A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude Part 29

The Resident felt that he was helpless in his present position, and unable to do anything whatever to prevent the temporary triumph of the insurgents, and the consequent tumult, pillage, and loss of life that must follow; and that it would be better to try any change than to remain in that helpless state. He thought that he might, if he could once reach the Begum, be able to persuade her of the impossibility of her ultimately succeeding in her attempt to keep the pretender on the throne; and if not, that it would be of advantage to get so much nearer to the place where the British troops most soon arrive, and be drawn up in a garden to the south of the baraduree, and to gain time for their arrival by a personal and open conference with the Begum, during which he thought her followers would not be likely to proceed to violence against his person, and those of his attendants. He therefore persuaded one of the rebel sentries placed over him to apprize the Begum that he wished to speak to her. She sent to him Mirza Allee, one of her Wakeels; and with him Captain Shakespear, and the Meer Moonshee, he forced his way through the dense crowd, and got safely into the baraduree.

They found all the four halls, small apartments, and verandahs, leading into them, filled with armed men in a state of great excitement, and in the act of placing the pretender, Moonna Jan, on the throne. The Begum sat in a covered palankeen at the foot of the throne; and as the Resident entered, the band struck up "_G.o.d save the King_," answered by a salute of blunderbusses within, and a double royal salute from the guns in the "_jullooknana_," or northern court-yard of the palace through which the Begun had pa.s.sed in. Other guns, which had been collected in the confusion to salute somebody (though those who commanded and served them knew not whom), continued the salute through the streets without. A party of dancing-girls, belonging to the late King, or brought up by the Begum, began to dance and sing as loud as they could at the end of the long hall in front of the throne, at the same time that the crowd within and without shouted their congratulations at the top of their voices, and every man who had a sword, spear, musket, or matchlock, flourished it in the air amidst a thousand torches. A scene more strange and wild it would be difficult to conceive.

In the midst of all this the Resident and his a.s.sistants remained cool under all kinds of foul abuse and threats from a mult.i.tude so excited, that they seemed more like demons than human beings, and resolved to force them to commit some act or make use of some expression that might seem to justify their murder. They fired muskets close to their ears, pointed others loaded and c.o.c.ked close to their b.r.e.a.s.t.s and faces, flourished swords close to their noses, called them all kinds of opprobrious names, but all in vain. The Resident, in the midst of all this confusion, pointed out to the Begum the impossibility of her ultimately succeeding in her attempt to secure the throne for the pretender, since he was acting under the orders of his Government, who had declared the right to be another's; and if he and all his a.s.sistants were killed, his Government would soon send others to carry out their orders. "I am," she said, "in my right place, and so is the young King, my grandson, and so are you.

Why do you talk to me or to anybody else of leaving the throne and the baraduree?" But some of her furious followers, afraid that she might yield, seized him by his neckcloth, dragged him towards the throne, on which the boy sat, and commanded him to present his offerings of congratulation on the threat of instant death. They had, they said, placed him on the throne of his ancestors by order of the Begum, and would maintain him there. Had he or either of his a.s.sistants lost their temper or presence of mind, and attempted to resent any of the affronts offered to them, they must have been all instantly put to death, and a general ma.s.sacre of all their supposed adherents, and the pillage of the palace and city, would have followed.

The Begum's Wakeel, Mirza Allee, seeing the life of the Resident and those of his a.s.sistants and attendants in such imminent peril, since he so resolutely refused to give any sign whatever of recognition to the pretender, and aware of the consequences that would inevitably follow their murder, seized him by the arm, and in a loud voice shouted out that it was the Begum's order that he should conduct him out into the garden to the south. He pushed on with him through the crowd, followed by all his small party, and with great difficulty and danger they at last reached the garden, where Colonel Monteath had just brought in and drawn up his five companies in a line facing the baraduree. Finding the entrance to the north-west occupied by the Begum's party. Colonel Monteath marched along the street to the west of the palace, and entered the baraduree garden by the south-west gate. As the Resident went out. Colonel Roberts, who commanded a brigade in the Oude service, went in, and presented to the pretender his offering of gold mohurs, and then went off and hid himself, to wait the result of the contest. Captain Magness drew up his men and guns on the left of Colonel Monteath's, and was told to prepare for action. He told the Resident that he did not feel quite sure of his men in such a crisis, and the line of British sipahees was made to cover his rear, to secure them. The King and minister had commanded him to act precisely as directed by the Resident, and he himself knew this to be his only safe course, but the hearts of his men were with Moonna Jan and the Begum.

