marriage-procession. "Sir," said he, "what you heard from Seoraj-od
Deen is all true. Imam Buksh had a strong fort in his estate of
Ouseyree, five miles to our right, where he had a formidable gang,
that committed numerous dacoitees and highway robberies in the
country around. I was ordered to attack him with all my force. He got
intimation, and assembled his friends to the number of five thousand.
I had not half the number. We fought till he lost seventy men, and I
had thirty killed and fifteen wounded. He then fled to the jungles,
and I levelled his fort with the ground. He continued, however, to
plunder, and at last seized the bridegroom and all the marriage
party, and took them to his bivouac in the jungles. The family was
very respectable, and made application to me, and I was obliged to
restore him to his estate, where he has lived ever since in peace. I
attacked him in November 1848, and he took off the marriage party in
February following." "But," said a poor hackery driver, who was
running along by my side, and had yesterday presented me a petition,
"you forgot to get back my two carts and bullocks which he still
keeps, and uses for his own purpose, though I have been importuning
you ever since." "And what did he do to you when he got you into the
jungles?" "He tied up and flogged all who seemed respectable, and
worth something--such as merchants and shopkeepers--and poked them
with red-hot ramrods till they paid all they could get, and promised
to use all the influence and wealth of their families to force the
Amil to restore him to his estate on his own terms." "And were the
parties married after their release?" "Yes, sir, we were released in
April, after the Amil had been made to consent to his terms; and they
were married in May; but I could not get back my two carts." "And on
what terms did you restore this Imam Buksh to his estate?" "I granted
him a lease, sir," said the Amil, "at the same rate of five thousand
rupees a-year which he had paid before."*
[* This Imam Buksh, in April, 1850, went in disguise to the annual
fair held at Bahraetch, in honour of the old saint. He was recognized
by some of Captain Bunbury's soldiers, who attempted to seize him. He
was armed with sword, spear, and shield, and defended himself as long
as he could. Seeing no chance of escape, he plunged both sword and
spear into his own belly, and died, though Captain Bunbury came up,
had his wounds sewn up, and did all he could to save him.]
Stopping to talk with the peasantry of a village who had come out to
the roadside to pay their respects and see the procession, I asked
them how, amidst such crimes and disorders, they could preserve their
crops so well. "Sir," said they, "we find it very difficult and
expensive to do so, and shall find it still more so when the crops
are cut and stacked, or have been threshed and stored; then these
gangs of robbers have it all their own way, and burn and plunder all
over the country; we are obliged to spend all we have in maintaining
watchmen for our fields." "But the pausee bowmen have an allowance
for this duty, have they not?" "Yes, sir, they have all an allowance.
Every cultivator, when he cuts his crop, leaves a certain portion
standing for the pausee who has guarded it, and this we call his
_Bisar_. Over and above this he has a portion of land from the
proprietor or holder of the village, which he tills himself or gets
tilled by others." "And they are strong and faithful watchmen, are
they not?" "Yes, sir, they are; and though they will thieve and join
gangs of robbers in any enterprise, they will never betray their
trust. They consider it a _point of honour_ not to trespass on fields
or property under the guardianship of members of their own class with
whom they are on good terms, or to suffer any persons whatever to
trespass on what is under their own care. The money which we send to
the treasuries is commonly intrusted to pausees, and their fidelity
and courage may be relied upon. The gang robbers do little injury to
our fields while the crops are green, for they take animals of hardly
any kind with them in their enterprises; and having to move to and
from their points of attack as quickly as possible, they could carry
little of our crops with them; they are, too, afraid of the arrows of
the pausee bowmen at night, if they venture to trespass upon our
fields." "And are these pausee bowmen paid at the rate you mention
all over the country?" "No, sir; they are in some parts paid in what
is called the beega arhaeya, or two seers and half of grain from
every beega. From a pucka beega they get pucka two and half seers;
and from a kutcha beega, a kutcha two and half seers."* "Your crops,
my friends, are finer than I have ever before seen them in Oude."
"Yes, sir, they are very fine; but how we shall gather them God only
knows, with such gangs of desperate robbers all around us. The alarm
is sounded every night, and we have no rest. The Government
authorities are too weak to protect us, or too indifferent to our
sufferings; and we cannot afford to provide the means to protect
ourselves."
[* The kutcha measure bears the same relation to the pucka in weight
as in land measurement.]
As we went on, I asked the Amil what had become of Ahburun Sing, of
Kyampore, the landholder who murdered his father to get possession of
his estate, as mentioned in the early part of this Diary. "Ahburun
Sing, sir, is still in possession of his estate of Kyampore, and
manages it exceedingly well." "I thought he had taken to the jungles
with his gang, like the rest of his class after such a crime, in
order to reduce you to terms?" "It was his father, sir, Aman Sing,
that was doing this. He was the terror of the country; neither road
nor village was safe from him. He murdered many people, and plundered
and burnt down many villages; and all my efforts to put him down were
vain. At last I came to an understanding with his eldest son, who
remained at home in the management of the estate, and was on bad
terms with his father. He had confidential persons always about his
father for his own safety; and when he was one night off his guard,
he went at the head of a small band of resolute men, and seized him.
He kept him in prison for six months, and told me that while so much
plunder was going on around, he did not feel secure of keeping his
father a single night; that many of his old followers wanted him back
as their leader, and would certainly rescue him if he was not
disposed of; that he could not put him to death, lest he should be
detested by his clan as a parricide; but if I would make a feigned
attack on the fort, he would kill him, and make it appear that he had
lost his life in the defence of it. I moved with all the force I had
against the fort, discharged many guns against the walls, made a
feigned attempt at escalade; and in the midst of the confusion _Aman
Sing was killed_. As soon as this was done, I returned with my force;
the son remained in possession of the estate, and all the surrounding
country was delighted to hear that so atrocious a character had been
got rid of."
This was all true, and the Amil did not seem to think that any one
who listened to him could suppose that he had done anything
dishonourable in all this: he seemed to think that all must feel as
he did, seeing his utter inability to cope with these baronial
robbers in any other way, and the evils they every day inflicted upon
the people. This Aman Sing was the most formidable of these robbers
in this district, and the high road from Lucknow to Fyzabad was for
some time closed by his gang. Of those whom he robbed, he used to
murder all who appeared likely to be able to get a hearing at Court
or at the Residency.
The Behraleea Rajpoots, of the Soorujpore Behreyla purgunna, are now
the most formidable and inveterate robbers and plunderers in the
district. The Rajah of this estate, Singjoo, was for some years the
most formidable robber in Oude. He had taken a dislike to the family
of a sipahee of the Governor-General's bodyguard; and, in an evil
hour, he buried the sipahee's father, and some members of his family,
alive. Strong remonstrances were made through the Resident, and Man
Sing, the son of Dursan Sing, who has been already mentioned in this
diary, had orders to seize him. In March, 1845, he made a march of
forty miles at the head of five hundred active and brave men; and, on
the night of the 20th of that month, reached the gate of the fort of
Soorujpore, broke it open, entered, killed and wounded fifty of the
Rajah's men, and lost five of his own.
