Discussions as to New Residency--Its completion--Annual boat
races--Kang-joop-kool--Daily work--Dealings with the Durbar.
I have briefly described the old Residency which was rented from
the Heir Apparent. Money had been sanctioned for a new Residency,
to belong to the British Government, but there had been squabbles
for a long time between my predecessors and the Durbar regarding a
suitable site. Also such a building as was required could only be
built with the help of the Durbar whom it was advisable to conciliate.
One of my predecessors wished to build on a small hill called
"Chinga," about a mile from the palace. It was an admirable site,
and had the position of the Political Agent been similar to that in
other Indian States, it could not have been better. But in Manipur, the
representative of the Government of India was regarded by the Maharajah
as a powerful prop and support in case of his throne being attacked,
as was constantly the case in former years. On this ground the Durbar
objected that it was too far off; also that the place was reported
to be the residence of an evil spirit inimical to the Royal family,
so that it was not a convenient spot for the Maharajah to visit. So,
after many acrimonious disputes, the negotiation fell through.
Another Political Agent chose a site called Ching-mai-roong, which
in many ways was very satisfactory, and the Durbar reluctantly
consented to give it, but it was a mile and a half from the palace,
and therefore much out of the way. The question was still in abeyance
when I arrived. As soon as I had time, I discussed the matter with
the Durbar, and found the Maharajah much averse to my removal from
the old site. He said "Where you are now, I can call to you; but if
you go to a distance, I shall be cut off entirely."
I quite saw the advisability of being on the spot, also in what I may
call the fashionable quarter of the town; and, as from a sanitary point
of view, the position was as good as any other, I agreed to stay, on
condition that all the squalid houses and slums in the neighbourhood
were cleared away, dirty tanks filled, and others deepened, and a fine
large space cleared and handed over to me. I further insisted that
I should have all the assistance necessary in building a suitable
Residency. My terms were agreed to, and the work put in hand. I
determined to have a building worthy of the representative of the
British Government, and sacrificed everything to suitable rooms, and
sound construction, so that it was not till the end of 1880 that it
was finished.
I was greatly indebted to my head clerk, Baboo Rusni Lall Coondoo, who
acted as clerk of the works. The result was a charming residence. It
was in the half-timber style of old English houses, modified to suit
the climate, all on one floor, but raised on a solid brick foundation,
which gave a lower storey seven feet in height, thus keeping us high
and dry, the house being approached on four sides by flights of solid
masonry steps. The lower storey was built so as to be shot proof, as I
designed it as a place of retreat from stray shot for non-combatants,
in the event of the Residency being again, as it had been before,
subjected to a cross-fire from contending parties during one of the
many revolutions so common to Manipur. Little did I dream that folly,
and incompetency would ever lead to our being directly attacked!
The large compound, about sixteen acres in extent, was surrounded
by a mud breastwork and ditch, quite capable of being defended, if
necessary, and there were four entrances which I named respectively,
the Great Gate, the Milking Gate, my cows'-shed being close to it,
the Water Gate and the Kang-joop-kool Gate. I made a riding road all
round to exercise ponies, and besides making a splendid kitchen garden,
adding considerably to Colonel McCulloch's, we laid out flower beds,
and had cool shady spots for the heat of the day. Deodars and other
exotic trees were imported by me and throve wonderfully. One large
sheet of water with an island in the centre was cleared, deepened,
and the banks repaired, and as I never allowed a bird to be killed, it
was covered in winter with water-fowls to the number of four hundred
and fifty or five hundred of every kind, from wild geese downwards,
and rare birds took refuge in the trees. In the north-east corner of
the compound were the lines for my escort, with a tank of the purest
drinking water, where formerly squalor and filth had held sway. Finally
I covered most of the large trees with beautiful orchids, so that in
the season we had a blaze of colour. I spared no expense on the garden,
and we were rewarded. Altogether the Residency and its grounds formed
a beautiful and comfortable resting-place.
The new building was also commodious and contained a handsome
Durbar-room for receptions 24 feet square, fine dining and
drawing-rooms, very airy and comfortable bedrooms, etc., with an
office for myself. The pantry was so arranged that cold draughts
of air, so great a drawback in Indian houses in cold weather,
were avoided when dinner was being brought in. The bedrooms had
fireplaces, and the sitting-rooms excellent stoves which in winter
were very necessary. The shot-proof rooms in the basement were not
used, except one for a storeroom, and the one under the verandah of
the Durbar-room, used as a sleeping place by the men of my guard.
The Great Gate was a picturesque half-timber structure, with rooms on
either side, one of which I built specially as a pneumonia hospital,
so it was designed with a view to maintaining an equable temperature,
pneumonia being a great scourge among newly arrived Hindoostani
sepoys. Not long after I left, it was diverted to other purposes,
being considered too good for a hospital!
