YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

JOURNEY THROUGH THE KINGDOM OF OUDE,
In 1849-1850.

Loxros: nu:nr.r. bv v. ci.owes and sons, stamfokd street.

A

JO U E N E Y

THROUGH THE

KINGDOM OF OUDE,
in 1849-1850;

BY DIRECTION OF THE EIGHT HON. THE EAEL OF DALHOUSIF,
GOVERNOR-GENERAL.

WITH PEIVATE COEEESPONDENCE EELATIVE TO THE
ANNEXATION OF OUDE TO BEITISH INDIA, &o.

By Major- General Sir W. H. SLEEMAN, K.C.B.
|lcsibnrf at % Coitrt of 'grnkwoto.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
Vol. I.

LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY,
$uiltsfin: in ©rirutars to P§er JJ»ajestj>.
1858.

PREFACE.

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.
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.*
"W. H. SLEEMAN.
Lucknow, 1852.
* This permission was accorded by the Honourable Court of
Directors in December last.

CONTENTS OF THE FLRST VOLUME.

Biographical Sketch of Major-General Sir W. II. Sleeman, K.C.B. Page xi

Introduction  Page xvii
Private Correspondence preceding the Journey through the Kingdom of
Oude .  Page xxiii

CHAPTER I.
Departure from Lucknow — Cholam Huzrut — 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  Page 1

CHAPTER II.
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 lihalea
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

rm CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
— A gang-robber caught and hung by Brahmin villagers — Murder
of Syampooree Gosaen — Ramdut Pandee— Fairies and Fiddlers —
Eamdut Pandee, the Banker — the Rajahs of Toolseepoor and Bulram-
poor- — Murder of Mr. Ravenscroft, of the Bengal Civil Service, at
Bhinga, in 1823  Page 48-

CHAPTER III.
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 Bukh-
tawar and Dursun Sing — Their bynama Lands — Law of Primogeniture
— Its object and effect — Rajah Ghalib Jung — Good effects of protec
tion 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  Pag« 123

CHAPTER IV.
Recross the Goomtee river — Sultanpoor Cantonments — Number of
persons begging redress of wrongs, and difficulty of obtaining it in
Oude — Apathy of the Sovereign — Incompetency 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 every
where encountered— Soils in the district, mutteear, dovmutteea, bhoor,
oosur— Risk at which lands are tilled under Landlords opposed to
their Government— Climate of Oude more invigorating than that of
Malwa— Captain Maguess'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 .... Page 175

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER V.
Salone district — Rajah Lai Hunmunt Sing of Dharoopoor— Soil of
Oude— Relative fertility of the mutteear and doomutteea — Either may
become oosur, 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 — MahiboUah 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 ap
parel of the females of the Bys clan— Late Nazim Hamid Allee—
His father-in-law Fuzl Allee— First loan from Oude to our Govern
ment—Native gentlemen with independent incomes cannot reside in
the country— Crowd the city, and tend to alienate the Court from the
people  Page 223

CHAPTER VI.
Nawabgunge, midway between Cawnpoor and Lucknow— Oosur soils
now produced — Visit from the prime minister — Rambuksh, of
Dhodeeakhera— Hummunt Sing, of Dharoopoor— Agricultural capi
talists— 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
Mojtahid, 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

C CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
— 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  Page 277

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ¥. H. SLEEMAN, K.C.B.

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 pre
dilection 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 pro
ceeded as soon as possible, and was promoted succes
sively 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.
Early in his career he served in the Nepaulese war.

Xll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF
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."
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 De
partment ; his appointment in the Saugur and Nerbudda
districts being kept open, and bis 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 com
missioned for this important purpose was not only or
ganised 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 Com
missioner for the Suppression of Thuggee and Dacoity.
In 1842 he was employed on a special mission in
Bundelcund, to inquire into the causes of the recent dis
turbances 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

MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. H. SLEEMAN, K.C.B. Xlii
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 resigna
tion to Lord Auckland, who immediately offered the ap
pointment to Colonel Sleeman. No sooner had this
occurred, however, than Colonel Low wrote to his Lord
ship that, since he had resigned, the house of Caunter
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 con
tingency he 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 appre
ciated; and Lord Auckland, on leaving India, recom
mended him to the particular notice of his successor, Lord
Ellenborough, who immediately appointed Colonel Slee
man to Jhansi with an additional 1000?. a-year to his
income. 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 ad
ministrative talents, his high and honourable character,

XIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF
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.
His Ions and arduous career was now, however, fast
drawing to a close. So earlv 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 inces
sant labour," observes a writer at this date, " have had
their influence even on his powerful frame : he has re
ceived 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."
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.
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 pro-

MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. H. SLEEMAM, K.C.B. XV
ducing, 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.
It is well known that Lord Dalhousie, on his relin*
quishing 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.
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.
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 cor
respondence with the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie',

xvi BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
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 com
pared 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 de
servedly 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 fre
quent, he redressed the evils complained of, and extended
the Mgis of British power over the afflicted and oppressed.

( xvii )

INTRODUCTION.

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 improve
ment and amelioration of the country and people.
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 : — " Government House, Sept. 16, 1848.
" My dear Colonel Sleeman, — It was a matter of
regret to me that I had not anticipated your desire to
vol. i. &

xviii INTRODUCTION.
succeed Colonel Sutherland in Rajpootana before I made
arrangements which prevented my offering that appoint
ment to you. I now regret it no longer, since the course
of events has put it in my power to propose an arrange
ment which will, I apprehend, be more agreeable to you,
and which will make your services more actively beneficial
to the State.
"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.
" 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 adminis
tration 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.
" 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 per
formed. 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 proba
bility, will take place. Retaining your superintendency
of Thuggee affairs, it will be manifestly necessary that you

INTRODUCTION. xix
should be relieved from the duty of the trials of Thugs
usually condemned at Lucknow.
"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 per
sonally making your acquaintance,
"I have the honour to be,
" Dear Colonel Sleeman,
" Very faithfully yours,
" Dalhousie."
" To Colonel Sleeman, &c, &c."
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-adminis-
tration, 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.
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 character
istics of Sir William in his important and delicate office
b2

XX INTRODUCTION.
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.
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 every
thing in his power to mitigate the horrors he witnessed,
he frequently gives vent to the pain he experienced at
finding relief impracticable.
The Narrative contains an unvarnished but unexag-

INTRODUCTION. xxi
gerated picture of the actual state of Oude, with many
remedial suggestions; but direct annexation formed no
part of the policy which Sir William Sleeman recom
mended. 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 Jto 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 Times in November last : —
" 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. We shall
find a few years hence the tables turned against us. 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 engage
ments, 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 manage-

XX11 INTRODUCTION.
ment of it, but not to appropriate its revenues to our
selves. We can do this with honour to our Government
and benefit to the people. To confiscate would be dis
honest 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."
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.
It will be seen that Sir W. Sleeman's " Diary " com
mences on December 1, 1849. To preserve chronolo
gical order, the letters written before that date are
prefixed ; those which refer to a later period are added
at the end of the narrative.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
PRECEDING THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE KINGDOM
OF OUDE.

Camp, 20th February, 1848.
My dear Sir,
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 pro
ceedings 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

xxiv ' PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
authorise the arrest of all or part, and well reward
Bhurut Sing for his services.
Believe me, my dear Sir,
With best wishes for your success,
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To Capt. J. Innes,
Barrackpoor. Camp, 20th February, 1848. !
My dear Colonel Sutherland,
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 enlarge-,
ment approaches.
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

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. XXV
be provided with the means of earning an honest liveli
hood ; but in Rajpootana it has been otherwise.
By Act 24, of 1843, all such professional gang-robbers
are declared liable to a sentence, on conviction, of im
prisonment 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.
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. Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman
To Col. Sutherland.

XXvi PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. Jhansee, 4th March, 1848.
My Lord,
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. 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.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. XXVll
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.
Permit me to subscribe myself, with great respect,
Your Lordship's faithful and obedient humble servant,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To Lieut-General the Right Hon.
Henry Viscount Hardinge,
&c. &c. &c.

Jhansee, 4th March, 1848.
Dear Sir, Lord Hardince, 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.
Believe me, dear Sir,
Yours very faithfully,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To J. Cosmo Melvill,
Secretary to the East India Company,
India House, London.

xxviii private correspondence.
My dear Elliot, JWee' 28th March' 1848- .
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 con amore. 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 four Residents we
have not got four days' work.
You will soon get my Report, and it will be worth
having, and the last I shall make on crime in India.
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.
Yours sincerely, (Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To II. M. Elliot, Esq.,
Secretary to the Government of India,
Calcutta.

private correspondence. xxix
Jhansee, 29th March, 1848.
My dear Maddock,
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 Ellen
borough 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 terri
tories 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.

XXX private correspondence.
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 appre
hended that he could not long stand the climate of Bom
bay. I am anxious to learn how long you are to remain
in Council. Yours very sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman. ,
To the Hon. Sir T. H. Maddock,
&c. &c. &e.

Jhansee, 2nd April, 1848.
My dear Elliot,
Till I this morning got the public letter, which
will go off to-day, I never heard one word about Shake-
spear's intention or wish to go to the hills, and only
thirteen days remain. The orders of Government as to
his locum tenens cannot reach me by the 1 5th, 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.
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.
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. Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.

private correspondence. xxxi
P.S. — I should consider Major Stevens an able man
for a civil charge, but have never seen him.
(Signed) W. H. S.
To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,
&c. &c.

Jhansee, 6th May, 1848.
My dear Maddock,
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.
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 cupped 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

xxxii private correspondence.
Metternich has been kicked out, for he and Louis Philippe
are the men that have put in peril the peace and institu
tions 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.
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 evi
dent 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 imeute
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

private correspondence. xxxiii
things ; and because England is in a prouder position than
ever, and will, I trust, retain it.
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 Peel 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. Yours very sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To the Hon. Sir T. H. Maddock,
&c. &c. &c.

Jhansee, 14th May, 184!S.
My dear Weston,
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.
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
vol. i. c

xxxiv private correspondence.
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 passed, 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 entre nous for the
present. 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. Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
P.S. — You will be in the most interesting scene in India,
and need be under no apprehension about the permanency
of the appointment.
To Lieut. "Weston,
&c. &c.

Jhansee, ISth May, 1848.
My dear Maddock,
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 admi
nistration. 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 gentle-

PRIVATE correspondence. XXXV
men 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.
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 reinforce
ments 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.
We should keep our hands as much as possible out of
c2

XXXvi PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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 our
selves 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.
It is unfortunate that this outrage, and the excitement
io 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. 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 every
thing 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.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. XXXvii
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.
I must not prose any longer at present. Amelie often
talks of you, and begs to be kindly remembered.
Ever yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To the Hon. Sir T. H. Maddock,
&c. &c. &c.

Jhansee, 28th May, 1848.
My dear Maddock,
I yesterday sent off by Dawk Bangy an elabo
rate 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.

XXXviii PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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 Re
port is infinitely more interesting and complete than it
could have been then, and may bid defiance to all such
orators. 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.
The tables of dacoitees ascertained to have been com
mitted 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.
Ever most sincerely yours,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To tho Hon. Sir T. H. Maddock,
&o. &e. &c.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. xxxix
,, ,. Jhansee, 15th August, 1848.
Mr Lord,
As it is possible that the letter which I addressed
to your Lordship on the 6 th 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.
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.
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 our
selves, 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,

to

xl PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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.
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 vain-
;lory 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. 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.
Believe me, with great respect,
Your Lordship's obedient, humble servant,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To Lieut.-General the Right Hon.
Henry Viscount Hardinge, G.C.B.,
&c. &c. &c.

Jhansee, 22nd August, 1848.
My dear Sir Erskine,
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 in-

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. xli
terested 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.
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.
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 establish
ments, and working good.
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 untract-
able 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

xlii PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
he has acquired satisfies him that the faith to which they
adhere, and which guides them in all their duties, cere
monies, 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 culti
vated, 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 them
selves ; 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.
I think it would be useful if we could get rid of the
terms education, civilization, &c, and substitute that of
knowledge. 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 cer
tain modes are the best for imparting them. The subject
is deeply interesting and important ; but I must not in
dulge further.
Believe me, my dear Sir Erskine, '
With great respect,
Yours very faithfully,
To Sir Erskine Perry, ^"^ W" R *******
Chief Justice, Bombay.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. xliii
Jhansee, 24th September, 1848.
My Lord,
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.
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. 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 Govern
ment with regard to the restoration of the country to the
native ruler when he comes of age. The native aristo
cracy 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 destroy
ing 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

xliv PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
same means in Afghanistan ; and I believe that the
notion now generally prevalent is, that our professed in
tentions 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.
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 substi
tuted 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 administra
tion. Satisfied that this was our error in Afghanistan, in car
rying out the views of Lord Ellenborough in the Gwalior
State, I did everything in my power to avoid it, apd
have entirely succeeded, I believe ; but it has not been
done without great difficulty. I considered Lord Har-
dinge'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 con
tent with guiding, controlling, and supervising the native
administration, and not take all the executive upon our
selves to the almost entire exclusion of the native aristo
cracy. I had another reason for believing that Lord

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. xlv
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 affec
tion can be engaged, and administrations improved under
judicious management.
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. 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.
I trust that your Lordship will pardon my having

xlvi PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
written so much, and believe me, with great respect, your
Lordship's obedient humble servant,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
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. (Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To the Right Hon.
the Earl of Dalhousie,
&c. &c. &c.

Lucknow, 30th January, 1849.
My dear Elliot,
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 un
toward 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 uncer
tain. 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 conversa
tions 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

private correspondence. xlvii
great distrust in his capacity to do any of the things he
promised, more especially to collect the immense arrears
of revenue now due.
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 Govern
ment 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.
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 ma
jority, 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, Cap-

xlviii private correspondence.
tain 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.
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 annexa
tion, 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. Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,
&c. &c.

iir -r, Lucknow, 7th March, 1S49.
My dear Elliot,
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

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. xlix
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 inten
tions 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 per
fectly satisfied as to the utter hopelessness of the struggle,
as evinced by the great barometer of the Government
paper. 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 Shere Sing and his father out of the
hills. 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 com
mitted 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,
VOL. I. d

1 PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
yield twenty. Without this their military force would
have been altogether insignificant ; but it is not so now.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,
&c. &c. Lucknow, 20th March, 1849.
My dear Elliot,
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.
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.
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.
I should think it desirable to give the members of the
regency each distinct duties, so that he may feel respon
sible 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,

private correspondence. li
and could form a court, or council, to deliberate and
decide about measures of legislation and administration.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
These are all the points which appear to me at present
to call for instructions.
The harvests promise to be abundant, but the collec
tions 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
d2

lii private correspondence.
Governor-General's instructions were sent to me in thai
form without the same risk.
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,
&c. &3. Lucknow, 23rd March, 1849.
My dear Elliot,
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. 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.
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.
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

PRIVATE correspondence. Hii
very strong in mind, is very unsatisfactory. Fortunately
the harvest is unusually fine. Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,
&c. &c.

Lucknow, 8th May, 1849.
My Lord, 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 expe
rience, 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.
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

liy PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
Majesty is hypochondriac, and frequently under tie
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.
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 col
lections 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.
With great respect I remain
Your Lordship's obedient humble servant,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To the Right Hon.
The Earl of Dalhousie, K.T.,
Governor-General of India.

private correspondence. lv
Lucknow, 11th June, 1849.
My dear Elliot,
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 sur
rendered 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 Bon-
deylas ; 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.
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 Jhansee 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 connec
tion, they may afford them an asylum secretly when
fugitives. Who the Gwalior men are that are plundering I know
not ; but they are men of no note, and, if pressed skil
fully and rigorously in time, will soon be put down. The
chiefs may all be relied upon, I believe. They are mere

lvi PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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. Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,
&c. &c.

