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THE
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
3 1197 22728 2503
OF VICTORIAN BOOKS
AT
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY
Assembled by David Magee
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Chro
RAMBLES
AND
RECOLLECTIONS
OF
AN INDIAN OFFICIAL.
BY
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL W.
H.
SLEEMAN,
OF THE BENGAL ARMY.
"
The proper study
of
mankind
is
man."
Pope.
IN
TWO VOLUMES.
VOL.
I.
LONDON:
J
HATCHARD AND
SON,
1844.
187,
PICCADILLY.
LONDON
PRINTED BY
6.
J.
PALMER, SAVOV STREET, STRAND.
UPB
DEDICATION.
My
Were
dear Sister,
any one to ask your countrymen
what has been
their greatest source of pleasure while
there, perhaps nine in ten
would
which they receive from their

of
all
things, perhaps, tend
tions with
in India
home by
filling
say,
the
letters
home. These
sisters at
most to link our
affec-
the landscapes, so dear to
our recollections, with ever-varying groups of the
among whom our infancy and our boyhood have been passed and among whom we still
family circles,
hope to spend the winter of our days.
They have a very happy

familiar with the
new
facility
additions
making us
in
made from time
to
time to the dramatis persona of these scenes after
we
quit them, in the character of husbands, wives,
children,
so
to
much
make
vants
of
or friends
to
and while thus contributing
our happiness,
they
no
doubt tend
us better citizens of the world, and ser-
government,
than
we should
otherwise
DEDICATION.
JV
be
for
in
we have
all,
our " struggles through
more
or
in India,
life"
an eye to the approbation
less,
of those circles which our kind sisters represent
who may,
be considered in the exalted
therefore,
of a valuable species of unpaid magistracy to
light
the government of India
No
brother has
had
ever
kinder
my
correspondent than I have had in you,
and
sister;
left
many
it
was
the
having
of
consciousness
dear
of your valued letters unanswered in the
pressure of
that
official duties,
of devoting a part of
"
better
or
my
made me
you
to
leisure
think
first
in these
my way
Rambles and Recollections" while on
the banks of the Nerbudda river to the
from
Himmaleh
mountains, in search of health, in the end of 1835
To what
and beginning of 1836.

that journey,
vations,
now added
a few notes, obser-
and conversations with natives, on the sub-
which
jects
I have
I wrote during
the whole
my
narrative
will,
hope,
seemed to embrace
interest
not
structive to those
Of one
altogether
who
and
and amuse you
and the other members of our family

perchance,
and appear,
uninteresting or unin-
are strangers to us both.
thing I must beg you to be assured, that I
have nowhere indulged in
fiction,
either in the nar-
rative, the recollections, or the conversations.
What
I relate, on the testimony of others, I believe to be

true
upon
and what I relate upon

as being so.
fiction,
Had
my own
you may rely
I chosen to write a
might possibly have made
it
work of
a good deal
DEDICATION.
more
interesting; but I question whether
have been so
others
much
it
would
valued by you, or so useful to
and these are the objects I have had
in
make
the
people of India better understood by those of
my
view.
The work may,
countrymen whose
and
tedious,
among them,
destinies are cast
and inspire more kindly

parts which,
perhaps, tend to
feelings towards them.
to the general reader,
may be
will
Those
seem dry
considered, by the Indian states-
man, as the most useful and important.
The
opportunities of observation which varied
ployment has given me, have been such

lot
of few
make
is
em-
as fall to the
but although I have endeavoured to
the most of them, the time of public servants
not their
own
and that of few
men
has been more
exclusively devoted to the service of their masters
than mine.
It
may
that part of
it
which ventures to read these pages,
will think that it

left
even the
be,
however, that the world, or
had been better had I not been
little
leisure that has
been devoted to
them.
Your ever
affectionate brother,
W. H. SLEEMAN.
CONTENTS
VOLUME THE
OF
CHAPTER
FIRST.
I.
PAGE
Annual
fairs
held upon the banks of sacred streams in India
CHAPTER
Hindoo system of
religion
Legend of the Nerbudda River
Suttee on the
Nerbudda
Marriages of trees
Rainbows
.11
.23
IV.
CHAPTER
.82
III.
CHAPTER
A
II.
CHAPTER
V.
The tank and the plaintain Meteors

:
CHAPTER
Hindoo marriages
The purveyance system
.45
.51
VI.
CHAPTER
VII.
,
50
CONTENTS.
Vlll
CHAPTER
VIII.
Self-government of the castes Chimneysweepers Washerwomen Elephant-drivers

.60
Religious sects
CHAPTER
The
great Iconoclast
of Gurba
IX.
Troop routed by hornets The Ranee
Hornets'
nests in India
CHAPTER
The peasantry and the land
settlement
CHAPTER
The
silver tree,
bispinosa,
or kulpa briksha
XI.
XII.
Singhara, or trapa
and the Guinea worm
Thugs and poisoners
.97
XIII.
.
.89
The
CHAPTER
.76
.69
X.
CHAPTER
Witchcraft
CHAPTER
.103
XIV.
Basaltic cappings of the sandstone hills of Central India
Suspension bridge
Prospects
Deification of a mortal
of the
CHAPTER
Legend of the Sauger Lake
of the Lathyrus sativus
valley
.
20
29
XV.
Paralysis from eating the grain

.
CHAPTER
Suttee tombs
Nerbudda
XVI.
Insalubrity of deserted
fortresses
.139
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
Basaltic cappings
XVII.
Interview with a native chiefA singular
character
CHAPTER
Birds' nests
.145
151
XVIII.
Sports of hoyhood
CHAPTER
Feeding pilgrims
IX
XIX.
Marriage of a stone with a shrub
156
CHAPTER XX.
The men-tigers
CHAPTER
Burning of Deoree by a freebooter
who
68
72
180
XXII.
marries the stone to the shrub
CHAPTER
of Orcha
.161
XXI.
Order of the Moon and the Fish

The Rajah
A Suttee
CHAPTER
Interview with the Rajah
Murder of
XXIII.
his
many
ministers
CHAPTER XXIV.
Corn dealers Scarcities
Famines in India
.190
....
CHAPTER XXV.
Epidemic diseases
Scape-goat
209
CHAPTER XXVI.
Artificial lakes in
faith
Bundelcund
.
Hindoo, Greek, and Roman

.
.224
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
Blights
and mortar sugar-mills
CHAPTER
Pestle
XXVII.
.248
XXVIII.
Washing away of the
soil
.267
CHAPTER XXIX.
Interview with the chiefs of Jansee
Disputed succession
270
CHAPTER XXX.
Haunted
villages
.285
CHAPTER XXXI.
Interview with the Rajah of Duteea
men
Fiscal errors of states-
Thieves and robbers by profession
294
CHAPTER XXXII.
Sporting at Duteea
India
Fidelity of
followers to their chiefs in
Law of primogeniture wanting among Mahomedans

CHAPTER
Bhoomeeawut
30 G
XXXIII.
.
.318
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The
.......
suicide
India
Relations
between parents and children
in
328
CHAPTER XXXV.
Gwalior plain once the bed of a lake
Tameness of peacocks
....
335
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Gwalior and
its
government
340
XI
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Contest for empire between the sons of Shah Jehan
351
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Onrungzebe and Moorad defeat
Ojeyn
their father's
.
army near
-369
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Dara marches
in person against his brothers,
CHAPTER
Dara
retreats towards
character
Lamore
by the Jats
CHAPTER
Shah Jehan imprisoned by
his
defeated 374
is
XL.
Is robbed
and
Their
.383
XLI.
two sons, Ourungzebe and
.389
Moorad
CHAPTER
Ourungzebe throws
off the
XLII.
mask, imprisons his brother
Moorad, and assumes the government of the empire
CHAPTER
Ourungzebe meets Shoojah
in
XLIII.
CHAPTER
.407
XLIV.
Ourungzebe imprisons his eldest son

.
397
Bengal and defeats him, after
pursuing Dara to the Hyphasis
family are destroyed
Shoojah and
all
his
.415
CHAPTER XLV.
......
Second defeat and death of Dara, and imprisonment of his

two sons
426
CONTENTS.
Xll
CHAPTER XL VI.
Death and character of Ameer Jumla
CHAPTER
452
XLVII.
Reflections on the preceding history
458
CHAPTER XL VIII.
The
great
diamond of Kohinoor
.473
RAMBLES AND RECOLLECTIONS.
CHAPTER
ANNUAL FAIRS HELD UPON
I.
THE BANKS OF SACRED
STREAMS IN INDIA.
Before setting out on our journey towards the

Himmalah we formed once more an agreeable party
to visit the marble rocks of the
ghat.
It
Nerbudda
at
Bera-
was the end of Katick (October) when the
Hindoos hold
fairs
places consecrated
on
sacred streams, at
all their
by poetry
or
tradition
as
the
scene of some divine work or manifestation.
These
every
person
fairs
and holy
are at once festive
who comes
enjoying himself as
same time seeking
at the
transgressions
much
as
he can, and
purification from all past
by bathing and praying
in the holy
making laudable resolutions to be better

the future.
The ceremonies last five days, and
stream, and
for
take place at the same time upon

rivers
throughout India
all
the sacred
and the greater part of the
whole Hindoo population, from the summits of the
Himmalah
mountains
to
Cape
believe, during these five days,
VOL.
I.
Comorin, will I
be found congregated
In
at these fairs.
down the Ganges one may
course of a day, half a dozen such
in the
pass,
sailing
each with a multitude equal to the population
fairs,
of a large
city,
and rendered beautifully picturesque
by the magnificence and variety of the tent equi-
The preserver
pages of the great and wealthy.

universe (Bhugwan)
the
Vishnoo
is
supposed,
of
on
the 26th of Assar (June), to descend to the world

below, (Putal,) to defend Raja Bull from the attacks
him
of Indur, to stay with
four months, and to
During
up again on the 26th Katick (October).

his absence almost all kinds of
ties are
suspended
where people
fairs,
worship and
and they recommence

assemble
to
hail
come
festivi-
at these
his
resur-
rection.
Our tents were pitched upon a green sward on

one bank of a small stream running into the Nerbudda
At night
other bank.
illuminated,
is
is
hardly less animating
but what strikes an European
He
all
and children
all
speaking a language and
from
day, hunting
without
theirs,
be none
in the midst of a
hundred thousand persons
different
tumult and disor-
not only sees no disturbance,
feels assured that there will
his wife
all
the tents and booths are
the entire absence of
der at such places.
but
all
and the scene
by night than by day
most
the multitude occupied the
close by, while
and leaves
crowd of a
strangers to them, and
following a religion
while he goes off the whole
and shooting in the distant jungles,
the slightest feeling of
apprehension for
ANNUAL
their safety or comfort.
know
our
to
be
native
to
is
a singular fact which
during the great mutiny of
Barrackpore in
at
any European lady or
suffer
injured or molested, happen what

in
the
collision
My
vernment.
general
to
to be
might to
them
and the
friend
allow his children,

lines
five
in
and play with the
mutinous regiments up to the very
artillery
opened upon them
not one thought of leaving the place
ter
go-
Captain Reid, one of the
and of
above thirty European ladies then at the
the guns.
the
child
their officers
go into the
soldiers of the
day when the
with
used to
staff,
number,
1824,
bound themselves by a solemn oath
chief leaders
not
It
true, that
troops
FAIRS.
till
station,
they heard
Mrs. Colonel Faithful, with her daugh-
and another young lady who had both just
arrived
from
England,
went
lately
all
the
way
from Calcutta to Lodheana on the banks of the

Hyphasis, a distance of more than twelve hundred
miles, in their palankeens with relays of bearers,
without even a servant to attend them.

travelling night
the
slightest
and day
They were
for fourteen days
apprehension of injury or
and
without
of insult.
Cases of ladies travelling in the same manner by
dak immediately
after their arrival
from England
to all parts of the country occur every day, and I
know
of no instance of injury or insult sustained by
them. Does not this speak volumes for the character

of our rule in India?
and daughters in
would men
this
trust their wives
manner unprotected, among

b 2
We
have not a garrison, or walled cantonments, or
forti-
them and
a people that disliked
their rule
any kind for our residence from one
fied position of
end of our Eastern empire to the other, save at the

three capitals of
We know and
up
to
we
like to let
Calcutta,
feel that
and respect
Madras, and Bombay.
the people every where look
us, in spite of all
them know and
our
faults,
we have
that
feel
and
confidence in them.
Sir
Thomas Munro
exactly
know what
of India.
is
has justly observed, " I do not
meant by
In the theory and practice of good go-
vernment they may be
tem of
civilizing the people
agriculture
deficient
if
but
a good sys-
if
unrivalled manufactures
if
a capacity to produce what convenience or luxury
the establishment of
reading
of kindness and
and writing the general
a scrupulous
and above
demands
schools for
if
practice
if
hospitality
all,
respect
if
and delicacy towards the female sex are amongst the

points that denote a civilized people
Hindoos are not

of Europe."
then
the
inferior in civilization to the people
The Bishop Heber
writes in the same
favourable terms of the Hindoos in the narrative of

his
journey through India
and where
shall
we
find
a mind more capable of judging of the merits and

demerits of a people than his ?
The concourse of people at this fair was, as

immense; but a great many who could not
to provide tents for the
lies
accommodation of
usual,
afford
their fami-
were driven away before their time by some
ANNUAL
heavy showers
and
this,
of,
FAIRS.
On
to them, unseasonable rains.
all similar
occasions, the people bathe in
num-
the Nerbudda without the aid of priests, but a
ber of poor Brahmans attend at these festivals to

receive charity, though not to assist at the ceremo-
Those who could
nies.
these
men
as they
afford
came out
but in no case was
it
gave a
at fairs
and holy places
it
over which
day, the people bathe below the rapid
the
river falls after
it
emerges from
abode among the marble rocks

just above this rapid
solicited
commonly
on the Ganges. The first
with any appearance of importunity, as

is
to
of the sacred stream
demanded, or even
it
trifle
its
peaceful
on the second day,
and on the third day, two
miles further up at the cascade, where the whole
body of the limpid stream of the Nerbudda, confined to a
narrow channel of only a few yards wide,
tumultuously down in a beautiful cascade into
falls
a deep chasm of marble rocks.
This
fall
of their
sacred stream the people call the Dhovandhar, or
the
smoky
ways seen
below,
fifty
from the thick vapour which
rising
from
it
in
the morning.
is
al-
From
the river glides quietly and imperceptibly
for a mile
popular
fall,
and a half along a deep and, according to
belief,
a fathomless channel of from ten to
yards wide, with snow-white marble rocks rising
perpendicularly on either side from a hundred to a
hundred and
fully
fifty feet
overhanging.
high, and in
Suspended
in
some
parts fear-
recesses
of these
white rocks are numerous large black nests of hor-
nets ready to descend
may
upon any unlucky wight who
venture to disturb their repose
and
as
the
boats of the curious European visitors pass up and
down
to the
sound of music, clouds of wild pigeons
rise
from each
air
above them.
and seem sometimes to
side,
the
Here, according to native legends,
repose the Pundooas, the heroes of their great

ric
fill
Home-
poem, the Mahabhurat, whose names they have
Every
the valley of the Nerbudda.
transferred to
fantastic appearance
great convulsions
of the rocks, caused by those
much
of nature which have so
disturbed the crust of the globe, or by the slow and

silent
working of the waters,
is
attributed to the
godlike power of those great heroes of Indian ro-
mance, and
is
associated with
the recollection of
scenes in which they are supposed to have figured.
The
hills,
of the
strata
Kymore range
of
sand-stone
which runs diagonally across the valley of the
Nerbudda, are thrown up almost perpendicularly in
some places many hundred
feet
the plain, while in others for
above the level of
many
miles together
their tops are only visible above the surface.
are so
many
strings of the
oxen which the
These
arrow's of
Arjun, one of the five brothers, converted into stone;
and many a stream which now waters the valley

first
sprang from the surface of the earth at the
touch of his lance, as his troops wanted water.
images of the
scattered
gocls of a
among
former day, which
the ruins of old
cities,
The
now
lie
buried in
the depth of the forest, are nothing less than the
ANNUAL
FAIRS.
bodies of the kings of the earth turned into stone

for their temerity
demi-
in contending with these
gods in battle.
Ponds among the rocks of the Ner-
budda, where
the great
all
fairs are
the names of the five brothers,

of this great
poem
still
visited
implicitly believe that
received upon their bosoms the
wearied limbs of those whose names they bear.

is life
without the charms of
leisure
bear
are the heroes
and they are every year
by hundreds of thousands, who

their waters once
who
held,
fiction,
What
and without the
and recreations which these sacred imaginings
tend to give to the great mass of those
who have
nothing but the labour of their hands to depend
upon
for subsistence
lieved,
Let no such
fictions
be be-
and the holidays and pastimes of the lower
orders in every country would soon cease, for they
have almost every where owed their origin and support to
some
religious
dream which has commanded
the faith and influenced the conduct of great masses

of mankind, and prevented one
man from presuming
work on the day that another wished to rest

from his labours. The people were of opinion, they
to
told me, that the

last
Ganges, as a sacred stream, could
only sixty years
more,
when the Nerbudda
The waters of the Nerbudda

are, they say, already so much more sacred than
those of the Ganges, that to see them is sufficient
would take
to cleanse
its
place.
men from
their sins, whereas the
Ganges
must be touched before it can have that effect.