The Rajah escaped and took shelter in the fort of Goura. After taking
possession of the fort, eight guns, and some elephants, and releasing
two hundred unhappy prisoners, Man Sing followed the Rajah to Goura,
where he was joined by Captain Magness and his corps. The gate of
this fort was giving way before Man Sing's pickaxemen, when Singjoo
surrendered. He was taken to Lucknow, and there died in gaol. The
village, in which his father had been buried alive, Hukkamee, was
given to the sipahee, and is still held by the family;* but they are
a good deal worried in the possession by the widow of the old Rajah,
who still lives at Soorujpore, and would be as formidable as her late
husband was if she could.
[* In the interval, during which Singjoo held this village, he had
added to its boundaries a good deal of land belonging to himself and
others, under the impression that he was secure in the hereditary
possession. The sipahee's family seized upon all these lands, while
they paid Government only the old rate of revenue. The widow of
Singjoo has been ever since trying to recover them, in the usual way,
by night attacks, and a good many lives have been lost on both sides,
but most on the side of the sipahee's family. December 4th, 1851.]
Seodeen, another leader of the same tribe, had been seized in the
same manner by Man Sing's father, Dursun Sing, in October, 1830; and
soon after three of his nephews were seized, and all four died in
gaol at Lucknow; but Chunda and Indul, the brothers of these three
men, are still among the most formidable robbers of the district.
Hardly a night passes without their plundering some village or other,
though Chunda continues to hold his estate, which yields 2250 rupees
a-year, under the security of Seetla Buksh, the commandant of the
Jannissaree battalion, for the payment of four hundred and fifty
rupees a-year. The other robbers of the Dureeabad Rodowlee district,
most formidable, are--
1. Imambuksh, above described, as having seized the marriage party.
In October last he attacked the town of Syud Mahomedpore, killed
three of the Syud proprietors, and plundered it of all he could find.
In the interval between his being driven out of his stronghold and
restored, he attacked and plundered no less than twelve villages, in
the same purgunna of Bussooree Mowae. In one of them, Myrmow,
belonging to Ameer Chowdheree, he killed no less than twelve of the
inhabitants. He still keeps up his gang, and plunders, though
restored to his estate on his own terms.*
[* The death of this robber, Imam Buksh, has been already described
in a note.]
2. Junuck Sing, Behraleea, and his brother, Jeskurun, only twenty
days ago, attacked, plundered, and burnt down the town of Meeangunge,
through which we passed this morning, and carried off all the
inhabitants from whom they thought they could extort any ransom. Only
two days ago, they attacked and plundered the village of Bhojpore,
belonging to Soorujbulee Canoongo, one of the most respectable men in
the district; and cut off the hands of six persons, one of whom died
from loss of blood. The next day they attacked and plundered Gorawa,
a village belonging to the same person, and burnt it down. Two of the
inhabitants were severely wounded, and many bullocks perished in the
flames. Within the last year they have taken off more than two
thousand head of cattle from the purgunna of Soorujpore Behreyla, in
which these villages are situated. Their chief associates in the
crimes they commit every day are Chunda and Indul, their clansmen
above named.
3. Daood Khan, zumeendar of Sundona, in Mowae Bussooree. He has
murdered several of his co-sharers in the estate, and taken their
lands--frightened out others, and taken theirs, and at the head of
his band of ruffians he robs on the highway, and plunders villages.
4. Benee Sing Kana, Rajpoot of Deeh, in the Mohlara purgunna. He is
blind of one eye, and has a small but formidable gang. In November,
1850, the native collector of Mohlara, sent a detachment of one
hundred men, accompanied by Seonath Sing, a co-sharer of Benee Sing,
in the village of Deeh, and Oree Sing, a sipahee, in Captain Orr's
Frontier Police, to attack his small gang in their stronghold at
Atgowa, in the Rodowlee purgunna. They reached the place at the dawn
of day, and forthwith commenced the attack. Benee Sing and his men
made a stoat defence. Rajah Man Sing came up, and great numbers of
the armed peasantry joined in the attack. They took the place about
nine o'clock; but Benee Sing, with fourteen of his stoutest men,
defended his house as a citadel till morning, when the house was set
fire to by the assailants. One of the fourteen was burnt and
disabled, when Benee Sing and the remaining thirteen rushed out,
sword in hand, to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Benee Sing
and twelve of the thirteen were killed; and the thirteenth at last
threw down his arms, and called for quarter. He got it, and was
saved. Six of his men had before been killed in defending the place.
Man Sing had three men wounded and one killed; three more of the
assailants were killed, and seven wounded. The head of the "one-eyed
robber" was sent in to the king, and was received with much joy.
5. Jeskurun Behraleea, zumeendar of Kiteya, in Soorujpore.
6. Rughbur Behraleea, of Kiteya, an associate of Imam Buksh and
Chunda. Four months ago his gang seized two carts laden with valuable
property belonging to Seodeen subahdar, of the Honourable Company's
service. Through the interposition of the Resident they were restored
fifteen days ago.
7. Jugurnath _Chuprassee_, a bhala soltan Rajpoot. This is one of the
most formidable of the leaders of banditti in this and the adjoining
district of Jugdeespore. He and his elder brother, Surubdowun Sing,
were chuprassees on the establishment of Captain Paton, when he was
the First Assistant at Lucknow, and had charge of the Post-office, in
addition to his other duties. A post-office runner was one night
robbed on the road, and Jugurnath was sent out to inquire into the
circumstances. The Amil of the district gave him a large bribe to
misrepresent the case to his master; and as he refused to share this
bribe with his fellow-servants, they made known his manifold
transgressions to Captain Paton, who forthwith dismissed him.
Surubdowun Sing was soon after dismissed for some other offence, and
they both retired to their estate of Oskamow, in the Jugdeespore
district.
This estate comprised fifteen villages. They obtained the leases of
these villages by degrees, through the influence which their position
at the Residency gave them. As soon as they got the lease of a
village, they proceeded to turn out all the old proprietors and
cultivators, in order the better to secure possession in perpetuity;
and those among them of the military class, fought "to the death," to
retain or recover possession of their rights. To defend what they had
iniquitously acquired, Jugurnath and his brothers collected together
bands of the most desperate ruffians in the country, and located them
in the several villages, so as to be able to concentrate and support
each other at a concerted signal. The ousted proprietors attacked
only those who presumed to reside in or cultivate the lands of which
they had been robbed; but Jugurnath and his brethren were less
scrupulous; and as they could afford to pay such bands in no other
way, they gave them free licence to plunder all the villages around,
and all travellers on the highway. Their position and influence at
the Residency enabled them to deter the local authorities from
exposing their iniquities; and they went on till all the villages
became waste, and converted into dens of robbers.
They were, in all, six brothers, and they found their new trade so
profitable and exciting, that they all became leaders of banditti, by
profession, long before the dismissal of the two brothers from the
Residency, though no one, I believe, ventured to prefer charges
against them to the Resident or the Durbar. Soon after their
dismissal, however, Jugurnath one night attacked and murdered his
eldest brother, Surubdowun Sing, in order to get the whole estate to
himself, and put his widow and daughter into prison. His other four
brothers became alarmed, separated from him, and set up each his
separate gang. But Jugurnath contrived soon after, in a dark night,
to shoot the third brother, Himmut, dead, with one ball through the
chest. Purmode Sing, the youngest brother, was soon after shot dead
by some villager, whose cattle he was driving off in a night attack.
Bhugwunt Sing the fourth, and Byjonath, still survive, and have gangs
of their own, afraid to trust themselves with Jugurnath, who has
built two forts, Oskamow and Futtehpore, in the Jugdeespore district,
and a third in two small villages, which he has lately seized upon
and made waste, in the Rodowlee district, in order that he may have a
stronghold to fly to when pressed by the governors of other
districts.