Lucknow, 18th June, 1849.
My dear Elliot,
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 Pre
sident 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 pro-

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. lvii
^posed when Lord Hardinge was here, and to have the
parrying it out.
i 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 con
sidering. It will bring little additional trouble on
Government, but a good deal on the Resident, who will
require to have had much administrative experience.
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.
The Court is very averse to the appointment of a suc
cessor 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. No
body 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.
The minister, singers, and eunuchs are all now sworn to
be united ; but this cannot last many days. The " pres
sure 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 arid eunuchs as privy
councillors. Something must be done to unthrone 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 stul-

lviii PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
tify ; 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 secretariat.
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.
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.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To H. M. Elliot, Esq.,
&c. &e. 
My Lord, Lucknow, 24th July, 1849.
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-Chief's 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.
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

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. lix
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.
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 occu
pied with the new acquisitions of the Punjaub as to be
averse to interfere much with the management of any
other portion of the country.
I remain, your Lordship's most obedient, humble
servant,
W. H. Sleeman.
To the Right Hon. Gen. ViBCOunt Hardinge, G.C.B.,
Sec. &o. &o.

Ix PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. Lucknow, 24th July, 1849.
My Lord,
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-
Chief's list of candidates for a commission in one of her
Majesty's Dragoon regiments?
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, Loudon, 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. -
Colonelin the Honourable East India Company's service,
and present situation, that of Resident at the Court of
his Majesty the King of Oude.
I have the honour to be,
Your Lordship's obedient, humble servant,
W. H. Sleeman.
To Lieut.-General Lord Fitzroy Somerset, G.C.B.,
Military Secretary to his Grace
the Commander-in-Chief, Horse Guards, London.

,, T Lucknow, August, 1S49.
My Lord,
^ 1. I will answer your Lordship's queries in the
order in which they are made.
2. The King, as I shall show in my next official report,
is utterly unfit to- have anything to do with the admini
stration, since he has never taken, or shown any disposition
to take any heed of what is done or suffered in the

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. lxi
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.
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.
4. The members of such a Board as I propose,

}xii PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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. 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 fight
ing for them.
6. The army would soon become efficient : at present
every man purchases his place in it from the minister and

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. lxiii
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 establish
ment 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. 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.
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

Ixiv PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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 Pertan-
bgurh for the' Nepaul and Mahratta wars in 1814 and
1817 ; it was finally withdrawn in 1823.
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.
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 divi
sions, 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 jurisdic
tions. 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

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. Ixv
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 impedi
ment to all this good : the savings would more than pay
all the increased outlay required for rendering establish
ments efficient in all branches, while the treasury would
receive at least one-third more thaii the expenditure ;
that is, 1,50,00,000 Rs., or one crore and a half.
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 interpreta
tion 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.
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
vol. i. e

lxvi PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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 in
ability 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 Sove
reign 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.
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 land
holders have each armed and disciplined bodies of two
thousand foot and five hundred horse ; and, what is worse,

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. lxvii
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.
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.
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.
16. I annex a list of the regiments now in the King's
service, Telungas, or regulars, and Nujeebs, or irregu
lars ; and with my next official report I will submit a list
of all the establishments, civil and military.
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, be 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 yield-
e2

Ixviii PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
ing 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 land
holders as the first payment, for which they receive no
credit in the public account. All other offices are paid
for in the same way.
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.
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 correspond
ence 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 care
fully to exclude from access, all who suffer from the

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. lxix
maladministration of his servants, or who could and would
tell him what was done by the one and suffered by the other.
20. But it is not his minister and favourites alone who
take advantage of this state of things to enrich them
selves ; corruption runs through all the public offices, and
Maharaja Balkishen, the Dewan, or Chancellor of the
Exchequer, 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 favour
ites, 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.
With great respect, I remain,
Your Lordship's obedient humble servant,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To the Most Noble
the Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.,
&c. &o. &c.
P. S. — I find that the King's brother is altogether in
competent 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.
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
Annexures.
1. Extracts, pars. 9 to 14 of Lord Hardinge's Me
morial.

Ixx private correspondence.
2. Statement of British troops in Oude in Jan- 1835
and 1849.
3. Table of the King of Oude's troops of all kinds.

Lucknow, 6th September, 1849.
My Lord,
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.
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.
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
of their corps.
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

private correspondence. lxxi
as inspector, to see that the measures adopted for reform
are effectually carried out. An artillery officer as in
spector 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.
I should propose six primary stations as seats for the
principal Revenue and Judicial Courts, and the head
quarters 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.
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.
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 hypochon-

lxxii PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
driac. 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.
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. With great respect, 1 remain your Lordship's obedient,
humble servant, (Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To the Most Noble
the Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T.,
&c. &c. &c.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. lxxiii
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.
W. H. S.

Lucknow, 23rd September, 1849.
My dear Elliot,
I conclude that no further Tables will be re
quired 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.
The time was certainly never so favourable to propose
an arrangement that shall secure a lasting and sub
stantial 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

lxxiv private correspondence.

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.
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 Kino-
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 cha
racters stand very high. They are never admitted to
the King, nor have they seen him for more than a vear I
believe. ' '

private correspondence. lxxv
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.
I should persuade the members to draw from the dlite
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.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. .Sleeman.
To Sir H. M. Elliot, K.C.B.,
&c. &c.

Lucknow.
My Lord,
My Official Report went off on the 25th instant,
and will have been submitted for your Lordship's con
sideration. 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

lxxvi PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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.
Should your Lordship resolve upon interposing effec
tually 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.
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 com
posed 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.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. Ixxvii
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.
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.
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.

Ixxviii PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
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. Fortunately the rains have this season been very
favourable for tillage, arid the crops may be good if we
can preserve them by some timely arrangement.
With great respect I remain,
Your Lordship's obedient, humble servant,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To the Most Noble
the Marquis of Dalhousie.
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.
The Sultanpoor Benares corps might well spare a wing
for Lucknow, and so might the corps at Bareilly spare
one. (Signed) W. H. Sleeman.

-,/r -„ Lucknow, 11th October, 1849.
My dear Elliot,
Here is a little item of palace news, commu
nicated by one of the poets who has to assist his Majesty
in selecting his verses, and who knows a good deal about

private correspondence, lxxix
what is going on among the favourites. Perhaps you
may recollect him, Ameen-od Doulah, the eldest son of
the late Aga Meer.
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.
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 instruc
tions from you, as he would be' sure to tell the singers,
eunuchs, and minister all that has been said the moment
I left him.
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.
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

lxxx private correspondence.
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.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) W. H. Sleeman.
To Sir H. M. Elliot, K.C.B.,
&c. &e.

DIARY OF
A TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
CHAPTER I. ,
Departure from Lucknow — Gholam Huzrut — Attack on the late Prime
Minister, Ameen-od-Dowla — A similar attack on the sons of a former
Prime Minister, Aga 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.
December 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 com
municated 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 expres
sion of .good-will. The minister, Alee Nakee Khan,
vol. l b

2 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 depart
ments, proceeded, under the usual salute, to Chenahut,
eight miles.*
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.
December 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.
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
* My escort consisted of two companies of sipahees, from the 10th
Regiment Native Infantry, and my party of Captain Hardwick, Lieu
tenant Weston, and Lieutenant and Mrs. Willows and my wife and
children, with occasional visitors from Lucknow and elsewhere.

attack on ameen-od dowlah. 3
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 com
panions, 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. 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.
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
b 2

4 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
before be 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, ano'ther
personal servant of the minister, was cut down by Fuzl
Allee, in attempting to aid his master, and a third per
sonal 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 further
harm if no rescue were attempted. As they saw the rest
of the minister's armed attendants and a crowd approach,
Fuzl Allee and Flyder 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

ATTACK ON AMEEN-OD DOWLAH. 5
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.
As soon as the attack on the minister was made, infor-
matiorTof it was sent off to the Resident, Colonel Rich
mond, 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 Canton
ments, 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

6 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 obtain
ing 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.
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 Govern
ment ; but that he declined being a party to any arrange
ment that the minister might wish to make of paying
money for his life.
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 de-

ATTACK ON AMEEN-CD DOWLAH. 7
pendents 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 bold on the
minister, who had become very faint, and climbed upon
Captain Bird's elephant and took seat behind him. Cap
tain Bird, however, made him get off, and mount another
elephant with his companions. The crowd shouted shah
bash, shah bash! — 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.
It was now ten o'clock, and at twelve the Resident had

8 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 cha
racters, anxious for an occasion of pillage ; and he ex
pressed an anxious wish, that the assassins should be made
(oyer to him for triah_ But the Resident pleaded the
solemn promise which he had made, and his Majesty
admitted the necessity of the promise under the circum
stances, 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,
I 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.
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 con
viction. The Resident offered them the alternative of
doing this or leaving the Residency, after he had read to

. ATTACK ON AMEEN-OD DOWLAH. 9
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.
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 Go
vernment 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

10 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 muti
lated. Fuzl Allee, as above stated, broke jail, and is still
at large at hTs old tradel and Hyder Khan is still in prison
at Lucknow.
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, alias Eesa Meean.
This person came to Lucknow with a letter of recom
mendation 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 apostle, 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 disciples, 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

ATTACK ON AGA MEER'S CHILDREN. 11
told him that she was mistress of her own actions, as she
had never gone through the ceremonies of permanent
marriage, or nikkah, nor even those of a temporary one,
•kiomjA; and must be considered as altogether free to
choose her own lovers or mode of life.
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 resolu
tion, 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.
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

12 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
each, while at a signal made by the khjdmutgar, 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 move 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 surren
dered, 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 charac
ter, they let him pass in and vociferate, but paid no re
gard to what he said.
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
| Go bind Lai, 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

ATTACK ON AGA MEER'S CHILDREN. 13
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 everyday 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.
• The minister was with the King when he first heard of
the affair, and he wenf^offforthwith to-the -Resident, Mr.
Ricketts, to say, that his Majesty had in vain endea
voured 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 inter- ^
pose and save their lives. The Resident consented to do
so, on condition that any arrangement he might find it >
necessary to make should be bindingjmJns_Majfisty 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 re
stored to him, and any grievance he might have to com
plain 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

14 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
would murder the, boys unless it was given and secured
to them, with a pledge for personal security to the whole
party. 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 per
mitted 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 dis
grace, 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

ATTACK ON AGA MEER'S CHILDREN. 15
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 prepos
terous 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 accom
pany Jnm_to the Residency, where his real wrongs would
be inquired into and redressed.
Eesa Meean then rose and said : " Money is not my
object. I despise it. I regard nothing but the preserva
tion of my honour, and agree to what you propose ; but I
have several companions here who require to be con
sulted : 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 dis
puted violently with each other, and with all around them,
and at times appeared desperate and determined to sacri
fice 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

16 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
seemed to have no control over their feelings, and to think
that they could do all that was required by harsh lan
guage and loud bawling.
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 de
clared — "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 be 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 dis
turbance which took place at Bareilly in 1816.
" (Signed) A. Lockett, Assistant Resident."
After this paper had been signed by Captain Lockett,
the two boys were set at liberty, and sent off in palan-
qeens 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.

ATTACK ON AGA MEER'S CHILDREN. 17
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 con
sidered him to be a mere ruffian, incapable of anything
like a generous action.
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
sarnie 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 engage-
VOL. i. c

18 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
ment, 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 dis
tinction ; 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 Re
sident's Toshuk-khana.
When he signed the paper he remarked the omission
of all mention of Eesa Meean's associates in that docu
ment, 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 cir
cumstances 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 deceit or artifice on his part. The Resident
concurred in this opinion, and in his report of the follow
ing day to Government, he recommended that they shbuld
| all be considered as included in the engagement.

ATTACK ON AGA MEER's CHILDREN. 19
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 sup
pression 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
c2

20- TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 jearch 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.
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 re
turned again to Lucknow in the year 1828, soon after
Aga Meer had been removed from bis 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.
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.
About two years ago this Ghoolam Huzrut took by

CAPTURE OF GHOOLAM HUZRUT. 21
violence possession of the small estate of Golha, now in
the Sibhore purgunnah; and turned out the proprietor, N
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 an
cestors. Miherban Sing, the son of the sufferer, is a
sipahee in the 63rd Regiment Nativelnfantry, 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 Para, and one at Sarai, and a good
many powerful landholders always ready to support him
against the government, on condition of being supported
by him when necessary.
On crossing the river Ghagra, I directed Captain Bun-
bury, (who commands a regiment in the King of Oude'si
service with six guns, and was to have accompanied me, I
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

22 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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. 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 influ
ential 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.
December 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 grand
father 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 agricul
tural capitalists in the village of Poorwa Pundit, on the
estate of Kulunder Buksh, of Bhitwal. Here they pros
pered. The estate was, as a matter of favour to Ku
lunder Buksh, transferred from the jurisdiction of the

KULUNDER BUKSH. 23
contractor to that of the Hozoor Tehseel.* Kulunder
rBukshjgither 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, at
tacked 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 Com
pany's service, has been ever since urging the Resident
to interpose with the Oude government in his behalf.
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. No government
* 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.

24 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
in India is now more weak for purposes of good than that,
[of Oude.
This village of Kinalee is now in the estate of Ram-
nuggur Dhumeereea, held by Gorbuksh, a large Jand-
holder, 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 appre
hension 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. Gor
buksh used to pay two hundred thousand rupees a-year
for many years for this estate, without murmur or diffi
culty ; 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
oTThTweaker neighbours, many of which he has lately
appropriated by fraud, violence, and collusion. An at
tempt 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 tem
porise, and at last to yield. He is said to exact from
the landholders the sum of two hundred and fifty thou
sand 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 Govern
ment demand on this estate is fifty thqusand (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 dis-

TOWN OP RAMNUGGUR. 25
obedience 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, com
prised 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.
December 4, 1849. — Gunesh Gunge, alias 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 isjia security in
them from the King's troops and the ^assies, 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 pre
vent the villages "and" hamlets from being occupied by
anybody who has anything to lose, and no strong local ties
to restrain him.
The town of- Ramnuggur, in which Gorbuksh resides

26 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 pro
vided 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 Chun-
dele 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 pro
tect them. Gorbuksh has not ventured to con^asjie
was ordered, to pay his respects to the Resident ; but has
lihut himself up in his fort at Bhitolee, about six miles iip
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.

EXPULSION OF HURDUT SING, OF BONDEE. 27
December 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 ' diffi
culties experienced in realizing the just demands of theK
exchequer, from the number and power ofjtlie— tallook- -;
dars 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 —
1. — Pretheeput Sing, of Paska, who has a strong
fort called Dhunolee, on the right bank of
the Ghagra, opposite to Paska and Bum-
horee, two strongholds, which he has on the
left bank of that river, and he is always
ready to resist the Government.
2. — Murtonjee Buksh, of Shahpoor, who is always
ready to do the same ; and a great ruffian.
3. — Shere Bahader Sing, of Kuneear.*
4. — Maheput Sing, of Dhunawa.*
5. — Surnam Sing, of Arta.*
6. — Maheput Sing, of Paruspoor,*'
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.
Hurdut Sing, of Bondee, alias 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
* All four are at present on good terms with the Government and
its local authorities.

28 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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- pay
master. He still holds the estate in its desolate con
dition. 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.
December 6, 1 849.— 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. Kuramut 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 towii 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

NAZIM OF KHYRABADi 29
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 pur
gunnah, but that all had been or were being seized by
this lawless freebooter and his associates.
Seeta Ram, a Brahmin zumeendar of Kowaree, in pur
gunnah Satrick, complains, tHatThe 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 prav 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.
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

30 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 Komukee corps, under
Captains Barlow, Bunbury, and Magness, which is com
plete, and composed of strong and brave men. The
despicable state to which the Court favourites have re
duced the King's troops, with the exception of these
three corps, islamentable. They are under no discipline,
and are formidable 'only to the peasantry and smaller
• landholders and proprietors, whose houses they every
where deprive of their coverings, as they deprive their
cattle of their fodder.
December 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 pro
prietors 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.

