or are obliged to attend daily at particular offices, &c., ride on
_tanians_; which, though not to be termed quiet, are far more so than
_tattoos_ in general. These good folks abominate a _trot_, as being
uneasy and heating; and not one of them would so far demean himself as
to be seen gallopping! This has given rise to the general adoption of
that unnatural, but very easy, pace called the ‘amble,’ in which a horse
moves the fore and hinder feet of the same side at one time. It is
singular, that this mode of going should be so pleasant in a horse,
when, in the elephant, whose natural mode of gait it is, there should
result from it the only inconvenience with which the motion of that
animal is attended.
_Tanians_ rarely exceed thirteen hands in height, but their powers are
wonderfully great; they are capable of enduring great fatigue, and,
though by no means sightly in a chariot, will perform journies equal to
what might be expected from larger animals. In general, they are rather
fiery, but, by gentle usage, shew sufficient coolness and temper for
most purposes. Like most mountain-bred horses, they are sure-footed,
and, when left to themselves, pick the best road with great
circumspection; proceeding at an easy pace, which they will keep up for
many hours. I know not of any breed better qualified for drawing a light
small chaise, where great speed is not wanted; but figure must be out of
the question.
The _Serissah_, or _Durbungah-tazee_, derives its name from the places
where great numbers are bred. These horses are generally of a light
make, and, when young, promise to turn out well; but, as they approach
their full standard, lose many good points, and, for the most part,
become rather vicious. They are, however, extremely serviceable as
hacks, and generally make good hog-hunters: occasionally, valuable
horses are found among them; and it is to be hoped, that, as the
Company’s stalions are let out at low rates, to cover such good mares as
may be tendered at their stud, there will soon be effected an immense
improvement in the general stock of North Bahar.
This, in fact, seems to be one of the prominent features in the
establishment of the stud, and promises to become very conspicuously
successful; though it is to be lamented, that the native breeders, owing
to a want of liberal ideas, and of expanded views, are too apt to adopt
that narrow policy, which prompts to the doing that badly for sixpence,
which may be well done for a penny more! Time will probably overcome
such an absurd system, and convince them that the payment of a few
rupees, or the subscribing to certain regulations, adopted for the
general improvement of property, so far from being detrimental, are the
surest means of obtaining a substantial profit, in the most speedy
manner.
There are annual fairs, called _maylahs_, in various parts of the
country, where the horses of this breed (_i.e._ _serissahs_,) are
exhibited in immense numbers. The greater part of them are exposed
annually at Buxar, and are purchased by the natives, either for their
own use, or for re-sale in various parts. It is curious, but true, that,
some years ago, a great number of horses that had been taken from
Durbungah into the Maharrattah country, were purchased there for the
supply of the Company’s regiments. Formerly, the immense body of cavalry
paid by the Nabob Vizier of Oude, used to be mounted by horses from
North Bahar, but, since that worthless gang have been sent ‘to the right
about,’ the demand created by that establishment has been almost wholly
done away. Still, however, the prices have not, so far as I can learn,
fallen: they probably are upheld by our encreased strength of cavalry
regiments.
The price of a _serissah_ is not to be easily defined; a very large
portion of them sell for less than one hundred, while some reach as high
as six hundred, rupees: at a medium, we may affix a hundred and fifty
rupees at a fair standard, if the purchase be made at a fair, but, if
second-hand, from a horse-dealer, from fifty to a hundred per cent, may
be added. I have known very handsome sets, of four and six, purchased at
Buxar, averaging fifteen hands and a half, that were purchased for about
two hundred rupees each, and re-sold, _to friends_, for five and six
hundred, a few weeks after!
The horses in highest estimation are chiefly imported from the Punjab,
and from Persia, by regular dealers, who come down to our north-west
frontier annually, after the rains, accompanied by many camels,
generally of an excellent breed, which, besides conveying the tents,
&c., of the party, bear heavy burthens of shawls, dried fruits, and,
occasionally, cats of the most beautiful description. Such gentlemen as
wish for horses of great strength, ordinarily purchase _toorkies_;
which, being extremely stout, and phlegmatic, answer well for persons of
great weight, and of timid disposition.
