A GENERAL VIEW OF THE INDUS.
~Inland navigation to Lahore.~
There is an uninterrupted navigation from the sea to Lahore. The
distance, by the course of the river, amounts to about a thousand
British miles: the following papers detail its practicability with
minuteness, but not more so, I trust, than the great importance of the
subject deserves. They also describe the state of the countries and
people.
~Depth of water.~
The Indus, when joined by the Punjab rivers, never shallows, in the
dry season, to less than fifteen feet, and seldom preserves so great
a breadth as half a mile. The Chenab, or Acesines, has a medium depth
of twelve feet, and the Ravee, or Hydräotes, is about half the size
of that river. These are the minima of soundings on the voyage; but
the usual depth of the three rivers cannot be rated at less than four,
three, and two fathoms. The soundings of each day’s voyage are shown by
the figures on the map.[16]
~Boats.~
This extensive inland navigation, open as I have stated it to be, can
_only_ be considered traversable to the boats of the country, which
are flat bottomed, and do not draw more than four feet of water, when
heavily laden. The largest of these carry about seventy-five tons
English: science and capital might improve the build of these vessels;
but in extending our commerce, or in setting on foot a flotilla, the
present model would ever be found most convenient. Vessels of a sharp
build are liable to upset when they run aground on the sand-banks.
Steam-boats could ply, if constructed after the manner of the country,
but no vessel with a keel could be safely navigated.
~Period of a voyage to Lahore.~
The voyage from the sea to Lahore occupied exactly sixty days; but
the season was most favourable, as the south-westerly winds had set
in, while the stronger inundations of the periodical swell had not
commenced. We reached Mooltan on the fortieth day, and the remaining
time was expended in navigating the Ravee, which is a most crooked
river. The boats sailed from sunrise to sunset, and, when the wind was
unfavourable, were dragged by ropes through the water.
~Steam most available for the Indus.~
There are no rocks or rapids to obstruct the ascent, and the current
does not exceed two miles and a half an hour. Our daily progress
sometimes averaged twenty miles, by the course of the river; for a
vessel can be haled against the current at the rate of one mile and a
half an hour. With light breezes we advanced two miles an hour, and in
strong gales we could stem the river at the rate of three miles. Steam
would obviate the inconveniences of this slow and tedious navigation;
and I do not doubt but Mooltan might be reached in ten, instead of
forty days. From that city a commercial communication could best be
opened with the neighbouring countries.
~Return voyage.~
A boat may drop down from Lahore to the sea in fifteen days, as
follows:--to Mooltan in six, to Bukkur in four, to Hydrabad in three,
and to the seaports in two. This is, of course, the very quickest
period of descent; and I may add, that it has never been of late tried,
for there is no trade between Sinde and the Punjab by water.
~Political obstacles to trading on the Indus.~
There are political obstacles to using the Indus as a channel of
commerce. The people and princes are ignorant and barbarous: the former
plunder the trader, and the latter over-tax the merchant, so that goods
are sent by land, and by circuitous routes: this absence of trade
arises from no physical obstacles, and is to be chiefly traced to the
erroneous policy of the Sinde government. There are about 700 boats
between the sea and Lahore; and this number suffices for ferrying, and
all other purposes.
~Military importance of the Indus.~
The defence of the Indus, the grand boundary of British India on
the West, is nowise affected by these trifling impediments, and we
can command its navigation without obstruction from both Cutch and
the Sutledge. The military advantages of the Indus are great: it is
navigable for a fleet from Attok to the sea. The insulated fortress of
Bukkur is a most important position.
FOOTNOTE:
[16] These have been necessarily omitted in the reduced map.
CHAP. II.
A COMPARISON OF THE INDUS AND GANGES.
I have recorded with care and attention the information which I have
collected regarding the Indus and its tributaries; yet the magnitude
of that river must be decided by a comparison with the other great
rivers of the world. An European, in the East, may appropriately narrow
his field, and confine such a comparison to its great twin river, the
Ganges, which, with the Indus, folds, as it were, in the embrace our
mighty empire of British India. At this time, too, in a publication
which has appeared at Calcutta, by Mr. G. A. Prinsep, regarding the
introduction of steam navigation into India, we have late and valuable
matter, both of an interesting and scientific nature, regarding the
peculiarities of the Ganges; which, with the previous papers of Rennell
and Colebrooke, afford very precise information regarding that river.
I have ventured, therefore, however incompetent, to lay down the
observations that have occurred to me regarding the Indus, that the
requisite comparison might be instituted.
The Ganges and Indus, rising in the same mountains, traverse, with
an unequal length of course, the same latitudes: both rivers, though
nearly excluded from the tropics, are yet subject to be annually
flooded at a stated and the same period. The quantity of water,
therefore, which these rivers respectively discharge, will determine
their relative size; and we shall afterwards consider the slope or
fall by which they descend to the ocean. Sicriguli, on the Ganges,
and Tatta, on the Indus, seem to be the preferable sites for drawing
a comparison, since both places are situated at a point _before_ the
rivers have subdivided to form a delta, and _after_ they have each
received the whole of their tributary streams. The Indus certainly
throws off two branches above Tatta, the Fulailee and Pinyaree; but
they are only considerable rivers in the rainy season.
It appears, then, from Mr. G. A. Prinsep’s essay, that in the month of
April the Ganges discharges, at Sicriguli, about 21,500 cubic feet of
water in a second. The average breadth of the river at that place is
given at 5000 feet, which is also the velocity in a second of time;
while its average depth does not exceed three feet. That in this result
we form a pretty correct estimate of the magnitude of the Ganges, is
further proved by the state of the river at Benares in the same month
(April), where, though contracted to a breadth of 1400 feet, the depth
exceeds thirty-four feet, and the discharge amounts to 20,000 cubic
feet per second, which differs in but a trifling degree from that at
Sicriguli.
In the middle of April, I found the Indus at Tatta to have a breadth
of 670 yards, and to be running with a velocity of two miles and a
half an hour. It happens that the banks are steep on both sides of the
river in this part of its course; so that the soundings, which amount
to fifteen feet, are regular from shore to shore, if we except a few
yards on either side, where the water is still. This data would give
a discharge of 110,500 cubic feet per second; but by Buat’s equations
for the diminished velocity of the stream near the bed, compared with
that of the surface, it would be decreased to 93,465 cubic feet. Some
further deduction should be made for the diminished depth towards the
shores; and 80,000 cubic feet per second may be taken as a fair rate
of discharge of the Indus in the month of April.[17] It is a source of
regret to me that I am unable to extend my observations to the river
during the rainy season; but I had not an opportunity of seeing it
at that period, and do not desire to place opinion in opposition to
fact. I may mention, however, that at Sehwun, where the Indus is 500
yards wide, and thirty-six feet deep, and sweeping with great velocity
the base of a rocky buttress that juts in upon the stream, there is a
mark on the precipice which indicates a rise of twelve feet during the
inundation. This gives a depth of eight fathoms to this part of the
Indus in the rainy season. If I could add the increase of width on as
sound data as I have given the perpendicular rise or depth of water,
we should be able to determine the ratio between its discharge at the
opposite seasons; but I have only the vague testimony of the natives to
guide me, and dismiss the subject.
From what has been above stated, it will be seen that the Indus, in
discharging the enormous volume, of 80,000 cubic feet of water in a
second, exceeds by _four times_ the size of the Ganges in the dry
season, and nearly equals the great American river, the Mississippi.
The much greater length of course in the Indus and its tributaries,
among towering and snowy mountains near its source, that must always
contribute vast quantities of water, might have prepared us for the
result; and it is not extraordinary, when we reflect on the wide area
embraced by some of these minor rivers, and the lofty and elevated
position from which they take their rise: the Sutledge, in particular,
flows from the sacred Lake of Mansurour, in Tibet, 17,000 feet above
the sea. The Indus traverses, too, a comparatively barren and deserted
country, thinly peopled and poorly cultivated; while the Ganges expends
its waters in irrigation, and blesses the inhabitants of its banks with
rich and exuberant crops. The Indus, even in the season of inundation,
is confined to its bed by steeper and more consistent banks than the
other river; and, as I have stated, seldom exceeds half a mile in
width: the Ganges, on the other hand, is described as an inland sea in
some parts of its course; so that, at times, the one bank is scarcely
visible from the other,--a circumstance which must greatly increase
the evaporation. The arid and sandy nature of the countries that
border the Indus soon swallow up the overflowing waters, and make the
river more speedily retire to its bed. Moreover, the Ganges and its
subsidiary rivers derive their supply from the southern face of the
great Himalaya; while the Indus receives the torrents of either side
of that massy chain, and is further swollen by the showers of Cabool
and the rains and snow of Chinese Tartary. Its waters are augmented
long before the rainy season has arrived; and, when we look at the
distant source of the river, to what cause can we attribute this early
inundation but to melting snow and ice?