RAJAH GORBUKSH SING. 31
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 inhabit
ants, 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, Bynamahs ; 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.
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 stores he has hardly any at all.
Rajah Gorbuksh Sing came yesterday, at sunset, to pay
his respects, and promised to pay to the Oude Govern
ment 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

32 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 him
self 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.
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 thou
sand (11,000) rupees. This estate adjoins Bhumnooteei
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.
Some tallookdars live within the borders of our district

ABUSE OF PRIVILEGE OF SANCTUARY. 33
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 de
serted, 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 negociate for
the ransom of one of his cultivators, a weaver by caste,
whom he had seized and taken away. As he was return
ing 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 com
mitted by these refractory tallookdars every day, while
they are protected within ourTiordering 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 Govern- )
meht"TEe Oude Government has no hope of prose
cuting 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
VOL. i. d

34 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 hand, 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. 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 somejnagistrates 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 terri-
* See their letter to the Government of India, 27th May 1835.

PREVALENCE J3F GOITRE. 35
tory 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."
December %, 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.
i 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 villageF 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
d2

36 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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
H has diminished merely with the rest of the population,
\ and that the proportion which the goitered bear to the un-
1 goitered may be still the same. They told me that they
had been plundered of all their stock and moveable pro
perty 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.
December 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.
f Under good government, the whole country might, in a
Jew 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 ra
vines, jungle, or steep embankments. It is lamentable to
see so fine a country in so wretched a state.
The Turae forest begins a few miles to the^nprth^of
Bahraetch, and some of the; great baronial landholde^
have their residence and strongholds within it. The

PRETHEE PUT, OF PASKA. 37
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
elan, 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 de
ranged ; but, though not wise, he is learned, and no man
ean be more sober than he is, or better disposed towards
his sovereign and tenants. That he is capable of manag
ing his estate, is shown by the excellent condition in which
he left it.
Prethee Put, of Paska, is not worse than many of the
tallookdars of Oude, who now disturb the peace of the

38 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
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 resi
dence in his portion of the estate at Bumhoree, collected
a gang of the greatest ruffians in the country, and com
menced* 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.
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 depre
dations. 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

PRETHEE PUT EXPELLED DHUNOLEE AND PASKA. 3 I'd
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 Put
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. Dirg-
paul'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 per
mitted 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.
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 pro
tection 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 Put out of Dhunolee and Paska, and put
Dan Bahader Sing, the eldest son of Dirgpaul, and right
ful heir, into possession. In the latter end of the samo
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

40 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 re
stored Prethee Put, who continued to hold the estate for
1845. In April 1847, Mahommed Hossein, one of the Tus-
seeldars 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
1 847, 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.
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

DEPREDATIONS OF PRETHEE PUT. 41
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 plun
dered 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 con
fined a merchant of Gowaris till he paid a ransom of seven
hundred rupees ; aud 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.
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.
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

42 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
the roads leeding 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 land
holders 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 pur-
gunnahs, 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. " 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,

PRETHEE PUT'S DEATH. 43
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 Brah
min. 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 mur
dered, 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.
December 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

44 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
to his Majesty, that a man named Sadik Allee had come
to Lucknow while the King was suffering from palpita
tions 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 (Amil-i-Jinnut) ; 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 Ash-
f'ak-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
eeiling, 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, accom
panied 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

IMPOSTURE OF THE KING OF THE FAIRIES. 45
the man appeared within as King of the Fairies, and pre
sented 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. Turn
ing an angry look upon Ruzee-od Dowlah, the King said,
' All the evil that I have so often heard of you, men of
Rampoor, 1 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."
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.
I had heard of the affair of the Durveish from the

46 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 advan
tage 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 repre
sentative ? 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

SURAFRAZ MUHAL DIVORCED. 47
fellows, because people would say that he had got rid of
them merely to recover what he had bestowed upon
them.* 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 cohabit
ing 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. * 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.

( 48 )

CHAPTER II.
Bahraetch — Shrine of Syud Salar — King of the Fairies and the Fid
dlers — Management of Bahraetch district- for forty-three years —
Murder of Amur Sing, by Hakeem Mehndee — Nefarious transfer of
Jchalsa lands to Tallooltdars, by local officers- — Rajah Dursun Sing —
His aggression on the Nepaul Territory — Consequences — Intelli
gence Department — How formed, managed, and abused — Bughbur
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 Fid
dlers — -Ramdut Pandee, the Banker, the Rajahs of Toolseepoor and
Bulrampoor — Murder of Mr. Ravenscroft, of the Bengal Civil Service,
at Bhinga, in 1823.
Bahraetch is celebrated for the shrine of Syud Salar,
a martyr, 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 un
provoked 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

SEIZURE OF AMUR SING. 49
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.
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.
, December 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. The brief history of the management of this district
for the last forty-three years, is as follows. The district
consisted in 1807, of

Kbalsa Lands.

Present Khalsa

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

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,
VOL. I. E

50 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 re
sided 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.
After discussing affairs and adjusting accounts for
some months at Bahraetch, the Hakeem, by his courteous

MURDER OF AMUR SING. 51
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 hap
pened. 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 !
Amur Sing's family, in performing the funeral cere
monies, 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
e 2

52 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
had been murdered during the night, and they sent off
the joint of the finger to the minister, demanding ven
geance 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 per
suaded him, that he had better wait for a season, till he
could charge him with the more serious offence of defal
cations in the revenue, when he might crush him with the
weight of manifold transgressions.
They communicated what they had done to Hakeem
Mehnde, who, by degrees, sent off all his disposable
wealth to Shahjehanpoor 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
^porting 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 Seeta-
poor from Bahraetch, and thence over the border to
Shahjehanpoor, with all his family, and such of the

CONTRACTS FOR BAHRAETCH AND GONDA. 53
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.
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, com
monly 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.
Rajah Dursun Sing superseded him in 1 836, 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 Kajah Dursun Sing, held
it. For 1848, it was held by Incha Sing, brother of
Dursun Sing; and for 1849, it has been held by Mahum-

54 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
mud Hasun. The Gonda district consisted of the pur-
gunnahs of Gonda and Nawabgunge, and a number
of tallooks, or baronial estates.
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 khalsa or! allodiallands) (that is,
lands held immediately under the Crown) to tallookdars
or baronial proprietors, who paid a quit-rent to Govern
ment, 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.
The adjoining district of Gonda became no less flourish
ing 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
ito put down for him all attempts at insurrection and re
bellion 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 Govern
ment. He assessed, or altogether resumed, all the rent-
free lands in his reserved half of the territory ; and made

TALLOOKDARS PLUNDER THE KHALSA VILLAGES. 55
all the officers of his two lavish and thoughtless prede
cessors,* disgorge a portion of the wealth which they hadv '¦
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.
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 j
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 sys
tematically 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 liqui
date the balances due, and pay the Government demand
punctually in future. This arrangement enabled him to
reduce his fisca^ 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. 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, 4
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
* Asuf-od Dowlah and Wuzeer Allee.

56 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
such claims in the only way in which they can be success
fully urged in Oude — cut down all the trees planted by
them or their ancestors, and destroyed all the good bouses
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 with
drawal 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.
Hadee Allee Khan's successors continued the system
of transferring khalsa lands to tallookdars, as the cheapest
and most effectual mode of collecting the resenue for
their brief period of authority. The tallookdars, whose
estates were augmented by such transfers, in the Gonds
Bahraetch district, are Ekona, Pyagpoor, Churda, Nan-
poora, Gungwal, Bhinga, Bondee, Ruhooa, and the six
divisions of the Gooras, or Chehdwara estate. The\ here
ditary possessions of the tallookdars, and, indeed, all the
landsjin the permanent possession of which they feel
secure, are commonly veryj/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

PLUNDERING OUDE VILLAGES. 57
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.
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 flourish
ing 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.
But if a weak man, by favour, fraud, or collusion, gets
possession of a small estate, as he often does, the conse
quences are more serious than where the strong man gets-
it. The ousted proprietors fight " to the death " to re
cover possession ; and the new man forms a gang of the
most atrocious ruffians he can collect, to defend his pos
session. 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 occa
sion to describe many instances of this kind as I proceed
in my Diary.

58 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
Dursung Sing was strong both in troops and Court
favour, and lie systematically plundered and kept down
r> 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
1 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.
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, wdiich flows close by ; and as soon as
1 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

THE RAJAH OF BULRAMPOOR PLUNDERED. 59
about two hundred thousand rupees. The Rajah was
reduced to great distress ; but his personal friend, Mata-
bur 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.
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 recon
noitred, marched one evening, at the head of a compact
body of his own followers, and reached the Rajah's posi
tion 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 neighbour
hood, 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 collector. He had invited them to a feast, and
they brought an armed force and surrounded and plun
dered his house and capital. He escaped with his mother
nto British territory ; and tells me, that he was a lad at

60 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
the time, and had great difficulty in making his mother
fly with him, and leave all her wardrobe behind her.
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. Dursun Sing at first fled in alarm into the^Brjtish
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

THE KING OF OUDE'S PARSIMONY. 61
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. 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 com
manded 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 them
selves satisfied ; but other parties had become deeply
interested in the dispute. The King, with many good
qualities, was a very parsimonious man, who prided him
self 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, Monowur-od Dowlah,
the nephew and heir of Hakeem Mehndee, who has been

62 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 un
manageable, and pay no revenue whatever to the Ex
chequer. 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.
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 Ex
chequer 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
I pressed by the females, resolved to banish Dursun Sing,
| and confiscate all his large estates; but the British

DURSUN SING'S FINE AND BANISHMENT. 63
ijtesidejt interposed, and urged, that Dursun Sing should \
be leniently dealt with, since he had made all the repara--^
tion 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 !
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, con
tinued 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 Iris 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 influen
tial 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

64 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
transfer of the strong fort of Shahgunge, with all ijs
artillery and military stores, from Dursun Sing's to the
King's troops. Dursun Sing went into banishment on
the T7fh 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 atone
ment 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."
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 thou
sand 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 com
mence, if any attempt were made to coerce them. All

DURSUN SING APPOINTED INSPECTOR-GENERAL. 65
the great revenue contractors and other governors of
districts declared theiF 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
recalJJursun Sing jrom our district of Goruckpoor, in
which he had resided during his banishment.
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 refrac
tory barons, destroy all their forts, and seize and send
into store all the cannon mounted upon them ; to put
down all disturbances, prbtect all high roads, punish all
refractory and evil-minded persons ; to enforce the pay
ment 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 nankar or rent-free
lands, assigned, of late years, by Amils and other go
vernors of districts ; to enforce the payment of all recover-
VOL. I. F

66 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
able 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 with-
Uout leave, or unfit for further service ;" in short, to re
form all abuses, and make the government of the country
what vthe 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 recover
ing 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 Maun Sing, to fight
.among themselves for his landed possessions and immense
accumulated wealth.
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

INFLUENCE OF COUET FAVOURITES. 67
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.
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
amanee, 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 amanee, 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 circum-
f2

\

V

68 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
stances, 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 Pre
sident 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.
But their exactions are not confined to government
officers of all grades and denominations; they are ex
tended 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, in-

COLLECTION OF REVENUE. 69
deed, 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 dis
tricts 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 conse
quences, he sent for the official news-writer, and gratified
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 any
thing about it. Of the practical working of the system^
many illustrations will be found in this Diary.
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 men of charac
ter and ability, to be paid by Government. This resolu
tion 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 so large a revenue to the state. 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 masters in the Oude Chan
cery ; and, as the Resident observed, "they choked up

70 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
all the channels the people had of access to'their sove
reign ;" 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.
A brief sketch of the proceedings of Rughbur Sing,
the son of Dursun Sing, in his government of these dis
tricts 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.
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 dis
tricts, 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 dis
tributing 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

DESERTED VILLAGES. 71
districts ofBenares and Goruckpoor, where he now re
sided 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
bynamah estates, above described, in the Sultanpoor dis
trict. In this contest a great many lives were lost, and
the peace of the oountry was long and much disturbed -y
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.
On the 23rd of July 1849, Captain Orr sent in his
report, giving a brief outline of such of the atrocities com
mitted by Rughbur Sing and his agents in these districts
as he was able, during his tour, to establish upon unques
tionable 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, aud
wreak his vengeance upon all who presumed to give evi
dence 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 mem
bers ; 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 oL"
Gonda and Bahraetch, so noted for fertility and beauty ,-
are now, for the greater part, uncultivated ; villages com
pletely deserted in the midst of lands devoid of all tillage
everywhere meet the eye ; and from Fyzabad to Bahraetch

72 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
[ passed through these districts, a distance of eighty miles,
>ver 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."
Rajah Hurdut Sahae, the proprietor of the Bondee
estate, was the head of one of the oldest Rajpoot families
n Oude. Having placed the most notorious knaves in
the country as revenue collectors over all the subdivisions
Df his two districts, Rajah Tfughbur Sing, in 1846, de
manded 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 con
sequent 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, de
manded 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 pay
ment of the rent.
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 outfparties of
soldiers of from one hundred to two hundred each, to

RAJAH BUGHBUR SING'S RECALL. 73
plunder all the towns and villages on the estate, and seize
all the respectable residents they could find. They plun
dered 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 s
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. 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 gun
powder ; 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, Admadut Pandee, and Bhug-
want Rae, and upon others, who were likely to be able to
borrow or beg anything for their ransom.
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

74 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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. 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 waist
band. 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

KURRUM HOSEYN'S DUPLICITY. 75
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.
Beharee Lai, 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 r.edress 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 con
nivance 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 Rajah's 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 engage-

76 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
ments to pay their rents to officers appointed by the col
lector as jumogdars ; and the people had hopes of being
permitted to gather their harvests in peace. Kurum
Hoseyn now suggested to Beharee Lai, to come suddenly
with the largest force he could collect, and seize the many
respectable men who had assembled at his invitation.
He made a forced march during 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
eountry, and seize all from whom anything could be ex
torted. 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 Busunt-
poor, in the Hurhurpoor district, where Beharee Lai's head
quarter had been fixed. For three days heavy rain con
tinued 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.
Rughbur Sing and his agents, Beharee Lai, 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

ATROCITIES AT BUSUNTPOOR. 77
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 Lai
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.
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 Busunt
poor ; and during that time the prisoners got no food
from the servants of Government. All that they got was

* 1. Byjonauth, the Rajah's ac
countant.

7. Duyram.
8. Budaree Ohobee.

2. Gujraj Sing, Rajpoot.
3. Sheopersaud.
4. Rampersaud.
5. Jhow Lai.

9. Mungul Sing, Rajpoot
10. Seodeen Sing, ditto.
11. Akber Sing.
12. Bustee, a farmer.

6. Guyadut.

78 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
sent to them by their friends, or by the charitable pea
santry 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 sus
tenance. It was during the months of September and
October that these atrocities were perpetrated. The
heavy rain had inundated the country, and the poor pri
soners were obliged to lie naked and unsheltered on the
damp ground.
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 on
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 familyoffered

TRAFFIC m PRISONERS. 79
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.
In the latter end of October, Beharee Lai 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 Floseyn took another to plunder Koelee, Mur-
dunpoor, 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 com
manded 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 land
holder 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.
The Akhbar Naveeses, so far from admonishing the per
petrators 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

80 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
from Kurum Hoseyn. All the news-writers in the neigh
bourhood 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 Dur
bar, Maharaj Sing went off, saying, that he would soon
smother all complaints, in the usual way, at Lucknow.
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 respect
able 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 per
sons, and taken off to the camp at Parbatee-tola, where
they were all tortured till they paid the ransom de
manded, and a gratuity, in addition, to the soldiers who

CRUELTY TO PRISONERS. 81
had seized them. One of the persons died under the
tortures inflicted upon him.
In the Gungwal district similar atrocities were com
mitted 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 sur
prise, 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 cere
monies. 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
VOL. I. G

82 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
who presumed to show signs of pity was seized and tor
tured, 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 per
sons of wives, sisters, or daughters, and almost all the
towns and villages around became deserted.
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 secu
rity ; and, from great distress, was induced again to
undertake the management of his own estate, at an
exorbitant rate of assessment.
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.