The Persian horses have generally a finer shoulder, and attain a better
standard, than the _toorky_, which rarely measures fifteen hands, and,
in general, may be about fourteen: both kinds are remarkable for heavy,
lob-ears, and are always well advanced in years before they are brought
for sale. Even under that great drawback, they commonly sell for eight
hundred, or a thousand, rupees, and, when of a handsome color, well
formed, and of a good size, will produce from fifteen hundred, to three
thousand, rupees.
The _jungle-tazee_, which is bred in the Punjab, or Seik country, is, in
general, handsome, and spirited. These come at an earlier age, as does
the _majennis_, which is bred in the same quarter, and is usually the
offspring of a _jungle-tazee_ horse, with a Persian or _toorky_ mare; or
_vice versâ_. Both these kinds may be rated as rising to full fifteen
hands; and their prices are usually on a par with the _toorky_.
It is highly necessary, when purchasing of a native dealer, to look very
accurately into every matter relating to soundness, and quietness. Those
gentry are admirable jockies, and commonly administer such doses of
opium to their vicious cattle, as cause them for a while to appear
pre-eminently passive; a circumstance easily detected, by insisting on
the animal being left under charge of the purchaser’s own _syce_,
(_i.e._ groom,) for a day or two, before the money is paid.
When making bargains with European gentlemen, the whole of the
transactions are generally overt, and free from disguise, but, when
native is opposed to native, the affair is conducted with much assumed
mystery. A cloth is laid over the knees of the seller and purchaser, as
they squat _vis a vis_ on the ground close together; the _hookah_ is
introduced, and resorted to, whenever any little difference takes place:
at other times, the parties have each one hand, generally the right,
under the cloth, when, by means of pressures on the palms, which denote
hundreds, and of the fingers, which denote, in their due order, 20, 40,
60, and 80, speedily understand each other very fully. This affectation
is carried to such an extent, that I have seen nearly a whole day passed
in keeping up the farce, though afterwards it was divulged to me, as a
great secret, that the bargain had been made during the first five
minutes; but the seller was desirous to uphold a character for being
very tenacious of the sum originally demanded!
Almost every light-colored horse, such as a grey, or a dun, has its tail
stained for many inches near the tip with _mindy_, (_i.e._ _hinna_,) as
used by the ladies of Hindostan: generally, a ring of the same is added
about two inches above, and of about two inches in depth. On account of
the inconvenience and heat attendant upon the retention of full manes,
which are considered indispensable towards the beauty of a horse, it is
usual to braid them with silk, or thread ties, of various colors,
chiefly red, or yellow: the practice certainly has the intended effect,
but causes a large portion of the mane to fall off. The hair of the tail
is never cut by a native, and but rarely by an European; on account of
the millions of gad-flies, which, but for such a defence, would irritate
the animal greatly, and occasion him to fall off, both from his
condition, and his food.
The stables for horses should be amply spacious, and covered with
thatch, in preference to tiles, which throw too great heat into the
interior. The head-ropes, which commonly branch out from the head-stall
in different directions angularly forward, ought to be substantial, and
rather long than limitted. The heel-ropes ought to be full twenty feet
in length, and kept a little off the ground, by a small bar, or prop, to
prevent their being rotted by the wet. One end of each heel-rope is
furnished with a loop of rather thinner and softer rope, plaited flat,
so as not to injure the pastern, round which it loops on. But for such
preventives, the _syces_ dare not rub down their cattle; which would,
besides, fight desperately, unless thus restrained.
Stalls of plank are by no means suited to the climate, nor would they
offer any defence against the horses of India, very few of which are
castrated. The best, but, at the same time, very insufficient, device,
is the placing of swinging bars between the horses severally; even these
are no restraint, further than limitting a horse in case he should get
loose; a circumstance instantly announced by the tremendous uproar
occasioned by such an accident, which but rarely occurs.
