandee, fourteen miles, over a +plain of light domuteea soil, which becomes very sandy for the last +four or five miles. The crops are scanty upon the more sandy parts, +except in the vicinity of villages; but there is a little jungle, +and no undue portion of fallow for so light a soil. About five +miles from our last ground, we came through the large and populous +village of Bawun; about three miles further, through another of +nearly the same size, Sungeechamow; and about three miles further +on, through one still larger, Admapoor, which is three miles from +Sandee. Sandee and Nawabgunge join each other, and are on the bank +of the Gurra river, a small stream whose waters are said to be very +wholesome. We passed the boundary of the Bangur district, just +before we entered the village of Sungeechamow, which lies in that +of Sandee.</p> +<p>There is a Hindoo shrine on the right of the road between Sandee +and Admapoor, which is said to be considered very sacred, and +called Barmawust. It is a mere grove, with a few priests, on the +bank of a large lake, which extends close up to Sandee on the +south. The river Gurra flows under the town to the north. The place +is said to be healthy, but could hardly be so, were this lake to +the west or east, instead of the south, whence the wind seldom +blows. This lake must give out more or less of malaria, that would +be taken over the village, for the greater portion of the year, by +the prevailing easterly and westerly winds. I do not think the +place so eligible for a cantonment at Tundeeawun, in point either +of salubrity, position, or soil.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 25, 1850.—Halted at Sandee. The lake on the +south side, mentioned yesterday, abounds in fish, and is covered +with wild fowl; but the fish we got from it yesterday was not good +of its kind. I observed very fine groves of mango-trees close to +Sandee, planted by merchants and shopkeepers of the place. The +oldest are still held by the descendants of those by whom they were +first planted, more than a century ago; and no tax whatever is +imposed upon the trees of any kind, or upon the lands on which they +stand. Many young groves are growing up around, to replace the old +ones as they decay; and the greatest possible security is felt in +the tenure by which they are held by the planter, or his +descendants, though they hold no written lease, or deed of gift; +and have neither written law nor court of justice to secure it to +them. Groves and solitary mango, semul, tamarind, mhowa and other +trees, whose leaves and branches are not required for the food of +elephants and camels, are more secure in Oude than in our own +territories; and the country is, in consequence, much better +provided with them. While they give beauty to the landscape, they +alleviate the effects of droughts to the poorer classes from the +fruit they supply; and droughts are less frequently and less +severely felt in a country so intersected by fine streams, flowing +from the Tarae forest, or down from the perpetual snows of +neighbouring hills, and keeping the water always near the surface. +These trees tend also to render the air healthy, by giving out +oxygen in large quantities during the day, and absorbing carbonic +acid gas. The river Gurra enters the Ganges about twelve miles +below Sandee. Boats take timber on this stream from the Phillibeet +district to Cawnpoor. It passes near the town of Shajehanpoor; and +the village of Palee, twenty miles north-west from Sandee, where we +shall have to recross it.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 26, 1850.—Busora, twelve miles north-west +from Sandee, over a plain of light sandy soil, or bhoor, with some +intervals of oosur. The tillage extends over as much of the surface +as it ought in so light a soil; and the district of Sandee Palee +generally is said to be well cultivated. It has been under the +charge of Hafiz Abdoollah, a very honest and worthy man, for seven +years up to his death, which took place in November last. He is +said never to have broken faith with a landholder; but he was too +weak in means to keep the bad portion under control; and too much +occupied in reading or repeating the <i>Koran</i>, which he knew +all by heart, as his name imports. His son Ameer Gholam Allee, a +lad of only thirteen years of age, has been appointed his +successor. He promises to be like his father in honesty and love of +the holy book.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* He has been since removed, and was in prison as a defaulter, +July 1851.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>About half way we passed the village of Bhanapoor, held by +zumeendars of the <i>Dhaukurree</i> Rajpoot clan, who told me, that +they gave their daughters in marriage to the Rykwars, but more to +the Sombunsie Rajpoots, who abound in the district, and hold the +greater part of the lands; that these Sombunsies have absorbed +almost all the lands of the other classes by degrees, and are now +seizing upon theirs; that the Sombunsies give their daughters in +marriage only to the Rathore and Chouhan Rajpoots, few of whom are +to be found on the Oude side of the Ganges; and, in consequence, +that they take such as they preserve to our districts on the other +side of that river, but murder the greater part rather than +condescend to marry them to men of the other Rajpoot clans whom +they deem to be of inferior grade, or go to the expense of uniting +them in marriage to clans of higher or equal grade in Oude. Some +Sombunsies, who came out to pay their respects from the next +village we passed, told us, that they did not give their daughters +even to the Tilokchundee Bys Rajpoots; but in this they did not +tell the truth.</p> +<p>At the next village, the largest in the parish, Barone, the +chief landholder, Kewul Sing, came out and presented his offering +of a fine fighting-ram. He was armed with his bow, and "quiver full +of arrows," but told me, that he thought a good gun, with pouch and +flask, much better, and he carried the bow and quiver merely +because they were lighter. He was surrounded by almost all the +people of the town, and told me, that the family held in +copartnership fifty-two small villages, immediately around +<i>Barone</i>—that this village had been attacked and burnt +down by Captain Bunbury and his regiment the year before last, +without any other cause that they could understand save that he had +recommended him not to encamp in the grove close by. The fact was, +that none of the family would pay the Government demand, or obey +the old Amil, Hafiz Abdoollah; and it was necessary to make an +example. On being asked whether his family and clan, the +Sombunsies, preserved or destroyed their daughters, he told me, in +the midst of his village community, that he would not deceive me; +that they, one and all, destroyed their infant daughters; but that +one was, occasionally, allowed to live (<i>ek-adh</i>); that the +family was under a taint for twelve days after the murder of an +infant, when the family priest (Prohut) was invited and fed in due +form; that he then declared the absolution complete, and the taint +removed.</p> +<p>The family priest was present, and I asked him what he got on +such occasions? He said, that to remove the taint, or grant +absolution after the murder of a daughter, he got little or no +money; he merely partook of the food prepared for him in due form; +but that, on the birth of a son, he got ten rupees from the +parents. All the assembled villagers bore testimony to the truth of +what the patriarch and the priest told me. They said, that no one +would enter a house in which an infant daughter had been destroyed, +or eat or drink with any member of the family till the Prohut had +granted the absolution, which he did after the expiration of twelve +days, as a matter of course, depending as he did upon the good-will +of the landholders, who were all of the same clan, Sombunsies. Few +other Brahmins will condescend to eat, drink, or associate with +these family and village priests, who take the sins of such +murderers upon their own heads.</p> +<p>The old patriarch rode on with me upon his pony, five miles to +my tents, as if I should not think the worse of him for having +murdered his own daughters, and permitted others to murder theirs. +I told him, that I could hold no converse with men who were guilty +of such crimes; and that the vengeance of God would crush them all, +sooner or latter. For his only excuse he told me, that it was a +practice, derived from a long line of ancestors, wiser and better +than they were; and that it prevailed in almost every Rajpoot +family in the country; that they had, in consequence, become +reconciled to it, and knew not how to do without it. Family pride +is the cause of this terrible evil!</p> +<p>The estate of Kuteearee, on the left-hand side of the road +towards the Ramgunga and Ganges, is held by Runjeet Sing, of the +Kuteear Rajpoot clan. His estate yields to him about one hundred +and twenty thousand rupees a-year, while he is assessed at only +sixteen thousand. While Hakeem Mehndee was in banishment at +Futtehgurh, about fifteen years ago, he became intimate with +Runjeet Sing, of Kuteearee; and when he afterwards became minister, +in 1837, he is said to have obtained for him the King's seal and +signature to a perpetual lease at this rate, from which is deducted +a <i>nankar</i> of four thousand, leaving an actual demand of only +twelve thousand. Were such grants, in perpetuity, respected in +Oude, the ministers and their minions would soon sell the whole of +his Majesty's dominions, and leave him a beggar. He has not yet +been made to pay a higher rate; not, however, out of regard for the +King's pledge, but solely out of that for Runjeet's fort of +Dhunmutpoor, on the bank of the Ganges, his armed bands, and his +seven pieces of cannon. He has been diligently employing all his +surplus rents in improving his defensive means; and, besides his +fort and guns, is said to have a large body of armed and +disciplined men. He has seized upon a great many villages around, +belonging to weaker proprietors: and is every year adding to his +estate in this way. In this the old Amil, Hafiz Abdoollah, +acquiesced, solely because he had not the means nor the energy to +prevent it. He got his estate excluded from the jurisdiction of the +local authorities, and placed in the Huzoor Tuhseel.</p> +<p>Like others of his class, who reside on the border, he has a +village in the British territory to reside in, unmolested, when +charged by the Oude authorities with heavy crimes and balances. He +had been attacked and driven across the Ganges, in 1837, for +contumacy and rebellion; deprived of his estate, and obliged to +reside at Futtehgurh, where he first became acquainted with Hakeem +Mehndee. The Oude Government has often remonstrated against the +protection which this contumacious and atrocious landholder +receives from our subjects and authorities.* Crimes in this +district are not quite so numerous as in Bangur; but they are of no +less atrocious a character. The thieves and robbers of Bangur, when +taken and taxed with being so, say, "of course we are +robbers—if we were not, how should we have been permitted to +reside in Bangur?" All are obliged to fight and plunder with the +landholders, or to rob for them on distant roads, and in distant +villages.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* See the Resident's letter to Government North-Western +Provinces, 3rd August, 1837. The King's letter to the Resident, 7th +April, 1837. The same to the same, 19th May, 1837. Depositions and +urzies. Runjeet Sing was attacked by the King's troops and driven +across the Ganges again in June 1851, and died during the contest, +which is being continued by his son. 1851.—W. H. S.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>My camp has been robbed several times within the time I have +been out, and the property has been traced to villages in the +Sundeela and Bangur districts. In the Sundeela district it can be +recovered when traced with a small force, and the thieves taken; +but in the Bangur district it would require a large military force +well commanded, and a large train of artillery to recover the one +or seize the other.</p> +<p>A respectable landholder of this place, a Sombunsie, tells me, +that the custom of destroying their female infants has prevailed +from the time of the first founder of their race; that a rich man +has to give food to many Brahmins, to get rid of the stain, on the +twelfth or thirteenth day, but that a poor man can get rid of it by +presenting a little food in due form to the village priest; that +they cannot give their daughters in marriage to any Rajpoot +families, save the Rhathores and Chouhans; that the family of their +clan who gave a daughter to any other class of Rajpoots, would be +excluded from caste immediately and for ever; that those who have +property have to give all they have with their daughters to the +Chouhans and Rhathores, and reduce themselves to nothing; and can +take nothing from them in return, as it is a great stain to take +"<i>kuneea dan</i>," or virgin price; from any one; that a +Sombunsie may, however, when reduced to great poverty, take the +"<i>kuneea dan</i>" from the Chouhans and Rhathores for a virgin +daughter without being excommunicated from the clan, but even he +could not give a daughter to any other clan of Rajpoots without +being excluded for ever from caste; that it was a misfortune no +doubt, but it was one that had descended among them from the +remotest antiquity, and could not be got rid of; that mothers wept +and screamed a good deal when their first female infants were torn +from them, but after two or three times giving birth to female +infants, they become quiet and reconciled to the usage, and said, +"do as you like;" that some poor parents of their clan did +certainly give their daughters for large sums to wealthy people of +lower Clans, but lost their caste for ever by so doing; that it was +the dread of sinking, in substance from the loss of property, and +in grade from the loss of caste, that alone led to the murder of +female infants; that the dread prevailed more or less in every +Rajpoot clan, and led to the same thing, but most in the clan that +restricted the giving of daughters in marriage to the smallest +number of clans.</p> +<p>The infant is destroyed in the room where it is born, and there +buried. The floor is then plastered over with cow-dung, and on the +thirteenth day the village or family priest must cook and eat his +food in that room. He is provided with wood, ghee, barley, rice, +and tillee (sesamum). He boils the rice, barley, and sesamum in a +brass vessel, throws the ghee over them when they are dressed, and +eats the whole. This is considered as a <i>hom</i>, or +burnt-offering, and by eating it in that place the priest is +supposed to take the whole <i>hutteea</i> or sin upon himself, and +to cleanse the family from it. I am told that they put the milk of +the mudar shrub "asclepias gigantea," into the mouth of the infant +to destroy it, and cover the mouth with the faeces that first pass +from, the infant's bowels. It soon dies; and after the expiation +the parents again occupy the room, and there receive the visits of +their family and friends, and gossip as usual!</p> +<p>Rajah Bukhtawar Sing tells me, that he has heard the whole +process frequently described in this way by the midwives who have +attended the birth. These midwives are however generally sent out +of the room with the mother when the infant is found to be a girl. +In any law for the effectual prevention of this crime, it would be +necessary to prescribe a severe punishment for the priest, as an +accessary after the fact. The only objection to this is, I think, +that it might deprive the Court of the advantage of an important +witness when required at the trial of the parents, but when +necessary he might be admitted as King's evidence. All the people +here that I talk to on the subject, say that the crime has been put +down in the greater part of the British territories, and that +judicious measures honestly and firmly carried out would put it +down in Oude, and do away with the scruples which one clan of +Rajpoots have to give their daughters in marriage to another. +Unable to murder their daughters, they would be glad to dispose of +them in marriage to all clans of Rajpoots. It might be put down in +Oude, as it was put down by Mr. Willoughby, of Bombay, in the +districts under his charge, by making the abolition one of the +conditions on which all persons of the Rajpoot clans hold their +lands, and strictly enforcing the observance of that condition. The +Government of Oude as now constituted could do nothing whatever +towards putting it down in this or any other way.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 27, 1850.—Palee, eight miles north-west. +The road half way from Sandee to Busora, and half way from Busora +to Palee, passes over a very light, sandy soil—bhoor. I have +already stated that kutcha wells, or wells without burnt brick and +cement, will not last in this sandy soil, while it stands more in +need of irrigation. The road for the last half way of this +morning's stage passes over a good doomuteea soil. The whole +country is however well cultivated, and well studded with fine +trees; and the approach to Palee is at this season very +picturesque. The groves of mango and other fine trees amidst which +the town stands, on the right bank of the Gurra river, appear very +beautiful as one approaches, particularly now that the surrounding +country is covered by so fine a carpet of rich spring crops. The +sun's rays, falling upon such rich masses of foliage, produce an +infinite variety of form, colour, and tint, on which the eye +delights to repose. We intended to have our camp on the other side +of the river, but no good ground could be found for it, without +injury to the crops, within three miles from Palee, and we must +cross it on our way to Shahabad to-morrow.</p> +<p>This small river flows along a little to the right of our march +this morning. About half way we passed a very pretty village, held +and cultivated by families of Kunojee Brahmins, who +<i>condescend</i> to hold and drive their own ploughs. Other +families of this class pride themselves upon never condescending to +drive their own ploughs, and consider themselves in consequence a +shade higher in caste. Other Brahmin families have different shades +or degrees of caste, like the Kunojeeas; but I am not aware that +any family of any other class of Brahmins condescend to hold their +own ploughs. I told them, that "God seemed to favour their +exertions, and bless them with prosperity, for I had not seen a +neater village or village community." They seemed to be all well +pleased with my compliment. At Palee resides Bulbhuder Sing, a +notorious robber, who was lately seized and sent as a felon to +Lucknow. After six months' confinement he bribed himself out, got +possession of the estate which he now holds, and to which he had no +right whatever, and had it excluded from the jurisdiction of the +local authorities, and transferred to the "Hozoor Tuhseel." He has +been ever since diligently employed in converting it into a den of +robbers, and in the usual way seizing upon other people's lands, +stock, and property of all kinds.</p> +<p>Hundreds in Oude are doing the same thing in the same way. +Scores of those who suffer from the depredations of this class of +offenders, complain to me every day; but I can neither afford them +redress, nor hold out any hope of it from any of the Oude +authorities. It is a proverb, "that those who are sentenced to six +years' imprisonment in Oude, are released in six months, and those +who are sentenced to six months, are released in six years." Great +numbers are released every year at Lucknow for +<i>thanksgivings</i>, or <i>propitiation</i>. If the King or any +member of his family becomes sick, prisoners are released, that +they may recover; and when they recover, others are released as a +grateful, and, at the same time, profitable acknowledgment, since +the Government relieves itself from the cost of keeping them; and +its servants appropriate the money paid for their ransom. Those who +are in for long periods are, for the most part, great offenders, +who are the most able and most willing to pay high for their +release; those who are in for short ones are commonly the small +ones, who are the least able and least disposed to give anything. +The great offenders again are those who are most disposed, and most +able, to revenge themselves on such persons as have aided the +Government in their arrest or conviction; and they do all they can +to murder and rob them and their families and relatives, as soon as +they are set at large, in order to deter others from doing the +same. This would be a great evil in any country, but is terrible in +Oude, where no police is maintained for the protection of life and +property. The cases of atrocious murders and robberies which come +before me every day, and are acknowledged by the local authorities, +and neighbours of the sufferers, to have taken place, are +frightful. Such sufferings, for which no redress is to be found, +would soon desolate any part of India less favoured by nature.</p> +<p>In the valley of the Nerbudda, for instance, such sufferings +would render a district desolate for ages. The people, driven off +from an estate, go and settle in another better governed. The grass +grows rankly from the richness of the soil, and the humidity of the +air, and becomes filled with deer and other animals, that are food +for beasts of prey. Tigers, leopards, wolves, wild dogs, &c. +follow, to feed upon them; and they render residence and industry +unsafe. Malaria follows, and destroys what persons the tigers +leave. I have seen extensive tracts of the richest soil and most +picturesque scenery, along the banks of the Nerbudda, which had +been rendered desolate for ages by the misrule of only a few years. +It is the same in the Tarae forest, which separates Oude from +Nepaul. But in the rest of Oude, from the Ganges to this belt of +forest, no such effects follow misrule, however great and +prolonged. Here no grass grows too rankly, few deer fill it, few +tigers, leopards, wolves, or wild dogs come in pursuit of them, and +no malaria is feared. If a landholder takes to rebellion and +plunder, he is followed by all his retainers and clansmen; and +their families, and the cultivators of other classes, feeling no +longer secure, go and till lands on other estates, till they are +invited back. The cowherds and shepherds, who live by the produce +of their cattle and sheep, remain and thrive by the abundance of +pasture lands, from which the rich spring and harvest crops have +disappeared. These cattle and sheep graze over them, and enrich the +soil by restoring to it a portion of those elements of fertility, +of which a long succession of harvests had robbed it. Over and +above what they leave on the grounds, over which they graze, large +stores of manure are collected for future use by the herdsmen, who +now exclusively occupy the villages. The landholder and his +followers, in the meantime, subsist and enrich themselves by the +indiscriminate plunder of the surrounding country; and are at last +invited back by a weak and wearied Government, to reoccupy the +lands, improved by this salutary fallow, at a lower rate of rent, +or no rent at all for some years, and a remission of all balances +for past years, on account of <i>paemalee</i>, or treading down of +crops, during the disorder that has prevailed.</p> +<p>The cultivators return to occupy their old lands, so enriched, +at reduced rates of rent; and, in two or three years, these lands +become again carpeted with a beautiful variety of spring and autumn +crops. The crops, in our districts, on the opposite side of the +river Ganges, bear no comparison with those on the Oude side. The +lands are all overcropped and under-stocked with cattle and sheep +from the want of pasture lands. There is little manure, the water +is too far below the surface to admit of sufficient irrigation, +without greater outlay than the farmers and cultivators can afford; +the rotation of crops is insufficient, and no salutary fallow comes +to the relief of the soil, from the labour of men living and +working under the efficient protection of a strong and able +Government. The difference in the crops is manifest to the +beholder, and shown in the rate of rents paid for the lands where +the price of land produce is the same in both; the same river +conveying the produce of both to and from the same markets.</p> +<p>A Murhutta army, under the Peshwa, Ballajee, invaded the +districts, about the source of the Nerbudda river, about one +hundred and seven years ago, A.D. 1742. They ravaged these +districts as they did all others which they invaded; but they, +like the greater part of the Oude Tarae, remain waste; while the +others, like the rest of Oude, soon recovered and become prosperous +from the circumstances above stated. The soil of some of the +districts, about the source of the Nerbudda, then ravaged, is among +the finest in the world; but the long grass and rich foliage, by +which it is covered, are occupied, like the pampos of South +America, almost exclusively by wild cattle, buffaloes, deer, and +tigers. The district of Mundula, which intervenes between them and +the rich and highly-cultivated district of Jubbulpoor, in the +valley of that river, was populous and well cultivated when we took +possession of it in the year 1817; but it has become almost as +waste under our rule by a more gradual but not less desolating +process. Not considering the diminishing markets for land produce, +our assessments of the land revenue were too high, and the managing +officers never thought the necessity of reduction established, till +the villages were partially or wholly deserted. The farmers and +cultivators all emigrated, by degrees, into the neighbouring +districts of Nagpoor and Rewa, where they had more consideration +and lighter assessments, and the markets for land produce were +improving. The lands of Mundula became waste, and covered with rank +grass filled with deer; tigers followed to feed upon them, and +carried off all the poor peasantry, who remained and attempted to +cultivate small patches; malaria followed and completed the +work.</p> +<p>Like the <i>tharoos</i> of the Oude forest, the Gonds born in +this malaria are the only people who can live in it; and the +ravages of tigers and endemial disease prevent their numbers from +increasing. Those who once emigrate never come back, and population +and tillage have been decreasing ever since we took possession, or +for thirty-three years. The same process has been going on in other +parts of the Nerbudda valley with the same results. In Oude, from +the causes above described, lands of the same denomination and kind +often yield double the rate of rent that they yield in our own +conterminous districts, or districts on the opposite side of the +Ganges, and other rivers that separate our territories from those +of Oude. Under a tolerable Government, Oude would soon become one +of the most beautiful countries in India; but the lands would fall +off, in fertility, as ours do from over-cropping, no doubt.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 28, 1850.—Shahabad, ten miles. We crossed, +close under Palee, the little river Gurra, which continued for some +miles to flow along, in its winding course, close by on our left. +It is here some five or six miles to the south-west of the town. +The soil we have come over is chiefly muteear, or the doomuteea, +tightened by a mixture of clay, or argillaceous earth. Rich crops +of rice are grown on this muteea, which retains its moisture so +much better than the looser doomutea soil.</p> +<p>Half-way we came through a neat village, the lands of which are +subdivided between the members of a large family of Kunojee +Brahmins, who came out to see us pass, and pay their respects. The +cultivation was so fine that I hoped they were of the class who +condescended to hold their own ploughs. I asked them; and they, +with seeming pride, told me that they did not—that they +employed servants to hold their ploughs for them. When I told them +that this was their <i>misfortune</i>, they seemed much amused, but +were all well-behaved and respectful, though they must have thought +my notion very odd.</p> +<p>The little Gurra flows from the Oude Tarae forest by the town of +Phillibheet, where boats are built, to be taken down to Cawnpoor, +on the Ganges, for sale. About four hundred, great and small, are +supposed to be taken down the Gurra every year, in the season of +the rains. They take down the timber of the Tarae forest, rice, and +other things; and all are sold, with their cargoes, at Cawnpoor, or +other places on the Ganges. The timbers are floated along on both +sides of the boats. Palee is a good place for a cantonment, or seat +of public civil establishments, and Shahabad is no less so. The +approach to both, from the south-east, is equally beautiful, from +the rich crops which cover the ground up to the houses, and the +fine groves and majestic single trees which surround them.</p> +<p>Shahabad is a very ancient and large town, occupied chiefly by +Pathan Mussulmans, who are a very turbulent and fanatical set of +fellows. Subsookh Rae, a Hindoo, and the most respectable merchant +in the district, resided here, and for some time consented to +officiate, as the deputy of poor old Hafiz Abdoollah, for the +management of the town, where his influence was great. He had lent +a good deal of money to the heads of some of the Pathan families of +the town, but finding few of them disposed to repay, he was last +year obliged to refuse further loans. They determined to take +advantage of the coming mohurrum festival to revenge the +<i>affront</i> as men commonly do who live among such a fanatical +community. The tazeeas are commonly taken up, and carried in +procession, ten days after the new moon is first seen, at any place +where they are made; but in Oude all go by the day in which the +moon is seen from the capital of Lucknow. As soon as she is seen at +Lucknow, the King issues an order throughout his dominions for the +tazeeas to be taken in procession ten days after. The moon was this +year, in November, first seen on the 30th of the month at Lucknow; +but at Shahabad, where the sky is generally clearer, she had been +seen on the 29th. The men to whom Subsookh Rae had refused farther +loans determined to take advantage of this incident to wreak their +vengeance; and when the deputy promulgated the King's order for the +tazeeas to be taken in procession ten days after the 30th, they +instigated all the Mahommedans of the town to insist upon taking +them out ten days after the 29th, and persuaded them that the order +had been fabricated, or altered, by the malice of their Hindoo +deputy, <i>to insult their religious feelings</i>. They were taken +out accordingly, and having to pass the house of Subsookh Rae, when +their excitement, or spirit of religious fervour, had reached the +highest pitch, they there put them down, broke open the doors, +entered in a crowd, and plundered it of all the property they could +find, amounting to above seventy thousand rupees. Subsookh Rae was +obliged to get out, with his family, at a back door, and run for +his life. He went to Shajehanpoor, in our territory, and put +himself under the protection of the magistrate. Not content with +all this, they built a small miniature mosque at the door with some +loose bricks, so that no one could go either out or in without the +risk of knocking it down, or so injuring this <i>mock mosque</i> as +to rouse, or enable the evil-minded to rouse, the whole Mahommedan +population against the offender. Poor Subsookh Rae has been utterly +ruined, and ever since seeking in vain for redress. The Government +is neither disposed nor able to afford it, and the poor boy who has +now succeeded his learned father in the contract is helpless. The +little mock mosque, of uncemented bricks, still stands as a +monument of the insolence of the Mahommedan population, and the +weakness and apathy of the Oude Government.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt2-2" id="Chapt2-2">CHAPTER II.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Infanticide—Nekomee Rajpoots—Fallows in Oude created +by disorders—Their cause and effect—Tillage goes on in +the midst of sanguinary conflicts—Runjeet Sing, of +Kutteearee—Mahomdee district—White +Ants—Traditional decrease in the fertility of the Oude +soil—Risks to which cultivators are exposed—Obligations +which these risks impose upon them—Infanticide—The Amil +of Mahomdee's narrow escape—An infant disinterred and +preserved by the father after having been buried +alive—Insecurity of life and property—Beauty of the +surface of the country, and richness of its foliage—Mahomdee +district—State and recent history of—Relative fertility +of British and Oude soil—Native notions of our laws and their +administration—Of the value of evidence in our +Courts—Infanticide—Boys only saved—Girls +destroyed in Oude—The priests who give absolution for the +crime abhorred by the people of all other classes—Lands in +our districts becoming more and more exhausted from +over-cropping—Probable consequences to the Government and +people of India—Political and social error of considering +land private property—Hakeem Mehndee and subsequent managers +of Mahomdee—Frauds on the King in charges for the keep of +animals—Kunojee Brahmins—Unsuccessful attempt to +appropriate the lands of weaker neighbours—Gokurnath, on the +border of the Tarae—The sakhoo or saul trees of the +forest.</p> +<p>Lalta Sing, of the Nikomee Rajpoot tribe, whom I had lately an +opportunity of assisting, for his good services in arresting outlays +[outlaws ?] from our territories, has just been to pay his respects. +Our next encamping ground is to be on his estate of Kurheya and +Para. He tells me that very few families of his tribe now destroy +their female infants; that tradition ascribes the origin of this +evil to the practice of the Mahommedan emperors of Delhi of +demanding daughters in marriage from the Rajpoot princes of the +country; that some of them were too proud to comply with the +demand, and too weak to resist it in any other way than that of +putting all their female infants to death. This is not impossible. +He says that he believes the <i>Dhankuries</i>, whom I have +described above to be really the only tribe of Rajpoots among whom +no family destroys its infant daughters in Oude; that all tribes of +Rajpoots get money with the daughters they take from tribes a shade +lower in caste, to whom they cannot give theirs in return; and pay +money with the daughters they give in marriage to tribes a shade +higher, who will not give their daughters to them in return. The +native collector of Shahabad, a gentlemanly Mahommedan, came out +two miles to pay his respects on my approach, and we met on a large +space of land, lying waste, while all around was covered with rich +crops. I asked, "Pray why is this land left waste?" "It is, sir, +altogether unproductive." "Why is this? It seems to me to be just +as good as the rest around, which produces such fine crops." "It is +called <i>khubtee</i>—slimy, and is said to be altogether +barren." "I assure you, sir," said Rajah Bukhtawar Sing, "that it +is good land, and capable of yielding good crops, under good +tillage, or it would not produce the fine grass you see upon it. +You must not ask men like this about the kinds and qualities of +soils for they really know nothing whatever about them: they are +<i>city gentlemen's sons</i>, who get into high places, and pass +their lives in them without learning anything but how to screw +money out of such as we are, who are born upon the soil, and depend +upon its produce all our lives for subsistence. Ask him, sir, +whether either he or any of his ancestors ever knew anything of the +difference between one soil and another."</p> +<p>The collector acknowledged the truth of what the old man said, +and told me that he really knew nothing about the matter, and had +merely repeated what the people told him. This is true with regard +to the greater part of the local revenue officers employed in Oude. +"One of these city gentlemen, sir," said. Bukhtawar Sing, "when +sent out as a revenue collector, in Saadut Allee's time, was asked +by his assistants what they were to do with a crop of sugar-cane +which had been attached for balances, and was becoming too ripe, +replied, '<i>Cut it down, to be sure, and have it stacked!</i>' He +did not know that sugar-cane must, as soon as cut, be taken to the +mill, or it spoils." "I have heard of another," said the old +Rusaldar Nubbee Buksh, "who, after he entered upon his charge, +asked the people about him to show him the tree on which grew the +fine <i>istamalee</i>* rice which they used at Lucknow." "There is +no question, sir," said Bukhtawar Sing, "that is too absurd, for +these cockney gentlemen to ask when they enter upon such revenue +charges as these. They are the aristocracy of towns and cities, who +are learned enough in books and court ceremonies and intrigues, but +utterly ignorant of country life, rural economy, and agricultural +industry."</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The <i>istamalee</i> rice is rice of fine quality, which has +been kept for some years before used. To be good, rice must be kept +for some years before used, and that only which has been so kept is +called <i>istamalee</i> or <i>useable</i>.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>For a cantonment or civil station, the ground to the north of +Shahabad, on the left-hand side of the road leading to Mahomdee, +seems the best. It is a level plain, of a stiff soil formed of clay +and sand, and not very productive.</p> +<p>The country, from Sandee and Shahabad to the rivers Ganges and +Ramgunga, is one rich sheet of spring cultivation; and the estate +of Kuteearee, above described, is among the richest portions of +this sheet. The portions on which the richest crops now stand +became waste during the disorders which followed the expulsion of +Runjeet Sing, in the usual way, in 1837, and derived the usual +benefit from the salutary fallow. A stranger passing through such a +sheet of rich cultivation, without communing with the people, would +little suspect the fearful crimes that are every year committed +upon it, from the weakness and apathy of the Government, and the +bad faith and bad character of its officers and chief landholders. +The land is tilled in spite of all obstacles, because all depend +upon its produce for subsistence; but there is no indication of the +beneficial interference of the Government for the protection of +life, property, and character, and for the encouragement of +industry and the display of its fruits. The land is ploughed, and +the seed sown, often by stealth at night, in the immediate vicinity +of a sanguinary contest between the Government officers and the +landholders. It is only when the latter are defeated, and take to +the jungles, or the Honourable Company's districts, and commence +their indiscriminate plunder, that the cultivator ceases from his +labours, and the lands are left waste.</p> +<p>Runjeet Sing two or three years ago seized upon the village of +Mulatoo, in his vicinity, to which he had no claim whatever, and he +has forcibly retained it. It had long paid Government ten thousand +a-year, but he has consented to pay only one thousand. Lands +yielding above nine thousand he has cut off from its rent-roll, and +added to those of his hereditary villages on the borders. Last year +he seized upon the village of Nudua, with a rent-roll of fourteen +hundred rupees, and he holds it with a party of soldiers and two +guns. The Amil lately sent out a person with a small force to +demand the Government dues; but they were driven back, as he +pretends that he got it in mortgage from Dumber Sing, who had taken +a short lease of that and other khalsa villages, and absconded as a +defaulter; and that he has purchased the lands from the cultivating +proprietors, and is, therefore, bound to pay no revenue whatever +for them-to the King. All defaulters and offenders who take refuge +on his estate he instigates to plunder, and provides with gangs, on +condition of getting the greater part of the booty. He thinks that +he is sure of shelter in the British territory, should he be driven +from Oude; he feels also sure of aid from other large landholders +of the same class in the neighbourhood.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 30, 1850.—Kurheya Para, twelve miles, over +a plain of excellent muteear soil, a good deal of which-is covered +with jungle. Para is a short distance from Kurheya, and our camp is +midway between the two villages. The boundary of the Sandee Palee +and Mahomdee districts we crossed about four miles from our present +encampment. This district, of Mahomdee was taken in contract by +Hakeem Mehndee, at three lacs and eleven thousand rupees a-year, in +1804 A.D., and in a few years he brought it into full tillage, and +made it yield above seven lacs. It has been falling off ever since +it was taken from him, and now yields only between three and four +lacs. The jungle is studded with large peepul-trees, which are all +shorn of their small branches and leaves. The landholders and +cultivators told me that they were taken off by the cowherds who +grazed their buffaloes, bullocks, and cows in these jungles; that +they formed their chief and, in the cold season, their best food, +as the leaves of the peepul-tree were supposed to give warmth to +the stomach, and to increase the quantity of the milk; that the +cowherds were required to pay nothing for the privilege of grazing +their cattle in these jungles, by the person to whom the lands +belonged, because they enriched the soil with their manure, and all +held small portions of land under tillage, for which they paid +rent; that they had the free use of the peepul-trees in the +jungles, but were not permitted to touch those on the cultivated +lands and in villages.</p> +<p>White ants are so numerous in the argillaceous muteear soil, in +which their food abounds, that it is really dangerous to travel on +an elephant, or <i>swiftly</i> on horseback, over a new road cut or +enlarged through any portion of it that has remained long untilled. +The two fore legs of my elephant went down yesterday morning into a +deep pit made by them, but concealed by the new road, which has +been made over it for the occasion of my visit near Shahabad, and +it was with some difficulty that he extricated them. We have had +several accidents of the same kind since we came out. In cutting a +new road they cut through large ant-hills, and leave no trace of +the edifices or the gulf below them, which the little insects have +made in gathering their food and raising their lofty habitation. +They are not found in the bhoor or oosur soils, and in +comparatively small numbers in the doomuteea or lighter soil, but +they abound In the muteear soil in proportion to its richness. +Cultivation, where the crops are irrigated, destroys them, and the +only danger is in passing over new roads cut through jungle, or +lands that have remained long untilled, or along the sides of old +pathways, from which these land-marks have been removed in hastily +widening them for wheeled carriages.</p> +<p>A Brahmin cultivator, whose cart we had been obliged to press +into our own service for this stage, came along with me almost all +the way. He said, "The spring crops of this season, sir, are no +doubt very fine; but in days of yore, before the curse of <i>Bhurt +Jee</i> (the brother of Ram) came upon the landholders and +cultivators of Oude, they were much finer; when he set out from his +capital of Ajoodheea for the conquest of Cylone, he left the +administration to his brother, Bhurt Jee, who made a liberal +settlement of the land tax. He put a ghurra or pitcher, with a +round bottom, turned upside down, into every half acre (beegha) of +the cultivated land, and required the landholder or cultivator to +leave upon it, as much of the grain produced as the rounded bottom +would retain, which could not be one ten-thousandth part of the +produce; he lived economically, and collected at this rate during +the many years that his brother was absent. But when his brother +returned and approached the boundary of his dominions, he met hosts +of landholders and cultivators clamouring against the <i>rapacity +and oppression</i> of his brother's administration. The humanity of +Ram's disposition was shocked, sir, at all this, and he became +angry with his brother before he heard what he had to say. When +Bhurt had satisfied his brother that he had not taken from them the +thousandth part of what he had a right to take, and Ram had, +indeed, taken from them himself, he <i>sighed</i> at the wickedness +and ingratitude of the agricultural classes of Oude; and the +baneful effects of this sad <i>sigh</i> has been upon us ever +since, sir, in spite of all we can do to avert them. In order to +have the blessing of God upon our labours, it is necessary for us +to fulfil strictly all the responsibilities under which we hold and +till the land; first, to pay punctually the just demands of +Government; second, all the wages of the labour employed; third, +all the charities to the poor; fourth, all the offerings to our +respective tutelary gods; fifth, a special offering to Mahabeer, +alias Hunooman. These payments and offerings, sir, must all be made +before the cultivator can safely take the surplus produce to his +store-room for sale and consumption."</p> +<p>Old Bukhtawar Sing, who was riding by my side, said, "A +conscientious farmer or cultivator, sir, when he finds that his +field yields a great deal more than the usual returns, that is when +it yields twenty instead of the usual return of ten, gives the +whole in charity, lest evil overtake him from his unusual good luck +and inordinate exultation."</p> +<p>I asked the Brahmin cultivator why all these offerings were +required to be made by cultivators in particular? He replied, +"There is, sir, no species of tillage in which the lives of +numerous insects are not sacrificed, and it is to atone for these +numerous murders, and the ingratitude to Bhurt, that cultivators, +in particular, are required to make so many offerings;" and, he +added, "much sin, sir, is no doubt brought upon the land by the +murder of so many female infants. I believe, sir, that all the +tribes of Rajpoots murder them; and I do not think than one in ten +is suffered to live. If the family or village priest did not +consent to eat with the parents after the murder, no such murders +could take place, sir; for none, even of their nearest relatives, +will ever eat with them till the Brahmin has done so."</p> +<p>The bearers of the tonjohn in which I sat, said, "We do not +believe, sir, that one girl in twenty among the Rajpoots is +preserved. Davey Buksh, the Gonda Rajah, is, we believe, the only +one of the Biseyn Rajpoot tribe who preserves his daughters;* his +father did the same, and his sister, who was married to the +Bhudoreea Rajah of Mynpooree, came to see him lately on the +occasion of a pilgrimage to Ajoodheea, on the death of her husband; +of the six Kulhuns families of Chehdwara, two only preserve their +daughters—Surnam Sing of Arta, and Jeskurn of Kumeear; but +whether their sons or successors in the estates will do the same is +uncertain." These bearers are residents of that district.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* There are a great many families of the Biseyn Rajpoots who +never destroy their infant daughters.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I may here remark, that oak-trees in the hills of the Himmelah +chain are disfigured in the same manner, and for the same purpose, +as the peepul and banyan trees are here; their small branches and +leaves are torn off to supply fodder for bullocks and other +animals. The ilex of the hills has not, however, in its nakedness +the majesty of the peepul and banyan of the plains, though neither +of them can be said to be "when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most."</p> +<p><i>January</i> 31, 1850.—Puchgowa, north-east, twelve +miles over a plain of doomuteea soil, a good deal of which is out +of tillage at present. On the road we came through several neat +villages, the best of which was occupied exclusively by the +families of the Kunojeea Brahmin proprietors, and the few persons +of inferior caste who ploughed their lands for them, as they are a +shade too high in caste to admit of their holding their own +ploughs. They are, however, very worthy people, and seemed very +much pleased at being put so much at their ease in a talk with the +great man about their own domestic and rural economy. They told me, +that they did not permit Rajpoots to reside in or have anything to +do with their village.</p> +<p>"Why?" I asked.—"Because, sir, if they once get a footing +among us, they are, sooner or later, sure to turn us all out." +"How?"—"They get lands by little and little at lease, soon +refuse to pay rent, declare the lands to be their own, collect bad +characters for plunder, join the Rajpoots of their own clan in all +the villages around in their enterprises, take to the jungles on +the first occasion, of a dispute, attack, plunder, and burn the +village, murder us and our families, and soon get the estate for +themselves, on their own terms from the local authorities, who are +wearied out by the loss of revenue arising from their depredations; +our safety, sir, depends upon our keeping entirely aloof from +them."</p> +<p>Under a government so weak, the only men who prosper seem to be +these landholders of the military classes who are strong in their +union, clan feeling, courage, and ferocity. The villages here are +numerous though not large, and by far the greater part are occupied +by Rajpoots of the Nikomee tribe.</p> +<p>The Amil of the Mahomdee district, Krishun Sahae, had come out +so far as Para to meet me, and have my camp supplied. He had earned +a good reputation as a native collector of long standing in the +Shajehanpore district, under Mr. Buller; but being ambitious to +rise more rapidly than he could hope to do, under our settled +government, he came to Lucknow with a letter of introduction from +Mr. Buller to the Resident, Colonel Richmond, paid his court to the +Durbur, got appointed Amil of the Mahomdee district, under the +<i>amanee</i> system, paid his nazuranas on his investiture, in +October last, and entered upon his charge. A few days ago it +pleased the minister to appoint to his place Aboo Toorab Khan, the +nephew and son-in-law of Moonowur-ood Dowla; and orders were sent +out immediately, by a camel-messenger, to the commandants of the +corps on duty, with Krishun Sahae, to seize and send him, his +family, and all his relations and dependents, with all his property +to be found upon them, to Lucknow. The wakeel, whom he kept at +Court for such occasions, heard of the order for the supercession +and arrest, and forthwith sent off a note to his master by the +fastest foot-messenger he could get. The camel-messenger found that +the Amil had left Mahomdee, and gone out two stages to Para, to +meet the Resident. He waited to deliver his message to the +commandants and subordinate civil officers of the district, and see +that they secured all the relatives, dependents, and property of +the Amil that could be found. The foot-messenger, more wise, went +on, and delivered his letter to Krishun Sahae; at Para, on the +evening of Tuesday the 29th. He ordered his elephant very quietly, +and mounting, told the driver to take him to a village on the road +to Shajehanpoor.</p> +<p>On reaching the village about midnight, the driver asked him +whither he was going—"I am flying from my enemies," said +Krishun Sahae; "and we must make all haste, or we shall be +overtaken before we reach the boundary." "But," said the driver, +"my house and family are at Lucknow, and the one will be pulled to +the ground and the other put into gaol if I fly with you." Krishun +Sahae drew out a pistol and threatened to shoot him if he did not +drive on as told. They were near a field of sugar-cane, and the +driver hedged away towards it, without the Amil's perceiving his +intention. When they got near the field the elephant dashed in +among the cane to have a feast; and the driver in his seeming +effort to bring him out, fell off and disappeared under the high +cane. The Amil did all he could to get out his elephant, but the +animal felt that he was no longer in danger of severe treatment +from above, and had a very comfortable meal before him in the fine +ripe cane, and would not move. The poor Amil was obliged to +descend, and make all possible haste on foot across the border, +attended by one servant who had accompanied him in his flight. The +driver ran to the village and got the people to join him in the +pursuit of his master, saying that he was making off with a good +deal of the King's money. With an elephant load of the King's money +in prospect, they made all the haste they could; but the poor Amil +got safely over the border into British territory. They found the +elephant dining very comfortably on the sugar-cane. After abusing +the driver and all his female relations for deluding them with the +hope of a rich booty, they permitted him to take the empty elephant +to the new Amil at Mahomdee. News of all this reached my camp last +night.</p> +<p>I omitted to mention that, at Busora on the 27th, a Rajpoot +landholder of the Sombunsie tribe, came to my camp with a petition +regarding a mortgage, and mentioned that he had a daughter, now two +years of age; that when she was born he was out in his fields, and +the females of the family put her into an earthen pot, buried her +in the floor of the apartment, where the mother lay, and lit a fire +over the grave; that he made all haste home as soon as he heard of +the birth of a daughter, removed the fire and earth from the pot, +and took out his child. She was still living, but two of her +fingers which had not been sufficiently covered were a good deal +burnt. He had all possible care taken of her, and she still lives, +and both he and his wife are very fond of her. Finding that his +tale interested me, he went home for the child; but his village was +far off, and he has not been able to overtake me. He had given no +orders to have her preserved, as his wife was confined sooner than +he expected; but the family took it for granted that she was to be +destroyed, and in running home to preserve her he acted on the +impulse of the moment. The practice of destroying female infants is +so general among this tribe, that a family commonly destroys the +daughter as soon as born, when the father is from home, and has +given no special orders about it, taking it to be his wish as a +matter of course.</p> +<p>Several respectable landholders of the Chouhan, Nikomee, and +other tribe of Rajpoots, were talking to me yesterday evening, and +as they were connected by marriage with Rajpoot families of the +same and higher clans in the British territories, I asked them +whether some plan could not be devised to suppress the evil in +Oude, as it had been suppressed there; for the disorders which +prevailed seemed to me to be only a visitation from above for such +an all-pervading sin. They told me that there would be little +difficulty in putting down this system under an honest and strong +Government that would secure rights, enforce duties, and protect +life and property, as in the British territories. Atrocious and +cruel as this crime is in Oude, it is hardly more so than that +which not long ago prevailed in France and other nations of Europe, +of burying their daughters alive in nunneries in order to gratify +the same family pride.</p> +<p>It is painful to me to walk out of my tent of an evening, for I +have every day large crowds seeking redress for grievous wrongs, +for which I see no hope of redress: men and women, who have had +their dearest relatives murdered, their houses burnt down, their +whole property taken away, their lands seized upon, their crops +destroyed by ruffians residing in the same or neighbouring +villages, and actually in the camp of the Amil, without the +slightest fear of being punished or made to surrender any portion +of what they have taken. The Government authorities are too weak, +even to enforce the payment of the Government demand, and have not +the means to seize or punish offenders of any kind, if they have +the inclination. In some districts they not only acquiesce in the +depredations of these gangs of robbers, but act in collusion with +their leaders, in order to get their aid in punishing defaulters or +pretended defaulters, among the landholders. They murder the +landholders, and as many as possible of their families, and as a +reward for their services the local authorities make over their +lands to them at reduced rates.</p> +<p>The Nazim of Sandee Palee told me on taking leave, that he had +only two wings of Nujeeb Regiments with him, one of which was fit +for some service, and in consequence, spread over the district on +detached duties. The other was with him, but out of the five +hundred, for which he had to issue monthly pay, he should not be +able to get ten men to follow him on any emergency. They are +obliged to court and conciliate the strong and reckless who prey +upon the weak and industrious; and in consequence become despised +and detested by the people. I feel like one moving among a people +afflicted with incurable diseases, who crowd around him in hope, +and are sent away in despair. I try to make the local authorities +exert themselves in behalf of the sufferers; but am told that they +have already done their utmost in vain; that if they seize robbers +and murderers and send them to Lucknow, they are sure to purchase +their enlargement and return to wreak their vengeance on them and +on all who have aided them in their arrest and conviction; that if +they attempt to seize one of the larger landholders, who refuses to +pay the Government demand, seizes upon the lands of his weaker +neighbours, and murders and robs them indiscriminately, he removes +across the Ganges, into one of the Honourable Company's districts, +and thence sends his myrmidons to plunder and lay waste the whole +country, till he is invited back by a weak and helpless Government +upon his own terms; that formerly British troops were employed in +support of the local authorities against offenders of this class; +but that of late years all such aid and support have been withdrawn +from the Oude Government, while the offenders find all they require +from the subjects and police authorities of the bordering British +districts.</p> +<p>The country we passed over to-day, between Para and Puchgowa, is +a plain, beautifully studded with groves and fine solitary trees, +in great perfection. The bandha or mistletoe, upon the mhowa and +mango trees, is in full blossom, and adds much to their beauty; the +soil is good, and the surface everywhere capable of tillage, with +little labour or outlay; for the jungle where it prevails the most +is of grass, and the small palas-trees (butea-frondosa) which may +be-easily uprooted. The whole surface of Oude is, indeed, like a +gentleman's park of the most beautiful description, as far as the +surface of the ground and the foliage go. Five years of good +Government would make it one of the most beautiful parterres in +nature. To plant a large grove, as it ought to be, a Hindoo thinks +it necessary to have the following trees:—</p> +<p>The banyan, or burgut; peepul, ficus religiosa; mango; tamarind; +jamun, eugenia jambolana; bele, cratoeva marmelos; pakur, ficus +venosa; mhowa, bassia latifolia; oula, phyllanthus emblica; goolur, +figus glomerata; kytha, feronia elephantum; kuthal, or jack; +moulsaree, mimusops elengi; kuchnar, bauhinea variegata; neem, +melia azadirachta; bere, fizyphus jujuba; horseradish, sahjuna; +sheeshum, dalbergia sisa; toon, adrela toona; and chundun, or +sandal.</p> +<p>Where he can get or afford to plant only a small space, he must +confine himself to the more sacred and generally useful of these +trees; and they are the handsomest in appearance. Nothing can be +more beautiful than one of those groves surrounded by fields +teeming with rich spring crops, as they are at present; and studded +here and there with fine single banyan, peepul, tamarind, mhowa, +and cotton trees, which, in such positions, attain their highest +perfection, as if anxious to display their greatest beauties, where +they can be seen to the most advantage. Each tree has there free +space for its roots, which have the advantage of the water supplied +to the fields around in irrigation, and a free current of air, +whose moisture is condensed upon its leaves and stems by their +cooler temperature, while its carbonic acid and ammonia are +absorbed and appropriated to their exclusive use. Its branches, +unincommoded by the proximity of other trees, spread out freely, +and attain their utmost size and beauty.</p> +<p>I may here mention what are the spring crops which now in a +luxuriance not known for many years, from fine falls of rain in due +season, embellish the surface over which we are passing +:—</p> +<p><i>Spring Crops</i>.—Wheat; barley; gram; arahur, of two kinds +(pulse); musoor (pulse); alsee (linseed); surson (a species of fine +mustard); moong (pulse); peas, of three kinds; mustard; sugar-cane, +of six kinds; koosum (safflower); opium; and palma christi.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 1, 1850.—Mahomdee, eleven miles, over a +level plain of muteear soil of the best quality, well supplied with +groves and single trees of the finest kind; but a good deal of the +land is out of tillage, and covered with the rank grass, called +garur, the roots of which form the fragrant khus, for tatties, in +the hot winds; and dhak (butea frondosa) jungle. Several villages, +through and near which we passed, belong to Brahmin zumeendars, who +were driven away last year by the rapacity of the contractor, +Mahomed Hoseyn, a senseless oppressor, who was this year superseded +by a very good officer and worthy man, who was driven out with +disgrace, as described yesterday, while engaged in inviting back +the absconded cultivators to these deserted villages, and providing +them with the means of bringing their lands again into tillage. +Hoseyn Allee had seized and sold all their plough-bullocks, and +other agricultural stock, between the autumn and spring harvests, +together with all the spring crops, as they became ripe, to make +good the increased rate of revenue demanded; and they were all +turned out beggars, to seek subsistence among their relatives and +friends, in our bordering district of Shajehanpoor. The rank grass +and jungle are full of neelgae and deer of all kinds; and the +cowherds, who remain to graze their cattle on the wide plains, left +waste, find it very difficult to preserve their small fields of +corn from their trespass. They are said to come in herds of +hundreds around these fields during the night, and to be frequently +followed by tigers, several of which were killed last year, by +Captain Hearsey, of the Frontier Police. Waste lands, more distant +from the great Tarae forest, are free from tigers.</p> +<p>I had a long talk with the Brahmin communities of two of these +villages, who had been lately invited back from the Shajehanpoor +district, by Krishun Sahae, and resettled on their lands. They are +a mild, sensible, and most respectable body, whom a sensible ruler +would do all in his power to protect and encourage; but these are +the class; of landholders and cultivators whom the reckless +governors of districts, under the Oude Government, most grievously +oppress. They told me—"that nothing could be better than the +administration of the Shajehanpoor district by the present +collector and magistrate, Mr. Buller, whom all classes loved and +respected; that the whole surface of the country was under tillage, +and the poorest had as much protection as the highest in the land; +that the whole district was, indeed, a garden." "But the returns, +are they equal to those from your lands in Oude?"—"Nothing +like it, sir; they are not half as good; nor can the cultivator +afford to pay half the rate that we pay when left to till our lands +in peace." "And why is this?"—"Because, sir, ours is +sometimes left waste to recover its powers, as you now see all the +land around you, while theirs has no rest" "But do they not +alternate their crops, to relieve the soil?"—"Yes, sir, but +this is not enough: ours receive manure from the herds of cattle +and deer that graze upon it while fallow: and we have greater +stores of manure than they have, to throw over it when we return +and resume our labours. We alternate our crops, at the same time, +as much as they do; and plough and cross-plough our lands more." +"And where would you rather live—there, protected as the +people are from all violence, or here, exposed as you are to all +manner of outrage and extortion."—"We would rather live here, +sir, if we could; and we were glad to come back." "And why? There +the landholders and cultivators are sure that no man will be +permitted to exact a higher rate of rent or revenue than that which +they voluntarily bind themselves to pay during the period of a long +lease; while here you are never sure that the terms of your lease +will be respected for a single season."—"That is all true, +sir, but we cannot understand the '<i>aen</i> and <i>kanoon</i>' +(the rules and regulations), nor should we ever do so; for we found +that our relations, who had been settled there for many +generations, were just as ignorant of them as ourselves. Your +Courts of justice (adawluts) are the things we most dread, sir; and +we are glad to escape from them as soon as we can, in spite of all +the evils we are exposed to on our return to the place of our +birth. It is not the fault of the European gentlemen who preside +over them, for they are anxious to do, and have justice done, to +all; but, in spite of all their efforts, the wrong-doer often +escapes, and the sufferer is as often punished."</p> +<p>"The truth, sir, is seldom told in these Courts. There they +think of nothing but the number of witnesses, as if all were alike; +here, sir, we look to the quality. When a man suffers wrong, the +wrong-doer is summoned before the elders, or most respectable men +of his village or clan; and if he denies the charge and refuses +redress, he is told to bathe, put his hand upon the peepul-tree, +and declare aloud his innocence. If he refuses, he is commanded to +restore what he has taken, or make suitable reparation for the +injury he has done; and if he refuses to do this, he is punished by +the odium of all, and his life becomes miserable. A man dares not, +sir, put his hand upon that sacred tree and deny the +truth—the gods sit in it and know all things; and the +offender dreads their vengeance. In your adawluts, sir, men do not +tell the truth so often as they do among their own tribes, or +village communities—they perjure themselves in all manner of +ways, without shame or dread; and there are so many men about these +Courts, who understand the 'rules and regulations,' and are so much +interested in making truth appear to be falsehood, and falsehood +truth, that no man feels sure that right will prevail in them in +any case. The guilty think they have just as good a chance of +escape as the innocent. Our relations and friends told us, that all +this confusion of right and wrong, which bewildered them, arose +from the multiplicity of the 'rules and regulations,' which threw +all the power into the hands of bad men, and left the European +gentlemen helpless!"</p> +<p>"But you know that the crime of murdering female infants, which +pervades the whole territory of Oude, and brings the curse of God +upon it, has been suppressed in the British territory, in spite of +these '<i>aens and kanoons?</i>'"—"True, sir, it has been put +down in your bordering districts; but the Rajpoot families who +reside in them manage to escape your vigilance, and keep up the +evil practice. They intermarry with Rajpoot families in Oude, and +the female infants, born of the daughters they give in marriage to +Oude families, are destroyed in Oude without fear or concealment; +while the daughters they receive in marriage, from Oude families, +are sent over the border into Oude, when near their confinement, on +the pretence of visiting their relations. If they give birth to +boys, they bring them back with them into your districts; but if +they give birth to girls, they are destroyed in the same manner, +and no questions are ever asked about them." "Do you ever eat or +drink with Rajpoot parents who destroy their female +infants?"—"Never, sir! we are Brahmins, but we can take water +in a brass vessel from the hands of a Rajpoot, and we do so when +his family is unstained with this crime; but nothing would ever +tempt us to drink water from the hands of one who permitted his +daughters to be murdered." "Do you ever eat with the village or +family priest who has given absolution to parents who have +permitted their daughters to be murdered, by eating in the room +where the murder has been perpetrated?"—"Never, sir; we abhor +him as a participator in the crime; and nothing would ever induce +one of us to eat or associate with him: he takes all the sin upon +his own head by doing so, and is considered by us as an outcast +from the tribe, and accursed! It is they who keep up this fearful +usage. Tigers and wolves cherish their offspring, and are better +than these Rajpoots, who out of family or clan pride, destroy +theirs. As soon as their wives give birth to sons, they fire off +guns, give largely in charity, make offerings to shrines, and +rejoice in all manner of ways; but when they give birth to poor +girls, they bury them alive without pity, and a dead silence +prevails in the house; it is no wonder, sir, that you say that the +curse of God is upon the land in which such sins prevail!"</p> +<p>The quality of testimony, no doubt, like that of every other +commodity, deteriorates under a system, which renders the good of +no more value in exchange than the bad. The formality of our Courts +here, as everywhere else, tends to impair, more or less, the +quality of what they receive. The simplicity of Courts, composed of +little village communities and elders, tends, on the contrary, to +improve the quality of the testimony they get; and in India, it is +found to be best in the isolated hamlets of hills and forests, +where men may be made to do almost anything rather than <i>tell a +lie</i>. A Marhatta pandit, in the valley of the Nerbudda, once +told me, that it was almost impossible to teach a wild Gond of the +hills and jungles the <i>occasional</i> value of a lie! It is the +same with the Tharoos and Booksas, who are, almost exclusively the +cultivators of the Oude Tarae forest, and with the peasantry of the +Himmalaya chain of mountains, before they have come much in contact +with people of the plains, and become subject to the jurisdiction +of our Courts. These Courts are, everywhere, our <i>weak point</i> +in the estimation of our subjects; and they should be, everywhere, +simplified to meet the wants and wishes of so simple a people.</p> +<p>That the lands, under the settled Government of the Honourable +East India Company, are becoming more and more deteriorated by +overcropping is certain; and an Indian statesman will naturally +inquire, what will be the probable consequence to the people and +the Government? To the people, the consequence must be, a rise in +the price of land produce, proportioned to the increased cost of +producing and bringing to market what is required for consumption. +The price in the market must always be sufficient to cover the cost +of producing, and bringing what is required from the poorest and +most distant lands to which that market is at any time obliged to +have recourse for supply; and as these lands deteriorate in their +powers of fertility, recourse must be had to lands more distant, or +more cost must be incurred in manure, irrigation, &c., to make +these, already had recourse to, to produce the same quantity, or +both. The price in the market must rise to meet the increased +outlay required, or that outlay will not be made; and the market +cannot be supplied.</p> +<p>As men have to pay more for the Land produce they require, they +will have less to lay out in other things; and as they cannot do +without the land produce, they must be satisfied with less of other +things, till their incomes increase to meet the necessity for +increased outlay. People will get this increase in proportion as +their labour, services, talents, or acquirements are more or less +indispensable to the society; and the price of other things will +diminish, as the cost of producing and bringing them to market +diminishes, with improvements in manufactures, and in the +facilities of transport. No very serious injury to the people of +our territories is, therefore, to be apprehended from the +inevitable deterioration in the natural powers of the soil, under +our settled Government, which gives so much security to life, +property, and character, and so much encouragement to industry.</p> +<p>The consequence to the Government will be less serious than +might at first appear. Under a system of limited settlements of the +land-revenue, such as prevail over all our dominions, except in +Bengal, the Government is in reality the landlord; and our +land-revenue is in reality land-rent.* We alienate a portion of +that rent for limited periods in favour of those with whom we make +such settlements, and take all the rest ourselves. On an average, +perhaps, our Government takes one-sixth of the gross produce of the +land; and the persons, with whom the settlements are made, take +another sixth. The net rent, which the Government and they divide +equally between them, may be taken, on an average, at one-third of +the gross produce of the land. The cultivator would, I believe, +always be glad to take and cultivate land, on an average, on +condition of giving one-third of the gross produce, or the value of +one-third, to be divided between the Government and its lessee; and +the lessee will always consider himself fortunate if he gets +one-half of this third, to cover the risk and cost of +management.</p> +<p>* I believe our Government committed a great <i>political</i> +and <i>social</i> error, when it declared all the land to be the +property of the lessees: and all questions regarding it to be +cognizable by Judicial Courts. It would have been better for the +people, as well as the Government, had all such questions been left +to the Fiscal and Revenue Courts. There is the same regular series +of these Courts, from the Tuhseeldar to the Revenue Sudder Board, +as of the Judicial Courts, from the Moonsiff to the Judicial Sudder +Board; and they are all composed of the same class of persons, with +the same character and motives to honest exertion. Why force men to +run the gauntlet through both series? It tends to make the +Government to be considered as a rapacious tax-gatherer, instead of +a liberal landlord, which it really is; and to foster the growth of +a host of native pettifogging attorneys, to devour, like white +ants, the substance of the landholders of all classes and +grades.</p> +<p>Where the soil of a particular village in a district +deteriorates, an immediate reduction in the assessment must be +given, or the lands will be deserted. If the Government does not +consent to such a reduction, the lessee must sustain the whole +burthen, for he cannot shift it off upon the cultivators, without +driving them from the lands. The lessee may sustain the whole +burthen for one or two years; but if the officers of Government +attempt to make him sustain it longer, they drive him after his +cultivators, and the land is left waste. I have seen numerous +estates of villages and some districts made waste by such attempts +in India. I have seen land in such estates, which, when +unexhausted, yielded, on an average, twelve returns of the seed, +without either manure or irrigation, and paid a rent of twenty +shillings an acre, become so exhausted by overcropping in a few +years as to yield only three or four returns, and unable to pay +four shillings an acre—indeed, unable to pay any rent at all. +The cultivator, by degrees, ceases to sow the more exhausting and +profitable crops, and is at last obliged to have recourse to +manure, or desert his land altogether; but no manure will enable +him to get the same quantity of produce as he got before, while +what he gets sells at the same rate in the market. He can, +therefore, no longer pay the same rate of rent to Government and +its lessee. He has got a less quantity of produce, and it has cost +him much more to raise it, while it continues to sell at the same +price in the market.</p> +<p>But when the lands of a whole country, or a large extent of +country, deteriorate in the same manner, and all cultivators are +obliged to do the same thing, the price of land produce must rise +in the markets, so as to pay the additional costs of supply. All +but the poorest and most distant to which these markets must have +recourse for supply, at any particular time, will pay rent, and pay +it at a rate proportioned to their greater fertility or nearer +proximity to the markets. Such Markets must pay for land produce a +price sufficient to cover the costs of producing and bringing it +from the poorest and most distant lands, to which they are obliged +at any particular time to have recourse for supply. All land +produce of the same quality must, at the same time and place, sell +in the market at the same price; and all that is over and above the +cost of producing and bringing it to market will go to the +proprietors of the land, that is, to the Government and its +lessees. The poorest and most distant land, to which any market may +have recourse at any particular time, may pay no rent, because the +price is no more than sufficient to pay the cost of producing and +bringing their supply to that market; but all that is less poor and +distant will pay rent, because the price which their produce brings +in that market will be more than sufficient to pay the cost of +producing and bringing their supply to that market.</p> +<p>The increase in the price of land produce which must take place, +as the lands become generally exhausted by overcropping, will, +probably, prevent any great falling off in the money rate of rents +and revenues, from the land in our Indian possessions; and with the +improvements in manufactures, and in the facilities of transport, +which must tend to reduce the price of other articles, that money +will purchase more of them in the market; and the establishments +which have to be maintained out of these rents and revenues may not +become more costly. Government and its lessees may have the same +incomes in money, and the greater price, they and their +establishments are obliged to pay for land produce may be +compensated by the lesser price they will have to pay for other +things.</p> +<p>As facilities for irrigation are extended and improved in wells +and canals, new elements of fertility will be supplied to the +surface, in the soluble salts contained in their waters. The +well-waters will bring these salts from great depths, and the +canal-waters will collect them as they flow along, or percolate +through, the earth; and as they rise, by capillary attraction, they +will convey them to the surface, where they are required for +tillage. The atmosphere, in water, ammonia, and carbonic-acid gas +will continue to supply plants with the oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, +and carbon which they require from it; and judicious selection and +supply of manure will provide the soil with those elements in which +it happens to be deficient. Peace, security, instruction, and a due +encouragement to industry, will, it may be hoped, secure to the +people all that they require from our Government, and to our +Government all that it can fairly require from the people.</p> +<p>The soil of Mahomdee is as fine as that of any part of Oude that +I have seen; and the soil of Oude, generally, is equal to the best +that I have seen in any part of India. It is all of the kinds above +described—muteear (argillaceous), doomuteea (light), bhoor +(sandy), and oosur (barren), as far as I have seen. In some parts, +the muteear is more productive than in others, and the same may be +said of all the other denominations of soil. In the poorer parts of +the muteear, the stiff clay, devoid of decayed vegetable and animal +matter, seems to superabound, as the sand does in the lightest or +poorer portions of the soil, called doomuteea, which runs into +bhoor. The oosur, or soil rendered unproductive by a superabundance +of substances not suitable to the growth of plants, seems to be +common to both kinds. In all soils, except the oosur, fine trees +grow, and good crops are produced under good tillage; but in the +muteear, the outlay to produce them is the least. It is an error to +suppose that a soil, even of pure sand, must be absolutely barren. +Quartz-sand commonly contains some of the inorganic substances +necessary to plants—silica, lime, potash, alumina, oxide of +iron, magnesia, &c.—and they are rendered soluble, and +fit for the use of plants by atmospheric air and water, impregnated +with carbonic-acid gas, as all water is more or less. The only +thing required from the hand of man, besides water, to render them +cultivable, is vegetable or animal substances, to supply them, as +they decay or decompose, with organic acids.</p> +<p>The late Hakeem Mehndee, took the contract of the Mahomdee +district, as already stated, in the year A.D. 1804, when it was in +its present bad state, at 3,11,000 rupees a-year; and he held it +till the year 1819, or for sixteen years. He had been employed in +the Azimgurh district, under Boo Allee Hakeem, the contractor; and +during the negotiations for the transfer of that district, with the +other territories to the British Government, which took place in +1801; he lost his place, and returned to Lucknow, where he paid his +court to the then Dewan, or Chancellor of the Exchequer, who +offered him the contract of the Mahomdee district, at three lacs +and eleven thousand rupees a-year, on condition of his depositing +in the Treasury a security bond for thirty-two thousand rupees. +There had been a liaison between him and a beautiful dancing-girl, +named Peeajoo, who had saved a good deal of money. She advanced the +money, and Hakeem Mehndee deposited the bond, and got the contract. +The greater part of the district was then, as now, a waste; and did +not yield more than enough to cover the Government demand, +gratuities to courtiers, and cost of management. The Hakeem +remained to support his influence at Court, while his brother, +Hadee Allee Khan, resided at Mahomdee, and managed the district. +The Hakeem and his fair friend were married, and lived happily +together till her death, which took place before that of her +husband, while she was on a pilgrimage to Mecca. While she lived, +he married no other woman; but on her death he took to himself +another, who survived him; but he had no child by either. His vast +property was left to Monowur-od Dowlah, the only son of his +brother, Hadee Allee Khan, and to his widow and dependents. The +district improved rapidly under the care of the two brothers; and, +in a few years, yielded them about seven lacs of rupees a-year. The +Government demand increased with the rent-roll to the extent of +four lacs of rupees a-year. This left a large income for Hakeem +Mehndee and his family, who had made the district a garden, and +gained the universal respect and affection of the people.</p> +<p>In the year 1807, Hakeem Mehndee added, to the contract of +Mahomdee, that of the adjoining district of Khyrabad, at five lacs +of rupees a-year, making his contract nine lacs. In 1816, he added +the contract for the Bahraetch district, at seven lacs and +seventy-five thousand; but he resigned this in 1819, after having +held it for two years, with no great credit to himself. In 1819, he +lost the contract for Mahomdee and Khyrabad, from the jealousy of +the prime minister, Aga Meer. In April 1818, the Governor-General +the Marquess of Hastings passed through his district of Khyrabad, +on his way to the Tarae forest, on a sporting excursion, after the +Marhatta war. Hakeem Mehndee attended him during this excursion, +and the Governor-General was so much pleased with his attentions, +courteous manners, and sporting propensities, and treated him with +so much consideration and kindness, that the minister took the +alarm, and determined to get rid of so formidable a rival. He in +consequence made the most of the charge preferred against him, of +the murder of Amur Sing; and demanded an increase of five lacs of +rupees a-year, or fourteen lacs of rupees a-year, instead of nine. +This Hakeem Mehndee would not consent to give; and Shekh Imam Buksh +was, in 1819, sent to supersede him, as a temporary +arrangement.</p> +<p>In 1820, Poorun Dhun, and Govurdhun Dass, merchants of Lucknow, +took the contract of the two districts at twelve lacs of rupees +a-year, or an increase of three lacs; and from that time, under a +system of rack-renting, these districts have been falling off. +Mahomdee is now in a worse state than Khyrabad, because it has had +the bad luck to get a worse set of contractors. Hakeem Mehndee +retired with his family, first to Shajehanpoor, and then to +Futtehgurh, on the Ganges, and resided there, with his family, till +June 1830, when he was invited back by Nusseer-do Deen Hyder, to +assume the office of prime minister. He held the office till August +1832, when he was removed by the intrigues of the Kumboos, Taj-od +Deen Hoseyn, and Sobhan Allee Khan, who persuaded the King that he +was trying to get him removed from the throne, by reporting to the +British Government the murder of some females, which had, it is +said, actually taken place in the palace. Hakeem Mehndee was +invited from his retirement by Mahomed Allee Shah, and again +appointed minister in 1837; but he died three months after, on the +24th of December, 1837.</p> +<p>During the thirty years which have elapsed since Hakeem Mehndee +lost the contract of Mahomdee, there have been no less than +seventeen governors, fifteen of whom have been contractors; and the +district has gradually declined from what it was, when he left it, +to what it was when he took it—that is from a rent-roll of +seven lacs of rupees a-year, under which all the people were happy +and prosperous, to one of three, under which all the people are +wretched. The manager, Krishun Sahae, who has been treated as +already described, would, in a few years, have made it what it was +when the Hakeem left it, had he been made to feel secure in his +tenure of office, and properly encouraged and supported. He had, in +the three months he had charge, invited back from our bordering +districts hundreds of the best classes of landholders and +cultivators, who had been driven off by the rapacity of his +predecessor, re-established them in their villages and set them to +work in good spirit, to restore the lands which had lain waste from +the time they deserted them; and induced hundreds to convert to +sugar-cane cultivation the lands which they had destined for +humbler crops, in the assurance, of the security which they were to +enjoy under his rule. The one class tells me, they must suspend all +labours upon the waste lands till they can learn the character of +his successor; and the other, that they must content themselves +with the humbler crops till they can see whether the richer and +more costly ones will be safe from his grasp, or that of the +agents, whom he may employ to manage the district for him. No man +is safe for a moment under such a Government, either in his person, +his character, his office, or his possession; and with such a +feeling of insecurity among all classes, it is impossible for a +country to prosper.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Krishun Sahae has been restored, but does not feel secure in +his tenure of office.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I may here mention one among the numerous causes of the decline +of the district. The contract for it was held for a year and half, +in A.D. 1847-48, by Ahmed Allee. Feeling insecure in his tenure of +office, he wanted to make as much as possible out of things as they +were, and resumed Guhooa, a small rent-free village, yielding four +hundred rupees a-year, held by Bahadur Sing, the tallookdar of +Peepareea, who resides at Pursur. He had recourse to the usual mode +of indiscriminate murder and plunder, to reduce Ahmed Allee to +terms. At the same time, he resumed the small village of Kombee, +yielding three hundred rupees a-year, held rent-free by Bhoder +Sing, tallookdar of Magdapoor, who resided in Koombee; and, in +consequence, he united his band of marauders to that of Bahadur +Sing; and together they plundered and burnt to the ground some +dozen villages, and laid waste the purgunnah of Peepareea, which +had yielded to Government twenty-five thousand rupees a-year, and +contained the sites of one hundred and eight villages, of which, +however, only twenty-five were occupied.