The slope on which the Indus descends to the ocean would appear to be
gentle, like that of most great rivers. The average rate of its current
does not exceed two miles and a half an hour; while the whole of the
Punjab rivers, which we navigated on the voyage at Lahore, were found
to be one full mile in excess of the Indus. We readily account for
this increased velocity by their proximity to the mountains; and it
will serve as a guide in estimating the fall of the river. The city of
Lahore stands at a distance of about 1000 British miles from the sea,
by the course of the river; and I am indebted to Dr. J. G. Gerard, for
a series of barometrical observations, made some years ago at Umritsir,
a city about thirty miles eastward of Lahore.
The mean of eighteen of these observations
gives us the height of the
barometer at 28,861·3
The corresponding observations at Calcutta
give 29,711·5
--------
Making a difference of 850·2
--------
I am informed that the height of the instrument registered in Calcutta
may be twenty-five feet above the level of the sea; and as the city of
Umritsir is about the same level as Lahore (since both stand on the
plains of the Punjab), it must have an elevation of about 900 feet from
the sea.
Having now stated the sum of our knowledge regarding this subject,
it remains to be considered in what, and how great a proportion, the
slope is to be distributed among the rivers from Lahore downwards. By
a comparison with the Ganges in Rennell’s work, and the late treatise
to which I have alluded, and assisted by the same scientific gentleman,
to whom I have before expressed my obligations, we cannot give a
greater fall downwards from Mittun, where the Indus receives the Punjab
rivers, than six, or perhaps five, inches per mile: nor can we allow
more than one fourth of 900 feet as the height of that place above the
level of the sea; for the river has not increased here in velocity of
current, though we have neared the mountains. Mittun is half way to
Lahore, about 500 miles from the sea, and nearly 220 feet above it.
The remaining 680 feet we may fairly apportion to the Punjab rivers,
from their greater rapidity of course; which would give them a fall of
twelve inches per mile.
In these facts, we have additional proof of the greater bulk of the
Indus, as compared with the Ganges; when at the lowest, it retains a
velocity of two and a half miles, with a medial depth of fifteen feet,
and though running on as great, if not a greater slope than that river,
never empties itself in an equal degree, though much more straight in
its course. The Indus has none of those ledges, which have been lately
discovered as a peculiarity of the Ganges, and which are described
in Mr. Prinsep’s work as “making the bed of that river consist of a
series of pools, separated by shallows or sand-bars, at the crossing
of every reach.” Were the Indus as scantily supplied with water as the
Ganges, we should, doubtless, find a similar state of things; and,
though the bed of the one river would appear to far exceed in magnitude
that of the other, we find the Ganges partaking much of the nature of
a hill-torrent, overflowing at one season, insignificant at another;
while the Indus rolls on throughout the year, in one majestic body, to
the Ocean.
Before bringing these remarks on the Indus to a close, I wish to add
a few words regarding the effect of the tide on the two rivers. In
the Ganges it runs considerably above Calcutta, while no impression
of it is perceptible in the Indus twenty-five miles below Tatta, or
about seventy-five miles from the sea. We are either to attribute
this occurrence to the greater column of water resisting the approach
of the sea, “whose vanquished tide, recoiling from the shock, yields
to the liquid weight;” or to the descent of the delta of the one river
being greater than that of the other. The tide in the Indus certainly
runs off with incredible velocity, which increases as we near the sea.
It would appear that the greatest mean rise of tide in the Ganges is
twelve feet: I found that of the Indus to be only nine feet at full
moon; but I had, of course, no opportunity of determining the _mean_
rise of the tide as in the Ganges. The tides of Western India are known
to exceed those in the Bay of Bengal, as the construction of docks in
Bombay testifies; and I should be disposed to consider the rise at the
mouths of the Indus and Ganges to be much the same. Both rivers, from
the direction they fall into the ocean, must be alike subject to an
extraordinary rise of tide from gales and winds; and, with respect to
the whole coast of Sinde, the south-west monsoon blows so violently,
even in March, as to break the water at a depth of three or four
fathoms from the land, and long before its depressed shore is visible
to the navigator.
FOOTNOTE:
[17] In this part of my subject, I have to express my fullest
acknowledgments to Mr. James Prinsep, Secretary to the Asiatic Society
of Calcutta, who has kindly afforded me his valuable assistance.
CHAP. III.
ON SINDE.
~Sinde; its extent.~
The first territory which we meet in ascending the Indus is Sinde. The
subversion of the Cabool monarchy has greatly raised the political
importance of this country; and, while it has freed the rulers of it
from the payment of a yearly tribute, has enabled them to extend widely
the limits of their once circumscribed dominion. The principality is at
present in the zenith of its power, and comprises no less than 100,000
square miles, extending from the longitude of 69° to 71° east, and from
the latitude of 23° to 29° north. The Indian Ocean washes it on the
south, and a diagonal line of 400 miles is terminated a short distance
below the junction of the waters of the Punjab with the Indus. The
eastern portion of this fine territory is sterile and unproductive; but
the Indus fertilises its banks by the periodical swell, and the waters
are conducted by canals far beyond the limits of inundation.
~Its chiefs and revenue.~
The territory is divided among three different branches of the Belooche
tribe of Talpoor, who are nearly independent of one another. The
principal family resides at Hydrabad, at the head of which is Meer
Moorad Ali Khan, and, since the death of his three elder brothers, its
sole representative.[18] The next family of importance consists of the
descendants of Meer Sohrab Khan of Khyrpoor, whose son, Meer Roostum
Khan, is the reigning Ameer, and holds the fortress of Bukkur, with
the northern portion of Sinde. The third family, descended of Meer
Thara Khan, at the head of which is Ali Morad, resides at Meerpoor, and
possesses the country south-east of the capital. These three chiefs
are, properly speaking, the “Ameers of Sinde,” a name which has been
sometimes applied to the members of the Hydrabad family. The relative
importance of the Ameers is pointed out in their revenues: fifteen,
ten, and five lacs of rupees are the receipts of the different chiefs;
and their aggregate amount, thirty lacs of rupees, shows the annual
revenue of Sinde. The treasure, it is said, amounts to about twenty
millions sterling, thirteen of which are in money, and the remainder in
jewels. The greater portion of this cash lies deposited in the fort of
Hydrabad, and is divided between Moorad Ali and the wives of his late
brother, Kurm Ali.
~Its power and conquests.~
If we except the Seiks, the Ameers are more powerful than any of the
native princes to whose dominions the territories of Sinde adjoin; for
on every side they have seized and maintained by force the lands of
their neighbours. To the westward they hold Curachee as a conquest from
the chief of Lus, and are at present meditating an extension of their
boundary towards Sonmeeanee, that they may keep the trade to Candahar
entirely within their own dominions. To the north-west they seized
the fort of Bukkur, and the fertile territory of Shikarpoor, from
the Afghans; and, though it latterly belonged to the powerful family
of Barakzye (who now hold Cabool, Candahar, and Peshawur), they have
hitherto engaged in annual but fruitless attempts to retake it. A force
of 6000 men were encamped at Sewee, in the plains of Cutch Gundava,
when we passed Shikarpoor; but they were unable to meet the Sindians
in the field. On the north-east the Ameers hold Subzulcote and a large
portion of the Daoodpootra country. To the eastward, they captured the
fortress of Omercote, in 1813, from the Joodpoor Raja, and have since
pushed their troops far into that Prince’s territories. If we exclude a
portion of that country which belongs to Jaysulmeer, they now possess
the whole country south of that capital to the Runn of Cutch, Parkur
included. On the side of Cutch alone their progress has been arrested
by the British Government.
~Its military strength.~
The value of these conquests is greatly enhanced by the trifling
increase of expense which they have entailed on the government; for,
except in the forts of the Desert, neither garrisons nor troops are
kept in pay to protect them, while every attack endangering their
security has been hitherto successfully resisted. The conduct of the
Sindian in the field is brave; and if we are to judge by results,
he is superior to his neighbours. They parried off an inroad of one
formidable army from Cabool by a retreat to the Desert; and they
defeated a second with great slaughter in the vicinity of Shikarpoor.
Destitute as they are of discipline, and unable, assuredly, to cope
with regular troops, we must admit that they excel in the art of war
as practised by themselves and the adjacent nations. The Sindians,
unlike other Asiatics, pride themselves on being foot soldiers, and
they prefer the sword to the matchlock: their artillery, formidable in
number, is contemptible in strength; their cavalry does not deserve
the name: horses are scarce, and of a very diminutive breed. Various
surmises have been made regarding the strength of their army, but they
seem to me vague and indefinite; for every native who has attained the
years of manhood, the mercantile classes alone excepted, becomes a
soldier by the constitution of the government; and he derives his food
and support in time of peace from being pledged to give his services
in war. The host to be encountered is therefore a rabble, and, as
infantry, their swords would avail them but little in modern warfare
with an European nation. On an attack from the British Government, it
is probable that the rulers of Sinde, after a feeble resistance, would
betake themselves, with their riches, as of yore, to the Desert, a
retreat which would cost them, in this instance, their country. They
might foment for a while conspiracy and rebellion, but the misfortunes
of the house of Talpoor would excite compassion nowhere; for their
government is unpopular with their subjects, and dreaded, if not hated,
by the neighbouring nations.
In the decline of other Mahommedan states, the prosperity of Sinde has
exalted it in the eyes of foreigners.