On account of the extreme danger to which horses are subjected by the
frequency of fires, it is advisable that every stable, especially if
thatched, should have a range of water-pots placed along the ridge.
These should always be kept full of water, to be at the disposal of men
sent up to sprinkle the thatch, and to extinguish whatever flakes may
fall upon it; but, in case the thatch itself should accidentally take
fire, before any person can mount to distribute the water, then the pots
should be broken, by means of clods, poles, or whatever means may offer
under such emergency.
The horse-dealers from the Punjab, and from Persia, may be said to lay
the Company’s provinces under annual contribution; since it is
ascertained, that, one year with another, they take back bills, cash, or
goods, (generally the former,) to the full amount of four lacs of rupees
(£50,000). For this they deliver from five to six hundred horses, of
which nine in ten are aged, some dried fruits, Persian cats, and shawls,
the whole intrinsic value of which, or at least the prime cost and
duties payable on the way, cannot exceed one-fourth of that sum. In
truth, the duties, which are rigorously exacted by various petty
princes, &c., through whose territories they must pass, form the greater
portion even of that share of the booty. Yet do the venerable dealers in
horse-flesh always plead poverty, and that they have made so very bad a
trip, that, on their return home, their affairs must go to ruin:
however, they make a shift to come down, year after year, though buying
and selling to so much loss!
In selling horses, it is customary to describe their several _casts_,
the same as those of the people of India; thus, an auctioneer advertises
a _toorky_, or a _majennis_ ‘of high _cast_,’ to be sold on such a day.
The term may, however, be considered as rather technical, and at least
as arbitrary in its meaning, as when our British knights of the hammer
puff off some hovel, crammed into a corner, where no one would have
dreamt of seeing an edifice, as ‘a capital mansion, undeniably
situated!’ It must, at the same time, be acknowledged, that Asiatic
advertisements do not require to be so cautiously accepted, _cum grano
salis_, as those catch-penny notices, which not only attract the eye
directly, but are literally supported by insidious puffs interspersed
among the news of the day.
The extravagant price to which all articles of horse furniture have at
times risen in India, operated as a considerable injury to the European
manufacturer, who rarely makes much profit on goods intended for
exportation. Within the last thirty years, numbers of persons, both
European and native, have established themselves as saddlers and
harness-makers. At first they were not much encouraged, owing to a
belief very generally prevalent, that leather tanned in India was
inferior to that exported from this country.
That objection did not stand its ground; for it was soon ascertained
that the bark of the _baubool_ (_mimoza_) was at least equal to that of
the oak; and that the leather prepared therewith by several Europeans,
who had constructed tan-pits, on a large scale, was both equal to, and
full fifty per cent. cheaper than, what the ships conveyed to India.
Thenceforward, all the leather-work of the carriages built in India,
some of which might vie with any to be seen in Europe, was done with
country hides. Shoe-makers, both European and native, resorted to the
same means of supply, and offered both boots and shoes of the best
prepared leather, the want of which had, for a long time, caused the
very neat shoes made for about a shilling the pair, by the latter class,
to be held in little estimation.
Saddlers and harness-makers have appeared, whose labors have proved
eminently valuable; their materials, and their work, being alike
excellent. I must here be understood to confine my approbation to the
articles manufactured from leather tanned in a regular manner, and not
that paltry brown-paper-like rubbish manufactured in pots and pans by
indigent natives, who often work up a skin within the third or fourth
day after its being stripped from some starved sheep, or goat; but which
leather may always be distinguished by a narrow streak of white, that
is, of raw hide, remaining in the middle of its thickness.
Saddles made of such crude materials, but in every other respect by no
means to be condemned, may be had at Monghyr, where also bits and
bridles are made with singular neatness, for about ten rupees (25
shillings); but those of superior materials, and made under the
inspection of an European, will cost full as much, or perhaps more, then
the sums ordinarily paid in London for saddles, &c., of prime quality,
and high finish.
