Baree-Biswa district--Force with the Nazim, Lal Bahader--Town of
Peernuggur--Dacoitee by Lal and Dhokul Partuks--Gangs of robbers
easily formed out of the loose characters which abound in Oude--The
lands tilled in spite of all disorders--Delta between the Chouka and
Ghagra rivers--Seed sown and produce yielded on land--Rent and stock
--Nawab Allee, the holder of the Mahmoodabad estate--Mode of
augmenting his estate--Insecurity of marriage processions--Belt of
jungle, fourteen miles west from the Lucknow cantonments--Gungabuksh
Rawat--His attack on Dewa--The family inveterate robbers--Bhurs, once
a civilized and ruling people in Oude--Extirpated systematically in
the fourteenth century--Depredations of Passees--Infanticide--How
maintained--Want of influential middle class of merchants and
manufacturers--Suttee--Troops with the Amil--Seizure of a marriage
procession by Imambuksh, a gang leader--Perquisites and allowances of
Passee watchmen over corn-fields--Their fidelity to trusts--Ahbun
Sing, of Kyampoor, murders his father--Rajah Singjoo of Soorujpoor--
Seodeen, another leader of the same tribe--Principal gang-leaders of
the Dureeabad Rodowlee district--Jugurnath Chuprassie--Bhooree Khan--
How these gangs escape punishment--Twenty-four belts of jungle
preserved by landholders always, or occasionally, refractory in Oude
--Cover eight hundred and eighty-six square miles of good land--How
such atrocious characters find followers, and landholders of high
degree to screen, shelter, and aid them.
_February_ 14, 1850.--Peernuggur, ten miles south-east, over a plain
of the same soil, but with more than the usual proportion of oosur.
Trees and groves as usual, but not quite so fine or numerous. The
Nazim of Khyrabad took leave of me on his boundary as we crossed it
about midway, and entered the district of "Baree Biswa," which is
held in farm by Lal Bahader,* a Hindoo, who there met us. This fiscal
officer has under him the "Jafiree," and "Tagfore" Regiments of
nujeebs, and eight pieces of cannon. The commandants of both corps
are in attendance at Court, and one of them, Imdad Hoseyn, never
leaves it. The other does condescend sometimes to come out to look at
his regiment when _not on service_. The draft-bullocks for the guns
have, the Nazim tells me, had a little grain within the last month,
but still not more than a quarter of the amount for which the King is
charged. Peernuggur is now a place of little note upon the banks of
the little river Sae, which here flows under a bridge built by Asuf-
od Dowlah some sixty years ago.
[* This man was in prison at Lucknow as a defaulter, but made his
escape in October, 1851, by drugging the sentry placed over him, and
got safe into British territory.]
Gang-robberies are here as frequent as in Khyrabad, and the
respectable inhabitants are going off in the same manner. One which
took place in July last year is characteristic of the state of
society in Oude, and may be mentioned here. Twelve sipahees of the
59th Regiment Native Infantry, then stationed at Bareilly, lodged
here for the night, in a surae, on their way home on furlough. Dal
Partuk, a Brahmin by caste, and a man of strength and resolution,
resided here and cultivated a small patch of land. He had two pair of
bullocks, which used to be continually trespassing upon other men's
fields and gardens, and embroiling him with the people, till one
night they disappeared. Dal Partuk called upon his neighbours, who
had suffered from their trespasses, to restore them or pay the value,
and threatened to rob, plunder, and burn down the town if they did
not.
A great number of pausees reside in and around the town, and he knew
that he could collect a gang of them for any enterprise of this sort
at the shortest notice. The people were not disposed to pay the value
of his lost bullocks, and they could not be found. While he was
meditating his revenge, his relation, Dhokul Partuk, was by a
trifling accident driven to take the field as a robber. An oil-
vender, a female, from a neighbouring village, had presumed to come
to Peernuggur, and offer oil for sale. The oil-venders of the town,
dreading the consequences of such competition, went forthwith to the
little garrison and prayed for _protection_. One of the sipahees went
off to the silversmith to whom the oil-vender had sold twopence-worth
of oil, and, finding the oil-vender still with him, proceeded at once
to seize both, and take them off to the garrison as criminals. Dhokul
Partuk, who lived close by, and had his sword by his side, went up
and remonstrated with the sipahee, who, taking him to be another
silversmith, struck him across the face with his stick. Dhokul drew
his sword, and made a cut at the sipahee, which would have severed
his head from his body had he not fallen backwards. As it was, he got
a severe cut in the chest, and ran off to his companions. Dhokul went
out of the town with his drawn sword, and no one dared to pursue him.
At night he returned, took off his family to a distant village,
became a leader of a band of pausee bowmen, and invited his kinsman,
Dal Partuk, to follow his example.
Together, they made an attack at night upon the town, and burnt down
one quarter of the houses. Dal Partuk offered to come to terms and
live in the town again, if the people would pay the value of his lost
bullocks, and give him a small income of five rupees a-month. This
they refused to do, and the plunder and burning went on. At last they
made this attack upon the party in the surae, which happened to be so
full that several of the sipahees and others were cooking outside the
walls. None of the travellers had arms to defend themselves, and
those inside closed the doors as soon as they heard the alarm. The
pausees, with their bows and arrows, killed two of the sipahees who
were outside, and while the gang was trying to force open the doors
of the surae, the people of the town, headed by a party of eight
pausee bowmen of their own, attacked and drove them back. These
bowmen followed the gang for some distance, and killed several of
them with their arrows. The sipahees who escaped proceeded in all
haste to the Resident, and the Frontier Police has since succeeded in
arresting several of the gang; but the two leaders have hitherto been
screened by Goorbuksh Sing and other great landholders in their
interest. The eight pausees who exerted themselves so successfully in
defence of the town and surae were expecting an attack from the
pausees of a neighbouring village, and ready for action when the
alarm was given.
These parties of pausee bowmen have each under their charge a certain
number of villages, whose crops and other property they are pledged
to defend for the payment of a certain sum, or a certain portion of
land rent-free. In one of these, under the Peernuggur party, three
bullocks had been stolen by the pausees of a neighbouring town. They
were traced to them, and, as they would neither restore them nor pay
their value, the Peernuggur party attacked them one night in their
sleep, and killed the leader and four of his followers, to deter
others of the tribe from trespassing on property under their charge.
They expect, they told us, to be attacked in return some night, and
are obliged to be always prepared, but have not the slightest
apprehension of ever being called to account for such things by the
officers of Government. Nor would Dal and Dhokul Partuk have any such
apprehension, had not the Resident taken up the question of the
murder of the Honourable Company's sipahees as an international one.
After plundering and burning down a dozen villages, and murdering a
score or two of people, they would have come back and reoccupied
their houses in the town without any fear of being molested or
_questioned_ by Government officers. Nor would the people of the town
object to their residing among them again, provided they pledged
themselves to abstain in future from molesting them. Goorbuksh Sing,
only a few days ago, offered the contractor, Hoseyn Allee, the sum of
five thousand, rupees if he would satisfy the Resident that Dal
Partuk had nothing whatever to do with the Peernuggur dacoitee, and
thereby induce him to discontinue the pursuit.*
[* Dhokul Partuk and Dal Partuk were at last secured. Dhokul died in
the king's gaol, but Dal Partuk is still in prison under trial.]