They pay no rent or revenue to Government for any of the villages
they hold. The king's officers are afraid to demand any from them.
They have plundered a great many villages, and are every month
plundering others. They have murdered a great many persons of both
sexes and all ages, and tortured more into paying ransoms in
proportion to their supposed means. Jugurnath is still the terror of
the surrounding country, and a reward of five hundred rupees has been
offered for his apprehension.*
[* See note to Chapter VI., Vol. II., on the capture of Maheput Sing.
A reward of one thousand rupees has since been offered for
Jugurnath's arrest. See in Chapter IV., Vol. II:, an account of his
desertion of his master, Captain Paton. He is still at large, and
plundering. December 4th, 1851.]
8. Moorut Sing, of _Kiteya_, which has eleven small villages
depending upon it, all occupied by Rajpoot robbers. Nowgowa, in
Mohlara, in Rodowlee, on the left bank of the Goomtee river, twenty
miles below Lucknow, has, in the same manner, twelve villages
depending upon it, all occupied by Rajpoots, who rob, or shelter
robbers, when pursued from the east. On the opposite bank is the
village of Kholee, in the Hydergurh purgunna, held by Surfraz
Chowdheree, and occupied by Brahmans and Musulmans, who shelter
robbers in the same way. When they are pressed in Nowgowa they take
shelter in Kholee, and when pressed in Kholee they take shelter in
Nowgowa. All the robbers above named find shelter in these villages
when pursued, and share their plunder with the inhabitants.
8. Bhooree Khan. The great-grandfather of Bhooree Khan, Rostam Khan.
was the leader of a large gang of Musulman freebooters. The estate of
Deogon, containing thirty-seven villages, belonged to a family of Bys
Rajpoots. Rostam Khan and his gang seized upon them all, and turned
out the Rajpoot proprietors, and by force made three of them
Musulmans, Kanhur, Bhooree, Geesee; and all their descendants are of
the same creed.
Imam Buksh, the father of Bhoree Khan, built a fort in Deogon, which
the _family_ still held. In 1829, Rajah Dursun Sing took the mortgage
of the estate for twenty-eight thousand one hundred and ten rupees,
to enable Imam Buksh to liquidate a balance of revenue due to
Government. When the time of payment came, in 1832, Imam Buksh could
pay nothing; and he transferred the estate to Dursun Sing, on a deed
of sale or bynama. He continued to manage the estate for Dursun Sing
in farm; but, falling in balance, he was put into confinement, where
he remained till he died, three years after, in the year 1842.
Bhooree Khan was then a boy, but he continued to receive the usual
perquisites from the estate while Dursan Sing held it. In the year
1846, the governor of the district, Wajid Allee Khan, took the estate
from Dursun Sing's family, and made it over to Bhooree Khan for a
present of five thousand rupees. He ceased to pay the Government
demand, collected a gang, and became a leader of banditti. He
plundered all the people around, and all travellers on the road,
seized and confined all who seemed likely to be able to pay ransom,
and tortured and maimed them till they did pay; and those who could
not or would not pay, he put to cruel deaths. The thirty-six villages
on his estate became deserted by all save his followers, and those
whom he could make subservient to his purposes, as robbers and
murderers.
Ousan Opudeea resided at the village of Etapore, in the estate of
Deogon, and possessed and cultivated lands in that and other villages
around, for which he paid an annual rent of five hundred and ninety-
nine rupees. In 1846, Bhooree Khan demanded from Ousan an increase of
one hundred and fifty rupees, which he paid. The year after 1847, he
demanded a further increase of the same amount, which he paid. He was
then summoned to appear before Bhooree Khan, and was on his way when
told that he would be seized with all his family, and tortured. He,
in consequence, took his family to the village of Patkhoree. Bhooree
Khan followed with a gang of several hundred men, and two guns,
attacked, plundered, and burnt down his house, and fifteen bullocks
and buffaloes perished in the flames. One hundred and fifty head of
cattle belonging to the village were taken off by the gang. Dwarka,
one of Ousan's sons, was killed in defending the house; and the other
two, Davey, aged sixteen, and Seochurun, aged seventeen, were seized,
bound, and taken off to the jungle, with Ramdeen, Ousan's nephew, and
many others of the respectable inhabitants of the village. After
exacting a ransom from all the rest, he let them go; but retained the
two sons of Ousan, and demanded twelve hundred rupees for their
ransom. Ousan had lost all his property in the attack, and could
raise no more than seven hundred rupees among his relatives and
friends. This would not satisfy Bhooree Khan, who, after torturing
and starving the boys for twelve months, and taking the seven hundred
rupees, took them to the jungle of Gaemow, with fetters on their
legs, and bamboo collars round their necks. He there had them tied to
trees, and after firing at them as targets, for some time, with bows
and arrows, he had them cut to pieces with swords, and then seized
upon all the lands which their father held.
In 1848, Bhooree Khan attacked and plundered the house of Peer Khan,
in Khanseepoor in Deogon, and bound and carried him off with his two
brothers, Ameer Khan and Jehangeer Khan. He had them beaten with
sticks, and caused small iron spikes to be driven up under their
nails, and their eyelids to be sewn up with needle and thread, and
their beards to be burned, till he extorted from them a ransom of
eight hundred rupees.
While they were thus confined and being tortured, they saw four
travellers brought in by the gang, and tortured and beaten to death,
because they could not pay the ransom demanded from them.
Bhoree Khan, in this month of August 1848, attacked the house of
Sirdar Khan, an invalid naek of the 36th Regiment of Bengal Native
Infantry, and, after robbing it, burnt it to the ground, and bound
and carried off to his fort in Deogon, Sirdar Khan himself and his
three sons, Khoda Buksh, Allah Buksh, and Allee Buksh; the first
fourteen years of age, the second eight, and the third seven years.
He tortured all three, and demanded a ransom of nineteen hundred
rupees. This sum was borrowed and paid by Jehangeer Khan, the brother
of the naek, and the naek was released. Bhooree Khan would not,
however, release either of the sons till he got five hundred rupees
more; but Sirdar Khan was unable to procure this further sum, and, in
April 1849, Bhooree Khan had two of the boys, Khoda Buksh and Alla
Buksh, tied to trees and shot to death with arrows, for the amusement
of his gang. They were then hacked with swords, and their bodies were
thrown into a ditch, whence he would not permit their friends to
remove them for burial. Sirdar Khan became for a time deranged on
hearing of the sufferings of his sons, and wandered about the
country. Bhooree Khan, with his gang, again attacked the village, and
burned it all down, and drove off all the cattle, including all that
Sirdar Khan possessed. He recovered, and changed his residence to the
village of Deokalee. Bhooree Khan still retained the third son, Allee
Buksh, alias Pulleen, and he is still in prison.*
[* The Resident effected the release of the third son, Allee Buksh,
in January, 1851, through the aid of Captain Orr, of the Frontier
Police.]
Sirdar Khan's ancestors were the Rajpoot proprietors of the estate of
Deogon, and were forcibly converted to Mahommedanism by Bhooree
Khan's ancestors when they seized upon the estate. Sirdar Khan
cultivated eighteen beegahs of land in the village of Salteemow, in
Deogon, for which he had long paid thirty-six rupees a year rent.