The Begum, as soon as the Resident left her, deeming all safe, went over to the female apartments, where her adopted son, the late king, lay dead; and after gazing for a minute upon his corpse, returned to the foot of the throne, on which the pretender had now been seated for more than three hours. It was manifest that nothing but force could now remove the boy and his supporters, but the Begum tried to gain more time in the hope of support from a popular insurrection from without, which might take off the British troops from the garden; and she sent evasive messages to the Resident by her wakeels, urging him to come once more to her, since it was impossible for her to make her way to him without danger of collision between the troops of the two States. He refused to put himself again in her power, and commanded her to come down with the boy to him and surrender; and promised that if she did so, and directed all her armed followers to quit the palace and city of Lucknow, all that had pa.s.sed should be forgiven, and the large pension of fifteen thousand rupees a-month, promised by the late King, secured to her for life. All was in vain, and the Begum was gaining her object. Robberies of State property in the eastern and more retired parts of the palace-buildings had commenced. Gold, jewels, shawls, &c., to a large amount were being carried off. Much of such property lay about in places not guarded by Captain Paton in the morning, or known to the minister, or other respectable servants of the State, all holding out temptation to pillage. Acts of plunder and ill-treatment to unoffending and respectable persons in the city were every moment reported, and six or eight houses had been already pillaged, and attempts had been made on others by small parties, who were every moment increasing in numbers and ferocity.

Several parties of the King's troops had openly deserted their posts and joined the pretender's followers in the baraduree, and dense ma.s.ses of armed men were crowding in upon the British troops, whose officer became anxious, and urged the Resident to action, lest they should no longer have room to use their arms. At one time these armed crowds got within two yards of the British front; and on Colonel Monteath's telling them to retire a few paces and leave him a clear front, they did so in a sullen and insolent manner, and one of them actually attempted to seize one of the sipahees by his whiskers, and an affray was with difficulty prevented.

Mostufa Khan, Kundaharee, who had command of a regiment of a thousand horse in the late King's service, was with many others commanded by the Begum to attend the young King on the throne; and he did so some time after Brigadier Johnstone reached the garden, in front of the baraduree, though he knew that Nuseer-od Dowlah had been declared the rightful heir to the throne, and was actually in the palace. He said that "he was the servant of the throne; that the young King was actually seated upon it, and that he would support him there, happen what might." He presented his offerings of gold to the young King, and was forthwith appointed to supersede all the other wakeels in the Begum's negotiations with the Resident. He merely repeated what the other wakeels had said, urging the Resident to go up to the Begum, since she could not come down to him. The Resident repeated to him what he had told the Begum herself, and taking out his watch, told him that unless his orders were obeyed in less than one-quarter of an hour, the guns should open upon the throne-room; that when once they opened, neither she nor her followers could expect favour, or even mercy; and unless he, Mostapha Khan, separated himself from her party, he should be hung as a traitor if taken alive.

Owing to the height of some houses and walls about the left part of the position of the British troops, the guns could not be conveniently brought to bear upon the south-western corner of the baraduree and throne-room, and two of the guns had to be taken round by a road one-third of a mile, to be placed in a better position. On seeing this the crowd shouted out, "The cravens are already running away!" and became more insolent and furious than ever.

The minister and Durbar Wakeel had been swept away by the crowd, who rushed into the palace, and separated from the Resident and his party, and as they pa.s.sed through the balcony overlooking the river, the wakeel threw off his turban, and leaped over from a height of about twenty feet. The ground was soft, but he sprained both his ankles. He was taken up by some boatmen, who had put-to near the bank, and concealed in their boat till the affair was over. The new sovereign remained still unnoticed, and apparently unknown, having long led a secluded life; but his son, grandsons, and the rest of his attendants were at last discovered, very roughly treated by the insurgents, and would, it is said, have been put to death, had not Rajah Bukhtawur Sing and some others, who thought it safe to be on friendly terms with the ruffians, persuaded them that they would be useful hostages in case of a reverse. The minister had had all his clothes, save his trousers, torn from him, and his arms and legs pinioned preparatory to execution, and the princes had been treated with little more ceremony. All had given themselves up for lost.

The Begum remained firm to her purpose, her hopes from without increasing with the increasing noise, tumult, and reports of pillage in the city. The quarter of an hour had pa.s.sed, and the Resident, turning to the Brigadier, told him, that the work was now in his hands, just an hour and twenty minutes after he had brought his troops into the garden. The guns from the British, and Captain Magness' parks opened at the same instant upon the throne-room and the other halls of the baraduree with grape; and after six or seven rounds, a party of the 35th Regiment, under Major Marshall, was ordered to storm the halls. With muskets loaded and bayonets fixed they rushed first through a narrow covered pa.s.sage; then up a steep flight of steps, and then into the throne-room, firing upon the affrighted crowd as they advanced, and following them up with the bayonet as they rushed out over the two flights of steps on the north side, and through the courtyard which separates the baraduree from the palace. Other parties of sipahees ascended at the same time over ladders collected at the suggestion of Doctor Stevenson, and placed on the southern front of the baraduree; and the halls were soon cleared of the insurgents, who left from forty to fifty men killed and wounded on the floors of the four halls.* In this a.s.sault Mostufa Khan, Kundaharee, was killed. Moonna Jan was found concealed in a small recess under the throne, and the Begum in a small adjoining room, to which she had been carried as soon as the guns opened. They were taken into custody, and sent to the Residency, with Imam Buksh, a bihishtee, or water-carrier, a notorious villain, who had been her chief instigator in all this affair, and appointed Commander-in-Chief to the young King. Many who had been wounded got out of the halls, and some even reached their homes, but the killed and wounded are supposed to have amounted altogether to about one hundred and twenty.