~Its external policy.~
Of the princes bordering on Sinde, the Ameers have most intercourse
with Mehrab Khan, the Brahooee chief of Kelat and Gundava, who, like
themselves, was formerly a tributary of Cabool. By this alliance they
have skilfully interposed a courageous people together, with a strong
country between their territories and that kingdom. The Afghans have
endeavoured by bribes and promises to bring over the Kelat chief to
their interests, but he has not been hitherto persuaded, and professes
himself, on all occasions, ready to assist the Ameers in the protection
of that part of their frontier adjoining his dominions. He is related
by marriage to the Hydrabad Ameer; and the Brahooees and Beloochees,
considering themselves to be originally descended from one stock, may
be therefore supposed to have one common interest. With the Seiks at
Lahore there is no cordiality, and but little intercourse: they dread,
and with reason, Runjeet Sing’s power, and they are likewise anxious
to avoid giving offence to any of the Cabool family by a show of
friendship. They owe the Maharaja no allegiance, nor has he hitherto
exacted any; but it has not escaped their observation, that, of all the
countries which adjoin the Sindian dominions, there are none from which
an invasion can be so easily made as from the Punjab, and it is very
doubtful if they could withstand an attack conducted by the Seiks from
that quarter. With the Rajpoot chiefs on their eastern frontier their
intercourse is confined to the exchange of presents.
~Its internal state.~
The internal resources of Sinde are considerable; nor must we look to
the confined revenues of her rulers for an index to that wealth, as in
their struggle for supremacy, the Ameers received many favours from
their Belooch brethren, which have been repaid by large and numerous
grants of land. By deteriorating the value of what remained as their
own share, they hope to allay the cupidity of their neighbours. Trade
and agriculture languish in this land. The duties exacted on goods
forwarded by the Indus are so exorbitant that there is no merchandise
transported by that river, and yet some of the manufactures of Europe
were to be purchased as cheap at Shikarpoor as in Bombay. We are
informed in the Periplus of the Erythrean sea, that the traffic of
Sinde, when ruled by a powerful prince in the second century of the
Christian era, was most extensive, and it is even said to have been
considerable so late as the reign of Aurungzebe. The present rulers,
possessing as they do such unlimited authority over so wide a space,
might raise up a wealthy and commercial kingdom; but the river Indus
is badly situated for the trader, and has no mouth like the Ganges
accessible to large ships: it is separated, too, from India by an
inhospitable tract; and a very vigorous and energetic government could
alone protect commerce from being plundered by the Boordees, Moozarees,
and other hill tribes to the westward. The Indus can only become a
channel for commerce when the chiefs possessing it shall entertain more
enlightened notions. At present much of the fertile banks of this
river, so admirably adapted for agriculture, are only used for pasture.
Flocks and herds may be driven from the invader; but the productions of
the soil can only be reaped in due season, after care and attention.
I now proceed to describe the state of parties at present existing in
Sinde.
~The Hydrabad family.~
The Hydrabad family, from having been visited by several British
missions, is better known than any of the others. It includes the
southern portion, or what is called “Lower Sinde.” Since its first
establishment, in 1786, it has undergone great change; and the reins
of government, from being wielded by four brothers, have been left
without bloodshed in the hands of the last survivor. But the struggle
for dominion, so long warded off, has been bequeathed to a numerous
progeny; and on the death of Moorad Ali Khan, who has attained his
sixtieth year, the evil consequences of the founder of the family,
raising his brothers to an equality with himself, will be felt in a
disputed succession, and perhaps in civil war.[19] One Ameer died
without issue; two of them left sons who have now attained to manhood,
and the remaining Ameer has a family of five children, two of whom,
Noor Mahommed and Nusseer Khan, have for years past sat in durbar on an
equality with their cousins, Sobdar and Mahommed. The different parties
of these four young princes form so many separate factions in the court
of Sinde, and each uses that influence and policy which seems best
suited to advance its ends. Three of them, as the eldest descendants of
Ameers, might claim a right of sharing as their fathers; but the second
son of Moorad Ali Khan has greater weight than any of them, and the
government of the Ameers of Sinde could never, as it first stood, be
considered an hereditary one.
~Meer Nusseer Khan, and Meer Mahommed.~
Meer Nusseer Khan, to whose influence I have just alluded, has been
brought forward by his father in the intercourse with the British, and
though fourth in rank below the Ameer himself: he is the only person
who, with his father, addresses, on all occasions, and is addressed
by, the British Government. He openly professes his attachment to the
English, and informed me by letters, and in two public durbars, that
he had been the means of procuring a passage for the mission by the
Indus to Lahore. Strange as it may appear, it is said that his parent,
otherwise so jealous of the British, had strenuously advised this line
of procedure in his son; nor was it disguised from me by many who had
opportunities of knowing, that the Prince acted under the hope of
assistance from our Government when the hour of difficulty arrived.
Nusseer Khan maintains likewise a friendly intercourse with several
members of the fallen monarchy of Cabool; and while we were at Hydrabad
he was despatching presents to Kamran at Herat. This prince is a mild
and engaging man, much attached to the sports of the field. He has
more liberality than talent, and less prudence than becomes one in the
difficult part which he will shortly have to perform. His success will
depend on the possession of his father’s wealth, for money is the sinew
of war; and the good will of a venal people like the Sindians is not to
be retained by one who has spent his inheritance. Noor Mahommed, the
eldest brother of Nusseer Khan, cultivates a closer friendship with
the Seiks than any other of the Talpoor family, but he has neither
partisans nor ability to achieve an enterprise. He is, besides,
addicted to the grossest debauchery and the most odious vices; but it
is always to be remembered that he is the eldest son of the reigning
chief.
~Mahommed and Sobdar.~
Meer Mahommed seems to hope, and not without cause, that the services
of his father, Gholam Ali, will secure to him his rights. He sent a
messenger to me privately with an offer to enter into a secret treaty
with the British Government, which I declined for obvious reasons.
Sobdar is the rightful heir of Moorad Ali, being the eldest son of the
founder of the house. He is no favourite with the Ameers; but, besides
a treasure of three millions sterling, and lands which yield him three
lacs of rupees annually, he has many chiefs and partisans, who cling
to him from a remembrance of his father’s virtues. He is, too, the
ablest “scion of the stock,” and by one rebellion has already asserted
his rights. The contest will probably lie between Sobdar and Nusseer
Khan; and if these two choose to govern as those who preceded them,
they may revive the title and retain the power of the Ameers of Sinde.
At present, Meer Sobdar conceals his plans and intentions from dread
of his uncle; and I may mention, as a specimen of Sindian jealousy,
that because I asked several times after his health (according to the
formality of this court), seeing him seated on the right hand of the
Ameer, he was displaced at our second interview to make room for Meer
Nusseer Khan. Should Moorad Ali attain “a good old age” these opinions
may prove fallacious, as the stage will then be occupied by other
competitors, who are at present in their childhood, and from among whom
some one, more daring than his relations, may meet with success and
power.
~The Khyrpoor family.~
The Khyrpoor chief, Meer Roostum Khan, succeeded to his father, who
was killed in 1830 by a fall from a balcony. He is about fifty years
of age, and has five sons and two brothers. This family is so numerous
that there are at present forty male members of it alive, descended in
a right line from Meer Sohrab Khan. The chief maintains greater state
than the Hydrabad family. The territory is extensive and productive,
extending on the east bank from a short distance above Sehwun to the
latitude of 28° 30´ north, and on the west bank from Shikarpoor to
within fifteen miles of Mittun, on the verge of the Punjab, skirting
to the westward the mountain of Gendaree and the plains of Cutch
Gundava. There is little cordiality existing between the Khyrpoor and
Hydrabad Ameers; and the breach has been lately increased by some
disputes relative to the duties on opium, of which the former have
hitherto, and in vain, claimed a share. The whole family expressed
themselves cordially attached to the British Government; and evinced,
by a continual succession of kindness, and even munificence towards
our party, that they were sincere in their sentiments: none of them
had ever before seen an European. The treasure, which amounts to three
millions of money, is held by Ali Moorad, the youngest brother of Meer
Roostum Khan, who having access to it, as the favourite son, seized
it on Sohrab’s death, and still retains it. With this exception, the
family are united, and have no subject of dissension.
The influence of the chief of Khyrpoor in the affairs of Sinde is
considerable. No undertaking which has reference to the well-being
of the country is planned without his being consulted; and hitherto
no operations have been carried on without his sanction. The refusal
of Meer Sohrab to enter into a war to protect the Daoodpootras, and
prevent encroachment by the Seiks, defeated the plans of the Ameers;
for though the families are independent of one another, they will only
act when united. Meer Roostum Khan is on much better terms with his
neighbours than the Hydrabad family: he has agents from the Jaysulmeer
and Beecaneer Rajas, and from the Daoodpootras, resident at his court,
and has more intercourse with the Seiks at Lahore. Meer Roostum is
prepared, however, on all occasions with his troops to protect from
invasion the boundaries of Sinde as they at present exist; and has
readily furnished his quota of troops when the Afghans have endeavoured
to retake Shikarpoor from the Hydrabad chief.