Bhooree Khan demanded sixty-five a-year before the attack, and this
sum Sirdar Khan paid, but it had no effect in softening the robber
leader.
In the year 1847, soon after he took possession of the estate,
Bhooree Khan sent a gang under the command of his cousin, Mungul
Khan, to attack the house of Dulla, the most opulent and respectable
merchant of the district, who resided in the town of Mukdoompore.
Dulla had two sons, Nychint and Pursun Sing. After plundering the
house, the gang seized Dulla, his son Nychint, Golbay the son of
Pursun Sing, and Ajoodheea the son of Nychint. Pursun Sing, the other
son of the old merchant, had gone off to the Governor of the
district, Rajah Incha Sing. to adjust his annual accounts. The
females of the family got out through the back-door of the female
apartments, and escaped to the village of Etwara, in the Jugdeespore
district, where they had a residence. All the valuables had been
buried in a pit in the house, some ten feet deep, and the females had
no time to take them up.
The old man, his son Nychint, and his two sons, were sent off to
Bhooree Khan, who, on learning that the valuables had not been found,
came with fifty more armed men, accompanied by Baboo Mudar Buksh, the
tallookdar of Silha in Jugdispore, his own agent Muheput, and a
Brahmin prisoner named Cheyn, who knew Dulla, and the wealth he
possessed. He brought with him the merchant's son Nychint, and
commanded him to point out the place in which the valuables lay
concealed. He would not do so, and Bhooree Khan then drove four tent-
pins into the ground in the courtyard, placed Nychint on his face,
and tied his hands and feet to these pegs. He then had him burnt into
the bones with red-hot ramrods, but the young man still persisted in
his refusal. He had then oil boiled in a large brass pot which they
found in the house, and poured it over him till all the skin of his
body came off. He became insensible for a time, and when he recovered
his senses he pointed out the spot. Gold and silver ornaments and
clothes of great value, and brass utensils belonging to the family,
or held as pledges for money due to the old man, were taken up, with
one hundred and fifty matchlocks and the same number of swords. They
found also many pits, containing several thousand maunds of grain.
The valuables, and as much of the grain as he could find carriage
for, Bhooree Khan and his gang carried off, and the rest of the grain
he gave to any one who would take it. The value of the whole plunder
was estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand rupees.
Nychint was unbound, but died that night, and the body was made over
to the Brahmin, Cheyn, who had now become a Mussulman. He took it to
the jungle, where he had it burnt with the usual ceremonies. Bhooree
Khan still detained Ajodheea, the son of Nychint, and Golbay, the son
of Pursun Sing, and demanded a further ransom for them, but he
released Dulla, who came home and died of grief and of the tortures
inflicted upon him in less than a month after. Cheyn, Dabey Sookul,
and Forsut, all Brahmins of Mukdoompoor, were witnesses to the
tortures inflicted upon Nychint, and to the plunder of the house. He
kept Dulla's grandsons for a year more, with occasional tortures, but
the surviving son, Pursun Sing, had nothing more to give, and no one
would give or lend him anything. Golbay, his son, at last contrived
to get a letter conveyed to him, stating that he was now less
carefully guarded than he had been; that he and his cousin, Ajodheea,
were sent to take their meals with a bearer, who lived in a hamlet on
the border of the jungle, where they were guarded by only four pausee
bowmen, and if his father could come with fifty armed men, and
surprise them at a certain hour, he might rescue them. He assembled
fifty men from surrounding villages, and at the appointed time,
before daybreak, he surprised the guard, and rescued his son and
nephew.
Gunga Purshad, son of Chob Sing, canoongo of Silha, in Deogon, left
the place when Bhooree Khan took to plundering, and went off, in
1847, with his family to reside at Budulgur, a village held by Allee
Buksh, a mile distant. A month after he had settled in that place,
Bhooree Khan came with his gang, surrounded his house at night,
plundered it, and seized and took off his brother, Bhowanee Purshad,
two younger brothers, and his, Gunga Purshad's, daughter and son,
with Gowree Lall and Gunesh Purshad, his relations, who had come on a
visit to congratulate him on the prudence of his change of residence.
Gunga Purshad was absent at the time on business. All the prisoners
were taken to the jungles and tortured with red-hot iron ramrods, and
put into heavy fetters. He demanded a ransom of nine hundred and
fifty rupees for all. Gunga Purshad sold all he had except some cows
and bullocks, and collected four hundred rupees, and his relation's
clubbed together and raised one hundred more. The five hundred were
sent to Bhooree Khan, and he took them and released all but Bhowanee
Purshad. His two younger brothers collected the cows and bullocks,
and went with them to Mukdoompoor, in the hope of being allowed to
till their lands; but Bhooree Khan and his gang came, seized and sold
all the cows and bullocks they had saved, plundered them of
everything, and took their lands from them. They all fled once more,
and went to reside at Putgowa. At Mukdoompoor, Bhooree Khan had
Bhowanee Purshad flogged so severely that he fell down insensible,
and he then had red-hot iron spikes thrust into his eyes, and a few
days after he died in confinement of his sufferings. The value of the
property taken from the family, besides the five hundred rupees'
ransom, was one thousand rupees. He, about the same time, seized and
carried off from Mukdoompoor Gunga Sookul, a Brahmin, tortured him to
death, and threw his body into the river.
About the same time, August 1847, he seized and carried off Cheyn, a
Brahmin of Mukdoompoor, son of Bhowanee Buksh. He had come to him to
pay the year's rent for the lands he held in that village. After
paying his own rents and those of others who were afraid to put
themselves into Bhooree Khan's power, and had sent by Cheyn all that
was due, he demanded from him a ransom of four hundred rupees. He
could give no more, and was put under a guard and tortured in the
usual way. As he persisted in declaring his inability to pay more, a
necklace of cow's bones was put round his neck, and one of the bones
was thrust into his mouth, and the blood of a cow was thrown over
him, from which he became for ever an outcast from his religion. He
expected to be put to death, but a friend conveyed to him the sum of
ten rupees, which he gave to the robbers employed to torture him, and
they spared his life. His son had taken shelter in the village of
Pallee, whence he sent a pausee bowman, named Bhowaneedeen, to
inquire after _him_, and offered him ninety rupees if he would rescue
his father. The pausee pledged himself to Bhooree Khan to pay the
money punctually, and Cheyn was released. But Bhooree Khan had cut
down all the crops upon the lands, and taken them away, and cut down
also the five mango-trees which stood upon his land and had been
planted by his ancestors. During his confinement, Cheyn saw Bhooree
Khan torture and murder many men, and dishonour many respectable
women, whom he had seized in the same way.
In the same month, August 1847, Bhooree Khan seized Sudhae, the son
of Tubbur Khan, of Salteemow, in Deogon, and his (Sudhae's) two sons,
Surufraz and Meerun Buksh, and took them to the jungle. Sadhae had
paid him the eighty rupees rent due for the land he tilled, but
Bhooree Khan demanded one hundred rupees more; and when he could not
pay he made him over to the Jumogdar, to whom he had become pledged
for the payment of a certain sum. The Jumogdar had him beaten till he
saw that nothing could be beaten out of him, when he let him go to
save the cost of keeping him. Bhooree Khan became very angry, and,
with his gang, attacked and plundered the house of Sudhae's brother,
Badul Khan, in Salteemow, with whom Sudhae lived. The two brothers
and their families expected this attack, and escaped unhurt, and
fled, but they lost all their property.