The people of towns and villages, having no protection whatever from
the Government, are obliged to keep up, at their own cost, this
police of pausee bowmen, who are bound only to protect those who pay
them. As their families increase beyond the means derived from this,
their only legitimate employment, their members thieve in the
neighbouring or distant villages, rob on the highroads, or join the
gangs of those who are robbers by profession, or take the trade in
consequence of disputes and misunderstandings with Government
authorities or their neighbours. In Oude--and indeed in all other
parts of India, under a Government so weak and indifferent to the
sufferings of its subjects--all men who consider arms to be their
proper profession think themselves justified in using them to extort
the means of subsistence from those who have property when they have
none, and can no longer find what they consider to be suitable
employment. All Rajpoots are of this class, and the greater part of
the landholders in Oude are Rajpoots. But a great part of the
Mahommedan rural population are of the same class, and no small
portion of the Brahmin inhabitants, like the two Partuks above named,
consider arms to be their proper profession; and all find the ready
means of forming gangs of robbers out of these pausee bowmen and the
many loose characters to whom the disorders of the country give rise.
A great many of the officers and sipahees of the King's nujeeb and
other regiments are every month discharged for mutiny,
insubordination, abuse of authority, or neglect of duty, or merely to
make room for men more subservient to Court favourites, or because
they cannot or will not pay the demanded gratuity to a new and
useless commandant appointed by Court favour. The plunder of villages
has been the daily occupation of these men during the whole period of
their service, and they become the worst of this class of loose
characters, ready to join any band of freebooters. Such bands are
always sure to find a patron among the landholders ready to receive
and protect them, for a due share of their booty, against any force
that the King's officers may send after them; and, if they prefer it
as less costly, they can always find a manager of a district ready to
do the same, on condition that they abstain from plundering within
his jurisdiction. The greater part of the land is, however,
cultivated, and well cultivated under all this confusion and
consequent insecurity. Tillage is the one thing needful to all, and
the persons from whom trespasses on the crops are most apprehended
are the reckless and disorderly trains of Government officials.
_February_ 16, 1850.--Biswa, eighteen miles east, over a plain of
excellent soil, partly doomut, but chiefly mutteear, well studded
with trees and groves, scantily cultivated for the half of the way,
but fully and beautifully for the second half. The wheat beginning to
change colour as it approaches maturity, and waving in the gentle
morning breeze; intervening fields covered with mixed crops of peas,
gram, ulsee, teora, surson, mustard, all in flower, and glittering
like so many rich parterres; patches here and there of the dark-green
_arahur_ and yellow sugar-cane rising in bold relief; mango-groves,
majestic single trees, and clusters of the graceful bamboo studding
the whole surface, and closing the distant horizon in one seemingly-
continued line of fence--the eye never tires of such a scene, but
would like now and then to rest upon some architectural work of
ornament or utility to aid the imagination in peopling it.
The road for the last six miles passes through the estate of Nawab
Allee, a Mahommedan landholder, who is a strong man and a good
manager and paymaster. His rent-roll is about four hundred thousand
rupees a-year, and he pays Government about one hundred and fifty
thousand. His hereditary possession was a small one, and his estate
has grown to the present size in the usual way. He has lent money in
mortgage and foreclosed; he has given security for revenue due to
Government by other landholders, who have failed to pay, and had
their estates made over to him; he has given security for the
appearance, when called for, of others, and, on their failing to
appear (perchance at his own instigation), had their lands made over
to him by the Government authorities, on condition of making good the
Government demand upon them; he has offered a higher rate of revenue
for lands than present holders could make them yield, and, after
getting possession, brought the demand down to a low rate in
collusion with Government officers. Some three-fourths of the
magnificent estate which he now holds he has obtained in these and
other ways by fraud, violence, or collusion within the last few
years. He is too powerful and wealthy to admit of any one's getting
his lands out of his hands after they have once passed into them, no
matter how.
The Chowka river flows from the forest towards the Ghagra, about ten
miles to the east from Biswa, and I am told that the richest sheet of
cultivation in Oude is within the delta formed by these two rivers.*
At the apex of this delta stands the fort of Bhitolee, which I have
often mentioned as belonging to Rajah Goorbuksh Sing, and being under
siege by the contractor of the Khyrabad district when we passed the
Ghagra in December. Biswa is a large town, well situated on a good
soil and open plain, and its vicinity would be well suited for a
cantonment or seat for civil establishments. Much of the cloth called
sullum used to be made here for export to Europe, but the demand has
ceased, and with it the manufacture.
[* This delta contains the following noble estates; 1, Dhorehra; 2,
Eesanuggur; 3, Chehlary; 4, Rampore; 5, Bhitolee; 6, Mullahpore; 7,
Seonta; 8, Nigaseen; and 9, Bhera Jugdeopore. The Turae forest forms
the base of this delta, and the estates of Dhorehra, Eesanuggur, and
Bhera Jugdeopore lie along its border. They have been much injured by
the King's troops within the last three years. Bhitolee is at the
apex.]
_February_ 17 _and_ 18, 1850.--Detained at Biswa by rain.
_February_ 19, 1850.--Yesterday evening came to Kaharpore, ten miles,
over a plain of the same fine soil, mutteear of the best quality,
running here and there into doomutteea and even bhoor. Cultivation
good, and the plain covered with rich spring crops, except where the
ground is being prepared to receive the autumn seed in June next. It
is considered good husbandry to-plough, cross-plough, and prepare the
lands thus early. The spring crops are considered to be more
promising than they have been at any other season for the last twenty
years. The farmers and cultivators calculate upon an average return
of ten and twelve fold, and say that, in other parts of Oude where
the lands are richer, there will be one of fifteen or twenty of
wheat, gram, &c. The pucka-beega, two thousand seven hundred and
fifty-six square yards, requires one maund of seed of forty seers, of
eighty rupees of the King's and Company's coinage the seer.* The
country, as usual, studded with trees, single, and in clusters and
groves, intermingled with bamboos, which are, however, for the most
part, of the smaller or hill kind.
[* The pucka-beega in Oude is about the same as that which prevails
over our North-Western Provinces, two thousand seven hundred and
fifty-six and a quarter square yards, or something more than one-half
of our English statute acre, which is four thousand eight hundred and
forty square yards. This pucka-beega takes of seed-wheat one maund,
or eighty pounds; and yields on an average, under good tillage, eight
returns of the seed, or eight maunds, or six hundred and forty
pounds, which, at one rupee the maund, yields eight rupees, or
sixteen shillings. The stock required in Oude in irrigated lands is
about twenty rupees the pucka-beega. The rent on an average two
rupees. In England an acre, on an average, requires two and three-
quarter bushels of seed wheat, or one hundred and seventy-six pounds,
or two maunds and sixteen seers, and yields twenty-four bushels, or
one thousand five hundred and thirty-six pounds. This at forty
shillings the quarter (512 lbs.) would yield six pounds sterling. The
stock required in England is estimated at ten pounds Sterling per
acre, or ten times the annual rent. It is difficult to estimate the
rate of rent on land in England, since the reputed owner is said to
be "only the ninth and last recipient of rent."]
On reaching camp, I met, for the first time, the great landholder,
Nawab Allee, of Mahmoodabad. In appearance, he is a quiet gentlemanly
man, of middle age and stature. He keeps his lands in the finest
possible state of tillage, however objectionable the means by which
he acquires them. His family have held the estates of Mahmoodabad and
Belehree for many generations as zumeendars, or proprietors; but they
have augmented them greatly, absorbing into them the estates of their
weaker neighbours.*
[* Akram Allee and Muzhur Allee inherited the estate in two
divisions. Akram Allee got Mahmoodabad, and had two sons, Surufraz
Allee, who died without issue, before his father; and Mosahib Allee,
who succeeded to the estate, but died without issue. Muzhur Allee got
the estate of Belehree, and had two sons, Abud Allee, and Nawab
Allee. Abud Allee succeeded to the estate of Belehree, and Nawab
Allee to that of Mahmoodabad by adoption.]
