Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official Part 53

3. _Ante_, chapter 31, text between [10] and [11]. Some great landholders of the present day pursue the same policy.

4. The story of the murder of Fraser is told very differently in Bosworth-Smith's _Life of Lord Lawrence_, where all the detective credit is given to Lord L., apparently on his own authority. See also an article in the _Quarterly Review_ for April 1883, by Sir H. Yule, and another in _Blackwoods Magazine_ for January 1878.

Miniature medallion portraits of Nawab Shams-ud-din and his servant Karim Khan are given on the frontispiece of Volume II in the original edition.

5. The inglorious second administration of Lord Cornwallis lasted only from 30th of July, 1805, the date on which he relieved the Marquis Wellesley, to the 5th of October of the same year, the date of his death at Ghazipur. 'The Marquis Cornwallis arrived in India, prepared to abandon, as far as might be practicable, all the advantages gained for the British Government by the wisdom, energy, and perseverance of his predecessor; to relax the bands by which the Marquis Wellesley had connected the greater portion of the states of India with the British Government; and to reduce that Government from the position of arbiter of the destinies of India to the rank of one among many equals.' His policy was zealously carried out by Sir George Barlow, who succeeded him, and held office till July, 1807.

That statesman was not ashamed to write that 'the British possessions in the Doab will derive additional security from the contests of the neighbouring states'. (Thornton, _The History of the British Empire in India_, chap. 21.) This fatuous policy produced twelve years of anarchy, which were terminated by the Marquis of Hastings's great war with the Marathas and Pindharis in 1817, so often referred to in this book. Lord Lake addressed the most earnest remonstrances to Sir George Barlow without avail.

6. Amin-ud-din and Zia-ud-din's mother was the Bhao Begam, or wife; Shams-ud-din's the Bhao Khanum, or mistress. [W. H. S.]

7. Sir James Edward, third baronet, who died November 5, 1838. He was paternal uncle of Henry Thomas Colebrooke, F.R.S., the greatest of Anglo-Indian Sanskritists. The fifth baronet, Edward Arthur, was created Baron Colebrooke in 1906.

8. Sir Charles Metcalfe was for a time a.s.sistant Resident at Delhi, and was first appointed to the Residency at the extraordinarily early age of twenty-six. He was then transferred to other posts. In 1824 he returned to the Delhi Residency, superseding Sir David Ochterlony, whose measures had been disapproved by the Government of India. He left the Residency in 1827.

9. The editor once had occasion to deal with a similar case, which resulted in the loss by the offending Raja of his rank and t.i.tle. The orders were pa.s.sed by the Government of Lord Dufferin.

10. Colonel Skinner, who raised the famous troops known as Skinner's Horse, died in 1841, and was buried in the church of St. James at Delhi which he had built. The church still exists. The Colonel erected opposite the church, as a memorial of his friend Fraser, a fine inlaid marble cross, which was destroyed in the Mutiny (General Hervey, _Some Records of Crime_, vol. i, p. 403).

11. According to General Hervey, the provocation was that Mr. Fraser had inquired from the Nawab about his sister by name (op. cit., p.

279).

12. I print this word 'Bulvemar's' as it stands in the original edition, not knowing what it means.

13. The habits of Europeans have now changed, and to most people escorts have become distasteful. High officials now constantly go about unattended, and could be a.s.sa.s.sinated with little difficulty.

Happily crimes of the kind are rare, except on the Afghan frontier, where special precautions are taken.

14. For the 'Baiza Bai' see _ante_, chapter 50 note 4. Hindoo Rao's house became famous in 1857 as the head-quarters of the British force on the Ridge, during the siege of Delhi.

15. Many of the Gujar caste are Muhammadans.

16. That is to say 'load and fire', or 'sharpshooter'.

17. No one but a member of one of the 'outcaste castes', if the 'bull' be allowable, will act as executioner.

18. This sinister incident shows clearly the real feeling of the Muhammadan populace towards the ruling power. That feeling is unchanged, and is not altogether confined to the Muslim populace. See the following remark about the populace of Benares.

19. This remark was evidently written some time after the author's first visit to Delhi, and probably was written in the year 1839.