Bhooree Khan then ordered one of his followers, Mirdae, to take
Surufraz to a tank outside the village and cut off his nose. He took
out at the same time Bukhtawur, a Brahmin, and cut off his nose
first. Mirdae then ordered a Chumar, of Deogon, to cut off the nose
of Surafraz, and standing over him with a sword, told him to cut it
off deep into the bone. Surufraz prayed hard for mercy, first to
Bhooree Khan and then to Mirdae; but his prayers were equally
disregarded by both. The Chumar cut off his nose with a rude
instrument into the bone, and with it-all his upper lip. He was then
let go; but he fell down, after going a little distance, from pain
and the loss of blood, and was there found by his uncle, Badul Khan,
who had gone in search of him. He was taken home, but died the same
night. His brother, Meerun Buksh, was soon after released for a
ransom of fifty rupees.
Golzar Khan, sipahee of the Dull Regiment, in the King of Oude's
service, tilled some lands in the village of Mukdoompore, for which
he paid rent to Bhooree Khan. In 1847 he first extorted from him
double the rent agreed upon, then seized all the crops, and plundered
his house, and lastly seized the sipahee's sister, and had her
forcibly married to his servant and relative, Mungul Khan.
In 1846 Bhooree Khan attacked the house of Allah Buksh of Gaemow, in
Deogon, plundered it, killed his brother, Meerun Buksh, cut off the
hands of his relative, Peer Buksh, and wounded three other relatives
who happened at the time to be on a visit with his family. The
articles of property that were taken off by Bhooree Khan and his gang
consisted of five horses and mares, fifteen matchlocks, four maunds
of brass utensils, three hundred and twenty-five maunds of grain,
five swords, four boxes of clothes, fifteen cows and bullocks, five
hundred and forty rupees in money. The houses of all the rest of the
village community were plundered in the same manner. They cut down
all the mango and mhowa trees belonging to the family, as well as all
those belonging to other people of the village.
In 1847 he attacked the house of Akber Khan, in the village of
Kanderpore, in Deogon; and after plundering it, he bound and carried
off his son, Rumzam, a lad of fifteen years of age; and the year
after, 1848, he again attacked his house, and seized and took off his
brother, Wuzeer Khan. He has them still in confinement under torture,
because Akber Khan cannot get the sum demanded for their ransom; and
all applications for their release to the Government authorities have
been disregarded.*
[* The Resident could not effect the release of these two persons,
the son and brother of Akber Khan, till January, 1851.]
In the month of August, 1848, Pransook, a Rajpoot, and Lullut Sing,
his cousin, of Booboopore, in Rodowlee, went to purchase a supply of
bhoosa for their cattle to Mukdoompore, in the Deogon estate, and
were there seized by Aman Sing, an agent of Bhooree Khan, who
pretended that they had given shelter to some of the cultivators who
had fled from Deogon, and demanded their surrender. They protested
that they had never seen any such cultivators, and knew nothing
whatever about them. They were bound and taken off to Deogon to
Bhooree Khan, who had them both put into the stocks. After having
been in the stocks for five days, they were again taken to Bhooree
Khan, who ordered them to produce the cultivators, or pay a ransom of
one hundred and five rupees. They were then taken back to prison, and
confined for eighteen days more; and having no food supplied them,
they were obliged to sell all the clothes they wore to procure a
scanty supply.
To frighten them, Bhooree Khan one day ordered his followers to make
outcasts in their presence of two respectable men whom he had in
prison, Deena Sing, a Chowan Rajpoot of Jooreeum, and a Brahmin of
Poorwa, a small hamlet near Deogon, while he sat on the roof of his
house to look on. One of his Musulman followers forced open Deena
Sing's mouth, and spit into it; and the others tied the bones of a
neelgae round the neck of the Brahmin, by which both of them were
deprived of their caste. They then told Pransook and Lullut Sin that
they would be served in the same manner unless they paid the ransom
demanded. They became alarmed, and sent to their friends to request
them earnestly to borrow all they could, and send it for their
ransom. Their cousin, Sheobuksh Sing Jemadar, an invalid pensioner
from the 2nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, collected one
hundred and eighteen rupees, and sent them. Bhooree Khan took one
hundred and five for himself, and his servants took thirteen, and
they were released; but they were made to swear on the tomb of the
saint Shah Sender that they would not complain of the treatment they
had received, and had their swords and shields taken from them. They
had been confined twenty-seven days.
In 1846 Davey Sookul, a Brahmin, cultivated land in Mukdoompore, for
which he paid an annual rent of seventy-one rupees. In consequence of
murders and robberies perpetrated by Bhooree Khan and his gang, he
went off with his family to reside at Budulgur, under the protection
of Rajah Allee Buksh, a mile distant. He had witnessed the murder of
Bhowanee Purshad and the torture of many other persons. One morning
his brother, Gunga Purshad, returned to Mukdoompore to gather some
mangoes from trees there planted by their ancestors. He was there
seized by Bhooree Khan and his gang, who were lying in wait for him.
They demanded a ransom of three hundred rupees, which Davey Sookul
could not raise. He kept Gunga Purshad in prison for four months, and
had him tortured every day. Finding that the money was not
forthcoming, Bhooree Khan had a firebrand thrust into one of his
eyes, and then had him flogged with bunches of sticks till he died.
Khoda Buksh, of Kurteepore, one of the followers of Bhooree Khan,
went and reported this to his brother and widow, who wept over the
tale of his sufferings. His brother, Boodhoo Sookul, a sipahee of the
45th Regiment, presented a petition to the Resident, describing these
atrocities, and praying redress, but none was afforded.
Bukhtawur, son of Kaushee, a Brahmin, tilled lands in Deogon, for
which he paid an annual rent of sixty-eight rupees. In 1847 Bhooree
Khan demanded double that sum; and when he could not pay, he seized
and sold all the stock on the land, and seized and took off to the
jungles Bukhtawur and his two brothers, Heeralall and Jankee, and
seized upon all their lands, and all the property they had to the
value of five hundred rupees. He kept them in prison for six months,
and then had Bukhtawur's nose cut off by a Chumar, because he could
not pay him the ransom demanded. The nose of Surufraz was cut off at
the same time, as above described, and he died in consequence.
Bukhtawur's two brothers made their escape three months afterwards.
In 1848 he attacked the house of Choupae Tewaree, a Brahmin of
Ottergow, and after plundering it he took off the son of Choupae,
then thirteen years of age, and his, the son's, wife, and his young
son and his wife, and tortured all, till Choupae borrowed and begged
all he could, and paid the ransom demanded.
Purotee Aheer tilled sixteen beegahs of land in Deogon, for which he
paid an annual rent of thirty-two rupees a-year. As soon as Bhooree
Khan got the estate from Maun Sing, in November, 1846, he demanded
double the sum, and exacted it. He, in 1848, demanded two hundred and
fifty, seized Purotee, sold all his cows and bullocks, sixteen in
number, and other property, and then released him. Purotee then sent
off secretly all his family to Duheepore, two miles distant; but
Bhooree Khan sent off his servants, Bundheen and Bugolal pausees, to
trace them. They seized his two daughters, one fourteen and the other
ten years of age, and his son Nihal's wife, and his son, then only
four years of age. Bhooree Khan ravished the two girls, and then
released them, with Nahal's wife and her little son. Purotee saw the
noses of Bukhtawar and Surafraz cut off while he was in confinement,
and saw Bhooree Khan put them on a plate, which he placed in a recess
in the wall. It was in March, 1848, when he went to pray that his
daughters might be released after they had been ravished. The family
went to reside in the village of Mohlee, in Khundara, but have all
been turned out of their caste in consequence of the dishonour of his
daughters.