~Meerpoor family.~
The Meerpoor family, at the head of which is Ali Moorad, has the least
influence of the Sinde Ameers. His immediate vicinity to Hydrabad, and
his less fertile and more circumscribed boundary, have kept it more
under the subjection of the principal Ameer. The territory, however, is
exactly situated on the line of invasion for an army from Cutch; and
this Ameer might render material service to any expedition. The family
is allied to Sobdar; and will, in all probability, follow that prince’s
fortunes on a change of government.
~Condition of the people.~
With reference to the condition of the people in these different
chiefships, much has been said by various writers; and I would have
willingly passed it unnoticed, did not the means of observation, which
I enjoyed for so many months, lead me to dissent from some of their
opinions. The Sindians are passionate and proud; and all of them would
be considered deceitful, in so far as they praise and promise without
sincerity. Their passion proceeds from their savage ignorance, and
their pride from jealousy: their deceit does not deceive each other,
and, consequently, ought not to deceive a stranger. I found those
in my employ most honest and faithful servants, and passed from one
extremity of Sinde to another without any other guard than the natives
of the country, and without losing a trifle, though our boats were
boarded by crowds daily. The Sindians are governed by their princes,
after the spirit of the country; and if they could discern how much
the advantages of civil life, and the encouragement of industry and
art, rise superior to despotic barbarism, we might look upon Sinde and
her people in a different light: but these rulers, who seized it by
the sword, must be excused for so maintaining it. Where the principles
of honour are not understood (as has ever been too much the case in
Asiatic governments), men must be ruled by fear; and it is only as
the subject gets liberal and civilised, that he can appreciate the
advantages of free institutions, and deserves such or any share in
the government of his country. The inhabitants of Sinde are miserably
poor, both in the towns and villages; for when we except a few Belooche
chiefs, and some religious families, who are attached to the court,
there is no distributed wealth in the land but among a few Hindoo
merchants. The people of that tribe share no greater evils than their
Mahommedan brethren, and enjoy as much toleration and happiness as in
other Moslem governments. If they were formerly treated with rigour,
the age of fanaticism has passed; and the Hindoo Dewans of Sinde now
transact the entire pecuniary concerns of the state, while the Shroffs
and Banians, who are also Hindoos, pursue their vocations without
interruption, marry off their children, when they attain the prescribed
age, to inherit, after their demise, the substance which had been
realised by commerce.
~Its extent of population.~
It is difficult to fix the population of Sinde, and I bear in mind that
I have seen the fairest portion of the country in my progress through
it by the Indus. The large towns are neither numerous nor extensive:
Hydrabad, the capital, has about 20,000 people, but it is exceeded by
Shikarpoor: Tatta, Currachee, and Khyrpoor have 15,000 each; Meerpoor,
Hala, Sehwun, Larkhana, and Roree (with Sukkur), have each about
10,000; Muttaree, Ulyartando, and Subzul, with five or six others, have
5000 each; which gives a population of nearly 200,000 souls. The number
of people in the delta does not exceed 30,000; and the parts away from
the river, both to the east and west, are thinly peopled, for pastoral
countries are not populous. The villages within reach of the inundation
are, however, large and numerous; and, including the whole face of
the country, there cannot be less than a million of human beings. One
fourth of this number may be Hindoos; and the greater portion of the
Mahommedans are descended from converts to that religion.
FOOTNOTES:
[18] As this work is passing through the press, intelligence has
reached England of the death of this Ameer, which has been followed by
a civil war.
[19] The death of the last Ameer has amply verified such a supposition.
CHAP. IV.
ON THE MOUTHS OF THE INDUS.
~The Indus.~
The Indus, like the Nile and the Ganges, reaches the ocean by many
mouths, which, diverging from the parent stream, form a delta of rich
alluvium. At a distance of sixty miles from the sea, and about five
miles below the city of Tatta, this river divides into two branches.
The right arm is named Buggaur, and the left Sata. This separation is
as ancient as the days of the Greeks, and mentioned by the historians
of Alexander the Great.
~Two great branches forming its delta.~
Of these two branches, the left one, or Sata, pursues nearly a southern
course to the ocean, following the direction of the great river from
which it is supplied; while the right, or Buggaur, deviates at once
from the general track of the Indus, and reaches the sea, by a westerly
course, almost at right angles to its twin river.
~The Sata.~
The eastern branch, or Sata, is the larger of the two, and below the
point of division is one thousand yards wide: it now affords egress to
the principal body of the water; and though it divides and subdivides
itself into numerous channels, and precipitates its water into the sea
by no less than seven mouths within the space of thirty-five miles,
yet such is the violence of the stream, that it throws up sand banks or
bars, and only one of this many-mouthed arm is ever entered by vessels
of fifty tons. The water sent out to sea from them during the swell of
the river is fresh for four miles; and the Gora, or largest mouth, has
cast up a dangerous sand bank, which projects directly from the land
for fifteen miles.
~The Buggaur.~
The western arm, which is called Buggaur, on the other hand, flows
into one stream past Peer Putta, Bohaur, and Darajee, to within five
or six miles of the sea, when it divides into two navigable branches,
the Pittee and Pieteanee, which fall into the ocean about twenty-five
miles apart from each other. These are considered the two great mouths
of the Indus, and were frequented till lately by the largest native
boats. They are yet accessible, but for three years past the channel of
the Buggaur has been deserted by the river; and though it contains two
fathoms of water as high as Darajee, it shallows above that town. In
the dry season it is in some places but knee-deep, and its bed, which
continues nearly half a mile broad, has at that time but a breadth
of 100 yards. The name of Buggaur signifies “destroy.” While this
alteration has diverted the trade from Darajee to the banks of the
Sata, the country near the Buggaur is as rich as it was previously; and
though the branch itself is not navigated, yet there are frequently
two fathoms in its bed, and every where a sufficiency of water for
flat-bottomed boats. During the swell it is a fine river, and will in
all probability shortly regain its former pre-eminence.
~Delta; its size.~
The land embraced by both these arms of the delta extends, at the
junction of the rivers with the sea, to about seventy British miles;
and so much, correctly speaking, is the existing delta of this
river. The direction of the sea-coast along this line of rivers is
north-north-west.
~Delta may be considered longer.~
But the Indus covers with its waters a wider space than that now
described, and has two other mouths still further to the eastward than
those thrown out by the Sata, the Seer, and Koree, the latter the
boundary line which divides Cutch from Sinde, though the rulers of that
country have diverted the waters of both these branches by canals for
irrigation, so that none of them reach the sea. With the addition of
these forsaken branches, the Indus presents a face of about 125 British
miles to the sea, which it may be said to enter by eleven mouths. The
latitude of the most western embouchure is about 24° 40´ N., that of
the eastern below 28° 30´, so that in actual latitude there is an
extent of about eighty statute miles.[20]
~Dangers of navigating the delta.~
The inconstancy of the Indus through the delta is proverbial, and there
is here both difficulty and danger in its navigation. It has in these
days, among the people of Sinde, as bad a character as has been left
to it by the Greek historians. The water is cast with such impetuosity
from one bank to another, that the soil is constantly falling in upon
the river; and huge masses of clay hourly tumble into the stream, often
with a tremendous crash. In some places the water, when resisted by a
firm bank, forms eddies and gulfs of great depth, which contain a kind
of whirlpool, in which the vessels heel round, and require every care
to prevent accident. The current in such places is really terrific, and
in a high wind the waves dash as in the ocean. To avoid these eddies,
and the rotten parts of the bank, seemed the chief objects of care in
the boatmen.
~Peculiarities of navigation.~
It is a fact worthy of record, that those mouths of the Indus, which
are least favoured by the fresh water, are most accessible to large
vessels from the sea; for they are more free from sand banks, which
the river water, rushing with violence, never fails to raise. Thus the
Buggaur, which I have just represented as full of shallows, has a deep
and clear stream below Darajee to the sea. The Hoogly branch of the
Ganges is, I believe, navigable from a similar cause.
~Individual mouths.~
I shall now proceed to describe the several mouths with their harbours,
depth of water, together with such other facts as have fallen under
notice.
~The Pittee.~
Beginning from the westward, we have the Pittee mouth, an embouchure of
the Buggaur, that falls into what may be called the bay of Curachee.
It has no bar; but a large sand bank, together with an island outside,
prevent a direct passage into it from the sea, and narrow the channel
to about half a mile at its mouth. At low water its width is even
less than 500 yards: proceeding upwards, it contracts to 160, but the
general width is 300. At the shallowest part of the Pittee there was a
depth of nine feet at low water, and the tide rose nine feet more at
full moon. At high water there is every where a depth of two fathoms to
Darajee, and more frequently five and six, sometimes seven and eight.