At the temple built on the top of a conical
hill
Beraghat overlooking the
at
god of destruction, and
bull carving Sewa, the
him
wife Parbuttee seated behind
snakes in their hands
round
his loins as
demons
his
they have both
and Sewa has a large one
There are several
a waistband.
human shape
in
a statue of a
river, is
lying prostrate under the
belly of the bull, and the whole are well cut out
of one large slab of hard basalt from a dyke in the
They
marble rock beneath.

"
call
the whole group
Gouree Sunkur? and I found in the
for sale, a brass
but not
noticing this
model of a similar one from Jypore
well
so
exposed
fair,
shaped and proportioned.
we were told,
" that
to be expected, since the brass
On
such difference was
must have been made
by man, whereas the Gouree Sunkur of the temple

above was a real Py-KJian, or a conversion of living
beings into stone by the gods
they were therefore
the exact resemblance of living beings, while the

others could only be rude imitations."
the Fair,
is
the
name
of Parbuttee, or Davee,
when
On
such
she appears with her

occasions she
is
another
On
is
name
always
of
Gouree, or
husband
fair
Sewa
Sewa.
and beautiful.
or
Mahadeo
Sunkur
or Rooder.
looking into the temple at the statue, a lady
expressed her surprise at the entireness, as well as

the excellence of the figures, while
all
around had
been so much mutilated by the Mahomedans.
"
They
are quite a different thing from the others," said a
respectable old landholder,
"
they are a conversion
of real flesh and blood into stone, and no
human
ANNUAL
hands
can
either
FAIRS.
imitate
hurt
or
them
She
!"
smiled incredulously, while he looked very grave, and
appealed to the whole crowd of spectators assem-
who
bled,
said
testified to
all
and added,
would be
would
all
the truth of what he had
" that at
restored
no distant day the figures
to
again
life
the
deities
come back without doubt and reanimate
all
their old bodies again
All the people
!"
who come
to bathe at the fair
bring chaplets of yellow jasmine, and hang them as
round the necks of the god and
offerings
sort
and
at the
same time they make some small
offerings of rice to each
many images
of the
stand within the same apartment

which, under a
pillars, line
his con-
and
that
also to those
stone roof supported upon stone
the inside of the wall that surrounds
the circular area, in the centre of which the temple

stands.
The images
inside the temple are those of
the three great gods,
Brihma, Vishnoo and Sewa,
with their primeval consorts

the piazza
but those that occupy
outside are the representations of the
consorts of the different incarnations of these three

gods,
and these consorts are themselves the incar-
nations of the primeval wives,
husbands in
all
the
ordinary
all
who
followed their
their earthly ramblings.
female form,
They have
and are about the
women, and extremely
size
of
well cut out of fine
white and green sand stone; but their heads are those
of the animals in which their respective husbands
became
incarnate, such
as the lion, the elephant,
10
&c,
Bahuns, or animals on which
or those of the
they rode, such as the
But
these,
bull,
the swan, the eagle, &c.
presume, are mere capricios of the
The figures are sixty-four

mounted upon their respective Bahuns,
founder of the temple.

in
number,
all
but have been sadly mutilated by the pious Maho-
medans.
The old Mahunt, or high priest, told us, that

Mahadeo and his wife were in reality our Adam
and Eve " they came here together," said he, " on
;
a visit from the mountain Khylas, and being earleave
nestly solicited to
got
visit,
themselves
popular belief
that
is,
some memorial of
turned
for
visit
till
woods, to
was
his
at last
consort,
for him.
He
honoured
who asked
begged them
he should bring some flowers from the
make them
promised to do so
the
devotions
in austere
years,
from Sewa and
him what they could do

to wait
this little conical hill,
stands,
some few thousand
with a
The
stone."
some very holy man, who had
been occupied on the top of
where the temple now
into
their
a suitable offering.
They
and he ran down, plunged into
Nerbudda and drowned
himself, in
order that
these august persons might for ever remain, and do
honour to his residence and

left
his
only their " mortal coil
turn and resume
it.
;"
know
name.
They however
but will one day renot whether I
his
and that
sin-
Mahadeo
consort are really our Adam and Eve;
the people have converted them into the
gular in the notion or not, but I think
and
am
ANNUAL
11
FAIRS.
god and goddess of destruction, from some vague

idea of their original
race in destruction.
sin,
The
which involved
all
their
snakes, which form the
only dress of Mahadeo, would seem to confirm this

notion.
12
CHAPTER
II.
HINDOO SYSTEM OF RELIGION.
The Hindoo
system
this.
is
great divine
Brimh pervades the whole universe

and the soul of every human being is a drop
from this great ocean, to which, when it becomes perThe reunion is the
fectly purified, it is reunited.
essence
or
spirit
beatitude to which
eternal
hope
look forward with
all
and the soul of the Brahman
is
nearest to
it.
If he has been a good man, his soul becomes ab-
sorbed in the
Brimh
Naruk, hell
and
and
if
a bad man,
it
goes to
after the expiration of its period
there of limited imprisonment,
it
returns to earth, and
occupies the body of some other animal.
It again
advances by degrees to the body of the Brahman
Brimh.*
when
From this
great eternal essence emanate
Men
are occasionally
exempted from the necessity of becom-
and
thence,
ing a
Brahman
places,
men
where
to die,
first.
it is
are
fitted
Men
for
it,
of low caste,
the interest of the
if
into
the
great
they die at particular
Brahmans
to invite rich
promised absorption into the great Brimh at

Brimha, the creator, whose consort
and Sewa,
Mahadeo,
alias
the
is
Parbuttee.
Jumraj
is
the judicial deity
whose
destroyer,
who
belief,
has been appointed
by the greater powers to pass the
drawn up by
Lukshmee
is
According to popular
consort
on the tenor of men's
Saraswatee
is
Vishnoo, the preserver, whose consort
13
final
judgment
according to proceedings
lives,
his secretary
If men's
Chuttergopat.
actions have been good, their souls are, as the next
advanced a step towards the great essence
stage,
Brimh
and
bad,
if
they are thrown back, and
obliged to occupy the bodies of brutes or of people
of inferior caste, as the balance against
There
great or small.
Naruk
is
an intermediate stage, a
or hell, for bad men, and a Bykout, or para-
dise, for
the good, in which they find their felicity
god of the three to which they have
in serving that
on
especially devoted themselves while
from
this
tence
them may be
is
stage
expired,
after
the
period
men go back
But
earth.
of their
sen-
to their pilgrimage
on earth again.
There
whom
numerous Deos, or good
are
Indur
is
and there have

tions
spirits,
the chief ; and Dyts, or bad

also
of
spirits
been a great number of incarna-
from the three great gods and their consorts, who
have made their appearance upon the earth when

once.
Immense numbers of wealthy men go every year from
the most distant parts of India to die at Benares, where they
spend large sums of money among the Brahmans.
means that
this,
the second city in India,
is
It is
supported.
by
their
14
All these incarna-
required for particular purposes.

tions are called Outars,
been eleven times on the globe,
Sewa seven
and
Visbnoo has
or descents.
in different
The
times.
outars of Vishnoo
many popular poems, such
are celebrated in
shapes,
as the
Rumaen, or history of the rape of Seeta, the wife

of Ram, the seventh incarnation,* the Mahabhurut,
and the Bhagiout, which
amours of
god
this
in his
these
books are
either
by the hand or
believed
describe
human
last
wars and
the
shape.
All
have been written
to
by the inspiration of the
god himself thousands of years before the events

they describe actually took place.
" It
was, they
the deity to write or dictate a battle,
say, as easy for
an amour, or any other important event ten thousand years before, as the day after
and I believe nine

a
in
It
perhaps
these
that
is
now
accounts
were
pretty clear that
are of comparatively recent date
poem
took place
ninety-nine
hundred, of the Hindoo population believe
implicitly,
ten.
tenths,
it
of the
all
all
so writ-
these works
that
the great
Mahabhurut could not have been written
before the year 786 of the christian era, and was
probably written
so
Krishna, if born at
all,
7th of August
a mere
a. D.
late
as
a. d.
1157
again
that
must have been born on the

600, but was most likely
creation of the imagination to serve the
purpose of the Brahmans of Qjeyn, in

* Seeta
whom
the
was an incarnation of Lukshmee, she became incarnate
many
centuries afterwards, as the wife of Krishna, another
incarnation of Vishnoo.

fiction originated
15
that the other incarnations were
invented about the same time, and for the same
though the other persons described as
object,
were
carnations
Christ 1176, and
real
Pursaram before
princes,
Rama
born before Christ 961.
the Mahabhurut Krishna
is
in-
In
described as fighting in
the same army with Judishter and his four brothers.
was a
Judishter
real
throne at Dehlie 575
person
who ascended
c, or 1175
b.
the
years before
the birth of Krishna.
Bentley supposes that the incarnations, particu-
were invented by the Brah-
larly that of Krishna,
mans of Ojeyn with a view
to
check the progress
of Christianity in that part of the world
no history any account of the alarming pro-
find in
of Christianity about the time these fables
gress
were written,
When Mons.
is
no proof that Bentley was wrong.
Thievenot was at Agra 1666, the chris-
tian population
was roughly estimated
thousand families.
before
They had
became one of our
it
stations
in
at
and militarv
civil
the beginning of the present century,
tion of them,
for
disposed to give
encouragement and employment might,

and
it
India
get
is
any men-
see his travels in India, part three.
single prince well
years,
twenty-
passed away
all
and we might search history in vain
One
see his
That we
view of the Hindoo astronomy.
historical
five
the same
probable
occasionally
number around
that
the
found such
early
Christians
in a
few
his capital
Christians in
princes,
and gave
16
Brahman
just cause of alarm to the
were then
During
who
priests
in the infancy of their despotic power.
war
the
with
Nepaul
1814
in
and
1815, the division with which I served came upon
an extremely interesting colony of about two thousand christian families at Beteeah, in the Tirhoot
on the borders of the Turac
district
This
forest.
colony had been created by one man, the Bishop,

a Venetian by birth, under the protection of a small
Hindoo
prince, the
had been some
Rajah of Beteeah.
fifty
years
or no support from
little
quarter.
The only
pledge that no
aid
among
the
to
Rajah,
be
these people, with
Europe or from any other
he got from the Rajah was a
member of his church should be subject
to the Purveyance system^ under
every where
suffered so
much
which the people
and
this
pledge,
though a Hindoo, had never suffered
violated.
There were
men
of
all
among them, and they formed one very

remarkable for the superior style of
large
build-
and the sober industry of its inhabitants.
The
masons, carpenters, and
blacksmiths of this
colony were working in our
we remained
I
trades
its
street
ings,
man
This holy
camp every
in the vicinity,
have never seen in India;
insist
hours.
upon going
They had
little
day, while
and better workmen

but they would
all
to divine service at the prescribed

built a splendid
house for their bishop, and a

church, and formed for
him the
pucka dwelling
still
more splendid
finest
garden I have
seen in India, surrounded with a good wall, and

provided with admirable pucka wells.
Christian servants
who attended
he was become very

mixture of Latin,
Hindoostanee.
for
The
native
the old bishop's
taught by himself, spoke Latin to him
table,
ses,
at
17
and take
as
We
feeble,
and spoke himself a
Italian, his
native tongue, and
used to have him at our mes-
much
care of
become almost
he was
but
him
an
infant,
one.
The
as of
as frail as
among
much re-
joy and the excitement of being once more
Europeans, and treated by them with so
verence in the midst of his flock, were perhaps too
much
for him, for
The
he sickened and died soon
rajah died soon after him,
bility the flock
has disappeared.
and in
all
after.
proba-
No Europeans
ex-
cept a few Indigo planters of the neighbourhood
had ever before known or heard of
this colony
and
they seemed to consider them only as a set of great

scoundrels,
anybody
who had
better carts and bullocks than
else in the country
which they refused
to let
out at the same rate as the others, and which they

(the indigo lords)
employ
were not permitted to
at discretion.
Roman Catholics have
seize
and
a greater
making converts in India than Protestants,

from having so much more in their form of worship
facility in
to
win the
imagination.
vol.
I.
affections
through the medium of the
RAMBLES AND RECOLLECTIONS
18
CHAPTER
III.
LEGEND OF THE NERBUDDA RIVER.
The
legend
is,
that the
west into the gulf of
Nerbudda which
flows
Cambay was wooed and won
way by the Sohun river, which rises

from the same table land of Omurkuntuk, and flows
east into the Ganges and Bay of Bengal.
All the
in the usual
previous ceremonies having been performed, the So-
hun came with due
"
pomp and
circumstance
'
to
fetch his bride, in the procession called the Burraet,
up
to which time the bride
and bridegroom are sup-
posed never to have seen each other, unless per-
chance
they
may have met
in
Her
infancy.
majesty the Nerbudda became exceedingly impatient

to
know what
sort
were to be linked
to,
of a personage
while his majesty the Sohun
advanced at a slow and stately pace.
Queen
her destinies
At
last
the
sent Jhola, the daughter of the barber,
to
view of
and to return
and
take
make
a faithful and particular report of his person.
close
him,

His majesty was captivated with the
the barber's daughter, at
thing
sight
first
in
Some
Queen
majesty was no further in
his
Jhola,
and she " no-
that she actually pretended to be
and that
little
yielded to his caresses.
loath,"
19
say
herself;
than
fault,
mistaking the humble handmaid for her noble
mistress
be that
but,
no sooner heard of
as
good understanding be-
the
tween them, than she
may, her majesty
it
rushed forward, and with
one foot sent the Sohun rolling back to the east
whence
little
he
Jhola
high priest,
and
came,
sprawling
who
with
him
after
told us the story,
kicked
other
the
for,
"you
said the
what
see
a towering passion she was likely to have been in
under such
indignities,
from the furious manner in
which she cuts her way through the marble rocks

beneath
us,
and
casts
she goes along, as
nuts !"
if
huge masses right and
left as
many
cocoa-
they were really so
"And was sh e," asked
I, " t o
have flown eastward
with him, or was he to have flown westward with

her
?"
ward,"
"
She was
said
the
to have
high
accompanied him
priest
" but
after this indignity, declared, that she
single pace in the
same
ingly a virgin queen
about us
was
why they
!"
majesty,
would not go a
direction with such wretches,
and would flow west, though

India might flow east
her
east-
the other rivers in
all
and west she flows accordI asked
called her
really never married.
"
some of the Hindoos
Mother Nerbudda,
Her
if
she
majesty," said they
with great respect, " would really never consent to

c 2
20
be married after the indignity she suffered from her
Sohun; and we
affianced bridegroom the
mother because she
blesses us
call
her
and we are anx-
all,
ious to accost her
by the name which we consider
to be at once the
most respectful and endearing."
Any Englishman
can easily conceive a poet in his
highest" calenture of the brain," addressing the ocean

as " a steed that
knows
his rider,"
and patting the
mane but he must

come to India to understand how every individual
of a whole community of many millions can address
crested billow as his flowing
a fine river as a living being
who
hears and understands
a sovereign
they
all
princess,
and exercises
say,
a kind of local superintendence over their
without a single temple in which her image

shipped, or a single priest to profit
As
to
case of the Ganges,
in the
whom
is
wor-
by the delusion.
it is
the river itself
they address themselves, and not to any
deity residing in
itself is
affairs,
it,
or presiding over
the deity which
fills
it
the stream
their imaginations,
and
receives their homage.
Among
were
the
Romans and
propitiated
by
ancient Persians rivers
When
sacrifices.
crossed the Euphrates with
the
Roman
Vitellius
legions to
put Tiridates on the throne of Armenia, they propitiated
the
river according to
the
rites
of their
country by the suovetaarilia, the sacrifice of the hog,
same by
the ram, and the bull.
Tiridates did the
the sacrifice of a horse.
Tacitus does not mention
the river god,
but the river
itself,
as
propitiated.