</p> +<p>During the greater part of the time that these depredations were +going on, the two rebels resided in our bordering district of +Shajehanpoor, whence they directed the whole. Urgent remonstrances +were addressed to the magistrate of that district, but he required +judicial proof of their participation in the crimes, that were +committed by their followers, upon the innocent and unoffending +peasantry; and no proof that the contractor could furnish being +deemed sufficient, he was obliged to consent to restore the +rent-free villages. The lands they made waste, still remain so, and +pay no revenue to Government.</p> +<p>Saadut Allee Khan (who died in 1814), when sovereign of Oude, +was fond of this place, and used to reside here for many months +every year. He made a garden, about a mile to the east of the town, +upon a fine open plain of good soil, and planted an avenue of fine +trees all the way. The trees are now in perfection, but the garden +has been neglected; and the bungalow in the centre, in which he +resided, is an entire ruin. He kept a large establishment of men +and cattle, for which sixty thousand rupees a-year were regularly +charged in the accounts of the manager of the district, through his +reign and those of Ghazee-od Deen, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, Mahomed +Allee Shah, and Amjud Allee Shah, and the first year of the reign +of his present Majesty, Wajid Allee Shah; though, with the +exception of two bullocks and two gardeners, the cattle had all +disappeared, and the servants been all discharged some thirty years +before.</p> +<p>In October last, when six guns were required from the great park +of artillery at Lucknow, to be sent out on detached duty with the +Gungoor Regiment, an inspection of the draft-bullocks took place, +and it was found, that the Court favourite who had charge of the +park had made away with no less than one thousand seven hundred and +thirty of them, and only twenty could be found to take the guns. He +had been charging for the food of these one thousand seven hundred +and thirty for a long series of years. On mentioning this fact to a +late minister, he told me of two facts within his own knowledge, +illustrative of these sort of charges. This same Court favourite, +in the reign of Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, in 1835, received charge of +sixteen bullocks, of surpassing beauty, which had been presented to +the King, and he was allowed to draw, from the Treasury, a rupee +a-day, for the food of each bullock.</p> +<p>In the reign of Mahomed Allee Shah, his prudent successor, a +muster of all the bullocks was called for, and Ghalib Jung, to whom +the muster was intrusted, to spite the favourite, called for these +sixteen bullocks. The favourite had disposed of them, though, he +continued to draw the allowance; and, to supply their place, he +sent to the bazaar and seized sixteen of the bullocks which had +that day brought corn to market. They were presented to Ghalib Jung +for muster. He pretended to be very angry, declared that it was +disgraceful to keep such poor creatures on the King's +establishment, and still more so to charge a rupee a-day for the +food of each, and ordered them to be sold forthwith by auction. +Soon after they had been sold, the poor men to whom they belonged +came up to claim them, but could never get either the bullocks or +their price, nor could the favourite ever be persuaded to refund +any portion of the money he had drawn for the sixteen he had +sold.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The favourite, in both these cases, was Anjum-od Dowlah.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In the early part of the reign of Ghazee-od Deen Hyder, a fine +dog from the Himmalaya Hills was presented to him, and made over to +the charge of one of the favourites, who drew a rupee a-day for his +food. Soon after his Majesty became ill and very irritable, and one +day complained much of this dog's barking. He was told that the +only way to silence a dog of this description was to give him a +seer of conserve of roses to eat every day, and a bottle of +rose-water to drink. His Majesty ordered them to be given +forthwith, and his repose was never after disturbed by the dog's +barking. A rupee a-day continued to be drawn for these things for +the dog for the rest of the long reign of Ghazee-od Deen Hyder, and +through that of his successor, Nuseer-od Deen, which lasted for ten +years, and ended in 1837, though the animal had died soon after the +order for these things was given, or in 1816, and he believed it +continued to be drawn up to the present day.</p> +<p>The cantonment at Mahomdee stands between this garden of Saadut +Allee's and the town, and this is the best site for any civil or +military establishments that may be required at Mahomdee. The +Nazims usually reside in the fort in the town.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 2, 1850.—Halted at Mahomdee. The spring +crops around the town are very fine, and the place is considered to +be very healthy. There is, however, some peculiarity in the soil, +opposed to the growth of the poppy. The cultivators tell me that +they have often tried it; that it is stunted in growth, whatever +care be taken of it, and yields but little juice, and that of bad +quality, though it attains perfection in the Shahabad and other +districts around. The doomuteea soil is here esteemed better than +the muteear, though it requires more labour in the tillage. It is +said that <i>mote</i> and <i>mash</i>, two pulses, do not thrive in +the muteear soil so well as in the doomuteea.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 3, 1850.—Poknapoor, eight miles. We +crossed the Goomtee about midway, over a bridge of boats that had +been prepared for us. The boats came up the river thus far for +timber, and were detained for the occasion. The stream is here +narrow, and said to flow from a basin (the phoola talao) in the +Tarae forest, some fifty miles to the north, at Madhoo Tanda. There +is some tillage on the verge of the stream on the other side; but +from the river to our tents, four miles, there is none. The country +is level and well studded with groves and fine single trees, bur, +peepul, mhowa, mango, &c., but covered with rank grass.</p> +<p>Near the river is a belt of the sakhoo and other forest trees, +with underwood, in which tigers lodge and prey upon the deer, which +cover the grass plain, and frequently upon the bullocks, which are +grazed upon it in great numbers. Several bullocks have been killed +and eaten by them within the last few days; and an old fakeer, who +has for some months taken up his lodging on this side the river +under a peepul-tree, in a straw hut just big enough to hold him, +told us that he frequently saw them come down to drink in the +stream near his lodging. We saw a great many deer in passing, but +no tigers. The soil near the river is sandy, and the ground uneven, +but still cultivable; and on this side of the sandy belt it is all +level and of the best kind of doomuteea. Our tents are in a fine +grove of mango-trees, in the midst of a waste, but level and +extensive, plain of this soil, not a rood of which is unfit for the +plough or incapable of yielding crops of the finest quality. It is +capable of being made, in two or three years, a beautiful +garden.</p> +<p>The single trees, which are scattered all over it, have been +shorn of their leaves and small branches by the cowherds for their +cattle, but they would all soon clothe themselves again under +protection. The groves are sufficiently numerous to furnish sites +for the villages and hamlets required. All the large sakhoo-trees +have been cut down and taken away on the ground we have come over, +which is too near the river for them to be permitted to attain full +size. Not an acre or a foot of the land is oosur, or unfit for +tillage. Poknapoor is in the estate of Etowa, which forms part of +the pergunnah of Peepareea, to which Bahadur Sing, the person above +described, lays claim. He holds a few villages round his residence +at Pursur; but the pergunnah is under the management of a +Government officer, under the Amil of Mahomdee. The Rajah, Syud +Ashruf Allee Khan, of Mahomdee, claims a kind of suzerainty over +all the district, and over this pergunnah of Peepareea among the +rest. From all the villages tilled and peopled he is permitted to +levy an income for himself at the rate of two rupees a-village. +This the people pay with some reluctance, though they recognise his +right.</p> +<p>The zumeendars of Poknapoor are Kunojee Brahmins, who tell me +that they can do almost everything in husbandry save holding their +own ploughs: they can drive their own harrows and carts, reap their +own crops, and winnow and tread out their own corn; but if they +once condescend to <i>hold their own ploughs</i> they sink in +grade, and have to pay twice as much as they now pay for wives for +their sons from the same families, and take half of what they now +take for their daughters from the same families, into which they +now marry them. They have, they say, been settled in these +pergunnahs, north-east of the Goomtee River, for fifty-two +generations as farmers and cultivators; and their relatives, who +still remain at Aslamabad, a village one koss south-east of +Mahomdee, which was the first abode of the tribe in Oude, have been +settled there for no less than eighty-four generations. They form +village communities, dividing the lands among the several members, +and paying over and above the Government demand a liberal allowance +to the head of the village and of the family settled in it, to +maintain his respectability and to cover the risk and cost of +management, either in kind, in money, or in an extra share of the +land.</p> +<p>The lands of Poknapoor are all divided into two equal shares, +one held by <i>Dewan</i> and the other by <i>Ramnath</i>, who were +both among the people with whom I conversed. Teekaram, who has a +share in Dewan's half, mentioned that about thirteen years ago the +Amil, Khwaja Mahmood, wanted to increase the rate of the Government +demand on the village from the four hundred, which they had long +paid, to four hundred and fifty; that they refused to pay, and +Hindoo Sing, the Rajpoot tallookdar of Rehreea, one koss east of +Poknapoor, offered to take the lease at four hundred and fifty, and +got it. They refused to pay, and he, at the head of his gang of +armed followers, attacked, plundered, and burnt down the village, +and killed his, Teekaram's, brother Girdharee, with his two sons, +and inflicted three severe cuts of a sabre on the right arm of his +wife, who is now a widow among them. Hindoo Sing's object was to +make this village a permanent addition to his estate; but, to his +surprise, the Durbar took serious notice of the outrage, and he +fled into the Shajehanpoor district, where he was seized by the +magistrate, Mr. Buller, and made over to the Oude authorities for +trial. He purchased his escape from them in the usual way; but soon +after offered to surrender to the collector, Aboo Torab Khan, on +condition of pardon for all past offences.</p> +<p>The collector begged the Brahmins to consent to pardon him for +the murders, on condition of getting from Hindoo Sing some fifty +beeghas of land, out of his share in Rehreea. They said they would +not consent to take five times the quantity of the land among such +a turbulent set; but should be glad to get a smaller quantity, +rent-free, in their own village, for the widow of Girdharee. The +collector gave them twenty-five beeghas, or ten acres, in +Poknapoor; and this land Teekaram still holds, and out of the +produce supports the poor widow. A razenamah, or pardon, was given +by the family, and Hindoo Sing has ever since lived in peace upon +his estate, The lease of the village was restored to the Brahmin +family, at the reduced rate of two hundred and fifty, but soon +after raised to four hundred, and again reduced to two hundred and +fifty, after the devastation of Bahadur Sing and Bhoder Sing.</p> +<p>These industrious and unoffending Brahmins say that since these +Rajpoot landholders came among them, many generations ago, there +has never been any peace in the district, except during the time +that Hakeem Mehndee held the contract, when the whole plain that +now lies waste became a beautiful <i>chummun</i> (parterre); that +since his removal, as before his appointment, all has been +confusion; that the Rajpoot landholders are always quarrelling +either among themselves or with the local Government authorities; +and, whatever be the nature or the cause of quarrel, they always +plunder and murder, indiscriminately, the unoffending communities +of the villages around, in order to reduce these authorities to +their terms; that when these Rajpoot landholders leave them in +peace, the contractors seize the opportunity to increase the +Government demand, and bring among them the King's troops, who +plunder them just as much as the rebel landholders, though they do +not often murder them in the same reckless manner. They told me +that the hundreds of their relatives who had gone off during the +disorders and taken lands, or found employment in our bordering +districts, would be glad to return to their own lands, groves, and +trees, in Oude, if they saw the slightest chance of protection, and +the country would soon become again the beautiful parterre which +Hakeem Mehndee left it thirty years ago, instead of the wilderness +in which they were now so wretched; that they ventured to cultivate +small patches here and there, not far from each other, but were +obliged to raise small platforms, upon high poles, in every field, +and sit upon them all night, calling out to each other, in a loud +voice, to keep up their spirits, and frighten off the deer which +swarmed upon the grass plain, and would destroy the whole of the +crops in one night, if left unprotected; that they were obliged to +collect large piles of wood around each platform, and keep them +burning all night, to prevent the tigers from carrying off the men +who sat upon them; that their lives were wretched amidst this +continual dread of man and beast, but the soil and climate were +good, and the trees and groves planted by their forefathers were +still standing and dear to them; and they hoped, now that the +Resident had come among them, to receive, at no distant day, the +protection they required. This alone is required to render this the +most beautiful portion of Oude, and Oude the most beautiful portion +of India.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 4, 1850.—Gokurnath, thirteen miles, +north-east, over a level plain of the same fine muteear soil, here +and there running into doomuteea and bhoor, but in no case into +oosur. The first two miles over the grass plain, and the next four +through a belt of forest trees, with rank grass and underwood, +abounding in game of all kinds, and infested by tigers. Bullocks +are often taken by them, but men seldom. The sal (<i>alias</i> +sakhoo) trees are here stunted, gnarled, and ugly, while in the +Tarae forest they are straight, lofty, and beautiful. The reason +is, that beyond the forest their leaves are stripped off and sold +for <i>plates</i>. They are carried to distant towns, and stored up +for long periods, to form breakfast and dinner plates, and the +people in the country use hardly anything else. Plates are formed +of them by sewing them together, when required; and they become as +pliable as leather, even after being kept for a year or more, by +having a little water sprinkled over them. They are long, wide, and +tough, and well suited to the purpose. All kinds of food are put +upon them, and served up to the family and guests. The cattle do +not eat them, as they do leaves of the peepul, bur, neem, &c. +The sakhoo, when not preserved, is cut down, when young, for beams, +rafters, &c., required in building. In the Tarae forest, the +proprietors of the lands on which they stand preserve them till +they attain maturity, for sale to the people of the plains; and +they are taken down the Ghagra and other rivers that flow through +the forest to the Ganges, and vast numbers are sold in the Calcutta +market. The fine tall sakhoos in the Tarae forest are called +"sayer"; the knotted, stunted, and crooked shakoos, beyond the +forest, are called "khohurs." There are but few teak (or sagwun) +trees in this part of the Tarae forest. The country is everywhere +studded with the same fine groves and single trees, and requires +only tillage to become a garden. From the belt of jungle to our +camp at Gokurnath, seven miles, the road runs over an open grass +plain, with here and there a field of corn. The sites of villages +are numerous, but few of them are occupied at present. All are said +to have been in a flourishing state, and filled by a happy +peasantry, when Hakeem Mehndee lost the government. Since that time +these villages and hamlets have diminished by degrees, in +proportion as the rapacity of the contractors and the turbulence of +the Rajpoot landholders have increased.</p> +<p>The first village we passed through, after emerging from the +belt of jungle, was Pureylee, which is held and occupied by a large +family of cultivating proprietors of the Koormee caste. Up to the +year 1847, it had for many years been in a good condition, and paid +a revenue of two thousand rupees a-year to Government. In that year +Ahmud Allee, the collector, demanded a thousand more. They could +not pay this, and he sold all their bullocks and other stock to +make up the demand; the lands became waste as usual; and Lonee +Sing, of Mitholee, offered the next contractor one thousand rupees +a-year for the lease, and got it. The village has now been +permanently absorbed in his estate, in the usual way; and, as the +Koormees are a peaceful body, they have quietly acquiesced in the +arrangement, and get all the aid they require from their new +landlord. Before this time they had held their lands, as +proprietors, directly under Government. From allodial* proprietors +they are become feudal tenants under a powerful Rajpoot chief.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* By allodial, I mean, lands held in proprietary right, +immediately under the crown, but liable to the land-tax.]</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt2-3" id="Chapt2-3">CHAPTER III.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Lonee Sing, of the Ahbun Rajpoot tribe—Dispute between +Rajah Bukhtawar Sing, and a servant of one of his +relatives—Cultivation along the border of the Tarae +forest—Subdivision of land among the Ahbun +families—Rapacity of the king's troops, and establishments of +all kinds—Climate near the Tarae—Goitres—Not +one-tenth of the cultivable lands cultivated, nor one-tenth of the +villages peopled—Criterion of good tillage—Ratoon +crops—Manure available—Khyrabad district better peopled +and cultivated than that of Mahomdee, but the soil +over-cropped—Blight—Rajah Ajeet Sing and his estate of +Khymara—Ousted by collusion and bribery—Anrod Sing of +Oel, and Lonee Sing—State of Oude forty years ago compared +with its present state—The Nazim of the Khyrabad +district—Trespasses of his followers—Oel +Dhukooa—<i>Khalsa</i> lands absorbed by the Rajpoot +barons—Salarpoor—Sheobuksh Sing of +Kuteysura—<i>Bhulmunsee</i>, or property-tax—Beautiful +groves of Lahurpoor—Residence of the Nazim—Wretched +state of the force with the Nazim—Gratuities paid by officers +in charge of districts, whether in contract or trust—Rajah +Arjun Sing's estate of Dhorehra—Hereditary gang-robbers of +the Oude Tarae suppressed—Mutiny of two of the King's +regiments at Bhitolee—Their rapacity and +oppression—Singers and fiddlers who govern the King—Why +the Amils take all their troops with them when they +move—Seetapoor, the cantonment of one of the two regiments of +Oude Local Infantry—Sipahees not equal to those in Magness's, +Barlow's, and Bunbury's, or in our native regiments of the +line—Why—The prince Momtaz-od Dowlah—Evil effects +of shooting monkeys—Doolaree, <i>alias</i> Mulika +Zumanee—Her history, and that of her son and daughter.</p> +<p>Lonee Sing, who visited me yesterday afternoon with a +respectable train, has, in this and other ways less creditable, +increased his estate of <i>Mitholee</i> from a rent-roll of forty +to one of one hundred and fifty thousand rupees a-year, out of +which he pays fifty thousand to Government, and he is considered +one of its best subjects. He is, as above stated, of the Ahbun +Rajpoot clan, and a shrewd and energetic man. The estate was +divided into six shares. It had formed one under Rajah Davey Sing, +whose only brother, Bhujun Sing, lived united with him, and took +what he chose to give him for his own subsistence and that of his +family. Davey Sing died without issue, leaving the whole estate to +his brother, Bhujun Sing, who had two sons, Dul Sing and Maun Sing, +among whom he divided the estate.* Dul Sing had six sons, but Maun +Sing had none. He, however, adopted Bhowanee Sing, to whom he left +his portion of the estate. Dul Sing's share became subdivided among +his six sons; but Khunjun Sing, the son of his eldest son, when he +became head of the family, got together a large force, with some +guns, and made use of it in the usual way by seizing upon the lands +of his weaker neighbours. He attacked his nephew, Bhowanee Sing, +and took all his lands; and got, on one pretence or another, the +greater part of those of his other relatives.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* <i>Mitholee</i> contains the sites of one thousand four +hundred and eighty-six villages, only one-third of which are now +occupied.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>He died without issue, leaving his possessions and military +force to Lonee Sing, his brother, who continued to pursue the same +course. In 1847 he, with one thousand armed men and five guns, +attacked his cousin, Monnoo Sing, of Mohlee, the head of the family +of the fourth son of Dul Sing, killed four and wounded two persons; +and, in collusion with the local governor, seized upon all his +estate. Redress was sought for in vain; and as I was passing near, +Monnoo Sing and his brother Chotee Sing came to me at Mahomdee to +complain. Monnoo Sing remained behind sick at Mahomdee; but Chotee +Sing followed me on. He rode on horseback behind my elephant, and I +made him give me the history of his family as I went along, and +told him to prepare for me a genealogical table, and an account of +the mode in which Lonee Sing had usurped the different estates of +the other members of the family. This he gave to me on the road +between Poknapoor and Gokurnath by one of his belted attendants, +who, after handing it up to me on the elephant, ran along under the +nose of Rajah Bukhtawur Sing's fine chestnut horse without saying a +word.</p> +<p>I asked the Rajah whether he knew Lonee Sing? "Yes," said he; +"everybody knows him: he is one of the ablest, best, and most +substantial men in Oude; and he keeps his estate in excellent +order, and is respected by all people."—"Except his own +relations," said the belted attendant; "these he robs of all they +have, and nobody interposes to protect them, because he has become +wealthy, and they have become poor!" "My good fellow," said the +Rajah, "he has only taken what they knew not how to hold, and with +the sanction of the King's servants."—"Yes," replied the man, +"he has got the sanction of the King's servants, no doubt, and any +one who can pay for it may get that now-a-days to rob others of the +King's subjects. Has not Lonee Sing robbed all his cousins of their +estates, and added them to his own, and thereby got the means of +bribing the King's servants to let him do what he likes?" "What," +said the Rajah, with some asperity, "should you, a mere soldier, +know about State affairs? Do you suppose that all the members of +any family can be equal? Must there not be a head to all families +to keep the rest in order? Nothing goes on well in families or +governments where all are equal, and there is no head to guide; and +the head must have the means to guide the rest."—"True," said +the belted attendant, "all can't be equal in the rule of States; +but in questions of private right, between individuals and +subjects, the case is different; and the ruler should give to every +one his due, and prevent the strong from robbing the weak. I have +five fingers in my hand: they serve me, and I treat them all alike. +I do not let one destroy or molest the other." "I tell you," said +the Rajah, with increasing asperity, "that there must be heads of +families as well as heads of States, or all would be confusion; and +Lonee Sing is right in all that he has done. Don't you see what a +state his district is in, now that he has taken the management of +the whole upon himself? I dare say all the waste that we see around +us has arisen from the want of such heads of families."—"You +know," said the man, "that this waste has been caused by the +oppression of the King's officers, and their disorderly and useless +troops, and the strong striving to deprive the weak of their +rights."</p> +<p>"You know nothing about these matters," said the Rajah, still +more angrily. "The wise and strong are everywhere striving to +subdue the weak and ignorant, in order that they may manage what +they hold better than they can. Don't you see how the British +Government are going on, taking country after country year after +year, in order to manage them better than they were managed under +others? and don't you see how these countries thrive under their +strong and just Government? Do you think that God would permit them +to go on as they do unless he thought that it was for the good of +the people who come under their rule?" Turning to me, the Rajah +continued: "When I was one day riding over the country with Colonel +Low, the then Resident, as I now ride with you, sir, he said, with +a sigh, 'In this country of Oude what darkness prevails! No one +seems to respect the right of another; and every one appears to be +grasping at the possessions of his neighbour, without any fear of +God or the King'—'True, sir,' said I; 'but do you not see +that it is the necessary order of things, and must be ordained by +Providence? Is not your Government going on taking country after +country, and benefiting all it takes? And will not Providence +prosper their undertakings as long as they do so? The moment they +come to a stand, all will be confusion. Sovereigns cannot stand +still, sir; the moment <i>their bellies are full</i> (their +ambition ceases), they and the countries they govern retrograde. No +sovereign in India, sir, that has any regard for himself or his +country, can with safety sit down and say that <i>his belly is +full</i> (that he has no further ambition of conquest): he must go +on to the last.'"*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The Rajah's reasoning was drawn from the practice in Oude, of +seizing upon the possessions of weaker neighbours, by means of +gangs of robbers. The man who does this, becomes the slave of his +gangs, as the imperial robber, who seizes upon smaller states by +means of his victorious armies, becomes their slave, and, +ultimately, their victim, The history of India is nothing more than +the biography of such men, and the Rajah has read no other.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The poor belted attendant of Chotee Sing was confounded with the +logic and eloquence of the old Rajah, and said nothing more; and +Chotee Sing himself kept quietly behind on his horse, with his ears +well wrapped up in warm cloth, as the morning was very cold, and he +was not well. He looked very grave, and evidently thought the Rajah +had outlived his understanding. But the fact is that the Rajah has, +by his influence at Court, taken all the lands held by his two +elder nephews, Rughbur Sing and Ramadeen, and made them over to +their youngest brother, Maun Sing, whom he has adopted, made his +heir, and the head of the family. He has, in consequence, for the +present a strong fellow-feeling with Lonee Sing; and, in all this +oration at least, "his wishes were father to his thoughts."</p> +<p>The sharpest retort that I remember ever having had myself was +given to me by a sturdy and honest old landholder of the middle +class, whom I had known for a quarter of a century on the bank of +the Nerbudda, in 1843. During the insurrection in the Saugor and +Nerbudda territories, which commenced in 1842, I was sent down by +the Governor-General Lord Ellenborough to ascertain if possible the +causes which had led to it. I conversed freely with the +landholders, and people of all classes in the valley, who had been +plundered by the landed aristocracy of the jungles on the borders, +and had one afternoon some fifty in my tent seated on the carpet. +After a good deal of talk about the depredations of the jungle +barons upon the people of the cultivated plains, and remonstrance +at the want of support on their part to the Government officers, I +said to Umrao Sing, one of the most sturdy and honest among them, +"Why did you withhold from the local officers the information which +you must have had of the movements and positions of the rebels and +their followers, who were laying the country waste? In no part of +India have the farmers and cultivators been more favoured in light +assessments and protection to life and property; but there are some +men who never can be satisfied; give them what you will, they will +always be craving after more."—"True, sir," said Umrao Sing, +looking me steadily in the face, and with the greatest possible +gravity, "there are some people who never can be satisfied, give +them what you will. Give them the whole of Hindoostan, and they +will go off to Kabul to take more!"</p> +<p>There was a pause, during which all looked very grave, for they +thought that the old man had exceeded the bounds of the privilege +he had long enjoyed of expressing his thoughts freely to European +gentlemen; and Umrao Sing continued: "The fact is, sir, that after +you had, by good government, made us all happy and prosperous, and +proud to display the wealth we had acquired on our persons, and in +our houses and villages, you withdrew all your troops from among +us, and left us a prey to the wild barons of the hills and jungles +on our borders, whose families had risen to wealth, distinction, +and large landed possessions under former misrule and disorder, and +who are always longing for the return of such disorders, that they +may have some chance of recovering the consequence and influence +which they have lost under a settled and strong Government: they +saw that your troops had been taken off for distant conquests, and +heard of nothing but defeats and disasters, and readily persuaded +themselves that your rule was at an end; for what could men, born +and bred in the jungles, know of your resources to retrieve such +disasters?</p> +<p>"After the Mahratta war, in 1817, you prohibited the people of +your newly-acquired districts from carrying arms, not dreaming that +the only persons who would obey or regard your order were the +peaceful landholders and peasantry of the plains, who were +satisfied with your Government, and anxious for its duration, but +exposed to the envy and hatred of the Gond and Lodhee chiefs, who +occupied the hills and jungles on their borders.</p> +<p>"When they came down upon us, you had no means left to protect +us; and having no longer any arms or any experience of the use of +them, after a quarter of a century of peace, we were unable to +defend our villages, our houses, or our families; if we attempted +to defend them, we and our families were killed; if we did not, we +were robbed and threatened with death, if we gave you information +to their prejudice. We saw that they could carry their threats into +execution, for your local officers had not the means to protect us +from their vengeance, and we suffered in silence; but you must not +infer from this that we were tired of your rule, or pleased with +their depredations; all here can testify that we longed for the +return of your strength and their downfal. It is true, however," +added he, "that the new European officers placed over us did not +treat us with the same courtesy and consideration as the old ones, +or seem to entertain the same kindly feeling towards us; and our +communion with them was less free and cordial."</p> +<p>All approved of my old friend's speech, and declared that he had +given expression to the thoughts and feelings of all present, and +of all the people of the plains, who lived happily under our rule, +and prayed earnestly for its duration. The portion of the estate of +Mitholee, held by Lonee Sing, now contains the sites of six hundred +and four villages, about one-half of which are occupied; four +hundred and eighty-four of these lie in the Mahomdee district, and +one hundred and twenty in that of Khyrabad. The number and names of +the villages are still kept up in the accounts.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 5, 1850.—Kurrunpoor Mirtaha, ten miles +over a plain of fine muteear soil, scantily cultivated, but bearing +excellent spring crops where it is so. Not far from our last camp +at Gokurnath, we entered a belt of jungle three miles wide, +consisting chiefly of stunted, knotty, and crooked sakhoo trees, +with underwood and rank chopper grass. This belt of jungle is the +same we passed through, as above described, between Poknapoor and +Gokurnath. It runs from the great forest to the north, a long way +down south-east, into the Khyrabad district. From this belt to our +present ground, six miles, the road passes over a fine plain, +nine-tenths of which is covered with this grass, but studded with +mango-groves and fine single trees. The forest runs along to the +north of our road—which lay east—from one to three +miles distant, and looked very like a continued mango-grove. The +level plain of rich soil extends up through the forest to the foot +of the hills, and is all the way capable of the finest cultivation. +Here and there the soil runs into light doomuteea; and in some few +parts even into bhoor, in proportion as the sand abounds; but +generally the soil is the fine muteear, and very fertile. The whole +plain is said to have been in cultivation thirty years ago, when +Hakeem Mehndee held the contract; but the tillage has been falling +off ever since, under the bad or oppressive management of +successive contractors.</p> +<p>The estate through which we have been passing is called +Bharwara, and contains the sites of nine hundred and eighty-nine +villages, about one-tenth of which are now occupied. The +landholders are all of the Ahbun Rajpoot tribe; but a great part of +them have become Musulmans. They live together, however, though of +different creeds, in tolerable harmony; and eat together on +occasions of ceremony, though not from the same dishes. No member +of the tribe ever forfeited his inheritance by changing his creed. +Nor did any one of them, I believe, ever change his creed, except +to retain his inheritance, liberty, or life, threatened by despotic +and unscrupulous rulers. They dine on the same floor, but there is +a line marked off to separate those of the party who are Hindoos +from those who are Musulmans. The Musulmans have Mahommedan names, +and the Hindoos Hindoo names; but both still go by the common +patronymic name of Ahbuns. The Musulmans marry into Musulman +families, and the Hindoos into Hindoo families of the highest +castes, Chouhans, Rathores, Rykwars, Janwars, &c. Of course all +the children are of the same religion and caste as their parents. +They tell me that the conversion of their ancestors was effected by +force, under a prince or chief called "Kala Pahar." This must have +been Mahommed Firmally, <i>alias</i> Kala Pahar—to whom his +uncle Bheilole, King of Delhi, left the district of Bahraetch as a +separate inheritance a short time before his death, which took +place A.D. 1488. This conversion seems to have had the effect of +doing away with the murder of female infants in the Ahbun families +who are still Hindoos; for they could not get the Musulman portion +of the tribe to associate with them if they continued it.</p> +<p>The estate of Bharwara is divided into four parts, Hydrabad, +Hurunpoor, Aleegunge, and Sekunderabad. Each division is subdivided +into parts, each held by a separate branch of the family; and the +subdivision of these parts is still going on, as the heads of the +several branches of the family die, and leave more than one son. +The present head of the Ahbun family is Mahommed Hussan Khan, a +Musulman, who resides in his fort in the village of Julalpoor, near +the road over which we passed. The small fort is concealed within, +and protected by a nice bamboo-fence that grows round it. He holds +twelve villages rent free, as <i>nankar</i>, and pays revenue for +all the rest that compose his share of the great estate. The heads +of families who hold the other shares enjoy in the same manner one +or more villages rent free, as <i>nankar</i>. These are all well +cultivated, and contain a great many cultivators of the best +classes, such as Koormees, Lodhies, and Kachies.</p> +<p>We passed through one of them, Kamole, and I had a good deal of +talk with the people, who were engaged in pressing out the juice of +sugar-cane. They told me that the juice was excellent, and that the +syrup made from it was carried to the district of Shajehanpoor, in +the British territory, to be made into sugar. Mahommed Hussan Khan +came up, as I was talking with the people, and joined in the +conversation. All seemed to be delighted with the opportunity of +entering so freely into conversation with a British Resident who +understood farming, and seemed to take so much interest in their +pursuits. I congratulated the people on being able to keep so many +of their houses well covered with grass-choppers; but they told me, +"that it was with infinite difficulty they could keep them, or +anything else they had, from the grasp of the local authorities and +the troops and camp-followers who attended them, and desolated the +country like a flock of locusts; that they are not only plundered +but taxed by them—first, the sipahees take their choppers, +beams, and rafters off their houses—then the people in charge +of artillery bullocks and other cattle take all their stores of +bhoosa, straw, &c., and threaten to turn the cattle loose on +their fields, if not paid a gratuity—the people who have to +collect fuel for the camp (bildars) take all their stores of wood, +and doors and windows also, if not paid for their +redemption—then the people in charge of elephants and camels +threaten to denude of their leaves and small branches all the +peepul, burgut, and other trees most sacred and dear to them, near +their homes, unless paid for their forbearance; and—though +last, not least—men, women, and children are seized, not only +to carry the plunder and other burthens gratis for sipahees and +servants of all kinds and grades, and camp-followers, but to be +robbed of their clothes, and made to pay ransoms to get back, while +all the plough-bullocks are put in requisition to draw the guns +which the King's bullocks are unable to draw themselves. In short, +that the approach of King's servants is dreaded as one of the +greatest calamities that can befal them."</p> +<p>I should here mention, that all the Telinga regiments, fourteen +in number, are allowed tents and hackeries to carry them. The way +in which the bullocks of such carts are provided with fodder has +been already mentioned; but no tents or conveyance of any kind are +allowed for the Nujeeb corps, thirty-two in number. Whenever they +move (and they are almost always moving), they seize whatever +conveyance and shelter they require from the people of the country +around. Each battalion, even in its ordinary incomplete state, +requires four hundred or five hundred porters, besides carts, +bullocks, horses, ponies, &c. Men, women, and children, of all +classes, are seized, and made to carry the baggage, arms, +accoutrements, and cages of pet birds, belonging to the officers +and sipahees of these corps. They are stripped of their clothes, +confined, and starved from the time they are seized; and as it is +difficult to catch people to relieve them along the road, they are +commonly taken on two or three stages. If they run away, they +forfeit all their clothes which remain in the hands of the +sipahees; and a great many die along the road of fatigue, hunger, +and exposure to the sun. Numerous cruel instances of this have been +urged by me on the notice of the King, but without any good effect. +The line of march of one of these corps is like the road to the +temple of Juggurnaut! When the corps is about to move, detachments +are sent out to seize conveyance of all kinds; and for one cart +required and taken, fifty are seized, and released for a donation +in proportion to their value, the respectability of the +proprietors, and the necessity for their employment at home at the +time. The sums thus extorted by detachments they share with their +officers, or they would never be again sent on such lucrative +service.</p> +<p>It appears that in this part of Oude the people have not for +many years suffered so much from the depredations of the refractory +landholders as in other parts; and that the desolate state of the +district arises chiefly from the other three great evils that +afflict Oude—the rack-renting of the contractors; the +divisions they create and foster among landholders; and the +depredations of the troops and camp-followers who attend them. But +the estate has become much subdivided, and the shareholders from +this cause, and the oppression of the contractors, have become poor +and weak; and the neighbouring landholders of the Janwar and other +Rajpoot tribes have taken advantage of their weakness to seize upon +a great many of their best villages. Out of Kurumpoor, within the +last nine years, Anorud Sing, of Oel, a Janwar Rajpoot, in +collusion with local authorities, has taken twelve; and Umrao Sing, +of Mahewa, of the same tribe, has taken eighteen, making twenty +villages from the Kurumpoor division. These landholders reside in +the Khyrabad district, which adjoins that of Mahomdee, near our +present camp.</p> +<p>The people everywhere praise the climate—they appear +robust and energetic, and no sickness prevails, though many of the +villages are very near the forest. The land on which the forest +stands contains, in the ruins of well-built towns and fortresses, +unquestionable signs of having once been well cultivated and +thickly peopled: and it would soon become so again under good +government. There is nothing in the soil to produce sickness; and, +I believe, the same soil prevails up through the forest to the +hills. Sickness would, no doubt, prevail for some years, till the +underwood and all the putrid leaves should be removed. The water +that stagnates over them, and percolates through the soil into the +wells, from which the people drink, and the exhalations which arise +from them and taint the air, confined by the dense mass of forest +trees, underwood, and high grass, are, I believe, the chief cause +of the diseases which prevail in this belt of jungle.</p> +<p>It is however remarkable, that there are two unhealthy seasons +in the year in this forest—one at the latter end of the rains +in August, September, and October, and the other before the rains +begin to fall in the latter part of April, the whole of May, and +part of June. The diseases in the latter are, I believe, more +commonly fatal than they are in the former; and are considered by +the people to arise solely from the poisonous quality of the water, +which is often found in wells to be covered with a thin crust of +petrolium. Diseases of the same character prevail at the same two +seasons in the jungles, above the sources of the Nerbudda and Sohun +rivers, and are ascribed by the people to the same +causes—those which take place after the rains, to bad air; +and those which take place immediately before the rains, after the +cold and dry seasons, to bad water. The same petrolium, or liquid +bitumen, is found floating on the spring waters in the hot season, +when the most fatal diseases break out in the jungles, about the +sources of the Nerbudda and Sohun, as in the Oude Tarae; and, in +both places, the natives appear to me to be right in attributing +them to the water; but whether the poisonous quality of the water +be imparted to it by bitumen from below, or by the putrid leaves of +the forest trees from above, is uncertain; the people drink from +the bituminous spring waters at this season, as well as from +stagnant pools in the beds of small rivers, which have ceased to +flow during part of the Cold, and the whole of the hot, season. +These pools become filled with the leaves of the forest trees which +hang over them.</p> +<p>The bitumen, in all the jungles to which I refer, arises, I +believe, from the <i>coal measures</i>, pressed down by the +overlying masses of sandstone strata, common to both the Himmalaya +chain of mountains over the Tarae forest, and the Vendeya and +Sathpoor ranges of hills at the sources of the Nerbudda and Sohun +rivers. It is, however, possible that the water of these stagnant +pools, tainted by the putrid leaves, may impart its poison through +the medium of the air in exhalations; and I have known European +officers, who were never conscious of having drunk either of the +waters above described, take the fever (owl) in the month of May in +the Tarae, and in a few hours become raving mad. These tainted +waters may possibly act in both ways—directly, and through +the medium of the air.</p> +<p>While on the subject of the causes or sources of disease, I may +mention two which do not appear to me to have been sufficiently +considered and provided against in India. First, when a new +cantonment is formed and occupied in haste, during or after a +campaign, terraces are formed of the new earth dug up on the spot +to elevate the dwellings of officers and soldiers from the ground, +which may possibly become flooded in the rains; and over the piles +of fresh earth officers commonly form wooden floors for their rooms +to secure them from the damp, new earth. Between this earth and the +wooden floor a small space of a foot or two is commonly left. The +new earth, thus thrown up from places that may not have been dug or +ploughed for ages, absorbs rapidly the oxygen from the air above, +and gives out carbonic acid, nitrogen and hydrogen gases, which +render the air above unfit for men to breathe. This noxious air +accumulates in the space below the wooden floor, and, passing +through the crevices, is breathed by the officers and soldiers as +they sleep.</p> +<p>Between the two campaigns against Nepal in 1814 and 1815, the +brigade in which my regiment served formed such a cantonment at +Nathpoor, on the right bank of the river Coosee. The land which +these cantonments occupied had been covered with a fine sward on +which cattle grazed for ages, and was exceedingly rich in decayed +vegetable and animal matter. The place had been long remarked for +its salubrity by the indigo-planters and merchants of all kinds who +resided there; and on the ground which my regiment occupied there +was a fine pucka-house, which the officer commanding the brigade +and some of his staff occupied. In the rains the whole plain, being +very flat, was often covered with water, and thousands of cattle +grazed upon it during the cold and hot seasons. The officers all +built small bungalows for themselves on the plan above described; +and the medical officers all thought that they had, in doing so, +taken all possible precautions. The men were provided with huts, as +much as possible on the same plan. These dwellings were all ready +before the rains set in, and officers and soldiers were in the +finest state of health and spirits.</p> +<p>In the middle and latter part of the rains, officers and men +began to suffer from a violent fever, which soon rendered the +European officers and soldiers delirious, and prostrated the native +officers and sipahees; so that three hundred of my own regiment, +consisting of about seven hundred, were obliged to be sent to their +homes on sick leave. The greater number of those who remained +continued to suffer, and a great many died. Of about ten European +officers present with my regiment, seven had the fever, and five +died of it, almost all in a state of delirium. I was myself one of +the two who survived, and I was for many days delirious.</p> +<p>Of the medical officers of the brigade, the only one, I believe, +who escaped the fever was Adam Napier, who, with his wife and +children, occupied apartments in the brigadier's large pucka-house. +Not a person who resided in that house was attacked by the fever. +There was another pucka-house a little way from the cantonments, +close to the bank of the river, occupied by an indigo-planter, a +Mr. Ross. No one in that house suffered. The fever was confined to +those who occupied the houses and huts which I have described. All +the brigade suffered much, but my regiment, then the first +battalion of the 12th Regiment, and now the 12th Regiment, suffered +most; and it was stationed on the soil which had remained longest +unturned and untilled on what had been considered a park round the +pucka-house, in which the brigadier resided. I believe that I am +right in attributing this sickness exclusively to the circumstances +which I have mentioned; and I am afraid that, during the +thirty-five years that have since elapsed, similar circumstances +have continued to produce similar results. I am myself persuaded, +that had the sward remained unbroken, and the houses and huts been +raised upon it, over wooden platforms placed upon it, to secure +officers and men from the damp ground, there would have been little +or no sickness in that brigade.</p> +<p>The second of the two causes or sources of disease, to which I +refer, is the insufficient room which is allowed for the +accommodation of our European troops in India. Within the room +assigned for the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, they soon +exhaust the atmosphere around of its oxygen or vital air, while +they expire or exhale carbonic acid, nitrogen and hydrogen gases, +which render it altogether unfit to sustain animal life; and death +or disease must soon overtake those who inhale or inspire it.</p> +<p>I may illustrate this by a fact within my own observation. In +1817, a flank battalion of six hundred European soldiers was formed +at Allahabad, where I then was with my regiment to escort the +Governor-General the Marquess of Hastings. With these six hundred +soldiers there were thirty-two European officers. The soldiers and +non-commissioned officers were put into the barracks in the fort, +where they had not sufficient room. The commissioned officers +resided in bungalows in the cantonments, or in tents on the open +plain. The men were effectually prevented from exposing themselves +to the sun, and from indulging in any kind of intemperance, and +every possible care was taken of them. The commissioned officers +lived as they liked, denied themselves no indulgence, and were +driving about all day, and every day, in sun and rain, to visit +each other and their friends. A fever, similar to that above +described, broke out among the soldiers and non-commissioned +officers in the fort, and great numbers died. Of the six hundred, +only sixteen escaped the fever. When too late, they were removed +from the fort into tents on the plain. From that day the deaths +diminished, and the sick began to recover. Of the thirty-two +commissioned officers, only one, I think, was ever sick at all, and +his sickness was of a kind altogether different; and, it is +impossible to resist the conclusion, that the non-commissioned +officers and soldiers got their disease from want of sufficient +room, and, consequently, of sufficient pure air to breathe. +Subsequent experience has, I believe, tended to confirm the +conclusion; and, I may safely say, that more European soldiers have +died from a disregard of it, than from all the wars that we have +had within the thirty-three years that have since elapsed. The +cause is still in operation, and continues to produce the same +fatal results, and will continue to do so till we change the system +of accommodating our European troops in India.</p> +<p>The buildings in which they are lodged should all have thatched +or tiled roofs, through which the hot and impure air, which has +been already breathed, may pass, and be replaced within by the pure +air of the atmosphere around, instead of roofs of pucka-masonry +which confine this air to be breathed over again by the people +within; and double or quadruple the space now allowed to each man +should be given. At the cost now incurred in providing them with +this insufficient room, under roofs of pucka-masonry, they could be +provided with four times the space, under roofs of thatch and +tiles, which would be so much more safe and suitable.</p> +<p>The state of the Bharwara district may be illustrated by that of +one of its four divisions or mahals, Alleegunge. In the last year +of Hakeem Mehudee's role (1818), this division was assessed at one +hundred and thirty-eight thousand rupees, with the full consent of +the people, who were all thriving and happy. The assessment was, +indeed, made by the heads of the principal Ahbun families of the +district, with Mahommed Hussan Khan as chief assessor. One hundred +and thirty-two thousand were collected, and six thousand were +remitted in consequence of a partial failure of the crops. Last +year, by force and violence, the landholders of this division were +made to agree to an assessment upon the lands in tillage of ten +thousand and five hundred rupees, of which not six thousand can be +collected. The other three divisions are in the same state. Not +one-tenth of the land is in tillage, nor are one-tenth of the +villages peopled. The soil is really the finest that I have seen in +India; and I have seen no part of India in which so small a portion +of the surface is unfit for tillage. The moisture rises to the +surface just as it is required; and a tolerable crop is got by a +poor man who cannot afford to keep a plough, and merely burns down +the grass and digs the surface with his spade, or pickaxe, before +he sows the seed. Generally, however, the tillage, in the portion +cultivated, is very good. The surface is ploughed and +cross-ploughed from six to twenty, or even thirty, times in the +season; and the harrow and roller are often applied till every clod +is pulverized to dust.</p> +<p>The test of first-rate preparation for the seed is that a +ghurra, or earthen pitcher, full of water, let fall upon the field +from a man's head, shall not break. The clods in the muteear soil +are so pulverised only in the fields that are to be irrigated, or +to the surface of which moisture rises from below as the weather +becomes warm. The people say that it does so rise when required in +land even a good way from the forest, and that the clods are, in +consequence, not necessary to retain it. This is the only part of +India in which I have known the people take ratoon, or second crops +of sugar-cane from the same roots; and the farmers and cultivators +tell me that the second crop is almost as good as the first. The +fields in tillage are well supplied with manure, which is very +abundant where so large a portion of the surface is waste; and +affords such fine pasture. They are also well watered, for the +water is near the surface, and in the tight muteear soil a kutcha +well, or well without masonry, will stand good for twenty seasons. +To make pucka-wells, or wells lined with burnt bricks and cement, +would be costly. Each well of this kind costs about one hundred +rupees. The kutcha-wells, which are lined with nothing, or with +thick ropes of twigs and straw, cost only from five to ten rupees. +The people tell me that oppression and poverty have made them less +fastidious than they were formerly; that formerly it was considered +disgraceful to plough with buffaloes, or to use them in carts, but +they are now in common use for both purposes; that vast numbers of +the Kunojee Brahmins and others, who could not formerly drive their +own ploughs, drive them now; and that all will in time condescend +to do so, as the penalties of higher payments with and for +daughters in marriage cease to be exacted from men whose +necessities have become so pressing.</p> +<p><i>March</i> 6, 1850. **—Halted at Kurunpoor, where the +gentlemen of my camp shot some floricans, hares, partridges, and a +porcupine along the bank of the small river Ole, which flows along +from north-west to south-east within three miles of Kurunpoor.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[** Transcriber's Note: The diary date jumps from the previous +entry of <i>February</i> 5, 1850, at Kurrunpoor. This is a mistake +in the date, as at the start of Chapter V the diary jumps back to +<i>February</i> 14, 1850.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>March</i> 7, 1850.—Teekur, twelve miles. The road, for +three miles, lay through grass jungle to the border of the Khyrabad +district, whence the plain is covered with cultivation, well +studded with trees, clusters of bamboos, and well peopled with +villages, all indicating better management. A great many fields are +reduced to the fine dust above described to receive the sugar-cane, +which is planted in February. The soil is muteear, but has in many +parts become impaired by over-cropping. The people told me that the +crops were not so rich as they ought to be, from the want of +manure, which is much felt here, where there is so little pasture +for cattle. The wheat has almost everywhere received an orange tint +from the geerwa, or blight, which covers the leaves, but, happily, +has not as yet settled upon the stalks to feed on the sap. This +blight, the cultivators say, arises from the late and heavy rain +they have had, and the easterly wind that prevailed for a few days. +The geerwa is a red fungus, which, when it adheres to the stems, +thrusts its roots through the pores of the epidermis and robs the +grain of the sap as it ascends. When easterly winds and sultry +weather prevail, the pores of the epidermis appear to be more +opened and exposed to the inroads of these fungi than at other +times. If the wind continue westerly for a fortnight more, little +injury may be sustained; but should easterly winds and sultry +weather prevail, the greater part may be lost. "We cultivators and +landholders," said Bukhtawur Sing, "are always in dread of +something, and can never feel quite easy: if little rain falls, we +complain of the want of more; if a good deal comes down, we are in +dread of this blight, and never dare to congratulate ourselves on +the prospect of good returns." To the justice and wisdom of this +observation all assented.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Westerly winds and cold weather prevailed and the blight did +little apparent injury to the crops; but the wheat crops, +generally, over Oude and the adjoining districts, was shrivelled +and deficient in substance. It had "run to stalk" from the excess +of rain.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The landholders of this purgunnah are chiefly Janwar Rajpoots. +Kymara, a fine village, through which we passed, about five miles +from Kurunpoor, is the residence of the present head of this +family, Rajah Ajeet Sing. He has a small fort close by, in which he +is now preparing to defend himself against the King's forces. The +poor old man came out with all his village community to meet and +talk with me, in the hope that I might interpose to protect him. He +is weak in mind and body, has no son, and, having lately lost his +only brother and declared heir to the estate, his cousins and more +distant relations are scrambling for the inheritance. The usual +means of violence, collusion, and intrigue have been had recourse +to. The estate is in the Huzoor Tuhseel, and not under the +jurisdiction of the contractor of Khyrabad. The old man seemed +care-worn and very wretched, and told me that the contractor, whom +I should meet at Teekur, had only yesterday received orders from +Court to use all his means to oust him from possession, and make +over the estate to his cousin, Jodha Sing, who had lately left him +in consequence of a dispute, after having, since the death of his +brother, aided him in the management of the estate; that he had +always paid his revenues to the King punctually, and last year he +owed a balance of only one hundred and sixty rupees, when <i>Anrod +Sing</i>, his distant relative, wanted him to declare his younger +brother, Dirj Bijee Sing, his heir to the estate, in lieu of Jodha +Sing.</p> +<p>This he refused to do, and Anrod Sing came, with a force of two +thousand armed men, supported by a detachment from Captain Barlow's +regiment, and laid siege to his fort, on the pretence that he was +required to give security for the more punctual payment of the +revenue. To defend himself, he was obliged to call in the aid of +his clan and neighbours, and expend all that he had or could +borrow, and, at last, constrained to accept Anrod Sing's security, +for no merchants would lend money to a poor man in a state of +siege. Anrod Sing had now gone off to Lucknow, and bribed the +person in charge of the Huzoor Tuhseel, Gholam Ruza Khan, one of +the most corrupt men in the corrupt Court of Lucknow, to get an +order issued by the Minister to have him turned out, and the estate +made over to Jhoda Sing, from whom he would soon get it on pretence +of accumulated balances, and make it over, in perpetuity, to his +brother, Dirj Bijee Sing. In this attempt, the old man said, a good +many lives must be lost and crops destroyed, for his friends would +not let him fall without a struggle.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The old man has been attacked and turned out with the loss of +some lives, in spite of the Resident's remonstrance, and the estate +has been made over to Jodha Sing, on the security for the payment +of the revenue of Anrod Sing. Jodha Sing is, naturally, of weak +intellect; and Anrod Sing will soon have him turned out as an +incompetent defaulter, and get the estate for himself, or for his +younger brother. Luckily <i>Anrod Sing</i> and <i>Lonee Sing</i>, +of Mitholee, are at daggers-drawn about some villages, which Anrod +Sing has seized, and to which Lonee Sing thinks he has a better +right. Their dread of each other will be useful to the Government +and the people.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>As soon as we left the poor old man, Bukhtawur Sing said, "This, +sir, is the way in which Government officers manage to control and +subdue these sturdy Rajpoot landholders. While they remain united, +as in the Bangur district, they can do nothing with them, and let +them keep their estates on their own terms; but the moment a +quarrel takes place between them they take advantage of it: they +adopt the cause of the strongest, and support him in his +aggressions upon the other members of his family or clan till all +become weak by division and disorder, and submit. Forty or fifty +years ago, sir, when I used to move about the country on circuit +with Saadut Allee Khan, the then sovereign, as I now move with you, +there were many Rajpoot landholders in Oude stronger than any that +defy the Government now; but they dared not then hold their heads +so high as they do now. The local officers employed by him were men +of ability, experience, and character, totally unlike those now +employed. Each had a wing of one of the Honourable Company's +regiments and some good guns with him, and was ready and able to +enforce his master's orders and the payment of his just demands; +but, since his death, the local officers have been falling off in +character and strength, while the Rajpoot landholders have risen in +pride and power. The aid of the British troops has, by degrees, +been altogether withdrawn, and the landholders of this class +despise the Oude Government, and many of them resist its troops +whenever they attempt to enforce the payment of even its most +moderate demands. The revenues of the State fall off as the armed +bands of these landholders increase, and families who, in his time, +kept up only fifty armed men, have now five hundred, or even a +thousand or two thousand, and spend what they owe to Government in +maintaining them. To pay such bands they withhold the just demands +of the State, rob their weaker neighbours of their possessions, and +plunder travellers on the highway, and men of substance, wherever +they can find them.</p> +<p>"When Saadut Allee made over one-half of his dominions to the +British Government in 1801, he was bound to reduce his military +force and rely altogether upon the support of your Government. He +did so; but the force he retained, though small, was good; and +while that support was afforded things went on well—he was a +wise man, and made the most of the means he had. Since that time, +sir, the Oude force has been increased four-fold, as your aid has +been withdrawn; but the whole is not equal to the fourth part which +served under Saadut Allee. You see how insignificant it everywhere +is, and how much it is despised even by the third-class Rajpoot +landholders. You see, also, how they everywhere prey upon the +people, and are dreaded and detested by them: the only estates free +from their inroads are those under the 'Huzoor Tuhseel,' into which +the Amils and their disorderly hosts dare not enter. If the +landholders could be made to feel that they would not be permitted +to seize other men's possessions, nor other men to seize theirs, as +long as they obeyed the Government and paid its just dues, they +would disband these armed followers, and the King might soon reduce +his. He will never make them worth anything; there are too many +worthless, but influential persons about the Court, interested in +keeping up all kinds of abuses, to permit this. These abuses are +the chief source of their incomes: they rob the officers and +sipahees, and even the draft-bullocks; and you everywhere see how +the poor animals are starved by them."</p> +<p>Within a mile of the camp I met the Nazim, Hoseyn Allee Khan, +who told me that Rajah Goorbuksh Sing, of Ramnuggur Dhumeree, had +fulfilled all the engagements entered into before me at Byramghat, +on the Ghagra, on the 6th of December, and was no longer opposed to +the Government; and that the only large landholder in his district +who remained so at present was Seobuksh Sing, of Kateysura, a +strong fort, mounted with seven guns, near the road over which I am +to pass the day after tomorrow, between Oel and Lahurpoor. As he +came up on his little elephant along the road, I saw half-a-dozen +of his men, mounted on camels, trotting along through a fine field +of wheat, now in ear, with as much unconcern as if they had been +upon a fine sward to which they could do no harm. I saw one of my +people in advance make a sign to them, on which they made for the +road as fast as they could. I asked the Nazim how he could permit +such trespass. He told me, "That he did not see them, and unless +his eye was always upon them he could not prevent their doing +mischief, for they were the King's servants, who never seemed happy +unless they were trespassing upon some of his Majesty's subjects." +Nothing, certainly, seems to delight them so much as the trespasses +of all kinds which they do commit upon them.</p> +<p><i>March</i> 8, 1850.—Oel, five miles, over a plain of the +same fine muteear soil, beautifully cultivated and studded with +trees, intermixed with numerous clusters of the graceful bamboo. A +great-grandson of the monster Nadir Shah, of Persia, Ruza Kolee +Khan, who commands a battalion in the King of Oude's service, rode +by me, and I asked him whether he ever saw such a cultivated +country in Persia. "Never," said he: "Persia is a hilly country, +and there is no tillage like this in any part of it. I left Persia, +with my father, twenty-two years ago, when I was twenty-two years +of age, and I have still a very distinct recollection of what it +was then. There is no country in the world, sir," said the Nazim, +"like Hindoostan, when it enjoys the blessings of a good +government. The purgunnah of Kheree, in which we now are, is all +held by the heads of three families of Janwar Rajpoots: Rajah Ajub +Sing, of Kymara; Anrod Sing, of Oel; and Umrao Sing, of Mahewa. +There are only sixty-six villages of Khalsa, or Crown lands left, +yielding twenty-one thousand rupees a-year. The rest have been all +absorbed by the heads of these Rajpoot families.</p> +<pre> + Villages. Jumma. + Kymara . . . 82 . . 13,486 0 0 + Oel . . . . 170 . . 54,790 0 0 + Mahewa . . . 70 . . 20,835 0 0 + ___ _____________ + 322 . . 89,111 0 0 + Khalsa . . . 66 . . 21,881 0 0 + ___ _______________ + 388 . . 1,10,992 0 0 + ___ _______________ +</pre> +<p>"These heads of families have each a fort, surrounded by a +strong fence of bamboos, and mounted with good guns; and the King +cannot get so large a revenue from them as he did thirty years ago, +in the time of Hakeem Mehndee, though their lands are as well +tilled now as they were then, and yield more rent to their holders. +They spend it all in keeping up large armed bands to resist the +Government; but they certainly take care of their cultivators and +tenants of all kinds, and no man dares molest them.</p> +<p>"But," said Bukhtawur Sing, "this beautiful scene would all be +changed were they encouraged or permitted to contend with each +other for the possession of the lands. I yesterday saw a great +number of the merchants of Kymara following the Resident's camp; +and, on asking them why, they told me that the order from Court +obtained by Gholam Ruza for you (the Nazim) to assist the Oel +chief, Anrod Sing, in despoiling Rajah Ajub Sing of his estate, had +driven out all who had no fields of corn or other local ties to +detain them, and had anything to lose by remaining. The chief and +his retainers were repairing their fort, and preparing to fight for +their possessions to the last; and if you take your disorderly +force against them according to orders, the crops now in the ground +will be all destroyed, and the numerous fields now prepared to +receive sugar-cane and the autumn seed will be left waste: they +will make reprisals upon Oel; others of their clan will join in the +strife; and this district will be what that of Bharwara, which we +have just left, now is. The merchants are in the right, sir, to +make off: no property in such a scene is ever safe. There is no +property, sir, like that in the Honourable Company's paper: it is +the only property that we can enjoy in peace. You feel no anxiety +about it. It doubles itself in fifteen or sixteen years; and you go +on from generation to generation enjoying your five per cent., and +neither fearing nor annoying anybody."</p> +<p>The two villages of Oel and Dhukwa adjoin each other, and form a +large town; but the dwelling-houses have a wretched appearance, +consisting of naked mud walls, with but a few more grass-choppers +than are usually found upon them in Oude towns. There is a +good-looking temple, dedicated to Mahadeo, in the centre of the +town, and the houses are close upon the ditch of the fort, which +has its bamboo-fence inside its ditch and outer mud walls. I have +written to the Durbar to recommend that the order for the attack +upon Rajah Ajub Sing be countermanded, and more pacific measures +adopted for the settlement of the claims of the Exchequer and Anrod +Sing upon poor old Ajub Sing.</p> +<p>The Kanoongoes of this place tell me that the dispute has arisen +from a desire, on the part of the old man's wife, to set aside the +just claim of Jodha Sing, the old man's nephew, to the inheritance, +in favour of a lad whom she has adopted and brought up, by name +Teeka Sing, in whose name the estate is now managed by a servant; +that Jodha Sing is the rightful heir, and managed the estate well +for his uncle, after the death of his brother, till lately, when +his aunt persuaded his uncle to break with him, which he did with +reluctance; that Jodha Sing now lives in retirement at his village +of Barkerwa; that Anrod Sing's design upon the inheritance for his +younger brother, Dirj Bijee Sing, is unjust; and that he is, in +consequence, obliged to prosecute it on the pretence of recovering +money due, and supporting the claim of Jodha Sing, and in collusion +with the officers of Government; that Gholam Ruza, who has charge +of the Huzoor Tuhseel, is ready to adopt the cause of any one who +will pay him; and that Anrod Sing is now at Lucknow paying his +court to him, and getting these iniquitous orders issued.</p> +<p>Oel was transferred to the Huzoor Tuhseel in 1834, Kymara in +1836, and Mahewa in 1839. These Rajpoot landholders do not often +seize upon the lands of a relative at once, but get them by degrees +by fraud and collusion with Government officers, so that they may +share the odium with them. They instigate these officers to demand +more than the lands can pay; offer the enhanced rate, and get the +lands at once; or get a mortgage, run up the account, and foreclose +by their aid. They no sooner get the estate than they reduce the +Government demand, by collusion or violence, to less than what the +former proprietor had paid.</p> +<p><i>March</i> 9, 1850.—Lahurpoor, twelve miles, over a +plain of doomuteea soil, well studded with groves and single trees, +but not so fully cultivated the last half way as the first. For the +first halfway the road lies through the estate of Anrod Sing, of +Oel; but for the last it runs through that of Seobuksh Sing, a Gour +Rajpoot, who has a fort near the town of Kuteysura, five miles from +Lahurpoor, and seven from Oel. It is of mud, and has a ditch all +round, and a bamboo-fence inside the outer walls. It is of great +extent, but not formidable against well-provided troops. The +greater part of the houses in the town are in ruins, and Seobuksh +has the reputation of being a reckless and improvident landholder. +He is said not only to take from his tenants higher rates of rent +than he ought, but to extort from them very often a <i>property +tax</i>, highly and capriciously rated. This is what the people +call the <i>bhalmansae</i>, of which they have a very great +abhorrence. "You are a <i>bhala manus</i>" (a gentleman, or man of +substance), he says to his tenant, "and must have property worth at +least a thousand rupees. I want money sadly, and must have +one-fifth: give me two hundred rupees." This is what the people +call "<i>bhalmansae</i>," or rating a man according to his +substance; and to say that a landlord or governor does this, is to +say that he is a reckless oppressor, who has no regard to +obligations or to consequences.</p> +<p>There are manifest signs of the present landholder, Seobuksh +Sing, being of this character; but others, not less manifest, of +his grandfather having been a better man, in the fine groves which +surround Lahurpoor, and the villages between this place and +Kuteysura, all of which are included in his estate. These groves +were, for the most part, planted during the life of his grandfather +by men of substance, who were left free to-dispose of their +property as they thought best.</p> +<p>All the native gentlemen who rode with me remarked on the beauty +of the approach to Lahurpoor, in which a rich carpet of spring +crops covers the surface up to the groves, and extends along under +the trees which have been recently planted. There are many young +groves about the place, planted by men who have acquired property +by trade, and by the savings out of the salaries and perquisites of +office at Lahurpoor, which is the residence of the Nazim, or local +governor, during several months in the year; and the landlord, +Seobuksh, cannot venture to exact his <i>property-tax</i> from +them. The air and water are much praised, and the general good +health of the troops, civil establishments, and residents of all +classes, show that the climate must be good. The position, too, is +well chosen with reference to the districts, and the character of +the people under the control of the governor of the Khyrabad +district.</p> +<p>The estate of Seobuksh is very extensive. The soil is all good +and the plain level, so that every part of it is capable of +tillage. Rutun Sing, the father of Seobuksh, is said to have been a +greater rack-renter, rebel, and robber than his son is, and +together they have injured the estate a good deal, and reduced it +from a rent-roll of one hundred thousand to one of forty. Its +rent-roll is now estimated in the public accounts at 54,640, out of +which is deducted a <i>nankar</i> of 17,587, leaving a Government +demand of only 37,053. This he can't pay; and he has shut himself +up sullenly in his mud fort, where the Nazim dares not attack him. +He is levying contributions from the surrounding villages, but has +not yet plundered or burnt down any. He was lately in prison, for +two years; but released on the security of Rajah Lonee Sing, of +Mitholee, whose wife is his wife's sister. He, however, says that +he was pledged to produce him when required, not before the +<i>present Nazim</i>, but his <i>predecessor</i>; and that he is no +longer bound by this pledge. This reasoning would, of course, have +no weight with the Government authorities, nor would it be had +recourse to were Lonee Sing less strong. Each has a strong fort and +a band of steady men. The Nazim has not the means to attack +Seobuksh, and dares not attack Lonee Sing, as his estate of Pyla is +in the "Huzoor Tuhseel," and under the protection of Court +favourites, who are well paid by him.</p> +<p>Lonee Sing's estate of Mitholee is in the Mahomdee district, and +under the jurisdiction of the Amil; and it is only the portion, +consisting of one hundred and four recently-acquired villages, +which he holds in the Pyla estate, in the Khyrabad district, that +has been made over to the Huzoor Tuhseel.* He offered an increased +rate for these villages to the then Amil, Bhowood Dowlah, in the +year A.D. 1840. It was accepted, and he attacked, plundered, and +murdered a good many of the old proprietors, and established such a +dread among them, that he now manages them with little difficulty. +Basdeo held fourteen of these villages under mortgage, and sixteen +more under lease. He had his brother, maternal uncle, and a servant +killed by Lonee Sing, and is now reduced to beggary. Lonee Sing +took the lease in March, 1840, and commenced this attack in +May.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Anrod Sing holds twenty-eight villages in the Pyla estate, +acquired in the same way as those held by Lonee Sing.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Nazim had with him, of infantry, 1. Futteh Aesh Nujeebs. 2. +Wuzeree, ditto. 3. Zuffur, Mobaruk Telinga. 4. Futteh Jung ditto; +Ruza Kolee Khan. 5. Captain Barlow's ditto. Eleven guns. But, being +unable to get any duty from the three regiments first named, he +offered to dispense with the two first, on condition that the +command of the third should be placed at his disposal for his son +or nephew.</p> +<p>This request was complied with; and, on paying a fee of five +thousand rupees, he got the dress of investiture, and offered it to +Lieutenant Orr, a very gallant officer, the second in command of +Captain Barlow's corps, as the only way to render the corps so +efficient as he required it to be. The Durbar took away the two +regiments; but, as soon as they heard that Lieutenant Orr was to +command the third, they appointed Fidda Hoseyn, brother of the +ruffian Mahommed Hoseyn, who had held the district of Mahomdee, and +done so much mischief to it. Fidda Hoseyn, of course, paid a high +sum for the command to be exacted from his subordinates, or the +people of the district in which it might be employed; and the +regiment has remained worse than useless. Of the eleven guns, five +are useless on the ground, and without bullocks. The bullocks for +the other six are present, but too weak to draw anything. They had +had no grain for many years; but within the last month they have +had one-half seer each per day out of the one seer and half paid +for by Government. There is no ammunition, stores, or anything else +for the guns, and the best of the carriages are liable to fall to +pieces with the first discharge. They are not allowed to repair +them, but must send them in to get them changed for others when +useless. The Durbar knows that if they allow the local officers to +charge for the repair of guns, heavy charges will be made, and no +gun ever repaired; and the local officers know that if they send in +a gun to be repaired at Lucknow, they will get in exchange one +<i>painted</i> to look well, but so flimsily done up that it will +go to pieces the first or second time it is fired.</p> +<p>Captain Barlow's corps is a good one, and the men are finer than +any that I have seen in our own infantry regiments, though they get +only five rupees a-month each, while ours get seven. They prefer +this rate under European officers in the Oude service, to the seven +rupees a-month which sipahees get in ours, though they have no +pension establishment or extra allowance while marching. They feel +sure that their European commandants will secure them their pay +sooner or later; they escape many of the harassing duties to which +our sipahees are liable; they have leave to visit their homes one +month in twelve; they never have to march out of Oude to distant +stations, situated in bad climates; they get fuel and fodder, and +often food, for nothing; their baggage is always carried for them +at the public cost. But to secure them their pay, arms, +accoutrements, clothing, &c., the commandant must be always about +the Court himself, or have an <i>ambassador</i> of some influence +there at great cost. Captain Barlow is almost all his time at Court, +as much from choice as expediency, drawing all his allowances and +emoluments of all kinds, while his second in command performs his +regimental duties for him. The other officers like this, because +they know that the corps could not possibly be kept in the state it +is without it. Captain Barlow has lately obtained three thousand +rupees for the repair of his six gun-carriages, tumbrils, &c., +that is, five hundred for each. They had not been repaired for ten +years; hardly any of the others have been repaired for the last +twenty or thirty years.</p> +<p>The Nazim of this district of Khyrabad has taken the farm of it +for one year at nine lacs of rupees, that is one lac and a half +less than the rate at which it was taken by his predecessor last +year. He tells me, that he was obliged, to enter into engagements +to pay in gratuities fifty thousand to the minister, of which he +has as yet paid only five thousand; twenty-five thousand to the +Dewan, Balkishun, and seven thousand to Gholam Ruza, who has charge +of the Huzoor Tuhseel—that he was obliged to engage to pay +four hundred rupees a-month, in salaries, to men named by the +Dewan, who do no duty, and never show their faces to him; and +similar sums to the creatures of the minister and others—that +he was obliged to pay gratuities to a vast number of understrappers +at Court—that he was not made aware of the amount of these +gratuities, &c., till he had received his dress of investiture, +and had merely promised to pay what his predecessor had +paid—that when about to set out, the memorandum of what his +predecessor had paid was put into his hand, and it was then too +late to remonstrate or draw back. There may be some exaggeration in +the rate of the gratuities demanded; but that he has to pay them to +the persons named I have no doubt whatever, because; all men in +charge of districts have to pay them to those persons, whether they +hold the districts in contract, or in trust.</p> +<p>The Zuffer Mobaruk regiment, with its commandant, Fidda Hoseyn, +is now across the Ghagra in charge of Dhorehra, an estate in the +forest belonging to Rajah Arjun Sing, who has absconded in +consequence of having been ruined by the rapacity of a native +collector last year; and they are diligently employed in plundering +all the people who remain. The estate paid 2,75,000 a-year till +these outrages began; and it cannot now pay fifty thousand. Arjun +Sing and Seobuksh Sing, of Kuteysura, are the only refractory +landholders in the Khyrabad district at present.</p> +<p><i>March</i> 10, 1850.—Halted at Lahurpoor. There is good +ground for large civil and military establishments to the south of +the town, about a mile out, on the left of the road leading to +Khyrabad. It is a fine open plain of light soil. New pucka-wells +would be required; and some low ground, near the south and north, +would also require to be drained, as water lies in it during the +rains. There is excellent ground nearer the town on the same side, +but the mango-groves are thick and numerous, and would impede the +circulation of air. The owners would, moreover be soon robbed of +them were a cantonment, or civil station, established among or very +near to them. The town and site of any cantonment, or civil +station, should be taken from the Kuteysura estate, and due +compensation made to the holder, Seobuksh. The town is a poor one; +and the people are keeping their houses uncovered, and removing +their property under the apprehension that Seobuksh will attack and +plunder the place. All the merchants and respectable landholders, +over the districts bordering on the Tarae forest, through which we +have passed, declare, that all the colonies of Budukh dacoits, who +had, for many generations, up to 1842, been located in this forest, +have entirely disappeared. Not a family of them can now be found +anywhere in Oude. Six or eight hundred of their brave and active +men used to sally forth every year, and carry their depredations +into Bengal, Bebar and all the districts of the north-west +provinces. Their suppression has been a great benefit conferred +upon the people of India by the British Government.</p> +<p><i>March</i> 11, 1850.—Kusreyla, ten miles, over a plain of +excellent muteear soil scantily cultivated, but studded with fine +trees, single and in groves. Kusreyla is among the three hundred +villages which have been lately taken in mortgage from the +proprietors, and in lease from Government, by Monowur-od Dowlah, +the nephew and heir of the late Hakeem Mehndee. He is inviting and +locating in these villages many cultivators of the best classes; +and they will all soon be in a fine state of tillage. No soil can +be finer, and no acre of it is incapable of bearing fine crops. The +old proprietors and lessees, to whom he had lent money on mortgage, +have persuaded him to foreclose, that they may come under so +substantial and kind a landholder. They prefer holding the +sub-lease under such a man, to holding the lease directly under +Government, subject to the jurisdiction of the Nazim. Monowur-od +Dowlah pays forty thousand rupees a-year for the whole to +Government, and has had the whole transferred to the Huzoor +Tuhseel.</p> +<p>The Nazim of Khyrabad rode by my side during this morning's +march, and at my request he described the mutiny which took place +in two of the regiments that attended him in the siege of Bhitolee, +just before I crossed the Ghagra at Byramghat. These were the +Futteh Aesh, and the Wuzeeree. Their commandants are Allee Hoseyn, +a creature of one of the singers, Kootab Allee; and Mahommed +Akhbur, a creature of the minister's. They were earnestly urged by +the minister and Nazim to join their regiments for the short time +they would be on this important service, but in vain; nothing could +induce them to quit the Court. All the corps mentioned above, as +attending the Nazim, were present, and the siege had begun when, on +the 17th of November, some shopkeepers in camp, having been robbed +during the night by some thieves, shut up their shops, and prepared +to leave the camp in a body. The siege could not go on if the +traders all left the place; and he sent a messenger to call the +principal men that he might talk to them. They refused to move, and +the messenger, finding that they were ready to set out, seized one +of them by the waist-hand, and when he resisted, struck him on the +head with a stick, and said he would make him go to his master. The +man called out to some sipahees of the Wuzeeree regiment, who were +near, to rescue him. They did so: the messenger struggled to hold +his grasp, but was dragged off and beaten. He returned the blows; +the sipahees drew their swords: he seized one of the swords and ran +off towards his master's tent, waiving it over his head, to defend +himself, followed by some of the sipahees. The others ran back to +the grove in which their regiment and the Futteh Aesh were +bivouaced; both regiments seized their arms and ran towards the +Nazim's tents; and when they got within two hundred yards, +commenced firing upon them.</p> +<p>The Nazim had with him only a few of his own armed servants. +They seized their arms, and begged permission to return the fire, +but were restrained till the regiment came near, and two tomandars, +or officers, who stood by the Nazim, were shot down, one dead; and +the other disabled. His men could be restrained no longer, and they +shot down two of the foremost of the assailants. The Nazim then +sent off to Lieutenant Orr, who was exercising his corps with blank +cartridge on the parade; and, supposing that one of these regiments +was doing the same thing near the Nazim's tents, he paid no +attention to them. He and his brother, the Adjutant, ran forward, +and entreated the two regiments to cease firing; and the Nazim sent +out Syud Seoraj-od Deen (the commandant of the Bhurmar regiment, +stationed in the adjoining district of Ramnugger Dhumeree, who had +just come to him on a visit), with the Koran in his hand, to do the +same. The remonstrances of both were in vain. They continued to +fire upon the Nazim, and Lieutenant Orr went off to bring up his +regiment, which stood ready to move on the parade. Alarmed at this, +the two regiments ran off to their grove, and the firing +ceased.