CHAPTER VI.

Adventures of Maheput Sing of Bhowaneepoor--Advantages of a good road

from Lucknow to Fyzabad--Excellent condition of the artillery

bullocks with the Frontier Police--Get all that Government allows for

them--Bred in the Tarae--Dacoits of Soorujpoor Bareyla--The Amil

connives at all their depredations, and thrives in consequence--The

Amil of the adjoining districts does not, and ruined in consequence--

His weakness--Seetaram, a capitalist--His account of a singular

_Suttee_--Bukhtawar Sing's notions of _Suttee_, and of the reason why

Rajpoot widows seldom become _Suttees_--Why local authorities carry

about prisoners with them--Condition of prisoners--No taxes on mango-

trees--Cow-dung cheaper than wood for fuel--Shrine of "Shaikh Salar"

at Sutrik--Bridge over the small river Rete--Recollection of the

ascent of a balloon at Lucknow--End of the pilgrimage.

Poorae Chowdheree, of Kuchohee, held a share in the lands of the

village of Bhanpoor in Radowlee. He mortgaged it in 1830, to a co-

sharer, who transferred the mortgage to _Meherban Sing_, of

Guneshpoor. Poorae disliked the arrangement, and made all the

cultivators desert the village of Bhanpoor, and leave the lands

waste. Meherban attacked the village of Kuchohee in consequence,

killed Porae, and seized upon all the lands of Bhanpoor for himself.

Rajah Ram, one of the ousted co-sharers in these lands, attacked and

killed Meherban in 1832, and seized upon all the lands of Bhanpoor.

After the death of his first wife, Meherban had attacked the house of

Bhowanee Sing, Rajpoot, of Teur, carried off his daughter, who had

been affianced to another, and forcibly made her his wife. By her he

had one daughter and one son, named _Maheput Sing_, who now inherited

from his father a fifteenth part of one of the six and half shares

into which the lands of Guneshpoor were divided. He, by degrees,

murdered, or drove out of the village, all his co-sharers, save

Gunbha Sing and Chungha Sing, joint proprietors of a small part of

one of the shares, known by the name of the Kunnee Puttee. From the

year 1843, Maheput Sing became a robber by profession, and the leader

of a formidable gang; and in three years, by a long series of

successful enterprises, he acquired the means of converting his

residence, on the border of the town of Guneshpoor, into a strong

fort, among the deep ravines of the Goomtee river. This fort he

called _Bhowaneegur_, after Bhowanee, the patroness of the trade of

murder and robbery, which he had adopted.

I shall now mention, more circumstantially, a few of the many

atrocities committed by him and his gang, during the last few years

of his career, as illustrative of the state of society in Oude.

Bulbhudder Sing, a subadar of the 45th Regiment of Bengal Native

Infantry, resided at Rampoor Sobeha, in the Dureeabad district. By

degrees he purchased thirteen-sixteenths of the lands of these two

small villages, which adjoin each other, out of the savings from his

pay, and those of his nephew, Mugun Sing, havildar of the 43rd

Regiment Bengal Native Infantry. On his being transferred to the

invalid establishment, the subadar resided with his family in

Rampoor, and in May, 1846, his nephew, Mugun Sing, came home on

furlough to visit him. Gujraj, an associate of Maheput Sing's, held

the other three-sixteenths of the lands of these two villages; and by

the murder of the subadar and all his family, he thought he should be

able to secure for himself the possession of the whole estate in

perpetuity. The family consisted of the subadar and his wife,--Mugun

Sing, the son of his deceased brother, Man Sing, and his wife; and

his son Bijonath and his wife,--Dwarka Sing, son of Ojagur Sing,

another deceased brother of the subadar,--Mahta Deen, the son of

Chundun Sing, another deceased brother of the subadar, and his wife

and young son, Surubjeet Sing, seven years of age,--Kulotee Sing, son

of Gobrae, another deceased brother of the subadar,--Bag Sing, a

relative,--Bechun Sing, a servant,--Seo Deen, the gardener,--Jeeawun

Sing, the barber, and the widow of Salwunt Sing, another son of Mugun

Sing, havildar.

When the family were all assembled, Maheput Sing, with Gujraj and

other associates, and a gang of one hundred and fifty armed

followers, proceeded to the village at midnight, and carefully

reconnoitred the premises. It was, after consultation, determined to

defer the attack till daybreak, as the subadar and his nephews were

known to be brave and well-armed men, who kept watch till towards

morning, and would make a desperate resistance, unless taken by

surprise. They remained concealed within the enclosure of Gujraj's

house, till just before daylight, when they quietly surrounded the

subadar's house. As day dawned the subadar got up, opened the door

and walked out, as usual, to breathe the fresh air, thinking all

safe. He was immediately shot down, and on Mugun Sing's rushing out

to assist his uncle, he received a shot in the eye, and fell dead on

his body. The robbers then rushed in, cut down Jeeawun, the barber,

while attempting to shut the door, and wounded Kulotee Sing,* Bag

Sing, and others of the party. Finding that they could no longer

stand against the numbers, rushing in at the doors and windows, the

defenders climbed from the inside to the flat roof of the house, over

the apartments of the men, fired down upon the robbers, who were

still inside, and shot one of them. The robbers, finding they could

not otherwise dislodge them, set fire to that part of the house, and

the men were obliged to leap off to save themselves. In doing this,

Bag Sing hurt his spine, and Seo Deen sprained his ankle, and both

lay where they fell, pretending to be dead, till night. The others

all went off in search of succour.

[* Kulotee Sing was murdered, a few days afterwards, by Maheput and

Gujraj, as he was superintending the cultivation of his lands.]

The robbers found the boy, Surubjeet, lying sick on his bed, attended

by his mother. They seized him and dashed his head against the

ground; and when he still showed signs of life, Gujraj cut him to

pieces with his sword. They then seized and stripped the females

naked, and sprinkled boiling oil over their bodies, till they pointed

out all the property concealed in the house. Seventeen hundred rupees

were found buried in the floor; and the rest of the property in

clothes, gold and silver ornaments, and brass utensils, amounted to

about ten thousand rupees.

About noon, while the robbers were still in the house, the Amil of

Mohlara came with a large force and one gun, and surrounded them; but

stood at a safe distance, whence he kept up for some time a fire from

his gun and his matchlocks, which had no effect whatever. The robbers

fired in return from the house, merely to show that they were not to

be frightened from their booty in that way. This went on till after

dark in the evening, when the robbers all retired to the jungles with

their booty, unmolested by the Amil.

Byjonath, who had brought the Amil to the spot, urged him on as much

as he could to save the property and females, and avenge the death of

those who had fallen, and he killed one man and seized another, the

son of one of the leaders; but he was obliged to give him up to the

Amil as an hostage, for the recovery of the property, and a witness

to the robbery. The Amil kept him for six months, and then let him go

on the largest ransom he could get for him from his father. The

circumstances were all represented, through the Resident, to the

Durbar, and redress prayed for, but none was ever obtained.*

[* When the Resident visited this place, in his tour, in January,

1850, Dwarka Sing and other members of the family described all the

circumstances of this attack, and they were taken down; and have been

confirmed since by a judicial investigation.]

In May 1846, Maheput attacked the house of Seobuksh, a gardener, and

after plundering it, he seized and carried off to the jungle the

gardener's brother, Puroutee, and tortured him to death with hot

irons, because he could not raise the sum demanded for his ransom.

In August 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of

Meherban Tewaree, subadar of the Gwalior Contingent, in the village

of Hareehurpoor, in the district of Rodowlee. It was about ten at

night, and the whole family were asleep. The subadar lay on his cot

below, near the door, his brother, Angud Tewaree, slept on the upper

story. Some placed ladders and entered the upper story through a

window; Maheput, with others, broke open the door, near which the

subadar slept below. The brother got a sword-cut in the hand, and

called out from the upper story as loud as he could for help; but

their neighbours were all too much alarmed to come to their aid.

Maheput seized and bound the subadar with his own waistband, and

commanded his brother to come down, saying, that he need not call for

help, as the villagers all knew him too well to molest him; and if he

did not come down instantly he would set fire to the house. Seeing no

chance of help, he came down, and was bound with his own waistband in

the same manner. When the subadar remonstrated against this

treatment, Maheput struck him over the face. They then plundered the

house of all the property it contained, to the value of six hundred

and fifty rupees; and took the subadar and his brother to the

jungles; and, in the morning, demanded a ransom of one thousand

rupees. At last they came down to four hundred rupees and the horse,

which the subadar kept for his own riding. The subadar consented, and

his brother was released to get the money and horse. He borrowed the

money and sent it with the horse through Bhowanee Deen Tewaree,

landholder of Ladeeka Poorwa, and the subadar was released. He

presented three petitions, through the Resident, and orders were sent

from the Durbar to the local authorities, Hurdut Sing and Monna Lal,

but they were both in league with the robbers, and tried to get the

subadar made away with, to save further trouble, and he sought

security with his regiment.*

[* Meherban Tewaree, subadar, was present, as a witness at the

subsequent trial of Maheput and Gujraj, who were sentenced to

transportation beyond seas for life.]

In January 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the village of

Bahapoor, in the Rodowlee district; and after plundering all the

houses, seized and carried off among others Seetul, the spirit-

dealer, and the two sons of Reehta, the widow of Bhosoo, one twenty-

two years of age, and the other eighteen. They tortured them with

red-hot irons, and tied bamboos round their necks every day for

fifteen days. Maheput then shot the eldest son, and cut his body to

pieces with his sword. The younger son, at night, made his escape

while they were asleep, and returned to tell the tale of his

brother's murder to his mother. Seetul, the Kalwar, got his uncle to

lend him twenty-eight rupees, for which he was released.

In April 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of

Ramoutar, Brahmin, of the Brahmin village of Guneshpoor, in Rodowlee;

plundered it of properly valued at one hundred rupees, and then bound

Ramoutar, his father and two sons, and took them off to the jungles;

and there tortured them all for seven days. He then had the two boys,

one nine years old and the other five, suspended to a tree and

flogged; and Ramoutar himself tied to a thorny tree and beaten till

the blood flowed down and drenched his waistband, because he could

pay nothing, and would not sign a bond to pay two thousand rupees.

His sufferings and the sight of those of his two sons made him at

last sign one for one thousand rupees. He was flogged again till his

friends brought four hundred out of the thousand, and Cheyt Sing,

Thakoor, a respectable landholder of Koleea, in Rodowlee, consented

to give security for the payment of two hundred and forty-two rupees

more. Ramoutar and his family were then released, after they had been

confined and tortured for thirty-six days, and they went off and

resided at Bookcheyna in Khundasa. A year after his house was there

attacked by Maheput Sing and his gang, and plundered of all it

contained; and his brother Seetul, and his youngest son were seized

and taken off to his fort at Bhowaneegur, and there tortured and

starved for six months. Ramoutar then borrowed one hundred and sixty

rupees, and obtained the release of his brother Seetul, and a year

after he was able to raise forty-seven rupees more, with which he

ransomed his son.

In May 1847, Maheput Sing attacked the house of Seolal Tewaree of

Torsompoor, in Rodowlee, at midnight; and after plundering it and

stripping his mother and wife, and the wife of his brother, Jurbundun

Sing, of all the clothes and ornaments they had, he bound and carried

off to the jungle the two brothers, Seolal and Jurbundun. They were

flogged, and had hot irons applied to their bodies every day for

twenty days, and had only a little flour to eat and water to drink,

once in three days. After twenty days they contrived to make their

escape one dark and stormy night, and got home; but three days after

he again attacked their house and burnt it to the ground, with all

they possessed. He, at the same time, burnt down the house of their

uncle, in the same village, and that of one of their ploughmen; and

two cows and one bullock were burnt to death in the flames.

In July 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of Chubbee

Lal, Brahmin, in the village of Bunnee, in the Rodowlee district, and

after plundering it of property to the value of five hundred rupees,

he bound and took the old Brahmin off to the jungles, and demanded

from him a ransom of eight thousand rupees. This sum the old man

could not pay, and he was flogged with thorns, and had red-hot irons

applied to his body every day. Maheput then sent a letter to the old

man's son, Dwarka, desiring him to send the eight thousand rupees if

he wished his father to live. The house having been plundered, the

family had nothing left, and could persuade no one to lend them. On

receiving a reply to this effect, Maheput had the old man's body

plastered all over with moist gunpowder, and made him stand in the

sun till it was dry. He then set fire to the powder, and the poor man

was burnt all over. He then cut off both his hands at the wrists, and

his nose, and sent them to his family, and in this condition be

afterwards sent the poor man to his home upon a cot. The son met his

father at the door, but the old man died as soon as his son had

embraced him.