Where two branches meet, the water is invariably deep. At a distance of
six miles up the Pittee there is a rock stretching across the river:
it has nine feet of water on it at low tide. The general course of the
Pittee for the last thirty miles is W.N.W., but it enters the sea by a
channel due south. The Pittee is exceedingly crooked, and consists of
a succession of short turnings, in the most opposite directions; even
from south to north the water from one angle is thrust upon another,
which leaves this river alternately deep on both sides. Where the banks
are steep, there will the channel be found; and, again, where they
gradually meet the water, shallows invariably exist. This, however, may
be remarked of all rivers which flow over a flat country. There is no
fresh water in the Pittee nearer than thirty miles from the sea: the
brushwood on its banks is very dense, and for fifteen miles up presses
close in upon the river. We navigated this branch to that extent, and
crossed it in two places higher up, at Darajee and Bohaur, where it had
two fathoms’ water.
~Pieteeanee.~
The Pieteeanee quits the Pittee about twenty miles from the sea,
which it enters below the latitude of 24° 20´. It is narrower than the
Pittee, and in every respect an inferior branch; for there are sand
banks in its mouth, which overlap each other, and render the navigation
intricate and dangerous. We found it to have a depth of six feet on its
bar at low tide, and fifteen at full; but when once in its channel,
there were three fathoms’ water. At its mouth it is but 300 yards
wide, and higher up it contracts even to fifty; but it has the same
depth of water every where till it joins the Pittee. The Pieteeanee
runs north-easterly into the land, and from its shorter course the
tide makes sooner than in the Pittee, which presented the singular
circumstance of one branch running up, and the other down, at the same
time.
~Inferior creeks.~
Connected with these two mouths of the Indus, there are three inferior
creeks, called Koodee, Khow, and Dubboo. The two first join the Pittee;
and the Koodee was in former years one of the great entrances to
Darajee, but its place has been usurped by the Pieteeanee, and it is
now choked. Dubboo is only another entrance to the Pieteeanee.
~Indus navigated by flat-bottomed boats.~
However accessible these two branches have been found, neither of them
are navigated by any other than flat-bottomed boats, which carry the
entire cargo to and from the mouth of the river, inside which the sea
vessels anchor. It was an unheard-of occurrence for boats like the four
that conveyed us (none of them twenty-five tons in burden) to ascend so
high up the Pittee as we did, a distance of thirty miles; but assuredly
we encountered no obstacles.
~Jooa, Reechel, and Hujamree.~
Of the seven mouths that give egress to the waters of the Sata, or
eastern branch, below Tatta, the Jooa, Reechel, and Hujamree, lie
within ten miles of each other. One of these mouths has been at all
times more or less navigable; and while they are the estuaries of the
waters of the Sata, still a portion of those thrown off by the Buggaur,
or other grand arm, reach them by inferior creeks during the swell,
forming an admirable inland navigation through all parts of the delta.
The mouths of the Jooa and Reechel are choked; but the latter was at a
late period the most frequented of all the branches of the Indus. It
was formerly marked by a minaret, which has, I suppose, fallen down,
as this fact is particularly mentioned by our early navigators. There
is yet a village, near its mouth, called Moonara, or minaret. The
Hujamree is now accessible to boats of fifty tons. Its port is Vikkur,
twenty-five miles from the sea, which, with Shah-bunder (still further
eastward), seems alternately to share the trade of the delta. This
season Shah-bunder is scarcely to be approached, and the next season
Vikkur will perhaps be deserted. We entered the Indus by the Hujamree
mouth, and disembarked at Vikkur. At the bar we had fifteen feet of
water at high tide, and a depth of four fathoms all the way to Vikkur,
even when the tide was out.
~Khedywaree.~
The Khedywaree is the next mouth eastward of Hujamree, with which it is
connected by small creeks; it is shallow, and not much frequented by
boats but to cut firewood.
~Gora, or Wanyanee.~
Of the remaining mouths of the left arm, the next is Gora, the largest
of all the mouths. It derives its supply of water direct from the Sata,
which near the sea feeds numerous small creeks, and is named Wanyanee.
From the Hujamree we passed by a narrow creek into this mouth of the
Indus. The Gora (or, as it is also called towards the sea, Wanyanee,)
has every where a depth of four fathoms. It is not more than 500 yards
wide, and runs with great velocity. Its course is somewhat crooked,
but it pursues a southerly line to the sea, and passes by a fine
village on the left bank called Kelaun. Though the Gora possesses such
facilities for navigation, yet it is not to be entered from the sea
by the smallest boats, from a dangerous sand bank, to which I have
before alluded. It is clear that such sand banks are thrown up by the
impetuosity of the stream; for the Reechel, till it was deserted by the
great body of the Indus, had as large a bar as is now opposite Gora,
which has entirely disappeared with the absence of the fresh water.
This branch of the Indus in the last century was open to large boats;
and a square-rigged vessel of 70 tons now lies near it on dry land,
where it has been left by the caprice of the river.
~Khaeer and Mull.~
Below the Gora we have the Khaeer and Mull, mouths communicating with
it. All three disembogue within twelve miles of each other. The Khaeer,
like the Gora, is unnavigable. The Mull is safe for boats of 25 tons;
and being the only entrance now open to Shah-bunder, is therefore
frequented. The boats anchor in an artificial creek four miles up it,
called Lipta, and await the flat-bottomed craft from the port, distant
about twenty miles north-east.
~The Seer.~
About five-and-twenty miles below Mull we meet the Seer mouth of the
Indus, but have salt instead of fresh water. There are several minor
creeks that intervene, but they do not form any communication. The Seer
is one of the destroyed branches of the Indus. A dam has been thrown
across it below Mughribee, fifty miles from its mouth; and though it
ceases to be a running stream on that account, the superfluity of fresh
water from above forces for itself a passage by small creeks till it
regains the Seer, which thus contains fresh water twenty miles from its
mouth, though it is but a creek of the sea. The river immediately below
Mughribee is named Goongra; higher up it is called Pinyaree, and leaves
the parent stream between Hydrabad and Tatta. The Seer is accessible
to boats of 150 candies (38 tons) to a place called Gunda, where they
load from the flat-bottomed boats of Mughribee. With some extra labour,
these same boats could reach the dam of Mughribee; and from that town
the inland navigation for flat-bottomed boats is uninterrupted to the
main Indus, though it becomes more difficult in the dry season. The
dam of Mughribee is forty feet broad. The Seer at its mouth is about
two miles wide, but it gets very narrow in ascending; within, it has
a depth of four and six fathoms, but below Gunda there is a sand bank
with but one fathom water on it. There is a considerable trade carried
on from this branch of the Indus with the neighbouring countries of
Cutch and Kattywar; for rice, the staple of Sinde, is to be had in
abundance at Mughribee.
~The Koree, or eastern mouth.~
The Koree, or eastern branch of the Indus, completes the eleven mouths
of the river. It once discharged a portion of the waters of the
Fulailee that passes Hydrabad, as also of a branch that quits the
Indus near Bukkur, and traverses the desert _during the swell_; but
it has been closed against both these since the year 1762, when the
Sindians threw up bunds, or dams, to inflict injury on their rivals,
the inhabitants of Cutch.[21] Of all the mouths of the Indus the Koree
gives the grandest notion of a mighty river. A little below Lucput
it opens like a funnel, and at Cotasir is about seven miles wide,
and continues to increase till the coasts of Cutch and Sinde are not
visible from one another. When the water here was fresh it must have
been a noble stream. The depth of this arm of the sea (for it can be
called by no other name) is considerable. We had twenty feet of water
as high as Cotasir, and it continues equally deep to Busta, which is
but eight miles from Lucput. A Company’s cruiser once ascended as high
as Cotasir; but it is considered dangerous, for there is an extensive
sand bank at the mouth called Adheearee, on which the water at low
tide is only knee deep. There are also several sand banks between it
and Cotasir, and a large one opposite that place. The Koree does not
communicate with the Seer or any other mouth of the Indus, but it sends
off a back water to Cutch, and affords a safe inland navigation to
small craft from Lucput to Juckow on the Indian Ocean, at the mouth of
the gulf of Cutch.
~Advantages of these to Sinde.~
The Sindians, it will therefore appear, have choked both eastern
branches. There being no communication by the Indus and the Koree, the
trade of Sinde is not exported by it. It finds a vent by the Seer; but
this has not given rise to any new town being built on its banks. Such,
indeed, is the humidity, that this country is only tenable for a part
of the year.
~The sea outside the Indus; its dangers.~
We here complete the enumeration and description of the mouths of the
Indus. Out from them the sea is shallow; but the soundings are regular,
and a vessel will have from twelve to fifteen feet of water a mile
and a half off shore. The Gora bank presents the only difficulty to
the navigation of these coasts, from Mandivee, in Cutch, to Curachee.
Breakers are to be traced along it for twelve miles. The sailors clear
it by stretching at once out of sight of land, and keeping in twelve
fathoms’ water till the danger is over: they even state that a vessel
of twenty-five tons would be wrecked on a course where the depth is
ten fathoms. This bank is much resorted to by fishermen; and it may
generally be distinguished by their boats and nets.
~Coast of Sinde exposed.~
The coast of Sinde, from its entire exposure to the Indian ocean, is
so little protected against storms, that the navigation is much sooner
suspended than in the neighbouring countries. Few vessels approach
it after March; for the south-west monsoon, which then partially
commences, so raises the sea that the waves break in three and four
fathoms water, while the coast is not discernible from its lowness till
close upon it, and there is a great risk of missing the port, and no
shelter at hand, in such an event.