The Begum and the boy were accommodated in the Residency, and their _Commander-in-Chief_ was made over to the King's Courts for trial. He is still in prison at Lucknow. No one was killed on our side, but three or four of our sipahees were wounded in the a.s.sault.

[* As they entered the hall at the end opposite the throne, they saw their own figures reflected in the large mirror, which stands behind the throne; and, taking them to be their enemy preparing to charge, they poured their first volley into the mirror, by which many lives were saved at the expense of the gla.s.s.]

The Delhi princess, the chief consort of the deceased King, a modest, beautiful, and amiable young woman, who had been forced to join the Begum, in order to give some countenance to the daring enterprise, was, as soon as the guns opened, carried by her two female attendants in her litter to a small side-room, facing the palace at the east end of the throne-room. One of these females had her arm shattered by grape shot, but the other tied some clothes together, and let the princess and her wounded attendant down from a height of about twenty-four feet into a court-yard, whence they were conveyed to her palace by some of her attendants, and all three escaped. The sipahees occupied both of the flights of steps in the northern face of the baraduree. She was afraid, to trust herself to them, and saw no other way of escape than that described.

It was nine o'clock before the palace could be cleared of the insurgents; and the Resident was very anxious that the new Sovereign should be crowned, as soon and as publicly as possible, in order to restore tranquillity to the city, which had become greatly disturbed from the number of loose and desperate characters that always abound in it, and are at all times ready to make the most of any tumult that may arise from whatever cause. The new Sovereign had become greatly agitated and alarmed at the danger to which he and his family had been so long exposed, and at the fearful scene which they witnessed at the close; and the Resident exerted himself to soothe and prepare him for the long and tedious ceremonies of the coronation, while the killed and wounded were being removed and the throne-room and the other halls of the baraduree cleaned out and properly arranged and furnished. When all was ready the Resident conducted him from the palace through the court-yard to the baraduree, accompanied by the brigadier and all the princ.i.p.al officers of the British force and the Court, seated him on the throne, placed the crown on his head, under a royal salute, repeated from every battery in the city, and proclaimed him King of Oude, in presence of all the aristocracy and princ.i.p.al persons of Lucknow, who had flocked to the place on hearing that the danger had pa.s.sed away.

From the time that the Resident discovered that the King was dead, till the arrival of the five companies under Colonel Monteath, the whole of the British force in this vast city, containing a population of nearly a million persons, amounted to only two companies and a half of sipahees under native officers. One of the companies guarded the Resident's Treasury, one const.i.tuted the honorary guard of the Resident, and the half company guarded the gaol. A part of the honorary guard, with as many sipahees as could be safely spared from the Treasury and gaol, were taken by Captain Paton to the palace, and distributed as already mentioned. They all stood n.o.bly to their posts during the long and trying scene, and no attempt was made to concentrate them for the purpose of arresting the tumultuous advance of the Begum's forces. Collectively they would have been too few for the purpose, and it was deemed unsafe to remove them from their respective charges at such a time. The Resident relied upon the minister's repeated a.s.surances that he had taken all necessary precautions to prevent her approach; upon the two companies, called the Khas companies, under the command of Mujd-od Dowlah; and the squadron of one hundred and fifty horse, under Rajah Bukhtawur Sing, whom he had himself ordered to guard the pa.s.sage by which they entered. Of all these men not one was employed for the purpose. They and their Commanders all stood aloof, and left the British soldiers to their fate.

The minister was a fool, under the tutelage of his deputy, Sobhan Allee Khan, a great knave, who disappeared as soon as he heard that the Begum was approaching with his son-in-law, Khadim Hoseyn.

Mozuffer Allee Khan, a person in high office and confidence under the late King, did the same. The minister and the Durbar Wakeel were the only officers of the State of Oude who stood by the new King and the British Resident. The minister afterwards declared that a strong detachment of troops had been placed outside the gate through which the Begum ultimately forced her way, as well as at the other pa.s.sages leading to the palace and baraduree; and Captain Shakespear, on his way to the new Sovereign, ascertained that guards had actually been posted outside all the other gates leading to the palace and baraduree. From this, the supineness and seeming apathy of many of the palace guards and servants, and the perversion of the orders sent by him before and during the tumult, the minister concluded that there must have been many about him interested in promoting the enterprise of the Begum; and that the approach to the gate through which she forced her way must have been purposely left unguarded.