Akram Allee held Mahmoodabad, and was succeeded in the possession by
his son, Mosahib Allee, who died about forty years ago, leaving the
estate to his widow, who held it for twenty-eight years up to A.D.
1838, when she died. She had, the year before, adopted her nephew,
Nawab Allee, and he succeeded to the estate. The Belehree estate is
held by his elder brother, Abud Allee, who is augmenting it in the
same way, but not at the same rate. I may mention a few recent cases,
as illustrative of the manner in which such things are done in Oude.
Mithun Sing, of an ancient Rajpoot family, held the estate of Semree,
which had been held by his ancestors for many centuries. It consisted
of twelve fine villages, paid to Government 4000 rupees a year, and
yielded him a rent roll of 20,000. Nawab Allee coveted very much this
estate, which bordered on his own. Three years ago, he instigated the
Nazim to demand an increase of 5000 rupees a-year from the estate;
and at the same time invited Mithun Sing to his house, and persuaded
him to resist the demand, to the last. He took to the jungles, and in
the contest between him and the Nazim all the crops of the season
were destroyed, and all the cultivators driven from the lands. When
the season of tillage returned in June, and Mithun Sing had been
reduced to the last stage of poverty, Nawab Allee consented to become
the mediator, got a lease from the Chuckladar for Mithun Sing at 4500
rupees a-year, and stood surety for the punctual payment of the
demand. Poor Mithun Sing could pay nothing, and Nawab Allee got
possession of the estate in liquidation of the balance due to him;
and assigned to Mithun Sing five hundred pucka-beegas of land for his
subsistence. He still resides on the estate, and supports his family
by the tillage of these few beegas.
Amdhun Chowdheree held a share in the estate of Biswa, consisting of
sixty-five villages; paying to Government 12,000 rupees a-year, and
yielding a rent-roll of 65,000. His elder brother's widow resided on
the estate, supported by Amdhun, who managed its affairs for the
family. Nawab Allee got up a quarrel between her and her brother-in-
law; and she assumed the right to authorize Nawab Allee to seize upon
the whole estate. Amdhun appealed to his clan, but Nawab Allee, in
collusion with the Nazim, was too strong for him, and got possession
by taking a strong force, and driving out all who presumed to resist
him. The estate had been held by the family for many centuries.
Mohun Sing held the estate of Mundhuna, which had been in his family
for many generations. He was, by the usual process, five years ago,
constrained to accept the security of Nawab Allee for the punctual
payment of the revenue; and his estate was absorbed in the usual way,
the year after. He is now, like a boa-constrictor, swallowing up
Chowdheree Pertab Sing, who holds a large share in the hereditary
estate of Biswa, which has been in the possession of the family for a
great many generations. This share consisted of thirty-six villages,
and paid a revenue to Government of fourteen thousand. Last year,
Nawab Allee instigated the Nazim to demand ten thousand more. The
Nazim, to prevent all disputes, assigned the twenty-four thousand to
Mirza Hoseyn Beg, the commandant of a troop of cavalry, employed
under him, in liquidation of their arrears of pay. The commandant
gave him a receipt for the amount, which the Nazim sent to the
treasury, and got credit for the amount in his accounts. But poor
Pertab Sing could not pay, and was imprisoned by the cavalry, who
kept possession of his person, and took upon them the collection of
his rents. Nawab Allee came in and paid what was due; and gave
security for the punctual payment of the revenue for the ensuing
year. The estate was made over to him; and he put on score after
score of _dustuk_ bearers, who soon reduced Pertab Sing to utter
beggary. Ten thousand rupees were due to Nawab Allee, and he had
nothing left to sell; and under such circumstances no man else would
lend him anything.
The dustuk bearers are servants of the creditor, who are sent to
attend the debtor, extort from him their wages and subsistence, and
see that he does not move, eat, or drink till he pays them. During
this time the creditor saves all the wages of these attendants; and
they commonly exact double wages from the debtor, so that he is soon
reduced to terms. In this stage we found the poor Chowdheree on
reaching Biswa. I had him released, and so admonished Nawab Allee,
that he has some little chance of saving his estate.
Bisram Sing held the estate of Kooa Danda, which had been in the
possession of his family of Ahbun Rajpoots for many centuries. It
consisted of thirty-five villages, paid a revenue of six thousand
rupees a-year, and yielded a rent-roll of eighteen thousand and five
hundred. Nawab Allee coveted it as being on his border, and in good
order. As soon as his friend; Allee Buksh, was appointed Nazim of the
district, he prevailed upon him to report to the Durbar that Bisram
Sing was a refractory subject, and plunderer; and to request
permission to put him down by force of arms. This was in 1844, while
Bisram Sing was living quietly on his estate. On receiving the order,
which came as a matter of course, the Nazim united his force with
that of Nawab Allee, and attacked the house of Bisram Sing, which had
only twenty-two men to defend it against two thousand. Six of the
twenty-two were killed, eight wounded, and eight only escaped; and
Nawab Allee took possession of the estate.
Bisram Sing was at Lucknow at the time, trying to rebut the false
charges of the Nazim; but his influence was unhappily too strong for
him, and he got no redress. Soon after Nirput Sing, a sipahee in the
9th Regiment Native Infantry, presented a petition to the Resident,
stating that he was the brother of Bisram Sing, and equally
interested in the estate; and a special officer, Busharut Allee, was
ordered by the Durbar to investigate and decide the case. He decided
in favour of Nirput, the sipahee, and Bisram Sing. Another special
officer was sent out to restore Bisram to possession. Nawab Allee
then pleaded the non-existence of any relationship between Nirput and
Bisram; and a third special officer has been sent out to ascertain
this fact.
Belehree, held by Abud Allee, consists of forty villages, pays a
revenue of twelve thousand rupees a-year, and yields a rent-roll of
forty thousand. Abud Allee holds also the estate of Pyntee, in the
same district, consisting of eighty villages, paying a revenue of
thirty-five thousand, and yielding a rent-roll of one hundred and
forty thousand. It had been held by his relative Kazim Allee, who was
succeeded in the possession by Nizam Allee, the husband of his only
daughter. Nizam Allee was in A.D. 1841 killed by a servant, who was
cut down and killed in return by his attendants. Nizam Allee's widow
held till 1843, when she made over the estate to Abud Allee, by whom
she is supported.
Nawab Allee has always money at command to purchase influence at
Court when required; and he has also a brave and well-armed force,
with which to aid the governor of the district, when he makes it
worth his while to do so, in crushing a refractory landholder. These
are the sources of his power, and he is not at all scrupulous in the
use of it--it is not the fashion to be so in Oude.
_February_ 20th, 1850.--Came on sixteen miles to Futtehpore, in the
estate of Nawab Allee, passing Mahmoodabad half way. Near that place
we passed through a grove of mango and other trees called the "Lak
Peree," or the grove of a hundred thousand trees planted by his
ancestors forty years ago. The soil is the same, the country level,
studded with the same rich foliage, and covered with the same fine
crops. As we were passing through his estate, and were to encamp in
it again to-day, Nawab Allee attended me on horseback; and I
endeavoured to impress upon him and the Nazim the necessity of
respecting the rights of others, and more particularly those of the
old Chowdheree Pertab Sing. "Why is it," I asked, "that this
beautiful scene is not embellished by any architectural beauties?