LAND-REVENUE EXTORTIONS. 83
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
Lai, 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 hi 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."
This picture is not at all overdrawn. In passing
through the estate, and communing with the few wretched
people who remain, 1 find all that Captain Orr stated in
his report to be strictly correct.
In the Hurhurpoor district similar atrocities were
committed by Rughbur Sing and his agents. He con
fided 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
G2

84 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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. 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,

,' LAND-REVENUE EXTORTIONS. 85
which had, for generations, formed the strongest local ties
of the cultivators, and their best dependence in seasons of
drought. ' In the Churda estate, in the Tarae forest, the same
sufferings were inflicted on the people by the same agents,
Goureeshunker and Beharee Lai. 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 Lai 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 nankar 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

86 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
nankar 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.
I have passed through all the districts here named,
save two, Churda and Bhinga, and I can say, that every
thing 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 em
ployed such men in the management of districts with
uncontrolled power, seemed to be utterly detested and
abhorred. 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

LAND-REVENUE EXTORTIONS. 87
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 morn
ing. July 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.
, August 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 Lai 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 cultiva
tors, 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 !
August 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
Lai 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

88 TOUR THROUGH OUDE,
the oppressed. The minister ordered his deputy, Ram-
churn, to see this done. He did nothing whatever !
September 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 what
ever was done !
September 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 !
September 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 !
August 2, 1847. — Report from Gonda states, that the
troops under Beharee Lai were robbing all the females of
the country of their ornaments ; and that Beharee Lai
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 !
September 6, 1847. — Report from the same place statesy
that Luchman Naraen, malgoozar of Bhurduree in
Gonda, had paid all the rents due, according to his

CRUEL TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 89
engagements ; that Beharee Lai 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 !
October 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 seized1
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.
October 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.
September 1, 1847. — Report from Hissampoor states,
that Byjonauth Sing, agent of Rughbur Sing, in Hissam-

90 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
poor, 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.
September 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 Bughbar Sing be directed to restore the tillage, or
hold himself responsible for the King's revenue !
July 28, 1847. — Report from Gonda states, that
Goureeshunker, the collector of Gungwal and Pyagpoor,
had, by order of Beharee Lai, 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.
September 7, 1847. — From Nawabgunge in Gonda
reports, that Beharee Lai'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.
September 18, 1847. — Report from Bahraetch states,
that Cheyn Sing, the tallookdar of Bahmanee Paer, had
ned into the British territory, but returned to his fort;
that Beharee Lai heard of his return and sent two thou
sand 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 Lai's soldiers had collected two thousand

FURTHER ATROCITIES. 91
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.
October 2, 1847. — Report from Seerora states, that
Mahommed Hussan (the present Nazim), one of Rugh
bur Sing's collectors, with one thousand horse and foot
and one gun, had come to the hamlet of Sondun Lai,
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.
September 20, 1847. — Report from Radowlee states,
that armed men belonging to Kurum Hoseyn, escorting
one thousand selected bullocks, sent by Rughbur Sing,
had come to Radowlee, on their way to his fort of Shah
gunge. Order by the Durbar : Let the minister see to
this affair. Nothing was done.
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 what
ever of this order.
On the 2nd of October 1847, the Resident, Colonel

92 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 chil
dren 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 Rugh
bur 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 Suda-
sook, and thirty merchants, shopkeepers and other respect
able 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 !
August 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 sus-

INDIFFERENCE OF THE KING. 93
pended 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.
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 oil
cloths, 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.
No report appears to have reached either the Durbar

94 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 i 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^ ter
ritory, 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 Lai, Goureeshunker, Kurum Hoseyn, Maharaj
Sing, &c.
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
* 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.

BRITISH SYMPATHY WITH THE PEOPLE. 95
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.
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 per
petrated in them for a brief period of two years : —
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
But what table can show the sufferings of the people,
and the feelings of hatred and abhorrence of the Govern
ment 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 con
sequence, extend to and embrace the whole of the Govern
ment, 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.*
* Beharee Lai is now (June 1851) employed in a confidential

96 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
Almost all the khalsa lands of the Hissampoor pur
gunnah 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.
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.

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, Maun Sing. Moonshee Kurum Hoseyn holds a
similar office in some other district. Maharaj Sing, and the rest, all
bold, I believe, situations of equal emolument and respectability.

LITTLE CULTIVATION.

97

Tallookdars of Bahkaetch— Government Land Revenue according
to the Estimate of this Year.

Names of Villages.

Government Demand.

Present Condition.

"Bandee 

65,000

Almost waste.

Ruhooa

20,000

Ditto.

Nanpara .

1,50,000
Palling 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.
Anita .
18,000
Ditto.
. Shahpoor .
30,000
Ditto.
Dhunawa .
42,000
Ditto.
Paska .
20,000
Ditto.
Kumeear .
48,000
Ditto.
62,000
Falling off.
Gonda Pergunnah.
DesumberpoorBhinga .
Akkerpoor Sagha Cbunda
Birwa . . .
95,000 64,000
46,015
1,20,729 24,000
(Rajah Davey Buksh, in good
\ order.
Recovering.
(In good order under Ramdut
\ Pandee.
Ramdut Pandee, in good order.
A little out of tillage.
December 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
VOL. i. H
98 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
not appear. The estate of Gungwal is not better culti
vated 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 atro
cious agents, Goureeshunker, Beharee Lai, Kurum
Hoseyn, and others.
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 months ago, on condition that he
should come alone. When he got within six miles of
Toolseepoor, however, the father found, that three thou
sand 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 him
self confined, and perhaps put to death, the Rajah ran off
to his friend, the Rajah of Bulrampore, for protection.
December 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 vil
lage, 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

ATTACK OF ROBBERS. 99
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.
The second morning after this, before daylight, Rama
deen, 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 recog
nised 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-
h2

100 . TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 fol
lowers, 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 hors-de-combat ; and rushing out
among the assailants, he cut down two more, when he was
shot dead by a third and noted robber, Goberae. Bho
waneedeen and others of the gang had cut down Rama
deen, 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.
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

INFLUENCE OF BLOOD-MONEY. 10 1
gang-leader, Nunda Pandee, who described to him mi
nutely many of the numerous enterprises of this kind in
which he had been engaged, and seemed to glory jn 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 vil
lagers 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 blood having its
price in money in the country where the law was made,
or the Deeut ; any person who had a right to share in
this Deeut, or price of blood, was therefore held to be
an invalid or incompetent witness to the fact.
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-

102 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
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.
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 mi
nister 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

INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 103
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 com
plaint 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." 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

104 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 men
tion ?" 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 en
tirely 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, acknow
ledged 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 theni." 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 hesi
tated 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

EXPATRIATION OF PRISONERS. 105
word, and will not fulfil his promise ; and ask for permis
sion 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 downfal of the kingdom. Who, he
asked, will subject themselves to be deceived in an en
deavour 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 inter
view. The next day Sadik Allee had a dress of honour con
ferred 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 Ryza, 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 con
fined 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,

106 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
these two men were transported in the same manner.
The immediate cause of the King's anger was the dis
covery that his divorced and banished wife, Surafraz-
mahal, 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 kind
ness, and seemed very sorry to part with him.J
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 per
sonal affront to the King, or an affront to his understand
ing, 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 regre,t his
weakness ; but in the other, if he promised to punish them
and failed to do so, we should consider it due to the
j character of our Government to insist upon the fulfilment
j 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 con
sidered him to have acted very indiscreetly ; that he had
brought this vexation and mortification upon himself by
T his overweening confidence in his personal influence over

THE. KING AND HIS MOTHER. 107
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.
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 " sampun," or the coiled figure of a snake
in the hair on the back of her neck. No man will pur
chase 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 palpi
tation 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 ex
pression to our thoughts and fears." " Perhaps," said the

108 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 fatal mark upon the necks of no less than eight of the
\ King's wives, Nishat-mahal, Koorshed-mahal, Sooleeman-
jmahal, 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 sampun, 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.
December 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 sur
face. Cultivation good about Gonda, and about some of
the villages along the road it is not bad ; but there is no
where 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.

THE TOOLSEPOOR RAJAH AND HIS SON. 109
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 Quarter
master-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
£o 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 be
come 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.
, 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 respon
sible 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 Goruck
poor district. He became reconciled to his father some
months after, through the mediation of the magistrate,
Mr. Chester, and returned to Toolseepoor. The father

110 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
and son, however, distrusted each other too much to live
long together on amicable terms, and the son has gone
off again to Goruckpoor.
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 lacsof 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 pur
chased permission [to incorporate Bankee with his old
estate of Toolseepoor.
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 rupee's

NEPAULESE CONFINED TO THE HILLS. Ill
a-year. They had, however, formerly yielded from two
' to -three_lac&_ 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, how
ever, exceeds two hundred thousand,. and may, in a few
years, amount to double that sum, as population and
tillage are rapidly extending.
The holders of Khyreegur and Kunchunpoor are
always in a state of resistance against the Oude Govern
ment, 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^bofder. Before this arrangement took place there
used to be frequent disputes, and occasionally serious
collisions between the local authorities about boundaries,

112 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
which were apt to excite the angry feelings of the sove
reigns of both States, and to render the interposition of
the paramount power indispensable.
, 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 him
self 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.

THE EAJAH SEO SING.
Plan op Mr. Ravensckoft's House.

113

Sitting Room.

Bed Room.

Bathing Room.

Cot

35 O
mo
o
3
Out
o"1
a
H

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
VOL. I. I
114 TOUR THRORGH OUDE.
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 con
struct 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 Bhudukjdacoits 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 Seerora, on business.
Bhinga lies fifty miles north-east from Seerora, where
the 20th Regiment of Native Infantry, under the com
mand of Colonel Patton, was then cantoned. On the 6th
of May 1823, Ensign Piatt, 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 Piatt 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-apart
ment. He that night left his_ arms in the sitting-room,
and Ensign Piatt had none with him. Mr. Ravenscroft
was the handsomest and most athletic European gentle
man then in India, and one of the most expert in the use
of the sword and shield.

ATTACK ON MR. RAVENSCROFT. 115
His servants had been acccustomed 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 imme
diately ; but he lay down and soon fell asleep again.
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 Piatt 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 him
self, but covered with blood, which was streaming from
his wounds and mouth. 12

116 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
On seeing Ensign Piatt at the entrance, he staggered
towards him, but the dacoits made a rush at Ensign
Piatt 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
Piatt's servant, had climbed to save himself as soon as he
saw his master attacked, and was leaning against it ; but,
on seeing Ensign Piatt, he again staggered towards him,
saying faintly bus, bus — 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

DEATH OF MR. RAVENSCROFT. 117
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 Piatt read the funeral
service over his(grave. Mrs. Ravenscroft and her child
were taken to Colonel Patton, at Seerora, and soon after
sent by him to Lucknow.
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
Seerora had become aware of Mr. Ravenscroft's residence
at Bhinga without reporting the circumstance to Govern
ment ; 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.
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 con
cludes, 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,

118 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
Mosahib, states, that he himself conducted Mrs. Ravens
croft and her child to a neighbouring village, and yet he
brought no message whatever from that lady to Colonel
Patton at Seerora ; 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
Seerora ; that such an atrocious outrage as that described
iu 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.
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 Seerora of Mr. Ravenscroft's actually residing at

COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY. 119
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 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 Piatt 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 Piatt.
The Resident did not, therefore, think that Govern
ment 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

120 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 Govern
ment, 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 pre
cautions in the first instance which ought to have sug
gested themselves to Colonel Patton. Had he made the
requisite inquiries at Seerora, 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 Piatt 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

DEATH OF MRS. RAVENSCROFT'S CHILD. 121
existed. When ordered on the inquiry to Bhinga, had
Ensign Piatt at once declared at Seerora 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 com
manding 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 Piatt
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
ibr 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

122 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.

( 123 )

CHAPTER III.
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 Bukh
tawar and Dursun Sing — Their bynama Lands — Law of Primogeniture
— Its object and effect — Rajah Ghalib Jung — Good effects of protec
tion to Tenantry — Disputes about Boundaries — Our anny 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 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 pro
vided 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-oU
Dowlah, who built a country-seat here with all appurte
nances 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, Am jad

124 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 Put's 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

NAWABGUNGE. 125
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 culti
vation,' ' 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
assure me, that all the large colonies of Bhuduks, or gang
robbers by hereditary profession, who had, for so many
generationsTup to a. d. 1840, been located in the Oude
Terae forest, have entirely disappeared under the opera
tion of the " Special Police," of the Thuggee and Da-
coitee 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 1
labour. December 16, 1849. — Nawabgunge, eight miles, over a
plain of the same good soil, but not much better cul
tivated. The people tell me, that garden tillage is now >
almost unknown in these districts ; first, because kachies-

126 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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
I would have so little chance of reaping the fruits of their
I 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,
J 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 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 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

LEGENDARY TALE OF BREACH OF FAITH. 127
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 tem
pest. 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 jthe^pld bed of the Sarjoo,
which forms a fine lake, near, the pr&ent village of Koo-
rassa, midway, between Gonda and Wuzee>\4Gunge.
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 re
markable fact, that the male descendants have been all
blind from their birth, or, at least, the reigning portion of
them7~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 hand
maid 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 t
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

128 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
i Though Hindoos, they adopt some Mussulman customs,
1 and make offerings to the old Mussulman. sajnt^ah-
' raetch, in order to counteract the influence of the Pandee's
spirit. .
Such popular traditions, arising from singular coinci
dences of circumstances, have often a salutary effect on
... society, and seem to be created by its wants and wishes;
'but r,,ivers have, of late^-ears, become so much less prompt
in the v^^a^ion o^^r^umour, that little reliance is
placed upoii,, ^ oajjpftaken in their' lunuen,}- trie rrince,
his officers, or his landholders in Oude.
Nawabgunge, Munkapoor, and Bahmanee Paer, were
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, ]n ex
change for Handeea, alias Kewae, a slip of land extend
ing along the left bank of the Ganges, between Allahabad
and Benares. Rent Roll. Nankur. Govt, demand.
^hadTwa W'Mee.rSU!lge.,}1'08'00() 32'000 76>000
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 Nazim of the district,
have taken leave of me, this being my last stage in their

RAMDUT pandee's COLLECTORSHIP. 129
district. Ramdut Pandee holds two estates in this dis
trict, 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, com
prising 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 iii this
district. He every year stands security for the punctual
payment of the revenues due, according to exiting en
gagements, by the principal landholders of, -tne 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 risk? 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,
* 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

VOL. I. K

130 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 ad
herence to their engagements.
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
{5jjs going to bathe at Ajoodheea, on the last day of the
monfrk of Kartick, as was his invariable custom. He was
accompaWea °y the Rajah of Bulrampoor, and they en
camped seSlSP'te'y m two mango-groves near to each
other, and aboDr^Ji m^e ana a half from the Nazim's
camp. About nine afTByjht the Nazim sent two mes
sengers, with silver sticks, to invifc*-and escort them to his
tent. They set out immediately, leaving^aH-thfiir armed
followers in their camps, and taking only a feW ^rsonal
attendants and palankeen bearers. No person issper-
mitted 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. Ram
dut Pandee and the Rajah entered with only a few per
sonal 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

RAMDUT's MURDER. 131
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 to
gether 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 Nazim and Ramdut talked for some time to
gether, 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 re
covered 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
K 2

132 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 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 byaTfew 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 com
manding 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 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

DIFFERENT REPORTS OF THE MURDER. 133
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 in
habitants 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.
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 adjust
ment 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 inter
view him — that as the banker rose to depart, the Nazim

134 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 se
verely 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 Nazim, but had taken leave and de
parted before the collision took place — that the Nazim
\ urged the necessity of an immediate settlement of ac-
, counts, 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. 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 a rebel and op
pressor, and to assure 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 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

LEASE OF ESTATES RENEWED. 135
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. Tf~a Hindoo murders a Hindoo, and consents
to Tiecome a Mussulman, he cannot be so sentenced ; and
iihe "consents to hecome so after sentence has been passed,
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 II 0
Akberpoor  46,015 2 3
Increase  10,000 0 0
 —  56,015 2 3
Total annual demand  2,06,744 13 3

136 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
They hold the Nazim'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 Nazim
of the Gonda and Bahraetch district. After recrossing
the Ghagra we came within that of the Nazim of Sultan
poor, 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
v districts; those under the management of non-contracting
servants of Government are called '-arnqnej, or districts
under the amanut, 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.
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 diffi
culty. 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

COMMANDANTS OF CORPS. 137
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, con
taining nearly a million of souls. Fyzabad has declined
almost in the same proportion.
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 favour-

138 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
ites, worse than children. He has, nominally, forty-two
guns, of various calibre; but be, with great difficulty,
collected bullocks enough to draw (he 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 hone. 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 dis
regarded, and he is helpless. He cannot collect the
revenue, or coerce the refractory landholders and robbers,
who prey upon the country.*
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 Nazim for 1850-51, got both Captain Magness's and Captain
Bunbury's regiments.