There is now little doubt, that from the time that it became known, that the contest was between Moonna Jan and Nuseer-od Dowlah, a person but little known except as a prudent and parsimonious old man, a large portion not only of the civil and military establishments, but of the population of the city, felt anxious for the success of the Begum's enterprise; for both had, under the harsh treatment of the last two sovereigns, become objects of sympathy.

A good many of the members of the royal family, who were brought up from childhood with the deceased King, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, and near his person to the last, declare that Moonna Jan was his son; but that the King was ashamed and afraid to acknowledge him after he had so frequently and so formally declared to the British Government that he was not his son, and that he had ceased to cohabit with the boy's mother for two years before his birth. But all such persons admit that Moonna Jan was a boy of ungovernable temper, and the worst possible dispositions; and that he must soon have forfeited the crown by his cruelty, bigotry, and injustice, had he been placed upon it by the British Government. I saw him in January 1838, at Chunar, and a more unpromising boy I have rarely seen.

The ministry dreaded being called to account for their malversations as much from the Begum, on account of their successful efforts to keep the King alienated from her and his son, as from Nuseer-od Dowlah, on account of his parsimony, prudence, and great experience in business during the reign of his able father, Saadut Allee Khan.

But they would have a better chance of escape from the Begum and the boy than from the vigilant old man, who afterwards made them all disgorge their ill-gotten wealth; and, in consequence, they made no effort to obstruct her enterprise. The military and civil establishments were all in favour of the boy, who would probably be as regardless of their number and discipline as his father had been, while the old man would a.s.suredly reduce the one, and endeavour, by rigorous measures, to improve the other. Hardly any one at Lucknow at present doubts that the minister and his a.s.sociates caused the King to be poisoned, and employed Duljeet and the two sisters; Dhunneea and Dulwee, for the purpose, in expectation that the British Government would take upon itself the Oude administration, as the only possible means of improving it.

The respectable and peaceable portion of the city, though their sympathies were with the boy, had too much in property, and the honour of their families, at stake to aid in any movement in his favour, since it would involve a tumult, and for a time, at least, insure the supremacy of the mob. Their security and that of their families depended upon the success of the British troops; and they were all prepared to acquiesce in any cause which the British Government might adopt for the sake of order. They would rather that it should adopt that of the Begum and the boy than that of Nuseer-od Dowlah; but in either case were resolved to remain neuter, and let the representative of the British Government take his own course.

It is a fact not unworthy of remark, that more than three millions sterling, or three crores of rupees, in our Government securities, are held by persons who reside and spend the interest arising from them in the city of Lucknow; and that the fall in their value in exchange during the times that we have been engaged in our most serious wars has been less in Lucknow than in Calcutta, the capital of British India; so much greater a.s.surance do the people feel of our resources being always equal to our exigencies. At such times the merchants of Lucknow commission their agents in Calcutta to purchase up Government securities at the rate to which they fall in Calcutta, for sale at Lucknow, where they seldom fall at all. About three crores and half of rupees, or three millions and half sterling, have been at different times contributed to our loans by the sovereigns of Oude as a provision for the different members of their respective families and dependents; and the interest is now paid to them and their descendants, at the rates which prevailed at the time of the several loans (four, five, and six per cent.) to the amount of fourteen lacs thirty-five thousand and four hundred and ten rupees a- year.

The Begum's haughty and violent temper, and inveterate disposition to meddle in public affairs, were the real cause of her continual disquietude and ultimate disgrace and ruin. The minister of the day dreaded the ascendancy of so imperious and furious a character, should she ever become reconciled to the King. During the whole reign of Ghazee-od Deen, her husband, from the 12th of July 1814, to the 20th of October 1827, her own frequent ebullitions, which often disfigured the King's robes and vests, and left even the hair on his head and chin unsafe, and Aga Meer's sagacious suggestions, satisfied him that his own personal safety and peace of mind, and the welfare of the State, depended upon his keeping as much as possible aloof from her. He was fond of his son, Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, but during his minority he always took the part of his adoptive mother, the Padshah Begum; and, in consequence, remained almost as much as she was alienated from the King, his father. His natural mother died soon after his birth; and people suspected that the Padshah Begum had her put to death that she might have no rival in his affections; and she had an entire ascendancy over him, acquired by every species of enervating indulgences; and he remained all his life utterly without character, ignorant of the rudiments of public affairs, and altogether incapable of taking any useful part in them.