</p> +<p>During all this time, the other two regiments, the Zuffer +Mobaruk and Futteh Jung, stood looking on as indifferent +spectators; and afterwards took great credit to themselves for not +joining in this attempt to blow up the viceroy, who was obliged, +the next day, to go to their camp and apologize humbly for his men +having presumed to return their fire, which he declared that they +had done without his orders! On his doing this, they consented to +forego their claim to have the unhappy messenger sent to their camp +to be <i>executed</i>; and to remain with him during the siege. As +to taking any part in the siege and assault on the fort, that was +altogether out of their line. Ruza Kolee Khan, the commandant of +the Futteh Jung, was at Lucknow during this mutiny, but he joined a +few days after. Lieutenant Orr gave me the same narrative of the +affair at the dinner-table last night; and said, that he and his +brother had a very narrow escape—that his regiment would have +destroyed all the mutineers had they been present; and he left them +on the parade lest he might not be able to restrain them in such a +scene. Even this mutiny of the two regiments could not tempt their +commandants to leave Court, where they are still enjoying the +favour of their patrons, the minister and the singers, and a large +share of the pay and perquisites of their officers and sipahees, +though the regiments have been sent off to the two disturbed +districts of Sundela and Salone.</p> +<p>They dare not face the most contemptible enemy, but they spare +not the weak and inoffensive of any class, age, or sex. A +respectable landholder, in presenting a petition, complaining of +the outrages committed upon his village and peasantry, said a few +days ago—"The oppression of these revenue collectors, and +their disorderly troops, is intolerable, sir—they plunder all +who cannot resist them, but cannot lift their arms, or draw their +breath freely in the presence of armed robbers and rebels—it +is a proverb, sir, that <i>insects</i> prey upon soft <i>wood</i>; +and these men prey only upon the peaceful and industrious, who are +unable to defend themselves." The Nazim tells me, that the +lamentations of the poor people, plundered and maltreated, were +incessant and distressing during the whole time these two corps +were with him; and that he could exercise no control whatever over +them, protected as they were, in all their iniquities, by the Court +favour their two commandants enjoyed at Lucknow.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Kootab Allee was one of the singers who were soon after +banished from Oude in disgrace. But all the influence they +exercised over the King has been concentrated in the hands of the +two singers who remained, Mosahib Allee and Anees-od Dowla. All are +despicable <i>domes</i>; but the two, who now govern the King, are +much worse characters than any of those who were banished.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I asked Bukhtawur Sing, before the Nazim overtook us this +morning, why it was, that these governors always took so many +troops with them when they moved from place to place, merely to +settle accounts and inspect the crops. "Some of them," said he, +"take all the troops they can muster, to show that they are great +men; but, for the most part, they are afraid to move without them. +They, and the greater part of the landholders, consider each other +as natural and irreconcilable enemies; and a good many of those, +who hold the largest estates, are at all times in open resistance +against the Government. They have their Vakeels with the +contractors when they are not so, and spies when they are. They +know all his movements, and would waylay and carry him off if not +surrounded with a strong body of soldiers, for he is always moving +over the country, with every part of which they are well +acquainted. Besides, under the present system of allowing them to +forage or plunder for themselves, it is ruinous to any place to +leave them in it for even a few days—no man, within several +miles, would preserve shelter for his family, or food for his +cattle, during the hot and rainy months—he is obliged to take +them about with him to distribute, as equally as he can, the +terrible burthen of maintaining them. Now that the sugar-cane is +ripe, not one cane would be preserved in any field within five +miles of any place where the Nazim kept his troops for ten +days."</p> +<p><i>March</i> 12, 1850.—Seetapoor, nine miles over a plain +of muteear soil, the greater part of which is light, and yields but +scanty crops without manure, which is very scarce. Immediately +about the station and villages, where manure is available, the +crops are good. The wind continues westerly, the sky is clear, and +the blight does not seem to increase.</p> +<p>The 2nd Regiment of Oude Local Infantry is stationed at +Seetapoor, but it has no guns or cavalry of any kind. Formerly +there was a corps of the Honourable Company's Native Infantry here, +with two guns and a detail of artillery. The sipahees of this +corps, and of the 1st Oude Local Infantry, at Sultanpoor, are +somewhat inferior in appearance to those of our own native infantry +regiments, and still more so to the Oude corps under Captains +Barlow, Magness, and Bunbury. They receive five rupees eight annas +a-month pay, and batta, or extra allowance, when marching; and the +same pay as our own sipahees of the line (seven rupees a-month) +when serving with them. But the commandants cannot get recruits +equal to those that enlist in our regiments of the line, or those +that enlist in the corps of the officers above named. They have not +the rest and the licence of the one, while they have the same drill +and discipline, without the same rate of pay as the other. They +have now the privilege of petitioning through the Resident like our +sipahees of the line, and that of the pension establishment, while +Barlow's, Bunbury's, and Magness's corps have neither. They have +none but internal duties—they are hardly ever sent out to aid +the King's local authorities, and do not escort treasure even for +their own pay. It is sent to them by drafts from Lucknow on the +local collectors of the district in which they are cantoned; and the +money required for the Resident's Treasury—a great portion of +which passes through the Seetapoor cantonments—is escorted by +our infantry regiments of the line, stationed at Lucknow, merely +because a General Order exists that no irregular corps shall be +employed on such duties while any regular corps near has a relief +of guards present. The corps of regular infantry at Shajehanpoor +escorts the treasure six marches to Seetapoor, where it is relieved +by a detachment from one of the regular corps at Lucknow, six +marches distant.</p> +<p>The native officers and sipahees of these two corps have leave +of absence to visit their families just as often and for just as +long periods as those of the corps under the three above-named +officers—that is, for one month out of twelve. The native +officers and sipahees of these three corps are not, however, so +much drilled or restrained as those of the two Oude local corps, in +which no man dares to help himself occasionally to the roofs of +houses and the produce of fields or gardens; nor to take presents +from local authorities, as they are hardly ever sent out to assist +them. The native officers and sipahees of the very best of the King +of Oude's corps do all this more or less; and they become, in +consequence, more attached to their officers and the service. +Moreover, the commandants of the two corps of Oude local infantry +never become <i>mediators</i> between large landholders and local +governors as those of the King of Oude's corps so often do; nor are +any landed estates ever assigned to them for the liquidation of +their arrears of pay, and confided to their management. So highly +do the native officers of these three Oude <i>Komukee</i> corps +appreciate all the privileges and perquisites they enjoy, when out +on duty under district officers, that they consider short periods +of guard duty in the city, where they have none of them, as serious +punishments.</p> +<p>The drainage about Seetapoor is into the small river Surain, +which flows along on the west boundary, and is excellent; and the +lands in and about the station are at all times dry. The soil, too, +is good; and the place, on the whole, is well adapted for the +cantonment of a much larger force.</p> +<p><i>March</i> 13, 1850.—Khyrabad, east nine miles, over a +plain of doomuteea soil with much oosur. A little outlay and labour +seem, however, to make this oosur produce good crops. On entering +the town on the west side, we passed over a good stone bridge over +this little stream, the Surain; and to the east of the town is +another over the still smaller stream of the Gond. Khyrabad is not +so well drained as Seetapoor, nor would it be so well adapted for a +large cantonment. It is considered to be less healthy. There is an +avenue of good trees all the way from Seetapoor to Khyrabad, a +distance of six miles, planted by Hakeem Mehndee. Our camp being to +the eastern extremity of the town, renders the distance nine +miles.</p> +<p>Yesterday at Seetapoor I had a visit from Monowur-od Dowla, late +prime minister, and Moomtaz-od Dowla, grandson to the late King, +Mahommed Allee Shah, on their way out to the Tarae forest to join +Kindoo Rao, the brother of the Byza Bae, of Gwalior, in pursuit of +tigers. This morning on the road, old Bukhtawur Sing, after a sigh, +said: "I presented a nazur to the prince, Moomtaz-od Dowla, sir; he +is the grandson of a King, and the victim of the folly and crime of +shooting a monkey! His father, Asgur Allee Khan, was the eldest son +of Mahommed Allee Shah, and elder brother of Amjud Allee Shah, the +father of the present King. He was fond of his gun, and one day a +monkey, of the red and short-tailed kind, came and sat upon one of +his out-offices. He sent for his gun, and shot it dead with a ball. +The very next day, sir, he had a severe attack of fever, which +carried him off in three days. During this time he frequently +called out in terror, 'Save me from that monkey! save me from that +monkey!'—pointing to the part of the room in which he <i>saw +him</i>. The monkey killed Asgur Allee Khan, sir; and no man ever +escapes death or misery who wilfully kills one. Moomtaz-od Dowla +might, sir, have been now King of Oude had his father not shot that +monkey."</p> +<p>"But I thought," said I, "it was the <i>hanoomaun</i>, or +long-tailed monkey, that was held sacred by the +Hindoos?"—"Sir," said Bukhtawur Sing, "both are alike +sacred.* Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, the predecessor of Mahommed Allee +Shah, went one day shooting in the dilkhoosha park. Several of the +long-tailed monkeys came and sat upon a mango-tree near him. He +could not resist the temptation, and shot several of them, one +after another, with ball. He returned to the palace; but had not +been home more than three hours, when he and his favourite wife, +the Kooduseea Begum,** had a fierce quarrel, in which both became +insane; she was so enraged that she took poison forthwith, and, in +her agony, actually spit up her liver, which had been torn to +pieces by the force of the poison! The King could not stand the +horrible sight, and ran off and hid himself in the race-stand, near +which you fell and broke your thigh-bone in April last; there he +remained shut up till she died. He had had warning, sir, for a few +months after his accession to the throne; I attended him and his +minister, Aga Meer, on a visit to the garden, called padshah baag, +on the opposite side of the river: he had a gun with him, and, +seeing a monkey on a tree, he ordered the prime minister to try his +hand at it. I told Aga Meer that evil would certainly befall him or +his house if he shot the animal, and begged his Majesty not to +assist upon the minister's doing it. Both laughed at what they +thought my folly; the minister shot the monkey; and in a few days +he was out of office and in a prison. One way or other, sir, a man +who wilfully destroys a monkey is sure to be punished."</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* That Asgur Allee Khan, the eldest son of the King, Mahommed +Allee Shah, did shoot the monkey, got a fever a few days after, and +died of it, are facts well known at Lucknow. That he often +mentioned the monkey during his delirium, is generally believed; +and that his death was the consequence of his shooting that animal +is the opinion of all the Hindoo, and a great part of the Musulman, +population. His death, while his father lived, deprived his son, +Moomtaz-od Dowla, of the throne.]</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote> +<p>[** The Kooduseea Begum had been introduced into the palace as +waiting-woman to Mulika Zumanee, whom she soon superseded in the +King's affections, which she retained till her death. She was +married to the King on the 17th December, 1831, and died on the +21st of August 1834.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>At Khyrabad there is a handsome set of buildings, consisting of +a mausoleum over his father, a mosque, an <i>imambara</i>, and a +<i>kudum rusool</i>, or shrine with the print of the prophet's +foot, erected by Mucka Durzee, a tailor in the service of the King, +who made a large fortune out of his master's favours, and who still +lives, and provides for their repair and suitable endowment. These +buildings are, like all others of the same kind, infested by a host +of professional religious mendicants of both sexes and all ages, +who make the air resound with their clamours for alms. Not only are +such buildings so infested, but all the towns around them. I could +not help observing to the native gentlemen who attended me, "that +when men planted groves and avenues, and built reservoirs, bridges, +caravansaries, and wells, they did not give rise to any such +sources of annoyance to travellers; that they enjoyed the water, +shade, and accommodation, without cost or vexation, and went on +their way blessing the donor." "That," said an old Rusaldar, "is +certainly taking a new and just view of the case; but still it is a +surprising thing to see a man in this humble sphere of life raising +and maintaining so splendid a pile of buildings."*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Mucka the tailor, to whom these buildings belong, is the +person mentioned in the account of the death of the King, Nuseer-od +Deen Hyder, and the confinement of Ghalib Jung.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The town of Khyrabad has still a good many inhabitants; but the +number is fast decreasing. It was the residence of the families of +a good many public officers in our service and that of Oude; and +the local authorities of the district used to reside here. They do +so no longer; and the families of public officers have almost all +gone to reside at other places. Life and property have become +exceedingly insecure, and attacks by gang-robbers so frequent that +no man thinks his house and family safe for a single night. +Government officers are entirely occupied in the collection of +revenue, and they disregard altogether the sufferings and risks to +which the people of towns are exposed. The ground around the place +is low, and the climate is inferior to that of Seetapoor. Salt and +saltpetre are 'made from the soil immediately round the town.</p> +<p>I have mentioned that Moomtaz-od Dowla might now have been King +of Oude had his father not died before his father. The Mohammedan +law excludes for ever the children of any person who dies before +the person to whom he or she is the next heir from all right in the +inheritance. Under the operation of this law, the sons of the +eldest son of the reigning King are excluded from the succession if +he dies before his father, and the crown devolves on the second +son, or on the brother of the King, if he leaves no other son. The +sons of all the sons who die, while their father lives, are +<i>mahjoob-ol-irs</i>, that is, excluded from inheritance. In the +same manner, if the next brother of the King dies before him, his +sons are excluded from the succession, which devolves on the third +brother, and so on through all the brothers. For instance, on the +death, without any recognised issue, of Nuseer-od Been Hyder, son +of Ghazee-od Deen, he was succeeded on the throne by Mahommed Allee +Shah, the third brother of Ghazee-od Deen, though four sons of the +second brother, Shums-od Dowla, still lived. On the death of +Mahommed Allee Shah, he was succeeded by his second son, Amjud +Allee Shah, though Moomtaz-od Dowla, the son of his eldest son, +Asgur Allee Khan, still lived. Shums-od Dowla died before his elder +brother, Ghazee-od Deen; and Asgur Allee Khan before his father, +Mahommed Allee Shah: and the sons of both became, in consequence, +<i>mahjoob-ol-irs</i>, excluded from succession. The same rule +guides the succession among the Delhi sovereigns. This exclusion +extends to all kinds of property, as well as to sovereignty.</p> +<p>Moomtaz-od Dowla is married to Zeenut-on Nissa, the daughter of +Mulika Zumanee, one of the consorts of Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, late +King of Oude; and he has, I fear, more cause to regret his union +with her than his exclusion from the throne. Zeenut-on Nissa enjoys +a pension of ten thousand rupees a-month, in her own right, under +the guarantee of the British Government. I may here, as an episode +not devoid of interest, give a brief account of her mother, who, +for some years, during the reign of Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, presided +over the palace at Lucknow. Before I do so I may mention that the +King, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, had been married to a grand-daughter of +the Emperor of Delhi, a very beautiful young woman, of exemplary +character, who still survives, and retains the respect of the royal +family and people of Lucknow. Finding the Court too profligate for +her, she retired into private life soon after the marriage, and has +remained there ever since upon a small stipend from the King.</p> +<p>Mulika Zumanee, queen of the age, was a daughter of a Hindoo of +the Koormee caste, who borrowed from his neighbour, Futteh Morad, +the sum of sixty rupees, to purchase cloth. He soon after died, +leaving a widow, and a daughter named Dolaree, then five years of +age. They were both seized and confined for the debt by Futteh +Morad; but, on the mother's consenting to leave her daughter in +bondage for the debt, she was released. Futteh Morad's sister, +Kuramut-on Nissa, adopted Dolaree, who was a prepossessing child, +and brought her up as her daughter; but finding, as she grew up, +that she was too intimate with Roostum, the son by a former husband +of her brother's second wife, she insisted on their being married, +and they were so. Futteh Morad soon after died, and his first wife +turned the second, with her first son, Roostum, and his wife, +Dolaree, and the two sons which she had borne to Futteh +Morad—Futteh Allee Khan and Warus Allee Khân—out +of her house. They went to Futteh Morad's aunt, Bebee Mulatee, a +learned woman, who resided as governess in the house of Nawab +Mohubbet Khan, at Roostumnugger, near Lucknow, and taught his +daughters to read the Koran. Finding Dolaree to be not the most +faithful of wives to Roostum, she would not admit them into the +Nawab's house, but she assisted them with food and raiment; and +Roostum entered the service—as a groom—of a trooper in +the King's cavalry, called Abas Kolee Beg. Dolaree had given birth +to a boy, who was named Mahommed Allee; and she now gave birth to a +daughter; but she had cohabited with a blacksmith and an +elephant-driver in the neighbourhood, and it became a much "vexed +question" whether the son and daughter resembled most Roostum, the +blacksmith, or the elephant-driver; all, however, were agreed upon +the point of Dolaree's backslidings. Mahommed Allee, <i>alias</i> +Kywan Ja, was three years of age, and the daughter, <i>Zeenut-on +Nissa</i>, one year and half, when some belted attendants from the +palace came to Roostumnugger in search of a wet-nurse for the young +prince, Moona Jan, who had been born the night before; and Bebee +Mulatee, whose reputation for learning had readied the royal +family, sent off Dolaree as one of the candidates for employment. +Her appearance pleased the queen, the Padshah Begum, the quality of +her milk was pronounced by the royal physicians to be first rate, +and she was chosen, as wet-nurse for the new-born prince.</p> +<p>Moona Jan's father (then heir-apparent to the throne of Oude) no +sooner saw Dolaree than, to the astonishment of the Queen and her +Court, he fell desperately in love with her, though she seemed very +plain and very vulgar to all other eyes; and he could neither +repose himself, nor permit anybody else in the palace to repose, +till he obtained the King's and Queen's consent to his making her +his wife, which he did in 1826. She soon acquired an entire +ascendancy over his weak mind, and, anxious to surround herself in +her exalted station by people on whom she could entirely rely, she +invited the learned Bebee Mulatee and her daughter, Jumeel-on +Nissa, and her son, Kasim Beg, to the palace, and placed them in +high and confidential posts. She invited at the same time Futteh +Allee and Warus Allee, the sons of Futteh Morad by his second wife; +and persuaded the King that they were all people of high lineage, +who had been reduced, by unmerited misfortunes, to accept +employments so humble. All were raised to the rank of Nawabs, and +placed in situations of high trust and emoluments. Kuramut-on +Nissa, too, the sister of Futteh Morad, was invited; but when +Dolaree's husband—the humble Roostum—ventured to +approach the Court, he was seized and imprisoned in a fort in the +Bangur district till the death of Nuseer-od Deen, when he was +released. He came to Lucknow, but died soon after.</p> +<p>Soon after the death of Ghazee-od Deen had placed the +heir-apparent, her husband, on the throne, 20th of October, 1827, +she fortified herself still further by high alliances: and her son, +Mahommed Allee, was affianced to the daughter of Rokun-od Dowla, +brother of the late King; and her daughter, Zeenut-on Nissa, to +Moomtaz-od Dowla, the prince of whom I am writing. These two +marriages were celebrated at a cost of about thirty lacs of rupees; +Dolaree was declared the first consort of the King, under the title +of "Mulika Zamanee," queen of the age, and received an estate in +land yielding six lacs of rupees a-year for pin-money. Not +satisfied with this, she prevailed upon the King to declare her +son, Mahommed Allee, <i>alias</i> Kywan Ja, to be his <i>own and +eldest son</i>, and heir-apparent to the throne; and to demand his +recognition as such from the British Government, through its +representative, the Resident. His Majesty, with great solemnity, +assured the Resident, on many occasions during November and +December, 1827, <i>that Kywan Ja was his eldest son</i>; and told +him that had he not been so, his uncle would never have consented +to bestow his daughter upon him in marriage, nor should he himself +have consented to expend twenty lacs of rupees in the ceremonies. +The Resident told him that the universal impression at Lucknow was, +that the boy was three years of age when his mother was first +introduced to his Majesty. But this had no effect; and, to remove +all further doubts and discussions on the subject, he wrote a +letter himself to the Governor-General, earnestly protesting that +Kywan Ja was his <i>eldest son and heir-apparent to the throne</i>; +and as such he was sent from Lucknow to Cawnpoor to meet and escort +over Lord Combermere in December, 1827.</p> +<p>On the birth of Moonna Jan, the then King, Ghazee-od Deen Hyder, +declared to the Resident that the boy was not his grandson, and +that his son, Nuseer-od Deen, pretended that he was his son merely +to please his imperious mother, the Padshah Begum, and to annoy his +father, with whom they were both on bad terms. Ghazee-od Deen had, +however, before his death declared that he believed Moonna Jan to +be his grandson.* In February, 1832, the King, Nuseer-od Deen +Hyder, first through the minister, and then in person, assured the +Resident that neither of the boys was his son, and requested that +he would report the same to his Government, and assure the +Governor-General "that both reports, as to these boys being sons of +his, were false, and arose from the same cause, <i>bribery</i> and +<i>ambition</i>, that Mulika Zumanee had paid many lacs of rupees +to influential people about him to persuade him to call her son +his, and declare him heir-apparent to the throne; and that Fazl +Allee and Sookcheyn had done the same to induce others to persuade +him to acknowledge Moonna Jan to be his son. But, said his Majesty, +I know positively that he is not my son, and my father knew the +same."</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* I believe that Ghazee-od Deen's first repudiation of Moonna +Jan arose entirely from a desire to revenge himself upon his +termagant wife, whose furious temper left him no peace. She was, +from his birth, very fond of the boy; and to question his +legitimacy was to wound her in her tenderest point. This was the +"raw" which her husband established, and which his son and +successor afterwards worked upon.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The wary minister then, to clench the matter, remarked that his +Majesty had mentioned to him that he had ceased to cohabit with +Moonna Jan's mother for twenty-four months before the boy was born; +and the King assured the Resident that this was quite true. Hakeem +Mehndee was as anxious as Aga Meer had been to keep the King +estranged from his imperious mother, and the only sure way was to +make him persist in repudiating the boy or postponing his claim to +the succession.</p> +<p>Mulika Zumanee's influence over the king had, however, been +eclipsed, first, by Miss Walters, Mokuddera Ouleea, whose history +has already been given; secondly, by the beautiful Taj Mahal; and, +thirdly, by the Kuduseea Begum. She entered the palace as a +waiting-woman to Mulika Zumanee, and, on the 17th of December, +1831, the King married her; and from that day till her death, on +the 21st of August, 1834, she reigned supreme in the palace and in +the King's affections.</p> +<p>On the King's paying a visit of ceremony to Mulika Zumanee one +evening, he asked for water, and it was brought to him in a gold +cup, on a silver tray, by the Kuduseea Begum, then one of the women +in waiting. Her face was partially unveiled; and the King, after +drinking, threw the last few drops from the cup over her veil in +play. In return, she threw the few drops that had been spilled on +the salver upon the King's robe, or vest. He pretended to be angry, +and asked her, with a frown, how she could dare to besprinkle her +sovereign; she replied—"When children play together there is +no distinction between the prince and the peasant." The King was +charmed with her half-veiled beauty and spirit, and he paid a +second visit the next day, and again asked for water. He did the +same as the first day, and she returned the compliment in the same +way. He came a third time and asked for water, but Mulika Zumanee +had become alarmed, and it was presented by another and less +dangerous person. A few days after, however, the Queen was +constrained to allow her fair attendant to attend the King, and +receive from him formal proposals of marriage, which she +accepted.</p> +<p>She was handsome and generous; but there was no discrimination +in her bounty, and she is said to have received from the King +nearly two millions of money out of the reserved treasury for +pin-money alone. Of this she saved forty-four lacs of rupees. The +King never touched this money, and it formed, in a separate +apartment, the greater part of the seventy lacs found in his +reserved treasury on his death, out of the ten krores or ten +millions sterling, which he found there when he ascended the throne +in 1827.</p> +<p>She is said to have been the only one of his wives who ever had +any real affection for the King. She was haughty and imperious in +her temper; and the only female, who had any influence over her, +was a Mogulanee, who taught her to read and write. She assisted her +mistress very diligently in spending her pin-money, and made the +fortunes of sundry of her relations. Altercations between the +Kuduseea Begum and the King were not uncommon; but, on the 21st of +August, 1834, the King became unusually excited, and told her that +he had raised her from bondage to the throne, and could as easily +cast her back into the same vile condition. Her proud spirit could +not brook this, and she instantly swallowed arsenic. The King +relented, and every remedy was tried, but in vain. The King watched +over her agonies till she was about to expire, when he fled in a +frantic state and took refuge in the apartments of the race-stand, +about three miles from the palace, till the funeral ceremonies were +over. It is said, that in her anxiety to give birth to an heir to +the throne, she got the husband, from whom she had been divorced, +smuggled into her apartments in the palace in a female dress more +than once; and that this was reported to the King, and became the +real cause of the dispute.</p> +<p>The Mogulanee attendant, who had accumulated twenty lacs of +rupees, was seized and commanded to disgorge. She offered five lacs +to Court favourites on condition that they saw her safely over the +river Ganges into British territory. The most grave of them were +commissioned to wait upon his Majesty, and entreat him most +earnestly to banish her forthwith from his territories, as she was +known, in the first place, to be one of the most <i>potent +sorceresses</i> in India; and, in the next, to have been +exceedingly attached to her late mistress: that they had strong +grounds to believe that it was her intention to send his Majesty's +spirit after hers, that they might be united in the next world us +they had been in this. The King got angry, and said, that he had no +dread of sorceresses, and would make the old lady disgorge her +twenty lacs. That very night, however, in his sleep, he saw the +Kuduseea Begum enter his room, approach his bed, look upon him with +a countenance still more kind and bright than in life, and then +return slowly with her face still towards him, and beckoning him +with her hand to follow! As soon as he awoke he became greatly +agitated and alarmed, and ordered the old sorceress to be sent +forthwith across the Ganges to Cawnpoor. She paid her five lacs, +and took off about fifteen; but what became of her afterwards I +have not heard.</p> +<p>One of the first cases that I had to decide, after taking charge +of my office, was that of a claim to five Government notes of +twenty thousand rupees each, left by Sultan Mahal, one of the late +King, Amjud Allee Shah's, widows. The claimants were the reigning +King, and the mother, brother, and sister of the deceased widow. +She was the daughter of a greengrocer, and, in February 1846, at +the age of sixteen, she went to the palace with vegetables. The +King saw and fell in love with her; and she forthwith became one of +his wives, under the name of "Sultan Mahal." In November, 1846, the +King invested eighteen lacs and thirty thousand rupees in +Government notes as a provision for his wives and other female +relations. The notes were to be made out in their names +respectively; and the interest was to be paid to them and their +heirs. Of this sum, Sultan Mahal was to have one hundred thousand; +and, on the 21st of November, she drew the interest, in +anticipation, up to the 30th of December of that year. The five +notes for twenty thousand each, in her name, were received in the +Resident's Treasury on the 20th of April, 1847. On the 28th of +August, she sent an application for the Notes to the Resident, but +died the next day. The King, her husband, had died on the 18th +February, 1847.</p> +<p>Nine days after, on the 6th of September, the new King, Wajid +Allee Shah, sent an application to have these five notes +transferred to one of his own wives; urging, that, as his father +and the Sultan Mahal had both died, he alone ought to be considered +as the heir. It was decided, that the mother, sister, and brother +were the rightful heirs to the Sultan Mahal; and the amount was +distributed among them according to Mahommedan law. The question +was, however, submitted to Government at his Majesty's request; and +the decision of the Resident was upheld on the ground that the +notes were in the lady's name, and she had actually drawn interest +on them; and, as she died intestate, they became the property of +her heirs.</p> +<p>By a deed of engagement with the British Government, dated the +1st of March, 1820, the King contributed to the five per cent loan +the sum of sixty-two lacs and forty thousand rupees, the interest +of which, at five per cent, our Government pledged itself to pay, +in perpetuity, to four females of the King's family. To Mulika +Zumanee, ten thousand a-month; to her daughter, Zeenut-on Nissa, +four thousand; to Mokuddera Ouleea (Miss Walters), six thousand; +and to Taj Mahal, six thousand: total, twenty-six thousand rupees +a-month. On the death of Mulika Zamanee, which took place on the +22nd December, 1843, her daughter succeeded to her pension of six +thousand a-month.</p> +<p>The other portion of her pension—four thousand rupees +a-month—went to her grandson, Wuzeer Mirza, the son of Kywan +Ja, who had died on the 16th of May, 1838, before his mother.* Of +this four thousand a-month, one thousand are given to Zeenut-on +Nissa for the boy's subsistence and education, and three thousand +a-month are invested in Government securities, to be paid to him +when he comes of age. But, besides the six thousand rupees a-month +which she inherits from her mother, Zeenut-on Nissa enjoys the +pension of four thousand rupees a-month, which was assigned to her +by the King in the same deed; so that she now draws eleven thousand +rupees a-month, independent of her husband's income.** By this deed +the stipends are to descend to the heirs of the pensioners, if they +have any; and if they have none, they can bequeath their pensions +to whom they please. Should they have no heirs, and leave no will, +the stipends are to go to the moojtahids and moojawurs, or +presiding priests of the shrine of kurbala, in Turkish Arabia, for +distribution among the needy pilgrims.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Wuzeer Mirza is not the son of Rokun-od Dowla's daughter. +Kywan Ja's marriage with that lady was never consummated.]</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote> +<p>[** She takes after her mother, and makes her worthy husband +very miserable. She is ill-tempered, haughty, and profligate.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>An European lady, who visited the zunana of the King, Nuseer-od +Deen Hyder, on the anniversary of his coronation, on the 18th of +October, 1828, writes thus to a female friend:—"But the +present King's wives were superbly dressed, and looked like +creatures of the Arabian Tales. Indeed, one (Taj Mahal) was so +beautiful, that I could think of nothing but Lalla Rookh in her +bridal attire. I never saw any one so lovely, either black or +white. Her features were perfect, and such eyes and eye-lashes I +never, beheld before. She is the favourite Queen at present, and +has only been married a month or two, her age, about fourteen; and +such a little creature, with the smallest hands and feet, and the +most timid, modest look imaginable. You would have been charmed +with her, she was so graceful and fawn-like. Her dress was of gold +and scarlet brocade, and her hair was literally strewed with +pearls, which hung down upon her neck in long single strings, +terminating in large pearls, which mixed with and hung as low as +her hair, which was curled on each side her head in long ringlets, +like Charles the Second's beauties. On her forehead she wore a +small gold circlet, from which depended and hung, half way down, +large pearls interspersed with emeralds. Above this was a paradise +plume, from which strings of pearls were carried over the head, as +we turn our hair. Her earrings were immense gold rings, with pearls +and emeralds suspended all round in large strings, the pearls +increasing in size. She had a nose ring also with large round +pearls and emeralds; and her necklaces, &c., were too numerous +to be described. She wore long sleeves, open at the elbow; and her +dress was a full petticoat with a tight body attached, and open +only at the throat. She had several persons to bear her train when +she walked; and her women stood behind her couch to arrange her +head-dress, when, in moving, her pearls got entangled in the +immense robe of scarlet and gold she had thrown around her. This +beautiful creature is the envy of all the other wives, and the +favourite at present of both the King and his mother, both of whom +have given her titles—See <i>Mrs. Park's Wandering</i>, vol. +i., page 87. Taj Mahal still lives and enjoys a pension of six +thousand rupees a-month, under the guarantee of the British +Government. She became very profligate after the King's death; and +after she had given birth to one child, it was deemed necessary to +place a guard over her to prevent her dishonouring the memory of +the King, her husband, any further by giving birth to more."</p> +<p>Of Miss Walters, alias Mokuddera Ouleea, the same lady +writes:—"The other newly-made Queen is nearly European, but +not a whit fairer than Taj Mahal. She is, in my opinion, plain; but +she is considered by the native ladies very handsome, and she was +the King's favourite before he saw Taj Mahal. She was more +splendidly dressed than even Taj Mahal. Her head-dress was a +coronet of diamonds, with a fine crescent and plume of the same. +She is the daughter of a European merchant, and is accomplished for +an inhabitant of a zunana, as she writes and speaks Persian +fluently, as well as Hindoostanee; and it is said that she is +teaching the King English, though when we spoke to her in English, +she said she had forgotten it, and could not reply. She was, I +fancy, afraid of the Queen Dowager, as she evidently understood us; +and when asked if she liked being in the zunana, she shook her head +and looked quite melancholy. Jealousy of the new favourite, +however, appeared to be the cause of her discontent, as, though +they sat on the same couch, they never addressed each other."</p> +<p>Of Mulika Zumanee, the same lady says:—"The mother of the +King's children, Mulika Zumanee, did not visit us at the Queen +Dowager's; but we went to see her at her own palace. She is, after +all, the person of the most political consequence, being the mother +of the heir-apparent; and she has great power over her royal +husband, whose ears she boxes occasionally."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt2-4" id="Chapt2-4">CHAPTER IV.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Nuseer-od Deen Hyder's death—His repudiation of his son, +Moonna Jan, leads to the succession of his uncle, Nuseer-od +Dowlah—Contest for the succession between these two +persons—The Resident supports the uncle; and the Padshah +Begum supports the son—The ministers supposed to have +poisoned the King—Made to disgorge their ill-gotten wealth by +his successor—Obligations of the treaty of 1801, by which +Oude was divided into two equal shares—One transferred to the +British Government, one reserved by Oude—Estimated value of +each at the time of treaty—Present value of each—The +sovereign often warned that unless he governs as he ought, the +British Government cannot support him, but must interpose and take +the administration upon itself—All such warnings have been +utterly disregarded—No security to life or property in any +part of Oude—Fifty years of experience has proved, that we +cannot make the government of Oude fulfil its duties to its +people—The alternative left appears to be to take the +management upon ourselves, and give the surplus revenue to the +sovereign and royal family of Oude—Probable effects of such a +change on the feelings and interests of the people of Oude.</p> +<p>When in February, 1832, the King, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, assured +the Resident that Moonna Jan was not his son. Lord William Bentinck +was Governor-General of India. A more thoroughly honest man never, +I believe, presided over the government of any country. The +question of right to succession was long maturely and most +anxiously considered, after these repeated and formal repudiations +on the part of the King, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder; and Government would +willingly have deferred a final decision on so important a question +longer, but it was deemed unsafe any longer from the debauched +habits of the King, the chance of his sudden death, and the risk of +a tumult in such a city, to leave the representative of the +paramount power unprepared to proclaim its will in favour of the +rightful heir, the moment that a demise took place. Under these +considerations, instructions were sent to the Resident, on the 15th +of December, 1833, in case of the King's death without a son, or +pregnant consort, to declare the eldest surviving brother of the +late King, Ghazee-od Deen Hyder, heir to the throne, and have him +placed upon it. According to the law already noticed (which applies +as well to sovereignty as to property) the sons of Shums-od Dowlah, +the second son of Saadut Allee Khan, who had died shortly before +his eldest and reigning brother, Ghazee-od Deen, were excluded from +all claims to the succession, and the right devolved upon the third +son of Saadut Allee, Nuseer-od Dowlah. Ghazee-od Deen had only one +son, the reigning sovereign, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder.</p> +<p>This prince had impaired his constitution by drinking and other +vicious indulgences, in which he had been encouraged in early life +by his designing or inconsiderate adoptive mother, the Padshah +Begum; but for some time before his death, he used frequently to +declare to his most intimate companions that he felt sure he should +die of poison, and that at no distant period. He for some time +before his death had a small well in the palace, over which he kept +his own lock and key; and he kept the same over the jar, in which +he drew the water from it for his own drinking. The keys were +suspended by a gold chain around his neck. The persons who gave him +his drink, except when taking it out of English sealed bottles, +were two sisters, Dhuneea and Dulwee. The latter and youngest is +now the wife of Wasee Allee Khan. The eldest, Dhuneea, still +resides at Lucknow. The general impression at Lucknow and over all +Oude was, that the British Government would, take upon itself the +management of the country on the death, without issue, of Nuseer-od +Deen Hyder; and the King himself latterly seemed rather pleased +than otherwise at the thought that he should be the last of the +Oude kings. He had repudiated his own son, and was unwilling that +any other member of the family should fill his place. The minister +and the other public officers and Court favourites, who had made +large fortunes, wished it, as it was understood by some, that by +such a measure they would be secured from all scrutiny into their +accounts, and enabled to keep securely all that they had +accumulated.</p> +<p>About half-past eleven, on the night of the 7th July, 1837, the +Durbar Wakeel, Gholam Yaheea,* came to the Resident and reported +that the King had been taken suddenly ill, and appeared to be +either dead or in a dying state, from the symptoms described to him +by his Majesty's attendants. The Resident, Colonel Low, ordered his +two Assistants, Captains Paton and Shakespear, the Head Moonshee +and Head Clerk, to be in attendance, and wrote to request the +Brigadier, commanding the troops in Oude, to hold one thousand men +in readiness to march to the Residency at a moment's notice. The +Residency is situated in the city near the Furra Buksh Palace, in +which the King resided. The Resident intended that five companies +of this force should be sent in advance of the main body and guns, +for the purpose of placing, sentries over the palace gates, +treasuries, and other places containing valuables within the walls. +But this intention was not unfortunately made known to the +Brigadier. Captain Magness, who commanded a corps of infantry with +six guns, and a squadron of horse, had been ordered by the minister +at half-past eight o'clock, to proceed with them to a place near +the southern entrance of the palace, and there to wait for further +instructions, and he did so. This was three hours before the +minister made any report to the Resident of the King's illness, and +Captain Magness was told by the people in attendance that the King +was either dead or dying.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Gholam Yaheea Khan was the maternal uncle of Shurf-od Dowlah, +who was, afterwards, some time minister under Mahommed Allee +Shah.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Having given these orders, the Resident proceeded to the palace, +attended by Captain Paton, the first Assistant, and Dr. Stevenson, +the Residency Surgeon. They found the King lying dead upon his bed, +but his body was still warm, and Dr. Stevenson opened a vein in one +arm. Blood flowed freely from it, but no other sign of life could +be discovered. His features were placid and betrayed no sign of his +having suffered any pain; and the servants in attendance declared +that the only sign of suffering they had heard or seen was a slight +shriek, to which the King gave utterance before he expired; that +after that shriek he neither moved, spoke, nor showed any sign +whatever of life. His Majesty had been unwell for three weeks, but +no one had any apprehension of danger from his symptoms. He had +called for some sherbet a short time before his death, and it was +given to him by Dhuneea, the eldest of the two sisters.</p> +<p>The Resident took with him a guard of sipahees from his escort, +and Captain Paton distributed them as double sentries at the inner +doors of the palace, and outside the chief buildings and +store-rooms, with orders to allow no one but the ministers and +treasurers to pass. Captain Madness had placed one sentry before at +each of these places, and he now added a second, making a party of +four sipahees at each post. Captain Paton at the same time, in +conjunction with the officers of the Court, placed seals on all the +jewels and other valuables belonging to the King and his +establishments; and as the night was very dark, placed +torch-bearers at all places where they appeared to be required.</p> +<p>Having made these arrangements the Resident returned with Dr. +Stevenson to the Residency, leaving Captain Paton at the palace; +and wrote to the Brigadier to request that he would send off the +five companies in advance to the palace direct, and bring down all +his disposable troops, including artillery, to the city. The +distance from the palace to the cantonments, round by the old stone +bridge, was about four miles and half. The iron bridge, which +shortens the distance by a mile and half, had not then been thrown +over the Goomtee river, which flows between them. The Resident then +had drawn up, for the consent of the new king, a Persian paper, +declaring that he was prepared to sign any new treaty for the +better government of the country that the British Government might +think proper to propose to him.</p> +<p>It was now one o'clock in the morning of the 8th of July, and +Captain Shakespear, attended by the Meer Moonshee, Iltufat Hoseyn, +and the Durbar Wakeel, proceeded to the house of the new sovereign, +Nuseer-od Dowlah, who then resided where the present King now +resides, a distance of about a mile from the Residency. The visit +was altogether unexpected; and, as the new sovereign had been for +some time ill, some delay took place in arranging for the reception +of the mission. After explaining the object of his visit. Captain +Shakespear presented the paper, which the King perused with great +attention, and then signed without hesitation. Captain Shakespear +returned with it to the Resident, who repaired again to the palace, +and sent Captain Paton, the first Assistant, to the Residency, to +proceed thence with Captain Shakespear and the Durbar Wakeel, to +the house of the new sovereign, and escort him to the palace, where +he would be in readiness to receive him. He arrived about three +o'clock in the morning, and being infirm from age, and exceedingly +reduced from recent illness, he was, after a short conversation +with the Resident, left in a small adjoining room, to repose for a +few hours preparatory to his being placed on the throne and crowned +in due form. His eldest surviving son, afterwards Amjud Allee Shah, +his sons, the present King, Wajid Allee Shah, and Mirza Jawad Khan, +the King's foster brother, Hummeed-od Dowlah, and his confidential +servant, Rufeek-od Dowla, were left in the room with him; and the +Resident and his Assistants sat in the verandah facing the river +Goomtee, which flows under the walls, conversing on the ceremonies +to be observed at the approaching coronation, and the persons to be +invited to assist at it, when they were suddenly interrupted by the +intelligence that the Padshah Begum, the adoptive mother of the +late King, with a large armed force, and the young pretender, +Moonna Jan, were coming on to seize upon the throne, and might soon +be expected at the principal entrance to the palace to the +north-west.</p> +<p>When the Resident was about to proceed to the palace, the first +time about midnight, he was assured by the minister, Roshun-od +Dowla, that every possible precaution had been taken by him to +prevent the Padshah Begum from attempting any such enterprise, or +from leaving her residence with the young pretender; that he had +placed strong bodies of troops in every street or road by which she +could come. But, to make more sure, and prevent her leaving her +residence at the Almas gardens, five miles from the palace, the +Resident sent off one of his chobdars, Khoda Buksh, with two +troopers and a verbal message, enjoining her to remain quietly at +her palace. These men found her with her equipage in the midst of a +large mass of armed followers, ready to set out for the palace. +They delivered their message from the Resident, but were sent back +with her Wakeel, Mirza Allee, to request that she might be +permitted to look upon the dead body of the late King, since she +had not been permitted to see him for so long a period before his +death. But they reached the Resident with this message, only ten +minutes before the Begum's troops were thundering for admittance at +the gate. The Resident gave the chobdar a note for the officer in +command of the five companies, supposed to be in advance on their +way down from cantonments; but before he could get with this note +five hundred yards from the palace, he met the Begum and her +disorderly band filling the road and pressing on as fast as they +could. Unable to proceed, he returned to the palace with all haste, +and gave the Resident the first notice of their near approach. +Captain Magness had placed two of his six guns at each of the three +entrances to the south and west, but was now ordered to collect +all, and proceed to the north-western entrance, towards which the +Begum was advancing. Before he could get to that entrance she had +passed in, and he returned to the south-western entrance for +further orders.</p> +<p>On passing the mausoleum of Asuf-od Dowlah, where the Kotwal or +head police officer of the city resided, she summoned him, with all +his available police, to attend his sovereign to the throne of his +ancestors. He promised obedience, but, with all his police, stood +aloof, thinking that her side might not be the safe one to take in +such an emergency. A little further on she passed Hussun Bagh, the +residence of the chief consort of the late King and niece of the +emperor of Delhi, and summoned and brought her on, to give some +countenance to her audacious enterprise. The Resident admonished +the minister for his negligence and falsehood in the assurance he +had given him; and directed Rajah Bukhtawur Sing, with his squadron +of one hundred and fifty horse, and Mozuffer-od Dowlah, the father +of Ajum-od Dowlah, and Khadim Hoseyn, the son-in-law of Sobhan +Allee Khan, the deputy minister, with all the armed men they could +muster, to arrest the progress of the pretender; but nothing +whatever was done, and the excited mass came on, and augmented as +it came in noise and numbers. All whom the Resident sent to check +them, out of fear or favour, avoided collision, and sought safety +either in their homes or among the pretender's bands.</p> +<p>Captain Paton, as soon as he heard the pretender's' men +approach, rushed to the gate to the north-west, towards which the +throng was approaching rapidly. He had only four belted attendants +with him, and the gate was guarded only by a small party of useless +sipahees, under the control of three or four black slaves. By the +time he had roused the sleepy guard and closed the gates, the +pretender's armed mass came up, and with foul abuse, imprecations, +and with threats of instant death to all who opposed them, demanded +admittance. Captain Paton told them, that the Resident had been +directed by the British Government to place Nuseer-od Dowlah, the +uncle of the late King, on the throne as the rightful heir; that he +was now in the palace, and all who opposed him would be treated as +rebels; that the gates were all closed by order of the Resident, +and all who attempted to force them would be put to death. All was +in vain. They told him with fury that the Padshah Begum, and the +son of the late King, and rightful heir to the throne, were among +them, and must be instantly admitted. Captain Paton despatched a +messenger to the Resident to say, that he could hold the gate no +longer without troops: but before he could get a reply, the +insurgents brought up an elephant to force in the gate with his +head. The first failed in the attempt, and drew back with a +frightful roar. A second, urged on by a furious driver, broke in +the gate, one-half fell with a crash to the ground, and the +elephant plunged in after it. Captain Paton was standing with his +back against this half, and must have been killed; but Mukun, one +of his chuprassies, seeing the gate giving way, caught him by the +arm and dragged him behind the other half. The other three +chuprassies ran off in a fright and hid themselves. Two of them +were Surubdawun Sing and Juggurnath, two brothers, who will be +mentioned elsewhere in this diary.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* See Juggurnath chuprassie in Chapter V., Vol. II.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The furious and confused mass rushed in through the half-opened +gate, and beat Captain Paton to the ground with their bludgeons, +the hilts of their swords, and the butt-ends of their muskets. +Mukun, chuprassie, his only remaining attendant, was beaten down at +the same time and severely bruised, but he soon got up, covered +with blood, made his way out through the crowd, and ran to meet the +five companies of the 35th Regiment, then not far distant, under +Colonel Monteath. As soon as he heard from Mukun the state in which +he had left his master, he sent on a party of thirty sipahees under +Captain Cowley, with orders to make all possible haste to the +rescue. They arrived in time to save his life from the fury of the +assailants, but found him insensible from his wounds.</p> +<p>In a few minutes every court-yard within the palace walls was +filled with the armed and disorderly mass. The Resident, Captain +Shakespear, and their few attendants, tried to stop them by every +impediment they could throw in their way, but in vain. The +assailants rushed past or over them, brandishing their swords and +firelocks, with loud shoutings and flaming torches, and soon filled +all the apartments of the palace, save those occupied by the ladies +and their female attendants, and the dead body of the late King. +The Resident and his Assistant, and the Meer Moonshee, were soon +separated from the new sovereign and his small party, who lay for +some time concealed in the small room in which he had been left to +repose, while they were confined to the northern verandah +overlooking the river, and the long room leading into it. The armed +and furious throng filled all the other rooms of the palace, the +court-yard, eighty yards long, leading to the baraduree (or +summer-house) and all the four great halls of that building, in one +of which the throne stood.</p> +<p>The Resident felt that he was helpless in his present position, +and unable to do anything whatever to prevent the temporary triumph +of the insurgents, and the consequent tumult, pillage, and loss of +life that must follow; and that it would be better to try any +change than to remain in that helpless state. He thought that he +might, if he could once reach the Begum, be able to persuade her of +the impossibility of her ultimately succeeding in her attempt to +keep the pretender on the throne; and if not, that it would be of +advantage to get so much nearer to the place where the British +troops most soon arrive, and be drawn up in a garden to the south +of the baraduree, and to gain time for their arrival by a personal +and open conference with the Begum, during which he thought her +followers would not be likely to proceed to violence against his +person, and those of his attendants. He therefore persuaded one of +the rebel sentries placed over him to apprize the Begum that he +wished to speak to her. She sent to him Mirza Allee, one of her +Wakeels; and with him Captain Shakespear, and the Meer Moonshee, he +forced his way through the dense crowd, and got safely into the +baraduree.</p> +<p>They found all the four halls, small apartments, and verandahs, +leading into them, filled with armed men in a state of great +excitement, and in the act of placing the pretender, Moonna Jan, on +the throne. The Begum sat in a covered palankeen at the foot of the +throne; and as the Resident entered, the band struck up "<i>God +save the King</i>," answered by a salute of blunderbusses within, +and a double royal salute from the guns in the +"<i>jullooknana</i>," or northern court-yard of the palace through +which the Begun had passed in. Other guns, which had been collected +in the confusion to salute somebody (though those who commanded and +served them knew not whom), continued the salute through the +streets without. A party of dancing-girls, belonging to the late +King, or brought up by the Begum, began to dance and sing as loud +as they could at the end of the long hall in front of the throne, +at the same time that the crowd within and without shouted their +congratulations at the top of their voices, and every man who had a +sword, spear, musket, or matchlock, flourished it in the air amidst +a thousand torches. A scene more strange and wild it would be +difficult to conceive.</p> +<p>In the midst of all this the Resident and his Assistants +remained cool under all kinds of foul abuse and threats from a +multitude so excited, that they seemed more like demons than human +beings, and resolved to force them to commit some act or make use +of some expression that might seem to justify their murder. They +fired muskets close to their ears, pointed others loaded and cocked +close to their breasts and faces, flourished swords close to their +noses, called them all kinds of opprobrious names, but all in vain. +The Resident, in the midst of all this confusion, pointed out to +the Begum the impossibility of her ultimately succeeding in her +attempt to secure the throne for the pretender, since he was acting +under the orders of his Government, who had declared the right to +be another's; and if he and all his Assistants were killed, his +Government would soon send others to carry out their orders. "I +am," she said, "in my right place, and so is the young King, my +grandson, and so are you. Why do you talk to me or to anybody else +of leaving the throne and the baraduree?" But some of her furious +followers, afraid that she might yield, seized him by his +neckcloth, dragged him towards the throne, on which the boy sat, +and commanded him to present his offerings of congratulation on the +threat of instant death. They had, they said, placed him on the +throne of his ancestors by order of the Begum, and would maintain +him there. Had he or either of his Assistants lost their temper or +presence of mind, and attempted to resent any of the affronts +offered to them, they must have been all instantly put to death, +and a general massacre of all their supposed adherents, and the +pillage of the palace and city, would have followed.</p> +<p>The Begum's Wakeel, Mirza Allee, seeing the life of the Resident +and those of his Assistants and attendants in such imminent peril, +since he so resolutely refused to give any sign whatever of +recognition to the pretender, and aware of the consequences that +would inevitably follow their murder, seized him by the arm, and in +a loud voice shouted out that it was the Begum's order that he +should conduct him out into the garden to the south. He pushed on +with him through the crowd, followed by all his small party, and +with great difficulty and danger they at last reached the garden, +where Colonel Monteath had just brought in and drawn up his five +companies in a line facing the baraduree. Finding the entrance to +the north-west occupied by the Begum's party. Colonel Monteath +marched along the street to the west of the palace, and entered the +baraduree garden by the south-west gate. As the Resident went out. +Colonel Roberts, who commanded a brigade in the Oude service, went +in, and presented to the pretender his offering of gold mohurs, and +then went off and hid himself, to wait the result of the contest. +Captain Magness drew up his men and guns on the left of Colonel +Monteath's, and was told to prepare for action. He told the +Resident that he did not feel quite sure of his men in such a +crisis, and the line of British sipahees was made to cover his +rear, to secure them. The King and minister had commanded him to +act precisely as directed by the Resident, and he himself knew this +to be his only safe course, but the hearts of his men were with +Moonna Jan and the Begum.</p> +<p>The Begum, as soon as the Resident left her, deeming all safe, +went over to the female apartments, where her adopted son, the late +king, lay dead; and after gazing for a minute upon his corpse, +returned to the foot of the throne, on which the pretender had now +been seated for more than three hours. It was manifest that nothing +but force could now remove the boy and his supporters, but the +Begum tried to gain more time in the hope of support from a popular +insurrection from without, which might take off the British troops +from the garden; and she sent evasive messages to the Resident by +her wakeels, urging him to come once more to her, since it was +impossible for her to make her way to him without danger of +collision between the troops of the two States. He refused to put +himself again in her power, and commanded her to come down with the +boy to him and surrender; and promised that if she did so, and +directed all her armed followers to quit the palace and city of +Lucknow, all that had passed should be forgiven, and the large +pension of fifteen thousand rupees a-month, promised by the late +King, secured to her for life. All was in vain, and the Begum was +gaining her object. Robberies of State property in the eastern and +more retired parts of the palace-buildings had commenced. Gold, +jewels, shawls, &c., to a large amount were being carried off. +Much of such property lay about in places not guarded by Captain +Paton in the morning, or known to the minister, or other +respectable servants of the State, all holding out temptation to +pillage. Acts of plunder and ill-treatment to unoffending and +respectable persons in the city were every moment reported, and six +or eight houses had been already pillaged, and attempts had been +made on others by small parties, who were every moment increasing +in numbers and ferocity.</p> +<p>Several parties of the King's troops had openly deserted their +posts and joined the pretender's followers in the baraduree, and +dense masses of armed men were crowding in upon the British troops, +whose officer became anxious, and urged the Resident to action, +lest they should no longer have room to use their arms. At one time +these armed crowds got within two yards of the British front; and +on Colonel Monteath's telling them to retire a few paces and leave +him a clear front, they did so in a sullen and insolent manner, and +one of them actually attempted to seize one of the sipahees by his +whiskers, and an affray was with difficulty prevented.</p> +<p>Mostufa Khan, Kundaharee, who had command of a regiment of a +thousand horse in the late King's service, was with many others +commanded by the Begum to attend the young King on the throne; and +he did so some time after Brigadier Johnstone reached the garden, +in front of the baraduree, though he knew that Nuseer-od Dowlah had +been declared the rightful heir to the throne, and was actually in +the palace. He said that "he was the servant of the throne; that +the young King was actually seated upon it, and that he would +support him there, happen what might." He presented his offerings +of gold to the young King, and was forthwith appointed to supersede +all the other wakeels in the Begum's negotiations with the +Resident. He merely repeated what the other wakeels had said, +urging the Resident to go up to the Begum, since she could not come +down to him. The Resident repeated to him what he had told the +Begum herself, and taking out his watch, told him that unless his +orders were obeyed in less than one-quarter of an hour, the guns +should open upon the throne-room; that when once they opened, +neither she nor her followers could expect favour, or even mercy; +and unless he, Mostapha Khan, separated himself from her party, he +should be hung as a traitor if taken alive.</p> +<p>Owing to the height of some houses and walls about the left part +of the position of the British troops, the guns could not be +conveniently brought to bear upon the south-western corner of the +baraduree and throne-room, and two of the guns had to be taken +round by a road one-third of a mile, to be placed in a better +position. On seeing this the crowd shouted out, "The cravens are +already running away!" and became more insolent and furious than +ever.</p> +<p>The minister and Durbar Wakeel had been swept away by the crowd, +who rushed into the palace, and separated from the Resident and his +party, and as they passed through the balcony overlooking the +river, the wakeel threw off his turban, and leaped over from a +height of about twenty feet. The ground was soft, but he sprained +both his ankles. He was taken up by some boatmen, who had put-to +near the bank, and concealed in their boat till the affair was +over. The new sovereign remained still unnoticed, and apparently +unknown, having long led a secluded life; but his son, grandsons, +and the rest of his attendants were at last discovered, very +roughly treated by the insurgents, and would, it is said, have been +put to death, had not Rajah Bukhtawur Sing and some others, who +thought it safe to be on friendly terms with the ruffians, +persuaded them that they would be useful hostages in case of a +reverse. The minister had had all his clothes, save his trousers, +torn from him, and his arms and legs pinioned preparatory to +execution, and the princes had been treated with little more +ceremony. All had given themselves up for lost.</p> +<p>The Begum remained firm to her purpose, her hopes from without +increasing with the increasing noise, tumult, and reports of +pillage in the city. The quarter of an hour had passed, and the +Resident, turning to the Brigadier, told him, that the work was now +in his hands, just an hour and twenty minutes after he had brought +his troops into the garden. The guns from the British, and Captain +Magness' parks opened at the same instant upon the throne-room and +the other halls of the baraduree with grape; and after six or seven +rounds, a party of the 35th Regiment, under Major Marshall, was +ordered to storm the halls. With muskets loaded and bayonets fixed +they rushed first through a narrow covered passage; then up a steep +flight of steps, and then into the throne-room, firing upon the +affrighted crowd as they advanced, and following them up with the +bayonet as they rushed out over the two flights of steps on the +north side, and through the courtyard which separates the baraduree +from the palace. Other parties of sipahees ascended at the same +time over ladders collected at the suggestion of Doctor Stevenson, +and placed on the southern front of the baraduree; and the halls +were soon cleared of the insurgents, who left from forty to fifty +men killed and wounded on the floors of the four halls.* In this +assault Mostufa Khan, Kundaharee, was killed. Moonna Jan was found +concealed in a small recess under the throne, and the Begum in a +small adjoining room, to which she had been carried as soon as the +guns opened. They were taken into custody, and sent to the +Residency, with Imam Buksh, a bihishtee, or water-carrier, a +notorious villain, who had been her chief instigator in all this +affair, and appointed Commander-in-Chief to the young King. Many +who had been wounded got out of the halls, and some even reached +their homes, but the killed and wounded are supposed to have +amounted altogether to about one hundred and twenty. The Begum and +the boy were accommodated in the Residency, and their +<i>Commander-in-Chief</i> was made over to the King's Courts for +trial. He is still in prison at Lucknow. No one was killed on our +side, but three or four of our sipahees were wounded in the +assault.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* As they entered the hall at the end opposite the throne, they +saw their own figures reflected in the large mirror, which stands +behind the throne; and, taking them to be their enemy preparing to +charge, they poured their first volley into the mirror, by which +many lives were saved at the expense of the glass.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Delhi princess, the chief consort of the deceased King, a +modest, beautiful, and amiable young woman, who had been forced to +join the Begum, in order to give some countenance to the daring +enterprise, was, as soon as the guns opened, carried by her two +female attendants in her litter to a small side-room, facing the +palace at the east end of the throne-room. One of these females had +her arm shattered by grape shot, but the other tied some clothes +together, and let the princess and her wounded attendant down from +a height of about twenty-four feet into a court-yard, whence they +were conveyed to her palace by some of her attendants, and all +three escaped. The sipahees occupied both of the flights of steps +in the northern face of the baraduree. She was afraid, to trust +herself to them, and saw no other way of escape than that +described.</p> +<p>It was nine o'clock before the palace could be cleared of the +insurgents; and the Resident was very anxious that the new +Sovereign should be crowned, as soon and as publicly as possible, +in order to restore tranquillity to the city, which had become +greatly disturbed from the number of loose and desperate characters +that always abound in it, and are at all times ready to make the +most of any tumult that may arise from whatever cause. The new +Sovereign had become greatly agitated and alarmed at the danger to +which he and his family had been so long exposed, and at the +fearful scene which they witnessed at the close; and the Resident +exerted himself to soothe and prepare him for the long and tedious +ceremonies of the coronation, while the killed and wounded were +being removed and the throne-room and the other halls of the +baraduree cleaned out and properly arranged and furnished. When all +was ready the Resident conducted him from the palace through the +court-yard to the baraduree, accompanied by the brigadier and all +the principal officers of the British force and the Court, seated +him on the throne, placed the crown on his head, under a royal +salute, repeated from every battery in the city, and proclaimed him +King of Oude, in presence of all the aristocracy and principal +persons of Lucknow, who had flocked to the place on hearing that +the danger had passed away.</p> +<p>From the time that the Resident discovered that the King was +dead, till the arrival of the five companies under Colonel +Monteath, the whole of the British force in this vast city, +containing a population of nearly a million persons, amounted to +only two companies and a half of sipahees under native officers. +One of the companies guarded the Resident's Treasury, one +constituted the honorary guard of the Resident, and the half +company guarded the gaol. A part of the honorary guard, with as +many sipahees as could be safely spared from the Treasury and gaol, +were taken by Captain Paton to the palace, and distributed as +already mentioned. They all stood nobly to their posts during the +long and trying scene, and no attempt was made to concentrate them +for the purpose of arresting the tumultuous advance of the Begum's +forces. Collectively they would have been too few for the purpose, +and it was deemed unsafe to remove them from their respective +charges at such a time. The Resident relied upon the minister's +repeated assurances that he had taken all necessary precautions to +prevent her approach; upon the two companies, called the Khas +companies, under the command of Mujd-od Dowlah; and the squadron of +one hundred and fifty horse, under Rajah Bukhtawur Sing, whom he +had himself ordered to guard the passage by which they entered. Of +all these men not one was employed for the purpose. They and their +Commanders all stood aloof, and left the British soldiers to their +fate.</p> +<p>The minister was a fool, under the tutelage of his deputy, +Sobhan Allee Khan, a great knave, who disappeared as soon as he +heard that the Begum was approaching with his son-in-law, Khadim +Hoseyn. Mozuffer Allee Khan, a person in high office and confidence +under the late King, did the same. The minister and the Durbar +Wakeel were the only officers of the State of Oude who stood by the +new King and the British Resident. The minister afterwards declared +that a strong detachment of troops had been placed outside the gate +through which the Begum ultimately forced her way, as well as at +the other passages leading to the palace and baraduree; and Captain +Shakespear, on his way to the new Sovereign, ascertained that +guards had actually been posted outside all the other gates leading +to the palace and baraduree. From this, the supineness and seeming +apathy of many of the palace guards and servants, and the +perversion of the orders sent by him before and during the tumult, +the minister concluded that there must have been many about him +interested in promoting the enterprise of the Begum; and that the +approach to the gate through which she forced her way must have +been purposely left unguarded. There is now little doubt, that from +the time that it became known, that the contest was between Moonna +Jan and Nuseer-od Dowlah, a person but little known except as a +prudent and parsimonious old man, a large portion not only of the +civil and military establishments, but of the population of the +city, felt anxious for the success of the Begum's enterprise; for +both had, under the harsh treatment of the last two sovereigns, +become objects of sympathy.</p> +<p>A good many of the members of the royal family, who were brought +up from childhood with the deceased King, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, and +near his person to the last, declare that Moonna Jan was his son; +but that the King was ashamed and afraid to acknowledge him after +he had so frequently and so formally declared to the British +Government that he was not his son, and that he had ceased to +cohabit with the boy's mother for two years before his birth. But +all such persons admit that Moonna Jan was a boy of ungovernable +temper, and the worst possible dispositions; and that he must soon +have forfeited the crown by his cruelty, bigotry, and injustice, +had he been placed upon it by the British Government. I saw him in +January 1838, at Chunar, and a more unpromising boy I have rarely +seen.</p> +<p>The ministry dreaded being called to account for their +malversations as much from the Begum, on account of their +successful efforts to keep the King alienated from her and his son, +as from Nuseer-od Dowlah, on account of his parsimony, prudence, +and great experience in business during the reign of his able +father, Saadut Allee Khan. But they would have a better chance of +escape from the Begum and the boy than from the vigilant old man, +who afterwards made them all disgorge their ill-gotten wealth; and, +in consequence, they made no effort to obstruct her enterprise. The +military and civil establishments were all in favour of the boy, +who would probably be as regardless of their number and discipline +as his father had been, while the old man would assuredly reduce +the one, and endeavour, by rigorous measures, to improve the other. +Hardly any one at Lucknow at present doubts that the minister and +his associates caused the King to be poisoned, and employed Duljeet +and the two sisters; Dhunneea and Dulwee, for the purpose, in +expectation that the British Government would take upon itself the +Oude administration, as the only possible means of improving +it.</p> +<p>The respectable and peaceable portion of the city, though their +sympathies were with the boy, had too much in property, and the +honour of their families, at stake to aid in any movement in his +favour, since it would involve a tumult, and for a time, at least, +insure the supremacy of the mob. Their security and that of their +families depended upon the success of the British troops; and they +were all prepared to acquiesce in any cause which the British +Government might adopt for the sake of order. They would rather +that it should adopt that of the Begum and the boy than that of +Nuseer-od Dowlah; but in either case were resolved to remain +neuter, and let the representative of the British Government take +his own course.</p> +<p>It is a fact not unworthy of remark, that more than three +millions sterling, or three crores of rupees, in our Government +securities, are held by persons who reside and spend the interest +arising from them in the city of Lucknow; and that the fall in +their value in exchange during the times that we have been engaged +in our most serious wars has been less in Lucknow than in Calcutta, +the capital of British India; so much greater assurance do the +people feel of our resources being always equal to our exigencies. +At such times the merchants of Lucknow commission their agents in +Calcutta to purchase up Government securities at the rate to which +they fall in Calcutta, for sale at Lucknow, where they seldom fall +at all. About three crores and half of rupees, or three millions +and half sterling, have been at different times contributed to our +loans by the sovereigns of Oude as a provision for the different +members of their respective families and dependents; and the +interest is now paid to them and their descendants, at the rates +which prevailed at the time of the several loans (four, five, and +six per cent.) to the amount of fourteen lacs thirty-five thousand +and four hundred and ten rupees a-year.</p> +<p>The Begum's haughty and violent temper, and inveterate +disposition to meddle in public affairs, were the real cause of her +continual disquietude and ultimate disgrace and ruin. The minister +of the day dreaded the ascendancy of so imperious and furious a +character, should she ever become reconciled to the King. During +the whole reign of Ghazee-od Deen, her husband, from the 12th of +July 1814, to the 20th of October 1827, her own frequent +ebullitions, which often disfigured the King's robes and vests, and +left even the hair on his head and chin unsafe, and Aga Meer's +sagacious suggestions, satisfied him that his own personal safety +and peace of mind, and the welfare of the State, depended upon his +keeping as much as possible aloof from her. He was fond of his son, +Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, but during his minority he always took the +part of his adoptive mother, the Padshah Begum; and, in +consequence, remained almost as much as she was alienated from the +King, his father. His natural mother died soon after his birth; and +people suspected that the Padshah Begum had her put to death that +she might have no rival in his affections; and she had an entire +ascendancy over him, acquired by every species of enervating +indulgences; and he remained all his life utterly without +character, ignorant of the rudiments of public affairs, and +altogether incapable of taking any useful part in them.</p> +<p>She retained this ascendancy over him for some time after he +became King, first from habit and affection, and latterly from the +fears with which she continued to inspire him, that she could, by +her disclosures, whenever she pleased, prevail upon the British +Government to set him aside in favour of some other member of the +royal family, as the Buhoo Begum of Fyzabad had set aside Wuzeer +Allee. She made him dismiss his father's minister, Aga Meer, with +disgrace, and confer the seals on Fuzl Allee, the nephew of her +favourite waiting-woman, Fyzon Nissa; but when the shrewd and +sagacious Hakeem Mehndee became minister three years after, he soon +persuaded the young King, that all fears of his adoptive mother's +disclosures or wishes were idle, and that nothing which she could +do or say would induce the British Government to disturb his +possession of the sovereignty of Oude. He is said to have been the +first person who ventured to hint to him the murder of his natural +mother by the Padshah Begum; and he was, or pretended to be, +violently shocked and grieved. He then built a splendid tomb or +cenotaph for her; and endowed it with the means for maintaining +pious men to read the Koran in it, and attendants of all kinds to +keep it in a condition suitable for the mother of a King. He +shuddered, or pretended to shudder, at the mention of the name of +the Padshah Begum, as the most atrocious of murderesses. The +minister of the day always made it a point to bring the reigning +favourite of the seraglio over to his views, by giving her a due +share of the profits and patronage of his office; and it was for +this reason, that the high-born chief consort, whose influence over +the King could not be so purchased, was soon made to retire from +the palace, and, ever after, to live separated from her +husband.</p> +<p>The Padshah Begum had only one child, a daughter, who was united +in marriage to Mehndee Allee Khan, by whom she had three children, +Mohsen-od Dowlah, who was married to the daughter of Nuseer-od +Dowlah, the new King; and two daughters who were married to Mirza +Abool Kasim, and Mirza Aboo Torab. They lost their mother while yet +children, and the Padshah Begum brought them up and became much +attached to them. They had all from childhood been brought up with +Nuseer-od Deen, and were all much attached to him and to each +other. The ministers, fearing that this attachment might possibly +lead to a reconciliation between the King and his adoptive mother, +and to their ruin, left him and her no peace till, to save them, +she forbade them her house, and sent the girls to their husbands, +and the boy to his father-in-law, Nuseer-od Dowlah, whose +succession to the throne of Oude has been here described. All +objects of mutual interest and affection were in this manner +carefully excluded from attendance on either, till they showed +themselves to be entirely subservient to the minister of the +day.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The mother always declared, and her two daughters and son all +declare, Moonna Jan to have been the son of Nuseer-od Deen, and +exactly like him in person, voice, and temper. But he was indulged +by the Padshah Begum in each habits of atrocious cruelties to other +children, that he soon became detested by all around him but +herself and the boy's natural mother, Afzul-mahal.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Thus alienated from her son, all her affections were transferred +to her grandson, Moonna Jan, and there is too much reason to +believe, that in both cases she purposely did her best to prevent +their ever becoming men of business, in order that she might have +the guidance of public affairs in her own hands when they should be +called to the throne.</p> +<p>The Resident accommodated the Begum, the boy, and her two female +attendants in apartments at the Residency, and had a guard placed +over them. The new King told him, "that the Begum was the most +wicked and unscrupulous woman he had ever known, and that he could +expect no peace at Lucknow while she remained." He promised to +consult his Government as to her disposal, and on returning to the +Residency he increased that guard to two companies of Native +Infantry, and all remained quiet when he made his report to +Government on the 9th. But towards the close of that day, the city +became again agitated. Reports prevailed, that Government was to be +consulted as to whether they preferred the rights of Moonna Jan to +the throne or those of Nuseer-od Dowlah; that the Begum's adherents +were ready at her call to fall upon the Resident and his party, and +put them all to death, or to attack the apartments in which she was +confined, rescue her and the boy from prison, and place him again +on the throne. The Court favourites of the late King, and all the +public military and civil establishments in the city, dreaded the +rigid economy and strict supervision of the new King, who had +conducted the duties of the ministry for some time, under his able +and vigilant father, Saadut Allee Khan; and all that numerous class +who benefit by the lavish expenditure of a thoughtless and +profligate Court were equally anxious to have the Government in the +hands of an extravagant woman and thoughtless boy, and ready to +join and incur some risk in supporting their cause.</p> +<p>Under all these circumstances the Resident determined to send +the Begum and her boy out of Oude as soon as possible. At midnight +on the 11th, a detachment of three companies of Infantry, under +Major Lane of the 2nd Regiment, marched from Cawnpore and arrived +at Newulgunge, midway to Lucknow, a distance of twenty-two miles, +in the morning of the 12th, with one troop of cavalry. Another +troop proceeded to Onow, the first stage from Cawnpore, and a third +to Rahmutgunge, the second stage, to relieve the first on their +return. At each of these stages, relays of sixty palankeen-bearers +and six torch-bearers were placed by the Post-Master at Cawnpore. +As the bridge over the Ganges at Cawnpore had been washed away by +the flood, a company of Native Infantry was placed on the Oude side +of that river, to hold boats in readiness, and assist in escorting +over the party when they came. About the same time, at midnight, +the Begum, her boy, and two of her female attendants were placed in +palankeens and sent off from the Residency under the escort of a +regiment of Infantry, and a detail of artillery, attended by the +Second Assistant, Captain Shakespear.</p> +<p>They marched without resting through one of the hottest days of +the year, and the party reached Cawnpore in safety about half-past +nine o'clock in the evening of the 12th, and were securely lodged +in apartments prepared for them at the custom-house. So well had +things been arranged between the Resident and Brigadier commanding +the troops in Oude, and the Major-General commanding the Division +at Cawnpore, that very few persons at Lucknow knew that the Begum +and her party had left the Residency when she passed the Ganges at +Cawnpore. The three companies under Major Lane, who had marched +twenty-two miles in the morning, kept pace with the palankeens all +the way back, making a march of forty-four miles, between midnight +of the 11th, and half-past nine in the evening of the 12th, in so +hot a day.</p> +<p>The Begum and Moonna Jan were sent off with their attendants to +the fort of Chunar, where they were lodged as state prisoners. As +it became safe, the restrictions to which they were at first +subjected became by degrees relaxed, and they were permitted to +enjoy all the freedom and comforts compatible with their safe +keeping. Both died at Chunar, Moonna Jan some time before the +Begum. He left three sons by two slave-girls at Chunar, and they +still reside there, supported by a small stipend of three hundred +rupees a-month from the Oude Government, under the protection of +the commandant of the garrison, and the guardianship of Afzul +mahal, the mother of the late Moonna Jan.