ASSIGNING REVENUES TO TROOPS. 139
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 jstate 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 dis
tricts 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,Jbr
the arrears of pay due to "the (troops, '"is the source of
muchjYilj 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

140 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 pas£j 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. J"he officers
and soldiers are converted - into manorial under-steward^
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.
This system, injurious alike to the sovereign, the troops,
j 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 rkubz, ,'or contract, and is of
two kinds, the " lakulame kubz" or pledge to collect and
pay a certain sum, for which the. estate is held to be
liable ; and " wusolee kubz," or pledge to pay to the
collector or troops the precise sum which the command
ant may be able to collect from the estate put under
him. In the first, the commandant who takes the huh

ESTATE OF MUNEEARPOOR. 141
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 kubz is valid
aJ^JhoJTj^easury, 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~Be~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 com
mandant ; and they go to the work con amore. 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.
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.*
* 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,

142 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 Gurg-
bunsies ; and, having now become powerful enough, he
turned out his mistress, and took possession of her estate,
in collusion with the local authorities.
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
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 Sehee
poor.

LADY SOGURA UNABLE TO GET REDRESS. 143
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.
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
H adee Allee Khan ; and Hurpaul recovered possession
of the Muneearpoor estate, which he still held in the
name_of the Lady S\ura. 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, Bukh
tawar 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, IshlTwent 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

144 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
over the estate to Hurpaul and Seoumber Sing, who put the
lady into confinement ,and plundered her of all she had left.
Feeling now secure in the possession of the Muneear
poor 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 re
leased the mother of the Lady Sogura, and prepared to fly.
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.
Maun Sing came in the afternoon, and rested under a
banyan-tree, which stood opposite the gateway pf the fort.
He apologized for not entering the fort, on the ground,
that it might lead to some collision between their

HURPAUL MURDERED. 145
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 dis
tricts, 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 Maun 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.
The family fled, the fort was seized and plundered of
all that could be found, and the estate seized and put
vol. I. L

146 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 posses
sion 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 Kupra
gow, comprising the other half.* The rent-roll of the
whole is now estimated at 1,29,000 a-year ; and the
nankar, 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
* 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,

lady sogura plundered. 147
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. 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 manage
ment, 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 Naraen
poor 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 pre
tended that she owed to the State. He prevailed upon
Ghuffoor Beg, who commanded the artillery, to take these
l2

148 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
Wajid Allee was superseded in October 1849, by Aga
Allee, who, on entering on his charge, directed that mar-
/tial-law |hould cease in Muneearpoor; but GhuffoorBeg
/ and his artillery-men were too strong for the governor,
>, and refused to give up the possession of so nice an estate.
Wrhen 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.

SHAHGUNGE. 149
December 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 re
spectable 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 fortifica
tions 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 diffi
cult 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 main
tained 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 J
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

150 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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
I 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 vil
lages, such as Kachies, Koormies, and Lodhies. They
came out from numerous villages, and in considerable
bodies, to salute me, and expressed themselves well satis
fied 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.
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

BUKHTAWAR SING. 151
son-in-law to take up his residence in the same village.
Porunder 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. The eldest son was a trooper in the Honourable Com
pany's 8th Regiment of Light Cavalry ; and while still a
very young man, and home on furlough, he attracted the
attention of Saadut 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 Saadut 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.
Bhudursa and five other villages were held in pro
prietary right by the members of a family of Syuds.
They enjoyed Bhudursa rent free, and still hold it ; but
the other five villages (Kyi, Mahdono, Tindooa, Teroo,
and Pursun) were bestowed, in jagheer, upon another
Syud, a Court favourite, Khoda Buksh, in 1814. He

152 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 sove
reign 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, how
ever, 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 per
manently in the possession of the lands he had seized, or
might seize upon, by bynamahs, or deeds of sale, from
the old proprietors.
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
bynamahs, or sale deeds for lands, which their families

RAMADEEN'S RAPACITY. 153
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 them
selves ; and those who had such friends, got the sums
which they had engaged to pay, represented as irre
coverable 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 cul
tivators in other estates.*
There were four brothers, the sons of a Canoongo, of
Fyzabad ; first, Birj Lai ; 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, Rama
deen, tried to get possession of this estate. He seized
* Estates held by the family under bynamahs or sale deeds :
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
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.

154 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 Resident's .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.
Dursun Sing's family now pay to the Oude Govern
ment, a revenue of 1,88,000 rupees a-year, for their
bynamah estates, which were acquired by them in the
manner described. The rent-roll, recognized in the Ex
's chequer, is 2,56,000 ; and the nankar 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 bynamah, 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

RAJAH GHALIB JUNG. 155
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 cul
tivators and proprietors out, or shoots them.
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 land
holders and local authorities, and he decides in favour of
the party most able and willing to pay, under the assur
ance 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-JBritish
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.
Rajah Ghalib Jung was the superintendent of the City

156 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
Police, and commandant of a Brigade of Infantry, ana 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 com-'
panions of his sovereign, in his festivities and most private
debaucheries. He became cordially detested throughout
the city for his reckless severity, and still more through
out .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.
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 hand
somely 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 tu
remove the man who thwarted him. Mucka, the King's
head tailor, was equally anxious, for his own interests, to
get rid of the favourite, and so was Gunga Khowas, a
boat-man, another personal servant and favourite of the
King. These three men soon interested in their cause
some of the most influential ladies jffthepalace, and all
sought with avidity the opportunity to effect their object.
Ghalib Jung was the person, or one of the persons,

HIS majesty's crowns. 157
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. 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

158 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
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,
j 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 com
manded, 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. 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 per
mitted 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

ILL-TREATMENT OF GHALIB JUNG AND FAMILY. 159
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.
The Resident, apprehending that these poor females
might be further disgraced, and Ghalib Jung starved to
death, determined to interpose, and demanded an inter
view, 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 con
fiscate the property of the prisoner, since he owed large
sums to the State. The females were all sent back to

160 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
their homes, and Ghalib Jung was permitted to have four
of his own servants in attendance upon him.
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."
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 consideration, 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

GHALIB JUNG RELEASED. 161
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.
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.
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 Resi
dent's interposition alarmed the King. They had no
sympathy for the fallen favourite, but a very deep one
VOL. I. M

162 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
for the ladies and children of his family, who could have
no share in his guilt, whatever it might be.
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 treat
ment 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.*
" December 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 culti
vation, and covered with the greatest possible variety of
* Ghalib Jung died on the 1st of May 1851, at Lucknow, aged
about 80 years.

REVENUE-COLLECTORS OF OUDE. 163
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, anotlier.JEith another.
The main fault in the cultivation o\ sugar-cane is here,
as in every other part of India that I have seen7the 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.
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 thorough
bred ruffians (men without any scruple of conscience,
sense of honour, or feeling of humanity) than the camp of
a revenue-contractor in Qude. It has been tBe~same" for
the laslfthirty years that I have known it, and must con
tinue to be the same as long as we maintain, in absolute
sway over the people, a sovereign who never bestows a
thought upon them, has no feeling in common with themy
and can never be persuaded that his high office imposes
m 2

L64 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
ipon him the obligation to labour to promote their good,
vr even to protecfthem' against the outrage and oppression
if his own' soldiers and civil officers. All Rajah Bukh
tawar Sing's brothers and nephews were bred up in such
3amps, and are thorough-bred ruffians.
They have got the landsjwhich they hold by muchfraud
and violence no doubt, but they_havg_donejnucji_^ood_to
them. They have invited and established in comfort great
numbers of the best classes of cultivators from other tdis-
tricts, 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 cul
tivation, conducted by the cultivators of the gardener caste,
whom the family has thus established.
, The greatest benefit conferred upon the lands which
they hold has been in the suppression of the fearful con-
tests which used to be perpetual bjtween__the-SJiia.ll. pro
prietors 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 Put-
waries of villages and Canoongoes of districts. These men
have the detailed accounts of every tenement for the last

SALEEPOOR — A PROSPEROUS TOWN. 165
hundred years ; and, with their assistance, village tradi
tions, 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 abJe_..to... enforce whatever decision~ls~pro;-
nounSecL" 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.
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 espe
cially 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.
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 bynamahs
required from them by Maun Sing : their names ear

166 TOUR THROUGH OUDE. ,
Soorujbulee Sing and Rugonath Sing. They came with
the King's wakeel, accompanied by their cousin, Hunoo-
man 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.
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 favour
able 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, fand
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 vil
lage. Hunooman Sing looked upon the two prisoners as
the murderers of his brothers, though they were in con
finement 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

SOORUJBULEE AND RUGONATH. 167
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
& bynamah, or deed of sale, or any relinquishment what
ever of their hereditary rights as landholders.
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."
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 re
ceived 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 Bulram
poor mentioned a curious instance of this spirit in a
village, now called the Kolowar village, in the Gonda
district, held in copartnership by a family of the Buchul-
* 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.

168 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
gotee 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 a 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 Kolowar 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 fight ; and get very angry
when their neighbours twit them with the folly of it.
In our own districts in Upper India, they often_kuT
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_t_ojixrns, 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_fixnosed
to from the uncertainties of our law, the multiphcityand
formality of bur Courts, the pride and negligence of those
who preside over them, and the corruption andTnsolence
of those who must be employed to prosecute or defend a
cause in them, and enforce the fulfilment of a decree when
passed. 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 uncer-

LAW OF PRIMOGENITURE. 169
tainty_c^_Jhelawin civil cases, and the gradual decay,
under its operation, of" air 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 Fthe half re
served by the Oude sovereign ; and this is, I fear, true.
They named the families — I canno^remember them.
In Oude, the law ofYpirmogeniturejprevails among all
the tallookdars, or principal landholders ; and, to a cer
tain 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.
The brothers of Soorujbulee, above named, do not pre
tend to have any right of inheritance in the share of the
lands he holds ; but they have a prescriptive right to sup
port from him, for themselves and families, when they
require it. This rule^of primogeniture is, however, often
broken through duringtEe lifetime of the father, who,\
having more of natural affection than family pride, divides j
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.

170 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
Among landholders of the smallest class, whether Hindoos
or Mahommedans, theylands are subdivid^d_according to
the ordinary law of inheritance.
Our army.. and other public__establishments form a
great " safety-valve " forjDude, 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 regi
ments, 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.
The family of Dursun Sing, like good landholders in
all parts of Oude, aligned small patches of land to sub
stantial cultivators, merchants, shopkeepers, and others,
whom it is useful to retain in their estates, for the pur
pose 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 pre
serve 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 sur
face during the rains, so that it may not reach and
injure the bark. The land yields crops till the trees

BHURTEEPOOR LANDS WELL CULTIVATED. 171
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 welland grove,
without incurring, at least, the odhim of^ociety> and,
according to their notion, the anger of their gods.
The ejiltisators always point out to them, in asserting
their righJ^^o~t^_knds_ihey 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.
December 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 favourableranrl the crops are all fine, and of great
variety. Sugar-cane, abounds, but no mills are, as yet,
at work. We pasied 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

172 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
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 reeasuts. 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 reeasut, 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.* Dooneeaput succeeded to the reeasut 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 primo
geniture. He was succeeded by his brother, Sookraj,
whose grandson, Madhoo Persaud, now reigns as Rajah,
* 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 Bon, Jydut ; fourth, Zubar Sing, who got from his
brother lands yielding nineteen thousand rupees a-year, which are now
held by his son, Moheser Persaud. Sunldr Sing was the Second
brother, but his elder brother died without issue.

LAND, THE ELDEST SON'S. 173
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.
It is interesting and pleasing to see a large, well-con
trolled 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 ever
green 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.
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 un
divided 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

174 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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
i frequently anticipates theovent, bynDLuriering_orJnn5rison-
j ing 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 genera
tions. 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
s the way in which estates, once broken up, are recon-
solidated 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
\baron\ do not interfere, unless they happen to be con
nected by marriage with the ousted proprietors, or other*
wise 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.

( 175 )

CHAPTER IV.
Recross the Goomtee river — Sultanpoor Cantonments — Number of
persons begging redress of wrongs, and difficulty of obtaining it in.
Oude — Apathy of the Sovereign — Incompetency 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 every
where encountered— Soils in the district, mutteear, doomutteea, bhoor,
oosur — 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.
December 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 religious 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 Legion," and their wrongs and grievances are altogether
without remedy, under the present government and in-
veterately vicious system of administration. It is painful

176 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 if; 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 depre
dators 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 peti
tions 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 pre
tensions, 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_MaJiommedans at the head of simi
lar gangs. A landholder of whatever degree, who is
opposed to his -government from whatever cause,, considers
himself jn .a .state-of. war ;j and he considers a state of'war,
1 to authorize his doing all those things which he isf forbid
den to do in a state of peace.
Unless the suSefer happens to be a native officer or

CRUELTY AND OPPRESSION WITH IMPUNITY. 177
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 indi
viduals, or families, or village communities. Should he
arrest such people, he would have to subsist and accom
modate them at his own cost, or to send them to Luck
now, 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 com
mitted. 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 understand
ing that they are to abstain from doing any such wrong
within their jurisdictions as may endanger or impede
the collection of revenues 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 murder, rob, torture, dis
honour, and burn, 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 in their mis
deeds, any attempt on the part of an honest or over-
zealous individual to put them down would be sure to
result in his speedy and utter ruin !
VOL. I. N

178 TOUE THROUGH OUDE.
To refer such sufferers to the authorities at Lucknow
would be a still more cruel mockery. The present sove
reign 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. Flis 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
" de faire des peiits vers de sa facon," 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 for
feiting 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.
His father and grandfather, while on the throne, used
to see the members of the royal family and aristocracy

MINISTER AS INACCESSIBLE AS THE KING. 179
of the city inl Durbaj^ 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 molahiza shud, " 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 morn
ing, and once again in the evening ; and, on such occa
sions, 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 Uked with them ; and discontinued
altogether the short ©urbar, or levee's, 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.
The minister has become by degrees almost as inacces
sible 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
Jocal authorities, intelligence-writers, &o, and all peti-
N 2

\

r

180 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
tions 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 de
ferred," 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 get
ting 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. At present the head of the intelligence department

EXTORTION OF DEPUTIES AND FAVOURITES, 181
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 derniere resort, when such representatives cannot be
brought to submit to his terms. If found out, at any
time, and threatened, he has his feed patrons or patronesses \
" behind the throne, and greater than the throne itself,"
to protect him.
The unmeaning orders passed by the minister on re
ports and petitions are commonly that so and so is to
inquire into the matter complained of; to see that the
offenders are seized and punished; that the stolen pro
perty and usurped lands be restored ; that razeenamas, 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 so and so 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 Iradej in all such reports and petitions : they

182 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
extort money alike from the wrong-doer and the wrong-
sufferer; and from all local authorities, or their repre
sentatives, for all neglect of duty or abuses of authority
charged against them.
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.
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 de
puties, secretaries, or favourites, to whom the duty is
confided. The reports and petitions submitted for orders
* On the 17th of October, 1850, Hussan Khan, one of the Iclwwas, 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
mouths 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.