~Tides of the Indus.~
The tides rise in the mouths of the Indus about nine feet at full moon:
they flow and ebb with great violence, particularly near the sea, where
they flood and abandon the banks with equal and incredible velocity.
It is dangerous to drop the anchor but at low water, as the channel is
frequently obscured, and the vessel may be left dry. The tides in the
Indus are only perceptible seventy-five miles from the sea, that is,
about twenty-five miles below Tatta.
~Country at the mouths of the Indus.~
There is not a more miserable country in the world than the low tract
at the mouths of the Indus. The tide overflows their banks, and recedes
to leave a desert dreary waste, overgrown with shrubs, but without a
single tree. If a vessel be unfortunately cast on this coast, she
is buried in two tides; and the greatest despatch can hardly save a
cargo. We had proof of this in an unfortunate boat which stranded
near us; and, to add to the miseries of this land, the rulers of it,
by a barbarous law, demand every thing which is cast on shore, and
confiscate any vessel which, from stress of weather, may enter their
ports.
~Curachee, why preferred to the Indus.~
The principal sea-port of Sinde is Curachee, which appears remarkable,
when its rulers are in possession of all the mouths of the Indus;
but it is easily explained. Curachee is only fourteen miles from the
Pittee, or western mouth of the Indus; and there is less labour in
shipping and unshipping goods at it, than to carry them by the river
from Darajee or Shahbunder in flat-bottomed boats. Curachee can also
throw its imports into the peopled part of Sinde without difficulty, by
following a frequented and good level road to Tatta. The unshipment,
too, at that port, supersedes the necessity of shifting the cargo into
flat-bottomed boats; and the actual distance between Curachee and Tatta
(about sixty miles) is half exceeded by following the windings of the
stream to any of the harbours in the Delta. As the ports in the river
and Curachee are both subject to Sinde, it is conclusive that that
sea-port has advantages over those of the river, which have led to
their being forsaken by the navigator. In former years, before Curachee
was seized by the Sindians, the exports from the Delta were more
considerable; since then all articles of value are brought to Curachee
by land, and there shipped. The opium from Marwar is never put into a
boat but to cross the Indus on its way to Curachee.
~The sea boats of Sinde.~
The boats of the Indus claim attention. Including Curachee and all the
ports of the country, there are not, perhaps, a hundred dingees, or
sea vessels, belonging to the dominions of the Ameer. These boats are
of a peculiar construction--of a sharp build, with a very lofty poop;
the large ones never ascend the rivers, and are principally used at
the port of Curachee, and sail from thence to Muscat, Bombay, and the
Malabar coast: they carry no guns. A smaller dingee is used at the
mouths of the Indus, chiefly for fishing: they are good sea-boats,
and sail very quickly. The fisheries in the mouths of the Indus being
extensive, and forming a source of commerce, these craft abound.
~Flat-bottomed boats.~
The traffic on the Indus, commencing from its very mouth, is carried on
in flat-bottomed boats, called doondees. They are large and unwieldy,
and never exceed 100 kurwars (fifty tons) in burthen, and, when laden,
draw only four feet of water. They have two masts, the larger in
front; they hoist their sails behind them, to prevent accident, by
giving less play to the canvass. The foresail is of a lateen shape;
that aft is square, and very large. With these set, they can stem the
current, in a good wind, at the rate of three miles an hour. We came
from the sea to Hydrabad in five days. When the wind fails, these boats
are dragged, or pushed up by spars against the stream. With ropes, they
can be pulled a mile and a half in the hour; and they attach these to
the mast-head, to have a better purchase. The helm is shaped like the
letter P, and in the larger vessels is managed by ropes from each side;
at a distance, it seems quite detached from the doondee. These vessels
are also furnished with a long supple oar astern, which they work
backwards and forwards, the steersman moving with it on an elevated
frame. It is possible to impel the doondee with this oar alone, and
nothing else is used in crossing the different ferries. When coming
down with the stream, this oar, too, is again in requisition, they work
it to and fro, to keep the broadside of the vessel to the current. In
descending the river, the masts are invariably struck, and the helm
even is stowed away. I can compare these boats to nothing so correctly
as the drawing of Chinese junks; the largest are about eighty feet
long and eighteen broad, shaped something like a ship high astern and
low in front, with the hull slanted off at both ends, so as to present
less resistance to the water. They are floating houses; for the people
who navigate them take their families, and even their herds and fowls,
along with them. All the boats on the river, large and small, are of
the above description. In navigating the doondees, the boatmen always
choose the shallow water, and avoid the rapids of the river.
~Indus navigable for steam vessels.~
From the account of the River Indus at its mouths, which is above
given, it will appear that it would be accessible to steam-boats of
a certain size and build; but I am thoroughly satisfied that no boat
_with a keel_ could ever navigate this river with any hopes of safety.
The flat-bottomed boats are constantly grounding, but they sustain no
injury; while boats differently constructed would be at once upset by
the violence of the stream, and destroyed. It is not to be doubted,
however, that steam-vessels could be adapted to this navigation as well
as the existing boats on the river; and had not coal been found both at
the head and mouth of the Indus, fuel could be supplied from the great
abundance of wood which the banks of this river every where furnish.
The Americans use wood for this purpose; and the supply of brushwood on
the Lower Indus is abundant.
~Military remarks on the Indus.~
I make allusion to the navigation of this river by steam, because I am
aware it is an object of interest; but, in conducting any expedition
against Sinde, I feel satisfied, from what I have seen, that there
would be little advantage, in a military point of view, derived from
the river Indus below Tatta. It would be impracticable to march a force
through the Delta, from the number of rivers; and it would be equally
impossible to embark it in flat-bottomed boats, for there are not 100
of them below Hydrabad; few are of burthen, and the very largest would
not contain a company of infantry. The vulnerable point of Sinde is
Curachee, and a landing might be effected on either side of the town
without difficulty. The Creek of Gisry, to the south-east, has been
pointed out[22] as a favourable place, and I can add my concurrence
in the opinion; but a force would easily effect its disembarkation
anywhere in that neighbourhood. For a land expedition, the route from
Cutch to Ballyaree, by the Thurr, seems to me the most feasible. While
I represent the mouths of the Indus as unfavourable for conducting an
attack from India on Sinde, I do not wish to be understood as hazarding
at this time any opinion on like obstacles presenting themselves in an
attack from its banks on India.
~Supplies of the Delta.~
With regard to the supplies which an army is to expect in the lower
parts of Sinde, my report will be more favourable. Grain, that is, rice
and bajree, will be found in great abundance. Horned cattle and sheep
are numerous. The pasturage is not good, but near the sea abundant.
Almost all the villages are mere hamlets; for Darajee, Lahory, and
Shahbunder, which figure on the map as places of importance, have
none of them a population of 2000 souls. The two first, indeed, have
not that between them; and there are not ten other places that have a
hundred souls below Tatta. Camels would be found in great abundance,
as also horses: these are of a small and diminutive breed, but the
camels are very superior. From the number of buffaloes, milk and ghee
are to be had in great abundance, and all the rivers abound in fish.
The country is peopled to the sea-shore; but the inhabitants are
thinly scattered over its surface in temporary villages; and near many
of the mouths experience great inconvenience from the want of fresh
water, which they bring from a distance for themselves and cattle: the
banks of the Gora form the only exception. The people consist chiefly
of erratic and pastoral tribes; for though the Indus presents such
facilities to the cultivator, there is not a fourth of the cultivable
land below Tatta brought under tillage; it lies neglected and overgrown
with tamarisk.
FOOTNOTES:
[20] This limited extent of the delta of the Indus is quite
inconsistent with the dimensions assigned to it by the Greeks. Arrian
informs us that the two great branches below Pattala are about 1800
stadia distant from each other, “and so much is the extent of the
island Pattala along the sea coast.” The distance of 125 British miles,
the face of the modern delta, does not amount to 1125 stadia, or little
more than one half the assigned distance of Arrian. On this point the
Greeks had not personal observation to guide them, since Nearchus
sailed out of the western branch of the Indus, and Alexander made but
a three days’ journey between the two branches of the river, and could
not have entered Cutch, as has been surmised by Dr. Vincent.
[21] See “A Memoir” regarding this mouth, at the end of the volume,
which contains an account of some singular alterations in physical
geography, as well as a notice of the Run of Cutch.
[22] By Mr. Crow.
CHAP. V.
ON THE DELTA OF THE INDUS.
~Delta of the Indus.~
Herodotus said of Egypt, that it was the “gift of the Nile;” the same
may be said of the country at the mouths of the Indus. A section of
the banks of the river shows a continued succession of earth, clay and
sand in layers, parallel to one another; and deposited, without doubt,
at different periods. It would be perhaps hazarding too much to state,
that the whole of the Delta has been gradually acquired from the sea;
but it is clear that the land must have greatly encroached on the
ocean. Nothing is more corroborative of this fact than the shallowness
of the sea out from the mouths of the Indus, and the clayey bottom and
tinge of the water.