See
b. vi.
Homer
Plato makes Socrates
chap. 37.
21
condemn
making Achilles behave disrespectfully

towards the river Xanthus, though acknowledged to
be a divinity, in offering to fight him and towards the
for
river Sperchius, another
acknowledged god,
in pre-
senting to the dead body of Patroclus the locks of

hair
his
which he had promised to that
river.
The Sohun river, which rises near the source of

the Nerbudda on the table land of Omurkuntuk,
takes a westerly course for some miles, and then
turns off suddenly to the east, and
little
stream of the Jhola before
great cascade
fiction,
it
joined by the
descends the
and hence the poets have created
this
which the mass of the population receive as
divine revelation.
barber's
The
statue of
little
Jhola, the
daughter, in stone, stands in the temple of
the goddess
chains.
is
It
Nerbudda
may
at
Omurkuntuk, bound
here be remarked, that the
overtures of marriage in India must always be
through the
medium
in
first
made
of the Barber, whether they be
from the prince or the peasant.
If a sovereign prince
sends proposals to a sovereign princess, they must be
conveyed through the medium of the Barber, or

they will never be considered as done in due form,
or as likely to prove propitious.
course, send
him
but in
named
some
all
The prince
will,
of
relation or high functionary with
the credentials the Barber must be
as the principal functionary.
Hence
it
was
that her majesty was supposed to have sent a Barber's
daughter to meet her husband.
The Mahatum
(greatness
or
holiness)
of
the
22
Ganges
is said,
as I
have already stated, to be on the
wane, and not likely to endure sixty years longer

while that of the Nerbudda
sixty years
is
is
on the
increase,
and in
entirely to supersede the sanctity of her
If the valley of the Nerbudda should con-
sister.
tinue for sixty years longer under such a government

as
it
has enjoyed since
1817,
may become
it
pulous, and
ever was
more
and
hope they
we took
more
infinitely
will, to
acquire wealth and honour under
much
attached, the
realized in as far as the increase
Nerbudda
of honour paid to the
know no ground
more po-
the Hindoos there continue, as I
if
may be
rich,
in
it
beautiful than that of the Nile
a rule to which they are so
prophecy
possession of
is
concerned.
But
to expect that the revenue paid to
the Ganges will diminish, unless education and the

concentration of capital in manufactures should work
an important change in the religious feelings and

opinions of the people along the course of that river;
although
must be admitted,
this, it
tion which
may be looked
for
more
is
a consumma-
speedily on the
banks of the Ganges than on those of a stream like

the Nerbudda, which
nor in
my
is
neither navigable at present,
opinion capable of being rendered
Commerce and
manufactures, and the concentration
of capital in the maintenance of the

ties
employed
new communi-
in them, will, I think,
media through which

effected
so.
this
change
and they are always more
be the great
will
be chiefly
likely to follow
the course of rivers that are navigable than that of

rivers
which are
not.
CHAPTER
IV.
A SUTTEE ON THE NERBUDDA.
We took
a ride one evening to Gopalpore, a small
village situated
on the same bank of the Nerbudda,
On
about three miles up from Beraghat.
we met
up
girls
coming to the
Their legs were uncovered half way up
fair.
thigh
women and
a party of
our way
we
but as
their faces.
ladies, "
how
"
the
passed, they all carefully covered
Good God," exclaimed one
of the
can these people be so very indecent
They thought
it,
!"
no doubt, equally extraordinary,
that she should have her face uncovered, while she

so carefully concealed her legs
all
for they
modest peasantry, going from the
in the holy stream.
Here there
are
really
village to bathe
some very pretty
temples built for the most part to the
widows
were
who have burned themselves
memory
with
of
the
remains of their husbands, and upon the very spot
where they committed themselves to the
flames.
There was one which had been recently raised over
24
the ashes of one of the most extraordinary old ladies
who burned
that I have ever seen,
temple upon the
spot,
but
made acquainted with

work
completion during
my
successor in the civil
Major Low, was never, I
district,
progress of the
my
I prohibited the building of any
presence in 1829.
charge of the
herself in
the prohibition nor with the
which therefore went on to
my
believe,
absence.
As
suttees are
now
prohibited in our dominions, and cannot be often seen

or described by Europeans, I shall here relate the cir-
cumstances of
the time
this as
they were recorded by
me
at
and the reader may rely upon the truth
of the whole tale.
On the 29th November,
1829, this old woman, then
about sixty- five years of age, here mixed her ashes

with
those of her husband,
who had been burned
On
receiving civil charge
alone four days before.
of the district (Jubbulpore) in March, 1828, I issued

a proclamation prohibiting any one from aiding or
assisting in suttee;
and
one ou*xce of wood
distinctly stating, that to bring
for the
dered as so doing.
purpose would be consi-
If the
woman burned
with the body of her husband, any one
wood
for the
liable to
who brought
purpose of burning M?n, would become
punishment
husband must be
must bring a
herself
consequently the body of the
first
consumed, and the widow
fresh supply for herself.
On
Tuesday,
24th November, 1829, 1 had an application from the

heads of the most respectable and most extensive
family of
Brahmans
in the district, to
suffer this old
widow
to
band,
Omed
25
burn herself with the remains of her husSing Opudclea, who had that morn-
ing died upon the banks of the Nerbudda.
my
ened to enforce
man who
assisted
and punish severely any
order,
and placed a police guard
the purpose of seeing that no one did
mained
sitting
I threat-
so.
for
She
re-
by the edge of the water without
eating or drinking.
The next
husband was burned to ashes
clay
the body of her
in a small pit of
about
eight feet square, and three or four feet deep, before
who had assembled
several thousand spectators
see the suttee.

ing,
there
as
to
All strangers dispersed before even-
seemed
be no prospect of
to
my
yielding to the urgent solicitations of her family,
who dared
not touch food
till
she had burned herself,
or declared herself willing to return to them.
and some other
sons, grandsons,
relations,
with her, while the rest surrounded
one urging
me
urging her to
my
to allow her to burn,

desist.
Her
remained
house,
the
and the other
She remained
sitting
upon
a bare rock in the bed of the Nerbudda, refusing
every kind of sustenance, and exposed to the intense

heat of the sun by day, and the severe cold of the
night, with only a thin sheet
ders.
On
thrown over her shoul-
Thursday, to cut off
moved from her
all
hope of her being
purpose, she put on the Dhujja, or
coarse red turban, and broke her bracelets in pieces,
by which she became dead

cluded from caste.
this,
she
in law,
and
for ever ex-
Should she choose to
live after
could never return to her family.
Her
26
children and grandchildren were

all their
entreaties
still
were unavailing
with her, but
and I became
she would starve herself to death
satisfied, that
if
allowed to burn, by which the family would be
not
dis-
graced, her miseries prolonged, and I myself rendered

liable to
rity, for
be charged with a wanton abuse of autho-
no prohibition of the kind I had issued had as
yet received the formal sanction of the government.
On
Saturday the 28th, in the morning, I rode out
ten miles to the spot, and found the poor old widow
sitting
with the dhujja round her head, a brass plate
before her with undressed rice and flowers, and a
cocoa-nut in each hand.

telling
She talked very
collectedly,
me, that "she had determined to mix her ashes
with those of her departed husband, and should patiently
wait
God would
my
permission to do
enable her to
so,
sustain
life
assured that
that was
till
Looking
given, though she dared not eat or drink."

at the sun, then rising before her over a long
reach of the Nerbudda river, she said calmly,
tiful
"
My
soul has
near that sun
and
and beau-
this I
been
for fi\e days
nothing but my
know you
miseries of a poor old
woman."
my
duty
them
and I
am come
purpose to urge you
husband's
earthly frame
is left
pit,
because
it is
not
wantonly to prolong the
in your nature or your usage
my
my
time suffer to be mixed
will in
with the ashes of his in yonder
object and
with
is
"
it
is
not,
to save and preserve
to dissuade
to live,
Indeed
you from
this idle
and to keep your family
from the disgrace of being thought your murderers."
am not
" I
they have
all,
and
had done
ended.
attend
my
me
to induce
me
and honoured
good children, done everything
like
power
thought
afraid of their ever being so
in their
if
27
know
so,
but
my
ashes on the
among them
they would have loved
duties to
commit them all

husband,
to live
them have now
to your care,
Omed Sing
and I go to
Opuddea, with whose
mine have been already
funeral pile
three times mixed."
This was the
first
time in her long
that she
life
had ever pronounced the name of her husband,

in India
the
no
name
woman
high or low ever pronounces
of her husband
disrespectful towards
for
him
she
would consider
to do so
and
it
is
it
often
amusing to see their embarrassment when asked the
They look
question by any European gentleman.

right
and
left
the dilemma
for
of
some one
appearing disrespectful
the querist, or to their absent husbands

ceive that he
this point,
is
them from
to relieve
either
to
they per-
unacquainted with their duties on
and are afraid he
will attribute their silence
They know that few European genacquainted with them and when women
to disrespect.
tlemen are
go into our courts of justice, or other places where

they are liable to be asked the names of their hus-
commonly take one of their children or

some other relation with them to pronounce the words
in their stead. When the old lady named her husband,
bands, they
as she did with strong emphasis,
rate manner, every one present
10
and
was
in a very delibe-
satisfied that
she
28
had resolved
to
" I
die.
" tasted largely of the
been maintained by
she
have,"
continued,
bounty of government, having

it
with
all
my
large family in
ease and comfort upon our rent-free lands

feel assured that
want
my
but with them I have nothing more to do,
with
is
Omed Sing Opuddea
must here mix with
and I
children will not be suffered to
My
our intercourse and communion here end.

(prau)
" I see
ashes
together," said she, with a tone and
them
the bridal canopy

;
my
and
Again looking to the sun
his."
countenance that affected
marriage
soul
!"
me
alluding to the ceremonies of
am satisfied,
and I
really believed
a good deal, " under
that she at that
she saw
that
her
own
moment
spirit
and
that of her husband under the bridal canopy in paradise.
work upon her pride and her
I tried to
told her that
it
fears.
was probable that the rent-free lands
by which her family had been so long supported
might be resumed by the government, as a mark of

its
displeasure against the children for not dissuading
her from the sacrifice

ancestors
that the temples over her
upon the bank might be
levelled with the
ground, in order to prevent their operating to induce

others to
make
similar sacrifices
and
lastly,
that not
one single brick or stone should ever mark the place
where she
But
if
died, if she
she consented to
should be built
for
persisted in her resolution.

live,
her
a splendid habitation
among
handsome provision assigned
these temples
for her support out of

lands
these rent-free
daily to visit her,
My
"
come
should
and I should frequently do the
pulse has long ceased to beat
has departed
and
shall
have nothing
my
but a
left
mix with the ashes of
earth that I wish to
band
children
She smiled, but held out her arm, and
same.
her
29
nothing in burning
suffer
you wish proof, order some
and you
fire,
said
spirit
little
my husand
if
shall see
arm consumed without giving me any pain." I did

not attempt to feel her pulse, but some of my people
this
did,
and declared that
At
this
it
had ceased to be perceptible.
time every native present believed that she
was incapable of
suffering pain;
and her end con-
firmed them in their opinion.

Satisfied myself that
attempt to save her
members
of
the
life,
it
to
and consented that she
burn herself
if
they would
enter into engagements that no other

their family should
all
agreed
to,
to
I sent for all the principal
family,
should be suffered
would be unavailing
member
ever do the same.
of
This they
and the papers having been drawn
out in due form about mid-day,
sent
down no-
who seemed extremely pleased

and thankful.
The ceremonies of bathing were
gone through before three, while the wood and
tice to the old lady,
other combustible materials for a strong

collected,
and put into the
pit.
fire
were
After bathing, she
pawn (betel leaf) and ate it, then rose

and with one arm on the shoulder of her eldest
called for a
up,
son,
and the other on that of her nephew, ap-
30
proached the
fire.
had sentries placed
round,
all
and no other person was allowed to approach within

five paces.
and
it
As she
rose up, fire was set to the pile,
was instantly in a
The
blaze.
distance was
she came on
with a calm and
countenance stopped
Why have they
and
her eyes upward
about one hundred and
yards
fifty
cheerful
once,
casting
kept
me
said
five
coming to the
my
days from thee,
husband
sentries her supporters
walked once round the
pit,
On
!"
stopped
paused a moment
while muttering a prayer threw
the
"
she
and
some flowers
into
She then walked up deliberately and
fire.
steadily to the brink, stepped into the centre of the
flame, sat down,
and leaning back in the midst
as if
reposing upon a couch, was consumed without uttering a shriek or betraying one sign of agony
few instruments of music had been provided, and

they played as usual as she approached the
as
is
commonly supposed,
but to prevent the
last
in order to
fire,
not
drown screams,
words of the victim from
being heard, as these are supposed to be prophetic,
and might become sources of pain or

It
living.
strife
was not expected that I should
to the
yield,
and
but few people had assembled to witness the sacrifice,
so that there
was
little
or nothing in the cir-
cumstances immediately around to

to
any extraordinary exertions
that
it
and I
stimulate
am
her
persuaded
was the desire of again being united to her
husband
in the
next world, and the entire confidence
that she would be so
if
she
now burned
herself,

that alone sustained her.
From
day he
Wednesday
Tuesday,
died,
pawns or betel
ate
till
leaves,
31
the morning of the

evening, she
but nothing else
and
from Wednesday evening she ceased eating them.
She went
She drank no water from Tuesday.

the
fire
worn
into
with the same cloth about her that she had
in the
bed of the
river
but
it
was made wet,
from a persuasion, that even the shadow of any impure thing falling upon her when going to the pile
contaminates
the
woman, unless counteracted by
the sheet moistened in the holy stream.

the
family the justice
to say,
purpose
and had she
lived,
they
that
erted themselves to dissuade the
doos
among whom
first
There
parents are
is
fe-
no
more
and obeyed, than among the Hin-
and the grandmother
than the mother.
ex-
she would assuredly
male member of the whole house.
loved, honoured,
all
widow from her
have been cherished and honoured as the
people in the world
must do
is
always more honoured
No queen upon
her throne could
ever have been approached with more reverence by
her subjects than was this old lady by

bers of her family as she sat
all
the
mem-
upon a naked rock
in
the bed of the river, with only a red rag upon her
head, and a single white sheet over her shoulders
Soon
after the battle of Trafalgar I
heard a young
lady exclaim, " I could really wish to have had a
brother killed in that action."
There
is
no doubt
that a family in which a suttee takes place feels a
good deal exalted in
its
own esteem and
that of the
32
community by the
Rewa was
jah of
The
sacrifice.
Ra-
sister of the
one of four or
five
who
wives
burned themselves with the remains of the Rajah

of Oodeepore
will ever
and nothing
in the course of his life
be recollected by her brother with so much
of pride and pleasure, since the Oodeepore Rajah
is
the head of the Rajpoot tribes.

I asked the old lady
upon
becoming a
when
she had
and she
suttee,
resolved
first
told me,
that
about thirteen years before, while bathing in the river
Nerbudda, near the spot where she then
many
sat,
with
other females of the family, the resolution had
mind as she looked at the splendid

temples on the bank of the river, erected by the
fixed itself in her
different branches of the family over the ashes of her
female relations,
suttees.
who had
at
different times
Two, I think, were over her
aunts,
become
and one
They were very
over the mother of her husband.
beautiful buildings, and had been erected at great cost
and kept
in
good
never mentioned
repair.
this
She
told
me
that she had
her resolution to any one from
that time, nor breathed a syllable on the subject
she called out suth,
breathed his
last
suth,
suth
till
when her husband
with his head in her lap on the

to
which he had been taken
when no hopes remained
of his surviving the fever of
bank of the Nerbudda,

which he
The
died.
following conversation took place one morn-
ing between
me
and a native gentleman
at
Jub-
bulpore soon after suttees had been prohibited by
government.

"
What
33
among whom women
are the castes
are
not permitted to re-marry after the death of their

?"
husbands
"
They
are,
sir,
Buneeas
Brahmans, Rajpoots,
(shopkeepers), Kaets (writers)."

"
Why
not permit them to marry
now
that they
no longer permitted to burn themselves with
are
the dead bodies of their husbands?"

"
The knowledge
selves to a second
caste, tends
that they cannot unite them-
husband without degradation from
strongly to secure their fidelity to the
Besides, if all
first, sir.
marry again, what
widows were permitted to

would remain between
distinction
us and people of lower caste
sink to a level with the lowest

"
And
so
No
should
soon
all
you are content to keep up your caste
at the expense of the poor

"
We
!"
widows ?"
they are themselves as proud of the
dis-
tinction as their husbands are."
"
And would
they, do
you think,
like to
have the
good old custom of burning themselves restored ?"

