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 circ.u.mstances 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.
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.
A committee of British officers was a.s.sembled 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 circ.u.mstances 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.
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 rea.s.semble 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.
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 circ.u.mstances 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.
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.
CHAPTER III.
Legendary tale of breach of Faith--Kulhuns tribe of Rajpoots--Murder of the Banker, Ramdut Pandee, by the n.a.z.im 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 _bynama_ 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.
_December_ 15, 1849.-Wuzeergunge. On the way this morning, we pa.s.sed Koora.s.sa, 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 _Nawab Wuzeer_, 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 s.p.a.ce 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.
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," "_abol hurs_, or _abo haris_."" "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."
The Rajahs of Toolseepoor and Bulrampoor, and all the merchants and respectable landholders in these parts a.s.sure 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.
_December_ 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 cla.s.ses 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.
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 Koora.s.sa. 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 _River Sarjoo_, 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 _River Sarjoo_, 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 Koora.s.sa, midway between Gonda and Wuzeer Gunge.
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.
Such popular traditions, arising from singular coincidences of circ.u.mstances, 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.
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.
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
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 n.a.z.im 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 cla.s.s in this district. He every year stands security for the punctual payment of the revenues due, according to existing engagements, by the princ.i.p.al 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 cla.s.s 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 n.a.z.im and his disorderly and licentious troops; and this pledge they can always obtain, when necessary, by a fair a.s.surance of adherence to their engagements.
[* 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 ]
On the 8th of November 1850, Ramdut Pandee lent the n.a.z.im 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 n.a.z.im, 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 n.a.z.im"s camp. About nine at night the n.a.z.im 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 n.a.z.im"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 n.a.z.im 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 n.a.z.im, 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.
The n.a.z.im and Ramdut talked for some time together, seemingly on the most friendly and cordial terms; but the n.a.z.im, 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 n.a.z.im 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!"--G.o.d! G.o.d!--the banker fell; and the n.a.z.im, 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.
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 n.a.z.im 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 n.a.z.im"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 n.a.z.im"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 n.a.z.im 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.
It was now about midnight, and the n.a.z.im 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 a.s.sa.s.sins, and had it burned with due ceremonies.
The n.a.z.im"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 n.a.z.im, 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 n.a.z.im, and killed one of his men--that they had all then joined in an attack upon the n.a.z.im 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 n.a.z.im"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 n.a.z.im 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 n.a.z.im"s followers were severely wounded-that so great was the confusion that the Durbar news-reporters could not approach to get information.
On the 20th, a third report reached the minister, stating, that the Rajah of Bulrampoor had come with the banker to visit the n.a.z.im, but had taken leave and departed before the collision took place--that the n.a.z.im urged the necessity of an immediate settlement of accounts, but the banker refused to make any, grossly abused the n.a.z.im, 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 n.a.z.im"s people, who joined the banker"s own people in the plunder of his camp.
On receiving this last report, the minister, by order of his Majesty, presented to the agent of the n.a.z.im 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 _a rebel and oppressor_, and to a.s.sure him of a long-continued tenure of office.
By the interposition of the British Resident and the aid of the magistrate of Goruckpoor, Mr. Chester, the real truth was elicited, the n.a.z.im 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 a.s.sa.s.sination of the banker, thinking that the n.a.z.im 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 n.a.z.im 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 n.a.z.im 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 pa.s.sed, it cannot be carried into execution. Such is the law, and such the every-day practice.
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.
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 _______________
They bold the n.a.z.im"s bond for the eighty thousand rupees, borrowed only eight days before his murder.
_December_ 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 n.a.z.im of the Gonda and Bahraetch district. After recrossing the Ghagra we came within that of the n.a.z.im 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 _ijara_, or farmed districts; those under the management of non-contracting servants of Government are called _amanee_, or districts under the _amanut_, or trust of Government officers. The morning was fine, the sky clear, and the ground covered with h.o.a.r frost. It was, pleasing to see so large a camp, pa.s.sing without noise, inconvenience, or disorder of any kind in so large a river.
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 pa.s.sed 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.
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 _Dewa_; 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 _Bungalow_, 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.
The n.a.z.im 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.*
[* The n.a.z.im for 1850-51, got both Captain Magness"s and Captain Banbury"s regiments.]
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 _bynamah_ 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.
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 a.s.signed, and they generally destroy or extort double what they are ent.i.tled to from their unhappy debtors.
This practice of a.s.signing 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 a.s.signed, and appropriates the whole produce to himself and his soldiers, without regard to the rights of landholders, farmers, cultivators, capitalists, or any other cla.s.s 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.