</p> +<p>All these circumstances, as they occurred, were reported by the +Resident to the Government of India, who took time to deliberate, +and did not reply till the 19th of July 1837, when they signified +their approval of all that the Resident had done, with the +exception of the written declaration to which he had obtained the +consent and signature of the new King. They did not think that it +would be considered dignified or becoming the paramount power, to +exact such a declaration, binding himself to absolute submission, +from the sovereign of a country so much under their control, on +ascending a throne to which he was called as of right; and were of +opinion that his character as a prudent man of business, well +trained to public affairs, during the time he acted as minister +under his father, rendered such a declaration unnecessary. It was +therefore annulled; and the Governor-General, Lord Auckland, +addressed a letter to his Majesty expressing, in kind terms, his +congratulations on his accession to the throne, and his hopes of a +better administration of the Government of Oude under his +auspicious guidance. This letter, despatched by express, the +Resident received on the 25th of July.</p> +<p>The Resident concluded, on good grounds, that the Government +deemed a new and more stringent treaty indispensable for the better +government of the country, and that advantage should be taken of +the occasion to prepare the new King for it. Government desired, +that the negotiations for a new treaty should be based "upon reason +and right, and not upon demand and submission." Had the declaration +been allowed to stand good, there would have been <i>right</i> as +well as <i>reason</i> in the treaty of 1837, which was soon after +concluded.</p> +<p>The Resident intimated the receipt of these letters to the King, +and on the 28th, he waited on his Majesty, to present the +Governor-General's letter. He found him sitting up in his bed in a +small apartment in the baraduree, in his dishabille, having spent a +restless night from rheumatic pains; but he was cheerful and in +good spirits, and requested the Resident to present his respectful +compliments to the Governor-General, and grateful thanks for his +consideration and congratulations. All his relations, the chief +officers of the Government, and other persons of distinction about +the Court, were assembled to hear the letters read, and make their +offerings on this recognition of his authority by the paramount +power. "The King assured the Resident, that the arrival of this +recognition, and its public announcement, would greatly strengthen +his hands in the exercise of public duties, for during the last few +days bad reports had been industriously circulated by evil-disposed +persons to the effect, that the delay in the recognition of his +succession to the throne by the paramount power in India, had +arisen from discussions between the members of the Government in +Calcutta, as to the amount of money to be taken on the occasion +from the new King, as the price of his sudden elevation; and that +no letter was to be presented by the Resident until the money was +paid, or security given for its punctual payment; that the +Governor-General himself wanted <i>two crores</i> of rupees, but +some members of the Government would be satisfied with <i>a crore +and half</i> each, and others even with <i>one crore</i> each, +provided that these sums were paid forthwith." In relating this +story, which the Resident had heard from many others within the +last few days, the King observed, "that he was too well acquainted +with the character for honour and justice of the Honourable +Company's Government, to give the slightest credit to such scandal, +the more especially since no demand of the kind had been made on +the accession of either of the last two Kings, who were known to be +rich, while he was equally well known to be poor; but that nothing +but the arrival of this despatch confirming him on the throne, +could convince many, even well-disposed persons, of the utter +groundlessness of such wicked rumours; that many poor but +respectable persons, who had been weak enough to believe such +rumours, would feel much relieved when they heard the salutes which +were now being fired, for they had apprehended, that they might be +severe sufferers by being compelled to contribute their own +property, in order to enable him to make up the <i>peshkush</i>, or +tribute, required by the British Government, since the late King +had squandered the ten crores, which he found in the treasury on +the death of his father."</p> +<p>It is certain, that a great portion of the population of Lucknow +expected that some such demand would be made by the British +Government from the new sovereign, since his right to the throne +could be disputed, not only by Moonna Jan, the supposed son of the +late King, but by the undoubted sons of Shums-od Dowlah, the elder +brother of the present King, whose rights were barred only by that +peculiar feature of the Mahommedan law elsewhere adverted to in +this Diary. Every day of delay, in promulgating the final orders of +the Supreme Government, tended to add to this number; and by the +time that these final orders came, by far the greater portion of +the city were of the same opinion. The fears of the people tended +to add to their numbers, and give strength to the opinion, for all +knew, that there was but little left in the reserved treasury, that +the expenses greatly exceeded the annual revenue, and that the +troops and establishments were all greatly in arrear; and all +believed that a general contribution would have to be levied to +meet the demand when it came.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Nuseer-od Dowlah reigned under the title of Mahommed Allee +Shah, from the 8th of July, 1837, to the 16th of May, 1842. +Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, his predecessor, had reigned from the 20th of +October, 1827, to the 7th of July, 1837. He, Nuseer-od Deen, found +in the treasury, when he ascended the throne, ten crores of rupees, +or ten millions sterling. He left in the treasury, when he died, +only seventy lacs of rupees, including the fifty-three lacs left by +the Koduseea Begum. Mahommed Allee Shah left in the treasury +thirty-five lacs of rupees, one hundred and twenty-four thousand +gold mohurs, and twenty-four lacs in our Government securities. +Amjud Allee Shah reigned from the 16th of May, 1842, to the 13th of +February, 1847; and left in the treasury ninety-two lacs of rupees, +one hundred and twenty-four thousand gold mohurs, and the +twenty-four lacs in our Government securities. His son, Wajid Allee +Shah, has reigned from the 13th of February, 1847.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The assertion, on the part of the late King, that he had ceased +to cohabit with Afzul mahal, the mother of Moonna Jan, for two +years, or even for six months before his birth, is now known to +have been utterly false, and known at the time to be so by his +mother, the Padshah Begum; with whom they both lived. Afzul-mahal, +though of humble birth and pretensions, maintained a fair +reputation among those who knew her best in a profligate palace, +and has continued to maintain the same up to the present day in +adversity. In prison and up to the hour of her death, which took +place some time after that of Moonna Jan himself, the old Begum +declared that she had seen the boy born, and had never lost sight +of him; and that the story of his not being the son of Nuseer-od +Deen, was got up to prevent her ever becoming reconciled to the +King through the means of his son; and her extraordinary affection +for him never diminished while he lived. When she retired from the +palace of Nuseer-od Deen to her new residence of Almas Bagh, she +kept fast hold of the boy, and would never let him out of her sight +till they entered the prison at Chunar, when they were obliged to +occupy separate apartments. Up to his death she watched over him +with the tenderest care; and always declared to the European +officers placed over her, that the boy's father and mother always +resided with her up to the time of his birth. The boy was +remarkably like Nuseer-od Deen in form and features, as well as in +temper and disposition.</p> +<p>Afzul-mahal was a person of great good sense and prudence, and +in all things trusted by the old Begum, who before her death +executed a formal will, leaving to her the charge of Moonna Jan's +three children, and all the establishments; and since the death of +the old lady she has executed the trust conscientiously, and with +great economy; and with much difficulty managed to maintain all in +respectability upon the small stipend of three hundred rupees +a-month, allowed for their support by the King of Oude. In this, +she has been very much impeded and annoyed by the two slave-girls, +the mothers of Moonna Jan's children, who have been always striving +to get this stipend into their own hands, that they may share it +with their paramours. At the death of the old lady most of her +female companions and attendants refused to return to Lucknow, and +remained at Chunar with Afzul-mahal and the children; and all have +to be subsisted out of this small stipend. The slave-girls urge, +that they might have had separate pensions, had they obeyed the +orders to return to Lucknow on the death of the Begum, and that +they ought not now to share in the stipend of the children. Five or +six of the females were ladies of rank, and one of them, who died +lately, was a widow of Saadut Allee Khan.</p> +<p>This pension may be discontinued when the boys become of age, or +appropriated by them and their mothers for their own exclusive use, +and the Government of Oude should be required to assign pensions +for life to Afzul mahal, and the other females who are now +supported from it.</p> +<p>The salary of the prime minister, during the five years that +Roshun-od Dowlah held the office, was twenty-five thousand rupees +a-month, or three lacs a-year, and over and above this, he had five +per cent. upon the actual revenue, which made above six lacs +a-year. His son, as Commander-in-Chief, drew five thousand rupees +a-month, though he did no duty—his first wife drew five +thousand rupees a-month, and his second wife drew three thousand +rupees a-month, total eighty-eight thousand rupees a-month, or ten +lacs and fifty-six thousand rupees a-year. These were the avowed +allowances which the family received from the public treasury. The +perquisites of office gave them some five lacs of rupees a-year +more, making full fifteen lacs a-year.</p> +<p>Roshun-od Dowlah held office for only three months, under the +new sovereign, Mahommed Allee Shah. He was then superseded by +Hakeem Mahndee, thrown into prison, and made to pay twenty lacs to +the treasury, and two lacs in gratuities to Court favourites. After +paying these sums, he was permitted to go and reside at Cawnpore; +but his houses in the city, valued at three lacs, were afterwards +confiscated by the present King, on the ground of unpaid balances. +He took into keeping Dulwee, the younger of the two sisters; but +she was afterwards seduced away from him by one of his creatures, a +consummate knave, Wasee Allee, whose wife she now is. Dhunneea, the +eldest sister, is still residing at Lucknow. Roshun-od Dowlah's +first wife took off with her more than three lacs of rupees in our +Government securities, and his son, the Commander-in-Chief, took +off eight lacs of rupees in the same securities. Roshun-od Dowlah +carried off a large sum himself. She and his son afterwards left +him, and now reside in comfort upon the interest of these +securities at Futtehgur, while he lives at Cawnpore in poor +circumstances.</p> +<p>Sobhan Allee, his deputy, was made to pay to the treasury seven +lacs of rupees, and in gratuities to court favourites five lacs +more. Roshun-od Dowlah was one of the principal members of the old +aristocracy of Lucknow, and connected remotely with the royal +family; and he got off more easily in consequence, compared with +his means, than his deputy, who had no such advantages, and was +known to have been the minister's guide in all things, though he +would never consent to hold any ostensible and responsible +office.</p> +<p>Duljeet, a creature of Roshun-od Dowlah's, and prime favourite +of the late King, carried off, while the King lay dead, money and +jewels to the value of one lac of rupees, and concealed them in a +vault at Constantia. His associates, not satisfied with what he +gave them, betrayed him. The money and jewels were discovered and +brought back, and he was made to pay another lac of rupees to the +treasury as a fine. Dhunneea, the eldest of the two sisters, was +made to disgorge two lacs of rupees. Many other favourites of the +late King were fined in the same way.</p> +<p>The King had, in the case of Ghalib Jung, already described in +this Diary, declared his resolution of looking more closely into +his accounts in future, and punishing all transgressors in the same +way; and Roshun-od Dowlah often expressed to the Resident his +apprehensions that his turn to suffer must soon come. Sobhan Allee +Khan had much stronger grounds to fear, since he had made himself +utterly detested by the people generally, and had neither friends +nor connexions in the royal family or aristocracy of Lucknow. Under +the strong and general impression that the British Government was +determined to interpose, and take upon itself the administration of +the country, and that the King himself wished the independent +sovereignty of Oude to terminate with his reign, they most +earnestly desired his early death as their only chance of escape. +The British Government would not, they knew, make them refund any +of their ill-gotten wealth without full judicial proof of their +peculations, and this proof they knew could never be obtained. +Indeed they were satisfied that our Government, aware of the +difficulty of finding such proof, and occupied in forming and +working a new system, would not trouble themselves to seek for it; +and that they should all be left to reside where they chose, and +enjoy freely the fruits of their malversation.</p> +<p>The Resident had kept the instructions of the 15th of December, +1832, from the supreme Government, a profound secret, lest they +might lead to intrigue and disturbance, and, above all, to the +poisoning of many innocent persons who might be considered to have +a claim of right to the throne; and all were surprised and +confounded when it was announced that the paramount power had +already decided in favour of Nuseer-od Dowlah, whose claims had +never been thought of by the people, or apprehended by the +ministers. The instant they heard this decision, they dreaded the +scrutiny of the sagacious and parsimonious old man, and the enmity +of the favourites by whom he had been surrounded in private life. +These men, whom they had, in their pride and power, despised and +insulted, would now have their revenge; and they wished for the +success of the old woman and the boy, from whom they might have a +better chance of escape, till they could get their wealth and their +families out of the country.</p> +<p>I may here mention a similar repudiation of a supposed eldest +son by the late King. Mostafa Allee was brought up in the palace as +his eldest son, and on all occasions treated as such. Mahommed +Allee Shah, the late King's father, was always very fond of him, +but shortly before his death he became angry with him for some +outrages committed in the palace, and put him under restraint. The +young man requested the late King, his supposed father, to mediate +with his grandfather for his release. He refused to do so, and the +young man drew his sword, and threatened to kill him. He was kept +under more strict restraint till the grandfather died, and his +father ascended the throne, on the 16th of May, 1842. The King then +requested the Resident to assure the Governor-General that Mostafa +Allee was not his son—that he was a year and a-half old when his +mother entered the palace. The Resident reported accordingly on the +26th of that month. The Governor-General required the statement to +be made under the King's own sign and seal, and it was transmitted +on the 6th of June, 1842. The present King was then declared +heir-apparent to the throne, and Mostafa Allee has ever since been +in strict confinement under him. The general impression, however, +is that he was the eldest son of the late King, and repudiated +solely on account of his violent temper and turbulent conduct. That +he was treated as such during the life of Mahommed Allee Shah, and +that the late King dared not repudiate him while his father lived, +is certain.</p> +<p>By the treaty of 1801 we bound ourselves to defend the +territories of the sovereign of Oude from all foreign and domestic +enemies; and to defray the cost of maintaining the troops required +for this purpose, and paying some pensions at Furruckabad and +Benares, the sovereign of Oude ceded to our Government the +under-mentioned districts, then yielding the revenues specified +opposite their respective names.*</p> +<blockquote> +<pre> +* Districts ceded by Oude to the British Government + by the treaty of 1801. +Etawa, Korah, Kurra - - - - - 55,48,577 11 9 +Rehur and others - - - - - 5,33,374 0 6 +Furruckabad - - - - - - 4,50,001 0 6 +Khyreegurh, and Kunchunpore - - - 2,10,001 0 0 +Azimgurh, Mounal, and Benjun - - - 6,95,624 7 6 +Goruckpore - - - 5,09,853 8 0 +Botwul - - - - 40,001 0 0 5,49,854 8 0 +Allahabad and others- - - - - 9,34,963 1 3 +Bareilly, Moradabad, Bijnore, Budown, + Pilibheet, and Shahjehanpore - - 43,13,457 11 3 +Nawabgunge, Rehlee, &c. - - - - 1,19,242 12 0 +Mohowl and others, with exception of + Jaulluk Arwu - - - - - 1,68,378 4 0 + __________________ + Total - - 1,35,23,474 8 3 + Deduct +Nawabgunge - - - 1,19,242 12 0 +Khyreegurh - - - 2,10,001 0 0 3,29,243 12 0 + __________________ + Total - - 1,31,94,230 12 3 + Add +Handeea or Kewae - - - - - 1,52,905 0 0 + __________________ + Total - - 1,33,47,135 12 3 + +Present Revenues of the Territories we hold from Oude under the +treaty of 1801, according to the Revised Statistical Return of the +Districts of the North-West Provinces for 1846-47, prepared in +1848, A.D. +_____________________________________________________________________ + |Land Revenue | Abkaree |Stamp for | Total for + ______ | 1846-47. | for | 1846-47. | 1846-47. + | | 1846-47. | | +__________________ _|_____________|__________|__________|____________ +Rohilcund .. .. .. | 64,44,341 | 2,47,854 | 2,04,576 | 68,96,771 +Allahabad, including| | | | + Handeea alias Kewae| 21,29,551 | 1,41,409 | 61,802 | 23,32,762 + | | | | +Furruckabad .. .. | 13,57,544 | 88,061 | 49,698 | 14,95,303 +Mynpooree .. .. .. | 12,33,901 | 24,822 | 20,484 | 12,79,207 +Etawa .. .. .. .. | 12,80,596 | 19,647 | 10,355 | 13,10,598 +Goruckpore.. .. .. | 20,80,296 | 2,10,045 | 96,549 | 23,86,890 +Azimgurh, including | | | | + Mahoul .. .. .. | 14,89,887 | 81,257 | 53,925 | 16,25,069 +Cawnpore .. .. .. | 21,51,155 | 1,26,155 | 57,406 | 23,34,700 +Futtehpore.. .. .. | 14,25,431 | 60,370 | 21,063 | 15,06,864 + |_____________|__________|__________|____________ + Total .. .. |1,95,92,686 | 9,99,620 | 5,75,858 | 2,11,68,164 +____________________|_____________|__________|__________|____________ +</pre> +<p>** The lands are the same with the exception of Khyreegurh, +Nawabgunge ceded since, and Handeea received; but the names are +altered.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Khyreegurh and Kunchunpore were re-ceded to the Oude sovereign +in the treaty of the 11th of May, 1816, with the Turae lands, taken +from Nepaul, between Khyreegurh and Goruckpore, in liquidation of +the loan of one crore of rupees. In the same treaty, Handeea +(<i>alias</i> Kewae) was ceded by Oude to the British Government, +in lieu of Nawabgunge, which was made over to the Oude sovereign by +the British Government. Handeea, or Kewae, now in the Allahabad +district, yielded land revenue, for 1846-47, rupees one lac, +fifty-two thousand, and nine hundred and five.</p> +<p>The British Government retained the power to station the British +troops in such parts of the Oude territories as might appear to it +most expedient; and the Oude sovereign bound himself to dismiss all +his troops, save four battalions of infantry, one battalion of +Nujeebs and Mewaties, two thousand horsemen, and three hundred +golundages, or artillerymen, with such numbers of armed peons as +might be deemed necessary for the purpose of collecting the +revenue, and a few horsemen and nujeebs to attend the persons of +the amils. It is declared that the territories ceded, being in lieu +of all former subsidies and of all expenses on account of the +Honourable Company's defensive establishments with his Excellency +the sovereign of Oude, no demand whatever shall be made upon his +territory on account of expenses which the Honourable Company may +incur by assembling forces to repel the attack, or menaced attack, +of a foreign enemy; on account of the detachment attached to his +person; on account of troops which may be occasionally furnished +for suppressing rebellions or disorders in his territories; on +account of any future charge of military stations; or on account of +failures in the resources of the ceded districts, arising from +unfavourable seasons, the calamities of war, or any other cause +whatever.</p> +<p>The Honourable Company guarantees to him and to his heirs and +successors, the possession of the territories which remain to him +after the above cessions, together with the exercise of his and +their authority within the said dominions; and the sovereign of +Oude engages to establish, in his reserved dominions, such a system +of administration, to be carried into effect by his own officers, +as shall be conducive to the prosperity of his subjects, and +calculated to secure the lives and property of the inhabitants; and +to advise with, and act in conformity to the counsel of, the +officers of the British Government.</p> +<p>In the time of Asuf-od Dowlah, who died on the 21st September, +1797, the military force of Oude amounted to eighty thousand men of +all arms, and in the direct pay of Government. Saadut Allee Khan, +his brother and successor, on the conclusion of the above treaty, +and the transfer of half his territory, reduced the number to +thirty thousand.</p> +<p>Relying entirely upon the efficiency of British troops to defend +him against external and internal enemies, and to suppress +rebellion and disorder, he laboured assiduously to reduce his +expenditure within the income arising from the reserved half of his +dominions. He resumed almost all the rent-free lands which had been +granted with a lavish hand by his predecessor, and paid off and +discharged all superfluous civil and military establishments, and, +by his prudence and economy, he so reduced his expenditure within +the income, that on his death on the 12th of July, 1814, he left +fourteen millions sterling, or fourteen crores of rupees, in a +treasury which he found empty when he entered upon the government +in 1797. In this sum were included the confiscations of the estates +of some favourites of his predecessors, Asuf-od Dowlah and Wuzeer +Allee, who had grown rich upon bribery and frauds of all kinds. He +never confiscated the estates of any good and faithful servants, +who left lawful heirs to their property.</p> +<p>He had been freely aided by British troops, according to the +stipulations of the treaty of 1801; but the British Government had +been made sensible, on several occasions, of the difficulty of +fulfilling its engagements with the sovereign with a due regard to +the rights and interests of his subjects. Saadnt Allee Khan was a +man of great general ability, had mixed much in the society of +British officers in different parts of India, had been well trained +to habits of business, understood thoroughly the character, +institutions, and requirements of his people, and, above all, was a +sound judge of the relative merits and capacities of the men from +whom he had to select his officers, and a vigilant supervisor of +their actions. This discernment and discrimination of character, +and vigilant supervision, served him through life; and the men who +served him ably and honestly always felt confident in his +protection and support. He had a thorough knowledge of the rights +and duties of his officers and subjects, and a strong will to +secure the one and enforce the other. To do so he knew that he +must, with a strong hand, keep down the large landed aristocracy, +who were then, as they are now, very prone to grasp at the +possessions of their weaker neighbours, either by force or in +collusion with local authorities. In attempting this with the aid +of British troops, some acts of oppression were, no doubt, +committed; and, as the sympathies of British officers were more +with the landed aristocracy, while his were more with the humbler +classes of landholders and cultivators who required to be protected +from them, frequent misunderstandings arose, acts of just severity +were made to appear to be acts of wanton oppression, and such as +were really oppressive were exaggerated into unheard-of +atrocities.</p> +<p>Our relations with the state of Oude, from the treaty of 1801 to +the death of Saadut Allee, were conducted by able men; but they had +a very difficult task to perform in conducting them to the +satisfaction of both parties to that treaty; and when the +Government devolved upon less able and well-disposed sovereigns, +ministers, and public officers, our Government and its +representative became less and less willing to comply with their +requisitions for the aid of British troops in the collection of the +revenue, and the suppression of rebellion and disorder. Our +Government demanded, that the British Resident should be fully +informed of the cause which led to the resistance complained of to +legitimate authority; and be fully satisfied of the justice and +necessity of such aid before he afforded it; and the sovereigns of +Oude admitted the justice of this demand on the part of the +paramount power. But the Resident could never hear fully and fairly +both sides of the question, and the officers commanding the troops +were seldom disposed to do so; and neither was competent to pass a +sound judgment upon the justice and necessity of complying with the +requisitions made for the aid of the British troops.</p> +<p>But when, under an imbecile and debauched sovereign, like +Ghazee-od Deen, and an unscrupulous minister, creatures and +favourites began to share so largely in the revenues of the +country, this sort of scrutiny on the part of the Resident and +officers commanding troops, employed in aid of the King's officers, +became exceedingly distasteful; and the minister gradually +increased the military force of Oude at his disposal, that he might +do without it. During the last few years of Ghazee-od Deen's reign, +the Oude forces of all arms amounted to about sixty thousand men. +During the first few years of his successor's, Nuseer-od Deen's, +reign, these forces were augmented by the ministers for the sake of +the profit and patronage they gave them; and in the year 1837, the +forces of all arms, paid from the treasury, amounted to more than +sixty thousand men. A memorandum given to the British Resident by +the minister on the 8th of April 1837, showed the men of all +descriptions, belonging to the Oude army, to amount to sixty-seven +thousand nine hundred and fifty-six. The artillery, cavalry, and +infantry, composing what they call the regular army, amounted to +twenty thousand, all badly paid, clothed, armed, accoutred, and +disciplined; and for the most part placed under idle, incompetent, +and corrupt commanders. The rest were nujeebs employed in the +provinces under local officers of the revenue and police, and +obliged to provide their own clothes, arms, accoutrements, and +ammunition. They were altogether without discipline.</p> +<p>Government, on the 26th November, 1824, informs the Resident, +"that our troops are to be actively and energetically employed in +the Oude territory in cases of real internal commotion and +disorder." And again on the 22nd of July, 1825; Government condemns +the Resident for his disregard of the orders of the 26th of +November, 1824, regarding the employment of British troops in Oude, +and states, "that it is sincerely disposed to maintain the rights +of the King of Oude to the fullest extent, as guaranteed to him by +the treaty with his father, on the 20th of November, 1801; but +observes, that upon the maturest consideration of articles 3rd, +5th, and 6th of that treaty, and of Lord Wellesley's memorandum in +1802, of the final results of discussions between him and Saadut +Allee, whilst Government admits that, according to article the 3rd +of the treaty, we were bound to defend his Majesty's present +territories 'against all foreign and domestic enemies,' and that, +in pursuance of the 4th article, the Company's troops are to be +employed, without expense to his Majesty, not only 'to repel the +attack, or menaced attack, of a foreign enemy,' but also for +suppressing rebellion and disorder in his Majesty's territories; +and that, in a strict adherence to the 6th article, the King of +Oude is entitled to exercise complete sovereign authority within +his own dominions, by a system of administration conducive to the +prosperity of his subjects, to be carried into effect by his own +officers, with the advice and counsel of the officers of the +British Government (in conformity to which his Majesty is expressly +engaged to act); yet the Governor-General in council considered it +to be indispensable and inherent in the nature of our obligations, +under the treaty referred to, that whenever the King of Oude +requires the aid of British troops, to quell any disturbance, or to +enforce any demand for revenue or otherwise, the British Government +is clearly entitled, as well as morally obliged, to satisfy itself +by whatever means it may deem necessary, that the aid of its troops +is required in support of right and justice, and not to effectuate +injustice and extortion.</p> +<p>"This principle, which has often been declared and acted upon +daring successive Governments, must still be firmly asserted, and +resolutely adhered to; and the Resident must consider it to be a +positive and indispensable obligation of his public duty, to refuse +the aid of British troops until he shall have satisfied himself, on +good and sufficient grounds (to be reported in each case as soon as +practicable, and when the exigency of the case may admit of it, +before the troops are actually employed), that they are not to be +employed but in support of just and legitimate demands."</p> +<p>On the 13th of July, 1827, Government, in reply to the +Resident's letter of the 30th May idem, expresses "its surprise +that, under the circumstances therein stated, he should have +suffered so long a period to elapse without adopting the most +active and decided measures against a subject of Oude, whose +conduct is that of a public robber and rebel against the authority +of his Government; and whom the King has plainly stated that he is +unable to reduce to subjection without the aid of British +troops."</p> +<p>On the 20th of January, 1831, the Governor-General, Lord William +Bentinck, held a conference with the King of Oude, and told his +Majesty, in presence of his minister, that the state of things in +Oude, and maladministration in all departments, were such as to +warrant and require the authoritative interference of the British +Government for their correction; that he declined to make himself a +party to the nomination of the minister, or to have it understood +that the measure was a joint resolution of the two governments, so +that both should be responsible for its success in effecting +reformation; that the act was his Majesty's own, and the +responsibility must be his; that his Lordship hoped that a better +system would be established by his minister's agency, but if he +failed, and the same abuses and misrule continued, the King must be +prepared to abide the consequences; that the Governor-General +intended to make a strong representation to the authorities in +England on the state of misrule prevailing, and to solicit their +sanction to the adoption of specific measures, even to the length +of assuming the direct administration of the country, if the evils +were not corrected in the interim.</p> +<p>In the letter from Government dated the 25th of August, 1831, +referring to this advice, the Resident is told that by treaty we +are bound to give the aid of troops to quell internal resistance, +as well as to keep off external enemies, but by the same treaty the +Oude Government is bound to establish a good system of +administration, and to conform to our advice in this respect; that, +finding it impossible to procure the establishment of such an +improved system, and seeing that our troops were liable to be made +the instruments of violence, and vindictive and party proceedings, +it was determined to withhold the aid of troops except after +investigation into the cause which might lead to the application +for them; that, by recent orders from the Court of Directors, the +Government would be authorised in withholding them altogether, in +the hope that the necessities of the Oude Government might compel a +reform such as we might deem satisfactory; that matters had not, +however, been brought to such an issue, for the Oude Government +having been deprived of the services of British troops to execute +its purposes, has entertained a body stated at sixty thousand men, +cavalry, infantry, and artillery, whereof forty-five thousand are +stationed in the interior for the special purpose of reducing +refractory zumeendars without British aid. Government urges the +necessity of reducing this number, and states that if British +troops be employed to enforce submission, it seems impossible to +avoid becoming parties to the terms of submission, and guarantees +of their observance afterwards on both sides, in which case we +should become mixed up in every detail of the administration; it is +therefore required that each case shall be investigated and +submitted for the specific orders of the Governor-General.</p> +<p>On the 15th of August, 1832, the Governor-General addressed a +letter to his Majesty, the King of Oude, in the last sentence of +which he says, "I do not use this strong language of remonstrance +without manifest necessity. On former occasions the language of +expostulation has been frequently used towards you with reference +to the abuses of your Government, and as yet nothing serious has +befallen you. I beseech you, however, not to suffer yourself to be +deceived into a false security. I might adduce sufficient proof +that such security would be fallacious, but I am unwilling to wound +your Majesty's feelings, while the sincere friendship which I +entertain for you prevents my withholding from you that advice +which I deem essential to the preservation of your own dignity, and +the prosperity of your kingdom."</p> +<p>The Resident is told that the allusion in the concluding +sentence of his Lordship's letter refers to Mysore; that the King +had probably heard of our actual assumption of the government of +that country, and the Resident must avail himself of this topic to +impress upon-his mind the consequences which a similar state of +things may entail upon himself.</p> +<p>On the 11th of September, 1837, a subsidiary-treaty was +concluded with the new sovereign, Mahommed Allee Shah, on the +ground that though a larger force was kept up by the King of Oude +than was authorised by the treaty of 1801, still it was found +inadequate to the duties that devolved upon it, and it was +therefore expedient to relax the restrictions as to the amount of +military force to be maintained by the King of Oude, on condition +that an adequate portion of the increased forces should be placed +under British discipline and control. It was stipulated accordingly +that the King might employ such a military establishment as he +might deem necessary for the government of his dominion: that it +should consist of not less than two regiments of cavalry, five of +infantry, and two companies of artillery; that the Government of +Oude should fix the sum of sixteen lacs of rupees a-year for the +expenses of the force, including their pay, arms, equipments, +public buildings, &c.; that the expenditure on account of this +force of all descriptions should never exceed sixteen lacs; that +the organization of this force should not commence till eighteen +months after the 1st of September, 1837; that the King should take +into his service an efficient number of British officers for the +due discipline and efficiency of this force; that this force should +be fixed at such stations in Oude as might seem to both +Governments, from time to time, to be best, and employed on all +occasions on which its services might be deemed necessary by the +King of Oude, with the concurrence of the Resident, but not in the +ordinary collections of the revenue; that the King should exert +himself, in concert with the Resident, to remedy the existing +defects in his administration; and should he neglect to attend to +the advice and counsel of the British Government, or its +representative, and should gross and systematic oppression, +anarchy, and misrule, at any time hereafter prevail within the Oude +territories, such as seriously to endanger the public tranquillity, +the British Government would have the right to appoint its own +officers to the management of all portions of the Oude territory in +which such misrule might have occurred for so long a period as it +might deem necessary, the surplus receipts in such case, after +defraying all charges, to be paid into the King's treasury, and a +true and faithful account rendered to his Majesty of the receipts +and expenditure of the territories so assumed; that should the +Governor-General of India in Council be compelled to resort to the +exercise of this authority, he would endeavour, as far as possible, +to maintain (with such improvements as they might admit of) the +native institutions and forms of administration within the assumed +territories, so as to facilitate the restoration of those +territories to the sovereign of Oude when the proper period of such +restoration should arrive.</p> +<p>This treaty was ratified by the Governor-General in Council on +the 18th of September, 1837, but the Honourable the Court of +Directors, with that anxious regard for strict justice which, after +long and varied experience, I have always found to characterise +their views and orders, disapproved of that part of the above +treaty which imposed on the Oude state the expense of the auxiliary +force; and on the 8th of July, 1839, the King was informed, amidst +great rejoicings, that he was relieved from this burthen of sixteen +lacs of rupees a-year, which the British Government took upon +itself. Only part of this auxiliary force had been raised when +these orders came, and only two regiments of infantry out of that +part were retained, one stationed at Soltanpore, and the other at +Seetapore.</p> +<p>Up to 1835, the British forces in Oude amounted to two companies +of artillery, with fourteen guns, and six regiments of infantry. +Early in that year (1835), four guns, with a proportion of +artillerymen, and one regiment of Native Infantry, were withdrawn, +leaving the British force in Oude one company and a-half of +artillery, with ten guns, and five regiments of Native Infantry. In +1837, when two infantry regiments of the auxiliary force had been +raised, four guns more, with a detail of artillery, and two +regiments more of Native Infantry were withdrawn from the two +stations of Soltanpore and Seetapore, leaving the force paid by the +British Government one company of artillery, with six guns, +stationed at Lucknow, three regiments of Native Infantry at +Lucknow, one regiment of the Oude auxiliary force stationed at +Soltanpore, and the other at Seetapore. There had been artillery +and guns at Pertabgur, Soltanpore, Secrora and Seetapore, and a +regiment of regular cavalry at Pertabgur. In 1815 this regiment of +cavalry was withdrawn for the Nepaul war, and subsequently it was +retained for the Mahratta war. It was sent back to Pertabgur in +1820, but finally withdrawn in 1821. The British Government now +maintains no cavalry in any part of the King of Oude's dominions, +and no artillery or guns at any place but Lucknow.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* There is a small detachment of thirty sowars from an +irregular corps attached to the Resident.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In fairness there should be guns at Seetapore and Soltanpore, +and a corps of regular or irregular cavalry at Lucknow, or some +other more convenient station. The stations of Secrora and +Pertabgur were done away with by general orders 28th January, 1835, +when one regiment of Native Infantry was withdrawn altogether from +Oude, and one added to the two theretofore stationed at Lucknow. In +consequence of these arrangements, the British force in Oude is +much less than it was when the treaty of the 11th of September, +1837, was made, and assuredly less than it should be with a due +regard to our engagements and the Oude requirements. Our Government +instead of taking upon itself the additional burthen of sixteen +lacs of rupees a-year to render the Oude Government more efficient, +has relieved itself of a good deal of that which it bore before the +new treaty was entered into, and this is certainly not what the +Court of Directors contemplated, or the Oude Government +expected.</p> +<p>Our exigencies became great with the Affghan war, and have +continued to be so from those wars which grew out of it with +Gwalior, Scinde, and the Punjab; but they have all now passed away, +and those of our humble ally should be no longer forgotten or +disregarded. Though we seldom give him the use of troops in support +of the authority of his local officers, still the prestige of +having them at hand, in support of a just cause, is unquestionably +of great advantage to him and to his people, and this advantage we +cannot withhold from him with a due regard to the obligations of +solemn treaties.</p> +<p>But in considering the rights which the sovereign of Oude has +acquired by solemn treaties to our support, we must not forget +those which the five millions of people subject to his rule have +acquired by the same treaties to the protection of our Government, +and it is a grave question, that must soon be solved, whether we +can any longer support the present sovereign and system of +government in Oude, without subjecting ourselves to the reproach of +shamefully neglecting the duties we owe to these millions.</p> +<p>The present King ascended the throne on the death of his father, +on the 13th of February, 1847. In a letter dated the 24th of July +of that year, the Resident is told "that it will be his Majesty's +duty to establish such an administration, to be carried out by his +own officers, as shall insure the prosperity of the people; that +any neglect of this essential principle will be an infringement of +treaty; and that the Governor-General must, in the performance of +his duty, require the King to fulfil his obligations to his +subjects—that his Majesty must understand that, as a +sovereign, he has duties to perform to, as well as claims to exact +from, the people committed to his care."</p> +<p>In the month of November in that year, the Governor-General. +Lord Hardinge, visited Lucknow; and in a conference held with the +King, he caused a memorandum which he had drawn up for the occasion +to be read and carefully explained to his Majesty. It stated, "that +in all our engagements the utmost care had always been taken, not +only to uphold the authority of native rulers, but also to secure +the just rights of the people subject to their rule; that the same +principle is maintained in the treaty of 1801 with Oude, in the +sixth paragraph of which the engagement is entered into 'for the +establishment of such a system of government as shall be conducive +to the prosperity of the King's subjects, and calculated to secure +to them their lives and properties;' that in the memorandum of +1802, signed by the Governor-General, the King engages to establish +judicial tribunals for the free and pure administration of justice +to all his subjects; and that it is recorded in the sovereign's own +hand in that document, 'let the Company's officers assist in +enforcing obedience to these tribunals;' that it is, therefore, +evident that in all these stipulations the same principle +prevailed—namely, that while we engage to maintain the prince +in the full exercise of his powers, we also provide for the +protection of his people.</p> +<p>"That, in the more recent treaty of 1837, it is stated that the +solemn and paramount obligation provided by treaty for the +prosperity of his Majesty's subjects, and the security of the lives +and property of the inhabitants, has been notoriously neglected by +several successive rulers in Oude, thereby exposing the British +Government to the reproach of having imperfectly fulfilled its +obligations towards the Oude people; that his Lordship alludes to +the treaty of 1837, as confirming the original treaty of 1801, and +not only giving the British Government the right to interfere, but +declaring it to be the intention of the Government to interfere, if +necessary, for the purpose of securing good government in Oude; +that the King can, therefore, have no doubt that the +Governor-General is not only justified, but bound by his duty, to +take care that the stipulations provided by treaty shall be fairly +and substantially carried into effect; that if the Governor-General +permits the continuation of any flagrant system of mismanagement +which by treaty he is empowered to correct, he becomes the +participator in abuses which it is his duty to redress; and in this +case no ruler of Oude can expect the Governor-General to incur a +responsibility so repugnant to the principles of the British +Government, and so odious to the feelings of the British +people.</p> +<p>"That, in the discussion of this important subject, advice and +remonstrance have been frequently tried, and have failed; that the +Governor-General hopes that the King will exercise a sounder +judgment than those who have preceded him, and that he will not be +compelled to exchange friendly advice for imperative and absolute +interference; that when the Governor-General, Lord William +Bentinck, had a conference with the former King, Nuseer-od Deen +Hyder, on this subject, on the 20th of January, 1831, he deemed it +right frankly to inform him that if the warning which he then gave +was disregarded by his Majesty, it was his intention to submit to +the home authorities his advice that the British Government should +assume the direct management of the Oude dominions; that the +Honourable the Court of Directors coincided in his Lordship's views +and, in order that no doubt may remain on the King's mind as to the +sentiments of the home authorities on this point, he, Lord +Hardinge, here inserts an extract from the despatch of that Court, +for his information; that it is as follows:— 'We have, after +the most serious consideration, come to the determination of +granting to you the discretionary power which you have requested, +from us for placing the Oude territories under the direct +management of officers of the British Government; and you are +hereby empowered, if no real and satisfactory improvement shall +have taken place in the administration of that country, and if your +Government shall still adhere to the opinion expressed in the +minute of the Governor-General, to carry the proposed measure into +effect, at such period and in such manner as shall appear to you +most desirable;' that this resolution was communicated to the +Resident and to the King, and advantage was taken of it to press +upon his Majesty the necessity of an immediate reform of his +administration; that the above extract will enable the King to form +a clear judgment of the position in which the sovereigns of Oude +are placed by treaty; that the Governor-General is required, when +gross and systematic abuses prevail, to apply such a remedy as the +exigency of the case may appear to require—that he has no +option in the performance of that duty.</p> +<p>"That by wisely taking timely measures for the reformation of +abuses, as one of the first acts of his reign, his Majesty will, +with honour to his own character, rescue his people from their +present miserable condition; but if he procrastinates he will incur +the risk of forcing the British Government to interfere, by +assuming the government of Oude; that the former course would +redound to his Majesty's credit and dignity, while the latter would +give the British Government concern in the case of a prince whom, +as our ally, we sincerely desire to honour and uphold; that for +these reasons, and on account of the King's inexperience, the +Governor-General is not disposed to act immediately on the power +vested in him by the Honourable Court's despatch above quoted, +still less is he disposed to hold him responsible for the misrule +of his predecessors, nor does he expect that so inveterate a system +of misgovernment can suddenly be eradicated; that the resolution, +and the preliminary measures 'to effect this purpose,' can and +ought at once to be adopted by the King; that if his Majesty +cordially enters into the plan suggested by the Governor-General +for the improvement of his administration, he may have the +satisfaction, within the period specified of two years, of checking +and eradicating the worst abuses, and, at the same time, of +maintaining his own sovereignty and the native institutions of his +kingdom unimpaired; but if he does not, if he takes a vacillating +course, and fail by refusing to act on the Governor-General's +advice, he is aware of the other alternative and of the +consequences. It must, then, be manifest to the whole world that, +whatever may happen, the King has received a friendly and timely +warning."</p> +<p>On the 24th of December in that year, 1847, Government, in reply +to the Resident's letter of the 30th November, states that it does +not consider the King's reply in any respect satisfactory; that the +Resident is to remind his Majesty that under paragraph the 23rd of +the memorandum read out to him by the Governor-General's direction, +the Resident has been required to submit periodical reports of the +state of his dominions, and that his Majesty must be fully aware of +the responsibility he incurs if he neglects, during the interval +allowed him, to introduce the requisite reforms in his +administration.</p> +<p>More than two years have elapsed since this caution was given, +and the King has done nothing to improve his administration, +abstained from no personal indulgence, given no attention whatever +to public affairs. He had before that time tried to imitate his +father, attend a little to public affairs, and see occasionally the +members of the royal family and aristocracy, at least of the city, +and heads of departments; but the effort was painful, and soon +ceased altogether to be made. He had from boyhood mixed in no other +society than that in which he now mixes exclusively, and he will +never submit to the restraints of any other. The King has utterly +disregarded alike the Governor-General's advice and admonitions, +the duties and responsibilities of his high office, and the +sufferings of the many millions subject to his rule. His time and +attention are devoted entirely to the pursuit of personal +gratifications; he associates with none but such as those who +contribute to such gratifications—women, singers, and +eunuchs; and he never, I believe, reads or hears read any petition +from his suffering subjects, any report from his local officers +civil or military, or presidents of his fiscal and judicial courts, +or functionaries of any hind. He seems to take no interest whatever +in public affairs, and to care nothing whatever about them.</p> +<p>The King had natural capacity equal to that of any of those who +have preceded him in the sovereignty of Oude since the death of +Saadut Allee in 1814, but he is the only one who has systematically +declined to devote any of that capacity, or any of his time, to the +conduct of public affairs; to see and occasionally commune with the +heads of departments, the members of the royal family, and native +gentlemen of the capital; to read or have read to him the reports +of his local functionaries, and petitions or redress of wrongs from +his suffering subjects.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[*This systematic disregard of his high duties and +responsibilities still continues to be manifested by the King of +Oude; and is observed, with feelings of indignation and abhorrence, +by his well-disposed subjects of all classes and grades, who are +thereby left to the mercy of men without any feeling of security in +their tenure of office, any scruples of conscience, or feelings of +humanity, or of honour. So inveterate is the system of +misgovernment—so deeply are all those, now employed in the +administration, interested in maintaining its worst +abuses—and so fruitless is it to expect the King to remove +them, or employ better men, or to be ever able to inspire any men, +whom he may appoint, with a disposition to serve him more honestly, +and to respect the rights of others, or consider the reputation and +permanent interests of their own master, that the impression has +become strong and general, that our Government can no longer +support the present Government of Oude, without seriously +neglecting its duty towards the people.—1851, W. H. S.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In the reports of the Resident on the state of affairs in Oude, +and the replies of Government, much importance has been always +attached to the change from the contract, or <i>ijara</i> system, +to that of the <i>amanee</i>, or trust management system; and since +the time of Lord Hardinge's visit many more districts have been put +under the latter system; but this has not tended, in the smallest +degree, to the benefit of the people of these districts. The same +abuses prevail under the one system as under the other. The troops +employed in the districts under the one are the same as those +employed in the districts under the other, and they prey just as +much upon the people. There is the same system of rack-rent in the +one as in the other, and the same uncertainty in the rate of the +Government demand. The manager under the <i>amanut</i> system +demands the same secret gratuities and <i>nuzuranas</i> for himself +and his patrons at Court from the landholders, as the contractor; +and if they refuse to pay them they are besieged, attacked, and cut +up, and their estates desolated in the same manner. The +<i>amanut</i> manager knows that his tenure of office depends as +much upon the amount which he pays to his sovereign, and to his +patrons at Court, as that of the contractor, and he exacts and +extorts as much as he can in the same manner. Unless he pays his +patrons the same he knows that he shall soon be removed, or driven +to resign by the want of means to enforce the payment of the +revenues justly due.</p> +<p>The objections which are urged against the employment of British +troops in support of the authority of revenue contractors, are +equally applicable to their employment in support of that of amanee +managers. Their employment is just as liable to abuse under the one +as under the other. It is not a whit easier to ascertain whether a +demand for balance of revenue from, or a charge of contumacy +against, a landholder is just or unjust in the one than in the +other. In neither is the demand set forth in public documents +understood by either party to be the real demand. Both parties are +equally interested in preventing a portion of the <i>real</i> +demand from appearing in the public accounts; and the quarrel is +almost always about the rate of this concealed portion—the +collector trying to augment, and the landlord trying to reduce +it.</p> +<p>In a letter to the Resident, dated the 29th of March, 1823, +Government observes: "As some palliation of the mischief of our +forces being constantly employed in what might be too often termed +the cause of injustice and extortion, the Government in 1811 +distinctly declared our right of previously investigating, and of +arbitrating the demands which its troops might be called upon to +support as also its resolution to exercise that right on all future +occasions. The execution of the important duty in question seems to +be almost invariably delegated by the Resident to the officers +commanding at the different stations, who, after receiving general +powers to attend to the requisitions of the amils, become the sole +judges of the individual cases, in which aid is to be afforded or +withheld; and the discretion again unavoidably descends from them, +in many instances, to the officers commanding parties detached from +the main body. It is obvious that an inquiry of this description +can afford but a partial check to, and a feeble security against, +injustice and oppression where specific engagements rarely exist, +and where the point at issue is frequently the demand for +augmenting rates of revenue, founded on alleged assets sufficient +to meet that increase.</p> +<p>"Neither is the aid thus afforded at all effectual for the +purposes of the Government of Oude, whether present or future, as +is clear from the annual repetition of the same scenes of +resistance and compulsion. As fast as disorders are suppressed in +one quarter they spring up in another. Forts that are this year +dismantled are restored again the next; the compulsion exercised +upon particular individuals in one season has no effect in +producing more regularity on their parts, or on that of others in +the ensuing season, until the same process has been again gone +through; whilst the contempt and odium attaching to a system of +collecting the revenues, by the habitual intervention of the troops +of another State, infallibly tend to aggravate the evil, by +destroying all remains of confidence in his Majesty, or respect for +his authority."</p> +<p>The aid of British troops in the collection of the revenues of +Oude has long ceased to be afforded; but when they have been +afforded for the suppression of leaders of atrocious bands of +robbers, who preyed upon the people, and seized upon the lands of +their weaker neighbours, and they have been driven from their forts +and strongholds, the privilege of building them up again, or +re-occupying and garrisoning them with the same bands of robbers, +to be employed in the same way, is purchased from the local +authorities, or the patrons of these leaders at Court, during the +same or the succeeding season. The same things continue to be done +every season where no British troops are employed. Such privileges +are purchased with as much facility as those for the supply of +essence or spices in the palace; unless the Resident should +interpose authoritatively to prevent it, which he very rarely does. +Indeed it is seldom that a Resident knows or cares anything about +the matter.</p> +<p>I may say generally, that in Oude the larger landholders do not +pay more than one-third of their net rents to the Government, while +some of them do not pay one-fifth or one-tenth. In the half of the +territory made over to us in 1801, the great landholders who still +retain their estates pay to our Government at least two-thirds of +their net rents. In Oude these great landholders have, at present, +about two hundred and fifty mud forts, mounting about five hundred +guns, and containing on an average four hundred armed men, or a +total of one hundred thousand, trained and maintained to fight +against other, or against the Government authorities; and to +pillage the peaceful and industrious around whenever so employed. +In the half of the territory ceded to us in 1801, this class of +armed retainers has disappeared altogether. Hence from the Oude +half we have some fifty thousand native officers and sipahees in +our native army, while from our half we have not perhaps five +thousand.</p> +<p>One thing is clear, that we cannot restore to the Oude +Government the territory we acquired from it by the treaty of 1801, +and the people who occupy it; and that we cannot withdraw our +support from that Government altogether without doing so. It is no +less clear that all our efforts to make the Government of Oude, +under the support which we are bound by that treaty to give it, +fulfil the duties to its people to which it was pledged by that +treaty, have failed during the fifty years that have elapsed since +it was made.</p> +<p>The only alternative left, appears to be for the paramount power +to take upon itself the administration, and give to the sovereign, +the royal family, and its stipendiary dependents, all the surplus +revenues in pensions, opening as much as possible all employments +in the civil administration to the educated classes of Oude. The +military and police establishments would consist almost exclusively +of Oude men. Under such a system more of these classes would be +employed than at present, for few of the officers employed in the +administration are of these classes—the greater part of them +are adventurers from all parts of India, without character or +education. The number of such officers would be multiplied +fourfold, and the means of paying them would be taken from the +favourites and parasites of the Court who now do nothing but +mischief.</p> +<p>Such a change would be popular among the members of the royal +family itself, who now get their pensions after long +intervals—often after two and even three years, and with +shameful reductions in behalf of those favourites and parasites +whom they detest and despise, but whom the minister, for his own +personal purposes, is obliged to conciliate by such perquisites. It +would be popular among the educated classes, as opening to them +offices now filled by knaves and vagabonds from all parts of India, +It would be no less so to the well-disposed portion of the +agricultural classes, who would be sure of protection to life, +property, and character, without the expensive trains of armed +followers which they now keep up. But to secure this, we should +require to provide them with a more simple system of civil +judicature than that which we have at work in our old +territories.</p> +<p>The change would be popular, with few exceptions, among all the +mercantile and manufacturing classes. It would give vast employment +to all the labouring classes throughout the country, in the +construction of good roads, bridges, wells, tanks, temples, suraes, +military and civil buildings, and other public works; but above +all, in that of private dwellings, and other edifices for use and +ornament, in which all men would be proud to lay out their wealth +to perpetuate their names, when secured in the possession by an +honest and efficient Government; but more especially those who +would be no longer able to employ their means in maintaining armed +bands, to resist the local authorities and disturb the peace of the +country. On the whole, I think that at least nine-tenths of the +people of Oude would hail the change as a great blessing; always +providing, that our system of administration should be rendered as +simple as possible to meet the wants and wishes of a simple +people.</p> +<p>Though the Resident has never been able to secure any +substantial and permanent improvement in the administration, he +often interposes successfully in individual cases, to relieve +suffering, and secure redress for wrongs; and the people see that +he interferes in no others. Their only regret is, that he does not +interpose more often, and that his efforts, when he does, should be +so often thwarted or disregarded. The British character is, in +consequence, respected in the remotest village and jungle in Oude; +and there is, I believe, no part of India where an European officer +is received, among the people of all classes, with more kindness +and courtesy than in Oude. There is, certainly, no city or town in +any other native State in India where he is treated in the crowded +streets with more respect. This must of course be accounted for in +great measure from the greater part of the members of the royal +family, and the relatives and dependents of the several persons who +have held the highest offices of the State since 1814, either +receiving their incomes from the British Government in treaty +pensions, or in interest on our Government securities, or being +guaranteed in those which they receive from the Oude Government by +ours. A great many of the families of the middle classes depend +entirely upon the interest which they receive from us on our +Government securities. There is, indeed, hardly a respectable +family in Lucknow that is not more or less dependent upon our +Government for protection, and proud to have it considered that +they are so. The works and institutions which would soon be created +out of revenues, now absorbed by worthless Court favourites, would +soon embellish the face of the country, improve the character, +condition, and habits of the people, stimulate their industry in +agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; and render our connection +with the Oude Government honourable to our name in the estimation +of all India.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt2-5" id="Chapt2-5">CHAPTER V.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Baree-Biswa district—Force with the Nazim, Lal +Bahader—Town of Peernuggur—Dacoitee by Lal and Dhokul +Partuks—Gangs of robbers easily formed out of the loose +characters which abound in Oude—The lands tilled in spite of +all disorders—Delta between the Chouka and Ghagra +rivers—Seed sown and produce yielded on land—Rent and +stock—Nawab Allee, the holder of the Mahmoodabad +estate—Mode of augmenting his estate—Insecurity of +marriage processions—Belt of jungle, fourteen miles west from +the Lucknow cantonments—Gungabuksh Rawat—His attack on +Dewa—The family inveterate robbers—Bhurs, once a +civilized and ruling people in Oude—Extirpated systematically +in the fourteenth century—Depredations of +Passees—Infanticide—How maintained—Want of +influential middle class of merchants and +manufacturers—Suttee—Troops with the Amil—Seizure +of a marriage procession by Imambuksh, a gang +leader—Perquisites and allowances of Passee watchmen over +corn-fields—Their fidelity to trusts—Ahbun Sing, of +Kyampoor, murders his father—Rajah Singjoo of +Soorujpoor—Seodeen, another leader of the same +tribe—Principal gang-leaders of the Dureeabad Rodowlee +district—Jugurnath Chuprassie—Bhooree Khan—How +these gangs escape punishment—Twenty-four belts of jungle +preserved by landholders always, or occasionally, refractory in +Oude—Cover eight hundred and eighty-six square miles of good +land—How such atrocious characters find followers, and +landholders of high degree to screen, shelter, and aid them.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 14, 1850.—Peernuggur, ten miles south-east, +over a plain of the same soil, but with more than the usual +proportion of oosur. Trees and groves as usual, but not quite so +fine or numerous. The Nazim of Khyrabad took leave of me on his +boundary as we crossed it about midway, and entered the district of +"Baree Biswa," which is held in farm by Lal Bahader,* a Hindoo, who +there met us. This fiscal officer has under him the "Jafiree," and +"Tagfore" Regiments of nujeebs, and eight pieces of cannon. The +commandants of both corps are in attendance at Court, and one of +them, Imdad Hoseyn, never leaves it. The other does condescend +sometimes to come out to look at his regiment when <i>not on +service</i>. The draft-bullocks for the guns have, the Nazim tells +me, had a little grain within the last month, but still not more +than a quarter of the amount for which the King is charged. +Peernuggur is now a place of little note upon the banks of the +little river Sae, which here flows under a bridge built by Asuf-od +Dowlah some sixty years ago.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* This man was in prison at Lucknow as a defaulter, but made +his escape in October, 1851, by drugging the sentry placed over +him, and got safe into British territory.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Gang-robberies are here as frequent as in Khyrabad, and the +respectable inhabitants are going off in the same manner. One which +took place in July last year is characteristic of the state of +society in Oude, and may be mentioned here. Twelve sipahees of the +59th Regiment Native Infantry, then stationed at Bareilly, lodged +here for the night, in a surae, on their way home on furlough. Dal +Partuk, a Brahmin by caste, and a man of strength and resolution, +resided here and cultivated a small patch of land. He had two pair +of bullocks, which used to be continually trespassing upon other +men's fields and gardens, and embroiling him with the people, till +one night they disappeared. Dal Partuk called upon his neighbours, +who had suffered from their trespasses, to restore them or pay the +value, and threatened to rob, plunder, and burn down the town if +they did not.</p> +<p>A great number of pausees reside in and around the town, and he +knew that he could collect a gang of them for any enterprise of +this sort at the shortest notice. The people were not disposed to +pay the value of his lost bullocks, and they could not be found. +While he was meditating his revenge, his relation, Dhokul Partuk, +was by a trifling accident driven to take the field as a robber. An +oil-vender, a female, from a neighbouring village, had presumed to +come to Peernuggur, and offer oil for sale. The oil-venders of the +town, dreading the consequences of such competition, went forthwith +to the little garrison and prayed for <i>protection</i>. One of the +sipahees went off to the silversmith to whom the oil-vender had +sold twopence-worth of oil, and, finding the oil-vender still with +him, proceeded at once to seize both, and take them off to the +garrison as criminals. Dhokul Partuk, who lived close by, and had +his sword by his side, went up and remonstrated with the sipahee, +who, taking him to be another silversmith, struck him across the +face with his stick. Dhokul drew his sword, and made a cut at the +sipahee, which would have severed his head from his body had he not +fallen backwards. As it was, he got a severe cut in the chest, and +ran off to his companions. Dhokul went out of the town with his +drawn sword, and no one dared to pursue him. At night he returned, +took off his family to a distant village, became a leader of a band +of pausee bowmen, and invited his kinsman, Dal Partuk, to follow +his example.</p> +<p>Together, they made an attack at night upon the town, and burnt +down one quarter of the houses. Dal Partuk offered to come to terms +and live in the town again, if the people would pay the value of +his lost bullocks, and give him a small income of five rupees +a-month. This they refused to do, and the plunder and burning went +on. At last they made this attack upon the party in the surae, +which happened to be so full that several of the sipahees and +others were cooking outside the walls. None of the travellers had +arms to defend themselves, and those inside closed the doors as +soon as they heard the alarm. The pausees, with their bows and +arrows, killed two of the sipahees who were outside, and while the +gang was trying to force open the doors of the surae, the people of +the town, headed by a party of eight pausee bowmen of their own, +attacked and drove them back. These bowmen followed the gang for +some distance, and killed several of them with their arrows. The +sipahees who escaped proceeded in all haste to the Resident, and +the Frontier Police has since succeeded in arresting several of the +gang; but the two leaders have hitherto been screened by Goorbuksh +Sing and other great landholders in their interest. The eight +pausees who exerted themselves so successfully in defence of the +town and surae were expecting an attack from the pausees of a +neighbouring village, and ready for action when the alarm was +given.</p> +<p>These parties of pausee bowmen have each under their charge a +certain number of villages, whose crops and other property they are +pledged to defend for the payment of a certain sum, or a certain +portion of land rent-free. In one of these, under the Peernuggur +party, three bullocks had been stolen by the pausees of a +neighbouring town. They were traced to them, and, as they would +neither restore them nor pay their value, the Peernuggur party +attacked them one night in their sleep, and killed the leader and +four of his followers, to deter others of the tribe from +trespassing on property under their charge. They expect, they told +us, to be attacked in return some night, and are obliged to be +always prepared, but have not the slightest apprehension of ever +being called to account for such things by the officers of +Government. Nor would Dal and Dhokul Partuk have any such +apprehension, had not the Resident taken up the question of the +murder of the Honourable Company's sipahees as an international +one. After plundering and burning down a dozen villages, and +murdering a score or two of people, they would have come back and +reoccupied their houses in the town without any fear of being +molested or <i>questioned</i> by Government officers. Nor would the +people of the town object to their residing among them again, +provided they pledged themselves to abstain in future from +molesting them. Goorbuksh Sing, only a few days ago, offered the +contractor, Hoseyn Allee, the sum of five thousand, rupees if he +would satisfy the Resident that Dal Partuk had nothing whatever to +do with the Peernuggur dacoitee, and thereby induce him to +discontinue the pursuit.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Dhokul Partuk and Dal Partuk were at last secured. Dhokul +died in the king's gaol, but Dal Partuk is still in prison under +trial.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The people of towns and villages, having no protection whatever +from the Government, are obliged to keep up, at their own cost, +this police of pausee bowmen, who are bound only to protect those +who pay them. As their families increase beyond the means derived +from this, their only legitimate employment, their members thieve +in the neighbouring or distant villages, rob on the highroads, or +join the gangs of those who are robbers by profession, or take the +trade in consequence of disputes and misunderstandings with +Government authorities or their neighbours. In Oude—and +indeed in all other parts of India, under a Government so weak and +indifferent to the sufferings of its subjects—all men who +consider arms to be their proper profession think themselves +justified in using them to extort the means of subsistence from +those who have property when they have none, and can no longer find +what they consider to be suitable employment. All Rajpoots are of +this class, and the greater part of the landholders in Oude are +Rajpoots. But a great part of the Mahommedan rural population are +of the same class, and no small portion of the Brahmin inhabitants, +like the two Partuks above named, consider arms to be their proper +profession; and all find the ready means of forming gangs of +robbers out of these pausee bowmen and the many loose characters to +whom the disorders of the country give rise.</p> +<p>A great many of the officers and sipahees of the King's nujeeb +and other regiments are every month discharged for mutiny, +insubordination, abuse of authority, or neglect of duty, or merely +to make room for men more subservient to Court favourites, or +because they cannot or will not pay the demanded gratuity to a new +and useless commandant appointed by Court favour. The plunder of +villages has been the daily occupation of these men during the +whole period of their service, and they become the worst of this +class of loose characters, ready to join any band of freebooters. +Such bands are always sure to find a patron among the landholders +ready to receive and protect them, for a due share of their booty, +against any force that the King's officers may send after them; +and, if they prefer it as less costly, they can always find a +manager of a district ready to do the same, on condition that they +abstain from plundering within his jurisdiction. The greater part +of the land is, however, cultivated, and well cultivated under all +this confusion and consequent insecurity. Tillage is the one thing +needful to all, and the persons from whom trespasses on the crops +are most apprehended are the reckless and disorderly trains of +Government officials.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 16, 1850.—Biswa, eighteen miles east, over +a plain of excellent soil, partly doomut, but chiefly mutteear, +well studded with trees and groves, scantily cultivated for the +half of the way, but fully and beautifully for the second half. The +wheat beginning to change colour as it approaches maturity, and +waving in the gentle morning breeze; intervening fields covered +with mixed crops of peas, gram, ulsee, teora, surson, mustard, all +in flower, and glittering like so many rich parterres; patches here +and there of the dark-green <i>arahur</i> and yellow sugar-cane +rising in bold relief; mango-groves, majestic single trees, and +clusters of the graceful bamboo studding the whole surface, and +closing the distant horizon in one seemingly-continued line of +fence—the eye never tires of such a scene, but would like now +and then to rest upon some architectural work of ornament or +utility to aid the imagination in peopling it.</p> +<p>The road for the last six miles passes through the estate of +Nawab Allee, a Mahommedan landholder, who is a strong man and a +good manager and paymaster. His rent-roll is about four hundred +thousand rupees a-year, and he pays Government about one hundred +and fifty thousand. His hereditary possession was a small one, and +his estate has grown to the present size in the usual way. He has +lent money in mortgage and foreclosed; he has given security for +revenue due to Government by other landholders, who have failed to +pay, and had their estates made over to him; he has given security +for the appearance, when called for, of others, and, on their +failing to appear (perchance at his own instigation), had their +lands made over to him by the Government authorities, on condition +of making good the Government demand upon them; he has offered a +higher rate of revenue for lands than present holders could make +them yield, and, after getting possession, brought the demand down +to a low rate in collusion with Government officers. Some +three-fourths of the magnificent estate which he now holds he has +obtained in these and other ways by fraud, violence, or collusion +within the last few years. He is too powerful and wealthy to admit +of any one's getting his lands out of his hands after they have +once passed into them, no matter how.</p> +<p>The Chowka river flows from the forest towards the Ghagra, about +ten miles to the east from Biswa, and I am told that the richest +sheet of cultivation in Oude is within the delta formed by these +two rivers.* At the apex of this delta stands the fort of Bhitolee, +which I have often mentioned as belonging to Rajah Goorbuksh Sing, +and being under siege by the contractor of the Khyrabad district +when we passed the Ghagra in December. Biswa is a large town, well +situated on a good soil and open plain, and its vicinity would be +well suited for a cantonment or seat for civil establishments. Much +of the cloth called sullum used to be made here for export to +Europe, but the demand has ceased, and with it the manufacture.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* This delta contains the following noble estates; 1, Dhorehra; +2, Eesanuggur; 3, Chehlary; 4, Rampore; 5, Bhitolee; 6, Mullahpore; +7, Seonta; 8, Nigaseen; and 9, Bhera Jugdeopore. The Turae forest +forms the base of this delta, and the estates of Dhorehra, +Eesanuggur, and Bhera Jugdeopore lie along its border. They have +been much injured by the King's troops within the last three years. +Bhitolee is at the apex.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>February</i> 17 <i>and</i> 18, 1850.—Detained at Biswa +by rain.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 19, 1850.—Yesterday evening came to +Kaharpore, ten miles, over a plain of the same fine soil, mutteear +of the best quality, running here and there into doomutteea and +even bhoor. Cultivation good, and the plain covered with rich +spring crops, except where the ground is being prepared to receive +the autumn seed in June next. It is considered good husbandry +to-plough, cross-plough, and prepare the lands thus early. The +spring crops are considered to be more promising than they have +been at any other season for the last twenty years. The farmers and +cultivators calculate upon an average return of ten and twelve +fold, and say that, in other parts of Oude where the lands are +richer, there will be one of fifteen or twenty of wheat, gram, +&c. The pucka-beega, two thousand seven hundred and fifty-six +square yards, requires one maund of seed of forty seers, of eighty +rupees of the King's and Company's coinage the seer.* The country, +as usual, studded with trees, single, and in clusters and groves, +intermingled with bamboos, which are, however, for the most part, +of the smaller or hill kind.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The pucka-beega in Oude is about the same as that which +prevails over our North-Western Provinces, two thousand seven +hundred and fifty-six and a quarter square yards, or something more +than one-half of our English statute acre, which is four thousand +eight hundred and forty square yards. This pucka-beega takes of +seed-wheat one maund, or eighty pounds; and yields on an average, +under good tillage, eight returns of the seed, or eight maunds, or +six hundred and forty pounds, which, at one rupee the maund, yields +eight rupees, or sixteen shillings. The stock required in Oude in +irrigated lands is about twenty rupees the pucka-beega. The rent on +an average two rupees. In England an acre, on an average, requires +two and three-quarter bushels of seed wheat, or one hundred and +seventy-six pounds, or two maunds and sixteen seers, and yields +twenty-four bushels, or one thousand five hundred and thirty-six +pounds. This at forty shillings the quarter (512 lbs.) would yield +six pounds sterling. The stock required in England is estimated at +ten pounds Sterling per acre, or ten times the annual rent. It is +difficult to estimate the rate of rent on land in England, since +the reputed owner is said to be "only the ninth and last recipient +of rent."]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>On reaching camp, I met, for the first time, the great +landholder, Nawab Allee, of Mahmoodabad. In appearance, he is a +quiet gentlemanly man, of middle age and stature. He keeps his +lands in the finest possible state of tillage, however +objectionable the means by which he acquires them. His family have +held the estates of Mahmoodabad and Belehree for many generations +as zumeendars, or proprietors; but they have augmented them +greatly, absorbing into them the estates of their weaker +neighbours.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Akram Allee and Muzhur Allee inherited the estate in two +divisions. Akram Allee got Mahmoodabad, and had two sons, Surufraz +Allee, who died without issue, before his father; and Mosahib +Allee, who succeeded to the estate, but died without issue. Muzhur +Allee got the estate of Belehree, and had two sons, Abud Allee, and +Nawab Allee. Abud Allee succeeded to the estate of Belehree, and +Nawab Allee to that of Mahmoodabad by adoption.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Akram Allee held Mahmoodabad, and was succeeded in the +possession by his son, Mosahib Allee, who died about forty years +ago, leaving the estate to his widow, who held it for twenty-eight +years up to A.D. 1838, when she died. She had, the year before, +adopted her nephew, Nawab Allee, and he succeeded to the estate. +The Belehree estate is held by his elder brother, Abud Allee, who +is augmenting it in the same way, but not at the same rate. I may +mention a few recent cases, as illustrative of the manner in which +such things are done in Oude.</p> +<p>Mithun Sing, of an ancient Rajpoot family, held the estate of +Semree, which had been held by his ancestors for many centuries. It +consisted of twelve fine villages, paid to Government 4000 rupees a +year, and yielded him a rent roll of 20,000. Nawab Allee coveted +very much this estate, which bordered on his own. Three years ago, +he instigated the Nazim to demand an increase of 5000 rupees a-year +from the estate; and at the same time invited Mithun Sing to his +house, and persuaded him to resist the demand, to the last. He took +to the jungles, and in the contest between him and the Nazim all +the crops of the season were destroyed, and all the cultivators +driven from the lands. When the season of tillage returned in June, +and Mithun Sing had been reduced to the last stage of poverty, +Nawab Allee consented to become the mediator, got a lease from the +Chuckladar for Mithun Sing at 4500 rupees a-year, and stood surety +for the punctual payment of the demand. Poor Mithun Sing could pay +nothing, and Nawab Allee got possession of the estate in +liquidation of the balance due to him; and assigned to Mithun Sing +five hundred pucka-beegas of land for his subsistence. He still +resides on the estate, and supports his family by the tillage of +these few beegas.</p> +<p>Amdhun Chowdheree held a share in the estate of Biswa, +consisting of sixty-five villages; paying to Government 12,000 +rupees a-year, and yielding a rent-roll of 65,000. His elder +brother's widow resided on the estate, supported by Amdhun, who +managed its affairs for the family. Nawab Allee got up a quarrel +between her and her brother-in-law; and she assumed the right to +authorize Nawab Allee to seize upon the whole estate. Amdhun +appealed to his clan, but Nawab Allee, in collusion with the Nazim, +was too strong for him, and got possession by taking a strong +force, and driving out all who presumed to resist him. The estate +had been held by the family for many centuries.</p> +<p>Mohun Sing held the estate of Mundhuna, which had been in his +family for many generations. He was, by the usual process, five +years ago, constrained to accept the security of Nawab Allee for +the punctual payment of the revenue; and his estate was absorbed in +the usual way, the year after. He is now, like a boa-constrictor, +swallowing up Chowdheree Pertab Sing, who holds a large share in +the hereditary estate of Biswa, which has been in the possession of +the family for a great many generations. This share consisted of +thirty-six villages, and paid a revenue to Government of fourteen +thousand. Last year, Nawab Allee instigated the Nazim to demand ten +thousand more. The Nazim, to prevent all disputes, assigned the +twenty-four thousand to Mirza Hoseyn Beg, the commandant of a troop +of cavalry, employed under him, in liquidation of their arrears of +pay. The commandant gave him a receipt for the amount, which the +Nazim sent to the treasury, and got credit for the amount in his +accounts. But poor Pertab Sing could not pay, and was imprisoned by +the cavalry, who kept possession of his person, and took upon them +the collection of his rents. Nawab Allee came in and paid what was +due; and gave security for the punctual payment of the revenue for +the ensuing year. The estate was made over to him; and he put on +score after score of <i>dustuk</i> bearers, who soon reduced Pertab +Sing to utter beggary. Ten thousand rupees were due to Nawab Allee, +and he had nothing left to sell; and under such circumstances no +man else would lend him anything.</p> +<p>The dustuk bearers are servants of the creditor, who are sent to +attend the debtor, extort from him their wages and subsistence, and +see that he does not move, eat, or drink till he pays them. During +this time the creditor saves all the wages of these attendants; and +they commonly exact double wages from the debtor, so that he is +soon reduced to terms. In this stage we found the poor Chowdheree +on reaching Biswa. I had him released, and so admonished Nawab +Allee, that he has some little chance of saving his estate.</p> +<p>Bisram Sing held the estate of Kooa Danda, which had been in the +possession of his family of Ahbun Rajpoots for many centuries. It +consisted of thirty-five villages, paid a revenue of six thousand +rupees a-year, and yielded a rent-roll of eighteen thousand and +five hundred. Nawab Allee coveted it as being on his border, and in +good order. As soon as his friend; Allee Buksh, was appointed Nazim +of the district, he prevailed upon him to report to the Durbar that +Bisram Sing was a refractory subject, and plunderer; and to request +permission to put him down by force of arms. This was in 1844, +while Bisram Sing was living quietly on his estate. On receiving +the order, which came as a matter of course, the Nazim united his +force with that of Nawab Allee, and attacked the house of Bisram +Sing, which had only twenty-two men to defend it against two +thousand. Six of the twenty-two were killed, eight wounded, and +eight only escaped; and Nawab Allee took possession of the +estate.