Sheikh Sadee, the poet, so deservedly beloved by you all, old and
young, Hindoos and Mahommedans, says, 'The man who leaves behind him
in any place, a bridge, a well, a church, or a caravansera, never
dies.' Here not even a respectable dwelling-house is to be seen, much
less a bridge, a church, or a caravansera." "Here, sir," said old
Bukhtawur, "men must always be ready for a run to the jungles. Unless
they are so, they can preserve nothing from the grasp of the
contractors of the present day, who have no respect for property or
person--for their own character, or for that of their sovereign. The
moment that a man runs to save himself, family, and property, they
rob and pull down his house, and those of all connected with him.
When a man has nothing but mud walls, with invisible mud covers, they
give him no anxiety; he knows that he can build them up again in a
few days, or even a few hours, when he comes back from the jungles;
and he cares little about what is done to them during his absence.
Had he an expensive house of burnt brick and mortar, he could never
feel quite free. He might be tempted to defend it, and lose some
valuable lives; or he might be obliged to submit to unjust terms.
Were he to lay out his money in expensive mosques, temples, and
tombs, they would restrain him in the same way; and he is content to
live without them, and have his loins always girded for fight or
flight."
"True," said Nawab Allee, "very true; we can plant groves and make
wells, but we cannot venture to erect costly buildings of any kind.
You saw the Nazim of Khyrabad, only a few days ago, bringing all his
troops down upon Rampore, because the landlord, Goman Sing, would not
consent to the increase he demanded of ten thousand, upon seventeen
thousand rupees a-year, which he had hitherto paid. Goman Sing took
to the jungles; and in ten days his fine crops would all have been
destroyed, and his houses levelled with the ground, had you not
interposed, and admonished both. The one at last consented to take,
and the other to pay an increase of five thousand. Only three years
ago, Goman Sing's father was killed by the Nazim in a similar
struggle; and landholders must always be prepared for them."
_February_ 21st, 1850.--Bureearpore, ten miles south-east, over a
plain of the same fine soil, well cultivated, and carpeted with the
same fine crops and rich foliage. Midway we entered the district of
Ramnuggur Dhumeree, held by Rajah Gorbuksh Sing under the security of
Seoraj-od Deen, the person who attempted in vain to arrest the charge
of the two regiments upon the Khyrabad Nazim by holding up the
_sacred Koran_ over his head. He met me on his boundary, and Nawab
Allee and the Nazim of Baree Biswa took their leave. Nawab Allee's
brother, Abud Allee, came to pay his respects to me yesterday
evening. He is a respectable person in appearance, and a man of good
sense. The landscape was, I think, on the whole richer than any other
that I have seen in Oude; but I am told that it is still richer at a
distance from the road, where the poppy is grown in abundance, and
opium of the best quality made.*
[* Opium sells in Oude at from three to eight rupees the seer,
according to its quality. In our neighbouring districts it sells at
fourteen rupees the seer, in the shops licensed by Government.
Government, in our districts, get opium from the cultivators and
manufacturers at three rupees and half the seer. The temptation to
smuggle is great, but the risk is great also, for the police in our
districts is vigilant in this matter.]
Still lamenting the want of all architectural ornament to the scene,
and signs of manufacturing and commercial industry, to show that
people had property, and were able to display and enjoy it, and
gradations of rank, I asked whether people invested their wealth in
the loans of our Government. "Sir," said Bukhtawur Sing, "the people
who reside in the country know nothing about your Government paper;
it is only the people of the capital that hold it or understand its
value. The landholders and peasantry would never be able to keep it
in safety, or understand when and how to draw the interest."
"Do they spend more in marriage and other ceremonies than the people
of other parts of India, or do they make greater displays on such
occasions?"
"Quite the reverse, sir," said Seoraj-od Deen; "they dare not make
any display at all. Only the other day, Gunga Buksh, the refractory
landholder of Kasimgunge, attacked a marriage-procession in the
village of ------, carried off the bridegroom, and imprisoned him till
he paid the large random demanded from him. In February last year
Imam Buksh Behraleen, of Oseyree, having quarrelled with the Amil,
attacked and carried off a whole marriage party to the jungles. They
gave up all the property they had, and offered to sign bonds for
more, to be paid by their friends for their ransom; but he told them
that money would not do; that their families were people of
influence, and must make the King's officers restore him to his
estate upon his own terms, or he would keep them till they all died.
They exerted themselves, and Imam Buksh got back his estate upon his
own terms; but he still continues to rob and plunder. These crimes
are to them diversions from which there is no making them desist."
"There are a dozen gang leaders of this class at present in the belt
of jungle which extends westward from our right up to within fourteen
miles of the Lucknow cantonments; and the plunder of villages, murder
of travellers, and carrying off of brides and bridegrooms from
marriage processions, are things of every-day occurrence. There are
also in these parts a number of pansee bowmen, who not only join in
the enterprises of such gangs as in other districts, but form gangs
of their own, under leaders of their own caste, to rob travellers and
plunder villages.
"Gunga Buksh of Kasimgunge has his fort in this belt of jungle, and
he and his friends and relations take good care that no man cuts any
of it down, or cultivates the land. With the gangs which he and his
relatives keep up in this jungle, he has driven out the greater part
of the Syud proprietors of the surrounding villages, and taken
possession of their lands. After driving out the King's troops from
the town of Dewa, and exacting ransoms from many of the inhabitants,
whom he seized and carried off in several attacks, he, in October
last, brought down upon it all the ruffians he could collect, killed
no less than twenty-nine persons--chiefly Syuds and land proprietors
--and took possession of the town and estate. The chief proprietor,
Bakur Allee, was killed among the rest; and Gunga Buksh burnt his
body, and suspended his head to a post in his own village of Luseya.
He dug down his house and those of all his relations who had been
killed with him, and now holds quiet possession of his estate."
This was all true. The Resident, on the application of Haffiz-od
Deen, a native judicial officer of Moradabad district--one of the
family which had lost so many members in this atrocious attack--urged
strongly on the Durbar the necessity of punishing Gunga Buksh and his
gang. The Ghunghor Regiment of Infantry, with a squadron of cavalry,
and six guns, was sent out in October 1849, for the purpose, under a
native officer. On the force moving out, the friends of Gunga Buksh
at Court caused the commandant to be sent for on some pretext or
other; and he has been detained at the capital ever since. The force
has, in consequence, remained idle, and Gunga Buksh has been left
quietly to enjoy the, fruits of his enterprise. The Amil having no
troops to support his authority, or even to defend his person in such
a position, has also remained at Court. No revenue has been
collected, and the people are left altogether exposed to the
depredations of these merciless robbers. The belt of jungle is nine
miles long and four miles wide; and the west end of it is within only
fourteen miles of the Lucknow cantonments, where we have three
regiments of infantry, and a company of artillery.
_February_ 22nd, 1850.--A brief history of the rise of this family
may tend to illustrate the state of things in Oude. Khumma Rawut, of
the pansee tribe, the great-grandfather of this Gunga Buksh, served
Kazee Mahommed, the great-grandfather of this Bakur Allee, as a
village watchman, for many years up to his death. He had some
influence over his master, and making the most of this and of the
clan feeling which subsisted among the pansees of the district, he
was able to command the services of a formidable gang when the old
Kazee died. He left a young family, and Khumma got possession of five
or six villages out of the estate which the old Kazee left to his
sons. The sons were too weak: to resist the pansees, and when Khumma
died he left them to his five sons:-- 1. Kundee Sing; 2. Bukhta Sing;
3. Alum Sing; 4. Lalsahae; 5. Misree Sing. As the family increased in
numbers it has gone on adding to its possessions in the same manner,
by attacking and plundering villages, murdering or driving off the
old proprietors of the lands, and taking possession of them for
themselves. Each branch of the family, as it separates from the
parent stock, builds for itself a fort in one or other of the
villages which belong to its share of the acquired lands. In this
fort the head of each branch of the family resides with his armed
followers, and sallies forth to plunder the country and acquire new
possessions. In small enterprises each branch acts by itself; in
larger ones two or more branches unite, and divide the lands and
booty they acquire by amicable arrangement.