She retained this ascendancy over him for some time after he became King, first from habit and affection, and latterly from the fears with which she continued to inspire him, that she could, by her disclosures, whenever she pleased, prevail upon the British Government to set him aside in favour of some other member of the royal family, as the Buhoo Begum of Fyzabad had set aside Wuzeer Allee. She made him dismiss his father's minister, Aga Meer, with disgrace, and confer the seals on Fuzl Allee, the nephew of her favourite waiting-woman, Fyzon Nissa; but when the shrewd and sagacious Hakeem Mehndee became minister three years after, he soon persuaded the young King, that all fears of his adoptive mother's disclosures or wishes were idle, and that nothing which she could do or say would induce the British Government to disturb his possession of the sovereignty of Oude. He is said to have been the first person who ventured to hint to him the murder of his natural mother by the Padshah Begum; and he was, or pretended to be, violently shocked and grieved. He then built a splendid tomb or cenotaph for her; and endowed it with the means for maintaining pious men to read the Koran in it, and attendants of all kinds to keep it in a condition suitable for the mother of a King. He shuddered, or pretended to shudder, at the mention of the name of the Padshah Begum, as the most atrocious of murderesses. The minister of the day always made it a point to bring the reigning favourite of the seraglio over to his views, by giving her a due share of the profits and patronage of his office; and it was for this reason, that the high-born chief consort, whose influence over the King could not be so purchased, was soon made to retire from the palace, and, ever after, to live separated from her husband.

The Padshah Begum had only one child, a daughter, who was united in marriage to Mehndee Allee Khan, by whom she had three children, Mohsen-od Dowlah, who was married to the daughter of Nuseer-od Dowlah, the new King; and two daughters who were married to Mirza Abool Kasim, and Mirza Aboo Torab. They lost their mother while yet children, and the Padshah Begum brought them up and became much attached to them. They had all from childhood been brought up with Nuseer-od Deen, and were all much attached to him and to each other.

The ministers, fearing that this attachment might possibly lead to a reconciliation between the King and his adoptive mother, and to their ruin, left him and her no peace till, to save them, she forbade them her house, and sent the girls to their husbands, and the boy to his father-in-law, Nuseer-od Dowlah, whose succession to the throne of Oude has been here described. All objects of mutual interest and affection were in this manner carefully excluded from attendance on either, till they showed themselves to be entirely subservient to the minister of the day.*

[* The mother always declared, and her two daughters and son all declare, Moonna Jan to have been the son of Nuseer-od Deen, and exactly like him in person, voice, and temper. But he was indulged by the Padshah Begum in each habits of atrocious cruelties to other children, that he soon became detested by all around him but herself and the boy's natural mother, Afzul-mahal.]

Thus alienated from her son, all her affections were transferred to her grandson, Moonna Jan, and there is too much reason to believe, that in both cases she purposely did her best to prevent their ever becoming men of business, in order that she might have the guidance of public affairs in her own hands when they should be called to the throne.

The Resident accommodated the Begum, the boy, and her two female attendants in apartments at the Residency, and had a guard placed over them. The new King told him, "that the Begum was the most wicked and unscrupulous woman he had ever known, and that he could expect no peace at Lucknow while she remained." He promised to consult his Government as to her disposal, and on returning to the Residency he increased that guard to two companies of Native Infantry, and all remained quiet when he made his report to Government on the 9th. But towards the close of that day, the city became again agitated.

Reports prevailed, that Government was to be consulted as to whether they preferred the rights of Moonna Jan to the throne or those of Nuseer-od Dowlah; that the Begum's adherents were ready at her call to fall upon the Resident and his party, and put them all to death, or to attack the apartments in which she was confined, rescue her and the boy from prison, and place him again on the throne. The Court favourites of the late King, and all the public military and civil establishments in the city, dreaded the rigid economy and strict supervision of the new King, who had conducted the duties of the ministry for some time, under his able and vigilant father, Saadut Allee Khan; and all that numerous cla.s.s who benefit by the lavish expenditure of a thoughtless and profligate Court were equally anxious to have the Government in the hands of an extravagant woman and thoughtless boy, and ready to join and incur some risk in supporting their cause.

Under all these circ.u.mstances the Resident determined to send the Begum and her boy out of Oude as soon as possible. At midnight on the 11th, a detachment of three companies of Infantry, under Major Lane of the 2nd Regiment, marched from Cawnpore and arrived at Newulgunge, midway to Lucknow, a distance of twenty-two miles, in the morning of the 12th, with one troop of cavalry. Another troop proceeded to Onow, the first stage from Cawnpore, and a third to Rahmutgunge, the second stage, to relieve the first on their return. At each of these stages, relays of sixty palankeen-bearers and six torch-bearers were placed by the Post-Master at Cawnpore. As the bridge over the Ganges at Cawnpore had been washed away by the flood, a company of Native Infantry was placed on the Oude side of that river, to hold boats in readiness, and a.s.sist in escorting over the party when they came.

About the same time, at midnight, the Begum, her boy, and two of her female attendants were placed in palankeens and sent off from the Residency under the escort of a regiment of Infantry, and a detail of artillery, attended by the Second a.s.sistant, Captain Shakespear.

