A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude Part 5

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Lucknow, 11th June, 1849.

My Dear Elliot,

It will be desirable to have at least the wing of a regiment sent as soon as possible to Jhansee. Bukhut Sing, who was allowed to escape after having been surrendered to Ellis at Kyrma, has been since allowed to get too much a-head. He is aided by the Khereecha people openly; and secretly, I fear, by some of the Powar Thakoors of Gigree under the rose. There are four small fortified places between thirty and forty miles west of Jhansee, and not far from the Sinde, held by Powar Thakoors, who are a shade higher in caste than the Bondeylas; and, in consequence, all the princ.i.p.al chiefs take their daughters in marriage. They are needy, and as proud as Lucifer, and will always eke out their means by robbery if they can. The Jhansee chief cannot keep them in order without our aid. While I was there, they did not venture to rob after the surrender of the Jylpoor man in September, 1844; and the Hareecha and Hyrwa people ventured only to send a few highwaymen into the Gwalior state west of the Sinde river.

The Powar places I mean are Jignee, Odgow, and Belchree. There was a fourth near them just as bad, called Nowneer; but the Thakoors of that place are all well disposed towards the Jbansee chief, and are obedient. All are in the Jhansee state. If the marauders are pressed with energy and sagacity, they will be soon put down; and you may rely upon the native chiefs not supporting them, though, from their marriage connection, they may afford them an asylum secretly when fugitives.

Who the Gwalior men are that are plundering I know not; but they are men of no note, and, if pressed skilfully and rigorously in time, will soon be put down. The chiefs may all be relied upon, I believe.

They are mere gangs of robbers; and you know how easily a fanatic or successful robber may collect a body for plunder in any part of India, where the danger of pursuit is small. Had they been dealt with properly at first, they would never have got a-head so far: time has been lost, and they will now give trouble, particularly at such a season. The evil will be confined to the tract west of Jhansee occupied by these Powars. The chiefs are to the east, north, and south of Jhansee; and the marauders would be allowed to enter their estates. The Governor-General need not feel uneasy about them. The Nurwar chief was always needy, and disposed to keep and shelter robbers. His few villages were resumed on his death last year, and his widows pensioned; but some of his relations are, I conclude, among the marauders. There is a wild tract west of the Sinde in the Gwalior territory, to which the marauders will fly when hard pressed in the Jhansee state.

Yours sincerely, (Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To H. M. Elliot, Esq., &c. &c.

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Lucknow, 18th June, 1849.

My Dear Elliot,

I was writing the last sentence of a long Report on Oude affairs when your note came in. There are some parts that will amuse, some that will interest, and the whole gives, I believe, a fair exposition of the evils, with a suggestion for the best remedy that I can think of.

It is the formation of a Board, consisting of a President and two members nominated by the King, subject to the confirmation of the Governor-General, and not to be dismissed without his Lords.h.i.+p's previous sanction. This Board to make the settlement of the revenue proposed when Lord Hardinge was here, and to have the carrying it out.

This Board will be a subst.i.tute for the Regency, but not so good. The King is well in body; and, unless he will abdicate, we cannot get the minority for the Regency. I think, upon the whole, the Governor- General will think the Report worth reading, and the remedy worth considering. It will bring little additional trouble on Government, but a good deal on the Resident, who will require to have had much administrative experience.

Things are coming fast to the crisis, in which I must be called upon to advise and act, a thing which the fiddlers and eunuchs dread. I can't trust the Report in the office, and the hand may not be so legible as I could wish.

The Court is very averse to the appointment of a successor to Wilc.o.x; and it is with reluctance they have kept on the native officers who go on with the work. I told them either to keep them on or to pension them. I don't think a successor should be urged upon them in the present state of beggary to which they are reduced. n.o.body sees any use in it, while there are a vast number of useful things neglected for want of funds; as to the instruments, the Court care nothing about them, knowing nothing of their value; and would, no doubt, be glad to give them to any establishment requiring them.

The minister, singers, and eunuchs are all now sworn to be united; but this cannot last many days. The "pressure from without," in the clamour for pay, will soon upset the minister; but they will find it difficult to get another to undertake the burthen of forty or fifty lacs of balance, and a score of fiddlers and eunuchs as privy councillors. Something must be done to _unthrone_ these wretches, or things will be worse and worse. The best remedy that occurs to me is to interpose an authority which they dare not question, and the King cannot stultify; and if the King objects, to tell him that he must abdicate in favour of his son. This, of all courses, will be the best, and give no trouble; things would go on like "marriage bells,"

without any trouble whatever to the Governor-General and your _secretariat_.

I am glad that the Punjaub Board goes on well. It is a scene of great importance and interest. The only way to get the confidence and affection of men is to show that we confide in them; and I don't think we need fear Seik soldiers while we treat them, and govern the country well.

We were very anxious about Mrs. Elliot for many days, for the accounts from Simla were bad; but she is now, I am told, quite restored. I have suffered much less than I expected: I recovered much sooner. The doctors tell me that I should have had no right to expect an earlier recovery had I been twenty years younger.

Yours sincerely, (Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.

To H. M. Elliot, Esq., &c. &c.

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Lucknow, 24th July, 1849.

My Lord,

I have to-day written to Lord Fitzroy Somerset to request that he will do me the favour to have the name of my only son placed, if possible, upon his Grace the Commander-in-Chiefs list of candidates for commissions in Her Majesty's Dragoons. He was sixteen years of age on the 6th of January last, and is now prosecuting his studies under the care of Mr. C. J. Yeatman, Westow Hill, Norwood, Surrey, five miles from London.