In the same year he attacked the house of Foorsut Aheer of Dehpal ka
Poorwa, made him prisoner, and tortured him till he paid eight
hundred rupees. After this he made his escape; but Bhooree Khan
seized and sold all his bullocks, cows, and buffaloes, and stores of
grain.
In 1845 Bhoore Khan and his gang attacked the house of Buldee Sing,
subahdar in the Honourable Company's service, in the village of
Ghurwae, and, after plundering him of all the property they could
find, they seized him and his wife, and took them to the jungles,
where they tortured them till they gave all they could borrow or beg
to the amount of many thousand rupees.
About the same time he seized and carried off Eesuree Purshad, a
Brahmin, who had fled from Palpore, in Deogon, and gone for shelter
to the Bazaar of Ottergow; and after cutting off his nose, he put him
on an ass with a young pig tied to his neck, and paraded him through
the bazaar, with a drummer before him, to render him an outcast.
In the same year, 1848, he seized Rampurshad Tewaree, and his son
Runghoor, cultivators of Deogon, and demanded from them four times
the rent due for the land they tilled; and when they could not pay,
be sold all their cattle, grain, and other property, and had iron
spikes driven up under their nails. Unable to extort money by this
means, he caused Sotun Bhurbhoonja, or grain-parcher, to ------ in
his father's face, and then released him.
In 1848 he demanded from Junga Salor, a cultivator of Bhudalmow, in
Deogon, double rent for the land he tilled; and when he could not
pay, seized and took off his wife, and cohabited with her four or
five days, and then made some of the followers do the same before he
released her.
In the same year, 1848, he and his gang attacked the village of
Byrampore, in the Kisnee purgunna, and seized Omrow Sing, a Bys
Rajpoot, and Boodhea, a Goojur, and all the respectable inhabitants
they could get hold of, with their families. After torturing the rest
for eight days, and extorting from them all they could pay, he let
them go; but detained Omrow Sing, and had him flogged every day till
he reduced him to a dying state, when he let him go. He was taken off
to his home; but he died as soon as he entered the house and saw his
family. The wife of Boodheea, the Goojur, he confined and violated.
Bukhtawur deposes that he saw all this while he was in confinement.
He, in 1848, seized and carried off to his stronghold Kaseeram, a
Brahmin, of Deogon, and cut off his nose, and tortured him with hot
irons till he got from him all that he and his relations could be
made to pay, and then let him go.
In the same year and month be attacked and plundered the village of
Puttee, in the Jugdeespore purgunna, carried off all the shopkeepers
of the place, and tortured them till they paid him altogether three
thousand rupees.
In the same year he attacked the village of Koteea, in the Rodowlee
district, carried off one of the shopkeepers, and drove iron pins up
under his nails till he paid a ransom of one hundred and fifty
rupees. He drove off and sold all the cattle of the village.
In the same year he attacked and plundered the village of Budulgur,
in the Jugdeespore purgunna, in the same way.
In the same year he attacked and plundered the village of Khorasa, in
Rodowlee, carried off Sopae, the Putwaree, with his mother and wife,
and tortured them till they paid a ransom of two hundred rupees. He
murdered about the same time the son of Buksh Khan, the holder of the
village of Gaepore, and two members of the family of Poorae, a
carpenter of Almasgunge, in Deogon.
After plundering the house of Sungum Doobee, a respectable Brahmin of
Mukdoompore, he seized him and his nephew, took them off to his fort,
and, because they could not pay the ransom he demanded, he caused
melting lead to be poured into their ears and noses till they died.
About the same time he, with his own hands, for some slight offence,
cut the throat of his table-attendant, Kbyratee, of Kunhurpore.
About the same time he seized two travellers; and, because they could
not pay the ransom demanded, he suspended one of them to a tree in
the village of Sathnee, on the bank of the Goomtee river, and the
other to a tree in the village of Mukdoompore. He had their arms
first broken with bludgeons, and then their feet cut off, and at last
they were beaten over the head till they died.
[Bhooree Khan, in March, 1850, went with a gang of three hundred men
to assist Gunga Buksh and his family in the defence of Kasimgunge and
Bhetae; but he was too late. On his way back, in the beginning of
April, he left his gang in a grove, six miles from Lucknow, and
entered the city alone in a disguise to visit a celebrated dancing-
girl of his acquaintance, named Bunnee. He had been with her two
days, and on the 15th of April he went to see the magnificent tomb of
Mahommed Allee Shah, of which he had heard much. While sauntering
about this place he was recognised by three or four persons belonging
to another dancing-girl of his acquaintance, named the Chhotee Gohur,
or "little Gem," whom he had formerly visited. They seized him. As
soon as Bunnee heard of this she sent ten or twelve of her own men,
and rescued him from the followers of the "Little Gem." They took him
to Bunnee, who made a virtue of necessity, and went off with him
forthwith to the Minister, who rewarded her with a pair of shawls,
and made suitable presents to her followers.
It is said that he was pointed out to the followers of the "Chhotee
Gohur" by Peer Khan, of Khanseepore, in Deogon, whom Bhooree Khan had
some time before plundered and tortured for a ransom, as already
stated. Bhooree Khan was sentenced to transportation beyond seas for
life, and sent off in October, 1851.]
After reading such narratives, an Englishman will naturally ask what
are the means by which such atrocious gangs are enabled to escape the
hands of justice. He will recollect the history of the MIDDLE AGES,
and think of strong baronial castles, rugged hills, deep ravines, and
endless black forests. They have no such things in Oude.* The whole
country is a level plain, intersected by rivers, which, with one
exception, flow near the surface, and have either no ravines at all,
or very small ones. The little river Goomtee winds exceedingly, and
cuts into the soil in some places to the depth of fifty feet. In such
places there are deep ravines; and the landholders along the border
improve these natural difficulties by planting and preserving trees
and underwood in which to hide themselves and their followers when in
arms against their Government. Any man who cuts a stick in these
jungles, or takes his camels or cattle into them to browse or graze
without the previous sanction of the landholder, does so at the peril
of his life. But landholders in the open plains and on the banks of
rivers, without any ravines at all, have the same jungles.
[* The Terae forest, which borders Oude to the north, is too
unhealthy to be occupied by any but those who have been born and bred
in it. The gangs I am treating of are composed of men born and bred
in the plains, and they cannot live in the Terae forest.]
In the midst of this jungle, the landholders have generally one or
more mud forts surrounded by a ditch and a dense fence of living
bamboos, through which cannon-shot cannot penetrate, and man can
enter only by narrow and intricate pathways. They are always too
green to be set fire to; and being within range of the matchlocks
from the parapet, they cannot be cut down by a besieging force. Out
of such places the garrison can be easily driven by shells thrown
over such fences, but an Oude force has seldom either the means or
the skill for such purposes. When driven out by shells or any other
means, the garrison retires at night, with little risk, through the
bamboo fence and surrounding jungle and brushwood, by paths known
only to themselves. They are never provided with the means of
subsistence for a long siege; and when the Oude forces sent against
them are not prepared with the means to shell them out, they sit down
quietly, and starve or weary them out. This is commonly a very long
process, for the force is seldom large enough to surround the place
at a safe distance from the walls and bamboo fence, so as to prevent
all access to provision of all kinds, which the garrison is sure to
get from their friends and allies in the neighbourhood, the garrison
generally having the sympathy of all the large landholders around,
and the besieging force being generally considered the common and
irreconcilable enemy of all.