Maheput carried off Pem, the son of Teeka, at the same time, and

tortured him till his family paid the ransom demanded. He was witness

to the tortures of the old Brahmin.

In August 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the house of Bichook, a

Brahmin, in the village of Torsompoor, in Rodowlee, at midnight,

while he was sleeping, and bound and carried him off to the jungle.

The next day, when he was about to have him tortured for a ransom,

one of his followers interceded for him, and he was released. But a

month after, Maheput and his gang again attacked his house, and after

plundering it of all it contained, they burnt it to the ground.

Bichook had run off on hearing their approach, and he escaped to

Syudpoor.

In November, 1846, Maheput Sing attacked the house of Sook Allee, in

Guneshpoor, at midnight, with a gang of one hundred men; and, after

plundering it of all the property it contained, to the amount of four

hundred rupees, he burnt it to the ground, and bound and carried off

Sook Allee to the house of his friend, Byjonath Bilwar, a landholder

in the village of Kholee, eight miles distant. He there demanded a

ransom of five hundred rupees; and on his declaring that he neither

had nor could borrow such a sum, he had him tortured with hot irons,

and flogged in the usual way. He kept him for two months at Kholee,

and then took him to Tukra, in the Soorajpoor purgunnah, where he

kept him for another month, torturing, and giving him half a meal

every other day. At the end of three months, Akber Sing and Bhowanee

Deen, Rajpoot landholders of Odemow, contrived to borrow two hundred

rupees for Sook Allee, and he was released on the payment of this

sum. The marks of the hot irons, applied to his body by Maheput Sing,

with his own hands, are still visible, and will remain so as long as

he lives.*

[* I saw these marks on the sufferer.]

About the same time--the latter end of 1846--Maheput Sing sent to

Sheik Sobratee, of the same place, a message through a pausee, named

Bhowanee Deen, demanding twenty-five rupees. This sum was sent; but

six weeks had not elapsed, before Sheik Sobratee received another

demand for the same amount, through the same person. He had no money,

but promised to send the sum in ten days. At midnight, on the fourth

day after this, Maheput and his gang attacked his house, and

plundered it of all they could find, female ornaments, and clothes,

and brass utensils. Sobratee was that night sleeping at the house of

his friend Peree, the wood-dealer, in the same town. Maheput tried to

make his mother and wife point out where he was, by torturing them,

but they either would not or could not do so. After some search,

however, they discovered him, and bound and took him off, with

handcuffs, and an iron collar round his neck, to the Kurseea jungle,

in the Hydergur pergunnah. His son, a boy, had escaped. After

torturing him in the usual way for eight days, they sent a message to

his mother by Maheput's servant, Salar, to say, that unless she sent

a ransom of five hundred rupees, her son's nose and hands should be

cut off and sent to her as those of _Chubbee Lal_, Brahmin, of

Bunnee, had been. She prevailed upon Baroonath Gotum to lend the

money; and Maheput sent Sobratee to him, accompanied by one of his

armed retainers, with orders to make him over to the Gotum, if he

pledged himself in due form to pay. He did so, and Sobratee was made

over to him, and the next day sent home to his wife and mother. Some

months after, however, when he had completed his fort of Bhowneegur,

Maheput sent to demand two hundred rupees more from Sobratee, and

when he found he could not pay, he had his house pulled, down, and

took away all the materials to his fort. What he did not require he

caused to be burnt. He got from Sobratee, in ransom and plunder, more

than three thousand rupees; and he has been ever since reduced to

great poverty and distress.

In November 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang seized and carried off

Khosal, a confectioner, of Talgon, in Rodowlee, who had gone to his

sister at Buhapoor, near Guneshpoor, to attend a marriage--took him

to the jungle, and tortured and starved him in the usual way for five

weeks. He had him burnt with red-hot irons, flogged and ducked in a

tank every day, and demanded a ransom of two hundred rupees. At last,

his brother, Davey Deen, borrowed thirty-three rupees from Rambuksh,

a merchant of Odermow, and offered to pay it for his ransom. Maheput

sent Khosal, with his agent, Bhowanee Deen, to Rambuksh, and he

released him on getting the money. He still bears on his body the

marks of the stripes and burnings.*

[* These marks I have seen.]

In December 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the house of Motee

Lal Misser, a Brahmin, in the village of------, and after robbing it

of all that it contained, he seized and carried off his nephew, Ram

Deen, a boy of seven years of age, and tortured him for a month in

the jungle. He then cut off his left ear and the forefinger of his

right hand, and sent them to the uncle in a letter, stating, that if

he did not send him one thousand rupees, he would send the boy's head

in the same manner. The boy's father had died, and his uncle, with

great difficulty, prevailed upon his friends and neighbours to lend

him two hundred and twenty rupees, which he sent to Maheput, and his

nephew was released. The boy declares to me that Maheput cut off his

ear and finger with his own hands.*

[* This boy was present, as a witness, at the trial of Maheput.]

In June 1848, Forsut Pandee, of Resalpandee-ka-Poorwa, in Rodowlee,

accompanied Girwar Sing, a Rajpoot of Bowra, in Rodowlee, to

Guneshpoor, on some business. They were smoking and talking together

at the house of Mungul Sing, Thakoor, a large landholder of that

place, when five of Maheput's armed men came up, and told Forsut

Pandee to attend them to their master. Girwar Sing remonstrated and

declared that his honour had been pledged for Forsut Pandee's

personal safety. Mungul Sing, Thakoor, however, told him, that he

must offer no opposition, as they seized all travellers who came that

way, and it was dangerous to oppose them. He was taken to Maheput

Sing, in his fort at Bhowaneegur, situated half a mile from

Guneshpoor. Maheput told him that he had heard of his having a good

flint gun, and a shawl in his house, and that he must have them.

Forsut Pandee swore on the Ganges that he had no such things. He then

had him tied up to a tree and flogged him with his own hands with

thorny bushes, the scars of which are still visible. He then demanded

a ransom of three hundred rupees, and had him flogged and tortured

every day for a month, while he gave him to eat only half a pound of

flour every two or three days. The prisoner's brother, Bhoree Pandee,

sold all the clothes and ornaments of his family, utensils, and

furniture, and their hereditary mango and mhowa grove, and raised two

hundred and six rupees, which he sent to Maheput, through Baldan

Sing, a landholder of Bharatpoor, two miles from Guneshpoor. On the

receipt of this Forsut Pandee was released.

In October 1848, Maheput Sing sent ten of his gang to seize a

cultivator, by name Khosal, who was engaged in cultivating his land

in a hamlet, one mile south of the town of Syudpoor. They seized and

bound him and took him off to their leader, Maheput, who had him

tortured for a month in the usual way. He had him tied up to a ladder

and flogged. He had red-hot irons applied to different parts of his

body--he put dry combustibles on the open palms of his hands and set

fire to them, so that he has lost the use of his fingers for life.

For the whole month he gave him only ten pounds of flour to eat; but

his friends contrived to convey a little more to him occasionally,

which he ate by stealth. He was reduced, by hunger and torture, to

the last stage, when his family, by the sale of all they had in the

world, and the compassion of their friends, raised the sum of one

hundred and twenty-six rupees, which they sent to Maheput, by Thakoor

Persaud, a landholder of the village of Somba, and obtained his

release. The tortures have rendered him a cripple, and the family are

reduced to a state of great wretchedness.*

[* This man was a witness at the trial of Maheput, and I saw the

signs of his sufferings.]

The village of Guneshpoor yielded a revenue to Government of twenty-

one thousand rupees a-year, and was divided into six and half shares

each, held by a different person. One belonged to Omrow Sing,

Rajpoot, the father of Hunmunt Sing, a corporal in the 44th Regiment

Bengal Native Infantry, and descended to Omrow Sing's eldest son,

Davey Sing. One share was held, jointly, by Maheput Sing and Chotee

Sing, when, in October 1848, Maheput assembled a gang of about two

hundred men, and attacked the house of Davey Sing, while his brother

Hunmunt Sing was at home on recruiting service. There were in the

house the corporal and his three brothers, and all mounted, with

their friends, to the top of the house, with their swords and spears,

but without fire-arms. The robbers, unable to ascend from the

outside, broke open the doors, but the brothers descended and

defended the passage so resolutely, that the gang was obliged to

retire and watch for a better opportunity.

Three months after, in January 1849, Maheput attacked the house

again, with a gang of five hundred men and good scaling-ladders. Some

ascended to the top on the ladders, while others broke open the doors

and forced their way in. The brothers and the other male members of

the family defended themselves resolutely. One of the brothers,

Esuree Sing, his uncle, Runjeet Sing, sipahee of the 11th Regiment

Bengal Native Infantry, his cousin, Beetul Sing, sipahee of the 8th

Regiment Bombay Native Infantry, were all killed, and hacked to

pieces by Maheput and his gang. No person came to the assistance of

the family, and the robbers retired with their booty, consisting of

five hundred and ten rupees in money, four muskets, and four swords,

and twelve hundred maunds of corn, and all the clothes, ornaments,

and utensils that could be found. They burnt down the house, and

dispossessed the family of their share in the estate, and plundered

all the cultivators. Davey Sine the eldest brother, went to reside at

Bhanpoor, in the neighbourhood. While he was engaged in cutting a

field of pulse, in the morning, about seven o'clock, in the month of

March following, Maheput Sing, with a gang of two hundred men,

attacked his house, killed his two brothers, Gordut and Hurdut Sing,

and their servant, Omed, and shot down his nephew, Gorbuksh Sing.

Ramsahae, the nephew of Maheput Sing, ran up to despatch him with his

sword, but Gorbuksh rose, cut him down, and killed him with his sword

before he himself expired.

The corporal, Hunmunt Sing, of the 44th Native Infantry, described

all these things in several petitions to the Resident, and prayed

redress, but no redress was ever obtained. Saligram and other

relatives of the corporal had been plundered and wounded by Maheput

Sing and his gang, and he describes many other atrocities committed

by the same gang. His petition of the 27th September 1849, was sent

to the King by the Resident, who was told, that the Amil of the

district of Dureeabad, Girdhara Lal, had been ordered to seize

Maheput Sing and his gang. This Amil was always in league with them.

In December 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of a

female, named Arganee, the widow of Sheik Rozae, in the village of

Pertab Pahae. It was midnight, and she was sleeping with her two

grandchildren, the sons of her son, who was a sipahee in the 66th

Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry. They bound her hands: and leaving

her young grandchildren alone, took her off to the jungle eight miles

distant. There Maheput demanded from her the seven hundred rupees

which she was said to have accumulated; and when she pleaded poverty,

and said that the sipahee's pay was their only means of subsistence,

he had her stripped naked and flogged in the usual way. For a month

he had her stripped and flogged in the same manner every day. She

then signed a bond to pay one hundred rupees on a certain day, and

was released. She sold all she had, and borrowed all she could, and

on the fourth day sent him fifty, and the other fifty on the

fifteenth day; but he afterwards had the poor widow's house pulled

down and all the wood-work carried to his fort of Bhowaneegur.

In April 1849, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of

Seodeen Misser, sipahee of the 63rd Regiment Bengal Native Infantry;

and after plundering it, seized and carried off to the jungle his

brother and that brother's two sons--one seven years of age and the

other five--and his sister. He sold the two boys as slaves for two

hundred rupees to a person named Davey Sookul, of Guneshpoor; and

tortured the brother and sister till the sipahee and his friends sold

all they had in the world for their ransom, when he released them.

In the month of May 1849, Maheput Sing and his gang at midnight

attacked the house of Eseree Sing, a Rajpoot of the Chouhan tribe, in

the village of Salpoor, in Dureeabad; and after stripping his mother

and all the other females of the family of their clothes and

ornaments, plundering the house of all it contained, rupees, twenty-

five in money, two handsome matchlocks, two swords, two spears, and

two shields, and brass utensils, weighing one hundred and sixty

pounds, he bound Eseree Sing himself, and took him off with his

sister, four years of age, and his daughter, only three, to a jungle,

four miles distant. He there released Eseree Sing himself, but took

on the girls, and made over his daughter to Akber, one of his

followers, and his sister to Bechoo, another of his gang, to be

united to them in marriage. It was at their instigation, and for that

purpose chiefly, that he made the attack.*

[* Akber and Bechoo are now in prison, with Maheput, at Lucknow.]