The climate is extremely adverse to the tanner, inasmuch as there is
great difficulty in obtaining an ample stock of raw hides; owing to the
consumption of beef and mutton being confined to the European, and to
the Mahomedan parts of the population; and to the great difficulty of
conveying the skins to the pits before incipient fermentation may become
obvious, and disqualify them for the purpose.
That leather might, with great advantage to both countries, be sent from
India to Europe, cannot be doubted: the great difficulty would be to
furnish such a quantity as might render the trade an object. According
to the present high prices, it would almost be worth while to buy cattle
in India, for the purpose of sending their hides and tallow to market in
England. As to the benefits to arise to the state, they are too obvious
to require pointing out.
A person who might have quitted India about thirty years ago, when the
generality of articles of almost every description in use among
Europeans, were sent from England; and when only one or two European
tailors were to be seen in all Bengal; when, also, a news-paper was
scarcely in existence, would now, on landing in that country, be
astonished at the improvements made in various branches of manufacture:
he would contemplate the advance made in the mechanical arts as the
certain fore-runner of independence; and he would view the columns of
the several news-papers published at Calcutta, in all fourteen, (besides
magazines, &c.,) whose columns teem with advertisements on a large
scale: these he would view as the paramount results of great enterprize,
founded upon extensive capitals, and backed by an almost unlimitted
credit.
The news-papers are generally published once or twice weekly, at about a
rupee each; most days of the week bring forth two papers, in which the
price of advertising is generally eight annas, (_i.e._ half a rupee, or
15_d._,) for each line: as the type is rather large, the expence of
advertisements must, in some great houses, prove a conspicuous item
among the disbursements.
In this particular, the Hindostanee, or rather the Persian, news-papers
are miserably deficient; as, indeed, they are in whatever should be the
contents of a publication devoted to the important purposes of
mercantile, or of political, intelligence. Far from containing a single
advertisement, or from communicating any matter relative to the arts,
these bulletins, for I can call them nothing better, are penned by
persons about the several native courts, according to the whim of a
sycophant, or to the mere tattle in the suburbs of a city; nay, they are
often manufactured hundreds of miles from the places whence they are
supposed to emanate, and contain accounts of battles and sieges,
capitulations and defeats, halts and marches, known to the fabricators
only; who, in whatever relates to invention, contradiction, and
re-contradiction, absolutely surpass those industrious wights that
supply our British news-mongers with paragraphs of the highest
importance, accidents, murders, &c., &c., at the cheap rate of ten
shillings per dozen!
There being no presses in use among the natives, every communication,
whether private or public, must be manuscript; hence, the profession of
scribe is, in some places, no bad livelihood; especially at Delhi,
which, being the ancient seat of government, and the immediate residence
of a nominal king, commonly called ‘The Great Mogul,’ supplies every
quarter of India with _Akbars_, (_i.e._ news-papers,) written in the
Persian language and character, on long narrow slips of a paper
manufactured in India, either from bamboos, reeds, or cotton-wool. These
slips are rolled up to about an inch in width, and, being enclosed in a
small cover pasted together, are despatched, with the shew of great
importance, to the several quarters of Hindostan, under the pompous idea
of their being every where in high estimation.
The only paper published by authority in Bengal, is the Calcutta
Gazette, which is usually replete with advertisements for the sale of
lands, printed in English, Persian, and Bengalese: as to news, or useful
essays, &c., it is uncommonly sterile. Private advertisements in this
paper are extravagantly dear, in consequence of the obligation imposed
on all collectors, &c., to take it in; whereby one copy at least is
received at every civil station, however small.
The advertisements for the sale of lands, above alluded to, have sprung
from the adoption of what is called the _Mocurrery_ system, which
originated with Mr. Thomas Law, formerly collector of Bahar, and now
settled in America. That plan certainly wore a very specious appearance;
because it purported to be a perpetual adjustment of the rents, which
were before subject to augmentation, and held out to the land-holders
the comforting assurance of being considered on a footing with
proprietors in fee-simple, so long as they should pay the rents as
settled by the _Mocurrery_ agreement.