"With the exception of the Residency, no house when I left Manipur,
was built of brick, partly from fear of earthquakes, partly on
account of expense. The ordinary houses of the people are huts with
wattle and daub or mud walls, those of greater folks the same, but
on a larger scale. Every house has a verandah in front with the main
entrance leading from it, and a little side door on the north side
close to the west end, the houses invariably facing east. The roofs
are all of thatch, with the exception of the Rajah's, which was of
corrugated iron. There were several temples built of brick stuccoed
over. One in the palace had an iron roof, another a gilded one. I
sent some models of these temples and several other buildings to the
Indian and Colonial Exhibition of 1886, every beam and rafter being
represented and made according to scale. The larger of the temples
had bells of a fine deep tone. Some of the approaches to the Rajah's
dwelling-house were made of brick. Formerly the palace enclosure
was entered from the front by a quaint and picturesque old gateway,
not beautiful, but characteristic of Manipur; the old Rajah Chandra
Kirtee Singh substituted for it a tawdry and fantastic structure with
a corrugated iron roof, a structure without any merit, and quite out
of keeping with its surroundings. I remonstrated in vain; shoddy and
vulgar tastes had penetrated even to Manipur, and the picturesque
old building that spoke of bygone ages was doomed; but we who have
destroyed so many fine buildings, have little right to criticise.
"Close to the gateway is the place where the grand stand is erected,
from which the Rajah and his relations view the boat races on the
palace moat. I say 'view,' as in old age, a Rajah sits there all
the time; but in the prime of life he takes part in these races,
steering one of the boats himself. These boat races generally take
place in September when the moat is full, and are the great event
of the year. Every one turns out to see them, the Ranees and other
female relations being on the opposite side of the moat, for in Manipur
there is no concealment of women, while the side next to the road is
thronged with spectators. The boatmen have a handsome dress peculiar
to the occasion, and the whole scene is highly interesting. The boats
are canoes hewn out of single trees of great size, and are decorated
with colour and carving." [21]
The valley of Manipur is hot and steamy in the rainy season, and
Colonel McCulloch built a small hut at a place called Kang-joop-kool,
situated on a spur of the Kowpree range, to the west of the valley
at a height of 5170 feet above the sea. The distance from the capital
was fourteen miles, and four from the foot of the hills, and he lived
there for the whole of the rainy season, except for a few visits to
the capital. His successors till my time did not stay there much,
but I bought a small hut from my immediate predecessor, and pulled it
down, and built a new one far more commodious. I enclosed the land,
and laid out a small garden, and planted a wood of Khasia pines,
the land being quite bare, and in time it became a most charming
place. It was pleasant to leave the ceremonial life at the capital,
where I never walked out without a train of followers clad in scarlet
liveries, and settle down quietly at Kang-joop-kool where we could
roam about the hills as if we had been in England.
I spent little or no time in sporting, my eyes were never very good,
and before I came to Manipur had become so deficient in what oculists
call power of "accommodation," that, though formerly a fairly good
shot, I was then a bad one. In one way this was an advantage, as all
my interests were concentrated on my work, and nothing of greater
interest could have been found. Somehow or other, there was subject
for conversation with State officials and non-officials, to last me
from early morning till night, and fill up every spare moment. My
door was always open, and the guard at the great gate had orders to
let every one pass. All the minor gates were unguarded.
No attempt was made by the Durbar, as in other native states, to
bribe the Residency servants, except in one notable case that happened
before my time. All negotiations were carried on with the Political
Agent direct, and the penurious Manipuris would have thought it waste
of money to bribe his servants. This was a very satisfactory state
of things, and probably saved many unpleasant complications.
In my dealings with the Durbar, I always tried to bear in mind that
I was the representative of the strong dealing with the weak, and
so to ignore little silly acts of self-assertion, such as a native
court loves to indulge in, and childish ebullitions, as unworthy of
notice. Whenever it became necessary for me to interfere, I did so
with great firmness, but always tried to carry the Maharajah and his
ministers with me, and make any desired reform appear to emanate from
him. Except on one occasion, I never experienced any rudeness from
an official.
At the same time when any attempt was made to infringe on the rights of
the British Government or its subjects, I spoke in very unmistakable
language. I think the Durbar gave me credit for good intentions and
appreciated my desire to work with them; of course they tried to get
all they could out of me, and it was a daily, but, on the whole,
friendly struggle between us. I knew perfectly well that to exalt
themselves, the Court party spoke of me behind my back in disparaging
terms, and boasted of what they could do, and of their independence
of the British Government, but I was quite satisfied that they did
not believe what they said, and that in all important matters they
deferred to me on every point, and were always coming to me to help
them out of difficulties. I kept in mind Colonel McCulloch's wise
saying to the Rajah: "I don't care what you say of me, so long as
you do as I tell you."