He is an amiable and gentlemanly lad, and will, I trust, be able to qualify himself to pa.s.s the examination required; and my agents in London will be prepared to lodge the money for his commission when available. He is my eldest child, and will have to take care of four sisters when I am taken from them, as I must be ere long; and I am anxious to place him in the position from which he can do so with most advantage. I could wish to have had him placed in the Bengal Civil Service. But I have no personal friend in the direction, and no good that I may have had an opportunity of doing for the people and government of India can be urged as a claim to any employment for my child.

Having carried out your Lords.h.i.+p's policy successfully over a large and interesting portion of India, and to the advantage, I believe, of many millions of people, you will not, I think, be offended at my soliciting your Lords.h.i.+p's protection for my only son. He will stand in need of it, since I know no other that I can solicit for him; and though my name might be of some use to him in India, it can be of none in England. With a view to his taking care of his sisters, I could wish him to be in a regiment not likely to come to India.

General Thackwell tells me that the regiments most likely to come to India soon are the 6th Dragoons, 9th Hussars, and 12th Lancers.

Perhaps your Lords.h.i.+p might be willing to speak to Lord F. Somerset, or even to his Grace the Duke himself, in favour of my son, who will be proud at any time when commanded to attend your Lords.h.i.+p. I have the misfortune to have been with some of the most inefficient sovereigns that ever sat upon a throne, with deficient harvests last year, and a threat of still more deficient ones this year; and with a Government so occupied with the new acquisitions of the Punjaub as to be averse to interfere much with the management of any other portion of the country.

I remain, your lords.h.i.+p's most obedient, humble servant,

W. H. SLEEMAN.

To the Right Hon. Gen. Viscount Hardinge, G.C.B., &c. &c. &c.

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Lucknow, 24th July, 1849.

My Lord,

May I, request that your Lords.h.i.+p will do me the favour to have the name of my only son, Henry Arthur Sleeman, placed upon his Grace the Commander-in-Chiefs list of candidates for a commission in one of her Majesty's Dragoon regiments?

He was sixteen years of age on the 6th of January last; and he is now prosecuting his studies under the care of Mr. C. J. Yeatman, at Westow Hill, in Surrey, five miles from London, who will be instructed to have him prepared for the examination he will have to undergo. My agents, Messrs. Denny, Clark, and Co., Austin Friars, London, will be prepared to lodge the money, and to forward to me any letters with which they may be honoured by your Lords.h.i.+p. My rank is that of Lieut.-Colonel in the Honourable East India Company's service, and present situation, that of Resident at the Court of his Majesty the King of Oude.

I have the honour to be, Your Lords.h.i.+p's obedient, humble servant, W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Lieut.-General Lord Fitzroy Somerset, G.C.B., Military Secretary to his Grace the Commander-in-Chief, Horse Guards, London.

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Lucknow, August 1849.

My Lord,

1. I will answer your Lords.h.i.+p's queries in the order in which they are made.

2. The King, as I shall show in my next official report, is utterly unfit to have anything to do with the administration, since he has never taken, or shown any disposition to take any heed of what is done or suffered in the country. My letters have made no impression whatever upon him. He spends all his time with the singers and the females they provide to amuse him, and is for seven and eight hours together living in the house of the chief singer, Rajee-od Dowla--a fellow who was only lately beating a drum to a party of dancing- girls, on some four rupees a-month. These singers are all Domes, the lowest of the low castes of India, and they and the eunuchs are now the virtual sovereigns of the country, and must be so as long as the King retains any power. The minister depends entirely upon them, and between them and a few others about Court everything that the King has to dispose of is sold.

3. To secure any reform in the administration, it will be necessary to require the King to delegate all the powers of sovereignty to the Board. This he can do, retaining the name of Sovereign and control of his household; or abdicating in favour of his son the heir apparent, to whom the Board would be a regency till he comes of age. If the alternative be given him, and he choose the former, it should be on the condition, that if his favourites continue to embarra.s.s the Government, he will be required to submit to the latter. Oude is now, in fact, without a Government: the minister sees the King for a few minutes once a week or fortnight, and generally at the house of the singer above named. The King sees n.o.body else save the singers and eunuchs, and does not even pretend to know anything or care anything about public affairs. His sons have been put under their care, and will be brought up in the same manner. He has become utterly despised and detested by his people for his apathy amidst so much suffering, and will not have the sympathy of any one, save such as have been growing rich by abusing his power.

4. The members of such a Board as I propose, invested with full powers, and secured in office under our guarantee during good conduct, would go fearlessly to work; they would divide the labour; one would have the settlement of the land-revenue, with the charge of the police; the second would have the judicial Courts; and if the Board be a regency during the minority, the control of the household; the third would have the army. Each would have the nomination of the officers of his department, subject to the confirmation of the whole Board, and the dismissal would depend upon the sanction of the whole or two-thirds, as might be found expedient. If the sanction of all three be required. Court influence may secure one vote, and impunity to great offenders. Neither of the three would be liable to be deprived of his office, except with the consent, or on the requisition of the Governor-General; and this privilege they would value too highly to risk it by neglect or misconduct. The King's brother--a most worthy and respectable, though not able man--might be a member, if agreeable to the King.