In August 1849, Maheput and his gang attacked the houses of Seetul,

Gorbuksh, and Sook Lal, Brahmins, of Guneshpoor; and after plundering

them, he carried off Gorbuksh and his son, Ram Deen, and Bhowanee,

the son of Seetul, and Sook Lal, and murdered them. He carried off

and tortured, in a shocking manner, Benee, of the same place, till he

paid a ransom; and Ongud, son of Khunmun, an invalid Khalasie, of the

26th Regiment Native Infantry.

In September 1849, Maheput attacked and plundered the house of Ongud

Sing, sipahee of the 24th Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, and

confined the sipahee for some time. His petition was sent to the King

on the 11th November 1849.

On the 15th of December 1849, Monowur Khan, havildar of the 62nd

Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, complained that Maheput Sing had

seized him as he was walking on the high road, and extorted eleven

rupees from him. His petition was sent to the King, with a request,

that all local authorities might be urged to aid in his arrest; and

orders were again sent to the Frontier Police.

On the 24th December 1849, Madho Sing, sipahee of the 11th Regiment

Bengal Native Infantry, complained that Maheput Sing had attacked and

plundered his house twice, burnt it down, and cut down all the trees

which the family had planted for generations, and turned them all out

of the village--that in the second attack he had murdered his

daughter, a girl of only nine years of age. His petition was sent to

the King, who, on the 13th of February 1850, replied that he had

proclaimed Maheput as a robber and murderer, and offered a reward of

three thousand rupees for his arrest.

On the 16th of March 1850, Goverdhun complained, that Maheput had

attacked and plundered his house, and carried off his father to the

jungles, and extorted from him a ransom of one hundred and ten

rupees. His petition was sent to the King, who, on the 27th March,

replied, that he had given frequent and urgent orders for the arrest

of Maheput Sing.

Gunga Deen, a trooper of the Governor-General's body-guard,

complained to the Resident, on the 9th of August 1844, that Maheput

Sing had attacked and killed with his own hand his agent, Thakoor

Sing, while he was taking seven hundred and seventy-four rupees to

the revenue-collector. On the 11th of September 1849, he again

complained to the Resident, that Maheput Sing had plundered

Bhurteemow and other villages, in Dureeabad, of property to the value

of six thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine rupees, and murdered

five men, besides Thakoor Sing, his servant, and had committed

numerous robberies in other villages during the year 1848. Among them

one in Bhurteemow, in which he killed Ramjeet and four other men--

that he had soon after committed a robbery in which no less than

twenty-two persons were killed and wounded, and property to the value

of two thousand rupees was carried off. The King was frequently

pressed most earnestly to arrest this atrocious robber; and on the

9th of December 1849, the Frontier Police was, at the Kings request,

directed to do all in their power to seize him.

In July 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of Mungul

Sookul, a corporal of the 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, at

midnight, robbed it of property to the value of five hundred rupees,

and so rent the ears of his little son, by the violence with which he

tore the gold rings from them, that the boy was not likely to live.

The commanding officer of the regiment sent the corporal's petition

for redress, through the Resident, to the Durbar; and orders were

sent to the local authorities to afford it, but they were unable or

unwilling to do anything.

Gunga Aheer, of Buroulee, in the district of Rodowlee, had been for

three years a sipahee in the 48th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry,

under the name of Mata Deen. Continued sickness rendered him unfit

for duty, and he obtained his discharge, and came home to his family.

In March 1850, having been long without employment, and reduced, with

his family, to great distress, he went to his relation, Ramdhun, of

the Intelligence Department, in the service of the King of Oude, and

then; on duty at Dureeabad, with the Amil. A reward of three thousand

rupees having been offered by the King for the arrest of Maheput

Sing, the Amil ordered Ramdhun to try his best to trace him out, and

he took Gunga Aheer with him to assist, on a promise of securing for

him good service if they succeeded. They went to a jungle, about two

miles from Guneshpoor, and near the foot of Bhowaneegur. While they

were resting at a temple in the jungle, sacred to Davey, Maheput came

up, with twenty followers, to offer sacrifice; and as soon as they

recognized the Harkara, Ramdhun, they seized both, and took them off

in the evening to a jungle, four miles distant. In the hope of

frightening Maheput, the Harkara pretended to be in the service of

the Resident at Lucknow; but as the reward for his arrest had been

offered on the requisition of the Resident, on the application of

injured sipahees of the British army, this did not avail him. Their

hands were tied behind their backs, and as soon as it became dark,

they took Ramdhun off to a distance of twenty paces from where

Maheput Sing sat, and made him stand in a circle of men with drawn

swords. One man advanced, and at one cut with his sword, severed his

right arm from his body, and it fell to the ground. Another cut into

the side, under the stump, while a third cut him across the left side

of the neck with a back cut, he all the time calling out for mercy,

but in vain. On receiving the cut across the neck he fell dead, and

the body was flung into the river Goomtee. Maheput sat looking on

without saying a word.

They then amused themselves for some time by flogging Gunga Aheer

with thorn bushes, while he in agony cried for mercy. The next day,

by Maheput's orders, they laid him upon a bed of thorns and beat him

again, while he screamed from pain, and they laughed at his cries.

One of the followers told Maheput, that they had been cautioned by

the outlaw, Jugurnath, the chuprassie, not to murder Ramdhun and his

companion, or the English would some day avenge them; but he laughed

and said that spies must be punished, to deter others from pursuing

them. One of his followers then sat on Gunga's chest while another

held his arms, and a third his legs, while a fourth cut off his nose,

and one of his hands at the wrist, and the fingers of the other hand.

He became senseless, and Maheput and his followers all left him in

this state. In the evening a servant of Seochurn Chowdheree, of

Bhowaneepoor, on his way to the jungle, saw him and reported his

condition to his master, who sent people and had him taken to him on

a litter. He had his wounds dressed by a village surgeon, and the

next day sent him home to his wife and mother. The landlord of the

village reported the case to Captain Orr, of the Frontier Police, at

Fyzabad, who had Gunga taken off to the hospital at Lucknow, where he

remained under the care of the Residency surgeon till he recovered.

This poor man had to support his mother, wife, and daughter by his

labour. His mother came in with him, and attended him in hospital,

while his wife and child remained at their village.

While in hospital recovering, Maheput Sing was brought before him, by

the Frontier Police, to be recognized. As soon as he saw him all the

terrible scene of Ramdhun's murder and his own torture came so

vividly before him, that he trembled from head to foot, like a man in

an ague fit, and was for some time unable to speak. At last, when he

saw the fetters on Maheput's legs, and the handcuffs on his wrists,

and armed Government servants around him, he recovered his senses;

and by degrees, recorded what he had witnessed and suffered at his

hands.

On the 25th March 1850, Rajah Maun Sing, under orders from the

Durbar, with all the force he could muster, invested the fort of

Bhowaneegur, while the force under Captains Weston, Thomas, Bunbury,

and Magness, attacked the three forts belonging to Rajah Prethee Put,

of Paska. Maheput Sing left the fort on the 27th, with eleven

followers, to collect reinforcements and harass the besiegers, and

the garrison was commanded by his nephew.

On the 28th, Maun Sing had three men killed and several wounded, from

the fire of the garrison, and wrote for reinforcements to Captain

Weston, who was at Dureeabad, twelve miles distant. As soon as he got

the letter, he mounted his horse, and leaving the force to follow,

rode with his Assistant, Captain Orr, to the place, which is half a

mile from Guneshpoor south, and two hundred yards from the left bank

of the Goomtee river north. They were attended by a few sowars, under

Seo Sing, and they reached the place before daybreak, on the 29th;

and as soon as day appeared, proceeded with Captain Magness, who had

galloped on in advance of his regiment to reconnoitre the fort, and

were fired upon by the garrison wherever they were seen. Maun Sing's

people had retired after the loss of a few men, to the distance of a

mile, and lay scattered over the jungle.

The Infantry came up before sunset, and the guns before it grew dark,

and all were placed in position, and a fire opened upon the fort till

it grew too dark to point the guns. The garrison soon after attempted

to escape by the west side, and were fired upon by the parties posted

on that quarter. Captain Weston, hearing the fire, collected all the

men he could, and getting with difficulty into the fort, found it

empty. In the attempt to cut their way through, the garrison had two

men killed and fifteen wounded and taken, and five managed to escape,

under cover of the night, into the thick jungle. Bikhai, one of the

most atrocious of Maheput's followers, was killed; but he killed two

of the besiegers, and wounded two more before he fell. Akber Sing,

the most atrocious of all the gang, had his arm taken off by a

cannon-shot, and was seized. Maheput's nephew, the commandant of the

garrison, was taken, with one of Maheput's secretaries and advisers.

Of Maun Sing's party, four were killed and thirteen wounded, and

Captain Magness had one havildar severely wounded. The fort was

levelled, and the jungle around cut down. The force then proceeded

and took possession of the forts of Futtehpoor, Oskamow, Sorrea,

Dyeepoor, and Etonja, all belonging to Jugurnath Chuprassie, another

leader of banditti of that district They were only a few miles

distant from Bhowaneegur, and were deserted by his gangs on their

seeing a British force and hearing the guns open upon Bhowaneegur.

Two hundred head of stolen cattle were found in the forts of

Jugurnath, and restored to their proper owners. Parties were sent in

pursuit of Maheput Sing, and two of his followers were secured; but

he himself escaped for the time. The forts were all destroyed.

Captain Orr, the Assistant Superintendent, in charge of the Frontier

Police at Fyzabad, had been long in pursuit of Maheput Sing, and his

parties, knowing all his haunts and associates, gave him no rest. His

subadar, Seetul Sing, became acquainted with Prethee Paul, tallookdar

of Ramnuggur, who had been deprived of his estate for defalcation,

and become associated with Maheput Sing. The subadar persuaded this

landholder that it would be to his advantage to aid in the arrest of

so atrocious a robber and murderer; and when Maheput next came to him

to seek some repose from his pursuers, and consult about future

plans, he sent intimation to Seetul Sing, whose detachment of

sipahees was at no great distance. On receiving the intimation, the

subadar marched forthwith, and reached the place at the dawn of day,

on the morning of the 1st of July 1850. Maheput Sing had just left

the house to perform his ablutions, but on seeing them, he suspected

their designs and re-entered the house. The subadar's party saw him,

immediately surrounded the house, and demanded his surrender, Maheput

Sing begged Prethee Paul to join him in defending the house or

cutting their way through; but Prethee Paul told him that he had

ruined himself by his atrocities, and must now submit to his fate,

since he could not involve himself and all his family in ruin merely

to assist him. Prethee Paul then took him by the arm, brought him

out, and made him over to Seetul Sing, who had threatened to set fire

to the house, forthwith unless he did so. He was then secured and

taken off, well guarded, and in all possible haste, to Captain Orr,

lest his gang might collect and attempt a rescue. Captain Orr sent

him off, under a strong guard and well fettered, to Lucknow, to

Captain Weston, the Superintendent of the Frontier Police.

Prethee Paul, the tallookdar, for the good service, got back his

estate from the Oude sovereign, and an addition of five hundred

rupees a-year to his nankar or personal allowance. Gunga Aheer is now

a pensioner on the Residency fund, and his family has been provided

for. Maheput Sing and his associate Gujraj were sentenced to

transportation beyond seas, and sent off in October 1851.

It is remarked by the people, that few of these baronial robbers ever

die natural deaths--that they either kill each other, or are killed

sooner or later by the servants of Government. More atrocious crimes

than those which they every month commit it is difficult to conceive.

In the Bangor district, through which we passed last month, this

class of landholders are certainly as strong and as much disposed to

withhold the just dues of Government, and to resist its officers and

troops, as they are here, but they do not plunder and burn down each

other's villages, and murder and rob each other's tenants so often as

they do here. The coalition has introduced among them a kind of

_balance of power_, which makes them respect each other's rights, and

the rights of each other's tenants, for the chiefs are dependent upon

the attachment and fidelity of their respective tenants. The above

list contains only a part of the leaders of gangs, by which the

districts of Dureeabad, Rodowlee, Sidhore, Pertabgunge, Deva, and

Jehangeerabad, are infested. We have seen no manufacture of any

exportable commodity in Oude, nor have we seen traffic on any road in

Oude, save that leading from Cawnpore to Lucknow.