</p> +<p>Bisram Sing was at Lucknow at the time, trying to rebut the +false charges of the Nazim; but his influence was unhappily too +strong for him, and he got no redress. Soon after Nirput Sing, a +sipahee in the 9th Regiment Native Infantry, presented a petition +to the Resident, stating that he was the brother of Bisram Sing, +and equally interested in the estate; and a special officer, +Busharut Allee, was ordered by the Durbar to investigate and decide +the case. He decided in favour of Nirput, the sipahee, and Bisram +Sing. Another special officer was sent out to restore Bisram to +possession. Nawab Allee then pleaded the non-existence of any +relationship between Nirput and Bisram; and a third special officer +has been sent out to ascertain this fact.</p> +<p>Belehree, held by Abud Allee, consists of forty villages, pays a +revenue of twelve thousand rupees a-year, and yields a rent-roll of +forty thousand. Abud Allee holds also the estate of Pyntee, in the +same district, consisting of eighty villages, paying a revenue of +thirty-five thousand, and yielding a rent-roll of one hundred and +forty thousand. It had been held by his relative Kazim Allee, who +was succeeded in the possession by Nizam Allee, the husband of his +only daughter. Nizam Allee was in A.D. 1841 killed by a servant, +who was cut down and killed in return by his attendants. Nizam +Allee's widow held till 1843, when she made over the estate to Abud +Allee, by whom she is supported.</p> +<p>Nawab Allee has always money at command to purchase influence at +Court when required; and he has also a brave and well-armed force, +with which to aid the governor of the district, when he makes it +worth his while to do so, in crushing a refractory landholder. +These are the sources of his power, and he is not at all scrupulous +in the use of it—it is not the fashion to be so in Oude.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 20th, 1850.—Came on sixteen miles to +Futtehpore, in the estate of Nawab Allee, passing Mahmoodabad half +way. Near that place we passed through a grove of mango and other +trees called the "Lak Peree," or the grove of a hundred thousand +trees planted by his ancestors forty years ago. The soil is the +same, the country level, studded with the same rich foliage, and +covered with the same fine crops. As we were passing through his +estate, and were to encamp in it again to-day, Nawab Allee attended +me on horseback; and I endeavoured to impress upon him and the +Nazim the necessity of respecting the rights of others, and more +particularly those of the old Chowdheree Pertab Sing. "Why is it," +I asked, "that this beautiful scene is not embellished by any +architectural beauties? Sheikh Sadee, the poet, so deservedly +beloved by you all, old and young, Hindoos and Mahommedans, says, +'The man who leaves behind him in any place, a bridge, a well, a +church, or a caravansera, never dies.' Here not even a respectable +dwelling-house is to be seen, much less a bridge, a church, or a +caravansera." "Here, sir," said old Bukhtawur, "men must always be +ready for a run to the jungles. Unless they are so, they can +preserve nothing from the grasp of the contractors of the present +day, who have no respect for property or person—for their own +character, or for that of their sovereign. The moment that a man +runs to save himself, family, and property, they rob and pull down +his house, and those of all connected with him. When a man has +nothing but mud walls, with invisible mud covers, they give him no +anxiety; he knows that he can build them up again in a few days, or +even a few hours, when he comes back from the jungles; and he cares +little about what is done to them during his absence. Had he an +expensive house of burnt brick and mortar, he could never feel +quite free. He might be tempted to defend it, and lose some +valuable lives; or he might be obliged to submit to unjust terms. +Were he to lay out his money in expensive mosques, temples, and +tombs, they would restrain him in the same way; and he is content +to live without them, and have his loins always girded for fight or +flight."</p> +<p>"True," said Nawab Allee, "very true; we can plant groves and +make wells, but we cannot venture to erect costly buildings of any +kind. You saw the Nazim of Khyrabad, only a few days ago, bringing +all his troops down upon Rampore, because the landlord, Goman Sing, +would not consent to the increase he demanded of ten thousand, upon +seventeen thousand rupees a-year, which he had hitherto paid. Goman +Sing took to the jungles; and in ten days his fine crops would all +have been destroyed, and his houses levelled with the ground, had +you not interposed, and admonished both. The one at last consented +to take, and the other to pay an increase of five thousand. Only +three years ago, Goman Sing's father was killed by the Nazim in a +similar struggle; and landholders must always be prepared for +them."</p> +<p><i>February</i> 21st, 1850.—Bureearpore, ten miles +south-east, over a plain of the same fine soil, well cultivated, +and carpeted with the same fine crops and rich foliage. Midway we +entered the district of Ramnuggur Dhumeree, held by Rajah Gorbuksh +Sing under the security of Seoraj-od Deen, the person who attempted +in vain to arrest the charge of the two regiments upon the Khyrabad +Nazim by holding up the <i>sacred Koran</i> over his head. He met +me on his boundary, and Nawab Allee and the Nazim of Baree Biswa +took their leave. Nawab Allee's brother, Abud Allee, came to pay +his respects to me yesterday evening. He is a respectable person in +appearance, and a man of good sense. The landscape was, I think, on +the whole richer than any other that I have seen in Oude; but I am +told that it is still richer at a distance from the road, where the +poppy is grown in abundance, and opium of the best quality +made.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Opium sells in Oude at from three to eight rupees the seer, +according to its quality. In our neighbouring districts it sells at +fourteen rupees the seer, in the shops licensed by Government. +Government, in our districts, get opium from the cultivators and +manufacturers at three rupees and half the seer. The temptation to +smuggle is great, but the risk is great also, for the police in our +districts is vigilant in this matter.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Still lamenting the want of all architectural ornament to the +scene, and signs of manufacturing and commercial industry, to show +that people had property, and were able to display and enjoy it, +and gradations of rank, I asked whether people invested their +wealth in the loans of our Government. "Sir," said Bukhtawur Sing, +"the people who reside in the country know nothing about your +Government paper; it is only the people of the capital that hold it +or understand its value. The landholders and peasantry would never +be able to keep it in safety, or understand when and how to draw +the interest."</p> +<p>"Do they spend more in marriage and other ceremonies than the +people of other parts of India, or do they make greater displays on +such occasions?"</p> +<p>"Quite the reverse, sir," said Seoraj-od Deen; "they dare not +make any display at all. Only the other day, Gunga Buksh, the +refractory landholder of Kasimgunge, attacked a marriage-procession +in the village of ———, carried off the bridegroom, +and imprisoned him till he paid the large random demanded from him. +In February last year Imam Buksh Behraleen, of Oseyree, having +quarrelled with the Amil, attacked and carried off a whole marriage +party to the jungles. They gave up all the property they had, and +offered to sign bonds for more, to be paid by their friends for +their ransom; but he told them that money would not do; that their +families were people of influence, and must make the King's +officers restore him to his estate upon his own terms, or he would +keep them till they all died. They exerted themselves, and Imam +Buksh got back his estate upon his own terms; but he still +continues to rob and plunder. These crimes are to them diversions +from which there is no making them desist."</p> +<p>"There are a dozen gang leaders of this class at present in the +belt of jungle which extends westward from our right up to within +fourteen miles of the Lucknow cantonments; and the plunder of +villages, murder of travellers, and carrying off of brides and +bridegrooms from marriage processions, are things of every-day +occurrence. There are also in these parts a number of pansee +bowmen, who not only join in the enterprises of such gangs as in +other districts, but form gangs of their own, under leaders of +their own caste, to rob travellers and plunder villages.</p> +<p>"Gunga Buksh of Kasimgunge has his fort in this belt of jungle, +and he and his friends and relations take good care that no man +cuts any of it down, or cultivates the land. With the gangs which +he and his relatives keep up in this jungle, he has driven out the +greater part of the Syud proprietors of the surrounding villages, +and taken possession of their lands. After driving out the King's +troops from the town of Dewa, and exacting ransoms from many of the +inhabitants, whom he seized and carried off in several attacks, he, +in October last, brought down upon it all the ruffians he could +collect, killed no less than twenty-nine persons—chiefly Syuds +and land proprietors—and took possession of the town and estate. +The chief proprietor, Bakur Allee, was killed among the rest; and +Gunga Buksh burnt his body, and suspended his head to a post in his +own village of Luseya. He dug down his house and those of all his +relations who had been killed with him, and now holds quiet +possession of his estate."</p> +<p>This was all true. The Resident, on the application of Haffiz-od +Deen, a native judicial officer of Moradabad district—one of +the family which had lost so many members in this atrocious +attack—urged strongly on the Durbar the necessity of +punishing Gunga Buksh and his gang. The Ghunghor Regiment of +Infantry, with a squadron of cavalry, and six guns, was sent out in +October 1849, for the purpose, under a native officer. On the force +moving out, the friends of Gunga Buksh at Court caused the +commandant to be sent for on some pretext or other; and he has been +detained at the capital ever since. The force has, in consequence, +remained idle, and Gunga Buksh has been left quietly to enjoy the, +fruits of his enterprise. The Amil having no troops to support his +authority, or even to defend his person in such a position, has +also remained at Court. No revenue has been collected, and the +people are left altogether exposed to the depredations of these +merciless robbers. The belt of jungle is nine miles long and four +miles wide; and the west end of it is within only fourteen miles of +the Lucknow cantonments, where we have three regiments of infantry, +and a company of artillery.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 22nd, 1850.—A brief history of the rise of +this family may tend to illustrate the state of things in Oude. +Khumma Rawut, of the pansee tribe, the great-grandfather of this +Gunga Buksh, served Kazee Mahommed, the great-grandfather of this +Bakur Allee, as a village watchman, for many years up to his death. +He had some influence over his master, and making the most of this +and of the clan feeling which subsisted among the pansees of the +district, he was able to command the services of a formidable gang +when the old Kazee died. He left a young family, and Khumma got +possession of five or six villages out of the estate which the old +Kazee left to his sons. The sons were too weak: to resist the +pansees, and when Khumma died he left them to his five sons:— +1. Kundee Sing; 2. Bukhta Sing; 3. Alum Sing; 4. Lalsahae; 5. +Misree Sing. As the family increased in numbers it has gone on +adding to its possessions in the same manner, by attacking and +plundering villages, murdering or driving off the old proprietors +of the lands, and taking possession of them for themselves. Each +branch of the family, as it separates from the parent stock, builds +for itself a fort in one or other of the villages which belong to +its share of the acquired lands. In this fort the head of each +branch of the family resides with his armed followers, and sallies +forth to plunder the country and acquire new possessions. In small +enterprises each branch acts by itself; in larger ones two or more +branches unite, and divide the lands and booty they acquire by +amicable arrangement.</p> +<p>They seize all the respectable persons whom they find in the +villages which they attack and plunder, keep them in prison, and +inflict all manner of tortures upon them, till they have paid, or +pledged themselves to pay, all that they have or can borrow from +their friends, as their ransom. If they refuse to pay, or to pledge +themselves to pay the sum demanded, they murder them. If they pay +part, and pledge themselves to pay the rest within a certain time, +they are released; and if they fail to fulfil their engagements, +they and their families are murdered in a second attack. After the +last attack above described upon Dewa, Gunga Buksh seized seven +fine villages belonging to the family of Bakur Allee Khan, which +they had held for many generations. He, Gunga Buksh, now holds no +less than twenty-seven villages, all seized in the same manner, +after the plunder and murder of their old proprietors. The whole of +this family, descendants of Khumma Rawut, hold no less than two +hundred villages and hamlets, all taken in the same manner from the +old proprietors, with the acquiescence or connivance of the local +authorities, who were either too weak or too corrupt to punish +them, and restore the villages to their proper owners.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Kundee Sing had two sons, 1. Cheytun Sing; 2. Ajeet Sing. +Cheytun Sing had two sons, 1. Sophul Sing; 2. Thakurpurshad. Sophul +Sing had two sons, 1. Keerut Sing; 2. Jote Sing. Ajeet Sing had two +sons, 1. Bhugwunt Sing; 2. Rutun Sing. Thakur Purshad, Bhugwunt +Sing, and Rutun Sing, reside in a fort which they have built in +Bhetae, four miles from Dewa, in the north-west border of the belt +of jungle. They hold forty villages, besides hamlets, which they +have taken from the old proprietors of the Dewa and Korsee estates. +Thakur Purshad has another fort called Buldeogur, near that of +Atursae, two coss south of Dewa; and Bhugwunt Sing has the small +fort of Munmutpore, close to Bhetae. Bukta Sing had only one son, +Bisram Sing, who had only one son, Gunga Buksh, who built the fort +of Kasimgunge, on the north-eastern border of the same belt of +jungle, two miles south of Dewa, and on the death of his father, he +went to reside in it with his family and gang. He holds +twenty-seven fine villages, with hamlets. Twenty of these he seized +upon from six to twelve years ago; and the other seven he got after +the attack upon Dewa, in October last. He has also a fort called +Atursae, two coss south from Dewa; a mile west from Buldeogur. Alum +Sing's descendants have remained peaceable cultivators of the soil +in Dewa, and are, consequently, of too little note for a place in +the genealogical table of the family.</p> +<p>Lalsahae had three sons, 1. Dheer Sing; 2. Bustee Sing; 3. Gokul +Sing, all dead. Dheer Sing had two sons, Omed Sing and Jowahir +Sing. Omed Sing had three sons, Dirgpaul Sing, Maheput Sing, and +Gungadhur, who was murdered by Thakur Pershad, his cousin. Jowahir +Sing had one son, Priteepaul Sing. Bustee Sing had two sons, Girwur +Sing and Soulee Sing. Girwur Sing had two sons, Dhokul Sing and +Shunker Sing. This branch of the family hold the forts of Ramgura +and Paharpore, on the border of the jungle six miles south-west +from Dewa, and twelve villages besides hamlets taken in the same +manner from the old proprietors. Gokul Sing had two sons, Dulloo +Sing and Soophul Sing. Dulloo Sing has one son. They reside with +the families of Dheer Sing and Bustee Sing.</p> +<p>Misree Sing, the fifth son of Khumma, had three sons, 1. Boneead +Sing; 2. Dureeao Sing; 3. name forgotten—all three are dead. +Bonead Sing had two sons, 1. Anoop Sing; 2. Goorbuksh Sing. Dureeao +Sing had two sons, 1. Anokee Sing; 2. name forgotten. The third son +of Misree Sing had three sons, 1. Mulung Sing; 2. Anunt Sing; 3. +name forgotten—all three still live.</p> +<p>This branch of the family resides in Satarpore, one mile west +from Kasimgunge, in this belt of Jungle, and two miles from Dewa, +in a fortified house built by them. They have got a small fort, +called Pouree, near this place. They form part of Gunga Buksh's +gang, and share with him in the booty acquired.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>To record all the atrocities committed by the different members +of this family in the process of absorbing the estates of their +neighbours, and the property of men of substance in the countries +around, would be a tedious and unprofitable task; and I shall +content myself with mentioning a few that are most prominent in the +recollection of the people of the district. About ten years ago, +Gunga Buksh and his gang attacked the house of Lalla Shunker Lal, a +respectable merchant of Dewa, plundered it, killed the tutor of his +three sons, and carried them and their father off to his fort, +where he tortured them till they paid him a ransom of nine thousand +rupees. On their release they left Dewa, and have ever since +resided in Lucknow. Two years after they attacked the village of +Saleempore, two miles east from Dewa, killed Nyam Allee, the +zumeendar, and seized upon his estate. About six years ago Munnoo, +the son of Gunga Buksh, with a gang of near two thousand men, +attacked the King's force in the town of Dewa, killed four +sipahees, two artillery-men, and two troopers, and plundered the +place. About six months ago this gang attacked the house of Ewuz +Mahommed, in Dewa, plundered it, levelled it with the ground, and +took off all the timbers to their fort of Kasimgunge. Soon after he +made the attack in which he killed twenty-nine persons in Dewa, as +above described.</p> +<p>Thakur Purshad, about fourteen years ago, attacked the village +of Molookpore, two miles east from Dewa, plundered it, took +possession of the land, seized and carried off the proprietor, +Sheikh Khoda Buksh, and put him to death in his fort of Bhetae. +Three years after he attacked the house of Gholam Mostafa, in Dewa, +killed him, and seized upon all the lands he held. Three years ago +he attacked the house of Janoo, a shopkeeper, plundered it, and +confined and tortured him till he paid a ransom of two hundred and +fifty rupees. Three months after he seized and carried off to his +fort Roopun, another shopkeeper, and confined and tortured him till +he paid a ransom of three hundred rupees. Last year he seized and +took off Jhow Dhobee from Dewa, and extorted forty rupees from him. +Six months ago he attacked a marriage-procession in Dewa, plundered +it, took off the bridegroom, Omed Allee, and confined and tortured +him till he paid eleven hundred and fifteen rupees. These men all +levy black mail from the country around; and it is those only who +cannot or will not pay it, or whose lands they intend to +appropriate, that they attack. They created the jungle above +described, of nine miles long by four wide, for their own evil +purposes, and preserve it with so much vigilance, that no man dares +to cut a stick, graze a bullock, or browse a camel in it without +their special sanction; indeed, they are so much dreaded, that no +man or woman beyond their own family or followers dares enter the +jungle.</p> +<p>Omed Sing, fifteen years ago, invited to his house the four +proprietors of the village of Owree, Gholam Kadir, Allee Buksh, +Durvesh Allee, and Moiz-od Deen, residents of Dewa, and put them to +death because they could not, by torture, be made to transfer their +lands to him. He then seized their village, and built the fort of +Rumgura Paharpore upon it. Omed Sing, Jowahir Sing, Dhokul Sing, +and Soophul Sing all reside in this fort with the son of Dulloo +Sing. This family of pansees, or, as they call themselves, Rawuts, +form at present one of the most formidable gangs of robbers in +Oude, and one of the most difficult to put down from their union +and inveterate habit of plunder. They can always, at short notice +and little cost, collect bands of hundreds of the same tribe and +habit to join them in plunder and resistance to lawful +authority.</p> +<p>On the 25th of February, 1838, Rajah Dursun Sing, then in charge +of the district, wrote to the Durbar to say, "that Gunga Buksh of +Dewa was the worst robber in the district, would pay no revenue, +and instigated others to withhold theirs; that numerous complaints +had been made against him to the Durbar by the people, and that he +had been urged by Government to do his best to punish him; that he +had long tried all he could to do so, but had not sufficient +troops; that his evil deeds increased, however, so much, that he at +last determined to run all risks, and on the 27th of that month, on +Friday, he left Amaneegunge, and marched forty-eight miles without +resting; and on Saturday, before daybreak, reached the fort of +Kasimgunge, and invested it on all sides; that he found the fort +large and strong, and surrounded with dense jungle; that he had +only three guns with him, but, as the enemy were taken by surprise, +he took all their outworks one after another; that the besieged got +a crowd of their adherents to attack his force in the rear on +Saturday night, that they might get off in the confusion, but his +troops were ready to intercept them at all points; and, in +attempting to cut his way through, Gunga Baksh was seized with all +his followers, but the women and children were permitted to go +their way; that a good many of the enemy had been killed, and he, +Dursun Sing, had had one golundaz and five sipahees killed and ten +persons wounded."</p> +<p>The King sent Dursun Sing a dress of honour with the title of +Rajah on the 3rd of March, 1838, and ordered him to have the fort +levelled with the ground. Dursun Sing, in reply, states that he had +men employed in pulling down the fort; and, in reply to an order to +send in a list of the property taken from the besieged, he states, +on the 12th of March, 1838, that none whatever had been secured. +Gunga Buksh soon bribed his way out of prison at Lucknow, returned +to Kasimgunge, rebuilt his fort, and made it stronger than ever; +and continued to plunder the country, and increase his landed +possessions by the murder of the old proprietors. He became +enlisted into the tribe of Rajpoots, and his sister was married to +the Powar Rajah of <i>Etonda</i>, seven coss north from Lucknow. +Jode Sing, the present Rajah of that place, is her son; and he is +associated with Gunga Buksh in his depredations. <i>Sahuj Ram</i>, +of Pokhura, of the Ametheea tribe of Rajpoots, in the Hydergurh +purgunna, on the right bank of the Goomtee river, married a +daughter of Gunga Buksh's, and has a strong fort, called Raunee, +thirty miles east from Lucknow. He is said to have been present at +the murder of the twenty-nine persons at Dewa in October last, and +to have had with him four hundred armed men and two guns. He and +all his followers are notorious and inveterate robbers, like Gunga +Buksh himself. The descendants of Khumma, the village watchman, +have already built ten forts upon the lands which they have seized, +and there are no less than seventy of these forts or strongholds +within a circuit of ninety miles round Bhetae and Khasimgunge, the +centre being not more than eighteen miles from the Lucknow +cantonments.</p> +<p>The Minister having informed the Resident that, without some aid +from British troops, it was impossible for him to put down or +punish these atrocious murderers and robbers, who had so many +mud-forts well garrisoned by their gangs, he, on the 26th of March, +1850, ordered a wing of the 2nd Battalion of Oude Local Infantry +under Captain Boileau to join the force, consisting of, 1. A wing +of the 2nd Oude Local Infantry; 2. Captain Barlow's regiment, with +two nine-pounders and one eight-inch howitzer; 3. Nawab Allee's +auxiliaries, two thousand men and three small guns; 4. Sufshikum +Khan, the Amil of the district, with one thousand men and five +guns; 5. Seoraj-od Deen, the Amil of Ramnuggur, with one hundred +and fifty men and two guns; 6. Ghalib Jung, with one thousand foot +soldiers, forty camel jinjals (tumbooraks), seven guns, and one +hundred troopers, in an attack upon Kasimgunge. The different parts +of this force had been so disposed as to concentrate upon and +invest the fort at daybreak on the morning of that day. The +surprise was complete.</p> +<p>Shells were thrown into the fort from Captain Barlow's guns, but +Captain Boileau did not consider the force sufficient to take the +fort and secure, the garrison, and wrote to request a +reinforcement. The distance from Kasimgunge to the cantonments was +twenty miles. A wing of the 10th Regiment Native Infantry, with two +guns, was sent off under Captain Wilson; but the garrison had +evacuated the fort and fled on the night of the 26th, and the wing +was ordered to proceed direct to the fort of Bhetae, four miles +nearer to the cantonments, which was to be invested by the same +force on the morning of the 28th.</p> +<p>Captain Wilson had with him Lieutenant Elderton, as adjutant of +the wing, and Ensigns Trenchard and Wish, with a native officer in +charge of the two guns. They reached Bhetae at 7 A.M., were joined +by the Bhetae force at 8 A.M., and the two forts of Bhetae and +Munmutpore were forthwith invested. Munmutpore stood about three +hundred yards to the west of Bhetae; and both forts were held by +Thakur Purshad and Bhugwunt Sing, members of the same family of +pansee robbers, and their gangs. Captain Wilson was the chief in +command; and he, with his own and Captain Boileau's wing, took up +his position on the north side of Bhetae, and placed Captain Barlow +on the west side of Munmutpore. There was a deep dry ditch all +round outside the outer wall, and a thick fence of bamboos inside. +Between this fence and the citadel in both forts was a still deeper +ditch. Between the fence of bamboos and the inner ditch was a small +intricate passage, intersected by huts and trenches.</p> +<p>The wall of the citadel was about twenty feet high, and the +upper part formed a parapet eight feet high, filled with loopholes +for matchlocks. Between Bhetae and Munmutpore, midway, was a large +bastion filled with matchlock-men, to keep open the communication +and prevent an enemy from taking up any position between the two +forts. The investing force was distributed all round, with orders +to attack the nearest and weakest points as soon as Captain Wilson +should commence his upon the main point, the northern face.</p> +<p>On the afternoon of the 29th, about half-past three, a small +party of the garrison came out of the gate on the northern face, +and appeared disposed to attack Captain Wilson's two nine-pounders, +and a third gun, which had all three been advanced on to within a +short distance of the gate. During this time Captain Barlow was +throwing shells into both forts from his position to the west of +Munmutpore. The subahdar-major had command of the advanced party in +charge of Captain Wilson's three guns. He charged and drove back +into the fort the small party which threatened his guns, and +Captain Wilson hastily assembled all his and Captain Boileau's +force, and followed to support the subahdar-major. Finding his +officers and men all excited and anxious to push on into the fort, +Captain Wilson unfortunately yielded to the impulse, and entered +the outer gate with one of his two nine-pounders, in the hope of +taking the place by a <i>coup-de-main</i>.</p> +<p>The garrison all retired into the citadel as he entered, and +kept up a distressing fire upon the assailants as they went along +the narrow passage between the bamboo fence and the ditch in search +of a way into the citadel. Several rounds were fired from the gun, +in the hope of making a breach in the wall, but the balls +penetrated and lodged midway in the wall, without bringing down any +part of it; and musketry was altogether useless against a thick +parapet with loopholes, so slender on the outside and so wide +within. The huts, which might have sheltered officers and men, were +set fire to by accident, and tended to increase the confusion. The +entrance to the citadel was over a narrow mud causeway, which the +garrison had not had time to remove; but it was hidden from the +assailants by a projection which they could not attain, and the men +began to fall fast before the fire from the loopholes of the +parapet.</p> +<p>On hearing the firing on Captain Wilson's side, the officers +commanding the troops on the other three sides, commenced their +attack on the nearest and seemingly weakest points, as before +directed. Captain Barlow lost some men in an unsuccessful attempt +to enter the fort of Munmutpore on the west side; but the auxiliary +force of Nawab Allee effected an entrance on the east side of that +fort. They were, however, arrested by the second ditch within, in +the same manner as Captain Wilson's force had been, and a good many +men were shot down in the same manner, in attempting to get over +it. The force under Sufshikum Khan, on the east side of Bhetae, +effected an entrance, but was arrested by the second ditch in the +same manner, and lost many men. The enemy in Bhetae had eleven men +killed and nineteen wounded, a good many of them from the shells +thrown in by Captain Barlow. The loss of the enemy in Munmutpore +was never ascertained.</p> +<p>After Captain Wilson had been engaged within the wall about +three-quarters of an hour, and the ammunition of the gun had become +exhausted. Lieutenant Elderton, who had behaved with great +gallantry during the whole scene, and was standing in advance with +Captain Boileau, received a shot in the neck, and fell dead by his +side. Having lost so many men and officers in fruitless efforts to +penetrate into the citadel, and seeing no prospect of carrying the +place by remaining longer under the fire from the parapet, Captains +Wilson and Boileau drew off their parties; but the bullocks which +drew the gun had been all killed or wounded, and they were obliged +to leave it behind with the bodies of the killed. The men attempted +to draw off the gun; but so many were shot down from above that it +was deemed prudent to abandon it. About midnight both garrisons +vacated the forts, and retired unmolested through the jungle to the +eastward, where Ghalib Jung's troops had been posted. There is good +ground to believe that he connived at their escape, and purposely +held back from the attack as a traitor in connivance with some +influential persons in the Durbar.</p> +<p>The 10th Native Infantry had one European officer, Lieutenant +Elderton, ten sipahees, and one calashee, killed; five native +officers and twenty-two privates, wounded.</p> +<p>The 2nd Oude Local Infantry, six sipahees, and one calashee, +killed; and seven native officers and thirteen privates, +wounded.</p> +<p>The artillery had one native officer and nine privates +wounded.</p> +<p>This reverse arose from the commandant's yielding to the +impetuosity of his officers and sipahees, and attempting to take by +a rush a strong fort whose defences he had never examined and knew +nothing whatever about, as he had never before seen any place of +the kind, or had one described to him. He and all his men had +courage in abundance, but they wanted prudence.</p> +<p>Gunga Buksh and his son, Runjeet Sing, were afterwards taken, +convicted before the highest tribunal in Oude, of the murder of the +twenty-seven persons in Dewa, in October, 1849, and executed on the +18th of September, 1850. Thakur Purshad and his cousin, Bhugwunt +Sing, remained at large, and at the head of their gang of robbers +continued to plunder the country, and levy blackmail from +landholders and village communities till the 1st of February 1851, +though pressed by a force of one thousand infantry, fifty troopers, +and some ten guns. On the morning of that day, Captain Hearsey, +commanding a detachment of the Oude Frontier Police, who had been +ordered to co-operate with this force in putting down this gang, +took advantage of a dense fog, fell upon them, and with the loss of +one non-commissioned officer killed, and three non-commissioned +officers and three sipahees wounded, killed one of the chief +leaders, Bhugwunt Sing, and twenty-two of their followers, wounded +many more, and took eight prisoners, among them the son of the +leader Bhugwunt Sing. The other two leaders, Thakur Purshad and +Keerut Sing, were bathing at the time in the river Goomtee, and +escaped by swimming across.</p> +<p>Rajah Bukhtawur Sing declares, that the taking of daughters from +families of this caste by Rajpoots is one of the punishments +inflicted upon them for the murder of their own. They will not +condescend to give daughters in marriage to such persons; and they +take daughters from them merely to get their money, and assistance +on emergency in resisting the Government, and murdering and +plundering its subjects.</p> +<p>This part of Oude, comprising the districts of Dureeabad +Rudowlee, Ramnuggur Dhumeree, Dewa Jahangeerabad, Jugdispoor, and +Hydergur, has more mud forts than any other, though they abound in +all parts; and the greater part of them are garrisoned in the same +way by gangs of robbers. It is worth remarking, that the children +in the villages hereabout play at fortification as a favourite +amusement, each striving to excel the others in the ingenuity of +his defences. They all seem to feel that they must some day have to +take a part in defending such places against the King's troops; and +their parents seem to encourage the feeling. The real mud forts are +concealed from sight in beautiful clusters of bamboos or other +evergreen jungle, so that the passer-by can see nothing of them. +Some of them are exceedingly strong, against troops unprovided with +mortars and shells. The garrison is easily shelled out by a small +force, or starved out by a large one; but one should never attempt +to breach them with round shot, or take them by an escalade or a +rush.</p> +<p>It is still more worthy of remark, that these great landholders, +who have recently acquired their possessions by the plunder and +murder of their weaker neighbours, and who continue their system of +pillage, in order to acquire the means to maintain their gangs, and +add to these possessions, are those who are most favoured at Court, +and most conciliated by the local rulers; because they are more +able and more willing than others to pay for the favours of the +one, and set at defiance the authority of the other. They often get +their estates transferred from the jurisdiction of the local +governors to that of the person in charge of the Hozoor Tuhseel at +Lucknow. Almost all the estates of this family of Rawuts have been +so transferred.</p> +<p>Local governors cannot help seeing or hearing of the atrocities +they commit, and feeling some <i>sympathy</i> with the sufferers; +or at least some apprehension, that they may lose revenue by their +murder, and the absorption of their estate; but the officer in +charge of the Hozoor Tuhseel sees or hears little of what they do, +and cares nothing about the sufferers as long as their despoilers +pay him liberally. If the local governor reports their atrocities +to Government, this person represents it as arising solely from +enmity; and describes the sufferers as lawless characters, whom it +is meritorious to punish. If the Court attempts to punish or coerce +such characters, he gives them information, and does all he can to +frustrate the attempt. If they are taken and imprisoned, he soon +gets them released; and if their forts and strongholds have been +taken and pulled down, he sells them the privilege of rebuilding or +repairing them. It is exceedingly difficult at all times, and often +altogether impossible, to get one of these robber landholders +punished, or effectually put down, so many and so formidable are +the obstacles thrown in the way by the Court favourite, who has +charge of the Hozoor Tuhseel, and their other friends at the +capital. Those who suffer from their crimes have seldom any chance +of redress. Having lost their all, they are no longer in a +condition to pay for it; and without payment nothing can be got +from the Court of Lucknow.</p> +<p><i>February</i> 23, 1850.—Badoosura, ten miles south-east +over a plain covered with rich crops and fine foliage; soil muteear +generally, but in some parts doomut; tillage excellent. Passed over +some more sites of Bhur towns. The Oude territory abounds with +these sites, but nothing seems to be known of the history of the +people to whom they belonged. They seem to have been systematically +extirpated by the Mahommedan conquerors in the early part of the +fourteenth century. All their towns seem to have been built of +burnt brick, while none of the towns of the present day are so. +There are numerous wells still in use, which were formed by them of +the finest burnt brick and cement; and the people tell me that +others of the same kind are frequently discovered in ploughing over +fields. I have heard of no arms, coins, or utensils peculiar to +them having been discovered, though copper sunuds, or deeds of +grant from the Rajahs of Kunoje, to other people in Oude, six +hundred years ago, have been found. The Bhurs must have formed town +and village communities in this country at a very remote period, +and have been a civilized people, though they have not left a name, +date, or legend inscribed upon any monument. Brick ruins of forts, +houses, and wells, are the only relics to be found of these people. +Some few of the caste are still found in the humblest grade of +society as cultivators, police officers, &c., in Oude and other +districts north of the Ganges. Up to the end of the thirteenth +century their sovereignty certainly extended over what are now +called the Byswara and Banoda districts; and Sultanpore, under some +other name, appears to have been their capital. It was taken and +destroyed early in the fourteenth century by Allah-od Deen, Sultan +of Delhi, or by one of his generals, and named Sultanpore. Chandour +was another great town of these Bhurs. I am not aware of any +temples having been found to indicate their creed.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The Bhur Goojurs must, I conclude, have been of the same +race.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The landholders, who have become leaders of gang-robbers, are +more numerous here than in any other part of Oude that I have seen, +save Bangur: but they are not here, as there, so strongly +federated. The Amil is so weak, that, in despair, he connives at +their atrocities and usurpations as the only means of collecting +the Government revenue, and filling his own pockets. The pausee +bowmen are here much more formidable than they are even in Bangur. +There they thieve, and join the gangs of the refractory +landholders; but here they have powerful leaders of their own +tribe, and form formidable independent gangs. They sometimes attack +and plunder villages, and spare neither age nor sex. They have some +small strongholds in which they assemble from different villages +over pitchers of spirits, made from the fruit of the mhowa tree, +and purchased for them by their leaders; and, having determined +upon what villages to attack, proceed at once to work before they +get sober. Every town and village through which we pass has +suffered more or less from their atrocities, and the people are in +a continual state of dread.</p> +<p>In 1843, the pausees, who resided in the village of Chindwara, +in the Dewa district, ran off to avoid being held responsible for +the robbery of a merchant in the neighbourhood. They were pacified +and brought back; but the landholder was sorely pressed by the +Government collector to pay up his balance of revenue, and he, in +turn, pressed the pausees to pay up the balances due by them for +rents. They ran off again, but their families were retained by the +landholder. The pausees gathered together all of their clan that +they could muster from the surrounding villages, attacked the +landholder's house, killed his mother, wife, four of his nephews, +the wife of one of his nephews, two of the King's sipahees who +attempted to defend them, and several of the landholder, Yakoob +Husun's, servants, and plundered him of everything he had. The +landlord himself happened to be absent on business, and was the +only one of the family who escaped. In all twenty-nine persons were +murdered by the pausees on that occasion. They were all permitted +to come back and settle in the village, as if nothing had happened; +the village was made over to another, and Yakoob Husun has ever +since been supplicating in vain for redress at the King's gate.</p> +<p>About three miles from Badoosura, we passed from the Ramnuggur +district into that of Dureeabad Rodowlee; but the above description +is applicable to both, though in a somewhat less degree to +Ramnuggur than to Dureeabad. It is equally applicable to the Dewa +district, which we left on our right yesterday, midway between our +road and Lucknow. There Gunga Buksh Chowdheree and his relatives +have large gangs engaged in plundering towns, and seizing upon the +lands of their weaker and more scrupulous neighbours. In the +Dureeabad district, the leaders of gangs are chiefly of the +Behraleea tribe of Rajpoots, so called after the district of +Behralee, in which they reside.</p> +<p>I this morning asked Nowsing, a landholder of the Rykwar Rajpoot +clan, who came to me, in sorrow, to demand redress for grievous +wrongs, whether he did not think that all the evils they suffered +arose from murdering their female infants. "No, sir, I do not." +"But the greater part of the Rajpoot families do still murder them, +do they not?" "Yes, sir, they still destroy them; and we believe +that the father who preserves a daughter will never live to see her +suitably married, or that the family into which she does marry will +perish or be ruined." "Do you recollect any instances of this?" +"Yes, sir, my uncle, Dureeao, preserved a daughter, but died before +he could see her married; and my father was obliged to go to the +cost of getting her married into a Chouhan family at Mynpooree, in +the British territory. My grandfather, Nathoo, and his brother, +Rughonath, preserved each a daughter, and married them into the +same Chouhan families of Mynpooree. These families all became +ruined; and their lands were sold by auction; and the three women +returned upon us, one having two sons and a daughter, and another +two sons. We maintained them for some years with difficulty, but +this year, seeing the disorder that prevailed around us, they all +went back to the families of their husbands. It is the general +belief among us, sir, that those who preserve their daughters never +prosper, and that the families into which we marry them are equally +unfortunate."</p> +<p>"Then you think that it is a duty imposed upon you from above to +destroy your infant daughters, and that the neglect and disregard +of that duty bring misfortunes upon you?" "We think it must be so, +sir, with regard to our own families or clan."</p> +<p>I am satisfied that these notions were honestly expressed, +however strange they may appear to others. Habit has brutalized +them, or rendered them worse than brutes in regard to their female +offspring. They derive profit, or save expense and some +mortification, by destroying them, and readily believe anything +that can tend to excuse the atrocity to themselves or to others. +The facility with which men and women persuade themselves of a +religious sanction for what they wish to do, however cruel and +iniquitous, is not, unhappily, peculiar to any class or to any +creed. These Rajpoots know that the crime is detestable, not only +to the few Christians they meet, but to all Mahommedans, and to +every other class of Hindoos among whom they live and move. But the +Rajpoots, among whom alone this crime prevails, are the dominant +class in Oude; and they can disregard the feelings and opinions of +the people around them with impunity. The greater part of the land +is held by them, and in the greater part of the towns and villages +their authority is paramount.</p> +<p>Industry is confined almost exclusively to agriculture. They +have neither merchants nor manufacturers to form, or aid in +forming, a respectable and influential middle class; and the public +officers of the state they look upon as their natural and +irreconcileable enemies. When the aristocracy of Europe buried +their daughters alive in nunneries, the state of society was much +the same as it now is in Oude. The King has prohibited both +infanticide and suttee. The latter being essentially a public +exhibition, the local authorities have continued, in great measure, +to put down; but the former was certainly never more common than it +is at present, for the Rajpoot landholders were never before more +strong and numerous. That suttees were formerly very numerous in +Oude is manifest from the numerous suttee tombs we see in the +vicinity of every town and almost every village; but the Rajpoots +never felt much interested in them; they were not necessary either +to their pride or purse.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Suttee, infanticide, suicide, the maiming of any one, or +making any one an eunuch, were all prohibited by the King of Oude, +on the 15th of May, 1833, as reported to Government by the Resident +on the 6th November, 1834. These prohibitions were reported to the +Resident, by the King, on the 14th of June, 1833.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>February 24th</i>, 1850.—Dureeabad, ten miles +south-east, over a plain of good soil—doomut and +mutteear—covered with the same rich crops and fine foliage. +There is at present no other district in Oude abounding so much in +gang robbery and other crime as this of Dureeabad Rodoulee, in +which the Amil, Girdhara Sing, is notoriously conniving at these +crimes from a consciousness of utter inability to contend with the +landholders who commit them, or employ men to commit them. Yet he +has at his disposal a force that ought to be sufficient to keep in +order a district five times as large. He has the Jannissar +battalion of nujeebs, under Seetla Buksh at present; the Zoolfukar +Sufderee battalion of nujeebs, under Bhow-od Dowlah, who never +leaves Court; and the Judeed, or new regiment, consisting of a +thousand men. He has nine guns, and a squadron of horse. Of the +guns, five are on the ground, utterly useless; four will bear +firing a few rounds. For these four he has bullocks, but they are +not yet in condition. Of the seer and half of corn, drawn for each +bullock per diem, only half a seer is given. Of the corps, more +than one-half of the men are at Lucknow, in attendance upon Court +favourites; and of the half present not one-third are fit for the +work of soldiers.</p> +<p>The Amil rode by my side, and I asked him about the case of the +marriage-procession. "Sir," said he, "what you heard from Seoraj-od +Deen is all true. Imam Buksh had a strong fort in his estate of +Ouseyree, five miles to our right, where he had a formidable gang, +that committed numerous dacoitees and highway robberies in the +country around. I was ordered to attack him with all my force. He +got intimation, and assembled his friends to the number of five +thousand. I had not half the number. We fought till he lost seventy +men, and I had thirty killed and fifteen wounded. He then fled to +the jungles, and I levelled his fort with the ground. He continued, +however, to plunder, and at last seized the bridegroom and all the +marriage party, and took them to his bivouac in the jungles. The +family was very respectable, and made application to me, and I was +obliged to restore him to his estate, where he has lived ever since +in peace. I attacked him in November 1848, and he took off the +marriage party in February following." "But," said a poor hackery +driver, who was running along by my side, and had yesterday +presented me a petition, "you forgot to get back my two carts and +bullocks which he still keeps, and uses for his own purpose, though +I have been importuning you ever since." "And what did he do to you +when he got you into the jungles?" "He tied up and flogged all who +seemed respectable, and worth something—such as merchants and +shopkeepers—and poked them with red-hot ramrods till they paid +all they could get, and promised to use all the influence and wealth +of their families to force the Amil to restore him to his estate on +his own terms." "And were the parties married after their release?" +"Yes, sir, we were released in April, after the Amil had been made +to consent to his terms; and they were married in May; but I could +not get back my two carts." "And on what terms did you restore this +Imam Buksh to his estate?" "I granted him a lease, sir," said the +Amil, "at the same rate of five thousand rupees a-year which he had +paid before."*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* This Imam Buksh, in April, 1850, went in disguise to the +annual fair held at Bahraetch, in honour of the old saint. He was +recognized by some of Captain Bunbury's soldiers, who attempted to +seize him. He was armed with sword, spear, and shield, and defended +himself as long as he could. Seeing no chance of escape, he plunged +both sword and spear into his own belly, and died, though Captain +Bunbury came up, had his wounds sewn up, and did all he could to +save him.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Stopping to talk with the peasantry of a village who had come +out to the roadside to pay their respects and see the procession, I +asked them how, amidst such crimes and disorders, they could +preserve their crops so well. "Sir," said they, "we find it very +difficult and expensive to do so, and shall find it still more so +when the crops are cut and stacked, or have been threshed and +stored; then these gangs of robbers have it all their own way, and +burn and plunder all over the country; we are obliged to spend all +we have in maintaining watchmen for our fields." "But the pausee +bowmen have an allowance for this duty, have they not?" "Yes, sir, +they have all an allowance. Every cultivator, when he cuts his +crop, leaves a certain portion standing for the pausee who has +guarded it, and this we call his <i>Bisar</i>. Over and above this +he has a portion of land from the proprietor or holder of the +village, which he tills himself or gets tilled by others." "And +they are strong and faithful watchmen, are they not?" "Yes, sir, +they are; and though they will thieve and join gangs of robbers in +any enterprise, they will never betray their trust. They consider +it a <i>point of honour</i> not to trespass on fields or property +under the guardianship of members of their own class with whom they +are on good terms, or to suffer any persons whatever to trespass on +what is under their own care. The money which we send to the +treasuries is commonly intrusted to pausees, and their fidelity and +courage may be relied upon. The gang robbers do little injury to +our fields while the crops are green, for they take animals of +hardly any kind with them in their enterprises; and having to move +to and from their points of attack as quickly as possible, they +could carry little of our crops with them; they are, too, afraid of +the arrows of the pausee bowmen at night, if they venture to +trespass upon our fields." "And are these pausee bowmen paid at the +rate you mention all over the country?" "No, sir; they are in some +parts paid in what is called the beega arhaeya, or two seers and +half of grain from every beega. From a pucka beega they get pucka +two and half seers; and from a kutcha beega, a kutcha two and half +seers."* "Your crops, my friends, are finer than I have ever before +seen them in Oude." "Yes, sir, they are very fine; but how we shall +gather them God only knows, with such gangs of desperate robbers +all around us. The alarm is sounded every night, and we have no +rest. The Government authorities are too weak to protect us, or too +indifferent to our sufferings; and we cannot afford to provide the +means to protect ourselves."</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The kutcha measure bears the same relation to the pucka in +weight as in land measurement.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>As we went on, I asked the Amil what had become of Ahburun Sing, +of Kyampore, the landholder who murdered his father to get +possession of his estate, as mentioned in the early part of this +Diary. "Ahburun Sing, sir, is still in possession of his estate of +Kyampore, and manages it exceedingly well." "I thought he had taken +to the jungles with his gang, like the rest of his class after such +a crime, in order to reduce you to terms?" "It was his father, sir, +Aman Sing, that was doing this. He was the terror of the country; +neither road nor village was safe from him. He murdered many +people, and plundered and burnt down many villages; and all my +efforts to put him down were vain. At last I came to an +understanding with his eldest son, who remained at home in the +management of the estate, and was on bad terms with his father. He +had confidential persons always about his father for his own +safety; and when he was one night off his guard, he went at the +head of a small band of resolute men, and seized him. He kept him +in prison for six months, and told me that while so much plunder +was going on around, he did not feel secure of keeping his father a +single night; that many of his old followers wanted him back as +their leader, and would certainly rescue him if he was not disposed +of; that he could not put him to death, lest he should be detested +by his clan as a parricide; but if I would make a feigned attack on +the fort, he would kill him, and make it appear that he had lost +his life in the defence of it. I moved with all the force I had +against the fort, discharged many guns against the walls, made a +feigned attempt at escalade; and in the midst of the confusion +<i>Aman Sing was killed</i>. As soon as this was done, I returned +with my force; the son remained in possession of the estate, and +all the surrounding country was delighted to hear that so atrocious +a character had been got rid of."</p> +<p>This was all true, and the Amil did not seem to think that any +one who listened to him could suppose that he had done anything +dishonourable in all this: he seemed to think that all must feel as +he did, seeing his utter inability to cope with these baronial +robbers in any other way, and the evils they every day inflicted +upon the people. This Aman Sing was the most formidable of these +robbers in this district, and the high road from Lucknow to Fyzabad +was for some time closed by his gang. Of those whom he robbed, he +used to murder all who appeared likely to be able to get a hearing +at Court or at the Residency.</p> +<p>The Behraleea Rajpoots, of the Soorujpore Behreyla purgunna, are +now the most formidable and inveterate robbers and plunderers in +the district. The Rajah of this estate, Singjoo, was for some years +the most formidable robber in Oude. He had taken a dislike to the +family of a sipahee of the Governor-General's bodyguard; and, in an +evil hour, he buried the sipahee's father, and some members of his +family, alive. Strong remonstrances were made through the Resident, +and Man Sing, the son of Dursan Sing, who has been already +mentioned in this diary, had orders to seize him. In March, 1845, +he made a march of forty miles at the head of five hundred active +and brave men; and, on the night of the 20th of that month, reached +the gate of the fort of Soorujpore, broke it open, entered, killed +and wounded fifty of the Rajah's men, and lost five of his own.</p> +<p>The Rajah escaped and took shelter in the fort of Goura. After +taking possession of the fort, eight guns, and some elephants, and +releasing two hundred unhappy prisoners, Man Sing followed the +Rajah to Goura, where he was joined by Captain Magness and his +corps. The gate of this fort was giving way before Man Sing's +pickaxemen, when Singjoo surrendered. He was taken to Lucknow, and +there died in gaol. The village, in which his father had been +buried alive, Hukkamee, was given to the sipahee, and is still held +by the family;* but they are a good deal worried in the possession +by the widow of the old Rajah, who still lives at Soorujpore, and +would be as formidable as her late husband was if she could.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* In the interval, during which Singjoo held this village, he +had added to its boundaries a good deal of land belonging to +himself and others, under the impression that he was secure in the +hereditary possession. The sipahee's family seized upon all these +lands, while they paid Government only the old rate of revenue. The +widow of Singjoo has been ever since trying to recover them, in the +usual way, by night attacks, and a good many lives have been lost +on both sides, but most on the side of the sipahee's family. +December 4th, 1851.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Seodeen, another leader of the same tribe, had been seized in +the same manner by Man Sing's father, Dursun Sing, in October, +1830; and soon after three of his nephews were seized, and all four +died in gaol at Lucknow; but Chunda and Indul, the brothers of +these three men, are still among the most formidable robbers of the +district. Hardly a night passes without their plundering some +village or other, though Chunda continues to hold his estate, which +yields 2250 rupees a-year, under the security of Seetla Buksh, the +commandant of the Jannissaree battalion, for the payment of four +hundred and fifty rupees a-year. The other robbers of the Dureeabad +Rodowlee district, most formidable, are—</p> +<p>1. Imambuksh, above described, as having seized the marriage +party. In October last he attacked the town of Syud Mahomedpore, +killed three of the Syud proprietors, and plundered it of all he +could find. In the interval between his being driven out of his +stronghold and restored, he attacked and plundered no less than +twelve villages, in the same purgunna of Bussooree Mowae. In one of +them, Myrmow, belonging to Ameer Chowdheree, he killed no less than +twelve of the inhabitants. He still keeps up his gang, and +plunders, though restored to his estate on his own terms.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The death of this robber, Imam Buksh, has been already +described in a note.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>2. Junuck Sing, Behraleea, and his brother, Jeskurun, only +twenty days ago, attacked, plundered, and burnt down the town of +Meeangunge, through which we passed this morning, and carried off +all the inhabitants from whom they thought they could extort any +ransom. Only two days ago, they attacked and plundered the village +of Bhojpore, belonging to Soorujbulee Canoongo, one of the most +respectable men in the district; and cut off the hands of six +persons, one of whom died from loss of blood. The next day they +attacked and plundered Gorawa, a village belonging to the same +person, and burnt it down. Two of the inhabitants were severely +wounded, and many bullocks perished in the flames. Within the last +year they have taken off more than two thousand head of cattle from +the purgunna of Soorujpore Behreyla, in which these villages are +situated. Their chief associates in the crimes they commit every +day are Chunda and Indul, their clansmen above named.</p> +<p>3. Daood Khan, zumeendar of Sundona, in Mowae Bussooree. He has +murdered several of his co-sharers in the estate, and taken their +lands—frightened out others, and taken theirs, and at the +head of his band of ruffians he robs on the highway, and plunders +villages.</p> +<p>4. Benee Sing Kana, Rajpoot of Deeh, in the Mohlara purgunna. He +is blind of one eye, and has a small but formidable gang. In +November, 1850, the native collector of Mohlara, sent a detachment +of one hundred men, accompanied by Seonath Sing, a co-sharer of +Benee Sing, in the village of Deeh, and Oree Sing, a sipahee, in +Captain Orr's Frontier Police, to attack his small gang in their +stronghold at Atgowa, in the Rodowlee purgunna. They reached the +place at the dawn of day, and forthwith commenced the attack. Benee +Sing and his men made a stoat defence. Rajah Man Sing came up, and +great numbers of the armed peasantry joined in the attack. They +took the place about nine o'clock; but Benee Sing, with fourteen of +his stoutest men, defended his house as a citadel till morning, +when the house was set fire to by the assailants. One of the +fourteen was burnt and disabled, when Benee Sing and the remaining +thirteen rushed out, sword in hand, to sell their lives as dearly +as possible. Benee Sing and twelve of the thirteen were killed; and +the thirteenth at last threw down his arms, and called for quarter. +He got it, and was saved. Six of his men had before been killed in +defending the place. Man Sing had three men wounded and one killed; +three more of the assailants were killed, and seven wounded. The +head of the "one-eyed robber" was sent in to the king, and was +received with much joy.</p> +<p>5. Jeskurun Behraleea, zumeendar of Kiteya, in Soorujpore.</p> +<p>6. Rughbur Behraleea, of Kiteya, an associate of Imam Buksh and +Chunda. Four months ago his gang seized two carts laden with +valuable property belonging to Seodeen subahdar, of the Honourable +Company's service. Through the interposition of the Resident they +were restored fifteen days ago.</p> +<p>7. Jugurnath <i>Chuprassee</i>, a bhala soltan Rajpoot. This is +one of the most formidable of the leaders of banditti in this and +the adjoining district of Jugdeespore. He and his elder brother, +Surubdowun Sing, were chuprassees on the establishment of Captain +Paton, when he was the First Assistant at Lucknow, and had charge +of the Post-office, in addition to his other duties. A post-office +runner was one night robbed on the road, and Jugurnath was sent out +to inquire into the circumstances. The Amil of the district gave +him a large bribe to misrepresent the case to his master; and as he +refused to share this bribe with his fellow-servants, they made +known his manifold transgressions to Captain Paton, who forthwith +dismissed him. Surubdowun Sing was soon after dismissed for some +other offence, and they both retired to their estate of Oskamow, in +the Jugdeespore district.</p> +<p>This estate comprised fifteen villages. They obtained the leases +of these villages by degrees, through the influence which their +position at the Residency gave them. As soon as they got the lease +of a village, they proceeded to turn out all the old proprietors +and cultivators, in order the better to secure possession in +perpetuity; and those among them of the military class, fought "to +the death," to retain or recover possession of their rights. To +defend what they had iniquitously acquired, Jugurnath and his +brothers collected together bands of the most desperate ruffians in +the country, and located them in the several villages, so as to be +able to concentrate and support each other at a concerted signal. +The ousted proprietors attacked only those who presumed to reside +in or cultivate the lands of which they had been robbed; but +Jugurnath and his brethren were less scrupulous; and as they could +afford to pay such bands in no other way, they gave them free +licence to plunder all the villages around, and all travellers on +the highway. Their position and influence at the Residency enabled +them to deter the local authorities from exposing their iniquities; +and they went on till all the villages became waste, and converted +into dens of robbers.</p> +<p>They were, in all, six brothers, and they found their new trade +so profitable and exciting, that they all became leaders of +banditti, by profession, long before the dismissal of the two +brothers from the Residency, though no one, I believe, ventured to +prefer charges against them to the Resident or the Durbar. Soon +after their dismissal, however, Jugurnath one night attacked and +murdered his eldest brother, Surubdowun Sing, in order to get the +whole estate to himself, and put his widow and daughter into +prison. His other four brothers became alarmed, separated from him, +and set up each his separate gang. But Jugurnath contrived soon +after, in a dark night, to shoot the third brother, Himmut, dead, +with one ball through the chest. Purmode Sing, the youngest +brother, was soon after shot dead by some villager, whose cattle he +was driving off in a night attack. Bhugwunt Sing the fourth, and +Byjonath, still survive, and have gangs of their own, afraid to +trust themselves with Jugurnath, who has built two forts, Oskamow +and Futtehpore, in the Jugdeespore district, and a third in two +small villages, which he has lately seized upon and made waste, in +the Rodowlee district, in order that he may have a stronghold to +fly to when pressed by the governors of other districts.</p> +<p>They pay no rent or revenue to Government for any of the +villages they hold. The king's officers are afraid to demand any +from them. They have plundered a great many villages, and are every +month plundering others. They have murdered a great many persons of +both sexes and all ages, and tortured more into paying ransoms in +proportion to their supposed means. Jugurnath is still the terror +of the surrounding country, and a reward of five hundred rupees has +been offered for his apprehension.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* See note to Chapter VI., Vol. II., on the capture of Maheput +Sing. A reward of one thousand rupees has since been offered for +Jugurnath's arrest. See in Chapter IV., Vol. II:, an account of his +desertion of his master, Captain Paton. He is still at large, and +plundering. December 4th, 1851.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>8. Moorut Sing, of <i>Kiteya</i>, which has eleven small +villages depending upon it, all occupied by Rajpoot robbers. +Nowgowa, in Mohlara, in Rodowlee, on the left bank of the Goomtee +river, twenty miles below Lucknow, has, in the same manner, twelve +villages depending upon it, all occupied by Rajpoots, who rob, or +shelter robbers, when pursued from the east. On the opposite bank +is the village of Kholee, in the Hydergurh purgunna, held by +Surfraz Chowdheree, and occupied by Brahmans and Musulmans, who +shelter robbers in the same way. When they are pressed in Nowgowa +they take shelter in Kholee, and when pressed in Kholee they take +shelter in Nowgowa. All the robbers above named find shelter in +these villages when pursued, and share their plunder with the +inhabitants.</p> +<p>8. Bhooree Khan. The great-grandfather of Bhooree Khan, Rostam +Khan. was the leader of a large gang of Musulman freebooters. The +estate of Deogon, containing thirty-seven villages, belonged to a +family of Bys Rajpoots. Rostam Khan and his gang seized upon them +all, and turned out the Rajpoot proprietors, and by force made +three of them Musulmans, Kanhur, Bhooree, Geesee; and all their +descendants are of the same creed.</p> +<p>Imam Buksh, the father of Bhoree Khan, built a fort in Deogon, +which the <i>family</i> still held. In 1829, Rajah Dursun Sing took +the mortgage of the estate for twenty-eight thousand one hundred +and ten rupees, to enable Imam Buksh to liquidate a balance of +revenue due to Government. When the time of payment came, in 1832, +Imam Buksh could pay nothing; and he transferred the estate to +Dursun Sing, on a deed of sale or bynama. He continued to manage +the estate for Dursun Sing in farm; but, falling in balance, he was +put into confinement, where he remained till he died, three years +after, in the year 1842. Bhooree Khan was then a boy, but he +continued to receive the usual perquisites from the estate while +Dursan Sing held it. In the year 1846, the governor of the +district, Wajid Allee Khan, took the estate from Dursun Sing's +family, and made it over to Bhooree Khan for a present of five +thousand rupees. He ceased to pay the Government demand, collected +a gang, and became a leader of banditti. He plundered all the +people around, and all travellers on the road, seized and confined +all who seemed likely to be able to pay ransom, and tortured and +maimed them till they did pay; and those who could not or would not +pay, he put to cruel deaths. The thirty-six villages on his estate +became deserted by all save his followers, and those whom he could +make subservient to his purposes, as robbers and murderers.</p> +<p>Ousan Opudeea resided at the village of Etapore, in the estate +of Deogon, and possessed and cultivated lands in that and other +villages around, for which he paid an annual rent of five hundred +and ninety-nine rupees. In 1846, Bhooree Khan demanded from Ousan +an increase of one hundred and fifty rupees, which he paid. The +year after 1847, he demanded a further increase of the same amount, +which he paid. He was then summoned to appear before Bhooree Khan, +and was on his way when told that he would be seized with all his +family, and tortured. He, in consequence, took his family to the +village of Patkhoree. Bhooree Khan followed with a gang of several +hundred men, and two guns, attacked, plundered, and burnt down his +house, and fifteen bullocks and buffaloes perished in the flames. +One hundred and fifty head of cattle belonging to the village were +taken off by the gang. Dwarka, one of Ousan's sons, was killed in +defending the house; and the other two, Davey, aged sixteen, and +Seochurun, aged seventeen, were seized, bound, and taken off to the +jungle, with Ramdeen, Ousan's nephew, and many others of the +respectable inhabitants of the village. After exacting a ransom +from all the rest, he let them go; but retained the two sons of +Ousan, and demanded twelve hundred rupees for their ransom. Ousan +had lost all his property in the attack, and could raise no more +than seven hundred rupees among his relatives and friends. This +would not satisfy Bhooree Khan, who, after torturing and starving +the boys for twelve months, and taking the seven hundred rupees, +took them to the jungle of Gaemow, with fetters on their legs, and +bamboo collars round their necks. He there had them tied to trees, +and after firing at them as targets, for some time, with bows and +arrows, he had them cut to pieces with swords, and then seized upon +all the lands which their father held.</p> +<p>In 1848, Bhooree Khan attacked and plundered the house of Peer +Khan, in Khanseepoor in Deogon, and bound and carried him off with +his two brothers, Ameer Khan and Jehangeer Khan. He had them beaten +with sticks, and caused small iron spikes to be driven up under +their nails, and their eyelids to be sewn up with needle and +thread, and their beards to be burned, till he extorted from them a +ransom of eight hundred rupees.</p> +<p>While they were thus confined and being tortured, they saw four +travellers brought in by the gang, and tortured and beaten to +death, because they could not pay the ransom demanded from +them.</p> +<p>Bhoree Khan, in this month of August 1848, attacked the house of +Sirdar Khan, an invalid naek of the 36th Regiment of Bengal Native +Infantry, and, after robbing it, burnt it to the ground, and bound +and carried off to his fort in Deogon, Sirdar Khan himself and his +three sons, Khoda Buksh, Allah Buksh, and Allee Buksh; the first +fourteen years of age, the second eight, and the third seven years. +He tortured all three, and demanded a ransom of nineteen hundred +rupees. This sum was borrowed and paid by Jehangeer Khan, the +brother of the naek, and the naek was released. Bhooree Khan would +not, however, release either of the sons till he got five hundred +rupees more; but Sirdar Khan was unable to procure this further +sum, and, in April 1849, Bhooree Khan had two of the boys, Khoda +Buksh and Alla Buksh, tied to trees and shot to death with arrows, +for the amusement of his gang. They were then hacked with swords, +and their bodies were thrown into a ditch, whence he would not +permit their friends to remove them for burial. Sirdar Khan became +for a time deranged on hearing of the sufferings of his sons, and +wandered about the country. Bhooree Khan, with his gang, again +attacked the village, and burned it all down, and drove off all the +cattle, including all that Sirdar Khan possessed. He recovered, and +changed his residence to the village of Deokalee. Bhooree Khan +still retained the third son, Allee Buksh, alias Pulleen, and he is +still in prison.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The Resident effected the release of the third son, Allee +Buksh, in January, 1851, through the aid of Captain Orr, of the +Frontier Police.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Sirdar Khan's ancestors were the Rajpoot proprietors of the +estate of Deogon, and were forcibly converted to Mahommedanism by +Bhooree Khan's ancestors when they seized upon the estate. Sirdar +Khan cultivated eighteen beegahs of land in the village of +Salteemow, in Deogon, for which he had long paid thirty-six rupees +a year rent. Bhooree Khan demanded sixty-five a-year before the +attack, and this sum Sirdar Khan paid, but it had no effect in +softening the robber leader.</p> +<p>In the year 1847, soon after he took possession of the estate, +Bhooree Khan sent a gang under the command of his cousin, Mungul +Khan, to attack the house of Dulla, the most opulent and +respectable merchant of the district, who resided in the town of +Mukdoompore. Dulla had two sons, Nychint and Pursun Sing. After +plundering the house, the gang seized Dulla, his son Nychint, +Golbay the son of Pursun Sing, and Ajoodheea the son of Nychint. +Pursun Sing, the other son of the old merchant, had gone off to the +Governor of the district, Rajah Incha Sing. to adjust his annual +accounts. The females of the family got out through the back-door +of the female apartments, and escaped to the village of Etwara, in +the Jugdeespore district, where they had a residence. All the +valuables had been buried in a pit in the house, some ten feet +deep, and the females had no time to take them up.</p> +<p>The old man, his son Nychint, and his two sons, were sent off to +Bhooree Khan, who, on learning that the valuables had not been +found, came with fifty more armed men, accompanied by Baboo Mudar +Buksh, the tallookdar of Silha in Jugdispore, his own agent +Muheput, and a Brahmin prisoner named Cheyn, who knew Dulla, and +the wealth he possessed. He brought with him the merchant's son +Nychint, and commanded him to point out the place in which the +valuables lay concealed. He would not do so, and Bhooree Khan then +drove four tent-pins into the ground in the courtyard, placed +Nychint on his face, and tied his hands and feet to these pegs. He +then had him burnt into the bones with red-hot ramrods, but the +young man still persisted in his refusal. He had then oil boiled in +a large brass pot which they found in the house, and poured it over +him till all the skin of his body came off. He became insensible +for a time, and when he recovered his senses he pointed out the +spot. Gold and silver ornaments and clothes of great value, and +brass utensils belonging to the family, or held as pledges for +money due to the old man, were taken up, with one hundred and fifty +matchlocks and the same number of swords. They found also many +pits, containing several thousand maunds of grain. The valuables, +and as much of the grain as he could find carriage for, Bhooree +Khan and his gang carried off, and the rest of the grain he gave to +any one who would take it. The value of the whole plunder was +estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand rupees.</p> +<p>Nychint was unbound, but died that night, and the body was made +over to the Brahmin, Cheyn, who had now become a Mussulman. He took +it to the jungle, where he had it burnt with the usual ceremonies. +Bhooree Khan still detained Ajodheea, the son of Nychint, and +Golbay, the son of Pursun Sing, and demanded a further ransom for +them, but he released Dulla, who came home and died of grief and of +the tortures inflicted upon him in less than a month after. Cheyn, +Dabey Sookul, and Forsut, all Brahmins of Mukdoompoor, were +witnesses to the tortures inflicted upon Nychint, and to the +plunder of the house. He kept Dulla's grandsons for a year more, +with occasional tortures, but the surviving son, Pursun Sing, had +nothing more to give, and no one would give or lend him anything. +Golbay, his son, at last contrived to get a letter conveyed to him, +stating that he was now less carefully guarded than he had been; +that he and his cousin, Ajodheea, were sent to take their meals +with a bearer, who lived in a hamlet on the border of the jungle, +where they were guarded by only four pausee bowmen, and if his +father could come with fifty armed men, and surprise them at a +certain hour, he might rescue them. He assembled fifty men from +surrounding villages, and at the appointed time, before daybreak, +he surprised the guard, and rescued his son and nephew.</p> +<p>Gunga Purshad, son of Chob Sing, canoongo of Silha, in Deogon, +left the place when Bhooree Khan took to plundering, and went off, +in 1847, with his family to reside at Budulgur, a village held by +Allee Buksh, a mile distant. A month after he had settled in that +place, Bhooree Khan came with his gang, surrounded his house at +night, plundered it, and seized and took off his brother, Bhowanee +Purshad, two younger brothers, and his, Gunga Purshad's, daughter +and son, with Gowree Lall and Gunesh Purshad, his relations, who +had come on a visit to congratulate him on the prudence of his +change of residence. Gunga Purshad was absent at the time on +business. All the prisoners were taken to the jungles and tortured +with red-hot iron ramrods, and put into heavy fetters. He demanded +a ransom of nine hundred and fifty rupees for all. Gunga Purshad +sold all he had except some cows and bullocks, and collected four +hundred rupees, and his relation's clubbed together and raised one +hundred more. The five hundred were sent to Bhooree Khan, and he +took them and released all but Bhowanee Purshad. His two younger +brothers collected the cows and bullocks, and went with them to +Mukdoompoor, in the hope of being allowed to till their lands; but +Bhooree Khan and his gang came, seized and sold all the cows and +bullocks they had saved, plundered them of everything, and took +their lands from them. They all fled once more, and went to reside +at Putgowa. At Mukdoompoor, Bhooree Khan had Bhowanee Purshad +flogged so severely that he fell down insensible, and he then had +red-hot iron spikes thrust into his eyes, and a few days after he +died in confinement of his sufferings. The value of the property +taken from the family, besides the five hundred rupees' ransom, was +one thousand rupees. He, about the same time, seized and carried +off from Mukdoompoor Gunga Sookul, a Brahmin, tortured him to +death, and threw his body into the river.</p> +<p>About the same time, August 1847, he seized and carried off +Cheyn, a Brahmin of Mukdoompoor, son of Bhowanee Buksh. He had come +to him to pay the year's rent for the lands he held in that +village. After paying his own rents and those of others who were +afraid to put themselves into Bhooree Khan's power, and had sent by +Cheyn all that was due, he demanded from him a ransom of four +hundred rupees. He could give no more, and was put under a guard +and tortured in the usual way. As he persisted in declaring his +inability to pay more, a necklace of cow's bones was put round his +neck, and one of the bones was thrust into his mouth, and the blood +of a cow was thrown over him, from which he became for ever an +outcast from his religion. He expected to be put to death, but a +friend conveyed to him the sum of ten rupees, which he gave to the +robbers employed to torture him, and they spared his life. His son +had taken shelter in the village of Pallee, whence he sent a pausee +bowman, named Bhowaneedeen, to inquire after <i>him</i>, and +offered him ninety rupees if he would rescue his father. The pausee +pledged himself to Bhooree Khan to pay the money punctually, and +Cheyn was released. But Bhooree Khan had cut down all the crops +upon the lands, and taken them away, and cut down also the five +mango-trees which stood upon his land and had been planted by his +ancestors. During his confinement, Cheyn saw Bhooree Khan torture +and murder many men, and dishonour many respectable women, whom he +had seized in the same way.</p> +<p>In the same month, August 1847, Bhooree Khan seized Sudhae, the +son of Tubbur Khan, of Salteemow, in Deogon, and his (Sudhae's) two +sons, Surufraz and Meerun Buksh, and took them to the jungle. +Sadhae had paid him the eighty rupees rent due for the land he +tilled, but Bhooree Khan demanded one hundred rupees more; and when +he could not pay he made him over to the Jumogdar, to whom he had +become pledged for the payment of a certain sum. The Jumogdar had +him beaten till he saw that nothing could be beaten out of him, +when he let him go to save the cost of keeping him. Bhooree Khan +became very angry, and, with his gang, attacked and plundered the +house of Sudhae's brother, Badul Khan, in Salteemow, with whom +Sudhae lived. The two brothers and their families expected this +attack, and escaped unhurt, and fled, but they lost all their +property.</p> +<p>Bhooree Khan then ordered one of his followers, Mirdae, to take +Surufraz to a tank outside the village and cut off his nose. He +took out at the same time Bukhtawur, a Brahmin, and cut off his +nose first. Mirdae then ordered a Chumar, of Deogon, to cut off the +nose of Surafraz, and standing over him with a sword, told him to +cut it off deep into the bone. Surufraz prayed hard for mercy, +first to Bhooree Khan and then to Mirdae; but his prayers were +equally disregarded by both. The Chumar cut off his nose with a +rude instrument into the bone, and with it-all his upper lip. He +was then let go; but he fell down, after going a little distance, +from pain and the loss of blood, and was there found by his uncle, +Badul Khan, who had gone in search of him. He was taken home, but +died the same night. His brother, Meerun Buksh, was soon after +released for a ransom of fifty rupees.</p> +<p>Golzar Khan, sipahee of the Dull Regiment, in the King of Oude's +service, tilled some lands in the village of Mukdoompore, for which +he paid rent to Bhooree Khan. In 1847 he first extorted from him +double the rent agreed upon, then seized all the crops, and +plundered his house, and lastly seized the sipahee's sister, and +had her forcibly married to his servant and relative, Mungul +Khan.</p> +<p>In 1846 Bhooree Khan attacked the house of Allah Buksh of +Gaemow, in Deogon, plundered it, killed his brother, Meerun Buksh, +cut off the hands of his relative, Peer Buksh, and wounded three +other relatives who happened at the time to be on a visit with his +family. The articles of property that were taken off by Bhooree +Khan and his gang consisted of five horses and mares, fifteen +matchlocks, four maunds of brass utensils, three hundred and +twenty-five maunds of grain, five swords, four boxes of clothes, +fifteen cows and bullocks, five hundred and forty rupees in money. +The houses of all the rest of the village community were plundered +in the same manner. They cut down all the mango and mhowa trees +belonging to the family, as well as all those belonging to other +people of the village.</p> +<p>In 1847 he attacked the house of Akber Khan, in the village of +Kanderpore, in Deogon; and after plundering it, he bound and +carried off his son, Rumzam, a lad of fifteen years of age; and the +year after, 1848, he again attacked his house, and seized and took +off his brother, Wuzeer Khan. He has them still in confinement +under torture, because Akber Khan cannot get the sum demanded for +their ransom; and all applications for their release to the +Government authorities have been disregarded.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The Resident could not effect the release of these two +persons, the son and brother of Akber Khan, till January, +1851.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In the month of August, 1848, Pransook, a Rajpoot, and Lullut +Sing, his cousin, of Booboopore, in Rodowlee, went to purchase a +supply of bhoosa for their cattle to Mukdoompore, in the Deogon +estate, and were there seized by Aman Sing, an agent of Bhooree +Khan, who pretended that they had given shelter to some of the +cultivators who had fled from Deogon, and demanded their surrender. +They protested that they had never seen any such cultivators, and +knew nothing whatever about them. They were bound and taken off to +Deogon to Bhooree Khan, who had them both put into the stocks. +After having been in the stocks for five days, they were again +taken to Bhooree Khan, who ordered them to produce the cultivators, +or pay a ransom of one hundred and five rupees. They were then +taken back to prison, and confined for eighteen days more; and +having no food supplied them, they were obliged to sell all the +clothes they wore to procure a scanty supply.</p> +<p>To frighten them, Bhooree Khan one day ordered his followers to +make outcasts in their presence of two respectable men whom he had +in prison, Deena Sing, a Chowan Rajpoot of Jooreeum, and a Brahmin +of Poorwa, a small hamlet near Deogon, while he sat on the roof of +his house to look on. One of his Musulman followers forced open +Deena Sing's mouth, and spit into it; and the others tied the bones +of a neelgae round the neck of the Brahmin, by which both of them +were deprived of their caste. They then told Pransook and Lullut +Sin that they would be served in the same manner unless they paid +the ransom demanded. They became alarmed, and sent to their friends +to request them earnestly to borrow all they could, and send it for +their ransom. Their cousin, Sheobuksh Sing Jemadar, an invalid +pensioner from the 2nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, +collected one hundred and eighteen rupees, and sent them. Bhooree +Khan took one hundred and five for himself, and his servants took +thirteen, and they were released; but they were made to swear on +the tomb of the saint Shah Sender that they would not complain of +the treatment they had received, and had their swords and shields +taken from them. They had been confined twenty-seven days.</p> +<p>In 1846 Davey Sookul, a Brahmin, cultivated land in Mukdoompore, +for which he paid an annual rent of seventy-one rupees. In +consequence of murders and robberies perpetrated by Bhooree Khan +and his gang, he went off with his family to reside at Budulgur, +under the protection of Rajah Allee Buksh, a mile distant. He had +witnessed the murder of Bhowanee Purshad and the torture of many +other persons. One morning his brother, Gunga Purshad, returned to +Mukdoompore to gather some mangoes from trees there planted by +their ancestors. He was there seized by Bhooree Khan and his gang, +who were lying in wait for him. They demanded a ransom of three +hundred rupees, which Davey Sookul could not raise. He kept Gunga +Purshad in prison for four months, and had him tortured every day. +Finding that the money was not forthcoming, Bhooree Khan had a +firebrand thrust into one of his eyes, and then had him flogged +with bunches of sticks till he died. Khoda Buksh, of Kurteepore, +one of the followers of Bhooree Khan, went and reported this to his +brother and widow, who wept over the tale of his sufferings. His +brother, Boodhoo Sookul, a sipahee of the 45th Regiment, presented +a petition to the Resident, describing these atrocities, and +praying redress, but none was afforded.</p> +<p>Bukhtawur, son of Kaushee, a Brahmin, tilled lands in Deogon, +for which he paid an annual rent of sixty-eight rupees. In 1847 +Bhooree Khan demanded double that sum; and when he could not pay, +he seized and sold all the stock on the land, and seized and took +off to the jungles Bukhtawur and his two brothers, Heeralall and +Jankee, and seized upon all their lands, and all the property they +had to the value of five hundred rupees. He kept them in prison for +six months, and then had Bukhtawur's nose cut off by a Chumar, +because he could not pay him the ransom demanded. The nose of +Surufraz was cut off at the same time, as above described, and he +died in consequence. Bukhtawur's two brothers made their escape +three months afterwards.</p> +<p>In 1848 he attacked the house of Choupae Tewaree, a Brahmin of +Ottergow, and after plundering it he took off the son of Choupae, +then thirteen years of age, and his, the son's, wife, and his young +son and his wife, and tortured all, till Choupae borrowed and +begged all he could, and paid the ransom demanded.