EXTORTION OF DEPUTIES AND FAVOURITES. 183
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 indi
cate 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
tiie figure 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 i
the nuzuranas, or unauthorized gratuities, to be paid to |
the minister.
They share largely in all that he gets; and take a
great deal, for which they render him no account. Know
ing all that he takes, and ought not to take, he dares not
punish them for their transgressions; and knowing this,
sufferers are afraid to complain against them. In ordi
nary times, or under ordinary sovereigns, the sums paid
by revenue authorities in nazuranas, 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,

184 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 per
quisites. 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 be 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.
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.
December 23, 1849.— Halted at Sultanpoor, which is
one of the healthiest stations in India, on the right bank

SECRORA DESERTED.' 185
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 can
tonments are few. The gardens are small and few ; and
the water is sparingly used in irrigating them, as the ex
pense of drawing it is very great.
There is another good site for a cantonment at Chan-
dour, 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 can
tonments 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 arrange
ments might require for the administration of the Sultan
poor and surrounding districts. Seerora 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 Sul
tanpoor were taken away in 1837. Seerora 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 alto
gether deserted. Sultanpoor has been, ever since 1837,

186 TOUR THROUGH QUDE.
occupied by one of the two regiments of Oude Local
Infantry, without any guns or cavalry1 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
calvary of any kind, in Oude. Seetapoor was also occu
pied 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 re
giments of Oude Local Infantry stationed at Sultanpoor
and Seetapoor ; but the places of those stationed at
Seerora 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 honestly
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 us 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 -laes-of— rupees, or (two niil-
Jions sterling a-year : while the Oude Governmefilfdraws
from the half of its territories which it reserved only one-
half that sum, or one crore of rupees.
Maun Sing is to leave my camp to-day, and return to

NATURE OF THE SOIL. 187
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, under1 such a govern
ment, 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 aug
mented, 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
difficuMesrancT 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 inter
vening 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.
December 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, muteear. This black soil has in its

188 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
exhausted state abundance of silicates, sulphates, phos
phates, 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.
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 glass
and soap, 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 crust obtained. The second crust is called the
reha, 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 reha containing in itself sufficient silica
to form the coarse glass used in making bracelets, &c.
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

NATURE OF THE SOIL. 189
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.
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 carbonates of ammonia and potassa — sulphuric
and nitric acids. 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 super
abundance 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

190 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
well ploughing, they can manage to get crops from all
but the soils in which this reha abounds.
The process above described, . by which the bracelet-
makers extract the carbonates of soda and potash from the
earth of rthe 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.
There are no rocks in Oude, and the only form in
which lime is found for building purposes and road-pave
ments 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 king
dom 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 acid gas, is deposited
around the small fragments of flint or other hard sub
stances 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 abound
ing in limestone rocks, they of course contain lime and

HOW SUJJEE IS FORMED. 191
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. 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 pro
portion of peroxide of iron; that the white consists of
carbonate of lime, silica, alumina, and sometimes mag
nesia and protoxide of iron. He states that he considers
the kunkur to be deposited by calcareous waters, abound
ing in infusorial animalculse ; 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. Doctor O'Shaughnessy further states, that the reha
earth, which I sent to him from Oude, is identical with
the sujjee muttee 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 " sujjee " 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, 2^ fat, and
l£ ulsee oil.
The sujjee is formed from the reha by filtration. A

192 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 Looneas, who provide
them, turn their hands to something else. The reha,
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. 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 atomic theory leads
the European chemist to follow. The filtering apparatus
which you describe is really admirable, and I doubt

PEASANTS TAKE TO THE JUNGLE. 193
much whether the best practical chemist could devise
any simpler or cheaper way of arriving at the object in
view." 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. ¦ December 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
vol. i. o

194 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
fields in fear of their lives during the day ; and appre
hended 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.
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.
December 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

CAPTAIN MAGNESS'S CORPS. 195
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 cul
tivated ; 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 tallook-
.dars 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.
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 per
form, 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
0 2

196 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 sufarishies, 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 look
ing recruits than Captain Magness now has at drill.
All of the first families in the country, and of unquestion
able courage and fidelity to their salt. He has four
hundred Cavalry, of what is called the body guard, 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
* 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 sup
ported the eunuch, and the greater part of the men were discharged
and their officers ruined.

CAPTAIN MAGNESS'S CORPS. 197
Government allows nothing to any of its troops or esta
blishments, 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.
December 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 dis
tricts, 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 water of this division for tempering
soldiers, as we talk of the water of Damascus, for temper
ing sword blades. They certainly never seem so happy
as when they are fighting in earnest with swords, spears,
and matchlocks. The water 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. 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, accord
ing to the musters and pay-drafts, to seven thousand

198 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 attend
ance 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 sufarishies, 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 re
maining 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.
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
io purchase what powder and ball he may require in the
ibazaars. 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

THE NAZIM'S JURISDICTION. 199
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 Auces-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 appro
priate the money for themselves and their employers.
Not a grain of corn do the bullocks ever get.
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, ju
dicial, 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,

200 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 descrip
tions, recommended 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 civil
sufarishies, and cost the State much more than the
military sufarishies, already mentioned — perhaps not less
than six thousand rupees a-month in this division alone.
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 revenue contractors, for
distribution among ministers and other influential persons
at Court. Were he to do so, they would all be so
strongly opposed to the amanee, or trust system of ma
nagement, 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

GOVERNMENT OF OUDE. 201
gratuities, or nuzuranas, never appeared in the public
accounts ; and were a governor, under the amanee 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 nanker 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 land
holders 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. WThen 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 komukee, 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 contractor ever exacted higher
nazuranas or gratuities 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.
The system of government under which Oude suffers
during the reign of the best king is a fearful one ; and

202 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
what must it be under a sovereign, so indifferent as the
present is, to the sufferings of his people, to his own per
manent interests, and to the duties and responsibilities of
his high station ? Seeing that our Government attached
much importance to the change, from th§_jiontract to the
trust 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 land
holders in his jurisdiction. The trust management of a
district differs from that of the contractors, only as the
wusoolee kubaz differs from the lakulamee ; 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. In
deed, 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.
The Nazim of Sultanpoor has authority to entertain

GOVERNMENT OF OUDE. 203
such Tehseeldars aud Jumogdars 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 Jumogdar is an officer
unknown in our territories. Some are appointed direct
from Court, and some by the Nazims and Amils of dis
tricts. 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 Govern
ment 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 " Jumog Lagana" or transfer of the
jumma. The assembly of the tenants, for the purpose of
such adjustment, is called zunjeer bundee, or linking to
gether. The adjustment thus made is called the bila-
bundee. The salary of the Jumogdar is paid by the land
holder, 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

204 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 de
bited to him, in the pay of the troops, under his command.
The Jumogdars, who are appointed by the Nazims and
Amils, act in the same manner with regard to the land
lords 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, influ
ence, 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.
The Canoongoes and Chowdheries in Oude are com
monly called Seghadars, and their duties are the same
here as everywhere else in India.
December 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 Bahadur, a Somebunsee, who resides at Dew-

WAJID ALLEE KHAN. 205
lee, 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 concen
trated 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 doo-
muteea, 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. 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 confi
dence 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. rIhe

206 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
atrocities charged against him, and upon the best possible
evidence, are numerous and great.
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.
Wolves are numerous in the neighbourhood of Sultan
poor, 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

PREJUDICE AGAINST KILLING WOLVES. 207
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 com
munities 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.
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 sup
posed 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 hyaena, 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'

208 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
dens. In every part of India, a great number pf children
are every day murdered for the sake of their ornaments,
and the fearful examples that come daily to the know
ledge of parents, and the injunctions of the civil authori
ties are unavailing against this desire to see their young
children decked out in gold and silver ornaments.
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.

BOY FOUND IN A WOLF'S DEN. 209
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.
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
VOL. I. p

210 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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, par
ticularly 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. Captain Nicholetts, in letters dated the 14th and 19th
of September, 1850, told me that the boy died in the
latter endjffAugust, and that he was never known to
raugff or. smjlei 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
iboy, who seemed in consequence to be getting thin. The
fboy did not seem to care in the least for the death of the
dog. The parents recognised the boy when he was first

WOLF RUNS OFF WITH A BOY. '211
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 after
wards. 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.
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
p2

212 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
towards the ravines. The father was at a distance at
the time, but the mother followed, screaming as loud as
she could for assistance. The people of the village ran
to her aid, but they soon lost sight of the wolf and his
prey. 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 suffi
cient 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

THE BOY FOUND. 213
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. 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 recog
nised by all her neighbours. She kept him for two
months) and all the sporting landholders in the neigh
bourhood 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 fol
lowed his mother for what he could "get~~tb 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

214 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 catch
ing 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.* 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 couhL never
be taught— to/ speak. He wouldT 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,
* In November, 1850, Captain Nicholetts, on leaving the canton
ments 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.

ANOTHER BOY TAKEN OFF. 215
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.
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 Sultan
poor. He and Mrs. Gray, and all the officers in canton
ments, 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.
Zoolfukar Khan, a respectable landholder of Bankee-
poor, 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 commons
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

216 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
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

BOY FOUND WITH TWO WOLF CUBS. 217
ran off ; and after three months the Rajah got tired of
him, and let him go. He was then taken by a Cash-
meeree mimic, or comedian (bhand), who fed and took
care of him for six months ; 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 bun-
neeah, who let fly an arrow at him. The arrow pene
trated the boy's thigh. At this time Sanaollah, a Cash
mere 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 con
sent 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^s^loaWdTn water, after the oil had been
taken from it {khullee), 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

218' TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
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

THE BOY'S MOTHER. 219
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.
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 buUdle of
clothes on bis 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 mer
chant Sanaollah, and Janoo, his kidmutghur, at Lucknow ;

220 TOUB THROUGH OUDE.
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, ven
tured to try a waist-band upon the boy, but he often tore
it off in distress or anger. After he had become recon
ciled 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 de
stroyed 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.
Rajah Hurdut Sewae, who is now in Lucknow on busi
ness, 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

"WILD MAN OF THE WOODS." 221
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.
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 re
quest, 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 inter
course 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 her
mit ;" 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

222 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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
i prey, in the jungles, from whom they are unable to
j escape, like the wolves themselves, from want of the
i 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.

( 223 )

CHAPTER V.
Salone district — Rajah Lai Hunmunt Sing of Dharoopoor— Soil of
Oude— Relative fertility of the mutteear and doomutteea— Either may
become ooswr, 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 ap
parel of the females of the Bys clan — Late Nazim Hamid Allee —
His father-in-law Fuzl Allee — First loan from Oude to our Govern
ment — Native gentlemen with independent incomes cannot reside in
the country— Crowd the city, and tend to alienate the Court from the
people. December 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 cortege. Rampoor is the Residence of Rajah

224 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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
* 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.

RAIN-WATER— ITS INFLUENCE ON THE SOIL. 225
place ; and the salts near the surface either accumulate
or are supplied to the roots of the plants, shrubs, or
trees, which require them.
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 super
abundant, 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 superabund
ance 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.
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
* Rain-water contains small quantities of carbonic acid, ammonia,
atmospheric air, and vegetable or animal matter.
VOL. I. Q

226 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 moun
tains 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 com
bined, as it commonly is, with the salts and double salts
formed by the union of the organic acids with the in
organic 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

RAIN-WATER — ITS INFLUENCE ON THE SOIL. 227
than this iron clay or laterite 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 im
mediately upon beds of granite.
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.
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
oosur from neglect ; and when oosur 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 oosur 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 oases, 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
Q 2

228 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
indication of ability to bear good crops, under good til
lage. From very bad oosur lands, common salt or salt
petre, 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.
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 com
bined 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 super-
abound, 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.

RAIN-WATER — ITS INFLUENCE ON THE SOIL. 229
Soils which contain salts, which readily give off their
water of crystallization and effloresce, sooner become barren
than those which contain salts that attract moisture from
the air, and deliquesce, as chlorides of calcium and mag
nesia, 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 tails

230 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 ad
vantage 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 atmo
sphere 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 am
monia from the soil through their roots ; and that when
the trees, shrubs, and plants, which form our coal-mea
sures, 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.
December 30, 1849. — Ten miles to Salone, over a
pretty country, w'ell 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

HINDOOS' OBJECTION TO INTERMARRIAGES. 231
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 princi
pality was Seorutun Sing, whom I have mentioned in my
Rambles and Recollections, as a gallant young land
holder, fighting for his right to the succession, while I was
cantoned at Pertabghur in 1818. He continued to fight,
out 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.
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~lW'affd"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
* Rajah Deer Sing died in April 1851, leaving a very young son
under the guardianship of his uncle, Golab Sing.

232 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
next heir in the male line ; but the Rajah, having mar
ried 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 gote. 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,
Uo the marriage of many brothers in succession to the
same woman.
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 Kala
kunkur, in which he has lately built a mud-fort of reputed
strength. He is a very sensible and active man of pleas
ing manners. He has two grown-up sons, who were in
troduced to me by him yesterday. The Government
authorities complain of his want of punctuality in the pay
ment 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

SHAH PUNA ATA. 233
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 re
sisting outrage and oppression, on the part of the King's
officers." At Salone resides a holy Mahommedan, ShahJPuna
Ata, who is looked up to with great reverence by both
Mahommedans and Hindoos, for the sanctity of his cha
racter, and that of his ancestors, who sat upon the same
religious throne, for throne his simple mattress is con
sidered to be. From the time that the heir is called to
the throne, he never leaves his house, but stays at home
to receive homage, and distribute blessings and food to
needy travellers of ail religions. He gets from the King
of Oude twelve villages, rentfree, 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 en*

234 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
dowment 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 con
sequence. 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.
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 con
tract 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 arid
attacked their fort in September. After defending them
selves 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 head
quarters, 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

SIEGE OF THE FORT OF BHUDEREE. 235
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. Flaving 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. 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 dis
arm 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

236 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
villages in the British territory were plundered by the
j Oude troops on this occasion. This violation of our ter-
I ritory the King of Oude was called upon to punish ; and
j Ehsan Hoseyn was deprived of his charge, and heavily
- fined, to pay compensation to our injured subjects.
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;

THE BHUDEREE INTERMARRIAGES. 237
and the dispossessed become leaders of gang robbers as
in other parts.
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.
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

238 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
got the Rajah tp 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 resolute Brahmins,- mA prp-
i ceeded with them to Rewa, where they sat dhurna at the
! Rajah's door, without tasting food, and declared that they
.would all die there unless the marriage were completed.
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,1 as his bride, a daughter of Rewa. All is
j a matter of bargain and sale. Those who have money
I, 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.
Among Brahmins it is the same. Take, for example,

WILD ANIMALS IN JUNGLE. 239
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 dis
regard 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 ampng 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.
December 31, 1849. — Eight miles to Sotee, over a
eountry well studded with trees, and generally well culti-
tivated. 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

240 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.'
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.
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 sur
rounding country. The family has become divided into
j 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 usurpa
tions from weaker neighbours; but all unite when attacked
or threatened by the Government.
Rajah Dursun Sing held the district of Salone from
1827 to 1836, and during this time he made several suc
cessful attacks upon the Kumpureea Rajpoots of the Nyn

KUMPUREEAS RECOVER THEIR LANDS. 241
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 trans
ferred to Kondon Lai 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 partaks 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.*
* 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.
VOL. I. R

242 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
The present Nazim has with him two Nujeeb Regi
ments, 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 com
manded 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, accou
trements, 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 sup
plied to the most petted corps is altogether unfit for service.
The arms with which they are expected to provide them
selves 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

THE NAZIM AND HIS FORCES. 243
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 four
teen, 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. 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 Khy
rabad ; but he has heard so bad an account of its dis-
R 2

244 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
eipline, 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 Govern
ment, but seize upon and appropriate with impunity the
estates of the small proprietors in their neighbourhood.
January 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 acqui
sition, 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
j will find hardly any landholder of any rank with a good
one, for they have all been long doing the same thing—

BENEE MADHOS HISTORY. 245
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.
Benee Madbo 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 I
during his life-time among hi£ sons. Such a division
has already taken place, as will be seen by the annexed
note :*
* 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 6f his father.
He had three sons, Rana Benee Madho, Nirput Sing, and Jogray Sing,-

246 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 Ma
hommed, 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.* 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.
* 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 exclu
sive right to the title, which is a new one in Oude. They had each a
force of five thousand brave men, besides numerous auxiliaries.