As soon as the garrison escapes, it goes systematically and
diligently to work in plundering indiscriminately all the village
communities over the most fertile parts of the surrounding country,
which do not belong to baronial proprietors like themselves till it
has made the Government authorities agree to its terms, or reduced
the country to a waste. The leaders of the gang may sometimes
condescend to quicken the process by appropriating a portion of their
plunder to bribing some influential person at Court, who gets an
injunction issued to the local authorities to make some arrangement
for terminating the pillage and consequent loss of revenue, or he
will be superseded or forfeit his contract. The rebel then returns
with his followers, repairs all the mischief done to his fort,
improves its defences, and stipulates for a remission of his revenue
for a year or more, on account of the injury sustained by his crops
or granaries. The unlucky Amil, whose zeal and energy have caused the
necessity for this reduction, is probably thrown into gaol till "he
pays the uttermost farthing," or bribes influential persons at Court
to get him released on the ground of his poverty.
I may here mention the jungles in Oude which have been created and
are still preserved by landholders, almost solely for the above
purposes. They are all upon the finest soil, and in the finest
climate; and the lands they occupy might almost all be immediately
brought into tillage, and studded by numerous happy village
communities.
I may, however, before I begin to describe them, mention the fact
that many influential persons at Court, as well as the landholders
themselves, are opposed to such a salutary measure. If brought under
tillage and occupied by happy village communities, all the revenue
would or might flow in legitimate channels into the King's treasury;
whereas in their present state they manage to fill their own purses
by gratuities from the refractory landholders who occupy them, or
from the local authorities, who require permission from Court to
coerce them into obedience. Of these gratuities such a salutary
measure would deprive them; and it is, in consequence, exceedingly
difficult to get a jungle cut down, however near it may be to the
city where wood is so dear, and has to be brought from jungles five
or ten times the distance.
_In the Sultanpore District_.
_1st_.--The Jungle of Paperghat, about one hundred miles south-east
from Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, ten miles long, and
three wide, or thirty square miles.
In this jungle Dirgpaul Sing, tallookdar of Nanneemow, has a fort;
and Rostum Sing, tallookdar of Dera, has another.
_2nd_.--The Dostpore Jungle, one hundred and twenty miles south-east
from Lucknow, on the bank of the Mujhoee river, twelve, miles long,
and three broad, or thirty-six square miles.
_3rd_.--The Khapra Dehee Jungle, one hundred miles south-east from
Lucknow, on the plain, about ten miles long, and six miles broad, or
sixty square miles.
_4th_.--The Jugdeespore Jungle, on the bank of the Goomtee river,
fifty miles south-east from Lucknow, sixteen miles long, and three
miles broad, forty-eight square miles.
Allee Buksh Khan, tallookdar, has the fort of Tanda in this jungle,
on the bank of the Kandoo rivulet, which flows through it into the
Goomtee. The fort of Bechoogur in this jungle is held by another
tallookdar.
_5th_.--Gurh Ameytee, seventy miles from Lucknow, south-east, on the
bank of the Sae river, nine miles long and three broad, or twenty
seven square miles.
Rajah Madhoe Sing has a fort in this jungle, and is one of the very
worst, but most plausible men in Oude.
_6th_.--Daoodpoor Jungle, seventy miles south-east from Lucknow, on
the plain, four miles long and three broad, or twelve square miles.
The Beebee or Lady Sagura has her fort and residence in this jungle.
_7th_.--Duleeppore Jungle, one hundred and ten miles east from
Lucknow, on the bank of the Sae river, ten miles long, and three
miles wide, thirty square miles.
Seetla Buksh, who is always in rebellion, has a fort in this jungle.
_8th_.--The Matona Jungle, fifty miles south-east from Lucknow, on
the bank of the Goomtee river, twelve miles long and three wide--
square miles, thirty-six.
Allee Buksh Khan, a notoriously refractory tallookdar, has a fort in
this jungle.
_In the Uldeemow District_.
_9th_.--Mugurdhee Jungle, one hundred and forty miles east from
Lucknow, on the bank of Ghogra river, eight miles long and three
broad--square miles, twenty-four.
_10th_.--Putona Jungle, one hundred and twenty miles east from
Lucknow, on the bank of the Tonus river, eight miles long and four
miles broad--square miles, thirty-two.
_11th_.--Mudungur Jungle, one hundred and twenty miles east from
Lucknow, on the bank of the Tonus river, six miles long, and three
miles broad--square miles, eighteen.
Amreys Sing and Odreys Sing, sons of Surubdowun Sing (who was killed
by the King's troops thirty years ago), hold the fort of Mudungur in
this jungle.
_12th_.--Bundeepore Jungle, east from Lucknow one hundred and forty
miles, on the plain, seven miles long and one broad--seven square
miles.
_13th_.--Chunderdeeh, south-east from Lucknow one hundred and ten
miles, on the bank of the Goomtee river, seven miles long, and three
miles wide--square miles, twenty-one.
_In the Dureeabad District_.
_14th_.--Soorujpore Behreyla Jungle, east from Lucknow forty miles,
on the bank of the Kuleeanee river, sixteen miles long, and four
miles broad--square miles, sixty-four.
Chundee Sing has a fort in this jungle, and the family have been
robbers for several generations. The widow of the late notorious
robber, Rajah Singjoo, the head of the family, has a still stronger
one.
_15th_.--Guneshpore Jungle, sixty miles south-east from Lucknow, on
the bank of the Goomtee river, six miles long and two broad--twelve
square miles.
Maheput Sing, an atrocious robber, holds his fort of Bhowaneegur in
this jungle.
_In the Dewa Jahangeerabad District._
_16th_.--The Kasimgunge and Bhetae Jungle, eighteen miles north-east
from Lucknow, sixteen miles long, and four miles wide--square miles,
sixty-four, on the bank of the little river Reyt.
Gunga Buksh holds the forts of Kasimgunge and Atursae in this jungle;
Thakur Purshad those of Bhetae and Buldeogur; and Bhugwunt Sing that
of Munmutpore. Other members of the same family hold those of Ramgura
Paharpore. The whole family are hereditary and inveterate robbers.
_In the Bangur District_.
_17th_.--Tundeeawun Jungle, on the plain, west from Lucknow, seventy-
two miles, twelve miles long and six broad--square miles, seventy-
two.
_In the Salone District._
_18th_.--The Naen Jungle, eighty miles south from Lucknow, on the
bank of the Sae river, sixteen miles long and three wide--square
miles, forty-eight.
Jugurnath Buksh, the tallookdar, holds the fort of Jankeebund, in
this jungle; and others are held in the same jungle by members of his
family.
_19th_.--The Kutaree Jungle, on the bank of the Kandoo river, south-
east from Lucknow sixty miles, eight miles long and three broad--
square miles, twenty-four.
Surnam Sing, the tallookdar, has a fort in this jungle.