"
Some
of
them would, no doubt."
"Why?"
"
Because they become re-united to their hus-
bands in paradise, and are there happy, free from

all
the troubles of this

"
life."
But you should not
let
them have any
troubles
as widows."
" If they
members
VOL.
I.
behave well, they are the most honoured
of their deceased husband's families
no-
34
thing in such families

ing them, because
mory
of their
is
all
ever done without consultare proud to have the
lost fathers,
they are
frail
selves at
and brothers so
sons,
But women
honoured by their widows.
methat
feel
and would often rather burn them-
once than be exposed
all their
lives to
temptation and suspicion."
And why do
"
not the
avoid the troubles of

"
men burn
life ?"
Because they are not called to
women are."
"And you think
themselves to
it
from Heaven, as
the
called to be
"
that
we
all
believe that they were called
and supported by the Deity
women
dergo such
and that no tender
could otherwise voluntarily un-
tortures
they
become
Dhoolee Sookul, the Sehora banker's

wife of a Lodhee cultivator of the
dise with
and
him a
was burnt
banker
"
town
declared, all
six
all in vain.
the
dis-
She was between
and had grandchildren
her family tried to persuade her that
be a mistake, but
and
father, died, the
Nothing could
seventh, time.
and sixty years of age

all
When
and that she would now go into para-
suade her from burning herself.

fifty
had been a suttee with him
at once, that she

;
with
inspired
supernatural powers of courage and fortitude
times before
really
?"
burned by the Deity
No doubt
beings like
women were
the
She became a
day after
the
it
must
suttee,
body of the
!"
Did not Dhoolee Sookul's
family,
who were
Brahmans, try to dissuade her from

Lodhee, a very low caste
"
They
did
God
with
was a
and
it
things were possible
was generally believed, that
"
And what became
"
She
widow
of the banker's
this
?"
that she felt no divine call
said
This was thirty years ago
was about
"
all
from heaven."
call
flames.
she being a
it,
?"
but they said
35
will
and the banker
when he
thirty years of age
Then he
to the
died
."
have rather an old wife in pa-
radise ?"
"
No,
upon
"
sir
through the flames
after they pass
earth, both
become young
Sometimes women used
to
in paradise."
burn themselves with
anv relict of a husband who had died

did they not
" Yes,
sir,
from home,
far
?"
remember a fisherman, about twenty
who went on some

from Jubbulpore, and who was
years ago,
business to Banares
to
have been back in
Six months passed away without any
two months.
news of him and at last the wife dreamed that he

had died on the road, and began forthwith, in the
;
middle of the
night,
to
call
out Sut, Sut, Sut!
Nothing could dissuade her from burning
morning a
pile
was raised
for
her,
and
in the
on the north
bank of the large tank of Hoonooman, where you

have planted an
avenue of
There
trees.
saw
her burned with her husband's turban in her arms
and
"
in ten days after, her
Now
husband came back
the burning has been prohibited,
cannot get rid of a bad wife so easily
?"
d 2
!"
man
36
"
But she was a good
wife,
and bad ones do
sir,
not often become suttees."

"
Who made
"
Some
thought
must have been a
it
You
?"
of her family, but I forget who;
in reality,
"
the pile for her
call
they
from heaven, when,
was only a dream."
it
are a Rajpoot ?"
Yes."
"
Do
now
Rajpoots, in this part of India,
destroy
their female infants ?"

"
Never
that practice has ceased everywhere in
these parts
and
is
growing into disuse in Bundel-
cund, where the Rajahs, at the request of the British
government, have prohibited
among
their sub-
You
This was a measure of real good.
jects.
now
girls
it
at play in villages,
see
where the face of one
was never seen before, nor the voice of one heard."

"
But
still
say that the
who have them grumble, and

government which caused them to be
those
preserved should undertake to provide for their marIs
riage.
"
At
infants
it
first
not so?"
they grumbled a
grew upon
no more about
their
little,
sir
affections,
they
thought
it."
Goorchurn Baboo, the principal of the

bulpore College, called upon
after this
but as the
conversation.
He
me
Jub-
little
one forenoon, soon
was educated
in
the
Calcutta College; speaks and writes English exceedingly well;
and
is
is
tolerably well read in English literature,
decidedly a thinking man.
After talking over
37
the matter which caused his
Lodhee woman's burning

banker at Sehora
of
I told
visit,
him of the
Brahman
herself with the
and asked him what he thought
it.
He
had
"
said,
That
in
been the
really
some former
birth
of
themselves
with
his
burning,
large
serpent
other
came
mer
While
body.
came
up,
sacrifice.
When
were performed
offerings
they
and
Soon
were
ascendan-
after,
They were seen
satisfied that
they
his great grandfather in a for-
and would become
birth,
sin-
own family. His

wives, who all burnt
by the whole multitude, who were

had been the wives of
in
in his
and did the same
up,
Brahman
the
was burnt with them.
pile,
woman
which transposition a
had three
great-grandfather
of
wife
had occurred
gular case
ing the
probability this
all
so
again after
this
the Suradh, or funeral obsequies,

after the prescribed intervals, the
and prayers were regularly made
souls instead of four
and to
this
of his family, and every Hindoo
day every
for six
member
who had heard
the
story, believed that these
two serpents had a just
right to be
among
considered as
to be prayed for accordingly in all Suradh
few days
cipal of the
and
his ancestors,
!"
after this conversation with the prin-
Jubbulpore College, I had a
visit
from
BholeeSookul,the present head of the Sehora banker's

family,
and youngest brother of the Brahman with
whose ashes the Lodhee woman burned

requested him to
tell
me
all
herself.
that he recollected
38
about this singular suttee,

lows
"
and he did so as
fol-
When my
eldest brother, the father of the late
Dhoolee Sookul, who was

under you
so long a native collector
about twenty years
in this district, died
ago at Sehora, a Lodhee woman, who resided two

miles distant in the village of Khittolee, which has
been held by our family

clared that she
funeral pile
for several
would burn herself with him on the
that she had been his
different births,
wife in three
had already burnt herself with him
three times, and had to burn with
more.
generations, de-
She was then
him four times
husband living about the same age.
We
astounded when she came forward with
and
told
her that
it
and had a
sixty years of age,
this
that there was no mistake in the matter
the last birth, resided with
my
all
story
as
we
She
said
must be a mistake,
were Brahmans, while she was a Lodhee.
in
were
that she,
brother in the
sacred city of Banares, and one day gave a holy
man who came
to ask charity,
salt,
by mistake,
in-
stead of sugar with his food.
That, in consequence,
he told her she should,
next
in the
be sepa-
birth,
rated from her husband, and be of inferior caste
but that,
if
she did her duty well in that state, she
should be reunited to him in the following birth.
We
told her that all this
widow of my brother
must be a dream
insisted that if she
and the
were not
allowed to burn herself, the other should not be
allowed to take her place.
We
prevented the
widow from ascending the
pile,
good old age only two years ago

ther's
body was burned
woman came and
at Sehora,
39
and she died at a
My bro-
at Sehora.
and the poorLodhee
one handful of the ashes
stole
which she placed in her bosom, and took back with
There she prevailed upon her hus-
her to Khittolee.
band and
his brother to assist her in
her return to
No
her former husband and caste as a Brahman.

soul else
would
assist
them, as
native chief to prohibit
it
we
got the then
and these three persons
brought on their own heads the pile on which she

seated herself with the ashes in her bosom.
husband and
The
and she
his brother set fire to the pile,
was burned."
"
And what
twenty years
"
Why,
brother
is
opinion, after a lapse of
?"
that she had really been the wife of

for at
now your
the pile she prophesied that
nephew Dhoolee should

had been, high
in
be,
what
And what
"He
was
grandfather
the service of the government
and, as you know, he soon after

"
his
my
my
became
did your father think
so satisfied that she
so."
?"
had been the wife
of his eldest son in a former birth, that he defrayed

all
the expenses of her funeral ceremonies
them
all
observed with as
those of any
still
member
much
magnificence as
of the family.
to be seen at Khittolee,
and had
Her tomb
and that of
mv
is
brother
at Sehora."
I
went
to look at these
tombs with Bholee Sookul

8
40
himself some short time after this conversation
found that
village
all
of Khittolee really believed, that
birth,
for the fourth time.
the
old
his brother's wife in a for-
and had now burned herself
his at Sehora.
and
the people of the town of Sehora and
Lodhee woman had been
mer
Her tomb
is
as his
widow
at Khittolee,
and
41
CHAPTER
V.
MARRIAGES OF TREES THE TANK AND THE PLAINTA1N

METEORS RAINBOWS.
Before
thought
went
it
which place
quitting Jubbulpore, to
very unlikely that I should ever return, I
to visit the groves in the vicinity, which, at the
time I held the
charge of the
civil
had been planted by

lands assigned to
district in
different native
them rent
1828,
gentlemen upon
free for the
purpose,
on condition that the holder should bind himself to

plant trees at the rate of twenty-five to the acre, and
keep them up
however
at that rate
small,
and
that for each grove,
he should build and keep
in repair
a well lined with masonry for watering the trees, and
Some
for the benefit of travellers.*
had already begun to yield

* In planting
mango
groves,
fruit,
it is
of these groves
and
all
had been
a rule that they shall be as
from each other, as not to admit of their branches ever

" Plant trees but let them not touch."
" Aum
meeting.
far
lugow
nais lugee nuheen,"
is
the
maxim.
42
Among
married.
the Hindoos, neither the
man who
plants a grove nor his wife can taste of the fruit
till
married one of the mango trees to some
he has
other tree (commonly the tamarind tree) that grows
near
The
same grove.
in the
it
proprietor of one of
these groves that stands between the
cantonment
and the town, old Berjore Sing, had spent so much

in planting
and watering the grove, and building
walls and wells of pucka masonry, that he could not

afford to defray the
monies
till
the rest
expense of the marriage cere-
one of the
when
which was older than
trees,
planted, began to bear fruit in
and poor old Berjore Sing and
his
1833
old wife were in
great distress, that they dared not taste of the fruit
whose flavour was much praised by
They began
serious duty,
to
their children.
think that they had
neglected a
and might, in consequence, be taken
off
come round. They there-
before another season could

fore sold all their silver
and gold ornaments, and bor-
rowed
and before the next season
all
they could
the grove was married with
all
due pomp and cere-
mony, to the great delight of the old

of the fruit in
The
pair,
who
tasted
June 1834.
larger the
number
of
Brahmans
that are fed
on the occasion of the marriage, the greater the glory

of the proprietor of the grove;
old Berjore Sing, during
many he had
feasted,
he
my
and when I asked
visit to his grove,
said,
how
with a heavy sigh,
that he had been able to feast only one hundred and

fifty.
He showed me
the
mango
tree
which had
;;
MARRIAGES OF TREES.
43
acted the part of the bridegroom on the occasion
but the bride had disappeared from his
where
is
the bride, the tamarind
"
?"
"
side.
And
The only tama-
rind I had in the grove died," said the old man, " be-
we
fore
could bring about the wedding
obliged to get a jasmine for a wife for

I planted
here, so that
it
we
and I was
my
mango.
might, as required, cover
both bride and bridegroom under one canopy during

the ceremonies
but after the marriage was over, the
gardener neglected her, and she pined away and died."

"
And what made you
prefer the jasmine to
trees after the tamarind ?"
celebrated of
Because
for a wife ?"
"
it is
"
save the rose."
all trees
have chosen the rose
"
all
other
the most
And why
not
Because no one
ever heard of a marriage between the rose and the
mango while they take place every day between the

mango and the chumbaelec (jasmine)."
;
After returning from the groves, I had a

after breakfast
from a learned
Mahomedan, now
guardian to the young Rajah of Oocheyrah,

sides part of his time at Jubbulpore.
my
visit to
visit
who
re-
mentioned
the groves, and the curious notion of the
Hindoos regarding the necessity of marrying them

and he told me, that among Hindoos, the man who
went
to the expense of
drink of
waters
its
some banana
tree,
till
making a
tank, dared not
he had married
his
tank to
planted on the bank for the pur-
pose.
"
But what,"
expect from
said he, with a smile, " could
men who
believe that Indur
is
you
the god
44
who
rules the heavens immediately over the earth
that he sleeps during eight
months
during the other four his time

his duties of
is
in the year,
and
divided between
sending down rain upon the earth, and
repelling with his arrows Rajah Bull,
who by
his
austere devotions (Tupaseea) has received from the
higher gods a promise of the reversion of his do-
The
minions.
lightning which
we
see," said
the
learned Moulavee, " they believe to be nothing more
than the glittering of these arrows, as they are shot
from the bow of Indur upon

" But,
my
good
friend,
his foe
Rajah Bull."*
Moulavee Sahib, there are
many good Mahomedans who believe that the meteors, which we call shooting stars, are in reality
stars which the guardian angels of man snatch from
the spheres, and throw at the devil as they see him
passing through the
air,
or hiding himself under one
or other of the constellations.

"
Yes,
it
is
but
holy prophet for
we have
Is
not so
down
companions, in the sacred traditions
bound
to believe
upon the
* There
earth,
is
the lightning
When
it.
he found
?"
the authority of the
as delivered
this,
it
to us
by
his
and we are
our holy prophet came
to be infested with a host
it
a sublime passage in the Psalms of David, where
is
said to be the arrows of
" The clouds poured out water
God.
Psalm
Ixxvii.
the skies sent out a sound
thine arrows also went abroad.
The
voice of thy thunder
lightened the world
was
in the
heavens
the lightnings
the earth trembled and shook."
45
METEORS.
who, by their abominable
of magicians,
rites
and
incantations, get into their interests certain devils,
whom
or demons,
they used to send up to heaven,
the orders which the angels received
to listen to
from God, regarding
men and
the world below.
hearing these orders they came
them
On
and reported
off,
who were thereby enabled
to the magicians,
to foretel the events which the angels were ordered

to bring about.
In
this
manner they often
over-
heard the orders which the angel Gabriel received
from God
and communicated them
cians as soon as he could deliver
this diabolical
them
to our holy
manner, these wretches tried to turn
prophecies into ridicule
effects of
God
the magi-
Exulting in the knowledge obtained in
prophet.
his
to
and seeing the
evil
among men, he prayed to

them. From that time guardian
such practices
to put a stop to
angels have been stationed in different parts of the
heavens, to keep off the devils
of
them
as soon as
one
sees a devil sneaking too near the heaven of
heavens, he snatches the nearest

This, he added,
him."
and
star,
and
flings it at
was what all true Mahomedans
believed regarding the shooting of stars.
He
had read
nothing about them in the works of Plato, Aristotle,

Hippocrates, or Galen,
fully studied
all
of which he had care-
and should be glad
what modern philosophers
in
to learn
from
me
Europe thought about
them.
I
explained to him the supposed distance and
bulk of the fixed
stars,
visible
to the
naked eye
46
their being radiant with
unborrowed
light,
and pro-
own sun, the great

own embracing the
bably every one of them, like our

centre of a solar system of
vast orbits of
numerous
with their attendant
its
planets, revolving
satellites
the
around
it
stars visible to the
naked eye being but a very small portion of the whole

which the telescope had now made
to us
and those
distinctly visible
distinctly visible being
among many thousand with which

Galileo,
one cluster
the genius
of
Newton, the Herschells, and many other
modern philosophers had discovered the heavens

I remarked,
to be studded
that the notion that
these mighty suns, the centres of planetary systems,
should be
made merely
to be
thrown
at devils
and
demons, appeared to us just as unaccountable as

those of the Hindoos regarding Indurs arrows.
" But," said he, " these foolish
still
greater
rainbow
is
They believe
absurdities.
that
the
nothing more than the fume of a large
snake, concealed
forth this
Hindoos believe
under the ground
fume from a hole
that he vomits
in the surface of the
earth, without being himself seen;
and when you
ask them, why, in that case, the rainbow should be

in the west while the sun
east while the sun
what to
is
is
in the east,
and
in the west, they
in the
know
not
say."*
* Nine Hindoos out of ten, or perhaps ninety-nine in a hundred, throughout India, believe the rainbow to arise from the
breath of the snake, thrown up from the surface of the earth,

as water is
thrown up by whales from the surface of the ocean.
47
METEORS.
"
The
truth
is,
my
Moulavee Sahib, the
friend,
Hindoos, like a very great part of every other nation, are
very
much
disposed to attribute to super-
natural influences effects that the wiser portion of
know
our species
to rise from natural causes."
The Moulavee was
In the Mishcatol Ma-
right.
prophet,
sabeh, the authentic traditions of their

is
widow
stated, that iEsha, (the
" I
heard his majesty
of
Mahomed,)
the angels
say,
it
said,
come down
to
the regions next the world, and mention the works

that have been pre ordained in heaven;
devils,
who descend
words, and
the
in heaven, carry
hearing
them
states:
the
orders
lies
One
"
of the holy prophet's
night with his
majesty,
in
sitting
company with
other friends, a very bright star shot.