HEAD-QUARTERS OF RAE BAREILLY. 247
On our road, two miles from Rae Bareilly, we passed
over a bridge on the Saee river, built by Reotee Ram,
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 Dala-
mow, 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 con
tests that have taken place between the Government
officers and the landholders, or between the landholders
themselves. The troops in attendance upon local govern
ment 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.
Rae Bareilly is the head-quarters of the local authori
ties 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 Rae Bareilly, as there is no
danger in doing it. The inhabitants live so far froni 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

248 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
January 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 pre
vented this. They now have them only when sent on
* Captain Buckley was the son of Colonel Buckley, of the Honour
able 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.

RAMBUKSH WANTS COURAGE. 249
service from one or other of the batteries at Lucknow,
and the consequence is that they are good for nothing.
Sobba 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.
The Nazim has with him this one Komukee, or auxiliary
regiment, and half of three regiments of Nujeebs, amount
ing, 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 Ram-
buksh, of Dondeea Kherah, a town, with a fort, on the
bank of the river Ganges. He holds five of the purgun-
nahs as hereditary possessions : — 1, Bhugwuntnuggur ;
2, Dondeea Kherah ; 3, Mugraen ; 4, Punheen ; 5, Ghut-
umpoor. 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 own retainers as to the
King's officers, 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

250 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.*
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 per-
, suaded 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 he 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 cha
racter as on that of his wealth ; but he is here only pitied
as an ambitious fool.
The wakeel, on the part of the King, with the Resident,
* 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.

HOSEYN BUKSH KILLED. 251
has been uniting his efforts to those of Hoseyn Buksh,*
the present Nazim of Salone, to prevail upon Rajah Hun
munt 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 instal
ments, 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 instal
ments, and declares that they are justly due ; but these
* 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 suceeeded to the estate, and would not or could not pay
her revenue.
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 tryin in vain to arrest them.

252 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
payments are, in reality, nothing more than gratuities, paid
for his coutinued good offices with the minister and Dewan.
While Dursun Sing, and his brother, Bukhtawar, held
the contract of Salone, the estate was put under manage
ment, 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 thou
sand. 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 hun
dred and thirty thousand ; and threaten him with the ven
geance of his Majesty if he refuses. He looks at their
military force and smiles. The agents of all the tal
lookdars, 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 Govern
ment and its officers regard less the rights than the
strength of the landholders; and, from fear, fervour the
strong while they oppress and crush the weak.*
January 3, 1850. — Gorbuksh Gunge, alias Onae, four
teen 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
* 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.

RAJAH HUNMUNT SING AND BENEE MADHO. 253
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
tookthem away, when they had any. They were, they
said, well secured from all other enemies by their land
lord. 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 Koomukee
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 pea
santry, 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."
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.
" Assuredly," said he, " they would all be bound in
honour to follow me, or to desert their lands at least."

254 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
" And if they did not, I suppose you would deem it a
point of honour to plunder them ?"
" That he assuredly would," said Rajah Hunmunt
Sing ; " and make them the first victims."
" And if any of them fell fighting on his side, would he
think it a, point of honour to provide for their families?"
" That we all do," said he ; " they are always provided
for, and taken the greatest possible care of."
" And if any one is killed in fighting for the King?"
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."
" 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?"
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 com
monly sold for the benefit of the State or its officers.
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

SIPAHEES ON FURLOUGH. 255
to pay to the landlord, where there was one, and to the
Government officers, where there was not, a duty amount
ing 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 sur
rounded 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.
Among the peasantry we saw a great, many -sipahees,
from our Native Infantry Regiments, who have come
home offluriough to their families. From the estate of
Rajah Hunmunt Sing, in the Banoda district, there are

256 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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^jvvhQ_gave_much
trouble and annoyance, and were_often_the_tJerxor 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.
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

ELEPHANT IN A FIT OF MADNESS. 257
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, Quit 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^oxjumsL^ Holding
the elephant by the earTlieTea' 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
vol. I. s

258 tour through oude.
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 mad
ness. 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.
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."

village of onae. 259
Dangerous as the calling of the elephant-driver is, that
of the snakejteepers, 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 dis
posed 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 stoops 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. January 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 th»- most ancient
s 2

260 tour through oude.
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 other's 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 de
scendants; and Bhugwan Das, Synbunsee, of Simree;

RUGOSTATH ATTACKS KOELEE SING'S PARTY. 261
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 power
ful tallookdars, on account of default."
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. Fie 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 vil
lages, which formed part of the estate of Futteh Bahader,
went to Court at Lucknow, and represented, that Rugo
nath 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 at
tacked 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

262 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 col
lusion with Gholam Allee, seized upon all the twenty-four
villages. 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 re
peated 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
* He called Bustee Sing his father, as sipahees can seek redress
through the Resident, for wrongs suffered by no others than their
mothers, fathers, their children, and themselves.

HALTS AT ONAE. 263
property of which he was robbod, in taking possession,
and the rents since received, if duly accounted for,
would more than cover any balance due by Futteh Ba
hader. When be 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 pend
ing 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 in
terposed 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 ele
phant. 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 de
scribe a very sordid man, they said — " he would not even
throw his last mouthful (koura) to a dog !"
January 5, 1851. — Halted at Onae, in consequence of
continued rain, which incommodes us, but delights the
* 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
lecover possession of his estate.

264 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
landholders and cultivators, whose crops will greatly
benefit by it. The halting of so large a camp incon
veniences 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
King's 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 juris
dictions, 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 Euro
pean 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.
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, Hurhur Deo and
Prethee Chund. Hurhur Deo had two sons, one of
whom, Kurun Rae, established himself in Nyhussa, and
the other, Khem Kurun, in Synbunsee. Their descend
ants have taken their titles from their respective villages.
Prethee Chund's descendants established themselves in

MOHIBOOLLAH PLUNDERS HIS NEIGHBOURS. 265
other parts, and the descendants of both bear the appella
tion 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 con
ferred upon them.
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. Fie 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 yes
terday 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 sefTice;"(fifty-seventh
Native InTantry,) on the 21st of December, 1849, robbed
him of all he had, arid 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.

266 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 re
turned 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 surren
dered, and were brought to me. Mohiboollah had, how
ever, 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 en
gaged in the robbery, were sent off prisoners to Lucknow,
and the rest were disarmed and released.
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

NO SNAKE CAN INJURE A TILOKCHUNDEE BYSES. 267
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 zu-
meendars 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.
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.
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 Tilok
chundee Bysee having died from a bite. He tells me
that some families in every Rajpoot tribe in Oude destroy
* The greater part of this property is understood to have been con
fided, 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 in
trusted his wealth to the old subadar, after he had taken up his resi
dence 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 nuw gang.

268 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 unquestion
able. - January 6, 1850. — Yesterday evening we moved to
Omrowa 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 dis
tance 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 dis
comfort, 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
j 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,

CHUNDUN LAL. 269
carpenters, or blacksmiths." It is enough that they are
used to them.
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, Chundun
Lai. 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 land
holders, cultivators, and-pepple of all classes. Their
wealth consists in their cVedit in different parts of India ;
and he who has most of it may have little aUhjs 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.
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 Lai 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 esta
blishments 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 dispo
sition 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.
I am told here that the Tilokchund Byses, when bitten

270 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 this 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 con
queror of Bickermajeet, of Ojein."
This Salbahun* is said to have been a lineal descendant
of the make=gpd ! 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, petti
coat, 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 petti
coat 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,
j can wear anything more valuable than silver below the
waist. The Tilokchundee Byses can never condescend to
_ * Salbahun must have been one of the leaders of the Scythian armies,
who conquered India in the reign of Vickramadittea.

HAMID ALLEE SEIZED. 271
hold the plough ; and if obliged to serve, they enlist in
the army__pr other public establishments of the Oude or
other States.
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.
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 in
tentions, 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

272 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
his escape across the Ganges, and is now at Delhi. The
story of his having run away with three lacs of Hainid
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, 182,8, 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.
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

A MILE OF FINE TREES. 273-
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.*
January 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 per
fection, 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.
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
* 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.
VOL. I. T

274 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 heredi
tary incomes, under the guarantee of the British Govern
ment, would build houses in distant districts, take lands,
and reside on them with their families, wholly or occa
sionally, and Oude soon be covered with handsome gentle
men'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^JmteHigence, 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 aris
tocracy, which tends to alienate him more and more^rorn
his people. The people derive no benefit ^from, and have
no feeling or interest in common,with^ln^iiy_adstocracyP>
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 responsibilties ; 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.  ^
In this ofergrown city\ there is a perpetual turmoil
of processions, illuminations, and festivities. The Sove
reign 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 antfof the city aristocracy

RESPECT SHOWN TO EUROPEANS. 275
follow his example, and spend their means in the same
way. Indifferent to the feelings and opinions of the
landed aristocracyiand 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 over-
grown 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.
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 com
munity 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, andTfindhess, while in
those of Hydrabad, their lives, I believe, are never safe .
without an escort from the Resident.
The people of the country respect the British Govern
ment, 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 adminis
tration, still he has often interposed with effect, in indi
vidual 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 doesTso, shoulfTTie so often frustrated or
disregarded. In tiie"ranotest village or jungle in Oude,
as in the most crowded streets of the capital, an European
T 2

276 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
gentleman is sure to be treated with affectionate respect ;
and the humblest European is as sure to receive protection
and kindness, unless he forfeits all claim to it by his mis
conduct. 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 com-
1 memorating 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 ofjthejrjcreed^and
from the simple tasfes~6fThe~ early Mahojumedans, 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 illumi
nations 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
j 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 anmse 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.

v/-

( 277 )

CHAPTER VL
Nawabgunge, midway between Cawnpoor and Lucknow — Oosur soils
how produced — Visit from the prime minister — Rambuksh, of
Dhodeeakhera — Hunmunt Sing, of Dharoopoor — Agricultural capi
talists. 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
Mojtahid, 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.
January 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. Nawabgunge is
situated on the new metalled road, fifty miles long,
between Lucknow and Cawnpoor, and about midway

278 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
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 worst 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 super-
abounding 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.
* 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.

MINISTER AND HIS CORTEGE. 279
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 chlorides of sodium, 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.
January 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 par
ticular, 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 Luck
now 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.
The minister came out with a very large cortege
yesterday to see and talk with me, and is to stay here

280 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 amuse
ment 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 Dharoo
poor, 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 strong
holds and fight against his Sovereign.*
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 Lai, 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
* 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.

DETAINED AT NAWABGUNGE. 281
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 import
ance, 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 Lai, who, in collu
sion 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 Honour
able 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.
January 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

282 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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, Govern
ment has this season given a long furlough to all the
native army of Bengal. Some three hundred~"andr~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 deduc
tions 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.
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 circum
stances 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 adjust
ment 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

SHEIKH MAHBOOB ALLEE. 283
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 " law's delay " is as
often and as justly complained of in our own territory as
in Oude, whatever may be the state of its uncertainty.
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 pro
minently all that is favourable to their own side, and
keep back all that is otherwise, and to conceal the diffi
culties 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 command
ing 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.
I have had several visits from my old friend Sheikh
Mahboob Allee, the subadar-major, who is mentioned
in my Essay on Military Discipline. He is now an
invalid pensioner in Oude, and in addition to the lands
fthich his family held before his transfer to the invalids,
he has lately acquired possession of a nice village, which

284 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
" And why is this, my old friend ?" I asked. " Cul
tivators 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."
." 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 cul
tivators are afraid that they and their families will all
be cut up some dark night if they stay with me."
" But what has your great neighbour to do with your
village ? Why do you not make friends with him ?"
" Make friends with him, sir ! " replied the subadar ;
" the thing is impossible."
" And why, subadar sahib ?"
" 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."
" And how long may he and his family have held it ?"
" Only thirty or thirty-five years, sir."
" And neither you nor your family have ever held
possession of it for that time ?"
" Never, sir ; but we always hoped that the favour of
the British Government would some day get it for us."
" And in urging your claim to the village, did you
ever tell the Resident that you had been so long out of
possession?"

THE ESTATE OF ROMPOOR. 285
" No, sir, we said nothing about time."
"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.
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
Kajah 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, Dul Sing; and fifth, Bui
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 sub
divided 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 and the Havildar, with Sookhal,

286 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 shop
keeper 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! 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 gratifi
cation which his Majesty had manifested and expressed at
this opportune relief. But his gratification at this com
munication 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 wouldnot insist
upon giving to the subjects of Oude who might enlist into

TREATY WITH THE KING OF OUDE. 287
that force the privilege of forwarding complaints about
their village affairs and disputes, through their military
superiors and the Besident ; and it appeared to the Resi
dent, " 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 de
tected 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 com
plaints, while such officers could know nothing whatever
of the circumstances beyond what the sipahees themselves
told thein, 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 con
verted into corrupt traders in village disputes sixteen or

288 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.*
This privilege which the native officers and sipahees of
our native army enjoy of petitioning for redress of griev
ances, 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 con
tingent corps employed iri 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 com
plaints 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""Tnor does any one now know its origin, for it cannot
* See King of Oude's letter to the Governor^GeneraL dated 5th
October, 1837, and Resident's letters of the 7th idem and 14th De
cember, 1837.