~Inundation.~
The country from Tatta, which stands at the head of the Delta, to the
sea downwards, is in most parts influenced by the periodical swell
of the Indus: the great branches of this river are of themselves so
numerous, and throw off such an incredible number of arms, that the
inundation is general; and in those places which are denied this
advantage by fortuitous circumstances, artificial drains, about four
feet wide and three deep, conduct the waters through the fields. The
swell commences in the latter end of April, and continues to increase
till July, disappearing altogether in September: a northerly wind is
supposed to accelerate it. It begins with the melting of the snow in
the Himalaya mountains, before the rainy season. At other times the
land is irrigated with the Persian wheel, which is turned by a camel or
bullock, and in general use every where. One eighth of the Delta may
be occupied by beds of rivers and inferior streams. Ten miles from the
sea, the country is so thickly covered with furze and bushes, that it
is incapable of being brought under tillage. Close upon the sea coast,
however, there is abundance of green forage, which furnishes pasture
to large herds of buffaloes. These animals reward the herdsmen with an
abundant supply of ghee; but his labour is incessant, for he must bring
fresh water from the interior for himself and his herd.
~Towns.~
In a tract peopled by a pastoral race, there are few permanent towns or
villages. When we except Darajee, Vikkur, Shahbunder, Mughribee, and
one or two others, the inhabitants reside in temporary villages called
“raj,” which they remove at pleasure; their huts are constructed of
reeds and mats made from rice straw; each house is surrounded by a
grass “tatty” or fence, to exclude the cold wind and humid vapours
which prevail in this low country, and are considered noxious. These
are the houses of which Nearchus speaks, and are, I believe, peculiar
to the river Indus. They very much resemble the huts of tumblers in
India.
~Population.~
It becomes a difficult matter to form any correct opinion as to the
number of inhabitants in such a country, where the body of the people
are wanderers, and not confined to narrow limits: huts are, however, to
be seen every where, and, excluding the city of Tatta, the population
of the Delta cannot be rated at less than 30,000 souls; of this
estimate, one third may be composed of those who reside in the fixed
towns. This census gives seven and a half to the square mile.
~Tribes.~
The erratic tribe, in the Delta of the Indus, is called Jut; these
people are the aborigines of the country; they are a superstitious
race of Mahommedans, and exceedingly ignorant. The different banks of
the rivers are peopled by watermen of the tribe of Mooana; they are
emigrants from the Punjab, and are employed in navigating the boats,
or fishing in the sea or river. There is also another tribe from the
same country, called Seik Lobana, whose occupation it is to make
reeds and mats. They also kill wild animals and game, but are held
in no estimation by the rest of the people. Jookeas or Jukreeas, an
aboriginal race from the mountains over Curachee, are to be found,
but they are not numerous. Some of their chiefs have land assigned to
them. There are also a few Beloochees. On the fixed population there is
little to remark; it is chiefly composed of Hindoos, of the mercantile
caste, who carry on the foreign and internal commerce of Sinde. They do
not differ from their brethren in India.
~Jokeea tribe.~
The only tribe which calls for further comment, is that of Jokeea.
These people are the descendants of the Suma Rajpoots, who governed
Sinde in former years. They became converts to the Mahommedan faith
when the Hindoo dynasty was subverted, and still retain the Hindoo name
of their tribe, and claim consanguinity with the Jhareja Rajpoots of
Cutch. They are mountaineers from the west bank of the Indus, not very
numerous, and little favoured by the government. They can bring 2000
men into the field.
~Fisheries.~
The fisheries in the river, and out from its different mouths, are
extensive. They are chiefly carried on by hooks, and some of the fish
caught are of enormous dimensions. One species called “Kujjooree” is
killed for its sound, which, with the fins of small sharks that abound
near the Indus, form an article of export to China. The river fish are
likewise abundant; of these, the most remarkable is the “Pulla,” a kind
of carp, delicious in flavour, and only found in the four months that
precede the swell of the river. Another species, called the “Singalee,”
and about the size of a small haddock, likewise abounds. On the
approach of the tide, they make a noise under the ship, louder than a
bull frog. They have a large head, and are very bony. They exist in all
the rivers of Western India, and are not peculiar to the Indus.
~Animals.~
I am not aware that there are any animals peculiar to the Delta of the
Indus. Otters abound; camels are numerous, and superior; buffaloes are
reared in great numbers; horned cattle and sheep are plentiful. The
dog, too, is here elevated to his proper situation, and is an attendant
on man. They watch the flocks, and are of a ferocious description, and
will not allow a stranger to approach a “raj” or village; they swim the
rivers with great dexterity.
~Productions.~
The staple production of the Delta of the Indus is rice: it is to be
had of many different kinds, but its value seems to depend chiefly on
its preparation for the market. Bajree and all other Indian grains are
raised. From extensive plantations of cane, “goor,” a coarse kind of
sugar, is produced; which, with wheat, barley, and moong, are reared by
irrigating the fields from cuts to the river, some months before the
periodical swell, and form what may be called a second crop. Saltpetre
is found in the Delta, but it is not exported, though formerly an
object of commerce to the East India Company.
~Climate.~
The climate of Lower Sinde is sultry and disagreeable. The thermometer
ranges as high as 90° in March, and though the soil is a rich alluvium,
the dust blows incessantly. The dews are very heavy and dangerous.
It is in every respect a trying country to the human constitution,
and this was observable in the premature old age of the inhabitants.
I could not hear of their being subject to any marsh fever, or other
evil effect from the inundation; they confined their complaints to
the inconvenience and annoyance which they suffered from insects and
musquitoes generated in the mud.
CHAP. VI.
THE INDUS FROM TATTA TO HYDRABAD.
~Indus from Tatta to Hydrabad.~
From the city of Tatta, which stands at a distance of three miles from
the river, we cease to have the Indus separated into many channels.
On the right bank it is confined by low rocky hillocks of limestone
formation; and on the left there is but one narrow branch, the
Pinyaree, which is accessible to boats from the town of Mughribee, when
the superfluous water of the floods follows its course to the sea. Yet
the general width of the channel is less than half a mile; at Hydrabad
it is but 830 yards, at Tatta less than 700, and below the village
Hilaya, fifteen miles from that town, it does not indeed exceed 600.
The greatest depth of water lies opposite the capital, and is five
fathoms; the least at Tatta, where it is but fifteen feet; generally,
there is a depth of twenty feet.
~Its sand-banks.~
The Delta of the Indus is free from sand-banks; from Tatta to Hydrabad,
they occur every where, and, as the sides of the river are here more
frequently shelving than steep, it is difficult to discover the deep
channel, which perplexes the navigator. Many of these sand-banks
are but knee deep in the water, and are constantly shifting their
position; the current being less rapid than near the sea, they are
not easily swept away. In several places they have become islands,
and divide the stream into two channels, one of which will _always_
be found navigable. This subdivision of the river has occasioned many
of these branches being given as separate rivers in our maps, but, as
I have before stated, none such exist, excepting the Pinyaree. In the
floods there is a narrow channel above Triccul, communicating with the
Fulailee branch, which insulates Hydrabad at that season.
~Course and extent.~
The distance by land from Tatta to Hydrabad is less than fifty miles,
nor do the windings of the stream increase it, even by water, to
sixty-five. Its course is south-west by south, and rather direct, with
one decided turn, below Jurruk, where it throws off the river leading
to Mughribee. We made the voyage against the stream in two days.
~Towns, &c.~
There are not a dozen places between Tatta and the capital; the only
one of note is Jurruk, situated near some low rocky hillocks, nor does
it boast a population of 1500 souls: none of them are fortified.
~Country.~
This country, which might be one of the richest and most productive
in the world, is devoted to sterility. Hunting preserves, or, as they
are called, “shikargahs,” follow one another in such succession,
as to leave no land for tillage; and the fences which confine the
game approach within a few yards of the Indus. The interior of these
preserves forms a dense thicket, composed of tamarisk, saline shrubs,
and other underwood, with stunted trees of bramble, which are not
allowed to be pruned or cut; so that the banks of the Indus, if in the
hands of a formidable enemy, afford cover from which an expedition
conducted by water might be constantly and grievously harassed. The
roads through this tract are equally close and strong.
Neglected as is this portion of Sinde, it is not destitute of supply;
grain is cheap and plentiful everywhere. Tatta and Hydrabad are the
ancient and modern capitals of the country.
~Productions.~
The productions of the soil in the gardens of Tatta exhibit the
fertility of this land: the vine is successfully reared, as also the
fig and the pomegranate. There are apple-trees in abundance, and though
the fruit is small, it increases in size about Hydrabad. In the few
patches of cultivation may be seen indigo, tobacco, sugar-cane, with
wheat, barley, and all the other Indian grains; but it is the policy
of the rulers of Sinde to keep every thing in a state of nature, that
their territories may not excite the cupidity of surrounding states.
Agriculture and commerce are alike depressed.