They seize all the respectable persons whom they find in the villages
which they attack and plunder, keep them in prison, and inflict all
manner of tortures upon them, till they have paid, or pledged
themselves to pay, all that they have or can borrow from their
friends, as their ransom. If they refuse to pay, or to pledge
themselves to pay the sum demanded, they murder them. If they pay
part, and pledge themselves to pay the rest within a certain time,
they are released; and if they fail to fulfil their engagements, they
and their families are murdered in a second attack. After the last
attack above described upon Dewa, Gunga Buksh seized seven fine
villages belonging to the family of Bakur Allee Khan, which they had
held for many generations. He, Gunga Buksh, now holds no less than
twenty-seven villages, all seized in the same manner, after the
plunder and murder of their old proprietors. The whole of this
family, descendants of Khumma Rawut, hold no less than two hundred
villages and hamlets, all taken in the same manner from the old
proprietors, with the acquiescence or connivance of the local
authorities, who were either too weak or too corrupt to punish them,
and restore the villages to their proper owners.*
[* Kundee Sing had two sons, 1. Cheytun Sing; 2. Ajeet Sing. Cheytun
Sing had two sons, 1. Sophul Sing; 2. Thakurpurshad. Sophul Sing had
two sons, 1. Keerut Sing; 2. Jote Sing. Ajeet Sing had two sons, 1.
Bhugwunt Sing; 2. Rutun Sing. Thakur Purshad, Bhugwunt Sing, and
Rutun Sing, reside in a fort which they have built in Bhetae, four
miles from Dewa, in the north-west border of the belt of jungle. They
hold forty villages, besides hamlets, which they have taken from the
old proprietors of the Dewa and Korsee estates. Thakur Purshad has
another fort called Buldeogur, near that of Atursae, two coss south
of Dewa; and Bhugwunt Sing has the small fort of Munmutpore, close to
Bhetae. Bukta Sing had only one son, Bisram Sing, who had only one
son, Gunga Buksh, who built the fort of Kasimgunge, on the north-
eastern border of the same belt of jungle, two miles south of Dewa,
and on the death of his father, he went to reside in it with his
family and gang. He holds twenty-seven fine villages, with hamlets.
Twenty of these he seized upon from six to twelve years ago; and the
other seven he got after the attack upon Dewa, in October last. He
has also a fort called Atursae, two coss south from Dewa; a mile west
from Buldeogur. Alum Sing's descendants have remained peaceable
cultivators of the soil in Dewa, and are, consequently, of too little
note for a place in the genealogical table of the family.
Lalsahae had three sons, 1. Dheer Sing; 2. Bustee Sing; 3. Gokul
Sing, all dead. Dheer Sing had two sons, Omed Sing and Jowahir Sing.
Omed Sing had three sons, Dirgpaul Sing, Maheput Sing, and Gungadhur,
who was murdered by Thakur Pershad, his cousin. Jowahir Sing had one
son, Priteepaul Sing. Bustee Sing had two sons, Girwur Sing and
Soulee Sing. Girwur Sing had two sons, Dhokul Sing and Shunker Sing.
This branch of the family hold the forts of Ramgura and Paharpore, on
the border of the jungle six miles south-west from Dewa, and twelve
villages besides hamlets taken in the same manner from the old
proprietors. Gokul Sing had two sons, Dulloo Sing and Soophul Sing.
Dulloo Sing has one son. They reside with the families of Dheer Sing
and Bustee Sing.
Misree Sing, the fifth son of Khumma, had three sons, 1. Boneead
Sing; 2. Dureeao Sing; 3. name forgotten--all three are dead. Bonead
Sing had two sons, 1. Anoop Sing; 2. Goorbuksh Sing. Dureeao Sing had
two sons, 1. Anokee Sing; 2. name forgotten. The third son of Misree
Sing had three sons, 1. Mulung Sing; 2. Anunt Sing; 3. name
forgotten--all three still live.
This branch of the family resides in Satarpore, one mile west from
Kasimgunge, in this belt of Jungle, and two miles from Dewa, in a
fortified house built by them. They have got a small fort, called
Pouree, near this place. They form part of Gunga Buksh's gang, and
share with him in the booty acquired.]
To record all the atrocities committed by the different members of
this family in the process of absorbing the estates of their
neighbours, and the property of men of substance in the countries
around, would be a tedious and unprofitable task; and I shall content
myself with mentioning a few that are most prominent in the
recollection of the people of the district. About ten years ago,
Gunga Buksh and his gang attacked the house of Lalla Shunker Lal, a
respectable merchant of Dewa, plundered it, killed the tutor of his
three sons, and carried them and their father off to his fort, where
he tortured them till they paid him a ransom of nine thousand rupees.
On their release they left Dewa, and have ever since resided in
Lucknow. Two years after they attacked the village of Saleempore, two
miles east from Dewa, killed Nyam Allee, the zumeendar, and seized
upon his estate. About six years ago Munnoo, the son of Gunga Buksh,
with a gang of near two thousand men, attacked the King's force in
the town of Dewa, killed four sipahees, two artillery-men, and two
troopers, and plundered the place. About six months ago this gang
attacked the house of Ewuz Mahommed, in Dewa, plundered it, levelled
it with the ground, and took off all the timbers to their fort of
Kasimgunge. Soon after he made the attack in which he killed twenty-
nine persons in Dewa, as above described.
Thakur Purshad, about fourteen years ago, attacked the village of
Molookpore, two miles east from Dewa, plundered it, took possession
of the land, seized and carried off the proprietor, Sheikh Khoda
Buksh, and put him to death in his fort of Bhetae. Three years after
he attacked the house of Gholam Mostafa, in Dewa, killed him, and
seized upon all the lands he held. Three years ago he attacked the
house of Janoo, a shopkeeper, plundered it, and confined and tortured
him till he paid a ransom of two hundred and fifty rupees. Three
months after he seized and carried off to his fort Roopun, another
shopkeeper, and confined and tortured him till he paid a ransom of
three hundred rupees. Last year he seized and took off Jhow Dhobee
from Dewa, and extorted forty rupees from him. Six months ago he
attacked a marriage-procession in Dewa, plundered it, took off the
bridegroom, Omed Allee, and confined and tortured him till he paid
eleven hundred and fifteen rupees. These men all levy black mail from
the country around; and it is those only who cannot or will not pay
it, or whose lands they intend to appropriate, that they attack. They
created the jungle above described, of nine miles long by four wide,
for their own evil purposes, and preserve it with so much vigilance,
that no man dares to cut a stick, graze a bullock, or browse a camel
in it without their special sanction; indeed, they are so much
dreaded, that no man or woman beyond their own family or followers
dares enter the jungle.
Omed Sing, fifteen years ago, invited to his house the four
proprietors of the village of Owree, Gholam Kadir, Allee Buksh,
Durvesh Allee, and Moiz-od Deen, residents of Dewa, and put them to
death because they could not, by torture, be made to transfer their
lands to him. He then seized their village, and built the fort of
Rumgura Paharpore upon it. Omed Sing, Jowahir Sing, Dhokul Sing, and
Soophul Sing all reside in this fort with the son of Dulloo Sing.