'
who found
of their own."
me, that while he was
the prophet,
predestined
to fortune-tellers,
friends informed
manded
the
to the lowest regions, listen to
upon them a hundred
Abu Abas
when
'
one
several
What,' de-
did you say in the days of
when a star shot like this?' They reGod and his messenger know best but we
ignorance,
plied,
'
used to
man was
say, that a great
a great
man
died.'*
'
There,'
born to-night, or
said
his
majesty,
* In Sparta, the Euphori, once every nine years, watched the
sky during a whole cloudless, moonless night, in profound

lence
and
if
they saw a shooting
cate that the kings of Sparta
star, it
to indi-
had disobeyed the gods, and
authority was in consequence suspended

fied
was understood
till
by an oracle from Delphi or Olympia.
si-
their
they had been puri-
48
the
'you mistake
neither
the
for
When
sons.
of these stars
shootings
nor the death
life
our
cherislier
are
of great per-
a work,
orders
the
bearers of the imperial throne sing hallelujahs, and
the inhabitants
till
of
the nearer
reaches the lowest regions.
it
it,
After that the
which are near the bearers of the imperial
angels,
throne,
say,
Then they
What
"
informed
are
your
did
so
and the
and carry
stars are
it
handed
is
it
information
the
till
Then the
reaches the people of the lowest.

it,
order?"
cherisher
and
from one region to another,
steal
repeat
regions
devils
to their friends the magicians;
thrown at these
devils,
and not
for
Thus the things

having heard them from
the birth or death of any person.
which the magicians

the devils, are true
tell,
but they add
and exaggerate everything they
The prophet
declared, "
three uses; one of
the regions
them
God
of their own,
lies
hear.'
has created stars for
as a cause of
ornament of
the second, to pelt the devils with
the third, to direct people going through forests and
on the
Therefore, whoever shall explain
sea.
them
otherwise does wrong, and loses his time, and speaks
from
his
own
Ibu Abas.
invention, and embellishes."

"
The prophet
whoever
said,
attains to
the knowledge of astrology, for any other explanation
than the three afore-mentioned, then verily he has

attained to a branch of magic.
magician, and a magician
cromancer
is
an
infidel
!"
is
An
astrologer
is
a necromancer, and a ne-
(Book
i.
chap. 3
book
THE DEVILS.
49
Camp
Mishcatol Masabeh, or the
xxi. chap. 3.
This work con-
the Companions of the Prophet.)
and sayings
tains the precepts
of
Mahomed,
of
as
who themselves heard

who heard them immediately
declared by his companions,
them
or
by those
from those companions

to be binding
upon the
mans, though
not
Everything that
and they are considered

and conduct of Mussul-
faith
delivered from inspiration.
all
written in the
is
Koran
itself,
supposed to have been brought direct from
is
God by
the angel Gabriel.*

* But the prying character of these devils
Koran
all
According to Mahomedans they had access to
itself.
the seven heavens,
excluded from three
and
last!
and have
set
and
spectators,
stones
flame
We
Christ got
is
to get
who
them excluded from
got
them
three more;
them excluded from the seventh
have placed the twelve signs in the heavens,
them out
in various figures for the observation of
and we guard them from every
except
the time of Moses,
till
Mahomed managed
u
described in the
is
him who
darted."
by
listeneth
Chap.
xv.
heaven with the ornament of
<(
We
stars,
devil driven
stealth,
away with
whom
at
a visible
have adorned the lower
and we have placed therein
a guard against every rebellious devil, that they
may
not listen
to the discourse of exalted princes, for they are darted at from
every side, to repel them, and a lasting torment
him who catcheth a word by

sued by a shining flame."
Chap xxxvii.
them
except
is
prepared for
stealth,
VOL.
I.
and
is
pur-
50
CHAPTER
VI.
HINDOO MARRIAGES.
Certain
it
is
that no
Hindoo
will
months of the
riage in his family during the four
rainy season;
for
among
have a mar-
eighty millions of souls,
not one doubts that the Great Preserver of the

universe
to
visit
is,
during these four months,
down on a
Rajah Bull, and, consequently, unable to

Marriage
bless the contract with his presence.
sacred duty
among Hindoos,
is
a duty which every
parent must perform for his children, otherwise they
owe him no
reverence.
A family, with
married after the age of puberty,
a daughter un-
is
considered to
labour under the displeasure of the gods
member
is
and no
of the other sex considers himself respect-
after the age of puberty,
able,
till
he
is
married.
It
the duty of his parent or elder brothers to have
him
suitably married
and
if
they do not do
so,
reproaches them with his degraded condition.
same
feeling,
in
less
degree,
pervades
all
he
The
the
HINDOO MARRIAGES.
Mahomedan community
strange to
them
bachelors
among
with
riage,
ties,
fills
all
51
and nothing appears so
as the apparent indifference of old
us to their sad condition
ceremonies,
its
its
and
rights
Mar-
its
their imagination from infancy to age
I do not believe there
is
du-
and
a country upon earth in
which a larger portion of the wealth of the community
is
spent in the ceremonies, or where the rights are
better secured, or the duties better enforced, not-
withstanding
the disadvantages of the laws of
all
Not one man
polygamy.
more than one
tain
those
who can
afford
wife,
it
in ten can afford to
and not one
will
first.
One
Indian soeiety,
in ten of
venture " upon a sea of
troubles" in taking a second,
the
main-
if
he has a child by
of the evils which press most upon

is
the necessity which long usage has
established of squandering large
sums
in marriage
Instead of giving what they can to
ceremonies.
their children to establish them,
and enable them to
provide for their families, and rise in the world, parents everywhere feel
have, and
all
bound
to squander all they
they can borrow, in the festivities of
their marriage.
Men
in India could never feel se-
cure of being permitted freely to enjoy their property under despotic and unsettled governments, the
only kind of governments they
knew
or hoped for
and much of the means, that would otherwise have

been
laid out in
forming substantial works, with a
view to a return in income of some sort or another,

for the
remainder of their own
lives,
and
for those
e 2
52
of their children, were expended in tombs, temples,

suraes, tanks, groves,
and other works, useful and
ornamental, no doubt, but from which neither they
nor their children could ever hope to derive income of
any kind. The same feeling of insecurity gave
no doubt, to
much
to
this preposterous usage,
birth,
which tends so
keep down the great mass of the people of
India to that grade in which they were born, and in
which they have nothing but their manual labour to
depend upon
for their subsistence.
himself bound to waste
exhaust
all
his
all his
credit, in
Every man
feels
stock and capital, and
feeding idlers during the
ceremonies which attend the marriage of his
chil-
dren, because his ancestors squandered similar sums,
and he would sink

were to allow
in the estimation of society if
his children to
be married with
he
less.
But it could not have been solely because men could

not invest their means in profitable works, with any
chance of being long permitted to enj oy the profits under

such despotic and unsettled governments, that they
squandered them in feeding idle people in marriage

ceremonies;
since temples, tanks,
esteem in
cured
this
life,
and groves
se-
and promised some ad-
vantage in the next, and an outlay in such works
might therefore have been preferred.
But under
such governments a man's
title
sive possession of his wife,
might not be considered
as altogether secure
ligion
even to the exclu-
under the mere sanction of
and the outlay
re-
in feeding the family, tribe,
and neighbourhood, during the marriage ceremony,
53
HINDOO MARRIAGES.
seems to have been considered
as a
kind of value in
There
exchange given for her to society.
that she and her husband recollect through

;
so
much
with
life
pride and pleasure as the cost of their mar-
happen to be large
riage, if it
life
nothing
is
it is
their
Amoku,
their parents consider
their title of nobility

their duty to
it
A man
large as they can.
for their condition in
make
would hardly
and
it
as
feel secure
of the sympathy of his family, tribe, circle of society,
or rulers, for the loss of " his ox, or his ass,
or anything that
is his,"
him nothing;
cost
if it
and
till
of their sympathy for the
should happen to have
he could
who
by an outlay which
a tangible value in
rulers.
feel
He, therefore, or
are interested in his welfare, strengthen
his security
and
secure
he would not
loss,
very secure in the possession.

those
feel
cost,
invests his wife with
well understood by his circle
His family,
tribe,
and
circle,
have re-
ceived the purchase money, and feel bound to secure

to
all
him the commodity purchased
and as they are in
much stronger than the

money spent among them is
such matters commonly
rulers themselves, the
more
efficacious in securing the exclusive
of the wife, than

to
them
lies
and
if it
had been paid in taxes or
for a marriage licence.

tribes,
enjoyment
The
fees
pride of fami-
and the desire of the multitude to
participate in the
enjoyment of such ceremonies,
tend to keep up this usage after the cause in which

it
originated
will,
it
is
may have
ceased to operate; but
it
to be hoped, gradually decline with the
54
increased feeling of security to person, property, and

character, under our rule.
Nothing
is
now more
common than to see an individual in the humblest rank

spending
all
that he has, or can borrow, in the mar-
riage of one of
many
daughters, and trusting to Pro-
vidence for the means of marrying the others

in
nor
the higher, to find a young man, whose estates
have,
during a long minority,
management of government
under the careful
officers,
been freed from
very heavy debts, with which an improvident father
had
his
them encumbered, the moment he attains

majority, and enters upon the management,
left
borrowing three times their annual
rent, at
an exor-
bitant interest, to marry a couple of sisters, at the
same
rate of outlay, in feasts
and fireworks, that
grandmother was married with.
his
55
CHAPTER
VII.
THE PURVEYANCE SYSTEM.
We
left
Jubbulpore on the morning of the 20th
November, 1835, and came on ten miles
to Bughoree.
Several of our friends of the 29th native infantry
accompanied us
good
shooting.
day's
some venders
where they had a
this first stage,
in wood,
In 1830, I established here

to save the people from the
miseries of the purveyance system
but I
now found
that a native collector, soon after I had resigned the

civil
charge of the district and gone to Saugor, in
order to ingratiate himself with the
officers,
and get
from them favourable testimonials, gave two
regi-
ments, as they marched over this road, free permission to help themselves gratis out of the store-rooms
of these poor men,
whom
I had set
up with a loan
from the public treasury, declaring that

the
it
wish and intention of government
their public officers free of cost
Wood
shops
for
all
and
shopkeepers
public
officers
supply
and consequently
that no excuses could be attended
time
to
must be
to.
have
From
that
disappeared.
and establishments
56
passing this road has ever since, as in former times,
been collected from the surrounding

under the 'purveyance system,
public officers delight
men
and
all
afraid
They do not
is
like the
paid either for their
their
native
from their
officers, either
ignorance or their indolence.
or their labour;
which
and which I am
encouraged by European
trouble of seeing the
in
villages gratis,
wood
head servants of
the
kitchen or the wardrobe weary and worry them out
They make
of their best resolutions on the subject.
the poor
men
master
a tiger before breakfast, and will eat
if
is
they approach
there
is
aloof by telling them, that their
sit
and they
no getting the poor
tell their
men
to
them
masters, that
come
for their
money till they have bathed or taken their breakfast. The latter wait in hopes that the gentleman will
come out or send for them as soon as he has been
tamed by
his breakfast
good humour with
all
but this meal has put him in

the world, and he
now no
is
longer unwilling to trust the payment of the poor
men
to his butler, or his valet de chambre.
They
keep the poor wretches waiting, declaring that they

have as yet received no orders to pay them,
hungry and weary,
in the
afternoon they
all
till,
walk
back to their homes in utter despair of getting anything.
If,
in the
mean
time,
the gentleman comes
out and finds the men, his servants pacify him by

declaring, either that they have not yet
had time to
that they could not get

rupees or
they were
carry his orders into effect
copper change for silver
that
57

anxious to collect
the people together before they
all
them twice
he comes among
paid any, lest they might pay some of

over.
It
them
at all
have
all
account
seldom, however, that
is
he takes
for granted that the people
it
been paid; and passes the charge in the

of his
porters ought
who
servants,
to have
get what
all
these
Or, perhaps
received.
gentleman may persuade himself, that
if
the
he pays
his
valet or butler, these functionaries will never pay the
poor
men
and think that he had better
and keep the money

police
to
or revenue officer
have wood collected
great civil officers
is
pocket.
The
native
directed by his superior
for the
camp
of a regiment or
and he sends out his myrmidons to
employ the people around
up wood enough
own
in his
quiet
sit
in felling trees,
and cutting
supply not only the camp, but
to
own cook-rooms and those of his friends for the

The men so employed commonly
next six months.
his
get nothing
all
but the native
manner of
enumerated
officer receives credit for
superlatively good qualities, which are
in a certificate.
to the affections of families
Many
and
a fine tree, dear
village communities,
has been cut clown in spite, or redeemed from the
axe by a handsome present to
myrmidons.
all
Lambs,
fowls,
milk, vegetables,
come flowing in for the great man's
people,
who
table from poor
are too hopeless to seek for payment, or
whoare represented
it.
kids,
officer or to his
this
as too proud and wealthy to receive
Such always have been and such always
some of the
evils
will
of the purveyance system.
be
If a
58
police officer receives an order from the magistrate
to provide
a regiment, detachment,
with boats,
carts, bullocks, or porters,
or individual
he has
all
that
can be found within his jurisdiction forthwith seized
releases all those
willing to pay
rest,
whose proprietors are able and
what he demands, and furnishes the
which are generally the worst, to the persons
who
require them.
profit
much
from these applications, that they are always
anxious
defeat
Police officers derive so
they should be made; and will privately
all
attempts of private individuals to provide
themselves, by dissuading or intimidating the pro-
from voluntarily furnishing them.
prietors of vehicles
The gentleman's
servant
them, returns and
tells
who
his
is
sent to
procure
master, that there are
plenty of vehicles, but that their proprietors dare
not send them without orders from the police

that the police tell
and
him they dare not give such
orders without the special sanction of the magistrate.
The magistrate
is
written to
but declares that
his
police have been prohibited from interfering in such
matters without special orders, since the proprietors
ought to be permitted to send their vehicles to

they choose,
emergency
as
whom
except on occasions of great public
and
as the present cannot
one of these occasions, he does not
be considered
feel authorized
to issue such orders.
On
made
by pretending a general autho-
large fortunes
the Ganges,
many men have
rity to seize boats for the use of the commissariat or
for other
government purposes, on the ground of
59
having been once or twice employed on that duty
and what they get

which the public
is
but a very small portion of that
One
lose.
of these self-constituted
functionaries has a boat seized on
up the
river
way down
its
or
and the crew, who are merely hired for
the occasion, and have a month's wages in advance,

seeing no
hands of
soon
prospect of getting
this
while the owner,
he ever learn the real state of the
up with
better to put
the
of
pretended government servant, desert,
and leave the boat on the sands

if
out
his loss
case, thinks it
than to seek redress
through expensive courts, and distant local authoIf the boat
rities.
happens to be loaded and to
have a supercargo who will not or cannot

high enough, he
crew
is
abandoned on the sands by
in his search for aid
his helplessness
dered, or runs
the boat
is
bribe
his
from the neighbourhood,
he
becomes known
is
perhaps mur-
away in the apprehension of being
plundered and made a wreck
still
so
the
dread of the delays and costs of our courts, and the

utter hopelessness of ever recovering the lost property, prevent the proprietors from seeking redress,
and our government authorities know nothing of the

circumstances.
We remained
at
Bughoree the
people to prepare for the

before
them
pore friends,
ing,
and
in the
they had
more of our Jubbul-
to have another day's
as black partridges
abundant
long march
to see a little
who were
21st, to enable our
shoot-
and quail had been found
neighbourhood of our camp.
60
CHAPTER
VIII.
SELF-GOVERNMENT OF THE CASTES

CHIMNEY-SWEEPERS WASHERWOMEN ELEPHANT-DRIVERS.
RELIGIOUS SECTS
Meer Sulamut
the
district,
Ali, the head native collector of
a venerable old Mussulman, and most
valuable public servant,
who
the same vineyard with
me
with great
me
young
wife's
for the last fifteen years
and
after breakfast with his
resting
my
zeal, ability,
has been labouring in
integrity,
to visit
two very pretty and
While we were
sons.
came
inte-
sitting together,
under- woman said to some one
who was
talking with her outside the tent door, " If that were
really the case, should I not
Meer
Sahib," said
of society
caste,
among
be degraded ?" "
" that the very lowest
I,
these Hindoos
still feel
and dread exclusion from
You
see,
members
the pride of
their own,
however
low."
" Yes,"
said the
kind of people
Meer,
" they are a very strange
and I question whether they ever
had a real prophet among them

" I question,
Meer
had such a person.
!"
Sahib, whether they really ever
They of course think the
incar-
61
RELIGIOUS SECTS.
nation of their three great divinities were beings
being in
infinitely
superior
attributes
and prerogatives equal to the divinities
themselves.
to prophets,
But we are disposed
gods
this
was the way
in
men were generally
These great
Egypt.
of their fellow creatures
which their
flatterers are
and
most prone
All that the poets have sung of the ac-
to extol
men
of
tions
their
conquerors, whose glory consisted
destruction
this is the glory
men made
which
gods in ancient Greece and
in the
men
and poets have exalted into
their flatterers
to think, that these
nothing more than great
incarnations were
whom
their
all
now
is
received as revelation from
can be more monstrous
heaven; though nothing
than the actions attributed to the best incarnation,

Krishna, of the best of their gods, Vishnoo."
No
"
doubt," said Sulamut Ali
ever had a real prophet

revealed better things
when
their
women
"
and had they
among them he would have

strange people
to them
go on pilgrimages to Guya, they
have their heads shaved before the image of their god
and the offering of the hair

of their heads
is
equivalent to the offer
thank God, they dare no
for heads,
longer offer within the Company's territories

"
Do you, Meer
offer
up human
!"
Sahib, think that they continue to
sacrifices
" Certainly I do.
anywhere
There
is
?"
a Rajah at Ruttun-
pore, or
somewhere between Mundlah and Sum-
bhulpore,
who has
year
and that
man
offered
man must
up
to
Dovy
be a Brahman.
every
If he
62
can get a Brahman traveller, well and good
he and
his
one of
priests offer
Every Brahman that has
own
his
if
not,
subjects.
to pass through this terri-
With what energy did our

emperor Ourungzebe apply himself to put down initory goes in disguise.
quities like this in the
vain
Rajpootana states
If a Rajah died,
all his
but
all in
numerous wives burnt
themselves with his body
even their servants, male
and female, were obliged
to do the
his friends,
what
out attendants
sat the
is
said
for,
he to do in the next world with-
The
same
was enormous
pile
on the top
queen with the body of the prince the servants,

;
male and female, according to

and a large army stood
again or
kill all
" This
is
all
all
degree,
their
below;
round to drive into the
fire
who should attempt to escape !"

very true, Meer Sahib, but you must
admit, that though there

in their customs
is
a great deal of absurdity
and opinions, there
is,
on the other
much that we might all take an example

from. The Hindoo believes that Christians and Mussulmans may be as good men in all relations of life
hand,
as himself,
for
and in as
he believes, that
much
revelations
a way to heaven as he
fair
my
by the
guidance, as the Shastres are for
med was
from us
to allow
him
gods, and to worship
his.
Son of God
the prophet of
is,
Bible and your Koran are as
framed
that our Christ was the
is
in
God
and
Deity for our
He
doubts not
nor that Mahoall
that he asks
freely to believe in his

his
own way.
own
Nor does
one caste or one sect of Hindoos ever believe
itself
RELIGIOUS SECTS.
63
any other
to be alone in the right way, or detest
for
much
not following in the same path, as they have as
of toleration for each other as they have for us."