In consequence of some bad seasons, a good deal of the grain required

at the Capital, and in the districts to the north-cast, comes from

Cawnpore over this road. Were the road from Fyzabad to Lucknow good

and safe, a good deal of land produce would, in ordinary seasons,

come over it from the Goruckpoor district, and those intervening

between Lucknow and Fyzabad. It would, however, be useless to make

the road till the gangs which infest it are put down. A good and

secure road from Lucknow through Sultanpoor to Benares, would be of

still greater advantage.

_February 25_, 1850.--Halted at Dureeabad. I here saw the draft-

bullocks attached to the guns, with Captain Orr's companies of

Frontier Police. They are of the best kind, and in excellent

condition. They have the same allowance of a seer and half of grain

a-day, which is drawn for every bullock attached to his Majesty's

artillery. The difference is that they get all that is paid for in

their name, while the others get one-third; and really got none when

on detached duty till lately. On Fridays, Captain Orr's bullocks get

only half; and this is, I believe, the rule with all the others that

get any at all. His bullocks are bred in the Nanpara, Nigasun,

Dhorehra, and other districts in the Oude Tarae, and are of an

excellent quality for work. They cost from 40 to 75 rupees a-pair. In

these districts of the Tarae forest, the cows are allowed to go

almost wild in large grass preserves, where they are defended from

tigers; and the calves are taken from them, when a year old, to be

taken care of at home, till sold for the dairy or for work. Captain

Orr's bullocks have no grazing-ground, nor are they sent out at all

to graze--they get nothing but bhoosa (chaff) and corn. Of bhoosa

they get as much as they can eat, when on detached duty, as they take

it from the peasantry without payment; but when at Lucknow, they are

limited to a very small quantity, as Government has to pay for it. On

the 15th of May, 1833, the King prohibited any one from taking bhoosa

without paying for it, either for private or public cattle; and

directed that bhoosa, for all the Artillery bullocks, should be

purchased at the harvests, and charged for in the public accounts;

but the order was disregarded like that against the murder of female

children.

_February 26_, 1850--Sidhore, sixteen miles, W.S.W. The country, a

plain, covered as usual with spring crops and fine foliage; but

intersected midway by the little river Kuleeanee, which causes

undulations on each side. The soil chiefly doomut and light, but

fertile. It abounds more in white ants than such light soil generally

does. We passed through the estate of Soorujpoor Behreylee, in which

so many of the baronial robbers above described reside, and through

many villages beyond it, which they had lately robbed and burnt down,

as far as such villages can be burnt. The mud-walls and coverings are

as good as bomb-proofs against the fire, to which they are always

exposed from these robbers. Only twenty days ago, Chundee Behraleea

and his party attacked the village of Siswae, through which we passed

a few miles from this--plundered it, and killed three persons, and

six others perished in the flames. They served several others in the

neighbourhood in the same manner; and have, within the same time,

attacked and plundered the town of Sidhore itself several times.

The boundary which separates the Dureeabad from the Sidhore district

we passed some four miles back; and the greater part of the villages

lately attacked are situated in the latter, which is under a separate

Amil, Aga Ahmud, who is, in consequence, unable to collect his

revenue. The Amil of Dureeabad, Girdhara Sing,* on the contrary,

acquiesces in all the atrocities committed by these robbers, and is,

in consequence, able to collect his revenue, and secure the favour of

the Court. Some of the villages of the estate, held by the widow of

Singjoo, late Rajah of Soorujpoor, are under the jurisdiction of the

Sidhore Amil; and, as she would pay no revenue, the Amil took a force

a few days ago to her twelve villages of Sonowlee, within the

Dureeabad district, and seized and carried off some three hundred of

her tenants, men, women, and children, as hostages for the payment of

the balance due, and confined them pell-mell, in a fort. The clamour

of the rest of the population as I passed was terrible, all declaring

that they had paid their rents to the _Ranee_, and that she alone

ought to be held responsible. She, however, resided at Soorujpoor,

within the jurisdiction, and under the protection of the Amil of

Dureeabad.

[* Girdhara Sing's patron is Chundee Sahaee, the minister's deputy,

whose influence is paramount at present.]

The Behraleea gangs have lately plundered the five villages of

Sadutpoor, Luloopoor, Bilkhundee, and Subahpoor, belonging to

Soorujbulee, the head Canoongo, or Chowdheree of Dureeabad, who had

never offended them. Both the Amils were with me for the latter part

of the road; and the dispute between them ran very high. It was

clear, however, that Girdhara Sing was strong in his league with the

robbers, and conscious of being able to maintain his ground at Court;

and Aga Ahmud was weak in his efforts to put them down, and conscious

of his being unable much longer to pay what was required, and keep

his post. He has with him two Companies of Nujeebs and two of

Telingas, and eight guns. The guns are useless and without

ammunition, or stores of any kind; and the Nujeebs and Telingas

cannot be depended upon. The best pay master has certainly the best

chance. It is humiliating and distressing to see a whole people

suffering such wrongs as are every day inflicted upon the village

communities and town's people of Dureeabad, Rodowlee, Sidhore, and

Dewa, by these merciless freebooters; and impossible not to feel

indignant at a Government that regards them with so much

indifference.*

[* Poor Aga Ahmud was put into gaol, for defalcation, at the end of

the season; but Girdhara Sing was received with great favour by the

Court. The government of the district, for the next season, was

confirmed, and the usual dress of honour was conferred upon him, but

the Resident deemed it to be his duty to interpose and insist upon

his not being sent out. The government of the district was, in

consequence, taken from him, and made over to Rajah Maun Sing.]

A respectable young agricultural capitalist from Biswa, Seetaram,

rode along by my side this morning, and I asked him, "over whom these

suttee tombs, near Biswa, and other towns were for the most part

raised."--"Sir," said he, "they are chiefly over the widows of

Brahmins, bankers, merchants, Hindoo public officers, tradesmen, and

shopkeepers." "Are there many such tombs in Oude, over the widows of

Rajpoot landholders?"--"I have not seen any, sir, and have rarely

heard of the widow of a Rajpoot landholder burning herself." "No,

sir," said Bukhtawar Sing, "how should such women be worthy to become

suttees? They dare not become suttees, sir, with the murder of so

many innocent children on their heads. Sir, we Brahmins and other

respectable Hindoos feel honoured in having daughters; and never feel

secure of a happy life hereafter till we see them respectably

married. This, sir, is a duty the Deity demands from us, and the

neglect of which we do not believe he can ever excuse. When the

bridegroom comes sir, to fetch our daughter, the priest reads over

the marriage-service, and the parents of the girl wash her feet and

those of her bridegroom; and, as they sit together after the

ceremonies, put into her arms a tray of gold and silver jewels, and

rich clothes, such as their condition in life enables them to

provide; and then invoke the blessing of God upon their union; and

then, and not till then, do they feel that they have done their duty

to their child. What can men and women, who murder their daughters as

soon as they are born, ever hope for in this life or in a future

state? What can widows, conscious of such crimes, expect from

ascending the funeral pile, with the bodies of their deceased

husbands who have caused them to commit such crimes?" "And you think

that there really is merit in such sacrifices on the part of widows,

who have done their duties in this life?"--"Assuredly I do, sir; if

there were none, why should God render them go insensible to the pain

of burning? I have seen many widows burn themselves in my time, and

watched them from the time they first declared their intention to

their death; and they all seemed to me to feel nothing whatever from

the flames: nothing, sir, but support from above could sustain them

through such trials. Depend upon it, sir, that no widow of a Rajpoot

murderer of his own offspring would ever be so supported; they knew

very well that they would not be so; and, therefore, very wisely

never ventured to expose themselves to the trial: faithful wives and

good mothers only could so venture. The Rajpoots, sir, and their

wives were pleased at the prohibition, because others could no longer

do what they dared not do!" "What do you think, Seetarum?"--"I think,

sir, that this crime of infanticide had its origin solely in family

pride, which will make people do almost anything. These proud

Rajpoots did not like to put it into any man's power to call them

_salahs_ or _sussoors_,* (brothers-in-law or fathers-in-law).

[* These are terms of abuse all over India. To call a man sussoor or

salah, in abuse, is to say to him, I have dishonoured your daughter

or your sister!]

"I remember an instance of a woman burning herself at Lasoora, six

miles from Biswa, when I was fifteen years of age, and I am now

twenty-five. She certainly seemed to suffer no pain. One forenoon she

told her husband that in a former birth she had promised him that

when he should be born a _maha brahman_ at Biswa, she would unite

herself in marriage to him, and live with him as his wife for twelve

years; that these twelve years had now expired, and that she had that

night received intimation from Heaven that her real husband, _Rajah

Kirpah Shunker_, of Muthura, had died without having been married in

this birth; that she was in reality his wife, and had already burnt

herself five times with his body, and would now mix her ashes with

his for the sixth time, and he must forthwith send her to the village

of Lasoora, where she would become a suttee. The husband was

astounded, for they had always lived together on the best possible

terms, and out of the four children they had had two still survived.

He and all their relations did all they could to dissuade her, but

she disregarded them, and ran off to the Sewala (temple) in Biswa,

which was built by my father. Thence she sent a Brahmin, by name

Gokurn, to call me and my elder brother, Morlee Munohur, then

seventeen years of age. We went, and she told us that she had been

our mother in a former birth, and wished to see us once more before

she died; she blessed us, and prayed that we might have each five

sons, and then told us to arrange for her funeral pile at Lasoora, as

all her former five suttees had been performed at that place.

"We thought she was delirious, and no one supposed that she would

really burn herself. She, however, left the temple and proceeded

towards Lasoora on foot, followed by a party of women and children,

and by her husband, who continued to implore her to return home with

him. He had a litter with him to take her, but she would not listen

to him or to any one else. We reached Lasoora about an hour and a

half before sunset, and she ordered the people to collect a large

pile of wood for her, and told them that she would light it with a

flame from her own mouth. They seemed to regard her as an inspired

person, and did so. She mounted the pile, and it soon took fire, how

I know not! Many people said they saw the flame come from her month,

and all seemed to believe that it did so. The flames ascended, for it

was in the month of March, and the wood was dry, and she seemed to be

quite happy as she sat in the midst of them, and was burnt to death.

Her husband told us, that she had lost one son some years before, and

another only four days before she burnt herself, and that she had

been much afflicted at his death. Whether there really had been such

a person as Rajah Kirpah Shunker, no one ever thought it necessary to

inquire. Her suttee tomb still stands at Lasoora among many others.

Our mother was alive, though our father had been dead many years, and

she used to say that the poor woman must have become deranged at the

death of her child. The people all believed that she told the truth,

and the husband was obliged to yield, though he seemed much

afflicted. Her two sons still live, and reside at Biswa." *

[* Moorlee Monowur, a very respectable agricultural capitalist, tells

me, that all that his younger brother, Seetaram, told me, about the

suttee, if strictly true, and can be proved by a reference to the

poor woman's husband and sons, who still survive, and to the people

of Bilwa and Lasoora.]

I asked the Amil, "How he fed, clothed, and lodged his prisoners?" He

said, "We always take them with us in our marches, secured in stocks

or fetters. We cannot leave them behind, because we have no gaols or

other places to keep them in, and require all our troops to move with

us. As to food and clothing, they are obliged to provide themselves,

or get their families or friends to provide them, for Government will

not let us charge anything for their subsistence and clothing in the

accounts."

"I understand that you and all other public servants who have charge

of prisoners not only make them provide themselves with food and

clothing, but make them pay for lamp-oil, whether they have a lamp

burning at night or not?"--"When they require a lamp they must of

course pay for it, sir; prisoners are always a source of much anxiety

to us, for if we send them to Lucknow, they are almost sure to be let

out soon, on occasions of thanksgiving, or on payment of gratuities,

and enabled to punish all who have assisted us in the arrest; and

with hosts of robbers around us, we are always in danger of an

attempt to rescue them, which may cost us many lives." "If the gaol

darogahs at Lucknow had not the power to sell his prisoners, sir,"

said Bukhtawar Sing, "how should he be able to pay so much as he does

for his place? He is obliged to pay five hundred rupees or more for

his place, and is not sure of holding it a month after he has bought

it, so many are the candidates for a place so profitable!" "But he

gets a share of the subsistence money, paid for the prisoners from

the Treasury, does he not?"--"Yes, sir; of the four pice a-day paid

for them by the King, he takes two, and sends them to beg through the

city for what more they require." "If they get more than what he

thinks they require from the public or their friends, he takes the

surplus from them, I am told?"--"It is very true, sir, I believe.