This family of pansees, or, as they call themselves, Rawuts, form at
present one of the most formidable gangs of robbers in Oude, and one
of the most difficult to put down from their union and inveterate
habit of plunder. They can always, at short notice and little cost,
collect bands of hundreds of the same tribe and habit to join them in
plunder and resistance to lawful authority.
On the 25th of February, 1838, Rajah Dursun Sing, then in charge of
the district, wrote to the Durbar to say, "that Gunga Buksh of Dewa
was the worst robber in the district, would pay no revenue, and
instigated others to withhold theirs; that numerous complaints had
been made against him to the Durbar by the people, and that he had
been urged by Government to do his best to punish him; that he had
long tried all he could to do so, but had not sufficient troops; that
his evil deeds increased, however, so much, that he at last
determined to run all risks, and on the 27th of that month, on
Friday, he left Amaneegunge, and marched forty-eight miles without
resting; and on Saturday, before daybreak, reached the fort of
Kasimgunge, and invested it on all sides; that he found the fort
large and strong, and surrounded with dense jungle; that he had only
three guns with him, but, as the enemy were taken by surprise, he
took all their outworks one after another; that the besieged got a
crowd of their adherents to attack his force in the rear on Saturday
night, that they might get off in the confusion, but his troops were
ready to intercept them at all points; and, in attempting to cut his
way through, Gunga Baksh was seized with all his followers, but the
women and children were permitted to go their way; that a good many
of the enemy had been killed, and he, Dursun Sing, had had one
golundaz and five sipahees killed and ten persons wounded."
The King sent Dursun Sing a dress of honour with the title of Rajah
on the 3rd of March, 1838, and ordered him to have the fort levelled
with the ground. Dursun Sing, in reply, states that he had men
employed in pulling down the fort; and, in reply to an order to send
in a list of the property taken from the besieged, he states, on the
12th of March, 1838, that none whatever had been secured. Gunga Buksh
soon bribed his way out of prison at Lucknow, returned to Kasimgunge,
rebuilt his fort, and made it stronger than ever; and continued to
plunder the country, and increase his landed possessions by the
murder of the old proprietors. He became enlisted into the tribe of
Rajpoots, and his sister was married to the Powar Rajah of _Etonda_,
seven coss north from Lucknow. Jode Sing, the present Rajah of that
place, is her son; and he is associated with Gunga Buksh in his
depredations. _Sahuj Ram_, of Pokhura, of the Ametheea tribe of
Rajpoots, in the Hydergurh purgunna, on the right bank of the Goomtee
river, married a daughter of Gunga Buksh's, and has a strong fort,
called Raunee, thirty miles east from Lucknow. He is said to have
been present at the murder of the twenty-nine persons at Dewa in
October last, and to have had with him four hundred armed men and two
guns. He and all his followers are notorious and inveterate robbers,
like Gunga Buksh himself. The descendants of Khumma, the village
watchman, have already built ten forts upon the lands which they have
seized, and there are no less than seventy of these forts or
strongholds within a circuit of ninety miles round Bhetae and
Khasimgunge, the centre being not more than eighteen miles from the
Lucknow cantonments.
The Minister having informed the Resident that, without some aid from
British troops, it was impossible for him to put down or punish these
atrocious murderers and robbers, who had so many mud-forts well
garrisoned by their gangs, he, on the 26th of March, 1850, ordered a
wing of the 2nd Battalion of Oude Local Infantry under Captain
Boileau to join the force, consisting of, 1. A wing of the 2nd Oude
Local Infantry; 2. Captain Barlow's regiment, with two nine-pounders
and one eight-inch howitzer; 3. Nawab Allee's auxiliaries, two
thousand men and three small guns; 4. Sufshikum Khan, the Amil of the
district, with one thousand men and five guns; 5. Seoraj-od Deen, the
Amil of Ramnuggur, with one hundred and fifty men and two guns; 6.
Ghalib Jung, with one thousand foot soldiers, forty camel jinjals
(tumbooraks), seven guns, and one hundred troopers, in an attack upon
Kasimgunge. The different parts of this force had been so disposed as
to concentrate upon and invest the fort at daybreak on the morning of
that day. The surprise was complete.
Shells were thrown into the fort from Captain Barlow's guns, but
Captain Boileau did not consider the force sufficient to take the
fort and secure, the garrison, and wrote to request a reinforcement.
The distance from Kasimgunge to the cantonments was twenty miles. A
wing of the 10th Regiment Native Infantry, with two guns, was sent
off under Captain Wilson; but the garrison had evacuated the fort and
fled on the night of the 26th, and the wing was ordered to proceed
direct to the fort of Bhetae, four miles nearer to the cantonments,
which was to be invested by the same force on the morning of the
28th.
Captain Wilson had with him Lieutenant Elderton, as adjutant of the
wing, and Ensigns Trenchard and Wish, with a native officer in charge
of the two guns. They reached Bhetae at 7 A.M., were joined by the
Bhetae force at 8 A.M., and the two forts of Bhetae and Munmutpore
were forthwith invested. Munmutpore stood about three hundred yards
to the west of Bhetae; and both forts were held by Thakur Purshad and
Bhugwunt Sing, members of the same family of pansee robbers, and
their gangs. Captain Wilson was the chief in command; and he, with
his own and Captain Boileau's wing, took up his position on the north
side of Bhetae, and placed Captain Barlow on the west side of
Munmutpore. There was a deep dry ditch all round outside the outer
wall, and a thick fence of bamboos inside. Between this fence and the
citadel in both forts was a still deeper ditch. Between the fence of
bamboos and the inner ditch was a small intricate passage,
intersected by huts and trenches.
The wall of the citadel was about twenty feet high, and the upper
part formed a parapet eight feet high, filled with loopholes for
matchlocks. Between Bhetae and Munmutpore, midway, was a large
bastion filled with matchlock-men, to keep open the communication and
prevent an enemy from taking up any position between the two forts.
The investing force was distributed all round, with orders to attack
the nearest and weakest points as soon as Captain Wilson should
commence his upon the main point, the northern face.
On the afternoon of the 29th, about half-past three, a small party of
the garrison came out of the gate on the northern face, and appeared
disposed to attack Captain Wilson's two nine-pounders, and a third
gun, which had all three been advanced on to within a short distance
of the gate. During this time Captain Barlow was throwing shells into
both forts from his position to the west of Munmutpore. The subahdar-
major had command of the advanced party in charge of Captain Wilson's
three guns. He charged and drove back into the fort the small party
which threatened his guns, and Captain Wilson hastily assembled all
his and Captain Boileau's force, and followed to support the
subahdar-major. Finding his officers and men all excited and anxious
to push on into the fort, Captain Wilson unfortunately yielded to the
impulse, and entered the outer gate with one of his two nine-
pounders, in the hope of taking the place by a _coup-de-main_.
The garrison all retired into the citadel as he entered, and kept up
a distressing fire upon the assailants as they went along the narrow
passage between the bamboo fence and the ditch in search of a way
into the citadel. Several rounds were fired from the gun, in the hope
of making a breach in the wall, but the balls penetrated and lodged
midway in the wall, without bringing down any part of it; and
musketry was altogether useless against a thick parapet with
loopholes, so slender on the outside and so wide within. The huts,
which might have sheltered officers and men, were set fire to by
accident, and tended to increase the confusion. The entrance to the
citadel was over a narrow mud causeway, which the garrison had not
had time to remove; but it was hidden from the assailants by a
projection which they could not attain, and the men began to fall
fast before the fire from the loopholes of the parapet.