20. On the death of asaf-ud-daula, Wazir Ali was, in spite of doubts as to his legitimacy, recognized by Sir John Sh.o.r.e (Lord Teignmouth) as the Nawab Wazir of Oudh, in 1797. On reconsideration, the Governor-General cancelled the recognition of Wazir Ali, and recognized his rival Saadat Ali. Wazir Ali was removed from Lucknow, but injudiciously allowed to reside at Benares. The Marquis Wellesley, then Earl of Mornington, took charge of the office of Governor-General in 1798, and soon resolved that it was expedient to remove Wazir Ali to a greater distance from Lucknow. Mr. Cherry, the Agent to the Governor-General, was accordingly instructed to remove him from Benares to Calcutta. The outbreak alluded to in the text occurred on January 14, 1799, and was the expression of Wazir Ali's resentment at these orders. It is described as follows by Thornton (_History_, chap. xvii): 'A visit which Wazir Ali made, accompanied by his suite, to the British Agent, afforded the means of accomplis.h.i.+ng the meditated revenge. He had engaged himself to breakfast with Mr. Cherry, and the parties met in apparent amity. The usual compliments were exchanged. Wazir Ali then began to expatiate on his wrongs; and having pursued this subject for some time, he suddenly rose with his attendants, and put to death Mr. Cherry and Captain Conway, an English gentleman who happened to be present. The a.s.sa.s.sins then rushed out, and meeting another Englishman named Graham, they added him to the list of their victims. They thence proceeded to the house of Mr. Davis, judge and magistrate, who had just time to remove his family to an upper terrace, which could only be reached by a very narrow staircase. At the top of this staircase, Mr. Davis, armed with a spear, took his post, and so successfully did he defend it, that the a.s.sailants, after several attempts to dislodge him, were compelled to retire without effecting their object. The benefit derived from the resistance of this intrepid man extended beyond his own family: the delay thereby occasioned afforded to the rest of the English inhabitants opportunity of escaping to the place where the troops stationed for the protection of the city were encamped. General Erskine, on learning what had occurred, dispatched a party to the relief of Mr. Davis, and Wazir Ali thereupon retired to his own residence.' Wazir Ali escaped, but was ultimately given up by a chief with whom he had taken refuge, 'on condition that his life should be spared, and that his limbs should not be disgraced by chains'. Some of his accomplices were executed. 'He was confined at Port William, in a sort of iron cage, where he died in May, 1817, aged thirty-six, after an imprisonment of seventeen years and some odd months.' (_Men whom India has Known_, 2nd ed., 1874, art. 'Vizier Ali.') But Beale a.s.serts that after many years' captivity in Calcutta, the prisoner was removed to Vellore, where he died (_Or.

Biogr. Dict._, ed. Keene, 1894, p. 416). It will be observed that the author was mistaken in supposing that 'all the European gentlemen, except Mr. Davis and his family, were included in the ma.s.sacre.'

21. These names stand in the original edition as 'Tyz Mahomed Khan, of Ghujper,' and 'Tyz Alee Khan'. In 1857 the then Nawab of Jhajjar joined the rebels. He was accordingly hanged, and his estate was confiscated. It is now included in the Rohtak District. See Fanshawe's _Settlement Report_ of that District.

22. The disastrous retreat of Colonel Monson before Jeswant Rao Holkar during the rainy season of 1804 is one of the few serious reverses which have interrupted the long series of British victories in India. A considerable force under the command of Colonel Monson, sent out by General Lake at the beginning of May in pursuit of Holkar, was withdrawn too far from its base, and was compelled to retreat through Rajputana, and fall back on Agra. During the retreat the rains broke, and, under pressure caused by the difficulties of the march and incessant attacks of the enemy, the Company's troops became disorganized, and lost their guns and baggage. The shattered remnants of the force straggled into Agra at the end of August. The disgrace of this retreat was speedily avenged by the great victory of Dig.

23. This old Norman-French formula. Oyez, Oyez, meaning 'Hear!' is still, or recently was, used at the a.s.sizes in the High Court, Calcutta. The formula would not now be heard at Delhi, or elsewhere beyond the precincts of the High Court.

CHAPTER 65

Marriage of a Jat Chief.