Fellows, sir, who have no substantial friends, and cannot and will

not beg, soon sink under this scanty supply of food."

_February 27_, 1850--Sutrick, sixteen miles west, over a plain of

muteear soil, tolerably well cultivated, and very well studded with

trees of the finest kinds, single, in clusters and in groves. The

mango-trees are in blossom, and promise well. The trees are said to

bear only one season out of three, but some bear in one season, and

others in another, so that the market is always supplied, though in

some seasons more abundantly than in others. A cloudy sky and

easterly wind, while the trees are in blossom, are said to be very

injurious. A large landholder told me that they never took a tax upon

any of the trees, not even the mhowa-trees, but the owner could not,

except upon particular occasions, dispose of one to be cut down,

without the permission of the zumeendar upon whose lands it stood. He

might cut down one without his permission for building or repairing

his house, or for fuel, on any occasion of marriage in his family,

but not otherwise. A good many fine trees were, he said, destroyed by

the local officers of Government. Having no tents, they collected the

roofs of houses from a neighbouring village in hot or bad weather,

cut away the branches to make rafters, and left the trunks as pillars

to support the roofs, and under this treatment they soon died. He

told me that cow-dung was cheaper for fuel than wood in this

district, and consequently more commonly used in cooking; but that

they gathered cow-dung for fuel only during four months in the year,

November, December, January, and February; all that fell during the

other eight months was religiously left, or stored for manure. In the

pits in which they stored it, they often threw some of the inferior

green crops of autumn, such as kodo and kotkee; but the manure most

esteemed among them was _pigs' dung_--this, he said, was commonly

stored and sold by those who kept pigs. The best muteear and doomut

soils, which prevail in this district, are rented at two rupees a

kutcha beegah, without reference to the crop which the cultivator

might take from them; and they yielded, under good tillage, from ten

to fifteen returns of the seed in wheat, barley, gram, &c. There are

two and half or three kutcha beegahs in a pucka beegah; and a pucka

beegah is from 2750 to 2760 square yards.

Sutrick is celebrated for the shrine of Shouk Salar, alias _Borda

Baba_, the father of Syud Salar, whose shrine is at Bahraetch. This

person, it is said, was the husband of the sister of Mahmood, of

Ghuznee. He is supposed to have died a natural death at this place,

while leading the armies of his sovereign against the Hindoos. His

son had royal blood in his veins, and his shrine is held to be the

most sacred of the two. A large fair is held here in March, on the

same days that this fair takes place at Bahraetch. All our Hindoo

camp followers paid as much reverence to the shrine as they passed as

the Mahommedans. It is a place without trade or manufactures; but a

good many respectable Mahommedan families reside in it, and have

built several small but neat mosques of burnt bricks. There is little

thoroughfare in the wretched road that passes through it.

The Hindoos worship any sign of manifested might or power, though

exerted against themselves, as they consider all might and power to

be conferred by the Deity for some useful purpose, however much that

purpose may be concealed from us. "These invaders, however merciless

and destructive to the Hindoo race, say they must have been sent on

their mission by God for some great and useful purpose, or they could

not possibly have succeeded as they did: had their proceedings not

been sanctioned by Him, he could at any moment have destroyed them

all, or have interposed to arrest their progress." These, however,

are the speculations of only the thinking portion. At the bottom of

the respect shown to such Mahommedan shrines, by the mass of Hindoos,

there is always a strong ground-work of _hope_ or _fear_: the soul or

spirit of the savage old man, who had been so well supported on

earth, must still, they think, have some influence at the Court of

Heaven to secure them good or work them evil, and they invoke or

propitiate him accordingly. They would do the same to the tomb of

Alexander, Jungez Khan, Tymour, or Nadir Shah, without any perplexing

inquiries as to their creed or liturgy.

_February 28_, 1850.--Chinahut, eleven miles west, over a plain

intersected by several small streams, the largest of which is the

Rete, near Sutrick. There is a good deal of kunkur-lime in the ground

over which we have passed today; but the tillage is good where the

land is at all level, and the crops are fine. The plain is cut up

here and there by some ravines, but they are small and shallow, and

render but a small portion of the surface unfit for tillage. The

banks of the small streams are, for the most part, cultivated up to

the water's edge.

We passed the Rete over a nice bridge, built by Rajah Bukhtawar Sing

twenty-five years ago, at a cost of twenty-five thousand rupees, out

of his own purse. He told me that one morning, in the rains, he came

to the bank of this river, on his way to Lucknow from Jeytpoor, a

town which we passed yesterday, and found it so swollen that he was

obliged to purchase some large earthen jars, and form a raft upon

them to take over himself and followers. While preparing his raft,

which took a whole day, he heard that from five to ten persons were

drowned, in attempting to cross this little river, every year, and

that people were often detained upon the bank for four or five days

together. He resolved to save people from all this evil; and as soon

as he got home set about building this bridge, and got it ready

before the next rains. It is a substantial work, with three good

arches. About two miles on this side of the bridge he pointed out to

me the single tree, near a mango-grove, where some eighteen or twenty

years ago he overtook a large balloon, which the King, Nuseer-od Deen

Hyder, had got made in the Dilkosha Park at Lucknow. It was made, he

tells me, by a tall and slender young English gentleman, who visited

Lucknow, with his uncle, for the special purpose of constructing and

ascending in this machine. "When it was all ready, sir, the young man

got into a small boat that was suspended under it, taking with him a

gun and some artificial fish. We asked him what he intended to do

with a gun in the clouds; and he told us, that in the sky he was in

danger of meeting large birds that might hurt the balloon, and the

gun was necessary to frighten them off. As the balloon began to

ascend the old gentleman's eyes filled with tears, and I asked him

why. He told me, that this young man's father had fallen into the

sea, and been drowned; and he was always afraid, when the son went

up, that he might never see him alive again.

"The King was sitting at the window in the upper story of the

Dilkosha house, with some English gentlemen, when the balloon passed

up close by, and the gentleman took off his hat and bowed gracefully

as he passed, at which the King seemed much pleased. I commanded a

regiment of Dragoons, and the King told me to take a party of my

boldest and best-mounted men and follow the balloon. I selected

seventeen, and we were all ready in our saddles. The balloon went

straight up, and we lost sight of the man and the boat in which he

sat. The machine, though it was sixty feet long, including boat and

all, and twelve feet wide, seemed at last to be no larger than a

small water-jug. Below we had no wind, but we soon saw the balloon

driven by an upper current to the eastward, along the Fyzabad road.

We followed as fast as the horses could carry us, crossed the Goomtee

river over the old stone bridge, and passed many travellers on the

road staring at the extraordinary machine, for they had heard nothing

about it, and we had no time to tell them. When we had gone about

seventeen miles, the balloon began to descend. It was in the month of

March, and the weather was hot, and I had lost three horses before it

came to the ground. The young man then began to let go his fish, and

they came fluttering down, while the oil-cloths about the balloon

made a noise like the growling of a wild beast. Seeing the enormous

machine going at this rate, followed by us at full speed, the people

along the road, who are always numerous in the morning, became so

panic-struck that a great many fell down senseless upon their faces,

and some of them could not be got to rise for some hours afterwards.

"We were not far from it when it approached the ground, and swept

along on the border of this grove, on our left. Fortunately for the

young man, it did not strike any trees. He was dressed all in black,

and a very tall, handsome young man he was. As soon as he found

himself near enough to the ground, he jumped out, holding one rope in

his hand, and tried to stop the balloon, calling out to the people on

the road, as loud as he could, _puckaro, puckaro!_--seize, seize! We

were then within two hundred yards of it, and at full speed; and,

instead of helping the young man, the people on the road, thinking

the order was to seize them, fell down flat on their faces, unable to

look upon the balloon, or utter a word. They all thought that it was

some terrible demon from above come to seize and devour them. When we

had headed it a little, we all sprang from our saddles, joined the

young man at the ropes, and lashed them round anything we could find,

as we were being dragged along. The young man took out his penknife,

and gave the balloon a gash in the side, to let out the _smoke_ that

inflated it, and it collapsed and stopped. The first thing, sir, that

the young man did was to call for fire, take a cigar from his

waistcoat pocket, and begin to smoke, while we went to the assistance

of the panic-struck travellers, many of whom were still lying

senseless on the ground. We got water, and threw it in their faces;

and when they were able to sit up, we mounted the young man upon one

of our horses, and took him back slowly to Lucknow. He told me that

it was so very cold above, that it gave him a severe headache, and

that he found a cigar a good thing to remove it. The King was very

glad when we brought him back, and he gave him several thousand

rupees over and above the cost of making the balloon, and providing

him and his uncle during their stay. They soon after left Lucknow for

Lahore, and what became of them I know not."

Passing a Mahommedan village, I asked some of the landholders, who

walked along by the side of my elephant, to talk of their grievances,

whether they ever used pigs' dung for manure. They seemed very much

surprised and shocked, and asked how I could suppose that Mahommedans

could use such a thing. "Come," said Bukhtawar Sing, "do not attempt

to deceive the Resident. He has been all over India, and knows very

well that Mahommedans do not keep or eat pigs; but he knows, also,

that there is no good cultivator in Oude who does not use the dung of

pigs for manure; and you know that there is no other manure, save'

pigeons' dung, that is so good." "We often purchase _manure_ from

those who prepare it," said the landholders, "and do not ask

questions about what it may be composed of; but the greater part of

the manure we use is the cow-dung which falls in the season of the

rains, and is stored exclusively for that purpose. In the dry months,

sir, the dung of cows, bullocks, buffaloes, &c., is gathered, formed

into cakes, and stacked for fuel; but in the rains it is all thrown

into pits and stored for manure."

Chinahut is the point from which we set out on the 2nd of December,

and here I was met by the prime minister, Nawab Allee Nakee Khan, and

the chancellor of the exchequer, Maharajah Balkrishun, to whom I

explained my views as to the measures which ought to be adopted to

save the peaceful and industrious portion of his Majesty's subjects

from the evils which now so grievously oppress them.

Here closes my pilgrimage of three months in Oude; and I can safely

say that I have learnt more of the state of the country, and the

condition and requirements of the people, than I could possibly have

learnt in a long life passed exclusively at the capital of Lucknow.

Any general remarks that I may have to make on what I have seen and

heard during the pilgrimage I must defer to a future period.

At four in the afternoon, I left Chinahut, and returned to Lucknow.

At the old race-stand, about three miles from the Residency, I was

met by the heir-apparent, and drove with him, in his carriage, to the

Furra Buksh Palace, where we alighted for a few minutes, to go

through the usual tedious ceremonies of an Oriental Court. On the way

we were met by Mr. Hamilton, the chaplain, and his lady. Dr. and Mrs.

Bell, and Captain Bird, the First Assistant, and his brother and

guest. After the ceremony, I took leave of the Prince, and reached

the Resident at six o'clock. My wife and children had left me at

Peernuggur, to return, for medical advice, to the Residency, where I

had the happiness to find them well, and glad to see me. Having

broken my left thigh hone, near the hip joint, in a fall from my

horse, in April, 1849, I was unable to mount a horse during the tour,

and went in a tonjohn the first half of the stage, and on an elephant

the last half, that I might see as much as possible of the country

over which we were passing. The pace of a good elephant is about that

of a good walker, and I had generally some of the landholders and

cultivators riding or walking by my side to talk with.

END OF THE TOUR.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE

RELATING TO THE ANNEXATION OF THE KINGDOM OF OUDE TO BRITISH INDIA.

__________________________

Camp, Nawabgunge, 5th December, 1849.

My Dear Bird,

I had heard from Mahomed Khan what you mention regarding the

imposition practised on the King by the singers; but from his having

conferred a khilaut on the knaves, they supposed that he had, as

usual, pardoned all. If you have grounds to believe that the King is

prepared to punish them, or to acquiesce in their punishment, pray

ask an audience and ascertain his Majesty's wishes. When we last

went, I was in hopes that he would tell me that he wished to be

relieved of their presence, and did all I could to encourage him to

do so. If the King wishes to have them removed, encourage him to give

immediate orders to the minister to confine them; and offer any

assistance that may be required to take them across the Ganges, or

put them into safe custody. When it is done, it must be done

promptly.

