Colonel Sleeman thus described a dacoity in the town of Narsinghpur
when he was in charge of that District: [43] "In February 1822,
in the dusk of the evening, a party of about thirty persons, with
nothing seemingly but walking-sticks in their hands, passed the
piquet of sepoys on the bank of the rivulet which separates the
cantonment from the town of Narsinghpur. On being challenged by
the sentries they said they were cowherds and that their cattle were
following close behind. They walked up the street; and coming opposite
the houses of the most wealthy merchants, they set their torches
in a blaze by blowing suddenly on pots filled with combustibles,
stabbed everybody who ventured to move or make the slightest noise,
plundered the houses, and in ten minutes were away with their booty,
leaving about twelve persons dead and wounded on the ground. No trace
of them was discovered." Another well-known exploit of the Badhaks
was the attack on the palace of the ex-Peshwa, Baji Rao, at Bithur
near Cawnpore. This was accomplished by a gang of about eighty men,
who proceeded to the locality in the disguise of carriers of Ganges
water. Having purchased a boat and a few muskets to intimidate
the guard they crossed the Ganges about six miles below Bithur,
and reached the place at ten o'clock at night; and after wounding
eighteen persons who attempted resistance they possessed themselves
of property, chiefly in gold, to the value of more than two and a
half lakhs of rupees; and retiring without loss made their way in
safety to their homes in the Oudh forests. The residence of this
gang was known to a British police officer in the King of Oudh's
service, Mr. Orr, and after a long delay on the part of the court
an expedition was sent which recovered a portion of the treasure
and captured two or three hundred of the Badhaks. But none of the
recovered property reached the hands of Baji Rao and the prisoners
were soon afterwards released. [44] Again in 1839, a gang of about
fifty men under a well-known leader, Gajraj, scaled the walls of
Jhansi and plundered the Surafa or bankers' quarter of the town for
two hours, obtaining booty to the value of Rs. 40,000, which they
carried off without the loss of a man. The following account of this
raid was obtained by Colonel Sleeman from one of the robbers: [45]
"The spy (_hirrowa_) having returned and reported that he had found a
merchant's house in Jhansi which contained a good deal of property,
we proceeded to a grove where we took the auspices by the process
of _akut_ (counting of grains) and found the omens favourable. We
then rested three days and settled the rates according to which the
booty should be shared. Four or five men, who were considered too
feeble for the enterprise, were sent back, and the rest, well armed,
strong and full of courage, went on. In the evening of the fourth day
we reached a plain about a mile from the town, where we rested to take
breath for an hour; about nine o'clock we got to the wall and remained
under it till midnight, preparing the ladders from materials which we
had collected on the road. They were placed to the wall and we entered
and passed through the town without opposition. A marriage procession
was going on before us and the people thought we belonged to it. We
found the bankers' shops closed. Thana and Saldewa, who carried the
axes, soon broke them open, while Kulean lighted up his torch. Gajraj
with twenty men entered, while the rest stood posted at the different
avenues leading to the place. When all the property they could find
had been collected, Gajraj hailed the god Hanuman and gave orders for
the retreat. We got back safely to Mondegri in two days and a half,
and then reposed for two or three days with the Raja of Narwar,
with whom we left five or six of our stoutest men as a guard, and
then returned home with our booty, consisting chiefly of diamonds,
emeralds, gold and silver bullion, rupees and about sixty pounds
of silver wire. None of our people were either killed or wounded,
but whether any of the bankers' people were I know not."