" True,"
exclaimed Sulamut
have ruined each other
" too true
Ali,
we have
we
cut each others
we have lost the empire, and we deserve to

You won it, and you preserved it by your
lose it.
union ten men with one heart are equal to a hundred men with different hearts.
A Hindoo may feel
throats
himself authorised to take in a Mussulman, and might
even think
it
never think
it
meritorious to do so
Mahomedans;
of
but he would
meritorious to take in one of his
There are no
religion.
and
own
than seventy-two sects
less
every one
of
these
sects
would not only take in the followers of every other

religion
on
earth, but every
member
the other seventy-one sects

sect
is
to
"
"*
!
Something has happened of
I fear,
*
late to
annoy you
Meer Sahib?"
Meer Sulamut
Ali
and they are always

sect of Ali.
He
other seventy-one.
one day heard to
is
at
a staunch Soonnee, the sect of
is
when he
says that one of
always ready to take in the whole of the
Mahomed, according to the traditions, was

say, " The time will come when my followers
be divided into seventy-three sects
go to hell save one."

lieves itself to
Osman
daggers drawn with the Sheeas, or the
alludes to the Sheeas
the seventy-two sects
will
and the nearer that
own, the greater the merit in taking in
its
members
its
of every one of
all
of
them will assuredly
Every one of the seventy- three
sects be-
be the one happily excepted by their prophet, and
predestined to paradise.
am
8
sometimes disposed to
think
64
u
Something happens to annoy us every
where we are more than one
day,
sir,
sect of us together;
and wherever you find Mussulmans you
them
will find
divided into sects."

It
men
not perhaps
is
known
to
many
my
of
town
that in every city and
in India,
countryin the
country the right of sweeping the houses and streets

is
one of the most intolerable of monopolies, sup-
ported entirely by the pride
who
scavengers,
of caste among the
are all of the lowest class
The
right of sweeping within a certain range
is
nized by the caste to belong to a certain
member
and
if
any other member presumes to sweep within
that range, he
will
recog-
is
no other member
excommunicated
smoke out of
his pipe, or drink out of his
and he can get restored
to caste only
by a
jug
feast to the
If any house-keeper within
whole body of sweepers.
a particular circle happens to offend the sweeper of
Mahomed was
account for so
to conceive a
self-deluded,
however
difficult
might be
it
much "method in his madness." It is difficult

man placed in such circumstances with more ami-
able dispositions or with juster views of the rights
men
all
his divine mission
A very
was concerned.
interesting
mankind have been
and useful book might be made out of the
more or
led
less
mad, by
whom
and perhaps governed
phical analysis of the points on

really sane,
by
where the question of faith in
occasions, save
history of those men,
for a
and duties of
in all their relations with each other, than are exhibited
him on almost
to
which they were
would show many of them
to
madhouse during the whole career of
multitudes of
and a philosoreally
have been
their glory
fit
mad and
subjects
65
COMBINATIONS.
that range, none of his filth will be
removed
till
he
pacifies him,
because no other sweeper will dare
touch
and the people of a town are often
to
it;
more tyrannized over by these people than by any

other.
It
is
worthy of remark, that in India the
of combination
spirit
is
to the rank of the class
upon the
Every
infringements
All
which every member
fine furnishes a feast at
Payment
no one of the
smoke with the convicted

as every
and
of the class are punished by fines.
rules
excommunication
and
in the highest,
class.
and enjoys himself.
sits,
or
weakest
the lowest
strongest in
always in the inverse ratio
his best to enforce
payment.
enforced by
caste will eat, drink,
till
one shares in the
is
the fine
fine,
The
is
paid
every one does
fines are
imposed
by the elders who know the circumstances of the

culprit,
men
and
fix
the amount accordingly.
Washer-
combine
to prevent
will often at a large station
the washerman of one gentleman from washing the

clothes of the servants of any other gentleman, or
the servants of one

clothes
gentleman from getting their
washed by any other person than their own

This enables them sometimes
master's washerman.
to raise the rate
ordinary rate
of
w ashing
r
falls
from the
ultimately
double the
one continued routine
fines levied.
The
upon the poor servants
VOL.
selfish purposes.
I.
of
cost of these fees
masters. This combination, however,
bad or
fair or
and at such places the washermen
are always drunk with

feasts
to
is
or
their
not always for
was once on the
staff of
an
66
commanding a brigade on
officer
service,
elephant-driver exercised an influence over
whose
him
that
was often mischievous and sometimes dangerous

in
marching and choosing
more
his ground, this
man was
often consulted than the quarter-master gene-
His bearing was most insolent, and became
ral.
intolerable as well to the
European gentlemen
the people of his caste.
He
self
for
by saying that he would
at last
committed him-
spit in the face of ano-
ther gentleman's elephant-driver with
All
disputing.
the
as to
elephant-drivers
whom
he was
in our large
camp were immediately assembled, and it was determined in council to refer the matter to the decision
of the Rajah of Dhurbunga's driver, who was acknowledged the head of the
fasting with
came
class.
We were all break-
the brigadier after muster
the
when
the
pore on the Koosee river,
Dhurbunga from Nathwhere we then were, must
have been a hundred and
fifty miles.
reply
running in
all
knowing why;
distance to
We
saw men
directions through the camp, without

till
at last
one came and summoned the
With a face
came and
implored the protection of the brigadier; who got
angry, and fumed a good deal, but seeing no expres-
brigadier's driver.
sion of
the
sympathy
man
to
go
in the faces of his officers,
and
hear his sentence.
escorted to a circle formed by
who were
of terror he
all
seated on the grass.
he told
He
was
the drivers in camp,
The
offender was
taken into the middle of the circle and commanded

to stand on one leg while the Rajah's driver's letter
67
COMBINATIONS.
He
was read.
did
and the
so,
him
letter directed
to apologise to the offended party, pay a heavy fine
and pledge himself to the assembled
for a feast,
All the officers in
drivers never to offend again.
camp were
and some who went to hear
delighted,
the sentence explained declared, that in no court in

the world could the thing have been done with more
The man's character was

and he became the most docile of
solemnity and
effect.
quite altered by
it,
On
drivers.
listing the
New
the
the same principle here stated, of en-
community
punishment of
in the
Zealanders, and
have been fond of human
offenders,
who
other savage tribes

flesh,
have generally been
found to confine the feast to the body of those who
were put to death

the individual.
for
offences against the state or
I and all the officers of
my
regiment
were at one time in the habit of making every

vant
who
ser-
punishment or admonition to
required
bring immediately, and give to the
mendicant we could pick up, the
first
fine
religious
we thought
All the religionists in the neighbourhood de-
just.
clared, that justice
had never been
nistered in any other regiment
sympathy from them
so well
admi-
no servant got any
they were
all
told that their
masters were far too lenient
We
our
crossed the
last
Herun
river about ten miles
from
ground on the 22nd, and came on two miles
to our tents in a
mango grove
close to the
town of
Kuttungee, and under the Vindhya range of sandstone
hills,
which
rises
almost perpendicular to the

f 2
68
height of some eight hundred feet over the town.
This range from Kuttungee skirts the
Nerbudda
valley to the north, as the Sathpore range skirts

to the south
it
and both are of the same sand-stone
formation capped with basalt, upon which here and

there
is
found masses of
No-
laterite, or iron clay.
thing has ever yet been found reposing upon this iron
clay.
The
strata of this range
have a gentle and
almost imperceptible dip to the north,

angles to
its
right
at
face which overlooks the valley,
and
this
face has everywhere the appearance of a range of
gigantic round
bastions projecting
perhaps a lake, and
is
now
vated,
and very happy
wide.
The
river crosses
Near Jubbulpore
close
it
into
what was
a well-peopled, well-culti-
valley,
about twenty miles
and recrosses
flows along for
it
diagonally.
some distance
under the Sathpore range to the south
crossing over the valley from Beraghat
Vindhya range
receives the
it
river, forty
and
reaches the
to the north, at the point
Herun
miles below.
where
it
69
CHAPTER
IX,
THE GREAT ICONOCLAST TROOPS ROUTED BY HORNETS

THE RANEE OF GTJRBA- HORNETS' NESTS IN INDIA.
On
the 23rd
we came on
nine miles to Singram-
and on the 24th nine more to the valley of
pore,
Jubeyrah,
situated
on
the
western extremity of
the bed of a large lake which
now covered by
is
The waters were kept
twenty-four villages.
in
by
a large wall that united two hills about four miles
south of Jubeyrah.
This wall was built of great cut

of the Vindhya
freestone blocks from the
two
range, which
was about half a mile
it
united.
It
hills
long,
one hundred feet broad at the base, and about one hundred feet high.
The
apparently, cemented
way
stones,
;
though
cut,
were never,
and the wall has long given
in the centre, through
which now flows a small
stream that passes from east to west of what was
once the bottom of the lake, and

so
many
industrious and
happy
now
is
the site of
little village
commu-
The proprietor of the village of Jubeyrah, in

whose mango grove our tents were pitched, connities.
70
ducted
me
that
had been broken down by the order of the
it
to the
ruins of the wall
Emperor Ourungzebe.
a fairy tale
and
emperor
this
and
yet,
they never mention his

dignation or hatred.
is
me
is all
the great destroyer
Mahomedans
ticism have demolished of the

:
and told
History to these people
of everything that the
architecture
in their fana-
Hindoo sculpture or
singular as
it
may
appear,
name with any feelings of inWith every scene of his sup-
posed outrage against their gods or their temples,

there
always associated the recollection of some in-
is
stance of his piety, and the Hindoo's glory
of some
or column, preserved from his fury by
idol, for instance,
a miracle, whose divine origin he
have recognized with
to
all
is
supposed at once
At
due reverence.
Beragur, the high priest of the temple told us, that
Ourungzebe and
his soldiers
arms, and noses of
had
really
assuredly
all
knocked
off the heads,
the idols, saying, " that
if
they
any of the godhead in them, they would
now show
when they came
it,
and save themselves."
to the door of
But
Gouree Sunkur's
apartments, they were attacked by a nest of hornets,

that put the whole of the emperor's
route
and
we have
to the
imperial majesty called out, "
his
really
army
Here
something like a god, and we shall
not suffer him to be molested:
if all
your gods
could give us proof like this of their divinity, not a
nose of them would ever be touched
The popular
zebe's
belief,
is
that after Ourung-
off all the
prominent features
however,
army had struck
!"
TROOPS ROUTED BY HORNETS.
71
of the other gods, one of the soldiers entered the

temple, and struck off the ear of one of the prostrate
"My
images underneath their vehicle, the Bull.
do you see what these saucy
dear," said Gouree,
"
men
Her
head
are about
?"
and seeing the
consort
soldiers
turned round his
around him, brought
among the marble rocks

below, where there are still so many nests of them,
and the whole army fled before them to Teoree, five
all
the hornets up from
miles.
It
whom
the
is
very likely that some body of troops by
rest of the
may have been
images had been mutilated,
driven off by a nest of hornets from
within the temple where this statue stands.
I have
seen six companies of infantry, with a train of
and a squadron of
lery,
horse, all put to the route
a single nest of hornets
with
all their
and driven
horses and bullocks.
rally save themselves,
artil-
off
The
some miles
officers
by keeping within their
and creeping under their bed-clothes, or
by
genetents,
their carpets
and servants often escape by covering themselves up

in their blankets,
are often
and lying perfectly
still.
Horses
stung to a state of madness, in which
they throw themselves over precipices, and break

their limbs, or kill themselves.
The grooms,
in try-
ing to save their horses, are generally the people
most
suffer
I have seen
culty
people
in a
some
who
camp attacked by such an enemy.

so stung as to recover with
diffi-
and I believe there have been instances of

not recovering at
all.
In such a frightful
scene I have seen a bullock sitting and chewing the
72
cud as calmly as
if
the whole thing had been got up
amusement
for his
The hornets seldom touch any
animal that remains perfectly
On
still.
the bank of the Beena river at Eerun, in the
Saugor
district, is
of more than
a beautiful pillar of a single freestone
fifty feet high,
surmounted by a
figure
Some few
of Krishna, with the glory round his head.
of the rays of this glory have been struck off by light-
ning
but the people declare, that this was done by a
shot fired at
as his
from a cannon by order of Ourungzebe,
it
army was marching by on its way
to the Deccan.
Before the scattered fragments however could reach

the ground, the air was
filled,
hornets, that put the whole
emperor ordered
he was
is
his
they
army
gunners to
satisfied of the
say,
by a swarm of
to flight
and the
desist, declaring " that
presence of the god
!"
There
hardly any part of India in which, according to
popular
belief, similar
miracles were not worked to
convince the emperor of the peculiar merits or sancaccording to the
tity of particular idols or temples,
traditions of the people, derived, of course,
inventions of priests.
from the
I should mention, that these
hornets suspend their nests to the branches of the

highest trees, under rocks, or in old deserted temples.
Native travellers,
soldiers,
and camp followers, cook
and eat their food under such trees

avoid one in which there
larly
on a
the nest
still
day.
till it is
feeding his
fire,
is
but they always
a nest of hornets, particu-
Sometimes they do not discover
too late.
The unlucky wight goes on
and delighting in the prospect of the
THE RANEE OF GURBA.

feast before him,
as the
smoke ascends
eddies to the nest of the hornets.
touches
them they
mad
like
sally forth
in circling
The moment
it
and descend, and sting
creatures every living thing they find in
Three companies
motion.
73
of
my
regiment were
escorting treasure in boats from Allahabad to
Cawn-
pore for the army under the Marquis of Hastings, in
The
1817.
day
every
soldiers all took their dinners
and one
still
onshore
afternoon a sipahee, by
cooking his dinner under one of those nests without

seeing
sent the
it,
whole of
his
infuriated
comrades,
who were cooking
same grove, and undressed,

such occasions.
among
swarm
the
in the
as they always are
Treasure, food, and
all
on
were im-
mediately deserted, and the whole of the party, save

the European
officers,
were up to their noses in the
The hornets hovered over them and

was amusing to see them bobbing their heads
river Ganges.
it
under as the insects tried to pounce upon them.
The
officers
their boats
was
ation
covered themselves up in the carpets of
and as the day was a hot one, their
still
more uncomfortable than
that of the
Darkness alone put an end to the
men.
I should
conflict.
mention that the poor old Ranee, or
Queen of Gurba, Suchmee Koour, came out

as
Kuttungee with us
whom
situ-
to take leave of
she has always been attached.
in the habit of spending a
my
as
far
wife, to
She had been
day with her at
my
house
once a week; and being the only European lady
from
whom
she had ever received any attention, or
74
indeed ever been on terms of any intimacy with,
more
she feels the
sensible of the little offices of
kindness and courtesy she has received from her.*
Her husband, Nurbur Saw, was the last of the long

line of sixty-two sovereigns, who reigned over these
from the year
territories
conquest
1781.
a. d.
fortress of
a. d.
He
the funeral
as she
pile,
Saugor
to the
the
died a prisoner in
Koorae, in the Saugor
1789, leaving two widows.
doing
358
in a. d.
district,
One burnt
herself
upon
and the other was prevented from
merely because she was thought too young,
so,
was not then
She
fifteen years of age.
re-
ceived a small pension from the Saugor government,
which was
still
further reduced under the Nagpore
government that succeeded

trict in
it
in the
Jubbulpore
which the pension had been assigned
dis-
and
it
was not thought necessary to increase the amount of

this
pension
when
the
came under our
territory
dominion, so that she has had barely enough to subsist

is
upon
about one hundred rupees a month.
now about
sixty years of age,
looking woman.
beautiful.
and
still
She
a very good-
In her youth she must have been
She does not object
to appear unveiled
before gentlemen, on any particular occasion; and
when Lord W. Bentinck was at Jubbulpore

* After
we
left
in 1833,
Jubbulpore, the old Ranee used to receive
much
kind and considerate attention from the Hon. Mrs. Shore, a very
amiable woman, the wife of the Governor-general's representative,
the
Hon. Mr. Shore, a very worthy and
Bengal
civil service.
able
member
of the
THE RANEE OF GURBA.