</p> +<p>Purotee Aheer tilled sixteen beegahs of land in Deogon, for +which he paid an annual rent of thirty-two rupees a-year. As soon +as Bhooree Khan got the estate from Maun Sing, in November, 1846, +he demanded double the sum, and exacted it. He, in 1848, demanded +two hundred and fifty, seized Purotee, sold all his cows and +bullocks, sixteen in number, and other property, and then released +him. Purotee then sent off secretly all his family to Duheepore, +two miles distant; but Bhooree Khan sent off his servants, Bundheen +and Bugolal pausees, to trace them. They seized his two daughters, +one fourteen and the other ten years of age, and his son Nihal's +wife, and his son, then only four years of age. Bhooree Khan +ravished the two girls, and then released them, with Nahal's wife +and her little son. Purotee saw the noses of Bukhtawar and Surafraz +cut off while he was in confinement, and saw Bhooree Khan put them +on a plate, which he placed in a recess in the wall. It was in +March, 1848, when he went to pray that his daughters might be +released after they had been ravished. The family went to reside in +the village of Mohlee, in Khundara, but have all been turned out of +their caste in consequence of the dishonour of his daughters.</p> +<p>In the same year he attacked the house of Foorsut Aheer of +Dehpal ka Poorwa, made him prisoner, and tortured him till he paid +eight hundred rupees. After this he made his escape; but Bhooree +Khan seized and sold all his bullocks, cows, and buffaloes, and +stores of grain.</p> +<p>In 1845 Bhoore Khan and his gang attacked the house of Buldee +Sing, subahdar in the Honourable Company's service, in the village +of Ghurwae, and, after plundering him of all the property they +could find, they seized him and his wife, and took them to the +jungles, where they tortured them till they gave all they could +borrow or beg to the amount of many thousand rupees.</p> +<p>About the same time he seized and carried off Eesuree Purshad, a +Brahmin, who had fled from Palpore, in Deogon, and gone for shelter +to the Bazaar of Ottergow; and after cutting off his nose, he put +him on an ass with a young pig tied to his neck, and paraded him +through the bazaar, with a drummer before him, to render him an +outcast.</p> +<p>In the same year, 1848, he seized Rampurshad Tewaree, and his +son Runghoor, cultivators of Deogon, and demanded from them four +times the rent due for the land they tilled; and when they could +not pay, be sold all their cattle, grain, and other property, and +had iron spikes driven up under their nails. Unable to extort money +by this means, he caused Sotun Bhurbhoonja, or grain-parcher, to +——— in his father's face, and then released +him.</p> +<p>In 1848 he demanded from Junga Salor, a cultivator of Bhudalmow, +in Deogon, double rent for the land he tilled; and when he could +not pay, seized and took off his wife, and cohabited with her four +or five days, and then made some of the followers do the same +before he released her.</p> +<p>In the same year, 1848, he and his gang attacked the village of +Byrampore, in the Kisnee purgunna, and seized Omrow Sing, a Bys +Rajpoot, and Boodhea, a Goojur, and all the respectable inhabitants +they could get hold of, with their families. After torturing the +rest for eight days, and extorting from them all they could pay, he +let them go; but detained Omrow Sing, and had him flogged every day +till he reduced him to a dying state, when he let him go. He was +taken off to his home; but he died as soon as he entered the house +and saw his family. The wife of Boodheea, the Goojur, he confined +and violated. Bukhtawur deposes that he saw all this while he was +in confinement.</p> +<p>He, in 1848, seized and carried off to his stronghold Kaseeram, +a Brahmin, of Deogon, and cut off his nose, and tortured him with +hot irons till he got from him all that he and his relations could +be made to pay, and then let him go.</p> +<p>In the same year and month be attacked and plundered the village +of Puttee, in the Jugdeespore purgunna, carried off all the +shopkeepers of the place, and tortured them till they paid him +altogether three thousand rupees.</p> +<p>In the same year he attacked the village of Koteea, in the +Rodowlee district, carried off one of the shopkeepers, and drove +iron pins up under his nails till he paid a ransom of one hundred +and fifty rupees. He drove off and sold all the cattle of the +village.</p> +<p>In the same year he attacked and plundered the village of +Budulgur, in the Jugdeespore purgunna, in the same way.</p> +<p>In the same year he attacked and plundered the village of +Khorasa, in Rodowlee, carried off Sopae, the Putwaree, with his +mother and wife, and tortured them till they paid a ransom of two +hundred rupees. He murdered about the same time the son of Buksh +Khan, the holder of the village of Gaepore, and two members of the +family of Poorae, a carpenter of Almasgunge, in Deogon.</p> +<p>After plundering the house of Sungum Doobee, a respectable +Brahmin of Mukdoompore, he seized him and his nephew, took them off +to his fort, and, because they could not pay the ransom he +demanded, he caused melting lead to be poured into their ears and +noses till they died. About the same time he, with his own hands, +for some slight offence, cut the throat of his table-attendant, +Kbyratee, of Kunhurpore.</p> +<p>About the same time he seized two travellers; and, because they +could not pay the ransom demanded, he suspended one of them to a +tree in the village of Sathnee, on the bank of the Goomtee river, +and the other to a tree in the village of Mukdoompore. He had their +arms first broken with bludgeons, and then their feet cut off, and +at last they were beaten over the head till they died.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[Bhooree Khan, in March, 1850, went with a gang of three hundred +men to assist Gunga Buksh and his family in the defence of +Kasimgunge and Bhetae; but he was too late. On his way back, in the +beginning of April, he left his gang in a grove, six miles from +Lucknow, and entered the city alone in a disguise to visit a +celebrated dancing-girl of his acquaintance, named Bunnee. He had +been with her two days, and on the 15th of April he went to see the +magnificent tomb of Mahommed Allee Shah, of which he had heard +much. While sauntering about this place he was recognised by three +or four persons belonging to another dancing-girl of his +acquaintance, named the Chhotee Gohur, or "little Gem," whom he had +formerly visited. They seized him. As soon as Bunnee heard of this +she sent ten or twelve of her own men, and rescued him from the +followers of the "Little Gem." They took him to Bunnee, who made a +virtue of necessity, and went off with him forthwith to the +Minister, who rewarded her with a pair of shawls, and made suitable +presents to her followers.</p> +<p>It is said that he was pointed out to the followers of the +"Chhotee Gohur" by Peer Khan, of Khanseepore, in Deogon, whom +Bhooree Khan had some time before plundered and tortured for a +ransom, as already stated. Bhooree Khan was sentenced to +transportation beyond seas for life, and sent off in October, +1851.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>After reading such narratives, an Englishman will naturally ask +what are the means by which such atrocious gangs are enabled to +escape the hands of justice. He will recollect the history of the +MIDDLE AGES, and think of strong baronial castles, rugged hills, +deep ravines, and endless black forests. They have no such things +in Oude.* The whole country is a level plain, intersected by +rivers, which, with one exception, flow near the surface, and have +either no ravines at all, or very small ones. The little river +Goomtee winds exceedingly, and cuts into the soil in some places to +the depth of fifty feet. In such places there are deep ravines; and +the landholders along the border improve these natural difficulties +by planting and preserving trees and underwood in which to hide +themselves and their followers when in arms against their +Government. Any man who cuts a stick in these jungles, or takes his +camels or cattle into them to browse or graze without the previous +sanction of the landholder, does so at the peril of his life. But +landholders in the open plains and on the banks of rivers, without +any ravines at all, have the same jungles.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The Terae forest, which borders Oude to the north, is too +unhealthy to be occupied by any but those who have been born and +bred in it. The gangs I am treating of are composed of men born and +bred in the plains, and they cannot live in the Terae forest.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In the midst of this jungle, the landholders have generally one +or more mud forts surrounded by a ditch and a dense fence of living +bamboos, through which cannon-shot cannot penetrate, and man can +enter only by narrow and intricate pathways. They are always too +green to be set fire to; and being within range of the matchlocks +from the parapet, they cannot be cut down by a besieging force. Out +of such places the garrison can be easily driven by shells thrown +over such fences, but an Oude force has seldom either the means or +the skill for such purposes. When driven out by shells or any other +means, the garrison retires at night, with little risk, through the +bamboo fence and surrounding jungle and brushwood, by paths known +only to themselves. They are never provided with the means of +subsistence for a long siege; and when the Oude forces sent against +them are not prepared with the means to shell them out, they sit +down quietly, and starve or weary them out. This is commonly a very +long process, for the force is seldom large enough to surround the +place at a safe distance from the walls and bamboo fence, so as to +prevent all access to provision of all kinds, which the garrison is +sure to get from their friends and allies in the neighbourhood, the +garrison generally having the sympathy of all the large landholders +around, and the besieging force being generally considered the +common and irreconcilable enemy of all.</p> +<p>As soon as the garrison escapes, it goes systematically and +diligently to work in plundering indiscriminately all the village +communities over the most fertile parts of the surrounding country, +which do not belong to baronial proprietors like themselves till it +has made the Government authorities agree to its terms, or reduced +the country to a waste. The leaders of the gang may sometimes +condescend to quicken the process by appropriating a portion of +their plunder to bribing some influential person at Court, who gets +an injunction issued to the local authorities to make some +arrangement for terminating the pillage and consequent loss of +revenue, or he will be superseded or forfeit his contract. The +rebel then returns with his followers, repairs all the mischief +done to his fort, improves its defences, and stipulates for a +remission of his revenue for a year or more, on account of the +injury sustained by his crops or granaries. The unlucky Amil, whose +zeal and energy have caused the necessity for this reduction, is +probably thrown into gaol till "he pays the uttermost farthing," or +bribes influential persons at Court to get him released on the +ground of his poverty.</p> +<p>I may here mention the jungles in Oude which have been created +and are still preserved by landholders, almost solely for the above +purposes. They are all upon the finest soil, and in the finest +climate; and the lands they occupy might almost all be immediately +brought into tillage, and studded by numerous happy village +communities.</p> +<p>I may, however, before I begin to describe them, mention the +fact that many influential persons at Court, as well as the +landholders themselves, are opposed to such a salutary measure. If +brought under tillage and occupied by happy village communities, +all the revenue would or might flow in legitimate channels into the +King's treasury; whereas in their present state they manage to fill +their own purses by gratuities from the refractory landholders who +occupy them, or from the local authorities, who require permission +from Court to coerce them into obedience. Of these gratuities such +a salutary measure would deprive them; and it is, in consequence, +exceedingly difficult to get a jungle cut down, however near it may +be to the city where wood is so dear, and has to be brought from +jungles five or ten times the distance.</p> +<p><i>In the Sultanpore District</i>.</p> +<p><i>1st</i>.—The Jungle of Paperghat, about one hundred +miles south-east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, +ten miles long, and three wide, or thirty square miles.</p> +<p>In this jungle Dirgpaul Sing, tallookdar of Nanneemow, has a +fort; and Rostum Sing, tallookdar of Dera, has another.</p> +<p><i>2nd</i>.—The Dostpore Jungle, one hundred and twenty +miles south-east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Mujhoee river, +twelve, miles long, and three broad, or thirty-six square +miles.</p> +<p><i>3rd</i>.—The Khapra Dehee Jungle, one hundred miles +south-east from Lucknow, on the plain, about ten miles long, and +six miles broad, or sixty square miles.</p> +<p><i>4th</i>.—The Jugdeespore Jungle, on the bank of the +Goomtee river, fifty miles south-east from Lucknow, sixteen miles +long, and three miles broad, forty-eight square miles.</p> +<p>Allee Buksh Khan, tallookdar, has the fort of Tanda in this +jungle, on the bank of the Kandoo rivulet, which flows through it +into the Goomtee. The fort of Bechoogur in this jungle is held by +another tallookdar.</p> +<p><i>5th</i>.—Gurh Ameytee, seventy miles from Lucknow, +south-east, on the bank of the Sae river, nine miles long and three +broad, or twenty seven square miles.</p> +<p>Rajah Madhoe Sing has a fort in this jungle, and is one of the +very worst, but most plausible men in Oude.</p> +<p><i>6th</i>.—Daoodpoor Jungle, seventy miles south-east +from Lucknow, on the plain, four miles long and three broad, or +twelve square miles.</p> +<p>The Beebee or Lady Sagura has her fort and residence in this +jungle.</p> +<p><i>7th</i>.—Duleeppore Jungle, one hundred and ten miles +east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Sae river, ten miles long, +and three miles wide, thirty square miles.</p> +<p>Seetla Buksh, who is always in rebellion, has a fort in this +jungle.</p> +<p><i>8th</i>.—The Matona Jungle, fifty miles south-east from +Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, twelve miles long and +three wide—square miles, thirty-six.</p> +<p>Allee Buksh Khan, a notoriously refractory tallookdar, has a +fort in this jungle.</p> +<p><i>In the Uldeemow District</i>.</p> +<p><i>9th</i>.—Mugurdhee Jungle, one hundred and forty miles +east from Lucknow, on the bank of Ghogra river, eight miles long +and three broad—square miles, twenty-four.</p> +<p><i>10th</i>.—Putona Jungle, one hundred and twenty miles +east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Tonus river, eight miles long +and four miles broad—square miles, thirty-two.</p> +<p><i>11th</i>.—Mudungur Jungle, one hundred and twenty miles +east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Tonus river, six miles long, +and three miles broad—square miles, eighteen.</p> +<p>Amreys Sing and Odreys Sing, sons of Surubdowun Sing (who was +killed by the King's troops thirty years ago), hold the fort of +Mudungur in this jungle.</p> +<p><i>12th</i>.—Bundeepore Jungle, east from Lucknow one +hundred and forty miles, on the plain, seven miles long and one +broad—seven square miles.</p> +<p><i>13th</i>.—Chunderdeeh, south-east from Lucknow one +hundred and ten miles, on the bank of the Goomtee river, seven +miles long, and three miles wide—square miles, +twenty-one.</p> +<p><i>In the Dureeabad District</i>.</p> +<p><i>14th</i>.—Soorujpore Behreyla Jungle, east from Lucknow +forty miles, on the bank of the Kuleeanee river, sixteen miles +long, and four miles broad—square miles, sixty-four.</p> +<p>Chundee Sing has a fort in this jungle, and the family have been +robbers for several generations. The widow of the late notorious +robber, Rajah Singjoo, the head of the family, has a still stronger +one.</p> +<p><i>15th</i>.—Guneshpore Jungle, sixty miles south-east +from Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, six miles long and +two broad—twelve square miles.</p> +<p>Maheput Sing, an atrocious robber, holds his fort of Bhowaneegur +in this jungle.</p> +<p><i>In the Dewa Jahangeerabad District.</i></p> +<p><i>16th</i>.—The Kasimgunge and Bhetae Jungle, eighteen +miles north-east from Lucknow, sixteen miles long, and four miles +wide—square miles, sixty-four, on the bank of the little +river Reyt.</p> +<p>Gunga Buksh holds the forts of Kasimgunge and Atursae in this +jungle; Thakur Purshad those of Bhetae and Buldeogur; and Bhugwunt +Sing that of Munmutpore. Other members of the same family hold +those of Ramgura Paharpore. The whole family are hereditary and +inveterate robbers.</p> +<p><i>In the Bangur District</i>.</p> +<p><i>17th</i>.—Tundeeawun Jungle, on the plain, west from +Lucknow, seventy-two miles, twelve miles long and six +broad—square miles, seventy-two.</p> +<p><i>In the Salone District.</i></p> +<p><i>18th</i>.—The Naen Jungle, eighty miles south from +Lucknow, on the bank of the Sae river, sixteen miles long and three +wide—square miles, forty-eight.</p> +<p>Jugurnath Buksh, the tallookdar, holds the fort of Jankeebund, +in this jungle; and others are held in the same jungle by members +of his family.</p> +<p><i>19th</i>.—The Kutaree Jungle, on the bank of the Kandoo +river, south-east from Lucknow sixty miles, eight miles long and +three broad—square miles, twenty-four.</p> +<p>Surnam Sing, the tallookdar, has a fort in this jungle.</p> +<p><i>In the Byswara District</i>.</p> +<p><i>20th</i>.—The Sunkurpore Jungle, south of Lucknow +seventy miles, on the plain, ten miles long and three +wide—square miles, thirty.</p> +<p>Benee Madhoe, the tallookdar, has three forts in this +jungle.</p> +<p><i>In the Hydergur District</i>.</p> +<p><i>21st</i>.—The Kolee Jungle, fifty miles south-east from +Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, three miles long and one +and a half wide—square miles, four and a half.</p> +<p>The rebels and robbers in this jungle trust to the natural +defences of the ravines and jungles.</p> +<p><i>22nd</i>.—Kurseea Kuraea Jungle, south-east from +Lucknow fifty miles, on the bank of the Goomtee river, three miles +long and one wide—square miles, three.</p> +<p>The landholders trust in the same way to natural defences.</p> +<p><i>In the Khyrabad and Mahomdee Districts</i>.</p> +<p><i>23rd</i>.—Gokurnath Jungle, north-west from Lucknow one +hundred miles, extending out from the Terae forest, and running +south-east in a belt thirty miles long and five wide—square +miles, one hundred and fifty.</p> +<p>Husun Rajah, the tallookdar of Julalpore, has a fort in this +jungle. Sheobuksh Sing, the tallookdar of Lahurpore, holds here the +fort of Katesura; and Omrow Sing, the tallookdar of Oel, holds two +forts in this jungle.</p> +<p><i>In the Baree and Muchreyta Districts</i>.</p> +<p><i>24th</i>.—The Suraen Jungle, north-west from Lucknow +thirty-four miles, along the banks of the Suraen river, twelve +miles long and three miles wide—square miles, thirty-six.</p> +<p>In this jungle Jowahir Sing holds the fort of Basae Deeh; +Khorrum Sing, that of Seogur; Thakur Rutun Sing, that of Jyrampore. +They are all landholders of the Baree district, and their forts are +on the <i>north</i> bank of the Saraen river. Juswunt Sing holds +the fort of Dhorhara; Dul Sing, that of Gundhoreea; Rutun Sing +holds two forts, Alogee and Pupnamow.—They are all +landholders of the Muchreyta district, and their four forts are on +the <i>south</i> bank of the Saraen river.</p> +<p>This gives twenty-four belts of jungle beyond the Terae forest, +and in the fine climate of Oude, covering a space of eight hundred +and eighty-six square miles, at a rough computation.* In these +jungles the landholders find shooting, fishing, and security for +themselves and families, grazing ground for their horses and +cattle, and fuel and grass for their followers; and they can hardly +understand how landholders of the same rank, in other countries, +can contrive to live happily without them. The man who, by +violence, fraud, and collusion, absorbs the estates of his weaker +neighbours, and creates a large one for himself, in any part of +Oude, however richly cultivated and thickly peopled, provides +himself with one or two mud forts, and turns the country around +them into a jungle, which he considers to be indispensable as well +to his comfort as to his security.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* The surface of the Oude territory, including the Terae +forest, is supposed to contain twenty-three thousand seven hundred +and thirty-nine square miles. The Terae forest includes, perhaps, +from four to five thousand miles; but within that space there is a +great deal of land well tilled and peopled.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The atrocities described in the above narrative were committed +by Bhooree Khan, in the process of converting his estate of Dewa +into a jungle, and building strongholds for his gang as it +increased and became more and more formidable. Having converted +Deogon into a jungle, and built his strongholds, he would, by the +usual process of violence, fraud, and collusion with local +authorities, have absorbed the small surrounding estates of his +weaker neighbours, and formed a very large one for himself. The +same process, no doubt, went on in England successively under the +Saxons, Danes, and Normans; and in every country in Europe, under +successive invaders and conquerors, or as long as the baronial +proprietors of the soil were too strong to be coerced by their +Sovereign as they are in Oude.</p> +<p>An Englishman may further ask how it is that a wretch guilty of +such cruelties to men who never wronged him, to innocent and +unoffending females and children, can find, in a society where +slavery is unknown, men to assist him in inflicting them, and +landholders of high rank and large possessions to screen and +shelter him when pursued by his Government. He must, for the +solution of this question, also go back to the MIDDLE AGES, in +England and the other nations of Europe, when the baronial +proprietors of the soil, too strong for their sovereigns, committed +the same cruelties, found the same willing instruments in their +retainers, and members of the same class of landed proprietors, to +screen, shelter, and encourage them in their iniquities.</p> +<p>They acquiesce in the atrocities committed by one who is in +armed resistance to the Government to-day, and aid him in his +enterprises openly or secretly, because they know that they may be +in the same condition, and require the same aid from him +to-morrow—that the more sturdy the resistance made by one, +the less likely will the Government officers be to rouse the +resistance of others. They do not sympathise with those who suffer +from his depredations, or aid the Government officers in protecting +them, because they know that they could not support the means +required to enable them to contend successfully with their +Sovereign, and reduce him to terms, without plundering and +occasionally murdering the innocent of all ages and both sexes, and +that they may have to raise the same means in a similar contest +to-morrow. They are satisfied, therefore, if they can save their +own tenants from pillage and slaughter. They find, moreover, that +the sufferings of others enable them to get cultivators and useful +tenants of all kinds upon their own estates, on more easy terms, +and to induce the smaller allodial or khalsa proprietors around, to +yield up their lands to them, and become their tenants with less +difficulty. It was in the same manner that the great feudal barons +aggrandised themselves in England, and all the other countries of +Europe, in the MIDDLE AGES.</p> +<p>In Oude all these great landholders look upon the Sovereign and +his officers—except when they happen to be in collusion with +them for the purpose of robbing or coercing others—as their +natural enemies, and will never trust themselves in their power +without undoubted pledges of personal security. The great feudal +tenants of the Crown in England, and the other nations of Europe, +did the same, except when they were in collusion with them for the +purpose of robbing others of their rights; or fought under their +banners for the purpose of robbing or destroying the subjects and +servants of some other Sovereign whom he chose to call his +enemy.</p> +<p>Only one of these sources of union between the Sovereign and his +great landholders is in operation in Oude. Some of them are every +year in collusion with the governors of districts for the purpose +of coercing and robbing others; but the Sovereign can never unite +them under his banners for the purpose of invading and plundering +any other country, and thereby securing for himself and them +present <i>glory</i>, wealth, and high-sounding titles, and the +admiration and applause of future generations. The strong arm of +the British Government is interposed between them and all +surrounding countries; and there is no safety-valve for their +unquiet spirits in foreign conquests. They can no longer do as Ram +did two thousand seven hundred years ago—lead an army from +Ajodheea to Ceylone. They must either give up fighting, or fight +among themselves, as they appear to have been doing ever since +Ram's time; and there are at present no signs of a disposition to +send out another "Sakya Guntama" from Lucknow, or Kapila vastee to +preach peace and good-will to "all the nations of the earth." They +would much rather send out fifty thousand more brave soldiers to +fight "all the nations of the east," under the banners of the +Honourable East India Company.</p> +<p>An English statesman may further ask how it is that so much +disorder can prevail in a small territory like Oude without the +gangs, to which it must give rise, passing over the border to +depredate upon the bordering districts of its neighbours. The +conterminous districts on three sides belong to the British +Government, and that on the fourth or north belongs to Nepaul. The +leaders of these gangs know, that if the British Government chose +to interpose and aid the Oude Government with its troops, it could +crush them in a few days; and that it would do so if they ventured +to rob and murder within its territory. They know, also, that it +would do the same if they ventured to cross the northern border, +and rob and murder within the Nepaul territory. They therefore +confine their depredations to the Oude territory, seeing that, as +long as they do so, the British Government remains quiet.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="Chapt2-6" id="Chapt2-6">CHAPTER VI.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>Adventures of Maheput Sing of Bhowaneepoor—Advantages of a +good road from Lucknow to Fyzabad—Excellent condition of the +artillery bullocks with the Frontier Police—Get all that +Government allows for them—Bred in the Tarae—Dacoits of +Soorujpoor Bareyla—The Amil connives at all their +depredations, and thrives in consequence—The Amil of the +adjoining districts does not, and ruined in consequence—His +weakness—Seetaram, a capitalist—His account of a +singular <i>Suttee</i>—Bukhtawar Sing's notions of +<i>Suttee</i>, and of the reason why Rajpoot widows seldom become +<i>Suttees</i>—Why local authorities carry about prisoners +with them—Condition of prisoners—No taxes on +mango-trees—Cow-dung cheaper than wood for fuel—Shrine +of "Shaikh Salar" at Sutrik—Bridge over the small river +Rete—Recollection of the ascent of a balloon at +Lucknow—End of the pilgrimage.</p> +<p>Poorae Chowdheree, of Kuchohee, held a share in the lands of the +village of Bhanpoor in Radowlee. He mortgaged it in 1830, to a +co-sharer, who transferred the mortgage to <i>Meherban Sing</i>, of +Guneshpoor. Poorae disliked the arrangement, and made all the +cultivators desert the village of Bhanpoor, and leave the lands +waste. Meherban attacked the village of Kuchohee in consequence, +killed Porae, and seized upon all the lands of Bhanpoor for +himself. Rajah Ram, one of the ousted co-sharers in these lands, +attacked and killed Meherban in 1832, and seized upon all the +lands of Bhanpoor.</p> +<p>After the death of his first wife, Meherban had attacked the +house of Bhowanee Sing, Rajpoot, of Teur, carried off his daughter, +who had been affianced to another, and forcibly made her his wife. +By her he had one daughter and one son, named <i>Maheput Sing</i>, +who now inherited from his father a fifteenth part of one of the +six and half shares into which the lands of Guneshpoor were +divided. He, by degrees, murdered, or drove out of the village, all +his co-sharers, save Gunbha Sing and Chungha Sing, joint +proprietors of a small part of one of the shares, known by the name +of the Kunnee Puttee. From the year 1843, Maheput Sing became a +robber by profession, and the leader of a formidable gang; and in +three years, by a long series of successful enterprises, he +acquired the means of converting his residence, on the border of +the town of Guneshpoor, into a strong fort, among the deep ravines +of the Goomtee river. This fort he called <i>Bhowaneegur</i>, after +Bhowanee, the patroness of the trade of murder and robbery, which +he had adopted.</p> +<p>I shall now mention, more circumstantially, a few of the many +atrocities committed by him and his gang, during the last few years +of his career, as illustrative of the state of society in Oude. +Bulbhudder Sing, a subadar of the 45th Regiment of Bengal Native +Infantry, resided at Rampoor Sobeha, in the Dureeabad district. By +degrees he purchased thirteen-sixteenths of the lands of these two +small villages, which adjoin each other, out of the savings from +his pay, and those of his nephew, Mugun Sing, havildar of the 43rd +Regiment Bengal Native Infantry. On his being transferred to the +invalid establishment, the subadar resided with his family in +Rampoor, and in May, 1846, his nephew, Mugun Sing, came home on +furlough to visit him. Gujraj, an associate of Maheput Sing's, held +the other three-sixteenths of the lands of these two villages; and +by the murder of the subadar and all his family, he thought he +should be able to secure for himself the possession of the whole +estate in perpetuity. The family consisted of the subadar and his +wife,—Mugun Sing, the son of his deceased brother, Man Sing, +and his wife; and his son Bijonath and his wife,—Dwarka Sing, +son of Ojagur Sing, another deceased brother of the +subadar,—Mahta Deen, the son of Chundun Sing, another +deceased brother of the subadar, and his wife and young son, +Surubjeet Sing, seven years of age,—Kulotee Sing, son of +Gobrae, another deceased brother of the subadar,—Bag Sing, a +relative,—Bechun Sing, a servant,—Seo Deen, the +gardener,—Jeeawun Sing, the barber, and the widow of Salwunt +Sing, another son of Mugun Sing, havildar.</p> +<p>When the family were all assembled, Maheput Sing, with Gujraj +and other associates, and a gang of one hundred and fifty armed +followers, proceeded to the village at midnight, and carefully +reconnoitred the premises. It was, after consultation, determined +to defer the attack till daybreak, as the subadar and his nephews +were known to be brave and well-armed men, who kept watch till +towards morning, and would make a desperate resistance, unless +taken by surprise. They remained concealed within the enclosure of +Gujraj's house, till just before daylight, when they quietly +surrounded the subadar's house. As day dawned the subadar got up, +opened the door and walked out, as usual, to breathe the fresh air, +thinking all safe. He was immediately shot down, and on Mugun +Sing's rushing out to assist his uncle, he received a shot in the +eye, and fell dead on his body. The robbers then rushed in, cut +down Jeeawun, the barber, while attempting to shut the door, and +wounded Kulotee Sing,* Bag Sing, and others of the party. Finding +that they could no longer stand against the numbers, rushing in at +the doors and windows, the defenders climbed from the inside to the +flat roof of the house, over the apartments of the men, fired down +upon the robbers, who were still inside, and shot one of them. The +robbers, finding they could not otherwise dislodge them, set fire +to that part of the house, and the men were obliged to leap off to +save themselves. In doing this, Bag Sing hurt his spine, and Seo +Deen sprained his ankle, and both lay where they fell, pretending +to be dead, till night. The others all went off in search of +succour.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Kulotee Sing was murdered, a few days afterwards, by Maheput +and Gujraj, as he was superintending the cultivation of his +lands.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The robbers found the boy, Surubjeet, lying sick on his bed, +attended by his mother. They seized him and dashed his head against +the ground; and when he still showed signs of life, Gujraj cut him +to pieces with his sword. They then seized and stripped the females +naked, and sprinkled boiling oil over their bodies, till they +pointed out all the property concealed in the house. Seventeen +hundred rupees were found buried in the floor; and the rest of the +property in clothes, gold and silver ornaments, and brass utensils, +amounted to about ten thousand rupees.</p> +<p>About noon, while the robbers were still in the house, the Amil +of Mohlara came with a large force and one gun, and surrounded +them; but stood at a safe distance, whence he kept up for some time +a fire from his gun and his matchlocks, which had no effect +whatever. The robbers fired in return from the house, merely to +show that they were not to be frightened from their booty in that +way. This went on till after dark in the evening, when the robbers +all retired to the jungles with their booty, unmolested by the +Amil.</p> +<p>Byjonath, who had brought the Amil to the spot, urged him on as +much as he could to save the property and females, and avenge the +death of those who had fallen, and he killed one man and seized +another, the son of one of the leaders; but he was obliged to give +him up to the Amil as an hostage, for the recovery of the property, +and a witness to the robbery. The Amil kept him for six months, and +then let him go on the largest ransom he could get for him from his +father. The circumstances were all represented, through the +Resident, to the Durbar, and redress prayed for, but none was ever +obtained.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* When the Resident visited this place, in his tour, in +January, 1850, Dwarka Sing and other members of the family +described all the circumstances of this attack, and they were taken +down; and have been confirmed since by a judicial +investigation.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In May 1846, Maheput attacked the house of Seobuksh, a gardener, +and after plundering it, he seized and carried off to the jungle +the gardener's brother, Puroutee, and tortured him to death with +hot irons, because he could not raise the sum demanded for his +ransom.</p> +<p>In August 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of +Meherban Tewaree, subadar of the Gwalior Contingent, in the village +of Hareehurpoor, in the district of Rodowlee. It was about ten at +night, and the whole family were asleep. The subadar lay on his cot +below, near the door, his brother, Angud Tewaree, slept on the +upper story. Some placed ladders and entered the upper story +through a window; Maheput, with others, broke open the door, near +which the subadar slept below. The brother got a sword-cut in the +hand, and called out from the upper story as loud as he could for +help; but their neighbours were all too much alarmed to come to +their aid. Maheput seized and bound the subadar with his own +waistband, and commanded his brother to come down, saying, that he +need not call for help, as the villagers all knew him too well to +molest him; and if he did not come down instantly he would set fire +to the house. Seeing no chance of help, he came down, and was bound +with his own waistband in the same manner. When the subadar +remonstrated against this treatment, Maheput struck him over the +face. They then plundered the house of all the property it +contained, to the value of six hundred and fifty rupees; and took +the subadar and his brother to the jungles; and, in the morning, +demanded a ransom of one thousand rupees. At last they came down to +four hundred rupees and the horse, which the subadar kept for his +own riding. The subadar consented, and his brother was released to +get the money and horse. He borrowed the money and sent it with the +horse through Bhowanee Deen Tewaree, landholder of Ladeeka Poorwa, +and the subadar was released. He presented three petitions, through +the Resident, and orders were sent from the Durbar to the local +authorities, Hurdut Sing and Monna Lal, but they were both in +league with the robbers, and tried to get the subadar made away +with, to save further trouble, and he sought security with his +regiment.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Meherban Tewaree, subadar, was present, as a witness at the +subsequent trial of Maheput and Gujraj, who were sentenced to +transportation beyond seas for life.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In January 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the village of +Bahapoor, in the Rodowlee district; and after plundering all the +houses, seized and carried off among others Seetul, the +spirit-dealer, and the two sons of Reehta, the widow of Bhosoo, one +twenty-two years of age, and the other eighteen. They tortured them +with red-hot irons, and tied bamboos round their necks every day +for fifteen days. Maheput then shot the eldest son, and cut his +body to pieces with his sword. The younger son, at night, made his +escape while they were asleep, and returned to tell the tale of his +brother's murder to his mother. Seetul, the Kalwar, got his uncle +to lend him twenty-eight rupees, for which he was released.</p> +<p>In April 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of +Ramoutar, Brahmin, of the Brahmin village of Guneshpoor, in +Rodowlee; plundered it of properly valued at one hundred rupees, +and then bound Ramoutar, his father and two sons, and took them off +to the jungles; and there tortured them all for seven days. He then +had the two boys, one nine years old and the other five, suspended +to a tree and flogged; and Ramoutar himself tied to a thorny tree +and beaten till the blood flowed down and drenched his waistband, +because he could pay nothing, and would not sign a bond to pay two +thousand rupees. His sufferings and the sight of those of his two +sons made him at last sign one for one thousand rupees. He was +flogged again till his friends brought four hundred out of the +thousand, and Cheyt Sing, Thakoor, a respectable landholder of +Koleea, in Rodowlee, consented to give security for the payment of +two hundred and forty-two rupees more. Ramoutar and his family were +then released, after they had been confined and tortured for +thirty-six days, and they went off and resided at Bookcheyna in +Khundasa. A year after his house was there attacked by Maheput Sing +and his gang, and plundered of all it contained; and his brother +Seetul, and his youngest son were seized and taken off to his fort +at Bhowaneegur, and there tortured and starved for six months. +Ramoutar then borrowed one hundred and sixty rupees, and obtained +the release of his brother Seetul, and a year after he was able to +raise forty-seven rupees more, with which he ransomed his son.</p> +<p>In May 1847, Maheput Sing attacked the house of Seolal Tewaree +of Torsompoor, in Rodowlee, at midnight; and after plundering it +and stripping his mother and wife, and the wife of his brother, +Jurbundun Sing, of all the clothes and ornaments they had, he bound +and carried off to the jungle the two brothers, Seolal and +Jurbundun. They were flogged, and had hot irons applied to their +bodies every day for twenty days, and had only a little flour to +eat and water to drink, once in three days. After twenty days they +contrived to make their escape one dark and stormy night, and got +home; but three days after he again attacked their house and burnt +it to the ground, with all they possessed. He, at the same time, +burnt down the house of their uncle, in the same village, and that +of one of their ploughmen; and two cows and one bullock were burnt +to death in the flames.</p> +<p>In July 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of +Chubbee Lal, Brahmin, in the village of Bunnee, in the Rodowlee +district, and after plundering it of property to the value of five +hundred rupees, he bound and took the old Brahmin off to the +jungles, and demanded from him a ransom of eight thousand rupees. +This sum the old man could not pay, and he was flogged with thorns, +and had red-hot irons applied to his body every day. Maheput then +sent a letter to the old man's son, Dwarka, desiring him to send +the eight thousand rupees if he wished his father to live. The +house having been plundered, the family had nothing left, and could +persuade no one to lend them. On receiving a reply to this effect, +Maheput had the old man's body plastered all over with moist +gunpowder, and made him stand in the sun till it was dry. He then +set fire to the powder, and the poor man was burnt all over. He +then cut off both his hands at the wrists, and his nose, and sent +them to his family, and in this condition be afterwards sent the +poor man to his home upon a cot. The son met his father at the +door, but the old man died as soon as his son had embraced him.</p> +<p>Maheput carried off Pem, the son of Teeka, at the same time, and +tortured him till his family paid the ransom demanded. He was +witness to the tortures of the old Brahmin.</p> +<p>In August 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the house of +Bichook, a Brahmin, in the village of Torsompoor, in Rodowlee, at +midnight, while he was sleeping, and bound and carried him off to +the jungle. The next day, when he was about to have him tortured +for a ransom, one of his followers interceded for him, and he was +released. But a month after, Maheput and his gang again attacked +his house, and after plundering it of all it contained, they burnt +it to the ground. Bichook had run off on hearing their approach, +and he escaped to Syudpoor.</p> +<p>In November, 1846, Maheput Sing attacked the house of Sook +Allee, in Guneshpoor, at midnight, with a gang of one hundred men; +and, after plundering it of all the property it contained, to the +amount of four hundred rupees, he burnt it to the ground, and bound +and carried off Sook Allee to the house of his friend, Byjonath +Bilwar, a landholder in the village of Kholee, eight miles distant. +He there demanded a ransom of five hundred rupees; and on his +declaring that he neither had nor could borrow such a sum, he had +him tortured with hot irons, and flogged in the usual way. He kept +him for two months at Kholee, and then took him to Tukra, in the +Soorajpoor purgunnah, where he kept him for another month, +torturing, and giving him half a meal every other day. At the end +of three months, Akber Sing and Bhowanee Deen, Rajpoot landholders +of Odemow, contrived to borrow two hundred rupees for Sook Allee, +and he was released on the payment of this sum. The marks of the +hot irons, applied to his body by Maheput Sing, with his own hands, +are still visible, and will remain so as long as he lives.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* I saw these marks on the sufferer.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>About the same time—the latter end of 1846—Maheput +Sing sent to Sheik Sobratee, of the same place, a message through a +pausee, named Bhowanee Deen, demanding twenty-five rupees. This sum +was sent; but six weeks had not elapsed, before Sheik Sobratee +received another demand for the same amount, through the same +person. He had no money, but promised to send the sum in ten days. +At midnight, on the fourth day after this, Maheput and his gang +attacked his house, and plundered it of all they could find, female +ornaments, and clothes, and brass utensils. Sobratee was that night +sleeping at the house of his friend Peree, the wood-dealer, in the +same town. Maheput tried to make his mother and wife point out +where he was, by torturing them, but they either would not or could +not do so. After some search, however, they discovered him, and +bound and took him off, with handcuffs, and an iron collar round +his neck, to the Kurseea jungle, in the Hydergur pergunnah. His +son, a boy, had escaped. After torturing him in the usual way for +eight days, they sent a message to his mother by Maheput's servant, +Salar, to say, that unless she sent a ransom of five hundred +rupees, her son's nose and hands should be cut off and sent to her +as those of <i>Chubbee Lal</i>, Brahmin, of Bunnee, had been. She +prevailed upon Baroonath Gotum to lend the money; and Maheput sent +Sobratee to him, accompanied by one of his armed retainers, with +orders to make him over to the Gotum, if he pledged himself in due +form to pay. He did so, and Sobratee was made over to him, and the +next day sent home to his wife and mother. Some months after, +however, when he had completed his fort of Bhowneegur, Maheput sent +to demand two hundred rupees more from Sobratee, and when he found +he could not pay, he had his house pulled, down, and took away all +the materials to his fort. What he did not require he caused to be +burnt. He got from Sobratee, in ransom and plunder, more than three +thousand rupees; and he has been ever since reduced to great +poverty and distress.</p> +<p>In November 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang seized and carried +off Khosal, a confectioner, of Talgon, in Rodowlee, who had gone to +his sister at Buhapoor, near Guneshpoor, to attend a +marriage—took him to the jungle, and tortured and starved him +in the usual way for five weeks. He had him burnt with red-hot +irons, flogged and ducked in a tank every day, and demanded a +ransom of two hundred rupees. At last, his brother, Davey Deen, +borrowed thirty-three rupees from Rambuksh, a merchant of Odermow, +and offered to pay it for his ransom. Maheput sent Khosal, with his +agent, Bhowanee Deen, to Rambuksh, and he released him on getting +the money. He still bears on his body the marks of the stripes and +burnings.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* These marks I have seen.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In December 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the house of +Motee Lal Misser, a Brahmin, in the village +of———, and after robbing it of all that it +contained, he seized and carried off his nephew, Ram Deen, a boy of +seven years of age, and tortured him for a month in the jungle. He +then cut off his left ear and the forefinger of his right hand, and +sent them to the uncle in a letter, stating, that if he did not +send him one thousand rupees, he would send the boy's head in the +same manner. The boy's father had died, and his uncle, with great +difficulty, prevailed upon his friends and neighbours to lend him +two hundred and twenty rupees, which he sent to Maheput, and his +nephew was released. The boy declares to me that Maheput cut off +his ear and finger with his own hands.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* This boy was present, as a witness, at the trial of +Maheput.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In June 1848, Forsut Pandee, of Resalpandee-ka-Poorwa, in +Rodowlee, accompanied Girwar Sing, a Rajpoot of Bowra, in Rodowlee, +to Guneshpoor, on some business. They were smoking and talking +together at the house of Mungul Sing, Thakoor, a large landholder +of that place, when five of Maheput's armed men came up, and told +Forsut Pandee to attend them to their master. Girwar Sing +remonstrated and declared that his honour had been pledged for +Forsut Pandee's personal safety. Mungul Sing, Thakoor, however, +told him, that he must offer no opposition, as they seized all +travellers who came that way, and it was dangerous to oppose them. +He was taken to Maheput Sing, in his fort at Bhowaneegur, situated +half a mile from Guneshpoor. Maheput told him that he had heard of +his having a good flint gun, and a shawl in his house, and that he +must have them. Forsut Pandee swore on the Ganges that he had no +such things. He then had him tied up to a tree and flogged him with +his own hands with thorny bushes, the scars of which are still +visible. He then demanded a ransom of three hundred rupees, and had +him flogged and tortured every day for a month, while he gave him +to eat only half a pound of flour every two or three days. The +prisoner's brother, Bhoree Pandee, sold all the clothes and +ornaments of his family, utensils, and furniture, and their +hereditary mango and mhowa grove, and raised two hundred and six +rupees, which he sent to Maheput, through Baldan Sing, a landholder +of Bharatpoor, two miles from Guneshpoor. On the receipt of this +Forsut Pandee was released.</p> +<p>In October 1848, Maheput Sing sent ten of his gang to seize a +cultivator, by name Khosal, who was engaged in cultivating his land +in a hamlet, one mile south of the town of Syudpoor. They seized +and bound him and took him off to their leader, Maheput, who had +him tortured for a month in the usual way. He had him tied up to a +ladder and flogged. He had red-hot irons applied to different parts +of his body—he put dry combustibles on the open palms of his +hands and set fire to them, so that he has lost the use of his +fingers for life. For the whole month he gave him only ten pounds +of flour to eat; but his friends contrived to convey a little more +to him occasionally, which he ate by stealth. He was reduced, by +hunger and torture, to the last stage, when his family, by the sale +of all they had in the world, and the compassion of their friends, +raised the sum of one hundred and twenty-six rupees, which they +sent to Maheput, by Thakoor Persaud, a landholder of the village of +Somba, and obtained his release. The tortures have rendered him a +cripple, and the family are reduced to a state of great +wretchedness.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* This man was a witness at the trial of Maheput, and I saw the +signs of his sufferings.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The village of Guneshpoor yielded a revenue to Government of +twenty-one thousand rupees a-year, and was divided into six and +half shares each, held by a different person. One belonged to Omrow +Sing, Rajpoot, the father of Hunmunt Sing, a corporal in the 44th +Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, and descended to Omrow Sing's +eldest son, Davey Sing. One share was held, jointly, by Maheput +Sing and Chotee Sing, when, in October 1848, Maheput assembled a +gang of about two hundred men, and attacked the house of Davey +Sing, while his brother Hunmunt Sing was at home on recruiting +service. There were in the house the corporal and his three +brothers, and all mounted, with their friends, to the top of the +house, with their swords and spears, but without fire-arms. The +robbers, unable to ascend from the outside, broke open the doors, +but the brothers descended and defended the passage so resolutely, +that the gang was obliged to retire and watch for a better +opportunity.</p> +<p>Three months after, in January 1849, Maheput attacked the house +again, with a gang of five hundred men and good scaling-ladders. +Some ascended to the top on the ladders, while others broke open +the doors and forced their way in. The brothers and the other male +members of the family defended themselves resolutely. One of the +brothers, Esuree Sing, his uncle, Runjeet Sing, sipahee of the 11th +Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, his cousin, Beetul Sing, sipahee +of the 8th Regiment Bombay Native Infantry, were all killed, and +hacked to pieces by Maheput and his gang. No person came to the +assistance of the family, and the robbers retired with their booty, +consisting of five hundred and ten rupees in money, four muskets, +and four swords, and twelve hundred maunds of corn, and all the +clothes, ornaments, and utensils that could be found. They burnt +down the house, and dispossessed the family of their share in the +estate, and plundered all the cultivators. Davey Sine the eldest +brother, went to reside at Bhanpoor, in the neighbourhood. While he +was engaged in cutting a field of pulse, in the morning, about +seven o'clock, in the month of March following, Maheput Sing, with +a gang of two hundred men, attacked his house, killed his two +brothers, Gordut and Hurdut Sing, and their servant, Omed, and shot +down his nephew, Gorbuksh Sing. Ramsahae, the nephew of Maheput +Sing, ran up to despatch him with his sword, but Gorbuksh rose, cut +him down, and killed him with his sword before he himself +expired.</p> +<p>The corporal, Hunmunt Sing, of the 44th Native Infantry, +described all these things in several petitions to the Resident, +and prayed redress, but no redress was ever obtained. Saligram and +other relatives of the corporal had been plundered and wounded by +Maheput Sing and his gang, and he describes many other atrocities +committed by the same gang. His petition of the 27th September +1849, was sent to the King by the Resident, who was told, that the +Amil of the district of Dureeabad, Girdhara Lal, had been ordered +to seize Maheput Sing and his gang. This Amil was always in league +with them.</p> +<p>In December 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house +of a female, named Arganee, the widow of Sheik Rozae, in the +village of Pertab Pahae. It was midnight, and she was sleeping with +her two grandchildren, the sons of her son, who was a sipahee in +the 66th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry. They bound her hands: +and leaving her young grandchildren alone, took her off to the +jungle eight miles distant. There Maheput demanded from her the +seven hundred rupees which she was said to have accumulated; and +when she pleaded poverty, and said that the sipahee's pay was their +only means of subsistence, he had her stripped naked and flogged in +the usual way. For a month he had her stripped and flogged in the +same manner every day. She then signed a bond to pay one hundred +rupees on a certain day, and was released. She sold all she had, +and borrowed all she could, and on the fourth day sent him fifty, +and the other fifty on the fifteenth day; but he afterwards had the +poor widow's house pulled down and all the wood-work carried to his +fort of Bhowaneegur.</p> +<p>In April 1849, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of +Seodeen Misser, sipahee of the 63rd Regiment Bengal Native +Infantry; and after plundering it, seized and carried off to the +jungle his brother and that brother's two sons—one seven +years of age and the other five—and his sister. He sold the +two boys as slaves for two hundred rupees to a person named Davey +Sookul, of Guneshpoor; and tortured the brother and sister till the +sipahee and his friends sold all they had in the world for their +ransom, when he released them.</p> +<p>In the month of May 1849, Maheput Sing and his gang at midnight +attacked the house of Eseree Sing, a Rajpoot of the Chouhan tribe, +in the village of Salpoor, in Dureeabad; and after stripping his +mother and all the other females of the family of their clothes and +ornaments, plundering the house of all it contained, rupees, +twenty-five in money, two handsome matchlocks, two swords, two +spears, and two shields, and brass utensils, weighing one hundred +and sixty pounds, he bound Eseree Sing himself, and took him off +with his sister, four years of age, and his daughter, only three, +to a jungle, four miles distant. He there released Eseree Sing +himself, but took on the girls, and made over his daughter to +Akber, one of his followers, and his sister to Bechoo, another of +his gang, to be united to them in marriage. It was at their +instigation, and for that purpose chiefly, that he made the +attack.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Akber and Bechoo are now in prison, with Maheput, at +Lucknow.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In August 1849, Maheput and his gang attacked the houses of +Seetul, Gorbuksh, and Sook Lal, Brahmins, of Guneshpoor; and after +plundering them, he carried off Gorbuksh and his son, Ram Deen, and +Bhowanee, the son of Seetul, and Sook Lal, and murdered them. He +carried off and tortured, in a shocking manner, Benee, of the same +place, till he paid a ransom; and Ongud, son of Khunmun, an invalid +Khalasie, of the 26th Regiment Native Infantry.</p> +<p>In September 1849, Maheput attacked and plundered the house of +Ongud Sing, sipahee of the 24th Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, +and confined the sipahee for some time. His petition was sent to +the King on the 11th November 1849.</p> +<p>On the 15th of December 1849, Monowur Khan, havildar of the 62nd +Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, complained that Maheput Sing had +seized him as he was walking on the high road, and extorted eleven +rupees from him. His petition was sent to the King, with a request, +that all local authorities might be urged to aid in his arrest; and +orders were again sent to the Frontier Police.</p> +<p>On the 24th December 1849, Madho Sing, sipahee of the 11th +Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, complained that Maheput Sing had +attacked and plundered his house twice, burnt it down, and cut down +all the trees which the family had planted for generations, and +turned them all out of the village—that in the second attack +he had murdered his daughter, a girl of only nine years of age. His +petition was sent to the King, who, on the 13th of February 1850, +replied that he had proclaimed Maheput as a robber and murderer, +and offered a reward of three thousand rupees for his arrest.</p> +<p>On the 16th of March 1850, Goverdhun complained, that Maheput +had attacked and plundered his house, and carried off his father to +the jungles, and extorted from him a ransom of one hundred and ten +rupees. His petition was sent to the King, who, on the 27th March, +replied, that he had given frequent and urgent orders for the +arrest of Maheput Sing.</p> +<p>Gunga Deen, a trooper of the Governor-General's body-guard, +complained to the Resident, on the 9th of August 1844, that Maheput +Sing had attacked and killed with his own hand his agent, Thakoor +Sing, while he was taking seven hundred and seventy-four rupees to +the revenue-collector. On the 11th of September 1849, he again +complained to the Resident, that Maheput Sing had plundered +Bhurteemow and other villages, in Dureeabad, of property to the +value of six thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine rupees, and +murdered five men, besides Thakoor Sing, his servant, and had +committed numerous robberies in other villages during the year +1848. Among them one in Bhurteemow, in which he killed Ramjeet and +four other men—that he had soon after committed a robbery in +which no less than twenty-two persons were killed and wounded, and +property to the value of two thousand rupees was carried off. The +King was frequently pressed most earnestly to arrest this atrocious +robber; and on the 9th of December 1849, the Frontier Police was, +at the Kings request, directed to do all in their power to seize +him.</p> +<p>In July 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of +Mungul Sookul, a corporal of the 24th Regiment of Bengal Native +Infantry, at midnight, robbed it of property to the value of five +hundred rupees, and so rent the ears of his little son, by the +violence with which he tore the gold rings from them, that the boy +was not likely to live. The commanding officer of the regiment sent +the corporal's petition for redress, through the Resident, to the +Durbar; and orders were sent to the local authorities to afford it, +but they were unable or unwilling to do anything.</p> +<p>Gunga Aheer, of Buroulee, in the district of Rodowlee, had been +for three years a sipahee in the 48th Regiment of Bengal Native +Infantry, under the name of Mata Deen. Continued sickness rendered +him unfit for duty, and he obtained his discharge, and came home to +his family. In March 1850, having been long without employment, and +reduced, with his family, to great distress, he went to his +relation, Ramdhun, of the Intelligence Department, in the service +of the King of Oude, and then; on duty at Dureeabad, with the Amil. +A reward of three thousand rupees having been offered by the King +for the arrest of Maheput Sing, the Amil ordered Ramdhun to try his +best to trace him out, and he took Gunga Aheer with him to assist, +on a promise of securing for him good service if they succeeded. +They went to a jungle, about two miles from Guneshpoor, and near +the foot of Bhowaneegur. While they were resting at a temple in the +jungle, sacred to Davey, Maheput came up, with twenty followers, to +offer sacrifice; and as soon as they recognized the Harkara, +Ramdhun, they seized both, and took them off in the evening to a +jungle, four miles distant. In the hope of frightening Maheput, the +Harkara pretended to be in the service of the Resident at Lucknow; +but as the reward for his arrest had been<br> +offered on the requisition of the Resident, on the application of +injured sipahees of the British army, this did not avail him. Their +hands were tied behind their backs, and as soon as it became dark, +they took Ramdhun off to a distance of twenty paces from where +Maheput Sing sat, and made him stand in a circle of men with drawn +swords. One man advanced, and at one cut with his sword, severed +his right arm from his body, and it fell to the ground. Another cut +into the side, under the stump, while a third cut him across the +left side of the neck with a back cut, he all the time calling out +for mercy, but in vain. On receiving the cut across the neck he +fell dead, and the body was flung into the river Goomtee. Maheput +sat looking on without saying a word.</p> +<p>They then amused themselves for some time by flogging Gunga +Aheer with thorn bushes, while he in agony cried for mercy. The +next day, by Maheput's orders, they laid him upon a bed of thorns +and beat him again, while he screamed from pain, and they laughed +at his cries. One of the followers told Maheput, that they had been +cautioned by the outlaw, Jugurnath, the chuprassie, not to murder +Ramdhun and his companion, or the English would some day avenge +them; but he laughed and said that spies must be punished, to deter +others from pursuing them. One of his followers then sat on Gunga's +chest while another held his arms, and a third his legs, while a +fourth cut off his nose, and one of his hands at the wrist, and the +fingers of the other hand. He became senseless, and Maheput and his +followers all left him in this state. In the evening a servant of +Seochurn Chowdheree, of Bhowaneepoor, on his way to the jungle, saw +him and reported his condition to his master, who sent people and +had him taken to him on a litter. He had his wounds dressed by a +village surgeon, and the next day sent him home to his wife and +mother. The landlord of the village reported the case to Captain +Orr, of the Frontier Police, at Fyzabad, who had Gunga taken off to +the hospital at Lucknow, where he remained under the care of the +Residency surgeon till he recovered. This poor man had to support +his mother, wife, and daughter by his labour. His mother came in +with him, and attended him in hospital, while his wife and child +remained at their village.</p> +<p>While in hospital recovering, Maheput Sing was brought before +him, by the Frontier Police, to be recognized. As soon as he saw +him all the terrible scene of Ramdhun's murder and his own torture +came so vividly before him, that he trembled from head to foot, +like a man in an ague fit, and was for some time unable to speak. +At last, when he saw the fetters on Maheput's legs, and the +handcuffs on his wrists, and armed Government servants around him, +he recovered his senses; and by degrees, recorded what he had +witnessed and suffered at his hands.</p> +<p>On the 25th March 1850, Rajah Maun Sing, under orders from the +Durbar, with all the force he could muster, invested the fort of +Bhowaneegur, while the force under Captains Weston, Thomas, +Bunbury, and Magness, attacked the three forts belonging to Rajah +Prethee Put, of Paska. Maheput Sing left the fort on the 27th, with +eleven followers, to collect reinforcements and harass the +besiegers, and the garrison was commanded by his nephew.</p> +<p>On the 28th, Maun Sing had three men killed and several wounded, +from the fire of the garrison, and wrote for reinforcements to +Captain Weston, who was at Dureeabad, twelve miles distant. As soon +as he got the letter, he mounted his horse, and leaving the force +to follow, rode with his Assistant, Captain Orr, to the place, +which is half a mile from Guneshpoor south, and two hundred yards +from the left bank of the Goomtee river north. They were attended +by a few sowars, under Seo Sing, and they reached the place before +daybreak, on the 29th; and as soon as day appeared, proceeded with +Captain Magness, who had galloped on in advance of his regiment to +reconnoitre the fort, and were fired upon by the garrison wherever +they were seen. Maun Sing's people had retired after the loss of a +few men, to the distance of a mile, and lay scattered over the +jungle.</p> +<p>The Infantry came up before sunset, and the guns before it grew +dark, and all were placed in position, and a fire opened upon the +fort till it grew too dark to point the guns. The garrison soon +after attempted to escape by the west side, and were fired upon by +the parties posted on that quarter. Captain Weston, hearing the +fire, collected all the men he could, and getting with difficulty +into the fort, found it empty. In the attempt to cut their way +through, the garrison had two men killed and fifteen wounded and +taken, and five managed to escape, under cover of the night, into +the thick jungle. Bikhai, one of the most atrocious of Maheput's +followers, was killed; but he killed two of the besiegers, and +wounded two more before he fell. Akber Sing, the most atrocious of +all the gang, had his arm taken off by a cannon-shot, and was +seized. Maheput's nephew, the commandant of the garrison, was +taken, with one of Maheput's secretaries and advisers.</p> +<p>Of Maun Sing's party, four were killed and thirteen wounded, and +Captain Magness had one havildar severely wounded. The fort was +levelled, and the jungle around cut down. The force then proceeded +and took possession of the forts of Futtehpoor, Oskamow, Sorrea, +Dyeepoor, and Etonja, all belonging to Jugurnath Chuprassie, +another leader of banditti of that district They were only a few +miles distant from Bhowaneegur, and were deserted by his gangs on +their seeing a British force and hearing the guns open upon +Bhowaneegur. Two hundred head of stolen cattle were found in the +forts of Jugurnath, and restored to their proper owners. Parties +were sent in pursuit of Maheput Sing, and two of his followers were +secured; but he himself escaped for the time. The forts were all +destroyed. Captain Orr, the Assistant Superintendent, in charge of +the Frontier Police at Fyzabad, had been long in pursuit of Maheput +Sing, and his parties, knowing all his haunts and associates, gave +him no rest. His subadar, Seetul Sing, became acquainted with +Prethee Paul, tallookdar of Ramnuggur, who had been deprived of his +estate for defalcation, and become associated with Maheput Sing. +The subadar persuaded this landholder that it would be to his +advantage to aid in the arrest of so atrocious a robber and +murderer; and when Maheput next came to him to seek some repose +from his pursuers, and consult about future plans, he sent +intimation to Seetul Sing, whose detachment of sipahees was at no +great distance. On receiving the intimation, the subadar marched +forthwith, and reached the place at the dawn of day, on the morning +of the 1st of July 1850. Maheput Sing had just left the house to +perform his ablutions, but on seeing them, he suspected their +designs and re-entered the house. The subadar's party saw him, +immediately surrounded the house, and demanded his surrender, +Maheput Sing begged Prethee Paul to join him in defending the house +or cutting their way through; but Prethee Paul told him that he had +ruined himself by his atrocities, and must now submit to his fate, +since he could not involve himself and all his family in ruin +merely to assist him. Prethee Paul then took him by the arm, +brought him out, and made him over to Seetul Sing, who had +threatened to set fire to the house, forthwith unless he did so. He +was then secured and taken off, well guarded, and in all possible +haste, to Captain Orr, lest his gang might collect and attempt a +rescue. Captain Orr sent him off, under a strong guard and well +fettered, to Lucknow, to Captain Weston, the Superintendent of the +Frontier Police.</p> +<p>Prethee Paul, the tallookdar, for the good service, got back his +estate from the Oude sovereign, and an addition of five hundred +rupees a-year to his nankar or personal allowance. Gunga Aheer is +now a pensioner on the Residency fund, and his family has been +provided for. Maheput Sing and his associate Gujraj were sentenced +to transportation beyond seas, and sent off in October 1851.</p> +<p>It is remarked by the people, that few of these baronial robbers +ever die natural deaths—that they either kill each other, or +are killed sooner or later by the servants of Government. More +atrocious crimes than those which they every month commit it is +difficult to conceive. In the Bangor district, through which we +passed last month, this class of landholders are certainly as +strong and as much disposed to withhold the just dues of +Government, and to resist its officers and troops, as they are +here, but they do not plunder and burn down each other's villages, +and murder and rob each other's tenants so often as they do here. +The coalition has introduced among them a kind of <i>balance of +power</i>, which makes them respect each other's rights, and the +rights of each other's tenants, for the chiefs are dependent upon +the attachment and fidelity of their respective tenants. The above +list contains only a part of the leaders of gangs, by which the +districts of Dureeabad, Rodowlee, Sidhore, Pertabgunge, Deva, and +Jehangeerabad, are infested. We have seen no manufacture of any +exportable commodity in Oude, nor have we seen traffic on any road +in Oude, save that leading from Cawnpore to Lucknow.</p> +<p>In consequence of some bad seasons, a good deal of the grain +required at the Capital, and in the districts to the north-cast, +comes from Cawnpore over this road. Were the road from Fyzabad to +Lucknow good and safe, a good deal of land produce would, in +ordinary seasons, come over it from the Goruckpoor district, and +those intervening between Lucknow and Fyzabad. It would, however, +be useless to make the road till the gangs which infest it are put +down. A good and secure road from Lucknow through Sultanpoor to +Benares, would be of still greater advantage.</p> +<p><i>February 25</i>, 1850.—Halted at Dureeabad. I here saw +the draft-bullocks attached to the guns, with Captain Orr's +companies of Frontier Police. They are of the best kind, and in +excellent condition. They have the same allowance of a seer and +half of grain a-day, which is drawn for every bullock attached to +his Majesty's artillery. The difference is that they get all that +is paid for in their name, while the others get one-third; and +really got none when on detached duty till lately. On Fridays, +Captain Orr's bullocks get only half; and this is, I believe, the +rule with all the others that get any at all. His bullocks are bred +in the Nanpara, Nigasun, Dhorehra, and other districts in the Oude +Tarae, and are of an excellent quality for work. They cost from 40 +to 75 rupees a-pair. In these districts of the Tarae forest, the +cows are allowed to go almost wild in large grass preserves, where +they are defended from tigers; and the calves are taken from them, +when a year old, to be taken care of at home, till sold for the +dairy or for work. Captain Orr's bullocks have no grazing-ground, +nor are they sent out at all to graze—they get nothing but +bhoosa (chaff) and corn. Of bhoosa they get as much as they can +eat, when on detached duty, as they take it from the peasantry +without payment; but when at Lucknow, they are limited to a very +small quantity, as Government has to pay for it. On the 15th of +May, 1833, the King prohibited any one from taking bhoosa without +paying for it, either for private or public cattle; and directed +that bhoosa, for all the Artillery bullocks, should be purchased at +the harvests, and charged for in the public accounts; but the order +was disregarded like that against the murder of female +children.</p> +<p><i>February 26</i>, 1850—Sidhore, sixteen miles, W.S.W. +The country, a plain, covered as usual with spring crops and fine +foliage; but intersected midway by the little river Kuleeanee, +which causes undulations on each side. The soil chiefly doomut and +light, but fertile. It abounds more in white ants than such light +soil generally does. We passed through the estate of Soorujpoor +Behreylee, in which so many of the baronial robbers above described +reside, and through many villages beyond it, which they had lately +robbed and burnt down, as far as such villages can be burnt. The +mud-walls and coverings are as good as bomb-proofs against the +fire, to which they are always exposed from these robbers. Only +twenty days ago, Chundee Behraleea and his party attacked the +village of Siswae, through which we passed a few miles from +this—plundered it, and killed three persons, and six others +perished in the flames. They served several others in the +neighbourhood in the same manner; and have, within the same time, +attacked and plundered the town of Sidhore itself several +times.</p> +<p>The boundary which separates the Dureeabad from the Sidhore +district we passed some four miles back; and the greater part of +the villages lately attacked are situated in the latter, which is +under a separate Amil, Aga Ahmud, who is, in consequence, unable to +collect his revenue. The Amil of Dureeabad, Girdhara Sing,* on the +contrary, acquiesces in all the atrocities committed by these +robbers, and is, in consequence, able to collect his revenue, and +secure the favour of the Court. Some of the villages of the estate, +held by the widow of Singjoo, late Rajah of Soorujpoor, are under +the jurisdiction of the Sidhore Amil; and, as she would pay no +revenue, the Amil took a force a few days ago to her twelve +villages of Sonowlee, within the Dureeabad district, and seized and +carried off some three hundred of her tenants, men, women, and +children, as hostages for the payment of the balance due, and +confined them pell-mell, in a fort. The clamour of the rest of the +population as I passed was terrible, all declaring that they had +paid their rents to the <i>Ranee</i>, and that she alone ought to +be held responsible. She, however, resided at Soorujpoor, within +the jurisdiction, and under the protection of the Amil of +Dureeabad.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Girdhara Sing's patron is Chundee Sahaee, the minister's +deputy, whose influence is paramount at present.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Behraleea gangs have lately plundered the five villages of +Sadutpoor, Luloopoor, Bilkhundee, and Subahpoor, belonging to +Soorujbulee, the head Canoongo, or Chowdheree of Dureeabad, who had +never offended them. Both the Amils were with me for the latter +part of the road; and the dispute between them ran very high. It +was clear, however, that Girdhara Sing was strong in his league +with the robbers, and conscious of being able to maintain his +ground at Court; and Aga Ahmud was weak in his efforts to put them +down, and conscious of his being unable much longer to pay what was +required, and keep his post. He has with him two Companies of +Nujeebs and two of Telingas, and eight guns. The guns are useless +and without ammunition, or stores of any kind; and the Nujeebs and +Telingas cannot be depended upon. The best pay master has certainly +the best chance. It is humiliating and distressing to see a whole +people suffering such wrongs as are every day inflicted upon the +village communities and town's people of Dureeabad, Rodowlee, +Sidhore, and Dewa, by these merciless freebooters; and impossible +not to feel indignant at a Government that regards them with so +much indifference.*</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Poor Aga Ahmud was put into gaol, for defalcation, at the end +of the season; but Girdhara Sing was received with great favour by +the Court. The government of the district, for the next season, was +confirmed, and the usual dress of honour was conferred upon him, +but the Resident deemed it to be his duty to interpose and insist +upon his not being sent out. The government of the district was, in +consequence, taken from him, and made over to Rajah Maun Sing.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>A respectable young agricultural capitalist from Biswa, +Seetaram, rode along by my side this morning, and I asked him, +"over whom these suttee tombs, near Biswa, and other towns were for +the most part raised."—"Sir," said he, "they are chiefly over +the widows of Brahmins, bankers, merchants, Hindoo public officers, +tradesmen, and shopkeepers." "Are there many such tombs in Oude, +over the widows of Rajpoot landholders?"—"I have not seen +any, sir, and have rarely heard of the widow of a Rajpoot +landholder burning herself." "No, sir," said Bukhtawar Sing, "how +should such women be worthy to become suttees? They dare not become +suttees, sir, with the murder of so many innocent children on their +heads. Sir, we Brahmins and other respectable Hindoos feel honoured +in having daughters; and never feel secure of a happy life +hereafter till we see them respectably married. This, sir, is a +duty the Deity demands from us, and the neglect of which we do not +believe he can ever excuse. When the bridegroom comes sir, to fetch +our daughter, the priest reads over the marriage-service, and the +parents of the girl wash her feet and those of her bridegroom; and, +as they sit together after the ceremonies, put into her arms a tray +of gold and silver jewels, and rich clothes, such as their +condition in life enables them to provide; and then invoke the +blessing of God upon their union; and then, and not till then, do +they feel that they have done their duty to their child. What can +men and women, who murder their daughters as soon as they are born, +ever hope for in this life or in a future state? What can widows, +conscious of such crimes, expect from ascending the funeral pile, +with the bodies of their deceased husbands who have caused them to +commit such crimes?" "And you think that there really is merit in +such sacrifices on the part of widows, who have done their duties +in this life?"—"Assuredly I do, sir; if there were none, why +should God render them go insensible to the pain of burning? I have +seen many widows burn themselves in my time, and watched them from +the time they first declared their intention to their death; and +they all seemed to me to feel nothing whatever from the flames: +nothing, sir, but support from above could sustain them through +such trials. Depend upon it, sir, that no widow of a Rajpoot +murderer of his own offspring would ever be so supported; they knew +very well that they would not be so; and, therefore, very wisely +never ventured to expose themselves to the trial: faithful wives +and good mothers only could so venture. The Rajpoots, sir, and +their wives were pleased at the prohibition, because others could +no longer do what they dared not do!" "What do you think, +Seetarum?"—"I think, sir, that this crime of infanticide had +its origin solely in family pride, which will make people do almost +anything. These proud Rajpoots did not like to put it into any +man's power to call them <i>salahs</i> or <i>sussoors</i>,* +(brothers-in-law or fathers-in-law).</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* These are terms of abuse all over India. To call a man +sussoor or salah, in abuse, is to say to him, I have dishonoured +your daughter or your sister!]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>"I remember an instance of a woman burning herself at Lasoora, +six miles from Biswa, when I was fifteen years of age, and I am now +twenty-five. She certainly seemed to suffer no pain. One forenoon +she told her husband that in a former birth she had promised him +that when he should be born a <i>maha brahman</i> at Biswa, she +would unite herself in marriage to him, and live with him as his +wife for twelve years; that these twelve years had now expired, and +that she had that night received intimation from Heaven that her +real husband, <i>Rajah Kirpah Shunker</i>, of Muthura, had died +without having been married in this birth; that she was in reality +his wife, and had already burnt herself five times with his body, +and would now mix her ashes with his for the sixth time, and he +must forthwith send her to the village of Lasoora, where she would +become a suttee. The husband was astounded, for they had always +lived together on the best possible terms, and out of the four +children they had had two still survived. He and all their +relations did all they could to dissuade her, but she disregarded +them, and ran off to the Sewala (temple) in Biswa, which was built +by my father. Thence she sent a Brahmin, by name Gokurn, to call me +and my elder brother, Morlee Munohur, then seventeen years of age. +We went, and she told us that she had been our mother in a former +birth, and wished to see us once more before she died; she blessed +us, and prayed that we might have each five sons, and then told us +to arrange for her funeral pile at Lasoora, as all her former five +suttees had been performed at that place.</p> +<p>"We thought she was delirious, and no one supposed that she +would really burn herself. She, however, left the temple and +proceeded towards Lasoora on foot, followed by a party of women and +children, and by her husband, who continued to implore her to +return home with him. He had a litter with him to take her, but she +would not listen to him or to any one else. We reached Lasoora +about an hour and a half before sunset, and she ordered the people +to collect a large pile of wood for her, and told them that she +would light it with a flame from her own mouth. They seemed to +regard her as an inspired person, and did so. She mounted the pile, +and it soon took fire, how I know not! Many people said they saw +the flame come from her month, and all seemed to believe that it +did so. The flames ascended, for it was in the month of March, and +the wood was dry, and she seemed to be quite happy as she sat in +the midst of them, and was burnt to death. Her husband told us, +that she had lost one son some years before, and another only four +days before she burnt herself, and that she had been much afflicted +at his death. Whether there really had been such a person as Rajah +Kirpah Shunker, no one ever thought it necessary to inquire. Her +suttee tomb still stands at Lasoora among many others. Our mother +was alive, though our father had been dead many years, and she used +to say that the poor woman must have become deranged at the death +of her child. The people all believed that she told the truth, and +the husband was obliged to yield, though he seemed much afflicted. +Her two sons still live, and reside at Biswa." *</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Moorlee Monowur, a very respectable agricultural capitalist, +tells me, that all that his younger brother, Seetaram, told me, +about the suttee, if strictly true, and can be proved by a +reference to the poor woman's husband and sons, who still survive, +and to the people of Bilwa and Lasoora.]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I asked the Amil, "How he fed, clothed, and lodged his +prisoners?" He said, "We always take them with us in our marches, +secured in stocks or fetters. We cannot leave them behind, because +we have no gaols or other places to keep them in, and require all +our troops to move with us. As to food and clothing, they are +obliged to provide themselves, or get their families or friends to +provide them, for Government will not let us charge anything for +their subsistence and clothing in the accounts."</p> +<p>"I understand that you and all other public servants who have +charge of prisoners not only make them provide themselves with food +and clothing, but make them pay for lamp-oil, whether they have a +lamp burning at night or not?"—"When they require a lamp they +must of course pay for it, sir; prisoners are always a source of +much anxiety to us, for if we send them to Lucknow, they are almost +sure to be let out soon, on occasions of thanksgiving, or on +payment of gratuities, and enabled to punish all who have assisted +us in the arrest; and with hosts of robbers around us, we are +always in danger of an attempt to rescue them, which may cost us +many lives." "If the gaol darogahs at Lucknow had not the power to +sell his prisoners, sir," said Bukhtawar Sing, "how should he be +able to pay so much as he does for his place? He is obliged to pay +five hundred rupees or more for his place, and is not sure of +holding it a month after he has bought it, so many are the +candidates for a place so profitable!" "But he gets a share of the +subsistence money, paid for the prisoners from the Treasury, does +he not?"—"Yes, sir; of the four pice a-day paid for them by +the King, he takes two, and sends them to beg through the city for +what more they require." "If they get more than what he thinks they +require from the public or their friends, he takes the surplus from +them, I am told?"—"It is very true, sir, I believe. Fellows, +sir, who have no substantial friends, and cannot and will not beg, +soon sink under this scanty supply of food."</p> +<p><i>February 27</i>, 1850—Sutrick, sixteen miles west, over +a plain of muteear soil, tolerably well cultivated, and very well +studded with trees of the finest kinds, single, in clusters and in +groves. The mango-trees are in blossom, and promise well. The trees +are said to bear only one season out of three, but some bear in one +season, and others in another, so that the market is always +supplied, though in some seasons more abundantly than in others. A +cloudy sky and easterly wind, while the trees are in blossom, are +said to be very injurious. A large landholder told me that they +never took a tax upon any of the trees, not even the mhowa-trees, +but the owner could not, except upon particular occasions, dispose +of one to be cut down, without the permission of the zumeendar upon +whose lands it stood. He might cut down one without his permission +for building or repairing his house, or for fuel, on any occasion +of marriage in his family, but not otherwise. A good many fine +trees were, he said, destroyed by the local officers of Government. +Having no tents, they collected the roofs of houses from a +neighbouring village in hot or bad weather, cut away the branches +to make rafters, and left the trunks as pillars to support the +roofs, and under this treatment they soon died. He told me that +cow-dung was cheaper for fuel than wood in this district, and +consequently more commonly used in cooking; but that they gathered +cow-dung for fuel only during four months in the year, November, +December, January, and February; all that fell during the other +eight months was religiously left, or stored for manure. In the +pits in which they stored it, they often threw some of the inferior +green crops of autumn, such as kodo and kotkee; but the manure most +esteemed among them was <i>pigs' dung</i>—this, he said, was +commonly stored and sold by those who kept pigs. The best muteear +and doomut soils, which prevail in this district, are rented at two +rupees a kutcha beegah, without reference to the crop which the +cultivator might take from them; and they yielded, under good +tillage, from ten to fifteen returns of the seed in wheat, barley, +gram, &c. There are two and half or three kutcha beegahs in a +pucka beegah; and a pucka beegah is from 2750 to 2760 square +yards.</p> +<p>Sutrick is celebrated for the shrine of Shouk Salar, alias +<i>Borda Baba</i>, the father of Syud Salar, whose shrine is at +Bahraetch. This person, it is said, was the husband of the sister +of Mahmood, of Ghuznee. He is supposed to have died a natural death +at this place, while leading the armies of his sovereign against +the Hindoos. His son had royal blood in his veins, and his shrine +is held to be the most sacred of the two. A large fair is held here +in March, on the same days that this fair takes place at Bahraetch. +All our Hindoo camp followers paid as much reverence to the shrine +as they passed as the Mahommedans. It is a place without trade or +manufactures; but a good many respectable Mahommedan families +reside in it, and have built several small but neat mosques of +burnt bricks. There is little thoroughfare in the wretched road +that passes through it.