As to the Taj Mahal, I went on an order by Richmond, "that the King

should put a Mahaldarnee upon her if he wished." I was told that such

was Richmond's order, and I give mine in consequence. I will refer to

the Dufter for his order. But you must at once insist upon all

sipahees being withdrawn from her house. This order was given by me

and should be enforced by you. I said that the Mahaldarnee might

remain, but it must be alone, without sipahees, &c.

On emergency, act of course on your own discretion I only wish that

the King may be induced to consent to the removal of all the singers,

and meddling eunuchs also.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Captain Bird,

First Assistant.

Sadik Allee should be secured, and punished with the rest.

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

__________________________

Camp, Bahraetch, 10th December, 1849.

My Dear Bird,

The conduct of the singers which exasperated the King had no

reference to public matters with which he was pledged not to permit

them to interfere; and my only request was, that you should offer

your aid in removing them should his Majesty indicate any wish for

it. The King said he would himself punish them for their conduct by

banishment across the Ganges, and he must be left to do so: it was

not from any demand made by us, but from resentment for a personal

affront, or an affront to his understanding. We cannot call upon the

King to do what he said he would do under such circumstances, but

must leave it to himself. The removal of two out of a dozen fellows

of this description will be of no use--their places will soon be

filled by others. Any attempt on your part to supply their places by

better men will only tend to indispose the King towards them; and it

is no part of our duty to dictate to his Majesty with whom he shall

associate in his private hours.

I have had abundant proof that, to reduce the influence of the

present favourites, has no tendency to throw the power into better

hands--no authority of any kind taken from them has, by the minister,

been confided to better men; the creatures of one are not a whit

better than the creatures of the other. If his Majesty were to rouse

himself, and apply his own mind to business, we might hope for some

good, and I see little chance of this.

You are not to order that the King fulfil his promise, because, as I

have said, it was no pledge made on the requisition of our Government

on the Resident. If he does not fulfil it, it is only one proof more

added to a hundred of his exceeding weakness. There are at least a

dozen worse men now influencing all that the King and minister do

than Kotab Alee and Gholam Ruza. The last order given regarding Taj

Mahal by me was, that she should admit a Mahaldarnee from the King,

but that no sipahees should be forced upon her. I wrote to the King

to this effect, and my order must be enforced. I am told by the

moonshee, that when the King expressed a wish to have such guardians

upon many, Richmond replied that he might have one upon Taj Mahal,

who had given such proof of profligacy. It was not a judicial

decision, to be referred to as a guide under all circumstances, but a

mere arrangement which might any day require to be altered. Taj Mahal

is so profligate and insolent a woman, that if she refuses to obey my

order, and receive the King's Mahaldarnee, I shall withdraw the

Residents.

After what the Governor-General had told the King in November, 1847,

regarding what our Government would feel itself bound to do, unless

his Majesty conducted the duties of a sovereign better than he had

hitherto done; and after the experience we have since had of his

entire neglect of those duties, you should not, I think, have said

what you mention having said to him, that our Government had no wish

to deprive him of one iota of the power he had. It was a declaration

not called for by the circumstances, or necessary on the occasion,

and should have been avoided, as it is calculated to impair the

impression of his responsibility for the exercise of his power. No

sovereign ever showed a greater disregard for the duties and

responsibilities of his high office than he has done hitherto, and as

our Government holds itself answerable to the people of Oude for a

better administration, he should not be encouraged in the notion that

he may always show the same disregard with impunity--that is,

continue to retain every iota of his power whether he exercised it

properly or not. No man, I believe, ever felt more anxious for the

welfare of the King, his family, and country, than I do; but unless

he exercises his fearful power better, I should be glad, for the sake

of all, to see the whole, or part of it, in better hands.

The minister has his Motroussil with me, and I have daily

communications of what is done or proposed to be done, and you may be

sure that I lose no occasion of admonition. I did not mention

anything you said regarding your interview with the King in your

letter to Mahomed Khan; but in a few hours after your letter came he

got the whole from the minister, and reported it to me. He wants us

to undertake the work of turning out the King's favourites, that he

may get all the power they lose, without offending his master by any

appearance of moving in the matter.

We go hence to-morrow; hope to be at Gonda on the 14th, and Fyzabad

on the 18th. I have requested the post-master to send all our letters

to Fyzabad by the regular dawk from Thursday next, the 13th. From

Fyzabad I will arrange for their coming to my camp.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Captain Bird,

&c. &c.

__________________________

Camp, Ghunghole, 12th December, 1849.

My Dear Bird,

I got your letter of the 9th instant last night, at our last ground.

In what you have done, you have not, I think, acted discreetly. You

asked me whether, in any case of emergency, you should act on your

discretion, and I told you in reply that you might do so; but surely,

whether the King should have a dozen singers or only ten could not be

considered one of such pressing emergency as not to admit of your

waiting for instructions from me, or, at least, for a reply to your

letter. The King has told you truly, that the matter in which the

offenders had transgressed had reference to his house, and not to his

Government or ours. This is a distinction which you appear to have

lost sight of from the first. If I demand reparation from another for

wrong or insults suffered from his servants, and he promises to

punish them by dismissal from his service but afterwards relents and

detains them, I consider it due to myself and my character to insist

upon the fulfilment of his promise; but if I voluntarily visit any

friend who has at last become sensible of the impositions of his

servants which had long been manifest to all his neighbours, with a

view to encourage him in his laudable resolution to dismiss them from

his service, and to offer my aid in effecting the object should he

require it, and he promises me not to swerve from it, but afterwards

relents and retains the impostors, I pity his weakness, but I do not

consider it due to myself, or to my character, to insist upon his

fulfilling his promise. By considering two cases so very distinct,

the same, you have placed yourself in a disagreeable situation, for I

cannot support you; that is, I can neither demand that the

requisitions made by you be complied with, nor can I tell the King

that I approve of them. Had you waited for my reply, which was sent

off from Bahraetch on the 10th, you would have saved yourself all

this annoyance and mortification. It has arisen from an overweening

confidence in your personal influence over his Majesty; the fact is,

I believe that no European gentleman ever has had or ever will have

any personal influence over him, and I very much doubt whether any

real native gentleman will ever have any. He never has felt any

pleasure in their society, and I fear never will. He has hitherto

felt easy only in the society of such persons as those with whom he

now exclusively associates, and to hope that he will ever feel easy

with persons of a better class is vain. I am perfectly satisfied, in

spite of the oath he has taken in the name of his God, and on the

head of his minister, that he made to you the promise you mention;

and I am no less satisfied that the minister wished for the removal

of the singers, provided it should be effected through us without his

appearing to his master to move in the matter, and that he wished

their removal solely with a view to acquire for himself the authority

they had possessed. You should not have any more audiences with the

King without previous reference to me; nothing is likely to occur to

require it.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Captain Bird,

&c. &c.

__________________________

Camp, Fyzabad, 18th December, 1819.

My Dear Bird,

I send you the letter which you wish to refer to. As you quote my

first letter, pray let me see it. I kept no copy, but have a distinct

recollection of what I intended to say in it regarding this affair of

the singers. It shall be sent back to you. The term "indiscreet" had

reference only to your second visit, and demand from the King of the

fulfilment of his promise. I had no fault whatever to find with your

first visit. The term "private" must have had reference, not to the

promise or to the person to whom it was made, but to the offence with

which the singers stood charged. It was an affront offered to the

King's understanding that he took affront at, and whether he had made

a promise to resent it as such to me, or to you could make no

difference. If he did not fulfil it, we should pity this further

instance of his weakness, but could have no right to insist upon his

doing so. Even had the offence been an interference in public

affairs, and breach of the King's engagements, I should not have

demanded their banishment without a reference to the Governor-

General, because the delay of waiting for instructions involved no

danger or serious inconvenience; that is, I should not have demanded

it when the King was so strongly opposed to it. I must distinctly

deny that you demanded the King's fulfilment of his promise in

conformity to any instructions received from me, or in accordance

with my views of what was right or expedient in this matter. Your

second visit and demand were neither in conformity to the one nor in

accordance with the other. You must have put a construction upon what

I wrote which it cannot fairly bear. By "requisitions" I mean your

requirements that the two men should be banished by the King,

according to his promise. No notice has been made to me of your visit

by the Court, and I have therefore had no occasion to say anything

whatever about it in my communications to the Court, nor shall I have

any I suppose. In your letter of the 4th instant, you say, with

regard to the Taj Mahal's case, "Not knowing whether you do or do not

wish me to act in any sudden emergency during your absence, I

suppose, therefore, that had you had any such wish you would have

instructed me on the subject." In reply, I requested that you would

so act on your own discretion in any such sudden case of emergency.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Captain Bird,

&c. &c.

__________________________

Camp, Mahomdee, 2nd February, 1850.

My Dear Sir Erskine,

Had it not been too late for you to join my camp conveniently, I

should have asked you to run out and see a little of the country and

people of Oude, after you had seen so much of those of the Honourable

Company's dominions. A few years of tolerable government would make

it the finest country in India, for there is no part of India with so

many advantages from nature. I have seen no soil finer; the whole

plain of which it is composed is capable of tillage; it is everywhere

intersected by rivers, flowing from the snowy chain of the Himmalaya,

which keep the moisture near the surface at all times, without

cutting up any of the land on their borders into deep ravines; it is

studded with the finest groves and single trees, as much as the lover

of the picturesque could wish; it has the boldest and most

industrious peasantry in India, and a landed aristocracy too strong

for the weak and wretched Government; it is, for the most part, well

cultivated; yet with all this, one feels, in travelling over it, as

if he was moving among a people suffering under incurable physical

diseases, from the atrocious crimes every day perpetrated with

impunity, and the numbers of suffering and innocent people who

approach him, in the hope of redress, and are sent away in despair.

I think your conclusion regarding the source of the signs you saw of

beneficial interference in the north-west provinces a fair one. A

Lieutenant-Governor is able to see all parts of the country under his

charge every year, or nearly all; and while he is sufficiently

"monarch of all he surveys" to feel an interest in, and to provide

for the general good, he has a sufficient knowledge of the internal

management of particular districts to control the proceedings of the

local officers. He is also well seconded in a very efficient Board of

Revenue. But I must not indulge in these matters any further, till I

have the pleasure of meeting you where we can talk freely about them.

I trust that all at Lucknow will be conducted to your satisfaction

and that of Mrs. Erskine. I have this morning received a note from

Mr. Erskine, who left you, it appears, before the little heir-

apparent returned your visit. I expect to complete my tour and return

to Lucknow on the 20th, when I shall have seen all that I required to

see, to understand the working of the existing system, and the

probable effects of any suggested changes.

With kind regards to Mrs. Erskine,

Believe me,

Yours very sincerely,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Sir Erskine Perry.

P.S.--I must not omit to thank you for the expression of your

favourable opinion of the "Rambles." There is one thing of which I

can assure you, that the conversations mentioned in it are genuine,

and give the real thoughts and opinions of the people on the subjects

they embrace.

W. H. S.

__________________________

Lucknow, 26th April, 1850.

My Dear Elliot,

I did not send Weston's letters with the other papers, because they

were not written in an official form. He was the senior officer with

the force, and had authority from the Durbar to call upon all local,

civil, and military authorities to co-operate in the work; but he did

not take upon himself the command, or write in official form. He

inspired all with harmony and energy, and brought the whole strength

of the little force to bear upon the right points at the right time.

The head of Prethee Put of Paska was cut off by Captain Magness's

sipahees after his death, to be sent to the King as a trophy, but

Captain Weston would not let it come in. The body was offered to his

family and friends for interment, but none of the family or tribe

(Kolhun's Rajpoots) would have anything to do with the funeral

ceremonies of a man who had murdered his eldest brother and the head

of his tribe. The body was, with the head, put into a sheet, taken to

the river Ghagra, and committed to the stream, to flow to the Ganges,

as the best interment for a Hindoo. These sipahees knew nothing of

the man's history; but the people who saw the affair from the Dhundee

Fort mentioned that the body was thrown into the river at the precise

place where he had thrown in that of his eldest brother, after

murdering him in the boat with his own hands, as stated in the

extract from my Diary; and all believe that this retribution arises

from an interposition from above. The eldest son of the murdered

brother will, I hope, be put into possession of the estate.