I introduced the old queen
much
interested,
shawls.
coarse ones were to be found
in the store-rooms of the
and
He seemed
him.
to
and ordered the old lady a pair of
None but very
sentative,
75
Governor-general's repre-
his lordship said these
were not such
as a governor-general could present, or a queen,
ever poor,
and as
receive;
how-
own tosbukhana,
his
(wardrobe) had gone on, he desired that a pair of the

finest
kind should be purchased and presented to
her in his name.
The
sence and mine.
I was obliged to return to Saugor
orders were given in her pre-
before they could be carried into effect
and when I
returned in 1835, I found that the rejected shawls
had been presented to her, and were such coarse

things that she was
I really believe
ashamed
to
wear them,
much
on account of the exalted person
who had given them,
as her own.
tioned the subject
I asked her to let
shawls,
as
till
which she did reluctantly
proud to complain.
How
She never men-
me
see the
and she was too
the good intentions of the
Governor-general had been frustrated in this case I
have never learned.
The
native officer in charge of
the store was dead, and the Governor-general's representative
had
left
the place.
Better could not, I
suppose, be got at this time, and he did not like to

defer giving them.
76
CHAPTER
X.
THE PEASANTRY AND THE LAND SETTLEMENT.
The
game so plentiful, and the weather so fine, that they came on

with us as far as Jubeyrah, where we had the pleaofficers of
the 29th had found
sure of their society on the evening of the 24th, and

left
them on the morning of the
many
of
my
native friends, from
25th.
among
great
the native
landholders and merchants of the country, flocked

to our
camp
and bid
me
me
at every stage, to
pay their respects,
farewell, for they
never expected to see
back among them again.
They generally came
out
a mile or two to meet and escort us to our
tents
and much do I
fear,
that
my
poor boy will
never again, in any part of the world,
have the
blessings of heaven so fervently invoked
upon him
by so many worthy and respectable

at every stage, on our
much
men
as
way from Jubbulpore.
met us
I
am
attached to the agricultural classes of India
among them some

known. The peasantry
generally, and I have found
the best
men
have ever
of
in
PEASANTRY AND LAND SETTLEMENT.
77
India have generally very good manners, and are
exceedingly intelligent, from having so
much more
and unreserved and easy intercourse with
leisure,
The constant
those above them.
habit of meeting
and discussing subjects connected with their own
own
terests, in their
fig-trees,"
fields
in-
and " under their own
with their landlords and government func-
tionaries of all kinds
and degrees, prevents their ever
feeling or appearing
impudent or obtrusive
it
certainly tends to give
that often startle us

to discuss the
them
though
stentorian voices,
when they come
same points with
into our houses
us.
Nine-tenths of the immediate cultivators of the

soil in
India are
little
one or more years,
who hold
as the case
may
a lease for
be, of their
which they cultivate with their own stock.
lands,
One
farmers,
of these cultivators, with a good plough and
and a good character, can always get good
bullocks,
lands on moderate terms from holders of villages.
These cultivators
to
depend upon
able terms,
holdings
are,
I think, the best
their stock
and character
hold themselves free
when
their leases expire,
who
learn
for favour-
to change their
and pretend not
to any hereditary right of property in the
soil.
The
lands are, I think, best cultivated, and the society

best constituted
estates
of
villages
terest in them,
in
India,
where the holders of
have a feeling of permanent
in-
an assurance of an hereditary right
of property which
is
liable only to the
payment of a
moderate government demand, descends undivided
78
by the law of primogeniture, and
common
the
vision
private
medans
children of landed as well as other
among
property,
the Hindoos
till
by no other law than that of com-
specific contract.
When
mean the
The whole
I speak of holders of villages, I
holders of lands that belong to villages.

face of India
The
and Maho-
and where the immediate cultivators hold
the lands they
mon
unaffected by
which prescribes the equal subdi-
law,
among
is
village
is
parcelled out into estates of villages.
communities are composed of those who
hold and cultivate the land, the established village

servants,
priest,
blacksmith, carpenter, accountant,
washerman, basket-maker, (whose wife

the midwife of the
little village
is
ew
officio
community,) potter,
watchman, barber, shoemaker, &c. &c* To these may

be added the
little
banker, or agricultural capitalist,
the shopkeeper, the brazier, the confectioner, the iron-
monger, the weaver, the dyer, the astronomer, or

trologer,
who
points out to the people the lucky day
for every earthly undertaking,
times for
In some
out
all
and the prescribed

and observances.
religious ceremonies
villages the
among
as-
whole of the lands are parcelled
cultivating proprietors,
and are
liable to
eternal subdivision by the law of inheritance, which
gives to each son the
same
share.
In
others, the
* In some parts of Central and Southern India, the Garpugree,
who charms away hail-storms from the crops, and the Bhoomka,
who charms away tigers from the people and their cattle, are
added to the number of village servants.
PEASANTRY AND LAND SETTLEMENT,
79
whole of the lands are parcelled out among

tivators,
who
hold them
on a
lease
specific
who
limited periods, from a proprietor
culfor
holds the
whole collectively under government, at a rate of

rent fixed either permanently or for limited periods.
These are the two extremes.

villages in
which
all
the cultivators are considered
as proprietors, at least but

ritories
and these
of a caste of
was
few in our Nerbudda
ter-
will
almost invariably be found
Brahmans
or a caste of Rajpoots, de-
scended from a
estate
There are but few
common
ancestor,
whom
to
the
originally given in rent-free tenure, or at
a quit rent,
by the existing government
for
his
Sub-
prayers as a priest, or his services as a soldier.
sequent governments, which resumed unceremoniously the estates of others, were deterred from re-
suming these by a dread of the curses of the one and

the swords of the other.*
Such communities of
tivating proprietors are of
two
whom the lands are parcelled out,

his share as a distinct estate,
kinds, those
each
cul-
among
member holding
and being individually
payment of the share of the government demand assessed upon it; and those among whom
responsible for the
Very often the government of the country know nothing of
these tenures
the local authorities allowed
a perquisite of their own.
The
them
to continue as
holders were willing to pay
them
a good share of the rent, assured that they would be resumed

reported by the local authorities to the government.
thorities consented to take a
that they should get
little
moderate share of the
if
These au-
rent, assured
or nothing if the lands were resumed.
80
the lands are not parcelled out, but the profits divided
as
among
copartners of an estate held jointly.
in either case,
lect
They,
nominate one of their members to
col-
and pay the government demand; or government
appoints a
man
for this duty, either as a salaried ser-
vant, or as a lessee, with authority to levy
cultivating proprietors a certain
what
is
from the
sum over and above
demandable from him.
The communities
which the cultivators are
in
more nuindeed the greater part of the village com-
considered merely as lease-holders, are far
merous
munities in this part of India are of this description
and where the communities are of a mixed character,
the cultivating proprietors are
considered to
have merely a right of occupancy, and are
liable to
have their lands assessed at the same rate as those

held on a mere lease tenure.
the cultivating proprietors,
In
in
munities, are similarly situated
be assessed
at
the
rate,
as
not general
it
proprietor to have
it is
and
of India
such mixed com-
as
and often
are liable to
others
holding
pay a higher
But
with which others are not encumbered.
this is
the
parts
they
same rate
the same sort of lands
all
is
as
much
the interest of
good cultivating tenants,
that of the tenants to have good proprietors;
it is
felt to
be the interest of both to adjust
their terms amicably
among
themselves, without a
reference to a third and superior party, which
is
al-
ways costly and commonly ruinous.

It
is
a question of very great importance, no
less

morally and politically than fiscally
systems deserves most encouragement
81
which of these
that
in
which
the government considers the immediate cultivators
be the hereditary proprietors, and, through
to
own
public
officers,
parcels out the lands
its
among
them, and adjusts the rates of rent demandable from

every minute partition, as the lands become more
and more subdivided by the Hindoo and Mahomedan law of inheritance
ment
considers
or that in which the govern-
him who holds the area of a whole
village or estate collectively as the hereditary pro-
and the immediate cultivators as
prietor,
his lease-
tenants
leaving
among
the parties without the aid of public
the rates of rent to be adjusted

officers,
or interposing only to enforce the fulfilment of their
mutual contracts.
tems the lands
In the
will supply
latter of these
two
sys-
more and better members
to the middle and higher classes of the society, and
create and preserve a better feeling
between them
and the peasantry, or immediate cultivators of the

soil
and
in
soil,
will occasion the
it
reinvestment upon the
works of ornament and
utility,
portion of the annual returns of rent
and a
in
less
our
expenditure in the
civil
and
profit,
costs of litigation
and bribery to
courts,
of a greater
our
public
system,
which
officers.
Those who advocate
makes the immediate

will,
for the
most
false
premises
upon
VOL.
i.
the
other
cultivators
part,
the
proprietors,
be found to reason upon
the assumption that the rates
82
of rent demandable from the immediate cultivators

of the
soil
were everywhere limited and established by
immemorial
sum of money per acre,

crop produced from it ; and
usage, in a certain
or a certain share of the

" that these rates
were not only so limited and
but everywhere well known
people" and might
to the
known
consequently have become well
vernment, and recorded in public

every practical
nities of
man
to the go-
Now
registers.
who has had
in India,
fixed,
opportu-
becoming well acquainted with the matter,
knows, that
the reverse is the case
that the rate of
rent demandable from these cultivators never was
same upon any two
the
estates at
same upon any one
ever the
the
same time
nor
estate at different times, or
for any consecutive number of years. The rates vary

every year on every estate, according to the varying
circumstances that influence them
or less exhaustion of the soil
greater
as greater
or less facili-
of irrigation, manure, transit to market, drainage
ties
such
or from fortuitous advantages on one hand, or cala-
mities of season on the other
many other
or
circum-
stances which affect the value of the land, and the

abilities
much
ment,
of the cultivators to pay.
It
is
not so
the proprietor of the estate, or the governas the
cultivators themselves,
who demand
every year a readjustment of the rate demandable
upon
must take place and

;
it,
government must
cers.
This readjustment
their different holdings.
Every
if
there
is
effect it
holding
no landlord to
own offisubdivided when
through
becomes
effect
its

the
and leaves more
proprietor dies,
cultivating
and
83
whole face of the
than one
child;
country
open and without hedges, the division
easily
is
as
and speedily made.
the
Thus the
field
map which
represents an estate one year will never represent

fairly five years after
map
attempt to
map
in fact,
is
we might almost
it
as well
the waves of the ocean, as
field-
the face of any considerable area in any part of
India.
If there be any truth in
ment has acted unwisely
my
conclusions, our govern-
in going, as
done, into the two extremes, in
it
its
has generally
settlement of
In the Zemindaree settlement
the land revenue.
of Bengal,
it
conferred the hereditary right of pro-
perty over areas larger than English counties on in-
and
dividuals,
tenants at
in
left
will.
the immediate cultivators mere
These individuals
felt
no interest
promoting the comfort and welfare of the village
communities, or conciliating the affections of the

cultivators,
and they
let
whom
they never saw or wished to see
out the village, or other subdivision of
their estates to second parties quite as

rested,
who
again let
them out
little
inte-
to others, so that the
system of rack renting went on over the whole area of

the immense possession.
This was a system " more
honoured in the breach than the observance

as the great landholders
became involved
;"
for
in the ruin
of their cultivators, their estates were sold for arrears
of revenue due to government, and thus the proprietary

right of one individual has
become divided among

g 2
84
many, who
have the feelings which the larger
will
holders wanted, and so
remedy the
evil.
In the other
extreme, government has constituted the immediate

cultivators the proprietors; thereby preventing any one
who
is
supported upon the rent of land, or the profits
of agricultural stock, from rising
above the grade
of a peasant, and so depriving society of one of
The remedy of both
best and most essential elements.

is
in village settlements, in
of moderate
size,
its
which the estate
shall
be
and the hereditary property of the
holder, descending on the principle of a principality,
by the right of primogeniture,
common
law.
This
is
the system which has been
adopted in the Nerbudda

will
and which I
trust
enter upon the government of any
new
be always adhered
When we
territory,
to.
we do
territorial acquisition in India,
pretend to change the

cause their
unaffected by the
civil
civil
not require or
laws of the people
be-
laws and their religion are in reality
one and the same, and are contained in one and the
same
code, as certainly
homedans,
among
and the Parsees,
the Israelites.
By
Mathey were among
the Hindoos, the

as
these codes, and by the esta-
blished usages everywhere well understood by the

people, are their rights and duties in marriage, inheritance, succession, caste,
other
we
civil relations
of
life,
contract,
other,
and duties
we merely change
all
ascertained; and
displace another government,
to alter such rights
and
we do
the
when
not pretend
in relation to each
the machinery and
mode
85
of procedure, by which these rights are secured and
Of
these duties enforced.
criminal law no system
was ever either regularly established or administered

any state in India, by any government to which
in
we have succeeded
and the people always consider
the existing government free to adopt that which
may seem
which criminal law has everywhere
object,
the
the
best calculated to effect the one great
security
of
life,
property,
and
enjoyment of all their advantages.
view
in
character,
The
and
actions by
which these are affected and endangered, the
evi-
dence by which such actions require to be proved
and the penalties with which they require to be,

visited, in order to
ought to be, so
prevent their recurrence, are, or
much
the same in every society, that
the people never think us bound to search for
Mahomed and
his
companions
thought
w hat
in
the
wilds of Arabia, or the Sanscrit poets sung about
them
in
courts and cloisters.
for
just
everywhere to find us searching
well pleased
as
They would be
these things in the writings of Confucius and
Zoroaster,
as
in
and much more
common
sense,
those of
so,
to see
Mahomed and Menu;

us consulting our own
and forming a penal code of our
own, suitable to the wants of such a mixed community.
The
fiscal
laws which define the rights and duties
of the landed interests and the agricultural classes in

relation to each other
also
and to the ruling powers, were
everywhere exceedingly simple and well under-
86
What
stood by the people.
mere
fiction
principle.
of law,
is
still
now
in
England
in
India an essential
is
All lands are held directly or indirectly
of the sovereign
to this rule there
The reigning sovereign
no exception.
is
essentially the proprietor
is
of the whole of the lands in every part of India,
where he has not voluntarily alienated them; and

he holds these lands for the payment of those pubestablishments
lic
which
maintained for the
are
public good, and are supported by the rents of the

lands either directly under assignment, or indirectly,
When
through the sovereign proprietor.
medan
Maho-
Hindoo sovereign assigned lands, rent free

perpetuity, it was always understood, both by the
in
or
donor and receiver, to be with the small reservation

of a right in his successor to resume
public good,
if
he should think
them
for the
Hindoo sove-
fit.*
Ameer Khan, the Nawab of Tonk, assigned

cian, who had cured him of an intermittent fever,
*
to his physi-
lands yielding
one thousand rupees a-year, in rent-free tenure, and gave him a
deed signed by himself and the heir apparent, declaring expressly, that
He
it
should descend to
him and
died lately, and his son and successor,
his heirs for ever.
who had
On
being remon-
his father while living
was of course
deed, resumed the estate without ceremony.

strated with, he said,
master, and could

rent-free to
whom
" that
signed the
make him
he pleased
sign what he pleased, and give land