</p> +<p>The Hindoos worship any sign of manifested might or power, +though exerted against themselves, as they consider all might and +power to be conferred by the Deity for some useful purpose, however +much that purpose may be concealed from us. "These invaders, +however merciless and destructive to the Hindoo race, say they must +have been sent on their mission by God for some great and useful +purpose, or they could not possibly have succeeded as they did: had +their proceedings not been sanctioned by Him, he could at any +moment have destroyed them all, or have interposed to arrest their +progress." These, however, are the speculations of only the +thinking portion. At the bottom of the respect shown to such +Mahommedan shrines, by the mass of Hindoos, there is always a +strong ground-work of <i>hope</i> or <i>fear</i>: the soul or +spirit of the savage old man, who had been so well supported on +earth, must still, they think, have some influence at the Court of +Heaven to secure them good or work them evil, and they invoke or +propitiate him accordingly. They would do the same to the tomb of +Alexander, Jungez Khan, Tymour, or Nadir Shah, without any +perplexing inquiries as to their creed or liturgy.</p> +<p><i>February 28</i>, 1850.—Chinahut, eleven miles west, +over a plain intersected by several small streams, the largest of +which is the Rete, near Sutrick. There is a good deal of +kunkur-lime in the ground over which we have passed today; but the +tillage is good where the land is at all level, and the crops are +fine. The plain is cut up here and there by some ravines, but they +are small and shallow, and render but a small portion of the +surface unfit for tillage. The banks of the small streams are, for +the most part, cultivated up to the water's edge.</p> +<p>We passed the Rete over a nice bridge, built by Rajah Bukhtawar +Sing twenty-five years ago, at a cost of twenty-five thousand +rupees, out of his own purse. He told me that one morning, in the +rains, he came to the bank of this river, on his way to Lucknow +from Jeytpoor, a town which we passed yesterday, and found it so +swollen that he was obliged to purchase some large earthen jars, +and form a raft upon them to take over himself and followers. While +preparing his raft, which took a whole day, he heard that from five +to ten persons were drowned, in attempting to cross this little +river, every year, and that people were often detained upon the +bank for four or five days together. He resolved to save people +from all this evil; and as soon as he got home set about building +this bridge, and got it ready before the next rains. It is a +substantial work, with three good arches. About two miles on this +side of the bridge he pointed out to me the single tree, near a +mango-grove, where some eighteen or twenty years ago he overtook a +large balloon, which the King, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, had got made +in the Dilkosha Park at Lucknow. It was made, he tells me, by a +tall and slender young English gentleman, who visited Lucknow, with +his uncle, for the special purpose of constructing and ascending in +this machine. "When it was all ready, sir, the young man got into a +small boat that was suspended under it, taking with him a gun and +some artificial fish. We asked him what he intended to do with a +gun in the clouds; and he told us, that in the sky he was in danger +of meeting large birds that might hurt the balloon, and the gun was +necessary to frighten them off. As the balloon began to ascend the +old gentleman's eyes filled with tears, and I asked him why. He +told me, that this young man's father had fallen into the sea, and +been drowned; and he was always afraid, when the son went up, that +he might never see him alive again.</p> +<p>"The King was sitting at the window in the upper story of the +Dilkosha house, with some English gentlemen, when the balloon +passed up close by, and the gentleman took off his hat and bowed +gracefully as he passed, at which the King seemed much pleased. I +commanded a regiment of Dragoons, and the King told me to take a +party of my boldest and best-mounted men and follow the balloon. I +selected seventeen, and we were all ready in our saddles. The +balloon went straight up, and we lost sight of the man and the boat +in which he sat. The machine, though it was sixty feet long, +including boat and all, and twelve feet wide, seemed at last to be +no larger than a small water-jug. Below we had no wind, but we soon +saw the balloon driven by an upper current to the eastward, along +the Fyzabad road. We followed as fast as the horses could carry us, +crossed the Goomtee river over the old stone bridge, and passed +many travellers on the road staring at the extraordinary machine, +for they had heard nothing about it, and we had no time to tell +them. When we had gone about seventeen miles, the balloon began to +descend. It was in the month of March, and the weather was hot, and +I had lost three horses before it came to the ground. The young man +then began to let go his fish, and they came fluttering down, while +the oil-cloths about the balloon made a noise like the growling of +a wild beast. Seeing the enormous machine going at this rate, +followed by us at full speed, the people along the road, who are +always numerous in the morning, became so panic-struck that a great +many fell down senseless upon their faces, and some of them could +not be got to rise for some hours afterwards.</p> +<p>"We were not far from it when it approached the ground, and +swept along on the border of this grove, on our left. Fortunately +for the young man, it did not strike any trees. He was dressed all +in black, and a very tall, handsome young man he was. As soon as he +found himself near enough to the ground, he jumped out, holding one +rope in his hand, and tried to stop the balloon, calling out to the +people on the road, as loud as he could, <i>puckaro, +puckaro!</i>—seize, seize! We were then within two hundred +yards of it, and at full speed; and, instead of helping the young +man, the people on the road, thinking the order was to seize them, +fell down flat on their faces, unable to look upon the balloon, or +utter a word. They all thought that it was some terrible demon from +above come to seize and devour them. When we had headed it a +little, we all sprang from our saddles, joined the young man at the +ropes, and lashed them round anything we could find, as we were +being dragged along. The young man took out his penknife, and gave +the balloon a gash in the side, to let out the <i>smoke</i> that +inflated it, and it collapsed and stopped. The first thing, sir, +that the young man did was to call for fire, take a cigar from his +waistcoat pocket, and begin to smoke, while we went to the +assistance of the panic-struck travellers, many of whom were still +lying senseless on the ground. We got water, and threw it in their +faces; and when they were able to sit up, we mounted the young man +upon one of our horses, and took him back slowly to Lucknow. He +told me that it was so very cold above, that it gave him a severe +headache, and that he found a cigar a good thing to remove it. The +King was very glad when we brought him back, and he gave him +several thousand rupees over and above the cost of making the +balloon, and providing him and his uncle during their stay. They +soon after left Lucknow for Lahore, and what became of them I know +not."</p> +<p>Passing a Mahommedan village, I asked some of the landholders, +who walked along by the side of my elephant, to talk of their +grievances, whether they ever used pigs' dung for manure. They +seemed very much surprised and shocked, and asked how I could +suppose that Mahommedans could use such a thing. "Come," said +Bukhtawar Sing, "do not attempt to deceive the Resident. He has +been all over India, and knows very well that Mahommedans do not +keep or eat pigs; but he knows, also, that there is no good +cultivator in Oude who does not use the dung of pigs for manure; +and you know that there is no other manure, save' pigeons' dung, +that is so good." "We often purchase <i>manure</i> from those who +prepare it," said the landholders, "and do not ask questions about +what it may be composed of; but the greater part of the manure we +use is the cow-dung which falls in the season of the rains, and is +stored exclusively for that purpose. In the dry months, sir, the +dung of cows, bullocks, buffaloes, &c., is gathered, formed +into cakes, and stacked for fuel; but in the rains it is all thrown +into pits and stored for manure."</p> +<p>Chinahut is the point from which we set out on the 2nd of +December, and here I was met by the prime minister, Nawab Allee +Nakee Khan, and the chancellor of the exchequer, Maharajah +Balkrishun, to whom I explained my views as to the measures which +ought to be adopted to save the peaceful and industrious portion of +his Majesty's subjects from the evils which now so grievously +oppress them.</p> +<p>Here closes my pilgrimage of three months in Oude; and I can +safely say that I have learnt more of the state of the country, and +the condition and requirements of the people, than I could possibly +have learnt in a long life passed exclusively at the capital of +Lucknow. Any general remarks that I may have to make on what I have +seen and heard during the pilgrimage I must defer to a future +period.</p> +<p>At four in the afternoon, I left Chinahut, and returned to +Lucknow. At the old race-stand, about three miles from the +Residency, I was met by the heir-apparent, and drove with him, in +his carriage, to the Furra Buksh Palace, where we alighted for a +few minutes, to go through the usual tedious ceremonies of an +Oriental Court. On the way we were met by Mr. Hamilton, the +chaplain, and his lady. Dr. and Mrs. Bell, and Captain Bird, the +First Assistant, and his brother and guest. After the ceremony, I +took leave of the Prince, and reached the Resident at six o'clock. +My wife and children had left me at Peernuggur, to return, for +medical advice, to the Residency, where I had the happiness to find +them well, and glad to see me. Having broken my left thigh hone, +near the hip joint, in a fall from my horse, in April, 1849, I was +unable to mount a horse during the tour, and went in a tonjohn the +first half of the stage, and on an elephant the last half, that I +might see as much as possible of the country over which we were +passing. The pace of a good elephant is about that of a good +walker, and I had generally some of the landholders and cultivators +riding or walking by my side to talk with.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p align="center"><big>END OF THE TOUR.</big></p> +<br> +<a name="Private2" id="Private2"></a><br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE</h2> +<br> +<h3>RELATING TO THE ANNEXATION OF THE KINGDOM OF OUDE TO BRITISH +INDIA.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Camp, Nawabgunge, 5th December, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Bird,</p> +<p>I had heard from Mahomed Khan what you mention regarding the +imposition practised on the King by the singers; but from his +having conferred a khilaut on the knaves, they supposed that he +had, as usual, pardoned all. If you have grounds to believe that +the King is prepared to punish them, or to acquiesce in their +punishment, pray ask an audience and ascertain his Majesty's +wishes. When we last went, I was in hopes that he would tell me +that he wished to be relieved of their presence, and did all I +could to encourage him to do so. If the King wishes to have them +removed, encourage him to give immediate orders to the minister to +confine them; and offer any assistance that may be required to take +them across the Ganges, or put them into safe custody. When it is +done, it must be done promptly.</p> +<p>As to the Taj Mahal, I went on an order by Richmond, "that the +King should put a Mahaldarnee upon her if he wished." I was told +that such was Richmond's order, and I give mine in consequence. I +will refer to the Dufter for his order. But you must at once insist +upon all sipahees being withdrawn from her house. This order was +given by me and should be enforced by you. I said that the +Mahaldarnee might remain, but it must be alone, without sipahees, +&c.</p> +<p>On emergency, act of course on your own discretion I only wish +that the King may be induced to consent to the removal of all the +singers, and meddling eunuchs also.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Captain Bird,<br> +First Assistant.</p> +<p>Sadik Allee should be secured, and punished with the rest.</p> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Camp, Bahraetch, 10th December, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Bird,</p> +<p>The conduct of the singers which exasperated the King had no +reference to public matters with which he was pledged not to permit +them to interfere; and my only request was, that you should offer +your aid in removing them should his Majesty indicate any wish for +it. The King said he would himself punish them for their conduct by +banishment across the Ganges, and he must be left to do so: it was +not from any demand made by us, but from resentment for a personal +affront, or an affront to his understanding. We cannot call upon +the King to do what he said he would do under such circumstances, +but must leave it to himself. The removal of two out of a dozen +fellows of this description will be of no use—their places +will soon be filled by others. Any attempt on your part to supply +their places by better men will only tend to indispose the King +towards them; and it is no part of our duty to dictate to his +Majesty with whom he shall associate in his private hours.</p> +<p>I have had abundant proof that, to reduce the influence of the +present favourites, has no tendency to throw the power into better +hands—no authority of any kind taken from them has, by the +minister, been confided to better men; the creatures of one are not +a whit better than the creatures of the other. If his Majesty were +to rouse himself, and apply his own mind to business, we might hope +for some good, and I see little chance of this.</p> +<p>You are not to order that the King fulfil his promise, because, +as I have said, it was no pledge made on the requisition of our +Government on the Resident. If he does not fulfil it, it is only +one proof more added to a hundred of his exceeding weakness. There +are at least a dozen worse men now influencing all that the King +and minister do than Kotab Alee and Gholam Ruza. The last order +given regarding Taj Mahal by me was, that she should admit a +Mahaldarnee from the King, but that no sipahees should be forced +upon her. I wrote to the King to this effect, and my order must be +enforced. I am told by the moonshee, that when the King expressed a +wish to have such guardians upon many, Richmond replied that he +might have one upon Taj Mahal, who had given such proof of +profligacy. It was not a judicial decision, to be referred to as a +guide under all circumstances, but a mere arrangement which might +any day require to be altered. Taj Mahal is so profligate and +insolent a woman, that if she refuses to obey my order, and receive +the King's Mahaldarnee, I shall withdraw the Residents.</p> +<p>After what the Governor-General had told the King in November, +1847, regarding what our Government would feel itself bound to do, +unless his Majesty conducted the duties of a sovereign better than +he had hitherto done; and after the experience we have since had of +his entire neglect of those duties, you should not, I think, have +said what you mention having said to him, that our Government had +no wish to deprive him of one iota of the power he had. It was a +declaration not called for by the circumstances, or necessary on +the occasion, and should have been avoided, as it is calculated to +impair the impression of his responsibility for the exercise of his +power. No sovereign ever showed a greater disregard for the duties +and responsibilities of his high office than he has done hitherto, +and as our Government holds itself answerable to the people of Oude +for a better administration, he should not be encouraged in the +notion that he may always show the same disregard with +impunity—that is, continue to retain every iota of his power +whether he exercised it properly or not. No man, I believe, ever +felt more anxious for the welfare of the King, his family, and +country, than I do; but unless he exercises his fearful power +better, I should be glad, for the sake of all, to see the whole, or +part of it, in better hands.</p> +<p>The minister has his Motroussil with me, and I have daily +communications of what is done or proposed to be done, and you may +be sure that I lose no occasion of admonition. I did not mention +anything you said regarding your interview with the King in your +letter to Mahomed Khan; but in a few hours after your letter came +he got the whole from the minister, and reported it to me. He wants +us to undertake the work of turning out the King's favourites, that +he may get all the power they lose, without offending his master by +any appearance of moving in the matter.</p> +<p>We go hence to-morrow; hope to be at Gonda on the 14th, and +Fyzabad on the 18th. I have requested the post-master to send all +our letters to Fyzabad by the regular dawk from Thursday next, the +13th. From Fyzabad I will arrange for their coming to my camp.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Captain Bird,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Camp, Ghunghole, 12th December, 1849. </p> +<p>My Dear Bird,</p> +<p>I got your letter of the 9th instant last night, at our last +ground. In what you have done, you have not, I think, acted +discreetly. You asked me whether, in any case of emergency, you +should act on your discretion, and I told you in reply that you +might do so; but surely, whether the King should have a dozen +singers or only ten could not be considered one of such pressing +emergency as not to admit of your waiting for instructions from me, +or, at least, for a reply to your letter. The King has told you +truly, that the matter in which the offenders had transgressed had +reference to his house, and not to his Government or ours. This is +a distinction which you appear to have lost sight of from the +first. If I demand reparation from another for wrong or insults +suffered from his servants, and he promises to punish them by +dismissal from his service but afterwards relents and detains them, +I consider it due to myself and my character to insist upon the +fulfilment of his promise; but if I voluntarily visit any friend +who has at last become sensible of the impositions of his servants +which had long been manifest to all his neighbours, with a view to +encourage him in his laudable resolution to dismiss them from his +service, and to offer my aid in effecting the object should he +require it, and he promises me not to swerve from it, but +afterwards relents and retains the impostors, I pity his weakness, +but I do not consider it due to myself, or to my character, to +insist upon his fulfilling his promise. By considering two cases so +very distinct, the same, you have placed yourself in a disagreeable +situation, for I cannot support you; that is, I can neither demand +that the requisitions made by you be complied with, nor can I tell +the King that I approve of them. Had you waited for my reply, which +was sent off from Bahraetch on the 10th, you would have saved +yourself all this annoyance and mortification. It has arisen from +an overweening confidence in your personal influence over his +Majesty; the fact is, I believe that no European gentleman ever has +had or ever will have any personal influence over him, and I very +much doubt whether any real native gentleman will ever have any. He +never has felt any pleasure in their society, and I fear never +will. He has hitherto felt easy only in the society of such persons +as those with whom he now exclusively associates, and to hope that +he will ever feel easy with persons of a better class is vain. I am +perfectly satisfied, in spite of the oath he has taken in the name +of his God, and on the head of his minister, that he made to you +the promise you mention; and I am no less satisfied that the +minister wished for the removal of the singers, provided it should +be effected through us without his appearing to his master to move +in the matter, and that he wished their removal solely with a view +to acquire for himself the authority they had possessed. You should +not have any more audiences with the King without previous +reference to me; nothing is likely to occur to require it.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Captain Bird,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Camp, Fyzabad, 18th December, 1819. </p> +<p>My Dear Bird,</p> +<p>I send you the letter which you wish to refer to. As you quote +my first letter, pray let me see it. I kept no copy, but have a +distinct recollection of what I intended to say in it regarding +this affair of the singers. It shall be sent back to you. The term +"indiscreet" had reference only to your second visit, and demand +from the King of the fulfilment of his promise. I had no fault +whatever to find with your first visit. The term "private" must +have had reference, not to the promise or to the person to whom it +was made, but to the offence with which the singers stood charged. +It was an affront offered to the King's understanding that he took +affront at, and whether he had made a promise to resent it as such +to me, or to you could make no difference. If he did not fulfil it, +we should pity this further instance of his weakness, but could +have no right to insist upon his doing so. Even had the offence +been an interference in public affairs, and breach of the King's +engagements, I should not have demanded their banishment without a +reference to the Governor-General, because the delay of waiting for +instructions involved no danger or serious inconvenience; that is, +I should not have demanded it when the King was so strongly opposed +to it. I must distinctly deny that you demanded the King's +fulfilment of his promise in conformity to any instructions +received from me, or in accordance with my views of what was right +or expedient in this matter. Your second visit and demand were +neither in conformity to the one nor in accordance with the other. +You must have put a construction upon what I wrote which it cannot +fairly bear. By "requisitions" I mean your requirements that the +two men should be banished by the King, according to his promise. +No notice has been made to me of your visit by the Court, and I +have therefore had no occasion to say anything whatever about it in +my communications to the Court, nor shall I have any I suppose. In +your letter of the 4th instant, you say, with regard to the Taj +Mahal's case, "Not knowing whether you do or do not wish me to act +in any sudden emergency during your absence, I suppose, therefore, +that had you had any such wish you would have instructed me on the +subject." In reply, I requested that you would so act on your own +discretion in any such sudden case of emergency.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Captain Bird,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Camp, Mahomdee, 2nd February, 1850. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir Erskine,</p> +<p>Had it not been too late for you to join my camp conveniently, I +should have asked you to run out and see a little of the country +and people of Oude, after you had seen so much of those of the +Honourable Company's dominions. A few years of tolerable government +would make it the finest country in India, for there is no part of +India with so many advantages from nature. I have seen no soil +finer; the whole plain of which it is composed is capable of +tillage; it is everywhere intersected by rivers, flowing from the +snowy chain of the Himmalaya, which keep the moisture near the +surface at all times, without cutting up any of the land on their +borders into deep ravines; it is studded with the finest groves and +single trees, as much as the lover of the picturesque could wish; +it has the boldest and most industrious peasantry in India, and a +landed aristocracy too strong for the weak and wretched Government; +it is, for the most part, well cultivated; yet with all this, one +feels, in travelling over it, as if he was moving among a people +suffering under incurable physical diseases, from the atrocious +crimes every day perpetrated with impunity, and the numbers of +suffering and innocent people who approach him, in the hope of +redress, and are sent away in despair.</p> +<p>I think your conclusion regarding the source of the signs you +saw of beneficial interference in the north-west provinces a fair +one. A Lieutenant-Governor is able to see all parts of the country +under his charge every year, or nearly all; and while he is +sufficiently "monarch of all he surveys" to feel an interest in, +and to provide for the general good, he has a sufficient knowledge +of the internal management of particular districts to control the +proceedings of the local officers. He is also well seconded in a +very efficient Board of Revenue. But I must not indulge in these +matters any further, till I have the pleasure of meeting you where +we can talk freely about them.</p> +<p>I trust that all at Lucknow will be conducted to your +satisfaction and that of Mrs. Erskine. I have this morning received +a note from Mr. Erskine, who left you, it appears, before the +little heir-apparent returned your visit. I expect to complete my +tour and return to Lucknow on the 20th, when I shall have seen all +that I required to see, to understand the working of the existing +system, and the probable effects of any suggested changes.</p> +<p>With kind regards to Mrs. Erskine,</p> +<div class="s2">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s3">Yours very sincerely,</div> +<div class="s2">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir Erskine Perry.</p> +<p>P.S.—I must not omit to thank you for the expression of +your favourable opinion of the "Rambles." There is one thing of +which I can assure you, that the conversations mentioned in it are +genuine, and give the real thoughts and opinions of the people on +the subjects they embrace.<br></p> +<div class="s4">W. H. S.</div> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 26th April, 1850. </p> +<p>My Dear Elliot,</p> +<p>I did not send Weston's letters with the other papers, because +they were not written in an official form. He was the senior +officer with the force, and had authority from the Durbar to call +upon all local, civil, and military authorities to co-operate in +the work; but he did not take upon himself the command, or write in +official form. He inspired all with harmony and energy, and brought +the whole strength of the little force to bear upon the right +points at the right time.</p> +<p>The head of Prethee Put of Paska was cut off by Captain +Magness's sipahees after his death, to be sent to the King as a +trophy, but Captain Weston would not let it come in. The body was +offered to his family and friends for interment, but none of the +family or tribe (Kolhun's Rajpoots) would have anything to do with +the funeral ceremonies of a man who had murdered his eldest brother +and the head of his tribe. The body was, with the head, put into a +sheet, taken to the river Ghagra, and committed to the stream, to +flow to the Ganges, as the best interment for a Hindoo. These +sipahees knew nothing of the man's history; but the people who saw +the affair from the Dhundee Fort mentioned that the body was thrown +into the river at the precise place where he had thrown in that of +his eldest brother, after murdering him in the boat with his own +hands, as stated in the extract from my Diary; and all believe that +this retribution arises from an interposition from above. The +eldest son of the murdered brother will, I hope, be put into +possession of the estate.</p> +<p>The Governor-General may like to peruse these letters, and I +send them. They give, perhaps, a fuller and better account of what +was done, and the manner in which it was done, than more studied +compositions, in an official form, would have given.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir H. M. Elliot, K.C.B.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 8th July, 1850. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir James,</p> +<p>I feel that my Indian career, which has now lasted forty years, +must be drawing to a close, and I am anxious for the settlement in +life of my only son, now between seventeen and eighteen years of +age. Having no personal claims upon any member of the Home +Government of India, I solicit the insertion of his name on his +Grace the Duke of Wellington's list of candidates for a commission +in the Dragoons; and he is now preparing for his examination under +the care of Mr. Yeatman, at Westow Hill, Norwood, Surrey, near +London. But he is ambitious to obtain an appointment to Bengal, +where his father has served so long, and may, possibly, have +friends and recollections that might be useful to him in the early +part of his career. It falls to the lot of few to have the +opportunities that I have had to carry out the benevolent views of +Government in measures of great and general benefit to the people, +and to secure their gratitude and affection to their rulers. All +the measures which I have been employed to carry out have tended to +display the benevolent solicitude of the Government of India for +the welfare of the people committed to its charge; the object of +all has been the greater security of life and property throughout +the country, the greater confidence of the people in the wisdom and +efficiency of our rule, and their greater feeling of interest in +this stability. These measures, as far as they have been confided +to my care, have all succeeded; but, as I have stated (p. 79) in a +printed report, a copy of which will be sent to you, they have +neither flattered the vainglory of any particular nation, nor +enlisted on their side the self-love of any influential class or +powerful individual, and they have, in consequence, been attended +with little <i>éclat</i>. They have, however, tended to +secure to the Government the gratitude and affection of the people +of India, and are measures of which that Government may justly feel +proud. The stability of our Government in India must depend less +upon our military victories than upon the confidence and affection +with which our civil and political administration may inspire the +great mass of the people. The general belief is, that our object is +their substantial good, and that we are instruments in the hands of +Divine Providence to effect that object. In our military glory they +can feel no sympathy, and in our territorial acquisitions little +interest; but they can and do appreciate every measure which tends +to improve the security of life, property, and industry through the +land—to restore the bond of good feeling between the +Government and governed, where it has for a time been severed or +impaired by accident—to provide the people with works tending +to improve their comfort and convenience—to mitigate +sufferings from calamities of season, and to encourage all to exert +themselves honestly in their proper sphere. In carrying out the +views of Government in such measures, and such only, has my life in +India been spent; and for doing so to the best of my humble ability +I have, I believe, done much to make its rule revered throughout +India. It is by such measures that the respect and confidence of +the great mass of the people have been secured, so as to enable +Europeans, male and female, to pass from one end of the country to +the other with the assurance, not only that they will suffer no +personal injury, but no mark of disrespect. Should anything occur +to deprive us of this confidence and respect among the great mass +of the people, the recollection of our victories, and assurance of +our superior military organization will avail us but little; and it +is as one who has zealously and successfully aided Government in +securing them, that I now venture to address you, in the hope that +you will—if you can do so consistently with your public +duties and pledges to others—open to my son the same career +of usefulness by conferring upon him a nomination to the civil +service of India. He is now five months above seventeen years of +age; and by the time he is eighteen, he will, I hope, under Mr. +Yeatman's judicious care, be able to pass his examination for +Haileybury, should he, through your means, obtain this the utmost +object of his ambition. Over and above the desire to follow his +father's footsteps in India, he is anxious to avoid the necessity +of encroaching so much upon the small means I have to provide for +his four sisters, by entering so expensive a branch of the public +service as the Dragoons. I know the great nature of the favour I +ask from you. It is the first favour that I have ever asked from +any member of the Home Government of India; and I solicit it from +you solely on the ground of service rendered to the Government and +people of India. I am told that I must address my application to an +individual; and I address it to you, under the impression that you +are the member with whom such ground is likely to meet with most +consideration;— not that I think any member of the Honourable +Court would disregard it; for I believe, after long and varied +experience in public affairs, and much thought and reading, that no +body intrusted with the Government of a distant possession ever +performed their duties with more earnest solicitude for its welfare +than the Court of Directors of the Honourable East India Company; +but because your public career has inspired me with more confidence +than that of any other member of the Court as now constituted. If +you cannot grant me the favour I ask, you will, I know, pardon the +liberty I have taken in asking it.</p> +<div class="s1">And believe me, with great respect,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours faithfully,</div> +<div class="s2">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 20th September, 1850. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir Charles,</p> +<p>The papers give us reason to hope that it is your intention to +visit Lucknow on your way down from the hills, and if you can make +it convenient to come, I shall be rejoiced to have the opportunity +of showing you all that is worth seeing, and be able to afford all +who come with you, ladies and gentlemen, accommodation.</p> +<p>The only road to Lucknow for carriages is from Cawnpore, and if +you come that way, I will have carriages sent for you. If you come +by any other road, I will have elephants sent to whatever place you +may mention, and tents if required. It has been usual, when the +Commander-in-chief visits Lucknow, for Government to intimate the +intention to the King through the Resident in Oude, that +preparation may be made for his reception in due form.</p> +<p>I mention this that you may make known your wish or intention to +the Governor-General, in time for me to prepare the King and his +Court.</p> +<p>From Cawnpore to this is only a drive of six hours, the distance +being fifty miles, and the road good. All officers, &c., will +be glad to have an opportunity of paying their respects to their +distinguished Chief.</p> +<div class="s1">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s3">Yours very faithfully,</div> +<div class="s2">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To his Excellency<br> +Sir Charles Napier, G.C.B.,<br> + &c. &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 7th November, 1850. </p> +<p>My Dear Allan,</p> +<p>In the "Englishman" of the 28th, and the "Hurkara" of the 29th, +there are some strictures on Oude affairs. The editors of both +papers are, I believe, sturdy, honest men; but their correspondents +are not acquainted with the merits of the particular case referred +to, or with Oude affairs generally. I vouch for the truth of +everything stated in the enclosed paper, and shall feel obliged if +you will give it to the one most likely, in your opinion, to make a +fair use of it. There can be no harm in putting an editor in +possession of the real truth in a question involving not only +individual but national honour; for he must be anxious to make his +paper the vehicle of truth on all such questions.</p> +<p>I do not like to address either of the editors, because +Government expect all their servants will abstain from doing so in +their own vindication, and will leave their honour in their +keeping. I have done so since 1843, and should now do so were I +alone concerned in this affair. You may mention my name as +authority for what is stated, but pray let it be mentioned +confidentially. Government has been informed of the truth, and it +is well that the public should be so.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN</div> +<p>To J. Allan, Esq.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 17th November, 1850. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir James,</p> +<p>I thank you for your very kind letter of the 7th ultimo: my son +is preparing for his examination, and expects his commission in +some regiment of cavalry very soon. He has not only become +reconciled to it, but would, I believe, now prefer remaining at +home as a cavalry officer to coming to India in any capacity. As I +have only one son, and he has four sisters to look after, I should +be unwilling to have him sent out to India as a cadet, were he +anxious to be so. A good regiment is an excellent school for a +young man, but no school could be worse than a bad regiment; and +among so many, there must always be some bad. I have seen some of +the sons of my old friends utterly ruined in character and +constitution by being posted to such regiments when too young to +think for themselves. I feel, however, as grateful to you for your +very kind offer as I should be, were I to avail myself of it.</p> +<p>If I return to England, I shall take advantage of the earliest +opportunity to pay my respects and become personally acquainted +with you; but I have no intention to leave India as long as I feel +that I can perform efficiently the duties intrusted to me.</p> +<p>I had a few days ago, in referring to Government an important +question that must some day come before you, occasion to mention an +important and interesting fact. During the last collision with the +Seiks, I found that the Government securities kept up their value +here, while in Calcutta they fell a good deal; and the merchants +here employed agents in Calcutta to purchase largely for sale here. +Paper to the value of more than three millions sterling, or three +crores of rupees, is held by people residing in the city of +Lucknow, and the people had never the slightest doubt that we +should be ultimately triumphant. The question was whether heirs and +executors of persons domiciled here and leaving property in +Government securities, should apply to Her Majesty's Supreme Court +in Calcutta, for probates to wills and letters of administration, +or whether an act should be passed to render the decision of the +highest Court at Lucknow, countersigned, by the Resident, as valid +as the certificate of a judge in our own provinces, as far as such +property in Government securities might be concerned. A provision +of this sort had been omitted in Act 20 of 1841, which was +considered applicable to all British India, of which the kingdom of +Oude was held to form a part.</p> +<p>We have now a fair prospect of long peace, during which I hope +our finances will improve. The lavish life-pensions granted after +wars in Central and Southern India will be lapsing with the death +of the present incumbents, many of whom are becoming old and +infirm, and our means of transit and irrigation will increase with +the new works which are being formed, and we shall always have it +in our power to augment our revenue from indirect taxation, as +wealth and industry increase.</p> +<div class="s2">Believe me, My Dear Sir James,</div> +<div class="s1">Very faithfully and obligedly yours,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 2nd March, 1851. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>The mail of the 24th January has just come in, and I find my +only son Henry Arthur gazetted for the 16th Dragoons. He told me by +the last mail that he was to be so if he passed his examination on +the 10th of that month, which he hoped to do; but I deferred +writing to thank you for your kind exertions in his behalf till his +name should appear in the "Gazette." I pray your Lordship to accept +my most grateful acknowledgments for this act of kindness, added as +it has been to the many others which I have received at your hands. +It is not the less valuable that it is the only favour I have +received from England since I left it more than forty years ago, +though, I believe, few have done more to benefit the people of its +eastern dominions, and to secure for it their esteem and +affection.</p> +<p>I trust that my son will never do anything to make your Lordship +regret the favour conferred upon me and him on this occasion. He +is, I believe, in disposition, manners, and education a little +gentleman; and in time he will, I hope, become a good officer.</p> +<p>If I might take the liberty, I would pray your Lordship to +offer, in such terms as may appear to you suitable, my grateful +acknowledgments for the consideration I have received, to his Grace +the Duke of Wellington, and to Lord Fitzroy Somerset. My London +Agents, Messrs. Denay, Clark, and Co., of Austin Friars, have been +instructed to pay for my son's commission and outfit, and to +provide him with the funds indispensably necessary in addition to +his pay.</p> +<p>We shall now look with much interest to the Parliamentary +discussions on Indian affairs, for we must expect some important +changes on the renewal of the Charter. Whatever these changes may +be for the home or local Government, I trust the benefit of the +people of India will be considered the main point, and not the +triumph of a party. The statesman who shall link India more closely +with New Zealand will be a benefactor to both England and India, +and that colony also. It might, with advantage to itself, take +those children of Indian officers who cannot find employment of any +kind in India, and ought not to be thrown back upon the +mother-country. With this view, it might be useful to transfer our +orphan institutions to that island, to direct that way our invalid +and pensioned officers, who, while subsisting upon their pensions +or stipends, would be able to establish their children in a climate +suitable to the preservation of their race, which that of India +certainly is not.</p> +<p>India is at present tranquil, and likely to remain so. We have +no native chiefs, or combination of native chiefs, to create +uneasiness; and if we continue to satisfy the great body of the +people that we are anxious, to the best of our ability, to promote +their happiness and welfare, and are the most impartial arbitrators +that they could have, we shall have nothing to fear. The moment +that this mass is impressed with the belief that we wish to govern +India only for ourselves, or as the French govern Algiers, from +that moment we must lose our vantage ground and decline. We may war +against the native chiefs of India, but we cannot war against the +people—we need not fear what may be called political dangers, +but we must guard carefully against those of a social character +which would unite against us the members of all classes and all +creeds.</p> +<p>But I must no longer indulge in speculations of this sort, in +which you can now feel little interest amidst the important changes +which are now taking place in the institutions and relations of +European nations. With grateful recollections of kindness received, +and great respect,<br></p> +<div class="s1">I remain,</div> +<div class="s2">Your Lordship's obedient servant,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Right Hon.<br> +the Earl of Ellenborough.</p> +<p>P.S.—Since writing the above, I have received your +Lordship's letter of the 18th of January, and have been much +gratified with the favourable opinion you entertain of the +commandant and officers. It is the best assurance I could have of +my boy being safe. Nothing could be more auspicious than the +opening of the lad's career, and I trust he will profit by the +advantage.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 18th March, 1851. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir Erskine,</p> +<p>I have read over with much interest the two small works you have +done me the favour to send me, the one on Buddhism, and the other +on Law Reform; but I have not ventured upon the Seventh Report of +the Board of Education yet, because I have had a good deal to do +and think about; and a good deal of it is in small print, very +trying for my eyes, which are none of the strongest. I shall, +however, soon read it.</p> +<p>I concur in all your views about the necessity of throwing +overboard the whole system of special pleading, and have been +amused with Sir J. P. Grant's horror of your proposed innovations. +It is not less than that which he expressed at the little Macaulay +Code, intended to blow up the whole pyramid raised by "the wisdom +of our ancestors," in which so many illustrious characters he +entombed. He was, indeed, as you say, "a great <i>laudator temporis +acti</i>;" but the number of those like him at all times in England +and its distant possessions is fearful. One likes to look to +America in this as in all things tending to advancement; but there +the "damned spot" stares us in the face, blights our hopes, and +crushes our sympathies—hideous slavery—hideous alike in +the recollection of the past, the contemplation of the present, and +the anticipation of the future. I wish two things—1. That you +would write a work on the subject less "sketchy and perfunctory," +as you call it, so that any one not versed in English law and +procedure might be able to understand it and appreciate it +thoroughly. 2nd. That you would, when relieved from your present +office, come out as our law member of council, to press your views +on our Government with effect. With these law reforms, as with +railroads, there were less impediments in India than in England; +but there is one thing that I would observe. In our own Indian +Courts our judges would—for a time at least—want the +aid of honest <i>masters</i> to condense and report upon cases +under trial. Such men would be made in time; and in considering +such things, we must recollect that almost the only persons in +India who can send agents into all parts of it, with a perfect +assurance of honest dealing, are the native merchants and bankers. +But I won't dwell on this subject. I can't find amongst the +numerous Buddhists here, one who knows anything about "Kapila +vasta," which you place near to Lucknow. I should like to visit the +birth-place of a man who did so much for mankind as Sakeen +Gantama.</p> +<p>He would hardly have done as I have, placed my only son in the +16th Lancers. However, I may console myself, for he may be in it a +long time without doing much mischief, for I do hope that the +people of the nations of modern Europe are too strong and too wise +to let their sovereigns and ministers play such fantastic tricks as +they were "wont to play," when George the 3rd, and Edward the 3rd, +and Henry the 5th were kings. Property, good sense, and good +business have greatly increased and spread, and are every day +producing good fruits.</p> +<div class="s2">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s3">Yours very trusting,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir Erskine Perry,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 31st March, 1851. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir,</p> +<p>I grieve to say that I can do nothing whatever for the son of my +late friend Colonel Ouseley, and have been obliged to write to him +to that effect, as to many other sons of old and valued friends +whom I should be glad to aid if I could.</p> +<p>Tens of thousands of the most happy families I have seen in +India owe all they have to the able and judicious management of the +late Colonel Ouseley when in the civil charge of the districts of +Houshengabad and Baitool, in the Saugor territories; and no man's +memory is more dear to the people of those districts than his now +is. The family of a man who had done so much to make his government +beloved and respected over so large a field should never want if I +could prevent it; but I have no situations whatever in my gift, nor +have I any influence over any persons who have such situations to +bestow.</p> +<div class="s2">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s3">Yours truly,</div> +<div class="s1">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Captain Harrington.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 24th November 1851. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>Lucknow affairs are now in a state to require the assumption of +the entire management of the country; and the principal question +for your Lordship's consideration is, whether this shall be done by +a new treaty or by simple proclamation. Treaties not only justify +but enjoin the measure; our pledges to the people demand it; and +all India are, I believe, satisfied of its justice, provided we +leave the revenues for the maintenance of the royal family in +suitable dignity, and for the benefit of the people.</p> +<p>We may disencumber our Government of the pay of two regiments of +Oude Local Infantry, and incorporate them with the Oude force to be +raised, and of that of the officers of the residency, altogether +about two lacs and a-half of rupees; and when things are settled +down a little, the brigade now here—of three infantry +regiments and a company of artillery, costing some four lacs +more—may be dispensed with, perhaps.</p> +<p>If I may be permitted to give an opinion as to the best mode of +the two, I should say proclamation, as the more dignified.</p> +<p>I have prepared all the information I believe your Lordship will +require, and am ready to wait upon you with it when and where it +may seem most convenient.</p> +<p>The treasury is exhausted, and fifty lacs are required to pay +the stipendiaries of the royal family and establishments; and +assuredly all the members of that family, save the King's own +household, are wishing for some great measure to place them under +the guarantee of the British Government. The people all now wish +for it, at least all the well-disposed, for there is not a man of +integrity or humanity left in any office. The King's understanding +has become altogether emasculated; and though he would not +willingly do harm to any one, he is unable to protect any one. He +would now, I believe, willingly get rid of his minister; and, +having exhausted the treasury, the minister would not much dislike +to get rid of him. I shall do my best to prevent his being released +from the responsibility of his misdoings till I meet your Lordship. +I should like, if possible, to meet your Lordship where there is +likely to be the least crowd of expectants and parade to take up +your time and distract your attention. If at Cawnpore, I hope you +will permit me to have my camp on the Oude side of the river, with +a tent in your camp for business during the day. With your +Lordship's commands to attend, it will be desirable to have an +order to make over my treasury to the First Assistant, to prevent +delay. Should you desire any memoranda to be sent, they shall be +forwarded as soon as ordered. If any further public report upon the +state of Oude affairs appears to be required, I must pray your +Lordship to let me know as soon as convenient. I shall not propose +any native gentlemen for the higher offices; but it will be +necessary to have a great many in the subordinate ones, to show +that your Lordship wishes to open employment in all branches of the +new administration to educated native gentlemen.</p> +<div class="s4">I remain,</div> +<div class="s1">Your Lordship's obedient servant,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie,<br> +Governor-General,<br> + &c. &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 18th March, 1852. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>I was favoured with your Lordship's letter of the 24th ultimo in +due course, and did not reply immediately as I had stated, or was +about to state, in a public form, all that seemed to be required +about Captain Bird and Dr. Bell. Dr. Bell had apologised for +indiscretions in conversation, but denied ever having authorised +Mr. Brandon to make use of his name; and pretended utter ignorance +of the intrigues which he was carrying on at the time that he was +doing his utmost to convey wrong impressions to the Durbar. I feel +grateful for the support your Lordship has given me. I cared +nothing about the intrigues of these very silly men while under the +impression that it was your intention to interpose effectually for +the benefit of the people of Oude, because the new arrangements +would have rendered them harmless; but when I found that you could +not do so at present, it became necessary, for my own dignity and +that of the Government, to do my best to put a stop to them. Most +assuredly Captain Bird had been trying hard to persuade the King +and his minister that our Government could not interfere, and that +all the threats of the Governor-General would continue to be what +they had hitherto been, and might be disregarded.</p> +<p>I find that your Lordship has departed slightly from your +original plan in regard to Burmah, by sending a detachment to make +a demonstration upon Rangoon and Martaban. There is no calculating +upon the result of such a demonstration in dealing with a +Government so imbecile, and so ignorant of our resources. The +places are too far from the capital, and the war party may succeed +in persuading the King that in this demonstration we put forth all +our strength. I can appreciate your motive—the wish to avoid, +if possible, a war of annexation, which a war upon any scale must +be. We should have to make use of a vast number of suffering +people, whom we could not abandon to the mercy of the old +Government.</p> +<p>In the last war our great difficulties were the want of quick +transit for troops and stores by sea, the want of carriage cattle, +and sickness. These three impediments will not now beset us. Our +own districts on the coast will supply land-carriage, steam-vessels +will carry our troops and stores, and subsequent experience will +enable us to avoid sources of endemial diseases. I have no map of +the country; but some letters in the papers about the Busseya river +interested me much. Our strong point is steam; and the discovery of +a river which would enable us to use it in getting in strength to +the rear or flank would be of immense advantage. There must be +healthy districts; indeed Burmah generally must be a healthy +country, or the population would not be so strong and intelligent +as they are known to be. In religious feeling they are less opposed +to us than any other people not Buddhists. Indeed, from the people +we should have nothing to fear; and the army must be insignificant +in numbers as well as equipments. I am very glad to find that so +able and well-trained a statesman as Fox Maule has been put at the +head of the Board of Control; and trust that your Lordship will +remain at our head till the Burmah affair is thoroughly +settled.</p> +<p>The little affair of the Moplars, on the Malabar coast, may grow +into a very big one unless skilfully managed. A brother of the +Conollys is the magistrate, I believe. We can learn nothing of the +cause of the strong feeling of discontent that prevails among this +fanatical people. No such strong feeling can exist in India without +some "canker-worm" to embitter the lives and unite the sympathies +of large classes against their rulers or local governors, and make +them think that they cannot shake it off without rebelling and +becoming martyrs. I must pray your Lordship to excuse this long +rambling letter, and</p> +<div class="s1">Believe me, with great respect,</div> +<div class="s4">Your obedient servant,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie,<br> +Calcutta.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 4th April, 1852. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir James,</p> +<p>Your present of the cadetship for her son made the poor widow's +heart glad, and I doubt not that she has written to express her +grateful feelings. The young man will, I hope, prove himself +deserving of the favour you have conferred upon him so gracefully. +The Court has called for a copy of my Diary of the tour I made +through Oude soon after I took charge of my office; and I have sent +off two copies, one for Government and the other for the Court. I +purchased a small press and type for the purpose of printing it in +my own house, that no one but myself and the compositor might see +it. I will send home two copies for yourself and the chairman as +soon as they can be bound in Calcutta. The Diary contains a +faithful picture of Oude, its Government, and people, I believe. I +have printed only a few copies, and they will not be distributed +till I learn that the Court consider them unobjectionable. In +spirit they will be found so. I intend, if I can find time, to give +the history of the reigning family in a third volume. My general +views on Oude affairs have been given in my letters to Government, +which will, I conclude, be before the Court. A ruler so utterly +regardless of his high duties and responsibilities, and of the +sufferings of the people under his rule, as the present King, I +have never seen; nor have I ever seen ministers so incompetent and +so unworthy as those whom he employs in the conduct of his affairs. +We have threatened so often to interpose for the benefit of the +poor people, without doing anything, that they have lost all hope, +and the profligate and unprincipled Government have lost all fear. +The untoward war with Burmah prevents our present Governor-General +from doing what he and I believe the Honourable Court both wish. We +certainly ought not any longer to incur the odium of supporting +such a Government in its iniquities, pledged as we are by treaties +to protect the people from them. I do not apprehend any serious +change in the constitution of the Court of Directors in the new +charter. No ministers would hazard such a change in the present +state of Europe. The Court is India's only safeguard. No foreign +possession was ever so governed for itself as India has been, and +this all foreigners with whom I have conversed, admit. The +Governor-General of the Netherlands India was with me lately on his +way home. He is a first-rate statesman, and he declared to me that +he was impressed and delighted to see a country so governed, and +apparently so sensible of the benefits conferred upon it by our +paternal rule. He will tell you the same thing if you ever meet +him. His name is Rochasson. The people appreciate the value of the +Court of Directors, and no act, as far as it is known to them, has +tended more to strengthen their confidence in it than that which +has brought retribution on the great sinner in Scinde, Allee Murad. +No punishment was ever more just or merited. Scinde, however, is +too remote for the people in general to feel much interest in its +affairs or families. Our weak points in the last Burmese war +were:—1. The want of transport for troops and stores; 2. The +want of carriage by land, for arms and stores; 3. Sickness. All +these things have been remedied, and the war, when begun in +earnest, can last but a short time. We know more of the country and +shall avoid the sources of endemial disease; our steam provides for +the rapid transport of troops and stores; and draft-cattle will be +supplied from our own districts on the coast. Where our Government +has no representative as Resident or Consul, all Europeans should +be told that they remain entirely on their own responsibility. +Unless this is done, the Governments must be eternally in +collision. If war be carried on in earnest, it must be one of +annexation: we must make use of persons whom we cannot abandon to +the mercy of the Burmese Government. We have nothing to fear from +the people: they have no religious feeling against us, being all +Buddhists; and they have seen too much of the benefits conferred by +us on the territories taken during the last war to have any dead of +our dominion. Lord Dalhousie has, I believe, been most anxious to +avoid a war—it has been forced upon him.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours very faithfully,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir James W. Hogg,<br> +Deputy Chairman,<br> +India House.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 6th April, 1842. </p> +<p>My Dear Mr. Halliday,</p> +<p>We are all wrong here in the Martinière institution, and +you have now an admirable opportunity of setting all right and +doing an infinite deal of good with little trouble. I know how +little you have of time and attention to devote to such things, and +conclude that Mr. Devereux cannot have much more, and you may feel +assured that I shall do all in my power to assist you. We are here +attempting to give the education of gentlemen to beggar-boys, who +must always depend upon their daily work for their daily bread. The +senior boys are in despair, for they find that they have learnt +hardly anything to fit them for the only employments open to them, +and this tends to discourage the younger ones. The Roorkee Civil +Engineering School seems to have been eminently successful, and a +fine field is open to all who are taught in it. We shall no doubt +have a similar field open in Oude when Government interposes in +behalf of the suffering people, and we might prepare for it by +converting the Martinière into a similar school or college. +The committee has just expressed to you a hope that Mr. Crank, the +officiating principal, may be able to pass an examination in the +native languages. This hope can never be realised; and if he does I +shall have to record my opinion that he is otherwise unfitted. The +power of nominating a principal rests entirely with the trustees; +and if you concur in my views you might at once prepare for the +change by getting a man from England or elsewhere, such as Mr. +Maclagan, the late superintendent of the Roorkee school, fitted to +teach civil engineering in all its branches. You have the command +of funds to provide him with assistants of all kinds; and we have +accommodations and funds to raise more, and provide machinery, +books, &c. The thing might be set going at once, after you send +a competent man to superintend it; and the work will be honourable +to our Government and ourselves, and of vast benefit to the boys +brought up at this Martinière, and to their parents and +families. If you think favourably of the proposed change, and will +direct the committee to take it into consideration, I will do my +best to make it respond cordially to your call; or if you direct +the measure to be adopted at once, I will see that it is worked out +as it should be. Mr. Crank has a good knowledge of mathematics and +mechanics, and will make a good second under a good first; but he +would be quite unfit for a first. Mr. Maclagan intended going home, +via Bombay, as soon as relieved by Captain Oldfield, and has +embarked by this time. He might be written to, to send out a +competent person and the required machinery. Constantia is +admirably adapted for such an establishment; the river Goomtee +flows close under it; the grounds are ample, open, and level, and +the climate fine. It would interest the whole of the Oude +aristocracy, and induce them to send their sons there for +instruction. It would be gratifying to the Judges of the Supreme +Court to know that the funds available were devoted to a purpose so +highly useful; and you would carry home with you the agreeable +recollection of having engrafted so useful a branch upon the almost +useless old trunk of the Martinière.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours very truly,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To F. J. Halliday, Esq.<br> +Secretary to Government,<br> +Calcutta.</p> +<p>Mr. Maclagan is a Lieutenant of Engineers, and lives in +Edinburgh.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow. 10th April, 1852. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>In September 1848, I took the liberty to mention to your +Lordship my fears that the system of annexing and absorbing native +States—so popular with our Indian service, and so much +advocated by a certain class of writers in public +journals—might some day render us too visibly dependent upon +our native army; that they might see it, and that accidents might +occur to unite them, or too great a portion of them, in some +desperate act. My only anxiety about Burmah arises from the same +fears. Our native army has been too much <i>petted</i> of late; and +they are liable to get into their heads the notion that we want +them more than they want us. Had the 38th been at first ordered to +march to Aracan, they would, in all probability, have begged their +European officers to pray Government to permit them to go by +water.</p> +<p>We committed a great mistake in not long ago making all new +levies general service corps; and we have committed one not less +grave in restricting the admissions into our corps to high-caste +men: and encouraging the promotion of high-caste men to the +prejudice of men equally deserving but of lower caste. The Brahmins +in regiments have too much influence, and they are at the bottom of +all the mischief that occurs. The Rajpoots are too numerous, +because they are under the influence of the Brahmins, and feel too +strong from their numbers.</p> +<p>We require stronger and braver men than the Madras Presidency +can afford, with all their readiness for general service. The time +may not be distant when England will have to call upon India for +troops to serve in Egypt; and the troops from Madras, or even from +Bombay, will not do against Europeans. Men from Northern or Western +India will be required, and, in order to be prepared, it would be +well to have all new corps—should new corps be +required—composed of men from the Punjaub or the Himmalayah +chain, and ready for any service. Into such corps none but Seiks, +Juts, Goojurs, Gwalas, Mussulmans, and Hillmen should be enlisted. +Too much importance is attached to height, merely that corps may +look well on parade. Much more work can be got out of moderate +sized than tall men in India. The tall men in regiments always fail +first in actual service—they are fit only for display at +reviews and on parades: always supposing that the moderate-sized +men are taken from Western and Northern India, where alone they +have the strength and courage required.</p> +<p>No recruit should henceforward be taken except on condition of +general service; and by-and-by the option may be given to all +sipahees, of a certain standing or period of service, to put their +names down for general service, or retire. This could not, of +course, be done at present. No commanding officer can say, at +present, what his regiment will do if called upon to aid the +Government in any way not <i>specified in their bond</i>. They have +too commonly favourites, who persuade them, for their own selfish +purposes, that their regiments will do anything to meet their +wishes, at the very time that these regiments are watching for an +occasion to disgrace these favourites by refusal. I have known many +occasions of this. None but general service corps or volunteers +should be sent to Burmah from Bengal during this campaign, or we +shall hazard a disaster. There are, I believe, several that your +Lordship has not yet called upon. They should be at hand as soon as +possible, and their present places supplied by others. In the mean +time, corps of Punjaubies and Hillmen should be raised for general +service. Not only can no commanding officer say what his corps will +do under circumstances in which their religion or prejudices may +afford a pretext for disobedience, but no officers can say how far +their regiments sympathise with the recusant: or discontented, +corps, and are prepared to join them.</p> +<p>In case it should ever be proposed to make all corps general +service corps, in the way I mention, a donation would, of course, +be offered to all who declined of a month's pay for every year of +past service, or of something of that kind. A maximum might be +fixed of four, five, or six months. It would not cost much, for but +few would go. I must pray your Lordship to excuse the liberty I +take in obtruding my notions on this subject, but it really is one +of vital importance in the present state of affairs in India, as +well as in Europe.</p> +<div class="s2">With great respect, I remain, &c.,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Moat Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.<br> +Governor-General of India,<br> +Calcutta.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center><i>Memorandum.</i></center> +<p>In the year 1832 or 1833 the want of bamboos of large size, for +yokes for artillery bullocks, was much felt at Saugor and the +stations of that division; and the commissariat officer was +authorised to form a bamboo grove, to be watered by the +commissariat cattle, in order to supply the deficiency for the +future. Forty beegas, or about twenty acres of land, were assigned +for the purpose, and Government went to the expense of forming +twelve pucka-wells, as the bamboos were planted upon the black +cotton-soil of Central India, in which kutcha-wells do not stand. +The first outlay was, therefore, greater than usual, being three +thousand rupees. The establishment kept up consisted of one +gardener, at five rupees a month, and two assistants at three +rupees each. The bamboos were watered by the artillery bullocks and +commissariat servants.</p> +<p>In a few years the bamboos became independent of irrigation, and +no outlay has since been incurred upon them. The bamboos are now +between forty and fifty feet high, and between four and five inches +in diameter. They are used by the commissariat and ordnance +departments at Saugor, but are not, I believe, required for yokes +for the artillery bullocks.</p> +<p>There is a grove of sesum trees near the Lucknow cantonments +formed in the same way, but with little or no outlay in irrigation. +The trees were planted, and all the cost incurred has been in the +people employed to protect them from trespass. In a dryer climate +they might require irrigation for a few years. Groves of saul, +<i>alias</i> sukhoo trees, might be formed in the same manner in +the vicinity of all stations where there are artillery bullocks; +and the bullocks themselves would benefit by being employed in the +irrigation. The establishments kept up for the bullocks would be +able to do all the work required.</p> +<p>The complement of bullocks for a battery of 6 guns, 6 waggons, +and 2 store carts, is 106. The number yoked to each gun and waggon +is 61, [transcriber's note, should be 6], and to each cart 4, +leaving a surplus of 26 for accidents. +There would, therefore, be always a sufficient number of bullocks +available for the irrigation of such groves where such a battery is +kept up. These bullocks are taken care of by 4 sirdars and 59 +drivers; and an European sergeant of artillery is appointed as +bullock-sergeant to each battery, to superintend the feeding, +cleaning, &c. &c. The officer on duty sees the bullocks +occasionally, and the commanding officer sometimes. Such groves +might be left to the care of the commandant of artillery at small +stations, and to the commissariat officer at large ones.</p> +<p>At every large station there might be a grove of sesum, one of +sakhoo, and one of bamboos, each covering a hundred acres; and at +all stations with a battery, three groves of the same kind, +covering each twenty acres or more. For the convenience of carriage +by water, such groves might be formed chiefly in the vicinity of +rivers, or in that of the places where the timber is most likely to +be required; but no battery should be without such groves. The men +and bullocks would both benefit by the employment such groves would +give them. The men, to interest them, might each have a small +garden within the grove which he assists in watering.</p> +<p>Such groves would tend to improve the salubrity of the stations +where they are formed, and become agreeable and healthful +promenades for officers and soldiers. In most stations, +kutcha-wells, formed at a cost of from 20 to 50 rupees, would +suffice for watering such groves. They might be lined, like those +of the peasantry, by twisted cables of straw and twigs; and the men +who attend the bullocks might be usefully employed in weaving them, +as all should learn to make fascines and gabions. Willows should be +planted near all the wells, to supply twigs for making the cables +for lining the wells, and the manure of the artillery +draft-bullocks should be appropriated to the groves.</p> +<p>[Submitted to the Governor-General through the Private +Secretary, in March, 1852, with reference to a conversation which I +had with his Lordship in his camp.]</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 23rd August, 1852. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>Permit me to offer my congratulations, not only on the success +which has hitherto attended your Lordship's arrangements in Burmah, +but on the very favourable impression which that success has made +upon the Sovereign and people of England. It has enabled you to +show that the war is not with the people of Burmah, but with a +haughty, insolent, and incompetent Government, with whom that +people has no longer any sympathy; and that, should circumstances +render the annexation of any portion of its territory necessary, +the people of that portion would consider the measure a blessing, +and be well pleased to live in harmony under the efficient +protection of the new rule.</p> +<p>They are not in any way opposed to us from either religions or +political feelings, for they seem to consider Christianity as a +branch only of their own great system of Buddhism, which includes +almost half of the human race; and they are evidently weary of the +political institutions under which they now live, and which have +ceased to afford them protection of any kind. In the annexation of +Pegu—should it be forced upon your Lordship—there would +be nothing revolting to the feelings of its people or to those of +the people of England; on the contrary, both would be satisfied, +after the disposition the people of Pegu have manifested towards +us, that the measure was alike necessary to their security and to +the honour and interest of our Government.</p> +<p>Nor do I think that there would be any ground to apprehend that +the resources of the territory taken would not, after a time, be +sufficient to defray the costs of the establishments required to +retain and govern it. Among the people of Pegu we should find men +able and willing to serve us faithfully and efficiently in both our +civil and military establishments, and the drain for the +maintenance of foreigners would not be large. I have heard the +mental and physical powers of the men of Pegu spoken of in the +highest terms by persons who have spent the greater part of their +lives among them; and a country which produces such men cannot be +generally insalubrious. This early demonstration has enabled your +Lordship to ascertain and expose the determination of the +Government of Ava not to grant the redress justly demanded for +wrongs suffered, so as to enlist on our side the sympathy of all +civilized nations, and at the same time to discover the real +weakness of the enemy and the facilities offered to us, in their +fine rivers, for the use of our strong arm—the steam navy. +Not a single "untoward event" has yet occurred to dispirit our +troops, or give confidence to the enemy, or to prejudice the people +of Burmah against us: and there certainly is nothing in this war to +make us apprehend "that our political difficulties will begin when +our military successes are complete." It is not displeasing to +perceive the strong tendency to an early onward move, while your +Lordship has so prudent a leader in General Godwin to restrain it +within due bounds.</p> +<div class="s4">I remain, &c.,</div> +<div class="s3">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.<br> +Governor-General of India.<br> +Calcutta.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, September, 1852. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>The longer the present King reigns, the more unfit he becomes to +reign, and the more the administration and the country deteriorate. +The State must have become bankrupt long ere this, but the King, +and the knaves by whom he is governed, have discontinued paying the +stipends of all the members of the royal family, save those of his +own father's family, for the last three years; and many of them are +reduced to extreme distress, and without the hope of ever getting +their stipends again unless our Government interferes. The females +of the palaces of former sovereigns ventured to clamour for their +subsistence, and they were, without shame or mercy, driven into the +streets to starve, beg, or earn their bread by their labour. This +deters all from complaining, and they are in a state of utter +dismay. No part of the people of Oude are more anxious for the +interposition of our Government than the members of the royal +family; for there is really no portion more helpless and oppressed: +none of them can ever approach the King, who is surrounded +exclusively by eunuchs, fiddlers, and poetasters worse than either; +and the minister and his creatures, who are worse than all. They +appropriate at least one-half of the revenues of the country to +themselves, and employ nothing but knaves of the very worst kind in +all the branches of the administration. The King is a crazy +imbecile, who is led about by these people like a child, and made +to do whatever they wish him to do, and to give whatever orders may +best suit their private interests. At present, the most powerful of +the favourites are Decanut od Doula and Husseen od Doula, two +eunuchs; Anees od Doula and Mosahib od Doula, two fiddlers; two +poetasters, and the minister and his creatures. The minister could +not stand a moment without the eunuchs, fiddlers, and poets, and he +is obliged to acquiesce in all the orders given by the King for +their benefit. The fiddlers have control over the administration of +civil justice; the eunuchs over that of criminal justice, public +buildings, &c. The minister has the land revenue; and all are +making enormous fortunes. The present King ought not certainly to +reign: he has wilfully forfeited all right to do so; but to set him +aside in favour of his eldest, or indeed any other son, would give +no security whatever for any permanent good government A +well-selected regency would, no doubt, be a vast improvement upon +the present system; but no people would invest their capital in +useful works, manufactures, and trades, with the prospect of being +handed over a few years hence to a prince brought up precisely in +the same manner the present King was, and as all his sons will be. +What the people want, and most earnestly pray for is, that our +Government should take upon itself the responsibility of governing +them well and permanently. All classes, save the knaves, who now +surround and govern the King, earnestly pray for this—the +educated classes, because they would then have a chance of +respectable employment, which none of them now have; the middle +classes, because they find no protection or encouragement, and no +hope that their children will be permitted to inherit the property +they may leave, not invested in our Government securities; and the +humbler classes, because they are now abandoned to the merciless +rapacity of the starving troops, and other public establishments, +and of the landholders, driven or invited into rebellion by the +present state of misrule. There is not, I believe, another +Government in India so entirely opposed to the best interest's and +most earnest wishes of the people as that of Oude now is; at least +I have never seen or read of one. People of all classes have become +utterly weary of it. The people have the finest feelings towards +our Government and character. I know no part of India, save the +valley of the Nurbuddah, where the feeling towards us is better. +All, from the highest to the lowest, would, at this time, hail the +advent of our administration with joy; and the rest of India, to +whom Oude misrule is well known, would acquiesce in the conviction, +that it had become imperative for the protection of the people. +With steamers to Fyzabad, and a railroad from that place to +Cawnpore, through Lucknow, the Nepaul people would be for ever +quieted, with half of the force we now keep up to look after them; +and the N. W. Provinces become more closely united to Bengal, to +the vast advantage of both. I mentioned that we should require a +considerable loan to begin with; but I think that an issue of paper +money, receivable in Oude in revenue, and payable to public +establishments in Oude, might safely be made to cover all the +outlay required to pay off odd establishments and commence the new +work. Little money goes out of Oude, and the increased circulating +medium, required for the new public works and new establishments, +would soon absorb all the paper issued. It might be issued at +little or no cost by the financial department of the new +administration. Though everybody knows that the King has become +crazy and imbecile, it would be difficult to get judicial proof +that he is so, where the life and property of every one are at his +mercy and that of the knaves who now govern him. His every-day +doings sufficiently manifest it. There is not the slightest ground +for hope that he will ever be any other than what he now is, or +that his children will be better. There are too many interested in +depriving them of all capacity for a part in public affairs that +they may retain the reins in their own hands when the children come +of age to admit of their ever becoming better than their father is. +I have not lately made the reports which Lord Hardinge directed the +Resident to make periodically, but shall be prepared to resume them +whenever your Lordship may direct. I suspended them on account of +hostilities with Burmah. I have printed eighteen copies of the +establishments, as they are and were last year, and as I proposed +for the new system. I shall not let any one have a copy till your +Lordship permits it, and they are all at your disposal if required. +This, and the "Substantive Code," are the only papers connected +with Oude, except the Diary that I have had printed, or shall have +printed, unless ordered by you.</p> +<div class="s3">I remain, with great respect,</div> +<div class="s4">Your Lordship's obedient servant,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>P.S.—I believe that it is your Lordship's wish that the +whole of the revenues of Oude should be expended for the benefit of +the royal family and people of Oude, and that the British +Government should disclaim any wish to derive any pecuniary +advantages from assuming to itself the administration.</p> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.<br> +Governor-General,<br> + &c. &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 21st September, 1852. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir,</p> +<p>I will reply to the queries contained in your letter of the 16th +instant to the best of my recollection. I was in Calcutta in +January, 1838, when the late Dyce Sombre was there, and about to +embark for England. I had seen a good deal of him at Sirdhanah, in +March 1836, soon after the Begum Sumroo's death, and he afterwards +spent a short time with me at Mussoorie, and consulted me a good +deal on the subject of a dispute with his father.</p> +<p>Colonel James Skinner and Dr. Drener were, I believe, executors +to his will. Colonel Skinner was at Delhi, and Dr. Drener had +either gone home or was going, I forget which, and Dyce Sombre +asked me to consent to become one of his trustees, for the conduct +of his affairs in this country. I consented, and I think the +circumstance was inserted in a codicil or memorandum added to his +will or deed; but my recollection on this point is not +distinct.</p> +<p>I had, however, nothing to do with the conduct of his affairs in +this country until the death of Colonel James Skinner, which took +place in December, 1841, when Mr. Reghilini, the overseer or agent +at Sirdhanah, got my sanction to the outlay for establishments, +&c. At this time I corresponded with Dyce Sombre, and continued +to do so until his affairs were thrown into Chancery. I then sought +a lawyer's opinion as to my proper course, and refused to give Mr. +Reghilini any further orders. The opinion was, "that my only safe +course was to do nothing whatever in the conduct of his affairs;" +and I never afterwards did anything. I never heard of any Colonel +Sheerman, and his name may have been inserted by mistake for mine; +but I was then (1838) only a major, and was not promoted until +1843. I never heard of any desire on the part of Dyce Sombre, or +the Begum Sumroo, to found a college other than as an appendage to +the Sirdhanah church, nor of his having given the residue of his +property for the purpose; at least, I have no recollection of +having heard of such desire. I always hoped, and expected, until I +heard of his marriage, that he would return and reside at +Sirdhanah.</p> +<p>Dyce Sombre always spoke to me of Mrs. Troup and Mrs. Soloroli +as his sisters: he regarded them alike as such, and so did the +Begum Sumroo. I always understood them to be the children of the +same mother; but the question was never mooted before me, and I +have always heard that Mrs. Troup was very like Dyce Sombre in +appearance, and that Mrs. Soloroli was not so.</p> +<p>Mr. Reghilini, who is, I believe, still at Sirdhanah, may know +whether a Colonel Sheerman was appointed executor or not. Dr. +Drener must know. The notes which passed between me and Dyce +Sombre, after he left India, were on the ordinary topics of the +day, and were destroyed as soon as read. I have none of them to +refer to, nor would they furnish any confirmation on the matter in +question if I had.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me, yours, very truly,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>Charles Prinsep, Esq.,<br> +Barrister-at-Law,<br> +Calcutta.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="center"><i>To Messrs. Molloy, Mackintosh, and Poe, +Calcutta</i>.</p> +<p>Dear Sirs,</p> +<p>In reply to your letter of the 16th instant, I enclose the copy +of a letter addressed by me on the 21st ultimo to Mr. Charles +Prinsep, in reply to similar queries. To what I stated in that +letter I can add but little.</p> +<p>Dyce Sombre always spoke to me of Mrs. Soloroli and Mrs. Troup +as his sisters, and of the former as the eldest of the two; and +Mrs. Troup spoke of Mrs. Soloroli as her eldest sister. They were +always treated by the Begum Sumroo as his sisters; and when Dyce +Sombre went to England I think he left the same provision for both +in addition to what they had received from the Begum.</p> +<p>I was introduced to Mrs. Troup by her husband as an old friend +on my way back from Mussoorie in November, 1837, but I did not see +Mrs. Soloroli, though she and her husband were at the same place, +Sirdhanah, at that time. They both lived under the curtain, +secluded from the sight of men, after the Hindoostanee fashion, as +long as they remained in India, I think; and I was introduced to +Mrs. Troup as a friend of the family, whom all might require to +consult. Her husband only was present during the interview. Dyce +Sombre had left the place for Calcutta. I never heard a doubt +expressed of their being sisters by the same mother and father till +the new will came under discussion at the end of last year.</p> +<p>I may refer you to pages 378 and 396 of the second volume of a +work by me, entitled "Rambles and Recollections," in which you will +find it mentioned that the grandmother of Dyce Sombre died insane +at Sirdhanah in 1838. She must have been insane for more than forty +years up to her death. Her son Zuffer Yab Khan was a man of weak +intellect, and he was the father of Dyce Sombre's mother, of whom I +know nothing whatever.</p> +<p>Dyce Sombre, showed no symptoms of derangement of mind while I +knew him; but he inherited from his grandmother a predisposition to +insanity, which I apprehended might become developed by any very +strong feelings of excitement; and I urged him to return and settle +at Sirdhanah, when he had seen all he wished to see in Europe.</p> +<p>He saw a good deal of English society in India, and understood +well the freedom which English wives enjoy in general society; but +I doubted whether he could ever thoroughly shake off his early +predilections for keeping them secluded. It would, I thought, be +always to him a source of deep humiliation to see his wife mix with +other men in the manner in which English married ladies are +accustomed to do. Since his affairs were put into Chancery I have +always felt persuaded that this must have been the principal +"exciting cause" acting upon the predisposition derived from his +grandmother, which led to it. I have never had the slightest doubt +that he suffered under an aberration of mind upon this point, +though he never mentioned the subject in any of his short letters +to me from England, nor did he in any of them show signs of such +aberration.