On hearing the firing on Captain Wilson's side, the officers
commanding the troops on the other three sides, commenced their
attack on the nearest and seemingly weakest points, as before
directed. Captain Barlow lost some men in an unsuccessful attempt to
enter the fort of Munmutpore on the west side; but the auxiliary
force of Nawab Allee effected an entrance on the east side of that
fort. They were, however, arrested by the second ditch within, in the
same manner as Captain Wilson's force had been, and a good many men
were shot down in the same manner, in attempting to get over it. The
force under Sufshikum Khan, on the east side of Bhetae, effected an
entrance, but was arrested by the second ditch in the same manner,
and lost many men. The enemy in Bhetae had eleven men killed and
nineteen wounded, a good many of them from the shells thrown in by
Captain Barlow. The loss of the enemy in Munmutpore was never
ascertained.
After Captain Wilson had been engaged within the wall about three-
quarters of an hour, and the ammunition of the gun had become
exhausted. Lieutenant Elderton, who had behaved with great gallantry
during the whole scene, and was standing in advance with Captain
Boileau, received a shot in the neck, and fell dead by his side.
Having lost so many men and officers in fruitless efforts to
penetrate into the citadel, and seeing no prospect of carrying the
place by remaining longer under the fire from the parapet, Captains
Wilson and Boileau drew off their parties; but the bullocks which
drew the gun had been all killed or wounded, and they were obliged to
leave it behind with the bodies of the killed. The men attempted to
draw off the gun; but so many were shot down from above that it was
deemed prudent to abandon it. About midnight both garrisons vacated
the forts, and retired unmolested through the jungle to the eastward,
where Ghalib Jung's troops had been posted. There is good ground to
believe that he connived at their escape, and purposely held back
from the attack as a traitor in connivance with some influential
persons in the Durbar.
The 10th Native Infantry had one European officer, Lieutenant
Elderton, ten sipahees, and one calashee, killed; five native
officers and twenty-two privates, wounded.
The 2nd Oude Local Infantry, six sipahees, and one calashee, killed;
and seven native officers and thirteen privates, wounded.
The artillery had one native officer and nine privates wounded.
This reverse arose from the commandant's yielding to the impetuosity
of his officers and sipahees, and attempting to take by a rush a
strong fort whose defences he had never examined and knew nothing
whatever about, as he had never before seen any place of the kind, or
had one described to him. He and all his men had courage in
abundance, but they wanted prudence.
Gunga Buksh and his son, Runjeet Sing, were afterwards taken,
convicted before the highest tribunal in Oude, of the murder of the
twenty-seven persons in Dewa, in October, 1849, and executed on the
18th of September, 1850. Thakur Purshad and his cousin, Bhugwunt
Sing, remained at large, and at the head of their gang of robbers
continued to plunder the country, and levy blackmail from landholders
and village communities till the 1st of February 1851, though pressed
by a force of one thousand infantry, fifty troopers, and some ten
guns. On the morning of that day, Captain Hearsey, commanding a
detachment of the Oude Frontier Police, who had been ordered to co-
operate with this force in putting down this gang, took advantage of
a dense fog, fell upon them, and with the loss of one non-
commissioned officer killed, and three non-commissioned officers and
three sipahees wounded, killed one of the chief leaders, Bhugwunt
Sing, and twenty-two of their followers, wounded many more, and took
eight prisoners, among them the son of the leader Bhugwunt Sing. The
other two leaders, Thakur Purshad and Keerut Sing, were bathing at
the time in the river Goomtee, and escaped by swimming across.
Rajah Bukhtawur Sing declares, that the taking of daughters from
families of this caste by Rajpoots is one of the punishments
inflicted upon them for the murder of their own. They will not
condescend to give daughters in marriage to such persons; and they
take daughters from them merely to get their money, and assistance on
emergency in resisting the Government, and murdering and plundering
its subjects.
This part of Oude, comprising the districts of Dureeabad Rudowlee,
Ramnuggur Dhumeree, Dewa Jahangeerabad, Jugdispoor, and Hydergur, has
more mud forts than any other, though they abound in all parts; and
the greater part of them are garrisoned in the same way by gangs of
robbers. It is worth remarking, that the children in the villages
hereabout play at fortification as a favourite amusement, each
striving to excel the others in the ingenuity of his defences. They
all seem to feel that they must some day have to take a part in
defending such places against the King's troops; and their parents
seem to encourage the feeling. The real mud forts are concealed from
sight in beautiful clusters of bamboos or other evergreen jungle, so
that the passer-by can see nothing of them. Some of them are
exceedingly strong, against troops unprovided with mortars and
shells. The garrison is easily shelled out by a small force, or
starved out by a large one; but one should never attempt to breach
them with round shot, or take them by an escalade or a rush.
It is still more worthy of remark, that these great landholders, who
have recently acquired their possessions by the plunder and murder of
their weaker neighbours, and who continue their system of pillage, in
order to acquire the means to maintain their gangs, and add to these
possessions, are those who are most favoured at Court, and most
conciliated by the local rulers; because they are more able and more
willing than others to pay for the favours of the one, and set at
defiance the authority of the other. They often get their estates
transferred from the jurisdiction of the local governors to that of
the person in charge of the Hozoor Tuhseel at Lucknow. Almost all the
estates of this family of Rawuts have been so transferred.
Local governors cannot help seeing or hearing of the atrocities they
commit, and feeling some _sympathy_ with the sufferers; or at least
some apprehension, that they may lose revenue by their murder, and
the absorption of their estate; but the officer in charge of the
Hozoor Tuhseel sees or hears little of what they do, and cares
nothing about the sufferers as long as their despoilers pay him
liberally. If the local governor reports their atrocities to
Government, this person represents it as arising solely from enmity;
and describes the sufferers as lawless characters, whom it is
meritorious to punish. If the Court attempts to punish or coerce such
characters, he gives them information, and does all he can to
frustrate the attempt. If they are taken and imprisoned, he soon gets
them released; and if their forts and strongholds have been taken and
pulled down, he sells them the privilege of rebuilding or repairing
them. It is exceedingly difficult at all times, and often altogether
impossible, to get one of these robber landholders punished, or
effectually put down, so many and so formidable are the obstacles
thrown in the way by the Court favourite, who has charge of the
Hozoor Tuhseel, and their other friends at the capital. Those who
suffer from their crimes have seldom any chance of redress. Having
lost their all, they are no longer in a condition to pay for it; and
without payment nothing can be got from the Court of Lucknow.
_February_ 23, 1850.--Badoosura, ten miles south-east over a plain
covered with rich crops and fine foliage; soil muteear generally, but
in some parts doomut; tillage excellent. Passed over some more sites
of Bhur towns. The Oude territory abounds with these sites, but
nothing seems to be known of the history of the people to whom they
belonged. They seem to have been systematically extirpated by the
Mahommedan conquerors in the early part of the fourteenth century.