_In the Byswara District_.
_20th_.--The Sunkurpore Jungle, south of Lucknow seventy miles, on
the plain, ten miles long and three wide--square miles, thirty.
Benee Madhoe, the tallookdar, has three forts in this jungle.
_In the Hydergur District_.
_21st_.--The Kolee Jungle, fifty miles south-east from Lucknow, on
the bank of the Goomtee river, three miles long and one and a half
wide--square miles, four and a half.
The rebels and robbers in this jungle trust to the natural defences
of the ravines and jungles.
_22nd_.--Kurseea Kuraea Jungle, south-east from Lucknow fifty miles,
on the bank of the Goomtee river, three miles long and one wide--
square miles, three.
The landholders trust in the same way to natural defences.
_In the Khyrabad and Mahomdee Districts_.
_23rd_.--Gokurnath Jungle, north-west from Lucknow one hundred miles,
extending out from the Terae forest, and running south-east in a belt
thirty miles long and five wide--square miles, one hundred and fifty.
Husun Rajah, the tallookdar of Julalpore, has a fort in this jungle.
Sheobuksh Sing, the tallookdar of Lahurpore, holds here the fort of
Katesura; and Omrow Sing, the tallookdar of Oel, holds two forts in
this jungle.
_In the Baree and Muchreyta Districts_.
_24th_.--The Suraen Jungle, north-west from Lucknow thirty-four
miles, along the banks of the Suraen river, twelve miles long and
three miles wide--square miles, thirty-six.
In this jungle Jowahir Sing holds the fort of Basae Deeh; Khorrum
Sing, that of Seogur; Thakur Rutun Sing, that of Jyrampore. They are
all landholders of the Baree district, and their forts are on the
_north_ bank of the Saraen river. Juswunt Sing holds the fort of
Dhorhara; Dul Sing, that of Gundhoreea; Rutun Sing holds two forts,
Alogee and Pupnamow.--They are all landholders of the Muchreyta
district, and their four forts are on the _south_ bank of the Saraen
river.
This gives twenty-four belts of jungle beyond the Terae forest, and
in the fine climate of Oude, covering a space of eight hundred and
eighty-six square miles, at a rough computation.* In these jungles
the landholders find shooting, fishing, and security for themselves
and families, grazing ground for their horses and cattle, and fuel
and grass for their followers; and they can hardly understand how
landholders of the same rank, in other countries, can contrive to
live happily without them. The man who, by violence, fraud, and
collusion, absorbs the estates of his weaker neighbours, and creates
a large one for himself, in any part of Oude, however richly
cultivated and thickly peopled, provides himself with one or two mud
forts, and turns the country around them into a jungle, which he
considers to be indispensable as well to his comfort as to his
security.
[* The surface of the Oude territory, including the Terae forest, is
supposed to contain twenty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty-
nine square miles. The Terae forest includes, perhaps, from four to
five thousand miles; but within that space there is a great deal of
land well tilled and peopled.]
The atrocities described in the above narrative were committed by
Bhooree Khan, in the process of converting his estate of Dewa into a
jungle, and building strongholds for his gang as it increased and
became more and more formidable. Having converted Deogon into a
jungle, and built his strongholds, he would, by the usual process of
violence, fraud, and collusion with local authorities, have absorbed
the small surrounding estates of his weaker neighbours, and formed a
very large one for himself. The same process, no doubt, went on in
England successively under the Saxons, Danes, and Normans; and in
every country in Europe, under successive invaders and conquerors, or
as long as the baronial proprietors of the soil were too strong to be
coerced by their Sovereign as they are in Oude.
An Englishman may further ask how it is that a wretch guilty of such
cruelties to men who never wronged him, to innocent and unoffending
females and children, can find, in a society where slavery is
unknown, men to assist him in inflicting them, and landholders of
high rank and large possessions to screen and shelter him when
pursued by his Government. He must, for the solution of this
question, also go back to the MIDDLE AGES, in England and the other
nations of Europe, when the baronial proprietors of the soil, too
strong for their sovereigns, committed the same cruelties, found the
same willing instruments in their retainers, and members of the same
class of landed proprietors, to screen, shelter, and encourage them
in their iniquities.
They acquiesce in the atrocities committed by one who is in armed
resistance to the Government to-day, and aid him in his enterprises
openly or secretly, because they know that they may be in the same
condition, and require the same aid from him to-morrow--that the more
sturdy the resistance made by one, the less likely will the
Government officers be to rouse the resistance of others. They do not
sympathise with those who suffer from his depredations, or aid the
Government officers in protecting them, because they know that they
could not support the means required to enable them to contend
successfully with their Sovereign, and reduce him to terms, without
plundering and occasionally murdering the innocent of all ages and
both sexes, and that they may have to raise the same means in a
similar contest to-morrow. They are satisfied, therefore, if they can
save their own tenants from pillage and slaughter. They find,
moreover, that the sufferings of others enable them to get
cultivators and useful tenants of all kinds upon their own estates,
on more easy terms, and to induce the smaller allodial or khalsa
proprietors around, to yield up their lands to them, and become their
tenants with less difficulty. It was in the same manner that the
great feudal barons aggrandised themselves in England, and all the
other countries of Europe, in the MIDDLE AGES.
In Oude all these great landholders look upon the Sovereign and his
officers--except when they happen to be in collusion with them for
the purpose of robbing or coercing others--as their natural enemies,
and will never trust themselves in their power without undoubted
pledges of personal security. The great feudal tenants of the Crown
in England, and the other nations of Europe, did the same, except
when they were in collusion with them for the purpose of robbing
others of their rights; or fought under their banners for the purpose
of robbing or destroying the subjects and servants of some other
Sovereign whom he chose to call his enemy.
Only one of these sources of union between the Sovereign and his
great landholders is in operation in Oude. Some of them are every
year in collusion with the governors of districts for the purpose of
coercing and robbing others; but the Sovereign can never unite them
under his banners for the purpose of invading and plundering any
other country, and thereby securing for himself and them present
_glory_, wealth, and high-sounding titles, and the admiration and
applause of future generations. The strong arm of the British
Government is interposed between them and all surrounding countries;
and there is no safety-valve for their unquiet spirits in foreign
conquests. They can no longer do as Ram did two thousand seven
hundred years ago--lead an army from Ajodheea to Ceylone. They must
either give up fighting, or fight among themselves, as they appear to
have been doing ever since Ram's time; and there are at present no
signs of a disposition to send out another "Sakya Guntama" from
Lucknow, or Kapila vastee to preach peace and good-will to "all the
nations of the earth." They would much rather send out fifty thousand
more brave soldiers to fight "all the nations of the east," under the
banners of the Honourable East India Company.
An English statesman may further ask how it is that so much disorder
can prevail in a small territory like Oude without the gangs, to
which it must give rise, passing over the border to depredate upon
the bordering districts of its neighbours. The conterminous districts
on three sides belong to the British Government, and that on the
fourth or north belongs to Nepaul. The leaders of these gangs know,
that if the British Government chose to interpose and aid the Oude
Government with its troops, it could crush them in a few days; and
that it would do so if they ventured to rob and murder within its
territory. They know, also, that it would do the same if they
ventured to cross the northern border, and rob and murder within the
Nepaul territory. They therefore confine their depredations to the
Oude territory, seeing that, as long as they do so, the British
Government remains quiet.