The Governor-General may like to peruse these letters, and I send

them. They give, perhaps, a fuller and better account of what was

done, and the manner in which it was done, than more studied

compositions, in an official form, would have given.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Sir H. M. Elliot, K.C.B.

__________________________

Lucknow, 8th July, 1850.

My Dear Sir James,

I feel that my Indian career, which has now lasted forty years, must

be drawing to a close, and I am anxious for the settlement in life of

my only son, now between seventeen and eighteen years of age. Having

no personal claims upon any member of the Home Government of India, I

solicit the insertion of his name on his Grace the Duke of

Wellington's list of candidates for a commission in the Dragoons; and

he is now preparing for his examination under the care of Mr.

Yeatman, at Westow Hill, Norwood, Surrey, near London. But he is

ambitious to obtain an appointment to Bengal, where his father has

served so long, and may, possibly, have friends and recollections

that might be useful to him in the early part of his career. It falls

to the lot of few to have the opportunities that I have had to carry

out the benevolent views of Government in measures of great and

general benefit to the people, and to secure their gratitude and

affection to their rulers. All the measures which I have been

employed to carry out have tended to display the benevolent

solicitude of the Government of India for the welfare of the people

committed to its charge; the object of all has been the greater

security of life and property throughout the country, the greater

confidence of the people in the wisdom and efficiency of our rule,

and their greater feeling of interest in this stability. These

measures, as far as they have been confided to my care, have all

succeeded; but, as I have stated (p. 79) in a printed report, a copy

of which will be sent to you, they have neither flattered the

vainglory of any particular nation, nor enlisted on their side the

self-love of any influential class or powerful individual, and they

have, in consequence, been attended with little _éclat_. They have,

however, tended to secure to the Government the gratitude and

affection of the people of India, and are measures of which that

Government may justly feel proud. The stability of our Government in

India must depend less upon our military victories than upon the

confidence and affection with which our civil and political

administration may inspire the great mass of the people. The general

belief is, that our object is their substantial good, and that we are

instruments in the hands of Divine Providence to effect that object.

In our military glory they can feel no sympathy, and in our

territorial acquisitions little interest; but they can and do

appreciate every measure which tends to improve the security of life,

property, and industry through the land--to restore the bond of good

feeling between the Government and governed, where it has for a time

been severed or impaired by accident--to provide the people with

works tending to improve their comfort and convenience--to mitigate

sufferings from calamities of season, and to encourage all to exert

themselves honestly in their proper sphere. In carrying out the views

of Government in such measures, and such only, has my life in India

been spent; and for doing so to the best of my humble ability I have,

I believe, done much to make its rule revered throughout India. It is

by such measures that the respect and confidence of the great mass of

the people have been secured, so as to enable Europeans, male and

female, to pass from one end of the country to the other with the

assurance, not only that they will suffer no personal injury, but no

mark of disrespect. Should anything occur to deprive us of this

confidence and respect among the great mass of the people, the

recollection of our victories, and assurance of our superior military

organization will avail us but little; and it is as one who has

zealously and successfully aided Government in securing them, that I

now venture to address you, in the hope that you will--if you can do

so consistently with your public duties and pledges to others--open

to my son the same career of usefulness by conferring upon him a

nomination to the civil service of India. He is now five months above

seventeen years of age; and by the time he is eighteen, he will, I

hope, under Mr. Yeatman's judicious care, be able to pass his

examination for Haileybury, should he, through your means, obtain

this the utmost object of his ambition. Over and above the desire to

follow his father's footsteps in India, he is anxious to avoid the

necessity of encroaching so much upon the small means I have to

provide for his four sisters, by entering so expensive a branch of

the public service as the Dragoons. I know the great nature of the

favour I ask from you. It is the first favour that I have ever asked

from any member of the Home Government of India; and I solicit it

from you solely on the ground of service rendered to the Government

and people of India. I am told that I must address my application to

an individual; and I address it to you, under the impression that you

are the member with whom such ground is likely to meet with most

consideration;--not that I think any member of the Honourable Court

would disregard it; for I believe, after long and varied experience

in public affairs, and much thought and reading, that no body

intrusted with the Government of a distant possession ever performed

their duties with more earnest solicitude for its welfare than the

Court of Directors of the Honourable East India Company; but because

your public career has inspired me with more confidence than that of

any other member of the Court as now constituted. If you cannot grant

me the favour I ask, you will, I know, pardon the liberty I have

taken in asking it.

And believe me, with great respect,

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart.

__________________________

Lucknow, 20th September, 1850.

My Dear Sir Charles,

The papers give us reason to hope that it is your intention to visit

Lucknow on your way down from the hills, and if you can make it

convenient to come, I shall be rejoiced to have the opportunity of

showing you all that is worth seeing, and be able to afford all who

come with you, ladies and gentlemen, accommodation.

The only road to Lucknow for carriages is from Cawnpore, and if you

come that way, I will have carriages sent for you. If you come by any

other road, I will have elephants sent to whatever place you may

mention, and tents if required. It has been usual, when the

Commander-in-chief visits Lucknow, for Government to intimate the

intention to the King through the Resident in Oude, that preparation

may be made for his reception in due form.

I mention this that you may make known your wish or intention to the

Governor-General, in time for me to prepare the King and his Court.

From Cawnpore to this is only a drive of six hours, the distance

being fifty miles, and the road good. All officers, &c., will be glad

to have an opportunity of paying their respects to their

distinguished Chief.

Believe me,

Yours very faithfully,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To his Excellency

Sir Charles Napier, G.C.B.,

&c. &c. &c.

__________________________

Lucknow, 7th November, 1850.

My Dear Allan,

In the "Englishman" of the 28th, and the "Hurkara" of the 29th, there

are some strictures on Oude affairs. The editors of both papers are,

I believe, sturdy, honest men; but their correspondents are not

acquainted with the merits of the particular case referred to, or

with Oude affairs generally. I vouch for the truth of everything

stated in the enclosed paper, and shall feel obliged if you will give

it to the one most likely, in your opinion, to make a fair use of it.

There can be no harm in putting an editor in possession of the real

truth in a question involving not only individual but national

honour; for he must be anxious to make his paper the vehicle of truth

on all such questions.

I do not like to address either of the editors, because Government

expect all their servants will abstain from doing so in their own

vindication, and will leave their honour in their keeping. I have

done so since 1843, and should now do so were I alone concerned in

this affair. You may mention my name as authority for what is stated,

but pray let it be mentioned confidentially. Government has been

informed of the truth, and it is well that the public should be so.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN

To J. Allan, Esq.

__________________________

Lucknow, 17th November, 1850.

My Dear Sir James,

I thank you for your very kind letter of the 7th ultimo: my son is

preparing for his examination, and expects his commission in some

regiment of cavalry very soon. He has not only become reconciled to

it, but would, I believe, now prefer remaining at home as a cavalry

officer to coming to India in any capacity. As I have only one son,

and he has four sisters to look after, I should be unwilling to have

him sent out to India as a cadet, were he anxious to be so. A good

regiment is an excellent school for a young man, but no school could

be worse than a bad regiment; and among so many, there must always be

some bad. I have seen some of the sons of my old friends utterly

ruined in character and constitution by being posted to such

regiments when too young to think for themselves. I feel, however, as

grateful to you for your very kind offer as I should be, were I to

avail myself of it.

If I return to England, I shall take advantage of the earliest

opportunity to pay my respects and become personally acquainted with

you; but I have no intention to leave India as long as I feel that I

can perform efficiently the duties intrusted to me.

I had a few days ago, in referring to Government an important

question that must some day come before you, occasion to mention an

important and interesting fact. During the last collision with the

Seiks, I found that the Government securities kept up their value

here, while in Calcutta they fell a good deal; and the merchants here

employed agents in Calcutta to purchase largely for sale here. Paper

to the value of more than three millions sterling, or three crores of

rupees, is held by people residing in the city of Lucknow, and the

people had never the slightest doubt that we should be ultimately

triumphant. The question was whether heirs and executors of persons

domiciled here and leaving property in Government securities, should

apply to Her Majesty's Supreme Court in Calcutta, for probates to

wills and letters of administration, or whether an act should be

passed to render the decision of the highest Court at Lucknow,

countersigned, by the Resident, as valid as the certificate of a

judge in our own provinces, as far as such property in Government

securities might be concerned. A provision of this sort had been

omitted in Act 20 of 1841, which was considered applicable to all

British India, of which the kingdom of Oude was held to form a part.

We have now a fair prospect of long peace, during which I hope our

finances will improve. The lavish life-pensions granted after wars in

Central and Southern India will be lapsing with the death of the

present incumbents, many of whom are becoming old and infirm, and our

means of transit and irrigation will increase with the new works

which are being formed, and we shall always have it in our power to

augment our revenue from indirect taxation, as wealth and industry

increase.

Believe me, My Dear Sir James,

Very faithfully and obligedly yours,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart.

__________________________

Lucknow, 2nd March, 1851.

My Lord,

The mail of the 24th January has just come in, and I find my only son

Henry Arthur gazetted for the 16th Dragoons. He told me by the last

mail that he was to be so if he passed his examination on the 10th of

that month, which he hoped to do; but I deferred writing to thank you

for your kind exertions in his behalf till his name should appear in

the "Gazette." I pray your Lordship to accept my most grateful

acknowledgments for this act of kindness, added as it has been to the

many others which I have received at your hands. It is not the less

valuable that it is the only favour I have received from England

since I left it more than forty years ago, though, I believe, few

have done more to benefit the people of its eastern dominions, and to

secure for it their esteem and affection.

I trust that my son will never do anything to make your Lordship

regret the favour conferred upon me and him on this occasion. He is,

I believe, in disposition, manners, and education a little gentleman;

and in time he will, I hope, become a good officer.

If I might take the liberty, I would pray your Lordship to offer, in

such terms as may appear to you suitable, my grateful acknowledgments

for the consideration I have received, to his Grace the Duke of

Wellington, and to Lord Fitzroy Somerset. My London Agents, Messrs.

Denay, Clark, and Co., of Austin Friars, have been instructed to pay

for my son's commission and outfit, and to provide him with the funds

indispensably necessary in addition to his pay.

We shall now look with much interest to the Parliamentary discussions

on Indian affairs, for we must expect some important changes on the

renewal of the Charter. Whatever these changes may be for the home or

local Government, I trust the benefit of the people of India will be

considered the main point, and not the triumph of a party. The

statesman who shall link India more closely with New Zealand will be

a benefactor to both England and India, and that colony also. It

might, with advantage to itself, take those children of Indian

officers who cannot find employment of any kind in India, and ought

not to be thrown back upon the mother-country. With this view, it

might be useful to transfer our orphan institutions to that island,

to direct that way our invalid and pensioned officers, who, while

subsisting upon their pensions or stipends, would be able to

establish their children in a climate suitable to the preservation of

their race, which that of India certainly is not.

India is at present tranquil, and likely to remain so. We have no

native chiefs, or combination of native chiefs, to create uneasiness;

and if we continue to satisfy the great body of the people that we

are anxious, to the best of our ability, to promote their happiness

and welfare, and are the most impartial arbitrators that they could

have, we shall have nothing to fear. The moment that this mass is

impressed with the belief that we wish to govern India only for

ourselves, or as the French govern Algiers, from that moment we must

lose our vantage ground and decline. We may war against the native

chiefs of India, but we cannot war against the people--we need not

fear what may be called political dangers, but we must guard

carefully against those of a social character which would unite

against us the members of all classes and all creeds.

But I must no longer indulge in speculations of this sort, in which

you can now feel little interest amidst the important changes which

are now taking place in the institutions and relations of European

nations. With grateful recollections of kindness received, and great

respect,

I remain,

Your Lordship's obedient servant,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To the Right Hon.

the Earl of Ellenborough.

P.S.--Since writing the above, I have received your Lordship's letter

of the 18th of January, and have been much gratified with the

favourable opinion you entertain of the commandant and officers. It

is the best assurance I could have of my boy being safe. Nothing

could be more auspicious than the opening of the lad's career, and I

trust he will profit by the advantage.

__________________________

Lucknow, 18th March, 1851.