They marched without resting through one of the hottest days of the year, and the party reached Cawnpore in safety about half-past nine o'clock in the evening of the 12th, and were securely lodged in apartments prepared for them at the custom-house. So well had things been arranged between the Resident and Brigadier commanding the troops in Oude, and the Major-General commanding the Division at Cawnpore, that very few persons at Lucknow knew that the Begum and her party had left the Residency when she pa.s.sed the Ganges at Cawnpore. The three companies under Major Lane, who had marched twenty-two miles in the morning, kept pace with the palankeens all the way back, making a march of forty-four miles, between midnight of the 11th, and half-past nine in the evening of the 12th, in so hot a day.

The Begum and Moonna Jan were sent off with their attendants to the fort of Chunar, where they were lodged as state prisoners. As it became safe, the restrictions to which they were at first subjected became by degrees relaxed, and they were permitted to enjoy all the freedom and comforts compatible with their safe keeping. Both died at Chunar, Moonna Jan some time before the Begum. He left three sons by two slave-girls at Chunar, and they still reside there, supported by a small stipend of three hundred rupees a-month from the Oude Government, under the protection of the commandant of the garrison, and the guardians.h.i.+p of Afzul mahal, the mother of the late Moonna Jan.

All these circ.u.mstances, as they occurred, were reported by the Resident to the Government of India, who took time to deliberate, and did not reply till the 19th of July 1837, when they signified their approval of all that the Resident had done, with the exception of the written declaration to which he had obtained the consent and signature of the new King. They did not think that it would be considered dignified or becoming the paramount power, to exact such a declaration, binding himself to absolute submission, from the sovereign of a country so much under their control, on ascending a throne to which he was called as of right; and were of opinion that his character as a prudent man of business, well trained to public affairs, during the time he acted as minister under his father, rendered such a declaration unnecessary. It was therefore annulled; and the Governor-General, Lord Auckland, addressed a letter to his Majesty expressing, in kind terms, his congratulations on his accession to the throne, and his hopes of a better administration of the Government of Oude under his auspicious guidance. This letter, despatched by express, the Resident received on the 25th of July.

The Resident concluded, on good grounds, that the Government deemed a new and more stringent treaty indispensable for the better government of the country, and that advantage should be taken of the occasion to prepare the new King for it. Government desired, that the negotiations for a new treaty should be based "upon reason and right, and not upon demand and submission." Had the declaration been allowed to stand good, there would have been _right_ as well as _reason_ in the treaty of 1837, which was soon after concluded.

The Resident intimated the receipt of these letters to the King, and on the 28th, he waited on his Majesty, to present the Governor- General's letter. He found him sitting up in his bed in a small apartment in the baraduree, in his dishabille, having spent a restless night from rheumatic pains; but he was cheerful and in good spirits, and requested the Resident to present his respectful compliments to the Governor-General, and grateful thanks for his consideration and congratulations. All his relations, the chief officers of the Government, and other persons of distinction about the Court, were a.s.sembled to hear the letters read, and make their offerings on this recognition of his authority by the paramount power. "The King a.s.sured the Resident, that the arrival of this recognition, and its public announcement, would greatly strengthen his hands in the exercise of public duties, for during the last few days bad reports had been industriously circulated by evil-disposed persons to the effect, that the delay in the recognition of his succession to the throne by the paramount power in India, had arisen from discussions between the members of the Government in Calcutta, as to the amount of money to be taken on the occasion from the new King, as the price of his sudden elevation; and that no letter was to be presented by the Resident until the money was paid, or security given for its punctual payment; that the Governor-General himself wanted _two crores_ of rupees, but some members of the Government would be satisfied with _a crore and half_ each, and others even with _one crore_ each, provided that these sums were paid forthwith." In relating this story, which the Resident had heard from many others within the last few days, the King observed, "that he was too well acquainted with the character for honour and justice of the Honourable Company's Government, to give the slightest credit to such scandal, the more especially since no demand of the kind had been made on the accession of either of the last two Kings, who were known to be rich, while he was equally well known to be poor; but that nothing but the arrival of this despatch confirming him on the throne, could convince many, even well-disposed persons, of the utter groundlessness of such wicked rumours; that many poor but respectable persons, who had been weak enough to believe such rumours, would feel much relieved when they heard the salutes which were now being fired, for they had apprehended, that they might be severe sufferers by being compelled to contribute their own property, in order to enable him to make up the _peshkush_, or tribute, required by the British Government, since the late King had squandered the ten crores, which he found in the treasury on the death of his father."