All their towns seem to have been built of burnt brick, while none of
the towns of the present day are so. There are numerous wells still
in use, which were formed by them of the finest burnt brick and
cement; and the people tell me that others of the same kind are
frequently discovered in ploughing over fields. I have heard of no
arms, coins, or utensils peculiar to them having been discovered,
though copper sunuds, or deeds of grant from the Rajahs of Kunoje, to
other people in Oude, six hundred years ago, have been found. The
Bhurs must have formed town and village communities in this country
at a very remote period, and have been a civilized people, though
they have not left a name, date, or legend inscribed upon any
monument. Brick ruins of forts, houses, and wells, are the only
relics to be found of these people. Some few of the caste are still
found in the humblest grade of society as cultivators, police
officers, &c., in Oude and other districts north of the Ganges. Up to
the end of the thirteenth century their sovereignty certainly
extended over what are now called the Byswara and Banoda districts;
and Sultanpore, under some other name, appears to have been their
capital. It was taken and destroyed early in the fourteenth century
by Allah-od Deen, Sultan of Delhi, or by one of his generals, and
named Sultanpore. Chandour was another great town of these Bhurs. I
am not aware of any temples having been found to indicate their
creed.*
[* The Bhur Goojurs must, I conclude, have been of the same race.]
The landholders, who have become leaders of gang-robbers, are more
numerous here than in any other part of Oude that I have seen, save
Bangur: but they are not here, as there, so strongly federated. The
Amil is so weak, that, in despair, he connives at their atrocities
and usurpations as the only means of collecting the Government
revenue, and filling his own pockets. The pausee bowmen are here much
more formidable than they are even in Bangur. There they thieve, and
join the gangs of the refractory landholders; but here they have
powerful leaders of their own tribe, and form formidable independent
gangs. They sometimes attack and plunder villages, and spare neither
age nor sex. They have some small strongholds in which they assemble
from different villages over pitchers of spirits, made from the fruit
of the mhowa tree, and purchased for them by their leaders; and,
having determined upon what villages to attack, proceed at once to
work before they get sober. Every town and village through which we
pass has suffered more or less from their atrocities, and the people
are in a continual state of dread.
In 1843, the pausees, who resided in the village of Chindwara, in the
Dewa district, ran off to avoid being held responsible for the
robbery of a merchant in the neighbourhood. They were pacified and
brought back; but the landholder was sorely pressed by the Government
collector to pay up his balance of revenue, and he, in turn, pressed
the pausees to pay up the balances due by them for rents. They ran
off again, but their families were retained by the landholder. The
pausees gathered together all of their clan that they could muster
from the surrounding villages, attacked the landholder's house,
killed his mother, wife, four of his nephews, the wife of one of his
nephews, two of the King's sipahees who attempted to defend them, and
several of the landholder, Yakoob Husun's, servants, and plundered
him of everything he had. The landlord himself happened to be absent
on business, and was the only one of the family who escaped. In all
twenty-nine persons were murdered by the pausees on that occasion.
They were all permitted to come back and settle in the village, as if
nothing had happened; the village was made over to another, and
Yakoob Husun has ever since been supplicating in vain for redress at
the King's gate.
About three miles from Badoosura, we passed from the Ramnuggur
district into that of Dureeabad Rodowlee; but the above description
is applicable to both, though in a somewhat less degree to Ramnuggur
than to Dureeabad. It is equally applicable to the Dewa district,
which we left on our right yesterday, midway between our road and
Lucknow. There Gunga Buksh Chowdheree and his relatives have large
gangs engaged in plundering towns, and seizing upon the lands of
their weaker and more scrupulous neighbours. In the Dureeabad
district, the leaders of gangs are chiefly of the Behraleea tribe of
Rajpoots, so called after the district of Behralee, in which they
reside.
I this morning asked Nowsing, a landholder of the Rykwar Rajpoot
clan, who came to me, in sorrow, to demand redress for grievous
wrongs, whether he did not think that all the evils they suffered
arose from murdering their female infants. "No, sir, I do not." "But
the greater part of the Rajpoot families do still murder them, do
they not?" "Yes, sir, they still destroy them; and we believe that
the father who preserves a daughter will never live to see her
suitably married, or that the family into which she does marry will
perish or be ruined." "Do you recollect any instances of this?" "Yes,
sir, my uncle, Dureeao, preserved a daughter, but died before he
could see her married; and my father was obliged to go to the cost of
getting her married into a Chouhan family at Mynpooree, in the
British territory. My grandfather, Nathoo, and his brother,
Rughonath, preserved each a daughter, and married them into the same
Chouhan families of Mynpooree. These families all became ruined; and
their lands were sold by auction; and the three women returned upon
us, one having two sons and a daughter, and another two sons. We
maintained them for some years with difficulty, but this year, seeing
the disorder that prevailed around us, they all went back to the
families of their husbands. It is the general belief among us, sir,
that those who preserve their daughters never prosper, and that the
families into which we marry them are equally unfortunate."
"Then you think that it is a duty imposed upon you from above to
destroy your infant daughters, and that the neglect and disregard of
that duty bring misfortunes upon you?" "We think it must be so, sir,
with regard to our own families or clan."
I am satisfied that these notions were honestly expressed, however
strange they may appear to others. Habit has brutalized them, or
rendered them worse than brutes in regard to their female offspring.
They derive profit, or save expense and some mortification, by
destroying them, and readily believe anything that can tend to excuse
the atrocity to themselves or to others. The facility with which men
and women persuade themselves of a religious sanction for what they
wish to do, however cruel and iniquitous, is not, unhappily, peculiar
to any class or to any creed. These Rajpoots know that the crime is
detestable, not only to the few Christians they meet, but to all
Mahommedans, and to every other class of Hindoos among whom they live
and move. But the Rajpoots, among whom alone this crime prevails, are
the dominant class in Oude; and they can disregard the feelings and
opinions of the people around them with impunity. The greater part of
the land is held by them, and in the greater part of the towns and
villages their authority is paramount.
Industry is confined almost exclusively to agriculture. They have
neither merchants nor manufacturers to form, or aid in forming, a
respectable and influential middle class; and the public officers of
the state they look upon as their natural and irreconcileable
enemies. When the aristocracy of Europe buried their daughters alive
in nunneries, the state of society was much the same as it now is in
Oude. The King has prohibited both infanticide and suttee. The latter
being essentially a public exhibition, the local authorities have
continued, in great measure, to put down; but the former was
certainly never more common than it is at present, for the Rajpoot
landholders were never before more strong and numerous. That suttees
were formerly very numerous in Oude is manifest from the numerous
suttee tombs we see in the vicinity of every town and almost every
village; but the Rajpoots never felt much interested in them; they
were not necessary either to their pride or purse.*
[* Suttee, infanticide, suicide, the maiming of any one, or making
any one an eunuch, were all prohibited by the King of Oude, on the
15th of May, 1833, as reported to Government by the Resident on the
6th November, 1834. These prohibitions were reported to the Resident,
by the King, on the 14th of June, 1833.]
_February 24th_, 1850.--Dureeabad, ten miles south-east, over a plain
of good soil--doomut and mutteear--covered with the same rich crops
and fine foliage. There is at present no other district in Oude
abounding so much in gang robbery and other crime as this of
Dureeabad Rodoulee, in which the Amil, Girdhara Sing, is notoriously
conniving at these crimes from a consciousness of utter inability to
contend with the landholders who commit them, or employ men to commit
them. Yet he has at his disposal a force that ought to be sufficient
to keep in order a district five times as large. He has the Jannissar
battalion of nujeebs, under Seetla Buksh at present; the Zoolfukar
Sufderee battalion of nujeebs, under Bhow-od Dowlah, who never leaves
Court; and the Judeed, or new regiment, consisting of a thousand men.
He has nine guns, and a squadron of horse. Of the guns, five are on
the ground, utterly useless; four will bear firing a few rounds. For
these four he has bullocks, but they are not yet in condition. Of the
seer and half of corn, drawn for each bullock per diem, only half a
seer is given. Of the corps, more than one-half of the men are at
Lucknow, in attendance upon Court favourites; and of the half present
not one-third are fit for the work of soldiers.