My Dear Sir Erskine,

I have read over with much interest the two small works you have done

me the favour to send me, the one on Buddhism, and the other on Law

Reform; but I have not ventured upon the Seventh Report of the Board

of Education yet, because I have had a good deal to do and think

about; and a good deal of it is in small print, very trying for my

eyes, which are none of the strongest. I shall, however, soon read

it.

I concur in all your views about the necessity of throwing overboard

the whole system of special pleading, and have been amused with Sir

J. P. Grant's horror of your proposed innovations. It is not less

than that which he expressed at the little Macaulay Code, intended to

blow up the whole pyramid raised by "the wisdom of our ancestors," in

which so many illustrious characters he entombed. He was, indeed, as

you say, "a great _laudator temporis acti_;" but the number of those

like him at all times in England and its distant possessions is

fearful. One likes to look to America in this as in all things

tending to advancement; but there the "damned spot" stares us in the

face, blights our hopes, and crushes our sympathies--hideous slavery

--hideous alike in the recollection of the past, the contemplation of

the present, and the anticipation of the future. I wish two things--

1. That you would write a work on the subject less "sketchy and

perfunctory," as you call it, so that any one not versed in English

law and procedure might be able to understand it and appreciate it

thoroughly. 2nd. That you would, when relieved from your present

office, come out as our law member of council, to press your views on

our Government with effect. With these law reforms, as with

railroads, there were less impediments in India than in England; but

there is one thing that I would observe. In our own Indian Courts our

judges would--for a time at least--want the aid of honest _masters_

to condense and report upon cases under trial. Such men would be made

in time; and in considering such things, we must recollect that

almost the only persons in India who can send agents into all parts

of it, with a perfect assurance of honest dealing, are the native

merchants and bankers. But I won't dwell on this subject. I can't

find amongst the numerous Buddhists here, one who knows anything

about "Kapila vasta," which you place near to Lucknow. I should like

to visit the birth-place of a man who did so much for mankind as

Sakeen Gantama.

He would hardly have done as I have, placed my only son in the 16th

Lancers. However, I may console myself, for he may be in it a long

time without doing much mischief, for I do hope that the people of

the nations of modern Europe are too strong and too wise to let their

sovereigns and ministers play such fantastic tricks as they were

"wont to play," when George the 3rd, and Edward the 3rd, and Henry

the 5th were kings. Property, good sense, and good business have

greatly increased and spread, and are every day producing good

fruits.

Believe me,

Yours very trusting,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Sir Erskine Perry,

&c. &c.

__________________________

Lucknow, 31st March, 1851.

My Dear Sir,

I grieve to say that I can do nothing whatever for the son of my late

friend Colonel Ouseley, and have been obliged to write to him to that

effect, as to many other sons of old and valued friends whom I should

be glad to aid if I could.

Tens of thousands of the most happy families I have seen in India owe

all they have to the able and judicious management of the late

Colonel Ouseley when in the civil charge of the districts of

Houshengabad and Baitool, in the Saugor territories; and no man's

memory is more dear to the people of those districts than his now is.

The family of a man who had done so much to make his government

beloved and respected over so large a field should never want if I

could prevent it; but I have no situations whatever in my gift, nor

have I any influence over any persons who have such situations to

bestow.

Believe me,

Yours truly,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Captain Harrington.

__________________________

Lucknow, 24th November 1851.

My Lord,

Lucknow affairs are now in a state to require the assumption of the

entire management of the country; and the principal question for your

Lordship's consideration is, whether this shall be done by a new

treaty or by simple proclamation. Treaties not only justify but

enjoin the measure; our pledges to the people demand it; and all

India are, I believe, satisfied of its justice, provided we leave the

revenues for the maintenance of the royal family in suitable dignity,

and for the benefit of the people.

We may disencumber our Government of the pay of two regiments of Oude

Local Infantry, and incorporate them with the Oude force to be

raised, and of that of the officers of the residency, altogether

about two lacs and a-half of rupees; and when things are settled down

a little, the brigade now here--of three infantry regiments and a

company of artillery, costing some four lacs more--may be dispensed

with, perhaps.

If I may be permitted to give an opinion as to the best mode of the

two, I should say proclamation, as the more dignified.

I have prepared all the information I believe your Lordship will

require, and am ready to wait upon you with it when and where it may

seem most convenient.

The treasury is exhausted, and fifty lacs are required to pay the

stipendiaries of the royal family and establishments; and assuredly

all the members of that family, save the King's own household, are

wishing for some great measure to place them under the guarantee of

the British Government. The people all now wish for it, at least all

the well-disposed, for there is not a man of integrity or humanity

left in any office. The King's understanding has become altogether

emasculated; and though he would not willingly do harm to any one, he

is unable to protect any one. He would now, I believe, willingly get

rid of his minister; and, having exhausted the treasury, the minister

would not much dislike to get rid of him. I shall do my best to

prevent his being released from the responsibility of his misdoings

till I meet your Lordship. I should like, if possible, to meet your

Lordship where there is likely to be the least crowd of expectants

and parade to take up your time and distract your attention. If at

Cawnpore, I hope you will permit me to have my camp on the Oude side

of the river, with a tent in your camp for business during the day.

With your Lordship's commands to attend, it will be desirable to have

an order to make over my treasury to the First Assistant, to prevent

delay. Should you desire any memoranda to be sent, they shall be

forwarded as soon as ordered. If any further public report upon the

state of Oude affairs appears to be required, I must pray your

Lordship to let me know as soon as convenient. I shall not propose

any native gentlemen for the higher offices; but it will be necessary

to have a great many in the subordinate ones, to show that your

Lordship wishes to open employment in all branches of the new

administration to educated native gentlemen.

I remain,

Your Lordship's obedient servant,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To the Most Noble

The Marquis of Dalhousie,

Governor-General,

&c. &c. &c.

__________________________

Lucknow, 18th March, 1852.

My Lord,

I was favoured with your Lordship's letter of the 24th ultimo in due

course, and did not reply immediately as I had stated, or was about

to state, in a public form, all that seemed to be required about

Captain Bird and Dr. Bell. Dr. Bell had apologised for indiscretions

in conversation, but denied ever having authorised Mr. Brandon to

make use of his name; and pretended utter ignorance of the intrigues

which he was carrying on at the time that he was doing his utmost to

convey wrong impressions to the Durbar. I feel grateful for the

support your Lordship has given me. I cared nothing about the

intrigues of these very silly men while under the impression that it

was your intention to interpose effectually for the benefit of the

people of Oude, because the new arrangements would have rendered them

harmless; but when I found that you could not do so at present, it

became necessary, for my own dignity and that of the Government, to

do my best to put a stop to them. Most assuredly Captain Bird had

been trying hard to persuade the King and his minister that our

Government could not interfere, and that all the threats of the

Governor-General would continue to be what they had hitherto been,

and might be disregarded.

I find that your Lordship has departed slightly from your original

plan in regard to Burmah, by sending a detachment to make a

demonstration upon Rangoon and Martaban. There is no calculating upon

the result of such a demonstration in dealing with a Government so

imbecile, and so ignorant of our resources. The places are too far

from the capital, and the war party may succeed in persuading the

King that in this demonstration we put forth all our strength. I can

appreciate your motive--the wish to avoid, if possible, a war of

annexation, which a war upon any scale must be. We should have to

make use of a vast number of suffering people, whom we could not

abandon to the mercy of the old Government.

In the last war our great difficulties were the want of quick transit

for troops and stores by sea, the want of carriage cattle, and

sickness. These three impediments will not now beset us. Our own

districts on the coast will supply land-carriage, steam-vessels will

carry our troops and stores, and subsequent experience will enable us

to avoid sources of endemial diseases. I have no map of the country;

but some letters in the papers about the Busseya river interested me

much. Our strong point is steam; and the discovery of a river which

would enable us to use it in getting in strength to the rear or flank

would be of immense advantage. There must be healthy districts;

indeed Burmah generally must be a healthy country, or the population

would not be so strong and intelligent as they are known to be. In

religious feeling they are less opposed to us than any other people

not Buddhists. Indeed, from the people we should have nothing to

fear; and the army must be insignificant in numbers as well as

equipments. I am very glad to find that so able and well-trained a

statesman as Fox Maule has been put at the head of the Board of

Control; and trust that your Lordship will remain at our head till

the Burmah affair is thoroughly settled.

The little affair of the Moplars, on the Malabar coast, may grow into

a very big one unless skilfully managed. A brother of the Conollys is

the magistrate, I believe. We can learn nothing of the cause of the

strong feeling of discontent that prevails among this fanatical

people. No such strong feeling can exist in India without some

"canker-worm" to embitter the lives and unite the sympathies of large

classes against their rulers or local governors, and make them think

that they cannot shake it off without rebelling and becoming martyrs.

I must pray your Lordship to excuse this long rambling letter, and

Believe me, with great respect,

Your obedient servant,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To the Most Noble

The Marquis of Dalhousie,

Governor-General,

Calcutta.

__________________________

Lucknow, 4th April, 1852.

My Dear Sir James,

Your present of the cadetship for her son made the poor widow's heart

glad, and I doubt not that she has written to express her grateful

feelings. The young man will, I hope, prove himself deserving of the

favour you have conferred upon him so gracefully. The Court has

called for a copy of my Diary of the tour I made through Oude soon

after I took charge of my office; and I have sent off two copies, one

for Government and the other for the Court. I purchased a small press

and type for the purpose of printing it in my own house, that no one

but myself and the compositor might see it. I will send home two

copies for yourself and the chairman as soon as they can be bound in

Calcutta. The Diary contains a faithful picture of Oude, its

Government, and people, I believe. I have printed only a few copies,

and they will not be distributed till I learn that the Court consider

them unobjectionable. In spirit they will be found so. I intend, if I

can find time, to give the history of the reigning family in a third

volume. My general views on Oude affairs have been given in my

letters to Government, which will, I conclude, be before the Court. A

ruler so utterly regardless of his high duties and responsibilities,

and of the sufferings of the people under his rule, as the present

King, I have never seen; nor have I ever seen ministers so

incompetent and so unworthy as those whom he employs in the conduct

of his affairs. We have threatened so often to interpose for the

benefit of the poor people, without doing anything, that they have

lost all hope, and the profligate and unprincipled Government have

lost all fear. The untoward war with Burmah prevents our present

Governor-General from doing what he and I believe the Honourable

Court both wish. We certainly ought not any longer to incur the odium

of supporting such a Government in its iniquities, pledged as we are

by treaties to protect the people from them. I do not apprehend any

serious change in the constitution of the Court of Directors in the

new charter. No ministers would hazard such a change in the present

state of Europe. The Court is India's only safeguard. No foreign

possession was ever so governed for itself as India has been, and

this all foreigners with whom I have conversed, admit. The Governor-

General of the Netherlands India was with me lately on his way home.

He is a first-rate statesman, and he declared to me that he was

impressed and delighted to see a country so governed, and apparently

so sensible of the benefits conferred upon it by our paternal rule.

He will tell you the same thing if you ever meet him. His name is

Rochasson. The people appreciate the value of the Court of Directors,

and no act, as far as it is known to them, has tended more to

strengthen their confidence in it than that which has brought

retribution on the great sinner in Scinde, Allee Murad. No punishment

was ever more just or merited. Scinde, however, is too remote for the

people in general to feel much interest in its affairs or families.

Our weak points in the last Burmese war were:--1. The want of

transport for troops and stores; 2. The want of carriage by land, for

arms and stores; 3. Sickness. All these things have been remedied,

and the war, when begun in earnest, can last but a short time. We

know more of the country and shall avoid the sources of endemial

disease; our steam provides for the rapid transport of troops and

stores; and draft-cattle will be supplied from our own districts on

the coast. Where our Government has no representative as Resident or

Consul, all Europeans should be told that they remain entirely on

their own responsibility. Unless this is done, the Governments must

be eternally in collision. If war be carried on in earnest, it must

be one of annexation: we must make use of persons whom we cannot

abandon to the mercy of the Burmese Government. We have nothing to

fear from the people: they have no religious feeling against us,

being all Buddhists; and they have seen too much of the benefits

conferred by us on the territories taken during the last war to have

any dead of our dominion. Lord Dalhousie has, I believe, been most

anxious to avoid a war--it has been forced upon him.

Believe me,

Yours very faithfully,

(Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Sir James W. Hogg,

Deputy Chairman,

India House.

__________________________

Lucknow, 6th April, 1842.

My Dear Mr. Halliday,