ON the 19th[1] we came on to Balamgarh,[2] fifteen miles over a plain, better cultivated and more studded with trees than that which we had been coming over for many days before. The water was near the surface, more of the field were irrigated, and those which were not so looked better--[a] range of sandstone hills, ten miles off to the west, running north and south. Balamgarh is held in rent-free tenure by a young Jat chief, now about ten years of age. He resides in a mud fort in a handsome palace built in the European fas.h.i.+on. In an extensive orange garden, close outside the fort, he is building a very handsome tomb over the spot where his father's elder brother was buried. The whole is formed of white and black marble, and the firm white sandstone of Rupbas, and so well conceived and executed as to make it evident that demand is the only thing wanted to cover India with works of art equal to any that were formed in the palmy days of the Muhammadan empire.[3] The Raja's young sister had just been married to the son of the Jat chief of Nabha, who was accompanied in his matrimonial visit (barat) by the chief of Ludhaura, and the son of the Sikh chief of Patiala,[4] with a _cortege_ of one hundred elephants, and above fifteen thousand people.[5]

The young chief of Balamgarh mustered a _cortege_ of sixty elephants and about ten thousand men to attend him out in the 'istikbal', to meet and welcome his guests. The bridegroom's party had to expend about six hundred thousand rupees in this visit alone. They scattered copper money all along the road from their homes to within seven miles of Balamgarh. From this point to the gate of the fort they had to scatter silver, and from this gate to the door of the palace they scattered gold and jewels of all kinds. The son of the Patiala chief, a lad of about ten years of age, sat upon his elephant with a bag containing six hundred gold mohurs of two guineas each, mixed up with an infinite variety of gold earrings, pearls, and precious stones, which he scattered in handfuls among the crowd. The scattering of the copper and silver had been left to inferior hands. The costs of the family of the bride are always much greater than that of the bridegroom; they are obliged to entertain at their own expense all the bridegroom's guests as well as their own, as long as they remain; and over and above this, on the present occasion, the Raja gave a rupee to every person that came, invited or uninvited. An immense concourse of people had a.s.sembled to share in this donation, and to scramble for the money scattered along the road; and ready money enough was not found in the treasury. Before a further supply could be got, thirty thousand more had collected, and every one got his rupee. They have them all put into pens like sheep. When all are in, the doors are opened at a signal given, and every person is paid his rupee as he goes out. Some European gentlemen were standing upon the top of the Raja's palace, looking at the procession as it entered the fort, and pa.s.sed underneath; and the young chief threw up some handfuls of pearls, gold, and jewels among them. Not one of them would of course condescend to stoop to take up any; but their servants showed none of the same dignified forbearance.[6]

Notes:

1. January, 1836.

2. 'Balamgarh' is a mistake for Ballabgarh of _I. G._ (properly Ballabhgarh), which is about twenty-four miles from Delhi. In 1857 the chief was hanged for rebellion. The estate was confiscated and included in the Delhi District, under the Panjab Government. From October 1, 1912, that District ceased to exist. Part of the Ballabhgarh sub-district has been included in the new Chief Commissioner's Province of Delhi, and part in the Gurgaon District.

3. Few observers will accept this proposition without considerable reservation.

4. Patiala is the princ.i.p.al of the Cis-Satlaj Sikh Protected States.

Nabha belongs to the same group. Both states are very loyal, and supply Imperial Service troops. For a sketch of their history see chapters 2 and 9 of Sir Lepel Griffin's _Ranjit Singh_.

5. The Sikh is a military nation formed out of the Jats (who were without a place among the castes of the Hindoos),[a] by that strong bond of union, the love of conquest and plunder. Their religions and civil codes are the Granths, books written by their reputed prophets, the last of whom was Guru Govind,[b] in whose name Ranjit Singh stamps his gold coins with this legend: 'The sword, the _pot_, victory, and conquest were quickly found in the grace of Guru Govind Singh,'[c] This prophet died insane in the end of the seventeenth century. He was the son of a priest Teg Bahadur, who was made a martyr of by the bigoted Muhammadans of Patna in 1675. The son became a Peter the Hermit, in the same manner as Hargovind before him, when his father, Arjun Mal, was made a martyr by the fanaticism of the same people. A few more such martyrdoms would have set the Sikhs up for ever. They admit converts freely, and while they have a fair prospect of conquest and plunder they will find them; but, when they cease, they will be swallowed up in the great ocean of Hinduism, since they have no chance of getting up an 'army of martyrs' while we have the supreme power.[d] They detest us for the same reason that the military followers of the other native chiefs detest us, because we say 'Thus far shall you go, and no farther' in your career of conquest and plunder.[e] As governors, they are even worse than the Marathas--utterly detestable. They have not the slightest idea of a duty towards the people from whose industry they are provided. Such a thing was never dreamed of by a Sikh. They continue to receive in marriage the daughters of Jats, as in this case; but they will not give their daughters to Jats. [W. H. S.]