It is certain, that a great portion of the population of Lucknow expected that some such demand would be made by the British Government from the new sovereign, since his right to the throne could be disputed, not only by Moonna Jan, the supposed son of the late King, but by the undoubted sons of Shums-od Dowlah, the elder brother of the present King, whose rights were barred only by that peculiar feature of the Mahommedan law elsewhere adverted to in this Diary. Every day of delay, in promulgating the final orders of the Supreme Government, tended to add to this number; and by the time that these final orders came, by far the greater portion of the city were of the same opinion. The fears of the people tended to add to their numbers, and give strength to the opinion, for all knew, that there was but little left in the reserved treasury, that the expenses greatly exceeded the annual revenue, and that the troops and establishments were all greatly in arrear; and all believed that a general contribution would have to be levied to meet the demand when it came.*

[* Nuseer-od Dowlah reigned under the t.i.tle of Mahommed Allee Shah, from the 8th of July, 1837, to the 16th of May, 1842. Nuseer-od Deen Hyder, his predecessor, had reigned from the 20th of October, 1827, to the 7th of July, 1837. He, Nuseer-od Deen, found in the treasury, when he ascended the throne, ten crores of rupees, or ten millions sterling. He left in the treasury, when he died, only seventy lacs of rupees, including the fifty-three lacs left by the Koduseea Begum.

Mahommed Allee Shah left in the treasury thirty-five lacs of rupees, one hundred and twenty-four thousand gold mohurs, and twenty-four lacs in our Government securities. Amjud Allee Shah reigned from the 16th of May, 1842, to the 13th of February, 1847; and left in the treasury ninety-two lacs of rupees, one hundred and twenty-four thousand gold mohurs, and the twenty-four lacs in our Government securities. His son, Wajid Allee Shah, has reigned from the 13th of February, 1847.]

The a.s.sertion, on the part of the late King, that he had ceased to cohabit with Afzul mahal, the mother of Moonna Jan, for two years, or even for six months before his birth, is now known to have been utterly false, and known at the time to be so by his mother, the Padshah Begum; with whom they both lived. Afzul-mahal, though of humble birth and pretensions, maintained a fair reputation among those who knew her best in a profligate palace, and has continued to maintain the same up to the present day in adversity. In prison and up to the hour of her death, which took place some time after that of Moonna Jan himself, the old Begum declared that she had seen the boy born, and had never lost sight of him; and that the story of his not being the son of Nuseer-od Deen, was got up to prevent her ever becoming reconciled to the King through the means of his son; and her extraordinary affection for him never diminished while he lived. When she retired from the palace of Nuseer-od Deen to her new residence of Almas Bagh, she kept fast hold of the boy, and would never let him out of her sight till they entered the prison at Chunar, when they were obliged to occupy separate apartments. Up to his death she watched over him with the tenderest care; and always declared to the European officers placed over her, that the boy's father and mother always resided with her up to the time of his birth. The boy was remarkably like Nuseer-od Deen in form and features, as well as in temper and disposition.

Afzul-mahal was a person of great good sense and prudence, and in all things trusted by the old Begum, who before her death executed a formal will, leaving to her the charge of Moonna Jan's three children, and all the establishments; and since the death of the old lady she has executed the trust conscientiously, and with great economy; and with much difficulty managed to maintain all in respectability upon the small stipend of three hundred rupees a- month, allowed for their support by the King of Oude. In this, she has been very much impeded and annoyed by the two slave-girls, the mothers of Moonna Jan's children, who have been always striving to get this stipend into their own hands, that they may share it with their paramours. At the death of the old lady most of her female companions and attendants refused to return to Lucknow, and remained at Chunar with Afzul-mahal and the children; and all have to be subsisted out of this small stipend. The slave-girls urge, that they might have had separate pensions, had they obeyed the orders to return to Lucknow on the death of the Begum, and that they ought not now to share in the stipend of the children. Five or six of the females were ladies of rank, and one of them, who died lately, was a widow of Saadut Allee Khan.

This pension may be discontinued when the boys become of age, or appropriated by them and their mothers for their own exclusive use, and the Government of Oude should be required to a.s.sign pensions for life to Afzul mahal, and the other females who are now supported from it.

The salary of the prime minister, during the five years that Roshun- od Dowlah held the office, was twenty-five thousand rupees a-month, or three lacs a-year, and over and above this, he had five per cent.

upon the actual revenue, which made above six lacs a-year. His son, as Commander-in-Chief, drew five thousand rupees a-month, though he did no duty--his first wife drew five thousand rupees a-month, and his second wife drew three thousand rupees a-month, total eighty- eight thousand rupees a-month, or ten lacs and fifty-six thousand rupees a-year. These were the avowed allowances which the family received from the public treasury. The perquisites of office gave them some five lacs of rupees a-year more, making full fifteen lacs a-year.