~Trade.~
With regard to the trade of this country, it may be said there is
little or none anywhere but at Curachee. The Indus is as if it existed
not; and, though grain is sent by it to the delta, no advantage is
taken of the river to convey goods to Hydrabad. The imports are landed
at Curachee, and the most valuable export, which is Malwa opium, is
shipped from the same port. The merchants, in prosecuting their journey
to Candahar, and the upper provinces of the Indus, quit the Sindian
territories with all dispatch. The only encouragement which the chiefs
give to trade is in opium, yet they levy the exorbitant duty of 250
rupees for a camel-load. The revenue from this article alone amounted
last year it is said to seven lacs of rupees; a sum equal to the land
revenue of the Hydrabad Ameer.
~Means of improving it.~
Nor do there exist any hopes of improving or increasing commercial
intercourse by this river, till the rulers of it have more just
notions of policy, and some one of them, more enlightened than the
rest, discovers that the true riches of a country are to be found
by encouraging the people in industry and art. At present there is
no wealth in Sinde but what is possessed by its rulers; and had the
people the inclination, they have not the means of purchasing the
manufactures of Europe. The case was otherwise in the beginning of this
century, when the East India Company traded at Tatta by a factory, and
the rulers, intimidated by their lord paramount in Cabool, did not
object to the transit of goods to that and other countries. Sinde must
follow the fate of that portion of Asia; and, if any of the Dooranee
tribes be yet able to seize the crown of Cabool, we may expect a change
for the better in the dependent provinces at the mouths of the Indus.
~Boats, deficiency thereof.~
At present there are not vessels sufficient for any considerable trade:
between the capital and Tatta they do not exceed fifty, many of them
small and used for fishing, others old and worn out, that cross the
stream in certain places as ferry-boats. Encouragement would soon
remedy what may be considered a defect in a military, as well as a
commercial point of view. Sinde has no wood for ship building, that
which is used being imported from Malabar.
CHAP. VII.
FROM HYDRABAD TO SEHWUN.
~Sehwun, its position.~
The town of Sehwun stands at a distance of two miles from the west bank
of the Indus, and is exactly 1° of latitude north of Hydrabad, for it
is crossed by the parallel of 26° 22´. The voyage is performed in eight
days, against the stream, and the distance is 105 miles.
~Indus, its course and depth.~
The river, in this part of its course, is named “Lar,” which, in the
Belooch language, means south: it flows about S. S. E., being resisted
at Sehwun by rocky mountains, which change the direction of the stream.
Its banks are very low, and the country bordering on them frequently
overflowed, particularly on the eastern side: the western bank is more
firm, but seldom exceeds eight feet in height. This expansion of the
river diminishes its general depth to eighteen feet: during the swell
the increase is twelve feet additional; the width is frequently 1000
yards and upwards. About six miles above Hydrabad, the Indus divides
into two channels, one of which is fordable, and the other but 400
yards wide, which points to this as the place for crossing an army.
At Sehwun the rocky buttress of the Lukkee hills hems the waters into
a channel of 500 yards; but the depth is nearly forty feet, and the
current rapid.
~Fulailee River.~
The river throws off no branches, in this part of its course, save
the Fulailee, which leaves the Indus twelve miles above Hydrabad, and
passes eastward of that city: it is only a stream during the swell.
It was dry at Hydrabad when we were at that city, and but a 100 yards
wide, and knee-deep where it separated from the Indus; yet it is a very
considerable river in the wet season, and fertilises a vast portion of
Sinde by its water, which it may be said to exhaust between Hydrabad
and Cutch. The maps give most erroneous ideas of the Indus, for the
numerous branches which appear to leave the river are only water
courses for the periodical swell, many of them artificial, dug for the
purposes of irrigation. The river for nine months runs in one trunk to
Tatta.
~Current, and effects of it.~
The current never exceeds three miles an hour in this part of the
Indus, unless at some places where it is confined, when its rapidity
undermines its banks, and carries villages along with it. The towns of
Majindu and Amree, on the right bank, have both been swept away, the
former no less than eight or ten times within the last twelve years;
but the people retire a few hundred yards, and again erect their
habitations. Hala, on the eastern side, has shared a like fate; but
the channel of the river lies to the westward, where the banks are
more steep, and the left bank of the river, though consisting of a
flat field of sand, is only inundated in the swell. At that period,
for eight miles eastward of the Indus, it is not possible to travel
from the number of shoots the river casts off. The Indus itself is here
pretty constant in its course; and, though the country eastward would,
as I have observed, favour the escape of the water in that direction,
it clings for some time to the Lukkee mountains.
~Its military importance.~
This section of the river is of great importance: about two miles below
Sehwun these mountains run in upon the Indus, leaving two practicable
passes over them. The one leads across a depressed part of the range,
called Buggotora, westward of the village of Lukkee (which signifies
a pass), and might be obstinately defended: it is not a gun-road. The
other passes between the river and the mountains, and is a cart-road,
running in a valley among the lower rocks, at the base of the Lukkee
mountains. The ground is very strong for about two miles.
~Crossing the Indus.~
I have before mentioned that the river near Sehwun is confined to a
narrow bed. The right bank is very remarkable, consisting of a natural
buttress of solid rock, about fifty feet high, which extends for 400
yards along the river, and, slanting upwards, is barely accessible to
a foot passenger. The Indus passes with such a sweep under the base of
this rampart, that, though but 500 yards wide, I question if a bridge
could be thrown across it. There is a more favourable place immediately
north of this precipice, where the breadth is but 100 yards greater,
and the water more still. Thirty or forty flat-bottomed boats would
always be found at Sehwun: they lie on the left bank, which is flat and
sandy. There are good roads from Sehwun to Hydrabad on both sides of
the Indus; and there is a footpath along the base of the mountains to
Curachee.
~Navigation of the Indus.~
The river can only be navigated by dragging the boat against the
stream, for there is very little wind in the upper parts of Sinde: the
progress by this method is sure, and averages from fifteen to twenty
miles a day. It would be impossible, without steam, to conduct any
military expedition against the stream of the Indus, for the labour of
dragging the boats would be great, from constant accidents, by ropes
breaking, and the vessels being hurried into the stream. The case would
be very different in an army descending the Indus. Trading vessels,
however, would not be liable to any such impediments. We only counted
180 boats in our progress from Hydrabad to Sehwun.
~Towns, country.~
Of the country and towns which intervene between Sehwun and the
capital, a few words will suffice. There are none of any size but
Sehwun itself: Muttaree, sixteen miles from Hydrabad, contains 4000
people; and Hala, Beyan, Majindu, and Sen about 2000 each. The other
places are few, and thinly peopled: three or four of them have
frequently one name. The country is much neglected, the banks of the
river are, in most places, covered with tamarisk, towards the hills
it is open. Cotton, indigo, wheat, barley, sugar, tobacco, &c. are
produced by irrigation in the dry season; but the limited extent of the
cultivation may be discovered, by their being but 194 wells, or cuts,
from the river on one side of the Indus, between Hydrabad and Sehwun, a
distance of 100 miles, where the greater part of the soil is rich and
cultivable. In a few places the land is salt and sterile. Rice is only
produced during the swell, and yet provisions are dearer here than in
the neighbouring and less favoured country of Marwar. The people live
chiefly on fish and milk.
~Sehwun.~
The town of Sehwun bears alone the marks of opulence in this portion of
Sinde; and it is indebted for its prosperity to the shrine of a holy
saint from Khorasan, by name Lal Shah baz, whose tomb is a place of
pilgrimage from afar to Hindoo and Mussulman. A branch of the Indus,
called Arrul, runs immediately past the town, in its course from
Larkhana; but this will be described in the next chapter. Four years
since, the Indus passed close under Sehwun; but it has retired, and
left a swamp on all sides of the town. About Sehwun the country is
rich and productive, and the bazar is well supplied. Looking north,
the eye rests on a verdant plain, highly cultivated, which extends to
the base of the mountains: mulberries, apples, melons, and cucumbers
grow here; the grain crops are luxuriant, and, for the first time, we
saw gram. The melons are tasteless, I presume from the richness of the
soil: cucumbers grow in Sinde only at Sehwun. The climate is sultry,
oppressive, and disagreeable.
~Lukkee mountains. Runna.~
The Lukkee mountains run in upon the Indus at Sehwun, extending from
near the seaport of Curachee, and gradually encroaching upon the
river, till they meet in a bold buttress. The elevation of this range
does not, I think, exceed 2000 feet; their formation is limestone;
the summits are flat and rounded, never conical: they are bare of
vegetation, and much furrowed by watercourses, all of which present a
concave turn towards the Indus. There is a hot spring near Sehwun,
at the village of Lukkee, situated at the base of these mountains,
adjoining one of a cold description: the hot spring is a place of
Hindoo pilgrimage, and considered salutary in cutaneous disorders.
There is a spring of the same kind in the neighbourhood of Curachee, at
the other extremity of the same range, so that similar springs would
probably be found in the intervening parts. On this range, and about
sixteen miles westward of Majindu, on the Indus, stands the fortified
hill of Runna, a place of strength in by-gone years, but, till lately,
neglected. The Ameer of Sinde has repaired it at considerable expense;
but, from what I could learn, Runna owes its chief strength to the
absence of water from the bleak mountains which surround it, and the
copious supply within its walls.