While the plan was in agitation, and under the consideration of Marquis
Cornwallis, by whom it was adopted, the Board of Revenue, to which it
was, _pro forma_, submitted, made several very sensible and cogent
remarks, which, however, had not the effect of causing it to be
abandoned. Time has fully justified the objections stated by that Board,
at which the present Lord Teignmouth, then Mr. Shore, presided; and we
find, after many years of experiment, that, without reaping the smallest
advantage themselves, the Company appear bound to perpetuate a
resignation of their rights as proprietors of the soil, and of their
interests as a body rationally entitled to derive an augmentation of
rent, in proportion as the produce of the soil may become more valuable,
and more abundant.
This discussion has led me to the consideration of a most important
topic; viz. the _Revenue of Bengal_, of which, and its manner of
collection, I shall endeavor to give a summary; first presenting my
readers with a copy of the _Mocurrery_, or permanent system.
BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL.
----------
=Proclamation.=
_To the_ Zemindars, Independent Talookdars, _and other_ actual
Proprietors of Land, _paying Revenue to Government, in the Provinces
of_ Bengal, Bahar, _and_ Orissa.
ARTICLE I.
In the original regulations for the decennial settlement of the Public
Revenues of _Bengal_, _Bahar_, and _Orissa_, passed for these provinces
respectively, on the 18th day of September, 1789, the 25th day of
November, 1789, and the 10th day of February, 1790, it was notified to
the _proprietors of land_ with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement might
be concluded, that the jumma assessed upon their lands under those
regulations, would be continued after the expiration of the ten years,
and remain unalterable for ever, provided such continuance should meet
with the approbation of the Honorable Court of Directors for the affairs
of the East India Company, and not otherwise.
ARTICLE II.
The Marquis Cornwallis, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter,
Governor-General in Council, now notifies to all Zemindars, Talookdars,
and other actual proprietors of land, paying revenue to Government, in
the provinces of _Bengal_, _Bahar_, and _Orissa_, that he has been
empowered by the Honorable Court of Directors, for the affairs of the
East India Company, to declare the jumma which has been, or may be,
assessed upon their lands, under the regulations above mentioned, FIXED
FOR EVER.
ARTICLE III.
The Governor-General in Council accordingly declares to the Zemindars,
&c., with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement has been concluded under
the regulations above mentioned, that, at the expiration of the term of
the settlement, no alteration will be made in the assessment which they
have respectively engaged to pay; but that they, and their heirs, and
lawful successors, will be allowed to hold their estates at such an
assessment, FOR EVER.
ARTICLE IV.
The lands of some Zemindars, &c., having been held _k’has_,[A] or let in
farm, in consequence of their refusing to pay the assessment required of
them, under the regulations above mentioned, the Governor-General in
Council now notifies to the Zemindars, &c., whose lands are held
_k’has_, that they shall be restored to the management of their lands,
upon their agreeing to the payment of the assessment, which has been, or
may be, required of them, in conformity to the regulations above
mentioned, and that no alteration shall hereafter be made in that
assessment, but that they, and their heirs, and lawful successors, shall
be permitted to hold their respective estates at such an assessment FOR
EVER: and he declares to the Zemindars, &c., whose lands have been let
in farm, that they shall not regain possession of their lands before the
expiration of the period for which they have been farmed, (unless the
farmers shall voluntarily consent to make over to them the remaining
term of their lease, and the Governor-General in Council shall approve
of the transfer,) but, that, at the expiration of that period, upon
their agreeing to the payment of the assessment which may be required of
them, they shall be re-instated, and that no alteration shall afterwards
be made in the assessment; but that they, and their heirs, and lawful
successors, shall be allowed to hold their respective estates at such an
assessment FOR EVER.
Footnote A:
In hand, or in trust.
ARTICLE V.
In the event of the proprietary right in lands that are, or may, become
the property of Government, being transferred to individuals, such
individuals, and their heirs, and lawful successors, shall be permitted
to hold the lands, at the assessment at which they maybe transferred,
FOR EVER.
ARTICLE VI.