Roshun-od Dowlah held office for only three months, under the new sovereign, Mahommed Allee Shah. He was then superseded by Hakeem Mahndee, thrown into prison, and made to pay twenty lacs to the treasury, and two lacs in gratuities to Court favourites. After paying these sums, he was permitted to go and reside at Cawnpore; but his houses in the city, valued at three lacs, were afterwards confiscated by the present King, on the ground of unpaid balances. He took into keeping Dulwee, the younger of the two sisters; but she was afterwards seduced away from him by one of his creatures, a consummate knave, Wasee Allee, whose wife she now is. Dhunneea, the eldest sister, is still residing at Lucknow. Roshun-od Dowlah's first wife took off with her more than three lacs of rupees in our Government securities, and his son, the Commander-in-Chief, took off eight lacs of rupees in the same securities. Roshun-od Dowlah carried off a large sum himself. She and his son afterwards left him, and now reside in comfort upon the interest of these securities at Futtehgur, while he lives at Cawnpore in poor circ.u.mstances.

Sobhan Allee, his deputy, was made to pay to the treasury seven lacs of rupees, and in gratuities to court favourites five lacs more.

Roshun-od Dowlah was one of the princ.i.p.al members of the old aristocracy of Lucknow, and connected remotely with the royal family; and he got off more easily in consequence, compared with his means, than his deputy, who had no such advantages, and was known to have been the minister's guide in all things, though he would never consent to hold any ostensible and responsible office.

Duljeet, a creature of Roshun-od Dowlah's, and prime favourite of the late King, carried off, while the King lay dead, money and jewels to the value of one lac of rupees, and concealed them in a vault at Constantia. His a.s.sociates, not satisfied with what he gave them, betrayed him. The money and jewels were discovered and brought back, and he was made to pay another lac of rupees to the treasury as a fine. Dhunneea, the eldest of the two sisters, was made to disgorge two lacs of rupees. Many other favourites of the late King were fined in the same way.

The King had, in the case of Ghalib Jung, already described in this Diary, declared his resolution of looking more closely into his accounts in future, and punis.h.i.+ng all transgressors in the same way; and Roshun-od Dowlah often expressed to the Resident his apprehensions that his turn to suffer must soon come. Sobhan Allee Khan had much stronger grounds to fear, since he had made himself utterly detested by the people generally, and had neither friends nor connexions in the royal family or aristocracy of Lucknow. Under the strong and general impression that the British Government was determined to interpose, and take upon itself the administration of the country, and that the King himself wished the independent sovereignty of Oude to terminate with his reign, they most earnestly desired his early death as their only chance of escape. The British Government would not, they knew, make them refund any of their ill- gotten wealth without full judicial proof of their peculations, and this proof they knew could never be obtained. Indeed they were satisfied that our Government, aware of the difficulty of finding such proof, and occupied in forming and working a new system, would not trouble themselves to seek for it; and that they should all be left to reside where they chose, and enjoy freely the fruits of their malversation.

The Resident had kept the instructions of the 15th of December, 1832, from the supreme Government, a profound secret, lest they might lead to intrigue and disturbance, and, above all, to the poisoning of many innocent persons who might be considered to have a claim of right to the throne; and all were surprised and confounded when it was announced that the paramount power had already decided in favour of Nuseer-od Dowlah, whose claims had never been thought of by the people, or apprehended by the ministers. The instant they heard this decision, they dreaded the scrutiny of the sagacious and parsimonious old man, and the enmity of the favourites by whom he had been surrounded in private life. These men, whom they had, in their pride and power, despised and insulted, would now have their revenge; and they wished for the success of the old woman and the boy, from whom they might have a better chance of escape, till they could get their wealth and their families out of the country.

I may here mention a similar repudiation of a supposed eldest son by the late King. Mostafa Allee was brought up in the palace as his eldest son, and on all occasions treated as such. Mahommed Allee Shah, the late King's father, was always very fond of him, but shortly before his death he became angry with him for some outrages committed in the palace, and put him under restraint. The young man requested the late King, his supposed father, to mediate with his grandfather for his release. He refused to do so, and the young man drew his sword, and threatened to kill him. He was kept under more strict restraint till the grandfather died, and his father ascended the throne, on the 16th of May, 1842. The King then requested the Resident to a.s.sure the Governor-General that Mostafa Allee was not his son--that he was a year and a-half old when his mother entered the palace. The Resident reported accordingly on the 26th of that month. The Governor-General required the statement to be made under the King's own sign and seal, and it was transmitted on the 6th of June, 1842. The present King was then declared heir-apparent to the throne, and Mostafa Allee has ever since been in strict confinement under him. The general impression, however, is that he was the eldest son of the late King, and repudiated solely on account of his violent temper and turbulent conduct. That he was treated as such during the life of Mahommed Allee Shah, and that the late King dared not repudiate him while his father lived, is certain.

By the treaty of 1801 we bound ourselves to defend the territories of the sovereign of Oude from all foreign and domestic enemies; and to defray the cost of maintaining the troops required for this purpose, and paying some pensions at Furruckabad and Benares, the sovereign of Oude ceded to our Government the under-mentioned districts, then yielding the revenues specified opposite their respective names.*