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me, yours, faithfully,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>26th October, 1852.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 28th October, 1852. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir James,</p> +<p>Your letter of the 6th ultimo reached me by the last mail, and +I trust we shall see your hopes of an early renewal of the Charter +with few alterations realised. I entirely concur with you in +opinion that the power of recall is indispensable to the due +authority of the Court; and was much surprised to find Maddock +opposed to it. Many thinking men at home have been of opinion that +the Ministers would secure for the Queen the nomination of a +certain number to the Direction, on the ground that many of the +best men from India are deterred from becoming candidates by the +time and pledges required in the canvass. The late elections, +however, seem to have come in time to increase the Jealousy of +ministerial influence, and prevent such a measure.</p> +<p>Hostilities with Burmah have prevented my making public +periodical reports to Government about Oude affairs since I +submitted my Diary. I took the liberty to send, through my London +agents copy to yourself and the Deputy Chairman. Things have not +improved since it was written. The King is as regardless of his +high duties and responsibilities as ever: he is, indeed, an +imbecile in the hands of a few fiddlers, eunuchs, and poetasters, +and the minister, who is no better than they are, and obliged to +provide for all these men out of the revenues and patronage of the +country, and sundry women about the Court, also, to secure their +influence in his favour.</p> +<p>The King contrives to get the stipends of those immediately +about him, and of his mother, brothers, and sisters, paid out of +the revenues; but is indifferent about those of his more distant +relatives, and hardly any of them have had any stipends for the +last two and even three years. Those who happen not to have a +little Company's paper given to them by former Sovereigns, or +pensions guaranteed by our Government and paid out of our Treasury, +are starving, and pray for the day when our Government may +interpose in the administration. The expenditure is much above the +income, and the reserved treasury is exhausted; but the King has +his jewels and some personal property in Government notes, derived +from his father and grandmothers. He thinks himself the best of +kings and the best of poets, and nothing will induce him willingly +to alter his course or make room for a better ruler or better +system.</p> +<p>If our Government interpose, it must not be by negotiation and +treaty, but authoritatively on the ground of existing treaties and +obligations to the people of Oude. The treaty of 1837 gives our +Government ample authority to take the whole administration on +ourselves, in order to secure what we have often pledged ourselves +to secure to the people; but if we do this we must, in order to +stand well with the rest of India, honestly and distinctly disclaim +all interested motives, and appropriate the whole of the revenues +for the benefit of the people and royal family of Oude. If we do +this, all India will think us right, for the sufferings of the +people of Oude, under the present system, have been long notorious +throughout India; and so have our repeated pledges to relieve the +people from these sufferings, unless the system should be altered. +Fifty years of sad experience have shown to us and to all India, +that this system is incapable of improvement under the present +dynasty; and that the only alternative is for the paramount power +to take the administration upon itself.</p> +<p>Under the treaty of 1801, we took one-half of the territory of +Oude, and that half yields to us above two crores of rupees; +though, when taken, it was estimated at one hundred and +thirty-three lacs. The half retained by the Oude Sovereign was +estimated at the same; but it now yields to the Sovereign only one +crore. The rest is absorbed by the knaves employed in the +administration and their patrons at Court. All that is now so +absorbed would come to the Treasury under us, and be employed in +the maintenance of efficient establishments, and the construction +of useful public works; and we should have ample means for +providing for all the members of the royal family of Oude.</p> +<p>We should derive substantial benefit from the measure, without +in any degree violating our declaration of disinterestedness. We +now maintain five regiments of Infantry, and a company of +Artillery, at a cost of from five to six lacs a-year. We maintain +the Residency and all its establishments at a cost of more than one +lac of rupees a-year. All these would become fairly chargeable to +the Oude revenues under the new administration; and we might +dispense with half the military forces now kept up at Cawnpore and +Dinapore on the Ganges, as the military force in Oude would relieve +us from all apprehension as to Nepaul.</p> +<p>Oude would be covered with a network of fine macadamised roads, +over which the produce of Oude and our own districts would pass +freely to the benefit of the people of both; and we should soon +have the river Ghagra, from near Patna on the Ganges, to Fyzabad in +Oude, navigable for steamers: with a railroad from Fyzabad, through +Lucknow to Cawnpore, to the great benefit of the North-West +Provinces and those of Bengal.</p> +<p>Were we to take advantage of the occasion to <i>annex</i> or +<i>confiscate</i> Oude, or any part of it, our good name in India +would inevitably suffer; and that good name is more valuable to us +than a dozen of Oudes. We are now looked up to throughout India as +the only impartial arbitrators that the people generally have ever +had, or can ever hope to have without us; and from the time we +cease to be so looked up to, we must begin to sink. We suffered +from our conduct in Scinde; but that was a country distant and +little known, and linked to the rest of India by few ties of +sympathy. Our Conduct towards it was preceded by wars and +convulsions around, and in its annexation there was nothing +manifestly deliberate. It will be otherwise with Oude. Here the +giant's strength is manifest, and we cannot "use it like a giant" +without suffering in the estimation of all India. Annexation or +confiscation are not compatible with our relations with this little +dependent state. We must show ourselves to be high-minded, and +above taking advantage of its prostrate weakness, by appropriating +its revenues exclusively to the benefit of the people and royal +family of Oude. We should soon make it the finest garden in India, +with the people happy, prosperous, and attached to our rule and +character.</p> +<p>We have at least forty thousand men from Oude in the armies of +the three Residencies, all now, rightly or wrongly, cursing the +oppressive Government under which their families live at their +homes. These families would come under our rule and spread our good +name as widely as they now spread the bad one of their present +ruler. Soldiers with a higher sense of military honour, and duty to +<i>their salt</i>, do not exist, I believe, in any country. To have +them bound to us by closer ties than they are at present, would of +itself be an important benefit.</p> +<p>I can add little to what I have said in the latter end of the +fourth chapter of my Diary (from p. 187*, vol. ii.), on the subject +of our relations with the Government of Oude; and of our rights and +duties arising out of those relations. The diaries political, which +I send every week or fortnight to the Government of India, are +formed out of the reports made every day to the Durbar, by their +local or departmental authorities. The Residency News-writer has +the privilege of hearing these reports read as they come in; and +though the reports of many important events are concealed from him, +they may generally be relied upon as far as they go. The picture +they give of affairs is bad enough, though not so bad as they +deserve.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>[* Transcriber's note. From the text "By the treaty of 1801 we +bound ourselves......."—to the end of the chapter IV in vol. +ii]</p> +</blockquote> +<p>There are so many worthless and profligate people about the +Court, interested in smothering any signs of common sense and good +feeling on the part of the heir apparent to the throne, in order to +maintain their ascendancy over him as he grows up, that he has not +the slightest chance of becoming fit to take any part in the +conduct of public affairs when he comes of age. The present King +has three or four sons, all very young, but it is utterly +impossible for any one of them to become a man of business; and it +would be folly to expect any one of them to make a better Sovereign +than their father. He is now only twenty-eight or twenty-nine years +of age; but his understanding has become quite emasculated by +over-indulgencies of all kinds. He may live long, but his habits +have become too inveterate to admit of his ever becoming better +than he now is or fit to be intrusted with the government of a +country.</p> +<p>I shall recommend that all establishments, military, civil, and +fiscal, be kept entirely separate from those of our own Government, +that there may be no mistake as to the disinterestedness of our +intentions towards Oude. The military establishments being like +Scindiah's contingent, in the Gwalior state, or the Hydrabad +contingent in the Nizam's. I estimate the present expenditure at, +civil and fiscal establishments, and stipendiaries, 38 lacs. +Military and police, 55. King's household, 30. Total, 123 lacs. +Establishments required for an efficient administration—civil +and fiscal—at 22 lacs. Military, 26 lacs. Families and +dependents of former Sovereigns, 12 lacs. Household of the Sovereign, +his sons, brothers, and sisters, 15 lacs. Total, 75 lacs.</p> +<p>This would leave an abundant store for public works, military +stores, contingent charges, pension establishments for the civil +and military officers employed under us, &c. To pay off all the +present heavy arrears of stipends, salaries, to provide arms, +ammunition, and stores, and to commence upon all the public works, +our Government would have either to give or guarantee a loan; or to +sanction the issue of a certain amount of paper money, to circulate +exclusively in Oude, by making it receivable in the Oude Treasuries +in taxes.</p> +<p>The revenues would be at once greatly increased, by our taking +for the treasury all that is now intercepted and appropriated by +public officers and Court favourites for their own private +purposes, by our making the great landholders pay a due portion of +their assets to the state, and by our securing the safe transit of +raw produce and manufactured goods to their proper markets.</p> +<p>By adopting a simple system of administration, to meet the +wishes of a simple people, we should secure the goodwill of all +classes of society in Oude; and no class would be more pleased with +the change than the members of the royal family themselves, who +depend upon their stipends for their subsistence, and despair of +ever again receiving them under the present Sovereign and +system.</p> +<p>I hope a happy termination of the present war with Burmah will +soon leave Lord Dalhousie free to devote his attention to Oude +affairs. As far as I am consulted, I shall advocate, as strongly as +may be compatible with my position, the measures above described, +because I think they will be found best calculated to benefit the +people of Oude, to meet the wishes of the home Government, and to +sustain his Lordship's own reputation, and that of the nation which +he represents throughout our Eastern empire.</p> +<p>You are aware of some of the difficulties that I have had to +contend with, in carrying out important measures beneficial to the +people, and honourable to the Government of India; but in no +situation in life have I ever had to struggle with so many as here, +in pursuing an honest and steady course of policy, calculated to +secure the respect of all classes for the Government which I +represent. Such a scene of intrigue, corruption, depravity, neglect +of duty, and abuse of authority, I have never before been placed +in, and hope never again to undergo; and I have had to contend with +bitter hostility where I had the best right to expect support. I +have never yet failed in the performance of any duty that +Government has intrusted to me, and, under Providence, I hope that +I shall ultimately succeed in the performance of that which I have +committed to me here.</p> +<p>Lucknow is an overgrown city, surrounding an overgrown Court, +which has, for the last half century, exhausted all the resources +of this fine country; and so alienated the feelings of the great +body of the people that they, and the Sovereign, and his officers, +look upon each other as irreconcileable enemies. Between the city, +the pampered Court and its functionaries, and the people of the +country beyond, there is not the slightest feeling of sympathy; and +if our troops were withdrawn from the vicinity of Lucknow, the +landholders and sturdy peasantry of the country would, in a few +days, rush in and plunder and destroy it as a source of nothing but +intolerable evil to them.</p> +<p>Though I have written a long letter, I may have omitted many +things which you wished me to notice. In that case I must rely upon +your letting me know; and in the mean time, I shall continue to +write whenever I have anything to communicate that is likely to +interest you.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me, dear Sir James,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours very faithfully,</div> +<div class="s5">W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart.<br> + &c. &c. &c.</p> +<p>P.S. By treaty, we are bound to keep up a certain force near the +capital for the protection of the Sovereign; and we should be +obliged, till things were quite settled under the new system, to +retain the brigade we now have of our regular troops in the +cantonments, which are three miles from the city.</p> +<div class="s5">W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 20th November, 1852. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir James,</p> +<p>To be prepared for accidents, I deem it right to send a +duplicate of the letter which I sent to you by the last mail, +addressed to the care of my London agents, Messrs. Denny and Clark, +Austin Friars. I have nothing new or interesting to communicate +from Oude. The Burmese war seems likely to divert the +Governor-General's attention from Oude and Hydrabad affairs for +some time to come; and the death of the Duke of Wellington, and +probable changes in the ministry at home, may prevent him from +venturing upon any important change in the Oude administration when +that war closes.</p> +<p>The war is an "untoward event," arising from a very small cause; +and it should prevent our ever guaranteeing British subjects in +countries where we have no accredited agents to conduct our +relations with the Government. All such subjects, and all the +subjects of our European and American allies, should in future be +made to understand that they enter such countries entirely upon +their own responsibility. Without some such precaution we must +always be liable to be involved in war with bordering countries by +adventurers of one land or another; and as war is almost always +followed by annexation or confiscation, our Indian empire, like +that of the Romans, must soon sink from its own weight. The people +will think that we are perpetually seeking pretexts for war in +order to get new territories, and the general or universal +impression will be dangerous.</p> +<p>When the public press of England abuse those who have to conduct +the present war for delay, they do not sufficiently consider our +ignorance of the state of the rivers and of the military resources +of the country in which it was to be carried on when we entered +upon it. We did not know that the rivers were navigable, nor did we +know how they were defended; nor did we know what forces Burmah +could muster, nor how they were distributed. It was not intended to +commence the war till after the rains, when it would be safe to +move troops over the country; for it was not reasonable to suppose +that the Government of the country could be so haughty and insolent +without military force to support its pretensions, and we have +often had sad experience of the danger of underrating the power of +an enemy. The object of the earlier movement was merely to secure +some points of support, at which to concentrate our forces as they +came up, and not to advance at once on the capital or into the +country at a season when no troops could move by land.</p> +<p>Our strong arm was, no doubt, the steam flotilla; but it would +have been madness in us, with our ignorance of the rivers and +resources of the country, to have calculated upon conquering Ava by +steamers alone. With what we now know, people may safely say that +General Godwin has failed to make all the use he might of the +flotilla, as Lord Gough failed to make all the use he might of his +"strong arm," the artillery, in the battles of the Punjaub; but +Lord Gough was not ignorant of the country in which he had to +operate, nor of the resources of the country he had to contend +with. According to previous calculations, the war ought not to have +begun till this month. The earlier movement has, however, been of +great advantage—it has taught us what the rivers and +resources of the country are; and, what is of still more +importance, what the people and their feelings towards their +Government and ours are. It is manifest that they fully appreciate +the value of the protection which the people, under our rule, +enjoy; and that they have neither religious nor political feelings +of hostility towards us; and that the people of Pegu, at least, +would hail the establishment of our rule as a blessing.</p> +<p>You were so kind as to express a wish to see my son. He is now +with his regiment, the 16th Lancers, in Ireland, and has lately +obtained his Lieutenancy. He will be twenty years of age in +January. I will make known to him your kind wish, and doubt not +that he will pay his respects when he visits London.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me, My Dear Sir James,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours very faithfully,</div> +<div class="s5">W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart,<br> + &c. &c. &c.</p> +<p>P.S.—In page 217, line 4, vol. i., of my Diary, the +printer has put "months" for weeks. Pray do me the favour to have +this corrected.—W. H. S.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>Your Lordship's wishes in regard to the papers on Oude affairs +shall be strictly attended to. They are locked up in my box, and no +one shall see them. I had no wish to print any but those I +mentioned in my last letter, and they are locked up with the +others, which I have not looked at since I left your Lordship's +camp; the Diary, excepted.</p> +<p>Things in Oude are just as they were; and the King's ambition +seems to be limited to the reputation of being the best +drum-beater, dancer, and poet of the day. He is utterly unfit to +reign; but he is himself persuaded that no man can be more fit than +he is for anything, and he will never willingly consent to make +over the reins of Government to any one. It would be impossible to +<i>persuade</i> him to abdicate even in favour of his own son, much +less to resign his sovereignty in perpetuity. If our Government +interpose, it must be by the exercise of a right derived from the +existing relations between the two Governments, or from our +position as the paramount power in India.</p> +<p>Of this your Lordship will have to consider and decide when your +mind is relieved from Burmese affairs, which appear to be drawing +very <i>quietly</i> to a close. I shall not write publicly about +Oude affairs generally till I have your Lordship's commands to do +so. The Diary will continue to be transmitted regularly; but the +Periodical General Report will be suspended.</p> +<p>Mr. Bushe remained a few days at Lucknow. He has since seen +Agra, Bhurtpoor, and other places, and is now on his way back to +Calcutta, well pleased with his tour.</p> +<div class="s3">With great respect,</div> +<div class="s4">Your Lordship's obedient Servant,</div> +<div class="s5">W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.,<br> +Governor-General of India.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 2nd January, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir James,</p> +<p>I enclose two sets of Tables of Errata for the Diary, and must +pray you to do me the favour to have one set put into the two +volumes of the copy you have, and the other sent to the +Deputy-Chairman for insertion in his copy. I did not take the +liberty to send a copy to the President of the Board of Control, +but if you think I should do so, I will.</p> +<p>The King of Oude is becoming more and more imbecile and crazy, +and his servants continue more and more to abuse their power and +neglect their duty. The King, every day manifests his utter +unfitness to reign, in some new shape. He, on several occasions +during the Mohurrum ceremonies which took place lately, went along +the streets beating a drum tied round his neck, to the great +scandal of his family and the amusement of his people. The members +of his family have not been paid their stipends for from two to +three years, and many of them have been reduced to the necessity of +selling their clothes to purchase food. All classes, save the +knaves who surround him, and profit by his folly, are become +disgusted with and tired of him.</p> +<p>I do not interfere, except to protect our pledges and +guarantees; and to conduct the current duties of the Residency in +such a manner as to secure the respect of all classes for the +Government which I represent. While the present King reigns, or has +anything whatever to do with the Government, no interference could +produce any substantial and permanent reform. The minister is a +weak man and a great knave; but he has an influence over his +master, obtained by being entirely subservient to his vices and +follies, to the sacrifice of his own honour; and by praising all +that he does, however degrading to him as a man and a +sovereign.</p> +<p>Though the King pays no attention whatever to public affairs or +to business of any kind, and aims at nothing but the reputation of +being the best dancer, best versifier, and best drummer in his +dominions, it would be impossible to persuade him that any man was +ever more fit to reign than he is. Nothing would ever induce him +willingly to abdicate even in favour of his own son, much less to +make him willingly abdicate in perpetuity in favour of our +Government, or make over the conduct of the administration to our +Government. If, therefore, our Government does interfere, it must +be in the exercise of a right arising out of the existing relations +between the two States, or out of our position as the paramount +power in India. These relations, under the Treaty of 1837, give our +Government the <i>right</i> to take upon itself the administration, +under present circumstances; and, indeed, imposes, upon our +Government the <i>duty</i> of taking it: but, as I have already +stated, neither these relations nor our position, as the paramount +power, gives us any right to <i>annex</i> or to <i>confiscate</i> +the territory of Oude. We may have a right to take territory from +the Nizam of Hyderabad in payment for the money he owes us; but +Oude owes us no money, and we have no right to take territory from +her. We have only the right to interpose to secure for the +suffering people that better Government which their Sovereign +pledged himself to secure for them, but has failed to secure.</p> +<p>The Burmese war still prevents the Governor-General from +devoting his attention to Oude and Hyderabad. In the last war we +did not march our armies to the capital because we were not +prepared to supply a new Government for the one which we should +thereby destroy; and insurrection and civil war must have followed. +Our conduct in that was wise and benevolent. When we moved our +armies to Rangoon this time, we upset one Government without +providing the people with another. The Governor-General could not +provide for the Civil Government, because he could not know that +the Government of Ava would force us to keep possession of any +portion of its dominions; and taking upon ourselves the civil +administration would compromise the people, should he have to give +them up again to their old rulers. The consequence has been great +suffering to a people who hailed us as deliverers. The folly of +supposing that any country can be taken by steamers on their rivers +alone has now become sufficiently manifest. The Governor-General +has however, adopted the best possible measures for securing +ultimate good government to Pegu. It would have been more easily +effected had they been taken earlier, but this circumstance +prevented.</p> +<p>There is a school in India, happily not yet much patronised by +the Home Government nor by the Governor-General, but always +struggling with more or less success for ascendancy. It is +characterised by impatience at the existence of any native State, +and its strong and often insane advocacy of their +absorption—by honest means, if possible—but still, +their absorption. There is no pretext, however weak, that is not +sufficient, in their estimation, for the purpose; and no war, +however cruel, that is not justifiable, if it has only this object +in view. If you know George Clerk or Mr. Robertson, both formerly +Governors of our North-West Provinces, they will describe to you +the school I mean. They, I believe, with me, strongly deprecate the +doctrines of this school as more injurious to India and to our +interest in it, than those of any other school that has ever +existed in India. Mr. George Campbell is one of the disciples of +this school.—See the 4th chapter of his "Modern India." The +"Friend of India" is another, and all those whom that paper lauds +most are also disciples of the same school. The Court of Directors +will have to watch these doctrines carefully; and I wish you would +speak to George Clerk and Mr. Robertson about them. They are both +men of large views and sound judgment.</p> +<div class="s2">Believe me, My Dear Sir James,</div> +<div class="s5">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Sir James Weir Hogg,<br> + &c. &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 12th January, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir James,</p> +<p>I wrote to you on the 23rd October, 20th November, and the 2nd +of this month; I mention this lest any of my letters miscarry; of +the first letter I sent a duplicate on the 2nd, but I shall not +send duplicates of the last two, or of this. I now write chiefly to +call your attention to a rabid article in the "Friend of India," of +the 6th of this month, written by Mr. Marshman, when about to +proceed to England, to become, it is said, one of the writers in +the London "Times." Of coarse, he will be engaged to write the +Indian articles; and you will find him advocating the doctrines of +the school mentioned in my last letter of the 2nd of this month. I +consider their doctrines to be prejudicial to the stability of our +rule in India, and to the welfare of the people, which depends on +it. The Court of Directors is our only safeguard against these +Machiavellian doctrines; and it may be rendered too powerless to +stem them by the new arrangements for the Government of India. The +objects which they propose for attainment—religion, commerce, +&c.—are plausible; and the false logic by which they +attempt to justify the means required to attain them, however base, +unjust, and cruel, is no less so. I was asked by Dr. Duff, the +editor of the "Calcutta Review," before he went home to write some +articles for that journal, to expose the fallacies, and to +counteract the influences of the doctrines of this school; but I +have for many years ceased to contribute to the periodical papers, +and have felt bound by my position not to write for them. Few old +officers of experience, with my feelings and opinions on this +subject, now remain in India; and the influence of this school is +too great over the rising generation, whose hopes and aspirations +they tend so much to encourage. Mr. Elphinstone, Mr. Robertson, and +George Clerk will be able to explain their danger to you. India +must look to the Court of Directors alone for safety against them, +and they will require the exertion of all its wisdom and +strength.</p> +<p>Mr. Robertson will be able to tell you that, when I was sent to +Bundelcund, in 1842, the feelings of the people of that province +were so strongly against us, under the operation of the doctrines +of this school, that no European officer could venture, with +safety, beyond the boundary of a cantonment of British troops; and +their servants were obliged to disguise themselves in order to pass +from one cantonment to another. In a brief period, I created a +feeling entirely different, and made the character of British +officers respected and beloved. In the Gwalior territories the same +result was obtained by the same means. However impulsive on other +occasions, Lord Ellenborough behaved magnanimously after his +victories over the Gwalior troops; but in sparing the State, he +acted, I believe, against the feelings of his Council, amongst whom +the doctrines of the absorbing, annexing, and confiscating schools +prevailed; and the "Friend of India" condemned him, though the +invasion was never justified, except on the ground of expediency. +Had I, on these occasions, adopted the doctrines of the absorbing +school, I might have become one of the most popular and influential +men in India; but I should, at the same time, have rendered our +rule and character odious to the people of India, and so far have +injured our permanent interest in the country. I mention all this +merely to show that my opposition to the doctrines of this school +is not new, nor in theory only, but of long standing and practice, +as far as my influence has extended. I deem them to be dangerous to +our rule in India, and prejudicial to the best interests of the +country. The people see that these annexations and confiscations go +on, and that rewards and honorary distinctions are given for them, +and for the victories which lead to them, and for little else; and +they are too apt to infer that they are systematic, and encouraged, +and prescribed from home. The native States I consider to be +breakwaters, and when they are all swept away, we shall be left to +the mercy of our native army, which may not always be sufficiently +under our control. Such a feeling as that which pervaded Bundelcund +and Gwalior in 1842 and 1843, must, sooner or later, pervade all +India, if these doctrines are carried out to their full extent; and +our rule could not, probably, exist under it. With regard to Oude, +I can only say that the King pursues the same course, and every day +shows that he is unfit to reign. He has not the slightest regard +for the duties or responsibilities of his high position; and the +people, and even the members of his own family, feel humiliated at +his misconduct, and grow weary of his reign. The greater part of +these members have not received their stipends for from two to +three years, and they despair of ever receiving them as long as he +reigns. He is neither tyrannical nor cruel, but altogether +incapable of devoting any of his time or attention to business of +any kind, but spends the whole of his time with women, eunuchs, +fiddlers, and other parasites. Should he be set aside, as he +deserves to be, three courses are open: 1. To appoint a regency +during the minority of the heir-apparent, who is now about eleven +years of age, to govern with the advice of the Resident; 2. To +manage the country by European agency during the regency, or in +perpetuity, leaving the surplus revenue to the royal family; 3. To +confiscate and annex the country, and pension the royal family. The +first plan was prescribed by Lord Hardinge, in case of accident to +the King; the second is what was done at Nagpore, with so much +advantage, by Sir Richard Jenkins in 1817; the third is what the +absorbing school would advocate, but I should most deprecate. It +would be most profitable for us, in a pecuniary point of view, but +most injurious, I think, in a political one. It would tend to +accelerate the crisis which the doctrines of that school must, +sooner or later, bring upon us. Which course the Governor-General +may prefer I know not.</p> +<div class="s4">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s3">My Dear Sir James,</div> +<div class="s5">Yours very faithfully</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN</div> +<p>To Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart.,<br> + &c. &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 12th January, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir,</p> +<p>I shall send you by this mail a copy of my Diary under cover, +addressed, as you suggest, to Mr. Secretary Melvill. It is coarsely +bound, as I could find no good binder here. I printed eighteen +copies, and have sent one to Government, in Calcutta, for itself, +and one for the Court of Directors; one to the Governor-General, +and one each to the Chairman and Deputy-Chairman. I have also sent +one to a brother, and one to each of my five children. All to whom +I have sent it of my family have been enjoined to consider it as +private and confidential, and they will do so. Government may +publish any portion of it they please. A memorandum of errata has +been added to the copy to be sent to you.</p> +<p>Over and above what you justly observe as to the cultivation and +population not being much diminished, and the State not having +incurred any public debt, I may mention the fact noticed, I +believe, somewhere in the Diary, that the landed aristocracy of the +half of Oude, reserved in 1801, has been better preserved than that +of the half made over to us. Had they not combined generally +against the Government, they would all have been crushed ere this, +as ours have been. This makes me mention a school of too much +influence in India, of whose doctrines I have a great abhorrence. +They are best expounded by the so-called "Friend of India," in the +last number of which (6th January, 1851) there is a rabid article +on the subject worthy of your perusal, and that of all men +interested in the welfare of India and the stability of our rule +over it. It is in the true Machiavellian spirit, which justifies, +or would persuade the world to justify, every means, however base, +dishonest, and cruel, required to attain any object which they have +persuaded themselves to be desirable for ourselves. This school is +impatient at the existence of any native principality in India, +however related to or dependent upon us. Mr. George Campbell is a +disciple of this school, almost as rabid as the "Friend of India," +as you will see in the fourth chapter of his book on "Modern +India." If Mr. Marshman is to write the Indian articles for the +"Times," as reports give out, you will see these doctrines +advocated in that influential journal. The Court of Directors is +the only safeguard of India, and of our stability in it, against +those doctrine which, in my opinion, tend strongly to the injury of +both; and its power may be rendered too powerless to shun them.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s4">My Dear Sir,</div> +<div class="s5">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Colonel Sykes,<br> +Director Hon. East India Company,<br> +London.</p> +<p>P.S.—I have felt much interested in the geology of Central +and Southern India; and if you have seen any satisfactory account +of the origin of the stratum which caps the basaltic plateau, shall +feel obliged if you will point it out to me.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 24th April, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir,</p> +<p>By the last mail I received from a friend in London two +articles, whose merits had been much canvassed at the clubs, one +from the London "Times," of the 9th February, and the other from +the "Daily News," a Manchester paper. The "Times" article must have +been written by Mr. J. Marshman, or one of the most rabid members +of the school of which he is the great organ, and whose chief +characteristic is impatience at the existence of any native +territorial chief or great landholder in India. The other article +is a reply to it, and generally supposed to have been written by +Sir George Clerk. I feel quite sure that it was written either by +him or by Mr. T. C. Robertson, who preceded him in the government +of our North-West Provinces. The article from the "Times" has been +noticed in most of the Indian papers—the "Friend of India," +April 7th, 1853, and the "Englishman," 15th April. But I have not +seen that in the "Daily News" noticed in any Indian papers, though +admirably written. I intended to send it to you, but have mislaid +it. I think you can advocate the cause it adopts more consistently, +more powerfully, and more wisely than any other editor now in +India. I hope you will do so; for I consider the doctrines of the +"Times" disgraceful to our morality, and dangerous to the stability +of our rule. As I consider the welfare of the people of India to +depend upon the stability of our rule, I am very anxious to see the +fallacies of the atrocious doctrines which endanger it ably +exposed. In no publication are these fallacies more obvious or more +numerous than in Mr. George Campbell's "Modern India," chapter +fourth, with, perhaps, the exception of the "Friend of India." With +the "Friend," the theory of confiscation and annexation has become +a disease, and he cannot praise or even tolerate any public officer +or statesman who is not known to be a convert to the doctrines of +this school.</p> +<p>I forget the date of the "Daily News" in which Sir George +Clerk's article appeared, but it was immediately after the article +appeared in the London "Times" of the 9th February. I hope you will +give the article a prominent place in your paper, for it really +deserves to be printed in letters of gold. Though I feel that the +character of our nation, and our safety in India, are compromised +by the open avowal of such atrocious doctrines in our leading +journals, still the orders against officers in political employ +writing in the papers are so strict, that I dare not attempt to +expose the fallacies on which they are based, or express the +indignation which they excite in me, in any public paper. To my +superiors, and in the discharge of my public duties, I shall never +cease to express my abhorrence of such doctrines, for I look upon +them as worse than any that Machiavelli ever wrote.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours very sincerely,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To G. Buist, Esq.</p> +<p>P.S.—Of course, this note will be considered as +confidential.<br></p> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. S.</div> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 24th April, 1853. </p> +<p>Dear Sir,</p> +<p>An article in your paper of the 15th instant, on the subject of +the international law of India, has interested and pleased me much. +It has reference to an article in the London "Times" of the 9th +February last; and I write to invite your attention to an article +which appeared in the "Daily News," a Manchester paper, in reply to +it, written by Sir G. Clerk, lately Governor of Bombay. Both these +articles have been much discussed at the London clubs, and the +morality of the "Daily News" article has been very favourably +contrasted with that of the article in the "Times." The article in +the "Times" is supposed to have been penned by Mr. J. Marshman +himself, or by one of the most rabid members of the school whose +Machiavellian doctrine he advocates.</p> +<p>These doctrines are considered by some of our wisest statesmen +to be as dangerous to the stability of our rule in India as they +are disgraceful to our morality; and as these statesmen consider +the well-being of the people of India to depend upon that +stability, they are always glad to see their fallacies exposed and +their iniquities indignantly denounced by the moat able and steady +of our public journalists. I hope you will be able to find the able +article in the "Daily News" to which I refer, and consent to give +it a prominent place in the "Englishman." It was sent to me by a +friend in London, but I have, unfortunately, mislaid it. This note +will, of course, be considered as confidential.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s5">W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To W. C. Harry, Esq.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 5th June, 1853. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>I have read with great interest in the English journals your +Lordship's able Minute on the Burmese war, and am glad that it has +been published, as it cannot fail to disabuse the public mind at +home, and bring about a reaction in the feeling of the people +excited by some very unfair articles in the London "Times." I +attributed these articles to the Napiers, who, however talented, +are almost always wrong-headed.</p> +<p>I am persuaded that the new Sovereign will acquiesce in your +possession of Pegu, and that he would not have ceded it by treaty +under any circumstances. The old Sovereign might have done it, +though at great risk, but the new Sovereign could not dare to do +it.</p> +<p>Our own history affords us instances enough of powerful +ministers anxious, for the public good, to get rid of conquered, +but expensive and useless possessions, but deterred from proposing +the measure by the dread of popular odium, which ambitious and +factious rivals are always ready to excite.</p> +<p>There is one argument against the advance which I do not think +that your Lordship has urged with the force of the rest. While the +new Sovereign remains undisturbed in the rest of his dominions he +will maintain his authority over them, and do his best to prevent +our new frontier from being disturbed, knowing that we can advance +to his capital and punish him if he does not. But, were he to be +driven from his capital, all the rest of his dominions would soon +fall into a state of anarchy, and our frontiers would soon be +disturbed by leaders of disorderly bands, anxious to carve out +principalities for themselves, and having no other means than +plunder to maintain their followers. For the acts of such men we +could hold no one responsible, after we had driven their Sovereign +from his capital to the hills and jungles; and half a century might +elapse before order could be restored. In the mean time, wealth +would be growing up within our border to invite their aggression, +while they would become poorer and poorer from disorders, and more +and more anxious to seize upon it.</p> +<p>With regard to an advance upon Amarapoora, it will not be +difficult after the rains, if circumstances render it necessary. +The Madras cattle are much better for hard work and all climates +than those of Bengal, and sufficient could be collected for the +occasion by sea. Your Lordship's reasons for not trusting to +steamers alone are unanswerable, and it seems impossible for a land +and river force to act jointly. In this, we almost realize the +contest between the winds and the moschettoes before the court of +the genii in the Arabian tale: when the winds appeared, the +moschettoes could not, and when they appeared, the winds could not. +For the prestige of our own name in the rest of India, to advance +to the capital and then give the rest of the country to the +Sovereign might, perhaps, be the best; but for the security of our +new acquisition, and that of the people of the rest of Burmah, it +would certainly be better to stay where we are. The benefits of our +rule might, by degrees, be imparted to that of the rest of Burmah. +The Government would be obliged to treat their people better than +they have done in order to keep them.</p> +<p>Here everything still is what I have described it to be so +often; that is, as bad as it can be. The King is the same, and the +officers and favourites whom he employs are the same. I shall not +write public reports on the state of affairs till I learn that your +Lordship wishes it, which will be, I conclude, when you have +carried out your arrangements in Burmah.</p> +<p>The terrible war of races in China, to which I have been looking +forward for some years, seems to be coming slowly on. I wrote to +Sir H. M. Elliot about it some two or three years ago, and +recommended him to write a better life than we have of Jungez Khan, +in order to show what the Tartars now really are. When he led his +swarms of them over China, Central Asia, and a great part of +Europe, they worshipped the god of war; they now worship the god of +peace: but there are millions of Lamas in Tartary who would change +their crosiers for the sword at the call of a kindred genius, and +are now impatient to do so, and prophesying his advent, just at the +time that the rebels threaten the capital of China and the +extinction of the Tartar dynasty. That dynasty will throw itself +upon Tartary, and a new one will be raised by the successful +leader.</p> +<div class="s2">Your Lordship's faithful and obedient +servant,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.,<br> +Governor-General.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 24th June, 1853. </p> +<p>Dear Sir,</p> +<p>Your letter of the 20th instant perplexes me a good deal. I have +no place in my own office to offer you, and I never recommended any +one for employment to the King. You cannot, according to rules laid +down for our guidance, act as an advocate in any case before the +Resident or his assistants. All landholders in Oude, except the few +whose estates are included in what is called the Hozoor Tuhseel, +transact their business through the Amils, Chuckladars, and Nazims +of districts, and have nothing to do directly with the Durbar at +Lucknow. Having nothing to do with their affairs, I cannot have +anything to say with the employment by them of wakeels, or +advocates. They, the landholders, generally employ native wakeels, +who are willing to bear a good deal of ill-treatment on the part of +Durbar officials for the sake of very small salaries. Your +situation as a wakeel on their part would be ill remunerated and +exceedingly humiliating.</p> +<p>If the son of Ghalib Jung has offered to introduce you to the +minister, and to assist in getting employment for you at Lucknow, +he must, I think, do so in the hope of being able to make use of +you in some intrigue; for those only who can aid in such intrigues +are fostered and paid at Lucknow. Honest men can get nothing, and +find no employment about the Court. If you secure employment about +the Court, I cannot hold any communication with you. I should +compromise myself by doing so. In your situation, I would rather be +a section writer in Calcutta, or at Agra, than hold any employment +in the Oude Durbar that you can get by honest means. One of the +tasks imposed on you would be, I conclude, to praise bad persons +and things, and abuse good, in the newspapers. This, of course, you +would not do, and you would be punished accordingly. I strongly +advise you to have nothing to do with Oude at present.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours very truly,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To G. Norton, Esq.,<br> +Azimgurh.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 11th August, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear Sir,</p> +<p>Your brother, the late Lieut.-Colonel Ouseley, was a valued +friend of mine. Before his appointment as Governor-General's Agent +of the south-eastern frontier districts, he had for many years held +the civil charge of different districts in the Sangor and Nerbudda +territories. I had for many years the civil charge of districts +bordering on those under his charge, and abundant opportunity of +seeing how much he had made himself beloved, and the character of +his Government respected, by the manner in which he conducted the +duties confided to him.</p> +<p>When I became Commissioner over those territories in 1844, I +passed through the districts which had so long been under his +charge, and I can honestly say that I have never known a man who +had made himself more beloved and revered by the people. Thousands +of happy families were proud to acknowledge that they owed all +their happiness to the careful and liberal revision of the +settlement of the land-revenue made by him, in which he had +provided for the interests of the higher and middle classes +connected with the land, while he secured the rights of the +humblest.</p> +<p>I visited at the same time the districts of those territories +which bordered upon his then charge of the south-east frontier, and +communed with many people from that quarter. They all spoke of him +as beloved and respected by all classes as much in his then charge +as he had been in his old one. In a country where it is the duty of +every Englishman to make the character of his Government and his +nation respected and beloved, one cannot but feel proud to hear a +countryman and fellow-labourer spoken of by tens of thousands of +respectable, contented, and happy people as your brother was and +still is. I know no part of India where the people of all classes +and all grades are so attached to our character and our Government +as that of the Saugor and Nerbudda territories, and I believe that +no man did more to establish that fine feeling than your +brother.</p> +<p>Your brother's temper was warm, and he was not always happy in +putting his thoughts and feelings to paper. Hence arose occasional +misunderstandings with his official superiors. But while those +superiors were men who could understand and appreciate his noble +nature, such occasional misunderstandings never led to serious +consequences. In the bitterness of his anguish, after his removal +from the south-east frontier, he wrote to me; and it was most +painful to me to feel that I was not in a position, or in +circumstances, to advocate his cause, and describe the value of +such a man as the representative of the Government and the national +character among a wild and half-civilized people like those over +whom he had been placed. I think it was on the representation of +the late Mr. Launcelot Wilkinson, one of the most able and +estimable members of the India Civil Service, that he was sent to +the south-east frontier. He had seen his value in the Saugor and +Nerbudda districts while he was political agent at Bhopaul, which +bordered on the districts under your brother's charge.</p> +<p>It has been to me a source of much regret that I have not had it +in my power to aid his son in getting employment in India.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours very truly,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Major Ouseley,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 14th September, 1853. </p> +<p>Dear Sir,</p> +<p>The King of Oude will certainly not assist you to get up a +newspaper at Lucknow; and you will certainly be disappointed if you +come in expectation of such assistance from him. If you can get +into his service in any other capacity, I am not aware of any +objections to it, but as I have already told you and many others, I +cannot recommend any one for employment under him. The humiliations +to which honest and respectable Christians have to submit in his +service, from the jealousies of influential persons about the +Durbar, are such as few can or ought to submit to; and I certainly +would not advise any one to enter such a service. Under whatever +pledge or whatever influence they might enter it, their tenure of +office and their pay would be altogether precarious, and the +Resident would be unable to assist them in retaining the one or +recovering the other.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours faithfully,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To G. Norton, Esq.</p> +<p>P.S.—The King of Oude and his family are in no danger from +the British Government, on whose good faith they repose. I only +wish that his honest and industrious subjects were as safe from the +officers whom he employs in all branches of the administration, and +from whom they are nowhere safe I fear.</p> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 27th September, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear James,</p> +<p>Under the circumstances you mention, I see but one course open +to you; and that is, to recommend to the Government of Bombay to do +as Lord William Bentinck did in the Bengal Presidency under similar +circumstances, appoint a special Commissioner for the trial of +offenders under Acts XX.[<i>sic</i>] of 1836, and XXIV. of 1843; or +for the revision of trials under these Acts, conducted by Sessions' +Judges.</p> +<p>The first would be the best if feasible; but the second would +do, since the Sessions' Judges seem now to be disposed to give +their aid to Government in putting down the evil, and the Sudder +Judges do not. Formerly, I believe, the Sudder Judges were so +disposed, and the Sessions Judges not. In my reply to the +Government of Bombay, you will see reference made to Lord William's +appointment of Mr. Stockwell as special Commissioner. He was at the +time Commissioner of the Allahabad division, and the work was +imposed upon him in addition to his other duties.</p> +<p>If the Bombay Government does not think it has authority to +appoint such a special Commission, they may apply to the +Legislative Council to pass an Act authorising the Government of +every Presidency to appoint such a Commission when circumstances +may render it necessary.</p> +<p>This will be better and safer than to frame and enforce new +rules of evidence for the guidance of existing Judicial Courts. The +one would be for a special emergency, and temporary; and Government +would not be very averse to it; but the other they certainly would +not venture upon, particularly at this time. A great fuss would be +made about it here and at home; and lawyers are too influential in +both places.</p> +<p>You can show that there is no alternative—that this system +of crime must be left to prosper in the Bombay Presidency, where +alone it now prevails, or such a Commission must be appointed; and +as the Acts and the machinery for giving effect to them have +succeeded in putting it down in all the rest, it would be hard to +leave the people of Bombay exposed to all the evils arising from +the want of such a special Commission. Such Commissions have been +adopted to relieve the people from the hardships of the resumption +laws, which affected but a small portion of the community; and you +hope it would not be considered unreasonable in you to propose one +for the relief of the whole community; for the life and property of +no family will be safe an hour, if these classes of offenders by +hereditary profession are assured that they may carry on their +trade with impunity, as they must be if your agency be withdrawn, +and all the prisoners be released.</p> +<p>If you make a forcible representation to the Bombay Government +in this strong case, they will adopt the measure if they have the +power, or ask the power from the supreme Government; and I think +the supreme Government will give it. I would say a special +Commission for the trial of commitments under XXX. of 1836, and +XXIV. of 1843, or a special Commission for the revision of trials +under these Acts, as may seem best to Government; but you can say +that you think the first would answer the purpose best in the +Bombay Presidency. You may offer to run down to Bombay and submit +your views to the Government in Council if required. They would not +think it necessary, but would be pleased with the offer. Where men +are committed on the general charge, it has always been thought +necessary to show that the gang committed a murder or a robbery, +though it is not so to show what part the prisoners took in them. +If your assistant has not done this, he has failed in a material +point. He should be very cautious in dealing with whole classes. +The fault of our Bombay assistants has always been a disposition to +make offenders of whole classes, when only some of the members are +so.</p> +<p>You must make your best of the present case—show the +necessity of the remedy clearly, and urge it respectfully without +pretending to find fault with the Judges; merely say that their +interpretation of the laws of evidence laid down for their +guidance, however conscientious, forms an insurmountable obstacle +to the conviction of offenders by hereditary profession, whose +system has been founded upon the experience of their ancestors in +the most successful modes of defeating these laws, and the +technicalities of ordinary Judicial Courts. This is, I think, all +that I can say on the subject at present. The Moncktons leave us +this evening, and Amelie intends to set out for the hills on the +6th proximo.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours affectionately,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Captain J. Sleeman.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 28th September, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear James,</p> +<p>On further consideration, I think that you should say nothing +about the second proposal of a special Commissioner to revise the +trials of offenders tried by Sessions Judges. You should suggest +the first proposal of a special Commissioner to try all prisoners +committed for trial under Acts XXX. of 1836, and XXIV. of 1843, and +perhaps also XI. of 1841. See my Printed Report, page 357.</p> +<p>You may mention that such Commissioner should be required to +submit his sentences for the consideration and final orders of +Government, as all political officers did till March, 1835; or +merely for the information of Government, as political officers did +after that time.</p> +<p>On the 23rd of March, 1835, the Secretary to the Government of +India forwarded to the Resident of Lucknow, for his guidance, the +copy of a letter addressed on that date to the Agent of the +Governor-General in the Saugor and Nerbudda territories, requesting +that he would carry into execution his sentences on Thugs, and not +make any reference to Government for confirmation, but merely +submit to Government abstract statements of sentences; but desiring +that the sanction of the King of Oude should be required before any +capital sentence was carried into effect. No capital sentence was +from that time passed. As all prisoners will be tried on the +general charge, no capital sentence will ever be passed by the +special Commissioner, and the Bombay Government may be disposed to +give him the same orders. But the Governor in Council at Bombay +will be the best judge of that.</p> +<p>Lord Falkland may possibly be deterred by apprehensions that +late events may have altered the tone of feeling at home towards +him; but I am persuaded that he would be glad to carry this measure +into effect. I will send you a copy of the Government letter to the +Resident here; and you may get from the agent's office a copy of +that sent on the same date to him, though you may not readily find +that office under the new arrangements. You will, I think, have a +strong case, and I wish you success in it.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours affectionately,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Captain Jas. Sleeman.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 4th November, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear Malcolm,</p> +<p>I should recommend for the Baee a money stipend for life of five +thousand rupees a-month, with the understanding that if she adopted +a child she would have to provide for him out of her savings from +this stipend, and out of her private property. All the Rajah's +private property, save what he may will away to others, will of +course be left to her, to be disposed of as she may think fit. But +this stipend should be independent of those to be continued to the +stipendiaries of the Rajah. There are several who have nothing else +to depend on but the stipends which they now receive from the +Rajah; and it must be borne in mind that they have no longer Bajee +Rao, Benaek Rao, the Jhansi and Saugor chief, to go to. This will +be the last of the Brahmin dynasties founded in that part of the +world by the Peshwas. Our Government should therefore be liberal in +taking possession of the estate as an escheat.</p> +<p>The Mahratta language in accounts should at once be done away +with; but out of the revenues of the estate, Government should +found a good school for English and Hindoo, and Persian; and, above +all, for a very good hospital and dispensary, under well educated +and tried surgeons, native and European, capable of throwing out +branches.</p> +<p>All the public officers of the Rajah should have stipends or +employment, or both, in proportion to their period of service and +respectability. If they take employment the stipends should be +deducted from their salaries while in office, as in our own +service.</p> +<p>In the case of the Baee Regent at Saugor, we continued a small +part of her pension to her adopted son,—one thousand rupees +a-month,—to enable him to provide for her non-pensioned +dependents. We took the management long before her death, and left +her only a private lady, with a large pension of, I think, eight +thousand rupees a-month; besides pensions—too large—to +the family of her manager, Benaek Rao: this will be unnecessary at +Jhansi. All the large hereditary landholders of the Jhansi estate +should have liberal settlements at fixed rates. They are all from +the landed aristocracy of Bundelcund, and should be treated with +consideration. The first settlement of the land revenue should be +very moderate. The lands will lose the most valuable market for +their produce in the breaking up of the Court and establishment of +the Rajah at the capital, and yield less money, &c., than +before. This must be borne in mind.</p> +<p>You may freely use these my views as you think best on the +Jhansi question.</p> +<p>As to the management, I should make as little changes possible, +till the final orders arrive from the Court of Directors, that you +may have nothing to undo of what you have done. I would leave the +management to Ellis, under your supervision, and interfere only on +references in special cases, except, of course, on emergency. I +know not what the system is to be, or what system the +Governor-General has recommended, except that there is to be one +head, as in Rajpootana; and that all correspondence with Government +is to go through that head, In this state of the matter I know not +what to suggest or say.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Major Malcolm,<br> + &c. &c.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 11th November, 1853. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>I feel grateful for your Lordship's letter of the 27th ult., but +cannot say that I have any hope of discovering the instruments +employed, or the employer, in the late affair. The whole power of +the Government is in the hands of men who are deeply interested in +concealing the truth, and making it appear that no attempt was +really made. The minister has, by his intrigues, put himself so +much in the power of the knave whom I suspect, that he dares not do +anything to offend him. The man could at once ruin him by his +exposures if he chose, and he would do so if he found it necessary +for his own security. The man is biding his time, as he has often +done with former ministers; and the time would have come ere this +had not the King, to save himself, married one of the minister's +pretty daughters.</p> +<p>The King's chief consort; was the niece of the minister, and her +son is the heir-apparent; so that it was her interest, and that of +her uncle, the minister, to get rid of the King as soon as +possible. She is a profligate woman, and the King's mother is +supposed to have given him a hint of his danger. He took a liking +to one of the daughters, and married her, in order to make it the +minister's interest to keep him alive as long as possible. He now +contrives to make the King believe that neither his life nor reign +can be in any danger as long as he is in his present position.</p> +<p>The night after this affair took place, a sipahee of the 35th +Native Infantry, standing sentry at one end of the house, fell +asleep while he was leaning with his right wrist on the muzzle of +his musket. The musket went off; the ball passed through his wrist, +grazed a large beam above him, struck against a stone in the roof +of the portico, and fell down flattened by the side of the sentry, +as he lay insensible and bleeding on the ground below. The wrist +was sahttered,[<i>sic</i>] and several of the arteries cut through. +He bled profusely, and when taken up he talked incoherently, +declaring that some man had fired at him from behind the railing, +twenty paces off. I have seen similar cases of incoherency, arising +from a similar cause. As soon as day appeared the ball was found, +and its marks on the beam and stone above showed the real state of +the case. His right knee was probably leaning on the lock of the +musket when he fell asleep. I have made no public or official +report of this circumstance to Government.</p> +<p>I have now before me a curious instance of the difficulty of +getting at the truth when it is the interest of the minister and +others about this Court to prevent it. A wanton attack was made in +April last by about one hundred armed men, led by one of the King's +collectors, on a native British subject coming from Cawnpore to +visit a brother in Oude. The man himself received a wound, from +which he some days afterwards died at Cawnpore; two of his +attendants were killed, and twenty thousand rupees were taken from +him. I have investigated the case myself, with the aid of my +assistant, Captain Hayes, and with the attendance of an assessor on +the part of the King. The case is a very clear one, but they have +produced about thirty witnesses to swear that no man of the poor +merchant's party was hurt; and that, instead of being attacked, he +invaded the Oude territory with more than one hundred armed +followers, and wantonly attacked the King's party of only fifteen +unoffending men, while engaged in the discharge of their duty in +collecting the revenue. I have translated the depositions with the +prospect of having ultimately to submit the case to Government, +unless the King consents to punish the offenders and afford +redress. The assessor, an old man, bewildered by the conflicting +testimony, and anxious to escape from all responsibility, slept +soundly through the greater part of the inquiry, which has been a +very tedious one.</p> +<div class="s3">I remain, your Lordship's</div> +<div class="s4">Most obedient and humble servant,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +the Governor-General of India.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 28th December, 1853. </p> +<p>My Dear Mr. Colvin,</p> +<p>I was glad to see your handwriting again, and to find that time +had made so little alteration in it. Oude affairs are, as you +suppose, much as they used to be, save that the King is now +persuaded by his minister and favourite that, had his predecessors +had men and women about them so wise as they are, they never would +have acted as if they believed that the Government of India ever +really intended to carry into effect the penalty of misgovernment, +so often threatened. Our Government has cried "wolf" so often that +no one now listens to it. The King is an utter imbecile, from +over-indulgences of all kinds; and the knaves whom he employs in +his administration contrive to persuade him that the preservation +of his life and throne depends entirely upon their vigilance and +his doing nothing. Had I come here when the treasury was full, and +Naseer-od Doon Hyder was anxious to spend his money in the manner +best calculated to do good and please our Government, I might have +covered Oude with useful public works, and much do I regret that I +came here to throw away some of the best years of my life among +such a set of knaves and fools as I have to deal with.</p> +<p>I think you will do much good in your present charge in the +subject to which you refer. In the matter of discourtesy to the +native gentry, I can only say that Robert Martin Bird insulted them +whenever he had the opportunity of doing so; and that Mr. Thomason +was too apt to imitate him in this as in other things. Of course +their example was followed by too many of their followers and +admirers; but, like you, I have been delighted to see a great many +of the elder members of the civil service, in spite of these bad +examples, treat the native gentry with all possible courtesy, and +show them that they had their sympathy as long as they deserved it +by their conduct.</p> +<p>It has always struck me that Mr. Thomason, in his system, did +all he could to discourage the growth of a middle and upper class +upon the land—the only kind of property on which a good upper +and middle class could be sustained in the present state of society +in India. His village republics and the Ryutwar system of Sir +Thomas Munro had precisely the same tendency to subdivide minutely +property in land, and reduce all landholders to the common level of +impoverishment. The only difference was that the impoverished +tenants in the North-Western Provinces were supposed to manage +their own affairs, while those at Madras had them managed by a very +mischievous class of native public officers. He (Mr. Thomason) +would have forced his village republics upon any new country or +jungle that came under his charge, and thereby rendered improvement +impossible. I would have introduced into all such new countries a +system of paternal government in imitation of our Government of +India itself, which would have rendered improvement certain, and +the growth of a middle and higher class no less so. He would have +put the whole under our judicial courts, and thereby have created a +middle class of pettifogging attorneys to swallow up all the +surplus produce of the land. I would have kept the whole of the +land in the hands of our fiscal courts, by making it all leasehold +property, and maintaining the law of primogeniture in all estates +of villages. Mr. Thomason, I am told, systematically set aside all +the landed aristocracy of the country as a set of middlemen, +superfluous and mischievous.</p> +<p>The only part of our India in which I have seen a middle and +higher class maintained upon the land is the moderately-settled +districts of the Saugor and Nerbudda territories; and there is no +part of India where our Government and character are so much +beloved and respected. You have sent Mr. Read to that part; and if +he be bigoted to Mr. Thomason's system, he will upset all this, +and, in my opinion, lay the foundation of much evil. We found a +system of paternal government in every village, and maintained and +improved it. They were all little principalities; and by the +printed rules of the Sudder Board of Revenue, which are very good, +all the sub-tenants were effectually secured in their rights.</p> +<p>In making a tour through Oude in the end of 1849 and beginning +of 1850 I had a good deal of talk with the people. Many of them had +sojourned in our territories in seasons of disturbance. The general +impression was that they would be glad to see the country taken +under British management, provided we could dispense with our +tedious procedure in civil cases. They all had a very unfavourable +impression of our civil courts, and of the cost and delay of the +procedure. Mills and Harrington, to whom the duty, which was to +have devolved on you, has been confided, may do much good, and I +hope will, for there really is nothing in our system which calls so +much for remedy. I am persuaded that, if it were to be put to the +vote among the people of Oude, ninety-nine in a hundred would +rather remain as they are, without any feeling of security in life +or property, than have our system introduced in its present +complicated state; but that ninety-nine in a hundred would rather +have our Government than live as they do, if a more simple system, +which they could understand, were promised at the same time.</p> +<p>In 1801, when the Oude territory was divided, and half taken by +us and half left to Oude, the landed aristocracy of each were about +equal. Now hardly a family of this class remains in our half, while +in Oude it remains unimpaired. Everybody in Oude believes those +families to have been systematically crushed. If by-and-by we can +get the people to take an interest in our railroads, and outlays +upon other great public works, it will tend to create the middle +class upon which I set so much value, and to give that feeling of +interest in the stability of our rule which we so much require. We +shall then have objects of common interest to talk and think about, +and become more united with them in feeling.</p> +<p>Maddock is in Ceylon, but intends to return by the steamer which +is to leave Calcutta on the 5th proximo. His speculations there +have been failures. Had he looked after his estates there instead +of joining the effete party of the Derbyites he might have done +well. He has made great mistakes, and he now suffers for them. His +support of Lord Torrington was his first.</p> +<div class="s3">Believe me,</div> +<div class="s4">Yours very sincerely,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Mr. Colvin.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 5th March, 1854. </p> +<p>My Dear Low,</p> +<p>I have to-day written to Government a letter, which you will of +course see, on the subject of a proposal made to me by Mr. B. +Government will, I have no doubt, consider the reason assigned by +me for refusing to permit him to send an European agent to Lucknow, +ostensibly to collect debts, sufficient; but whether it will +consent to adopt my suggestion, and empower the Resident to assure +the King that it will not again consent to permit Mr. B. to return +and reside at Lucknow, after he has been twice expelled for his +misdeeds, I know not. One thing is certain, that his residence at +Cawnpore, under the assurance from the minister that he shall come +back and be made wealthy if he can aid in getting rid of the +Resident, is very mischievous.</p> +<p>B., Wasee Allee, and the Minister, succeeded in persuading the +King that Shurfod Dowla, and all the most respectable members of +the Lucknow aristocracy, had signed a memorial to the Government of +India, praying that it would set aside the present King as an +incompetent fool, and put Mostafa Alee on the throne in his place. +All this was reported by me to Government on the 2nd of March, +1853.</p> +<p>The seals were all forged or filched here at Lucknow, but the +papers were written in Calcutta, under the agency, I believe, of +Synd Jan, Sir H. E.'s moonshee, from Bilgram, where his family have +long enjoyed an estate rent-free, for the aid he has given to the +minister in his intrigues. I have never been able to remove this +delusion from the mind of the imbecile King; and it is the +"<i>raw</i>" on which these knaves have been ever since acting; for +it enables the minister to persuade him that his vigilance-alone +preserves his life and crown.</p> +<p>The minister is aware that I know all this, and may some day be +able to show the King how he has been deluded and befooled by him; +and he would give all he is worth to get rid of me in any way. He +would give any sums to B. and his other agents to bribe editors to +write against me; but the only editors who have yielded have been +those of the "Mofussilite," before Mr. C. took the management. Mr. +B. complains at Cawnpore, that he gave Mr. L. a large sum to do his +dirty work at home; but that he did nothing for it. This is not +unlikely. That the minister and Wasee Alee got up the attempt at +the Residency, either to make away with me, or to alarm me into +going away, I am persuaded; but to get judicial proof of it I shall +not attempt. It would be vain here, where the minister has all the +revenues of the State to work with.</p> +<p>All the native gentlemen whose seals were forged to this +document, look to me for protection; and they have been ever since +in a state of great alarm. It was to keep up this alarm that they +tried to turn Shurfod Dowla out of Oude. I had rarely seen him +before that time; and I have only seen him once since he went to +the cantonments; and then only for five minutes during my walk in +the garden, to talk about Mulki Jahan's affairs. They punish any +one who ventures to approach the King; and they would ruin any one +who ventured to approach the Resident if they could, lest he might +open the eyes of the King to the iniquities they commit. The troops +are starved, and almost all the old members of the royal family, +who had no Government paper or guarantees, have been already +starved or driven out. Oude has never before been afflicted by a +Sovereign so utterly imbecile and regardless of his duties and the +sufferings of his people; nor has there ever been a minister so +utterly regardless of his own reputation and that of his master. He +bribes with money, power, and patronage, every one who has access +to the King, to sound his praise in prose or verse; and the King is +persuaded that his life and throne depend upon his abstaining +altogether, from interfering in the conduct of affairs.</p> +<p>When I was in the Governor-Generals camp at Futtehgur, M. H., +the son of S. A. K., came there armed, I knew, with four lacs of +rupees. He was an old acquaintance of E.'s, and he (E.) told me +that he had asked for an interview, and asked me whether he ought +to consent to see him. I told him that, if he did see him, he must +make up his mind to the man's persuading the King that he had given +him the greater part of the money, though the man himself kept all +that he did not give to his moonshee. He refused to see the man; +but he has ever since been with Mr. L. at Allahabad, intriguing +with his people to chouse men out of their ancient possessions; or +with the Oude people, to keep up the <i>raw</i> they have established +on the King's mind. The King, by over-indulgence, has reduced his +intellect below the standard of that of a boy of five years of age. +It is painful to talk to a man with a mind so utterly +emasculated.</p> +<p>Our Government would be fully authorized at any time to enforce +the penalty prescribed in your treaty of 1837, and it incurs great +odium and obloquy for not enforcing it. But Lord D. has, no doubt, +solid reasons for not taking such responsibility upon himself at +this time. I do all I can to save the people, and the people are +sensible of what I do, and grateful for it; for the Resident is the +only person they can look up to with any hope. If Government can +comply with my wish to have the King assured that it will not +permit Mr. B. to return and reside at Lucknow again, it will be of +great use to me and to the people, for the hopes held out to him +are like a premium offered for my head, or for my ruin; and one +never feels very comfortable under such offers, at any time or in +any country. The reckless lies which this man gets adventurers at +Cawnpore to write for him, and careless or corrupt editors to +publish, are apt to stagger those who do not know the vile +character of the individual, or the true nature of the facts +referred to.</p> +<p>I am glad you saw W. He is a man of high character and +first-rate ability, and has abundance of sagacity and energy. I +miss him very much. He will be a credit to his regiment if engaged +on active service.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To Colonel Low, C.B.</p> +<p>P.S.—I shall say nothing in this of your domestic +bereavement, though I have felt much for you.</p> +<div class="s5">W. H. S.</div> +<p>In my public letter, I have referred to that of the Marquess of +W. to L., when he was Resident. Do refer to it Page 388, Vol. 1., +"Despatches."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 1st June, 1854. </p> +<p>My Dear Low,</p> +<p>In my letter of the 10th of November, 1853, I solicited +permission to retain Weston with me for reasons stated therein. In +reply, I was told, in Mr. Dalrymple's letter of the 2nd of +December, "that the Governor-General in Council had every wish to +consult my views, but, for the present at least, his Lordship in +Council thinks that Lieutenant Weston must in fairness be required +to join his regiment, like other officers."</p> +<p>I am so very anxious to have his services again in the office he +filled, that I have to-day ventured, in a public letter to the +Foreign Secretary, to request that he will submit my wishes to the +Governor-General in Council, should they deem the state of affairs +in Burmah at present to be such as to admit of his being withdrawn +from his regiment I have said, in my public letter, that should any +exigency arise he could, of course, quickly join his regiment on +service again.</p> +<p>If you can give me any assistance in obtaining his services, I +shall feel very much indebted to you, for I have that confidence in +his abilities and high-mindedness which I cannot feel in those of +his <i>locum tenens</i>; and I am very anxious to keep things in +good train here till the end of the cold weather, when I must go on +leave to recruit. I am really in a very difficult position here, +not with regard to the King, for he has, I believe, entire +confidence in me; but he has become so entangled with his minister, +that he is afraid of him; and the minister would give all he has +(and he has all the revenues of the country) to get me out of the +way.</p> +<p>I carried the Government orders regarding Shurfod Dowla into +effect, and he is now, with his family, quiet and safe. The King +behaved very well, and resisted all the attempts of the minister to +persuade him to remonstrate. I am to-day to submit Shurfod Dowla's +letter of grateful thanks to Government. I hope Government will not +write to him in reply, as this might mortify and vex the King, +since he is not written to by the Governor-General.</p> +<p>I think I told you of the <i>raw</i> the minister, Wasee Alee +and Co., had established on the King's mind—the belief that a +party of the members of the royal family and native gentlemen at +Lucknow had been trying to persuade Government to set him aside, +and put his reputed brother, Mostafa Alee, on the throne. Whenever +they want to make the King angry with any one, they tell him that +he is a leader in this cabal. But the King is, by degrees, growing +out of this folly. There never was on the throne, I believe, a man +more inoffensive at heart than he is; and he is quite sensible of +my anxious desire to advise him rightly, and see justice done in +all cases. But I am a sad stumbling-block to the minister and the +other bad and incompetent officers employed in the +administration.</p> +<p>If you wish it, I will be more circumstantial about Weston's +<i>locum tenens</i>, Lieut. B., of the 1st Cavalry. For his own +repute, and that of the Government, I think the less he has to do +with the political department the better. He would be better in a +military staff appointment than a political one.</p> +<div class="s3">Yours sincerely,</div> +<div class="s4">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Hon. Colonel Low, C.B.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="30%" align="center" /> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="right">Lucknow, 11th September, 1854. </p> +<p>My Lord,</p> +<p>The post which this morning brought me your Lordship's letter of +the 6th instant brought me also one from Bombay, which I enclose +for your Lordship's perusal. Should you think it worth while, +Colonel Outram will be able to sift the matter to which it refers. +I have long been aware of the intrigue, and have taken care to let +the King know that I am so; but as I knew, at the same time, that +the object was merely to get money out of him, and to strengthen +his confidence in his minister, which had begun to give way, I did +not think it necessary to trouble your Lordship with any reference +on the subject. I knew that letters had been forged as from the +King of Persia to the King of Oude, proposing to divide Hindoostan +between them, and I thought it to be my duty to tell him so, in +order to warn him; but, as he denied ever having received such +letters, I told him that I should take the word of a King, and say +no more about it. He is certainly not of sound mind, and things +must, ere long, come to a crisis. His mind may have been of an +average kind when he was young, but it has long become emasculated +by over-indulgence; and the minister and his minions can make him +believe or do what they please. They know that it cannot last long, +and they have agents in Bombay and Calcutta to assist them in +fleecing the King of money on all manner of false pretences.</p> +<p>The minister, a consummate knave, and one of the most +incompetent men of business that I have ever known, has all the +revenues and patronage of the country to distribute among those who +have access to the King exclusively—they are poets, fiddlers, +eunuchs, and profligate women; and every one of them holds, +directly or indirectly, some court or other, fiscal, criminal, or +civil, through which to fleece the people. Anything so detestable +as the Government I have nowhere witnessed, and a man less +competent to govern them than the King I have never known.</p> +<p>Had your Lordship left the choice of a successor to me, I should +have pointed out Colonel Outram; and I feel very much rejoiced that +he has been selected for the office, and I hope he will come as +soon as possible. There are many honest men at Lucknow, and a finer +peasantry no country can boast. But no honest man can obtain or +retain office under Government with the present minister and heads +of departments.</p> +<p>But where the whole revenues of a fine country are available to +suborn witnesses to prove the King to be a <i>Solomon</i>, no +Resident would be able to find judicial proof of his being a fool; +but that he is so I have had abundance of, to me, satisfactory +evidence ever since I have been here. It must soon, however, become +clear, without the Resident's efforts to make it so. Where the +Government of India is so solemnly pledged to see justice done to +the people of a country, it cannot fairly permit them to be reigned +over much longer by so incompetent a Sovereign. Proofs enough of +bad government and neglected duties were given in my Diary; and a +picture more true was, I believe, never drawn of any country. The +duty of remedying the evils, and carrying out your Lordship's views +in Oude, whatever they may be, must now devolve on another.</p> +<p>No one of my present assistants knows anything whatever about +Oude, its Government, or its people; and Colonel Outram will, +therefore, labour under great disadvantages. I hope, therefore, +that your Lordship will pardon the liberty I take in suggesting +that he be allowed the aid of Captain Weston. He went over the +whole of Oude with me, and knows almost all who have made +themselves prominent for good or for evil within the last five +years. I know that, as soon as I go, some of the most atrocious +villains whom I have kept out of office will try to purchase their +way back; and there is no man too bad for the minister, provided he +pays for his restoration.—The murderer of the banker, +mentioned in my Diary, vol. i., p. 131, and the murderer of +thousands mentioned in the same volume. Captain Weston is high +minded, sagacious, energetic, hard-working, conciliatory and, to +Colonel Outram, his services in the new charge would be +invaluable.</p> +<div class="s4">I have the honour to remain,</div> +<div class="s2">Your Lordship's faithful and obedient +servant,</div> +<div class="s5">(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.</div> +<p>To the Most Noble<br> +The Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.<br> +Governor-General.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p align="center"><small>THE END.</small></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p align="center"><small><small>LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND +SONS, STAMFORD STREET.</small></small></p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, +Volumes I & II, by William Sleeman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KINGDOM OF OUDE *** + +***** This file should be named 16997-h.htm or 16997-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/9/9/16997/ + +Produced by Philip Hitchcock + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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