OFFICERS PASSING THROUGH OUDE. 289
be found in any document recorded in the Resident's
office. 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 pos
session 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 torture, which it is his duty to apply every
day to the Oude Durbar. He may put on a screw more
or a screw less, 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.
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 lananolders "are made to
reduce these demands in favour of the privileged sipahees,
they invariably distribute the burthen in an increased rate
upon their neighbours.
Officers who have to pass through Oude in their travels
or sporting excursions have of late years generally com
plained 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

290 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
a be either the perpetrators or instigators. This com-
daint is not, I fear, altogether unfounded ; and may arise
*rom the diminished attachment felt by the sipahees for
;heir European officers in our army, and partly from the
irivjlege of urging their claims through the Resident, en-
oyed by native officers and sipahees, now ceasing on their
jeing transferred to the invalid establishment.
But the privilege itself is calculated to create feelings
:>f dissatisfaction with their European officers, among the
ionest and hard-working part of our native army. Such
men petition only when they have just cause; and not one in
ive 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 dis
contented ; 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.
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 tothem, the idle and unscrupulous,
who consider it as a fottery\jn 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 inMlh\(fidelm

NATIVE OFFICERS AND SIPAHEES. 291
>f the whole native army depends uP°_n its heing main-
aihea^and^extended., I am of opinion, after much con
sideration, and a good deal of experience in the political
working of the system, that the abolition of the privilege
vould be of_great , advantage to the native army ; and it
ffOuTaTcertainly relieve the European officers from much
mportunity and annoyance which they now suffer from its
mforcement. It is not uncommon for a sipahee of a regi
ment in Bombay to obtain leave of absence for several times
jver {o^tSnmonth^ at a time, on the pretence of having
i case pending in Oude. When his leave is about to
sxpire, he presents a petition to the Resident, who obtains
for him from the Court an order for the local authorities
to settle bis claim. This order is sent to the officer com
manding his regiment. The man then makes up a piteous
story of his having spent the whole ten months in prose-
:uting his claim in vain, when, in reality, he has been en
joying 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.
Native officers and sipahees, in the privilege of present
ing 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,
U2 ^~

292 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
.or to persons not related to them at all. The petition is
made out in their own name, and the real sufferer or pre
tended 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 an
cestors 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 peopleambhg
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 eases 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.
In a recent instance (July 1851), a sipahee in a regi
ment 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

UNJUST CLAIMS TO VILLAGES. 293
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 ruses 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 Lucknowj
and near the place where the cause of action arose, his
own village, and the Resident's office. Flow much more
difficult would it be to get a conviction against a sipahee
whose regiment happens to be many hundred miles off!
The transfer of their lands from the, jurisdiction .of Jb.e
local authorities to that, of the Hozoor Tehseeljis 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
[>r later, the influence of the sipahee will enable him to
idd their shares to his own. The village so transferred,
being removed from the observation and responsibility of
ihe local authorities, oftenbecomes a safe refuge for the
bad charactex§_Q£ the district^ who thence depredate upon
;ne country around with impunity. Claims to villages, to
ifhich 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 TfierHozooi Tehseel villages has
generally a good deal of influence at Court, and this he

294 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
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 Govern
ment 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

SIPAHEES CLAMOURING FOR JUSTICE. 295
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.
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.
Officers commanding regiments and companies com
plain 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

296 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 sipahees still serving —
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.
The objection once raised by Lord William Bentinck
v against our employing troops in support of the Govern-
i ment of Oude against refractory landholders, is equally
I valid against our advocacy of the claims of sipahees to
f 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 guaran
tees of their observance afterwards on both sides; in
which case we should become mixed up in every detail of
l the administration." If the sipahee does not pay punc
tually the assessment upon the lands which he has
obtained through the Resident, the Oude Government
calls upon the Resident to enforce payjmenj^--and~-i£
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*
Genera], -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

SIPAHEES CLAMOURING FOR JUSTICE. 297
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. AH
such distraint is represented as opjenj^bjry_and_pjllagfii.
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 press
ing necessity for his presence at Lucknow ; and few of
them know that the cases are decided 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

298 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
had held for many generations ; and many a village
which had been occupied by an honest and industrious
peasantry has been turned into a deii" 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.
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 two thousand
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 con
trive 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

SIPAHEE PRIVILEGES ABUSED. 299
Government officers; to examine all their complicated
accounts of collections and balances, fair payments, and
secret gratuities.
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, twhether of, person,
place, or thing: the troubles and perplexities which
arise from this privilege are endless.
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, andjlirects that those

300 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
still serving in our army be no longer allowed to com
plain 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 un
founded complaints, and all false allegations made in
order to render complaints cognizable, ought to be, when
discovered, punishable by our own military authorities^
who [ought not to be remiss in inflicting such punishment
when justly incurred'' " 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 con
sideration, and the Resident is to be required to submit a
report on the operation of the privilege after the expira
tion of one year."
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 Gourt 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.

SIPAHEE PRIVILEGES ABUSED. 301
In one .of the cases quoted by Colonel Low in his
letter of the 29th November, 1838, Reotee Ram, a
sipahee, claimed a village, which was awarded to him by
the Court, without due inquiry, to avoid further impor
tunity. 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.
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 rela
tions, 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 investi
gation 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-

302 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 mort
gaged 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 grand
father'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. 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

HUFEEZ-OLLAH MADE PRISONER. 303
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.
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 con
nection 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 pro
secutor to prove his charges before the Minister or other
high officer within a certain period, or to direct the release
of the poor man.
On the 16th of January, 1852, the prisoner sent a
petition to the Resident, Colonel Sleeman, to say, that

304 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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
be 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.
January 11, 1850. — At Nawabgunge, detained by rain,
which fell heavily all last night, to the great delight of
the landed interest, and great discomfort of travellers.
Nothing but mud around us — our tents wet through, but
standing, and the ground inside of them dry. Fortu
nately 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 lana\_
After such rains the cold increases — the spirits rise — the
breezes freshen — the crops look strong — the harvest is

INDISCRIMINATE PLUNDER. 305
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 sur
rounding 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 !
January 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 sur
rounding 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 suffer
ings of the people and the best interests of their Sovereign.
No precaution whatever is taken to prevent this indiscri
minate 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
VOL. i. s

306 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
cut down for fodder by them before his face. It is the
fashion of the country, and the Government acquiesces
in it.
Among the people no man feels mortified, or appre
hends that he shall stand the worse in the estimation of
the Government-or its officers, for being called and proved
to be a (robber. \lt is the trade of every considerable
landholder ih~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 border
ing 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.
As an instance, I mentioned Gholam Fluzrut, who
never paid his revenues, oppressed his peasantry, mur
dered 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

SENSE OF INSECURITY IN OUDE. 307
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 abuse
the confidence he placed in them. The order was as
follows : —
" To the Officers commanding the Forces in the Districts
of Sidhore, Naivabgunge, Dewa, $c.
"By Order of the Minister. — The King's chu
prassies 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 dis
pleasure of his Majesty. You are, on no account, to molest
or annoy him in any way connected with his affairs.
(Signed) " Abid Allee."
The thing necessary in Oude is a system and a ma
chinery that shall inspire all with a feeling — first,, of
security dn their tenure in office so long as the duties of it
are performed ably and honestly f second, in their tenure
in their lands assessed at moderate rates, as long as the
 x2

308 TOUR THROUGH OUDE. ' '<
rents and revenues so assessed are fully and punctually
paid, and the duties of the holders towards the Govern
ment, their tenants, and the public, are faithfully dis
charged ; third, in the safeJty_jonife,_person, and property-
on the roads and in the towns, villages, and hamlets scat
tered 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 feel
ing of security in anyjaerson or thing !
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 neglecttKeir duties or abuse their autho
rity ; third, reform Jhe 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^jiistinct altogether .from
, this military force, and efficient for all the duties required
I 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^offieeri ; and, finally, to set aside the
present King, Minister, and Commander-in-Chief, and
take all the executive upon itself.

DEATH OF THE KING OF OUDE. 309
The expenditure is now about twenty lacs of rupees
a-year above the income, and~tFe~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. Oh his death,
.which took place on the 12th of July, 1814, he left in this
reserved treasury the sum of fourteen cfores of rupees, or
^ourteen'millions sterling, with all his establishments paid
"TirrpanaThis 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.
Out of this reserved treasure, the zukaat, or two and
a-half per cent., is every year paid to the mojtahid for
distribution among the poor of the Sheea sect at Luck
now. No person of fne~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 bona fide payment of debt due.
The mojtahid is, at the same time, the high priest and the
highesT^uaiciaT 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 bond

310 • TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
fide 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.
Saadut Allee's son and successor, Ghaz££^0jL_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 TdTecTpon the 7th of July, i 837, he left
only seventy lacs in the reserved treasury. His suc
cessor, 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 secu
rities — 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

RUSSOOLABAD. 311
must soon become exhausted. His public establishments,
and the stipendiary members of the royal family, are, at
the same time, kept greatly in arrears.*
January 1 3, 1 850. — 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 cul
tivators 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
* November 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, I1 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 zulcaat for
distribution to the poor. This has all been appropriated by the
mojtahid, the minister, and Court favourites.
The State, like individuals, is bound to pay this zulcaat 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
zulcaat has, in consequence, increased as the treasury has become
exhausted.

312 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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. I had some talk with the head zumeendar of Naraen
poor 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
r-.that both the Ditchits and Byses put their infant
1 daughters to death, and that the practice prevailed more
i 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.
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
' * The Sengers are almost the only class of Rajpoots in Bundelkund,
and Boghilcuud, 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.

MURDER AND RAPINE. 313
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 com
monly 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 Pausies become Rajpoots 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 Kasim-
-gunge, 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 Raj
poots, 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 !
; "When I was sent out to inquire into the case of
Brigadier Webber, who had been attacked and robbed
while travellingnThis- "palkee, with relays of bearers,
¦from Lucknow to Seetapoor, I entered a house to make
some inquiries, and found the mistress weeping. I asked
* A great number of girls are purchased and stolen from our
teiTitories, 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.

314 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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.
" 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 per
petrated ? 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 ?"
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 Lord
ship 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.
The country we came over to-day is well studded with
groves and fine single trees, but the soil is generally of

CLOTHING OF THE TELINGA REGIMENT. 315
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. 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. Fie 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, accoutre
ments, 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 sufarashies, or men

316 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 cer
tainly could not be made formidable td 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.
January 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 function
aries 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, 1 have
been every cold season moving in the way I describe.

DEPOPULATION OF VILLAGES. 31'
No Resident at the Court of Lucknow ever befor
moved over the country as I am doing to inquire into th
condition of the people, the state of the country, am
character of the administration ; nor would it b
desirable for them to do so unless trained to civil busi
ness, and able and disposed to commune freely with tb
people of all classes. The advantages would hardl;
counterbalance the disadvantages. When I apologize b
the peasantry for the unavoidable trespasses of my camp
they always reply good-humouredly, " The losses w<
suffer from them are small and temporary, while thi
good we hope from your visit is great and permanent.'
Would that I could realize the hopes to which my visi
gives rise !
'January 15, 1850. — To Meeangunge, five miles, ove:
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 passec
the boundary of the Russoolabad district, about tw<
miles from our last ground, and crossed into that o
Meeangunge or Safeepoor. The Russoolabad distric
was held in contract for some years by one of the greatesi
knaves in Oude, Buksh Allee;, a dome by caste, whose
rise to wealth and influence may be described as illus
trative 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 culti
vators ; 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

318 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
Cawnpoor, which runs through the district, that it was
deemed unsafe to pass it except in strong bodies.
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, Lieu
tenant Weston, the Superintendent.
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 sur
mounted by great skill and energy on the part of Lieu
tenant Weston, and steady perseverance on mine; and

VILLAGE IN RUINS. 319
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 tha,t nothing would
be done unless we supervised and guided .their pro
ceedings. The district is now held in contract by a very
respectable man, Mahommed Uskaree, who has taken it
for four years.
The district of Safeepoor, in which we are now en
camped, 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 mer
cantile 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. Near the border, we passed one village, Mahommed-
poor, entirely in ruins. After some search we found a
solitary man of the Pausee tribe, who told us that it had
been heldj 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

320 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 con
tractor, 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.
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

ALMAS ALLEE KHAN. 321
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.
The country was then divided into equal shares, ac
cording 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 re
served 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.
Almas Allee Khan, at the close of his life, was sup
posed to have accumulated immense wealth ; but when
he died he was found to have nothing, to the great morti-
VOL. I. Y

322 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
fication 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 approach
ing, 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 eneouraged 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 Govern
ment 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.
Now the tallookdars keep the country in a perpetual
state of disturbance, and render life, property, and in
dustry everywhere insecure. Whenever they quarrel
with each other, or with the local authorities of the
Government, from whatever cause, they take to indis
criminate plunder and murder over all lands not held by

TERRIBLE STATE OF DISORDER. 323
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 com
mitted 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, onwhatever subject, he de
clares himself in a "Wife of war\ and adopts the saine
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, em
ploys 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 pastime is over, to be
at least more feared and courted, and more secure in
the possession of increased lands, held at lower rates.
All this terrible state of disorder arises from the
y2

324 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 re
verence 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."*
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 Govern
ment, 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, aud 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
* 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.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS. 325
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."
Some shopkeepers in the town complained that the
contractor was in the habit of forcing them to stand sure
ties 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 inter
course, and by this means robbed of all they have. All
manner of means are resorted to to compel them : rhey
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
sufficieiit 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 dis
trict, is as follows : —
Mokuddera Ouleea, one of the consorts of the King,
Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, was the daughter of Mr. George

326 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
Hopkins Walters, a half-pay officer of one of the regi
ments 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 mer
chant or shopkeeper of that city, who had recently
died, leaving this widow, who was the daughter of Mr.
Oulloden, 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 dis
posed to make the most of their charms, without regard
to creed or colour.
Buksh Allee, a dome by caste, who had been by pro
fession 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 Mahom-
medan 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 sub-

MOKUDDERA OULEEA. 327
sisted 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.
By a deed of engagement with the British Government,
bearing 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.* 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.
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 — alias 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 con
tinued 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 concu
bine of Buksh Allee.
Mokuddera Ouleea became pregnant, and on the 9th of
November 1840, she was taken very ill from some violent
* Mulika Zumanee, 10,000 ; Taj MahaL 6,000 ; Mokuddera Ouleea,
6,000 : Zeenut-on Nissa, the daughter of Mulika Zumanee, 4,000.

328 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 occu
pied 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. 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.

mokuddera ouleea. 329
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 Cawn
poor, 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 im
prisonment, 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.
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

330 TOUR THROUGH oude.
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 con
sider 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.
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 con
cealed 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 con
sented to consider Shurf-on Nissa the heir, when they
found that our Government had no objection to consider
* 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.

DESPATCH FROM THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 331
her as such. The King wished to have the money to lay
out on bridges and roads in Oude, and the Resident ad
vocated 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
hot consent to any such arrangement.
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 soli
citous 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 practi
cally 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.
In a despatch from the Honourable the Court of
Directors, dated 4th March 1840, their just disapproba
tion 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

332 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
Court again express their disapprobation of such guaran
tees ; 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 objec
tion 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 advan
tage of individuals. The Court expresses a hope that
they shall never have occasion to notice any future viola
tion of their orders as respects such engagements.
January 16, 1850.— We were to have gone this morn
ing 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 im
mediately 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.
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

"WATCHMEN — THIEVES BY PROFESSION. 333
and sipahees in our army from the districts we are now
in, and I am in consequence less oppressed with com
plaints from this class of the Oude subjects.
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. — . 
Of these Pausiesjthere are supposed to be about one
hundred thousahd"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 18481 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.
These Pausies of Oude generally form the worst part

334 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
of the gangs of refractory tallookdars in their indis
criminate 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.
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 " usual way." 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.
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

THREE REGIMENTS OF NUJEEBS. 335
Oude. The officers of the Government delight in plun
dering 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.
January 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 amanee 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.

336 TOUR THROUGH OUDE.
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 ammu
nition ; 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 autho
rities 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 con
veyance at fixed rates, and the supplies at the market
price, in good bazaars. For police-duties, and revenue
collections there should be a sufficientJbody of men kept
up, and at the disposal of the revenue and police autho
rities. 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. 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

HUSHMUT ALLEE IN CONFINEMENT. 337
of the Government demand, and advancing the instal
ments 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 lan
guished under the discipline to which he was there sub
jected, and when on the point of death from what his
friends call a broken heart, and the Government autho
rities cholera morbus, he was released. He died imme
diately 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.*
* Hushmut Allee is still in confinement, but under the troops at
Sundeela, and not at Lucknow. July 20, 1851.

END OF VOL. I.

VOL. I.

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