6. The Emperors of Delhi, from Jahangir onwards, used to strike special coins, generally of small size, bearing the word _nisar_, which means 'scattering', for the purpose of distribution among the crowd on the occasion of a wedding, or other great festivity.

a. It has already been observed that the author was completely mistaken in his estimate of the social position of Jats. It is not correct to say that they 'were without a place among the castes of the Hindoos'. 'The Jat is in every respect the most important of the Panjab peoples. . . . The distinction between Jat and Rajput is social rather than ethnic. . . . Socially the Jat occupies a position which is shared by the Ror, the Gujar, and the Ahir; all four eating and smoking together. Among the races of purely Hindoo origin I think that the Jat stands next after the Brahman, the Rajput, and the Khatri. . . . There are Jats and Jats. . . . His is the highest of the castes practising widow marriage.' (Ibbetson, _Outlines of Panjab Ethnography_, Calcutta, 1883, pp. 220 sqq.) The Jats in the United Provinces occupy much the same relative position.

b. The Sikhs are mostly, but not all, Jats. The organization is essentially a religions one, and a few Brahmans and many members of various other castes join it. Even sweepers are admitted with certain limitations. The word Sikh means 'disciple'. Nanak Shah, the founder, was born in A.D. 1469. The _adi Granth_, the Sikh Bible, containing compositions by Nanak, his next four successors, and other persons, was completed in 1604. A second _Granth_ was compiled in 1734 by Govind Singh, the tenth Guru. The only authoritative version of the Sikh scriptures is the great work by Macauliffe, _The Sikh Religion_ (Oxford, 1909, 6 vols.).

The political power of the sect rested on the inst.i.tutions of Guru Govind, as framed between 1690 and 1708. In 1764 the Sikhs occupied Lah.o.r.e. Full details of their history will be found in Cunningham, _A History of the Sikhs_ (1st ed., 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1849, suppressed and scarce; 2nd ed. 1853); and more briefly in Sir Lepel Griffin's excellent little book, _Ranjit Singh_ (Oxford, 'Rulers of India'

series, 1892).

c. See R. 0. Temple, 'The Coins of the Modern Chiefs of the Panjab'

(_Ind. Ant._, vol. xviii (1889), pp. 321-41); and C. J. Rodgers, 'On the Coins of the Sikhs' (_J.A.S.B._, vol. 1. Part I (1881), pp. 71- 93). The couplet is in Persian, which may be transliterated thus:--

Deg, tegh, wa fath, wa nasrat be darang Yaft az Nanak Guru Govind Singh.

The word _deg_, meaning pot or cauldron, is used as a symbol of plenty. The correct rendering is:--

Plenty, the sword, victory, and help without delay, Guru Govind Singh obtained from Nanak.

d. This prophecy has not been fulfilled. The annexation of the Panjab in 1849 put an end to Sikh hopes of 'conquest and plunder', and yet the sect has not been 'swallowed up in the great ocean of Hinduism'.

At the census of 1881 its numbers were returned as 1,853,426, or nearly two millions, for all India. The corresponding figure for 1891 is 1,907,833. At the time of the first British census of 1855 the outside influences were depressing: the great Khalsa army had fallen, and Sikh fathers were slow to bring forward their sons for baptism (_pahul_). The Mutiny, in the suppression of which the Sikhs took so great a part, worked a change. The Sikhs recovered their spirits and self-respect, and found honourable careers open in the British army and constabulary. 'Thus the creed received a new impulse, and many sons of Sikhs, whose baptism had been deferred, received the _pahul_, while new candidates from among the Jats and lower caste Hindoos joined the faith.' Some reaction then, perhaps, took place, but, on the whole, the numbers of the sect have been maintained or increased.