;
but his successor must
now be
considered the best judge, whether they could be spared or not

that if lands were to be alienated in perpetuity
Nawab,
or the
by every reigning
for every dose of medicine, or dose of prayers, that
members of
his family required,
none would soon be
he
left
them, often tried to bar
reigns, or their priests for
by invoking curses on the head of that
this right,
who
successor
among
among
87
should exercise
It
it.
a proverb
is
the people of these territories, and I believe

the people of India generally, that the lands
which pay no rent to government have no Burkut,

blessing from above
is
that the
man who
them
holds
not blessed in their returns like the
man
who-
pays rent to government, and thereby contributes

his aid to the protection of the
fact
is,
community.
The
that every family that holds rent-free lands,
must, in a few generations, become miserable, from

the minute subdivision of the property,
litigation in
our
the holders.
It
civil
courts which
and the
entails
it
upon
certainly the general opinion of
is
the people of India, that no land should be held
without paying rent to government,

for people
employed
in the service of government,
for the benefit of the people in its
gious,
educational,
judicial,
territories are held
have been renewable every

to have a
for the
and other
in lease immediately
vernment by the heads of
tenth
defensive, reliestablish-
Nine-tenths of the land in these Nerbudda
ments.
now
or providing
is
payment of the
The other
these heads of villages

soldiers,
vants of any description."
who was
interme-
or other necessary public ser-
This was told
the person to
his father having died before
leases
but they are
settlement for twenty.
held by
old physician,
whose
villages,
five years
under go-
whom
Ameer Khan.
me by
the son of the
the speech was made,
88
diately
of
under some
who
holds several portions
land immediately under government at a quit
rent, or for
for
chief,
service performed, or to be performed,
government, and
lets
them out
to farmers.
are for the most part situated in the

less cultivated parts.
more
These
hilly
and
89
CHAPTER XL
WITCHCRAFT.
On
leaving Jubeyrah, I saw an old acquaintance
from the eastern part of the Jubbulpore
district,
Kehree Sing.
" I understand,
men among
the
Kehree
Sing," said
No,
sir,
Gond women
" Where ?"
"
" that certain
Gonds of the Jungle, towards the
source of the Nerbudda, eat

"
I,
the
men
human
Is
flesh.
do."
Everywhere,
sir
there
is
not a parish
"
among the Gonds, in which you

one or more such women."
And how do they eat people ?"
"
They
"
so ?"
never eat people, but the
village,
find
it
eat their livers,
I understand
nay, a
will
not
sir."
you mean witches
?"
Who ever heard of other people

Of course
eating human beings?"
"
"
And you
really still
we have done and

as witches ?"
said,
think, in spite of all that
that there are such things
90
Of course we do
"
every day
do not we
find instances of
European gentlemen are too apt
it
to
believe that things like this are not to be found here,
because they are not to be found in their
Major Wardlow, when
try.
district,
time
own coun-
in charge of the
Seonee
denied the existence of witchcraft for a long
but he was at
last convinced."
"How?"
"
One
of his troopers one morning, after a long
march, took some milk for his master's breakfast
woman
from an old
the
without paying for
it.
major had got over his breakfast,
down upon
trooper was
his
the agony of internal pains.
mended
We
knew imme-
all
and recom-
the major to send for some one learned in
He
these matters to find out the witch.

after hearing
for,
he got
and
woman from
it
was the criminal.
She was searched
found, and brought to the trooper, and
manded
She
to cure him.
herself conjured
him
hold gods might,
him
did so
from the trooper the story about the
milk, this person at once declared that the
whom
the poor
back, screaming from
he had been bewitched
diately that
Before
flatly
She was commanded
denied that she had
but admitted that her house-
unknown
for his wickedness.
com-
to her,
have punished
This, however,
to cure the
man
would not
do.
and she
set
about collecting materials for the poojah (worship)
and before she could get quite through the ceremonies,
all his
pains had left him.
resolute with her, the
Had we
man must have
evening, so violent were his torments."
not been
died before
WITCHCRAFT.
"
Did not a
Jubbulpore
"
similar case occur to Mr.
How
was
Chuprassie of
Jubbulpore
91
his,
this ?"
while he had charge of the
was sent out
district,
Fraser, at
Mundlah with a
to
He took a cock from
message of some kind or other.
an old Gond woman, without paying for
it;
and
being hungry after a long journey, ate the whole

of
it
in a
He
curry.
man, he thought nothing of
went
unsuspecting young
but being a raw,
something,
He
to sleep.
woman mutter
heard the
it;
ate his cock,
and
had not been asleep three hours
before he was seized with internal pains, and the

old cock was actually heard crowing in his belly
He made
the best of his
several stages
and
all
way back
the most skilful
employed to charm away the

man's spell
but
vain
in
to Jubbulpore,
of the old wo-
effect
he
men were
and the cock
died,
never ceased crowing at intervals up to the hour of

his death."
"
And was Mr.
" I
"
Fraser convinced
?"
never heard, but suppose he must have been."
Who
ate the livers of the victims
themselves, or the evil spirits with
on
The
to
their
They
The witches
whom
they had
?"
dealings
"
evil spirits ate
the
livers,
but they are set
do so by the witches, who get them into
power by such accursed

will often
graves, bring
dig
them
sacrifices
and
offerings.
up young children from
to
life,
and allow these
their
devils to
feed upon their livers, as falconers allow their
hawks
92
You
to feed on the breasts of pigeons.
(European gentlemen)
it is,
will not believe all this
but
nevertheless, all very true."*
The
belief in sorcery
among
these people owes
its
measure, to the diseases of the
in a great
origin,
liver
sahib loge
and spleen, to which the
natives,
much subject
India.
From these
and particu-
larly the children, are
in the jungly
parts of central
affections chil-
dren pine away and

ternal
marks of
without showing any ex-
die,
Their death
disease.
attributed
is
and any querulous old woman, who
to witchcraft;
has been in the habit of murmuring at slights and

ill-treatment in the neighbourhood,
is
immediately
down as the cause. Men who practice medicine

among them are very commonly supposed to be at
set
the same time wizards.
Seeking to inspire
dence in their prescriptions,
and incantations over the
by repeating prayers
over the me-
patient, or
dicine they give him, they
make him
believe, that
they derive aid from supernatural power

patient concludes
these powers
them
cure,
He
to destroy.
man
the
to
that those
that
*
the
Ode
it
his
and
arises
if
can
will,
and the
command
command
friends believe, that
who can command
cure one individual,
any other
who can
can, if they
and
confi-
these
powers
command them
he does not do
so,
to
to
cure
they believe
from a desire to destroy
the pa-
Of the supposed powers and dispositions of witches among

Romans we have horrible pictures in the 5th book of the 5th
of Horace, and in the 6th book of Lucan's Pharsalia.
93
WITCHCRAFT.
tient.
many
medical
of
instances
been put to death

for
known
a great
practitioners
having
I have, in these territories,
whom
not curing young people,
for
they were required to prescribe.
come before me
cases have
Several
as a magistrate, in
which
the father has stood over the doctor with a drawn
sword by the side of the bed of
him down and

as
killed
his child,
him the moment the
and cut
child died,
he had sworn to do when he found the patient
sinking under his prescriptions
The town
of Jubbulpore contains a population of
twenty thousand
souls,
story of the cock.
and they
all
believed in this
I one day asked a most respect-
Naudoo Chowdree, how
able merchant in the town,
the people could believe in such things
when he
had no doubt witches were to be
replied that he
found in every part of India, though they abounded

most, no doubt, in the central parts of
we ought
to consider ourselves
Cuttuck
is
woman has
that quarter.
and that
" But,"
added
between Mundlah and
the worst for witches.
that every old
very fortunate in
having no such things in England

he, " of all countries, that
it
I verily believe
the power of witchcraft in
had once occasion to go to the
of Ruttunpore on business
city
and was one day, about
noon, walking in the market-place, and eating a very

fine piece of sugar cane.
by accident, to
me.
jostle
In the crowd, I happened,
an old
woman
as she passed
I looked back, intending to apologise for the
accident,
and heard her muttering
indistinctly as
!;
04
she passed on.

old ladies,
Knowing the propensities

became somewhat uneasy
my
terror, that the juice
cane, I
had been
Not a minute had elapsed

this old
and leading
my
all
turned
my
to
great
blood
such were the fearful
woman.
found, to
I collected
agents there to settle
my followers,
my accounts,
was beyond the boundaries of the old wretch's

ence before dark
have saved me.
man
influ-
had I remained nothing could
I should certainly have been a dead
before morning.
old gentleman,
on
and,
turning round to
powers of
of these
It
is
well known," said the
" that their
spells
and curses can
only reach a certain distance, ten or twelve miles
and
if
you offend one of them, the sooner you place
that distance between you the better
!"
Jungbar Khan, the representative of the Shahgur

Rajah, as grave and reverend an old gentleman as
ever sat in the senate of Venice, told
me
one day,
that he was himself an eye-witness of the powers of
the
women
of Khiloutee.
concourse of people at a
Raepore
fair,
was with a great
held at the town of
and while sauntering with many other
strangers in the
with two
He
fair,
women
one of them began bargaining
of middle age for
some very
fine
They asked double the fair price for

their canes.
The man got angry, and took up one
of them when the woman seized the other end, and
sugar-canes.
The pnrchaser offered a fair price,

demanded double. The crowd looked on,
a struggle ensued.
seller
and a good deal of abuse of the female
relations
on
95
WITCHCRAFT.
At
both sides took place.
last
a sipahee of the
governor came up, armed to the teeth, and called

out to the man, in a very imperious tone, to
go
hold
his
of the
He
cane.
when people came to the fair

should be made to sell at reasonable
" I,"
turned out."
man
the
right,
and see
to
they
sell,
prices, or
be
Jungbar Khan,
"
thought
and told the sipahee, that
if
he took
said
we
the part of this woman,

other,
saying,
refused,
" that
let
should take that of the
Without further ceremony
fair play.
the functionary drew his sword, and cut the cane in

6
two, in the middle; and pointing to both pieces, there,'

said he,
We
you see the cause of
'
my
looked down, and actually saw blood running
from both
ceress
pieces,
The
ground.
and forming a
fact was, that the
of the very worst kind
man
drawing the blood from the
little
through the cane,
real
state
told that he
left in
was not able
timely
he no sooner saw the
for
him
He
had
and I was afterwards
walk
to
she de-
for the
of the case than he fainted.
hardly any blood
went
whom
he would have been
interference of the sipahee,
dead in another minute
a sor-
and was actually
But
rived her detestable powers.
pool on the
woman was
to feed the abominable devil from
all
!'
interference
for ten days.
We
demand justice, declarthe women were made an example
to the governor to
ing that unless
of at once, the fair would be deserted, for no stranger's
life
would be
were both sown up
safe.
He
in sacks
10
consented, and they
and thrown into the
96
river; but they
not sink
the
had conjured the waters and would
they ought
to have
been put to death, but
governor was himself afraid
them
people, and let
Jungbar, " a
There
off.
of this kind of
or a single family, without
village,
witch in that part of the country

will give his
indeed no
'
If
my
them from the witches

bourhood?' It
We
man
daughter has children, what
become of them, without a witch
and most
its
daughter in marriage to a family with-
out one, saying,

will
not," continued
is
is
to protect
of other families in the neigh-
a fearful country, though the cheapest
fertile in India."
can easily understand
how
with the idea that his blood had
a man, impressed
all
been drawn from
him by a sorceress, should become faint, and remain many days in a languid state; but how the
people around should believe
that
they
saw the
blood flowing from both parts of the cane, at the

place cut through,
am
satisfied that
story to be true
it is
old
not so easy to conceive.
Jungbar believed the whole
and that
the juice of the cane red
at the time
;
but the
he thought
little
pool of
blood grew, no doubt, by degrees, as years rolled on,
and he related
this tale of the fearful
Khiloutee witches.
powers of the
97
CHAPTER
XII.
THE SILVER TREE, OR KULPA BRIKSHA THE SINGHARA OR

TRAPA BISPINOSA, AND THE GUINEA WORM.
Poor
Ali wept bitterly at the last
old Salamut
meeting
in
my
and
tent,
two nice boys, without
his
exactly knowing why, began to do the same

little
son
Henry caught the
louder than any of them.
infection,
and
my
and wept
I was obliged to
hurry
over the interview lest I should feel disposed to do
The poor
the same.
deal in parting with
old
my
never hope to see again.
many
Ranee too
wife,
whom
Her
fine
suffered a
good
she says she can

large eyes shed
a tear as she was getting into her palankeen
to return.
Between Jubeyrah and Hurdooa, the next
we
find a great
kullup,
many
of those large forest trees called
or kulpa briksha, (the
paradise of Inclra grants what

silvery bark,
that the
VOL.
I.
and scarcely any
name
stage,
of the
is
same which
in the
desired,) with a soft
leaves.
We
god Ram, and
are told,
his
consort
98
RAMBLES AND RECOLLECTIONS,
Seeta, will
be found written by the hand of
upon
all.
many
in the forest
I had the curiosity to
on both
found the name of
God
examine a good
sides of the road
this incarnation of
and
Vishnoo writ-
ten on every one in Sanscrit characters, apparently
by some supernatural hand

ness in the impression, as
if
that
is,
there was a soft-
the finger of some super-
natural being had traced the characters.
Nathoo,
one of our belted attendants, told me, " that we might
we would in the forest, but we

should certainly find the name of God upon every
!"
one; " for," said he, " it is God himself who writes it
search as deeply as
I tried to argue
him out of
this notion
but un-
fortunately could find no tree without these characters
some
trunk
high up, and some lower
some
large and others small
found on every
we came
tree.
was almost
to a part in the
of these trees
down
ler
my
credit
in a hollow,
upon the
but
in the
still
to be
in despair,
when
wood where we found one

under the road, and
another upon the precipice above.

stake
down
was ready to
probability, that
no
travel-
would take the trouble to go up to the tree above^
down to the tree below, merely to write the

name of the god upon them and at once pledged
or
myself to Nathoo, that he should find neither the

god's
*
name nor
The
real kulpa,
Indra in the
at the
that of his wife.
first
I sent one
which now stands in the garden of the god
heaven, was one of the fourteen rarities found
churning of the ocean by the gods and demons.
the share of Indra.
man up
It fell to
WRITTEN TREES.
and another down
trees
99
and they found no
on the
letters
but this did not alter their opinion on the
"
point.
on these
rubbed
name
God," said one, " had no doubt put his
He
off.
how
but they had some
trees,
would
or other got
good time renew them,
in
that men's eyes might be blessed with the sight of

his holy
most
name, even in the deepest

tree."*
leafless
"But,"
might not have thought
name upon
"
forest,
and on the
"he
Nathoo,
said
worth while to write
it
his
those trees which no travellers go to see
Cannot you
see,"
said I, " that these letters
been engraved by man?
Are they not
have
to
all
!"
be
found on the trunk within reach of a man's hand

"
Of course they
are,"
replied he, " because people
would not be able conveniently to distinguish them

if
God were
to write
!"
them higher up
"
Sheikh Sadee has a very pretty couplet.

leaf of the foliage of a green tree
is,
Every
in the eye of a
him the wisdom of his

Creator."
I may remark that where an Englishman
would write his own name, a Hindoo would write
wise man, a library to teach
that of his god, his parent, or his benefactor.

*
Every Hindoo
Ham and
of
God
is
This
thoroughly convinced that the names of
his consort Seeta, are written
on
this tree
hy the hand
and nine-tenths of the Mussulmans believe the same,
" Happy the

In
all
the good and
Resolving
And
And
man who
all
sees a
ill
God employed
that chequer
life,
events, with their effects
manifold results, into the will

arbitration wise of the
Supreme/*
Cowpeh,
H 2
100
difference
traceable of course to the difference in
is
governments and
their
he called
built a town,
a local governor built
If a
institutions.
after his local governor; if
it
he called
it,
it
after a favourite
In well-regulated Hindoo
son of the Emperor.
children in presence of the elder brother
pens to be the head of the family

respectful
for
him even
the
own
his
embarrassment by answering
in such presence
would be
elder brother relieves

for him.
Dhumow is a
some
five or six
pretty place.
immediately above
saint
it
is
The town
thousand people, and has
On
some very handsome Hindoo temples.
ance.
dis-
Browns, were to leave us on their return
to Jubbulpore.
contains
it
we reached Dhumow, where our
the 27th
friends, the
who hap-
to speak of his children as
his
medan
fa-
one cannot ask a younger brother after his
milies,
On
Hindoo
the
shrine
of a
hill
Maho-
which has a very picturesque appear-
There are no manufactures
at
Dhumow,
except
such as supply the wants of the immediate neigh-
bourhood
and the town
is
supported by the
resi-
dence of a few merchants, a few landholders, and
and the establishment of a
agricultural capitalists,
native collector.
The people here
the guinea worm, and consider
it
suffer
to arise from drink-
ing the water of the old tank, which

dirty,
it is
and
filled
with weeds.
much from
is
now
very
I have no doubt that
occasioned either by drinking the water of this
tank, or
wading
in
it
for I
have known European
gentlemen get the worm in their legs from wading
WATER-NUTS.
in similar lakes or
vants
who
swamps
followed
101
after snipes,
them with
and the
ser-
ammunition ex-
their
perience the same effect. Here, as in most other parts

of India, the tanks get spoiled by the water chestnut,
singhara, (trapa bispinosa,) which
is
everywhere as
regularly planted and cultivated in fields under a

large surface of water, as
dry plains.
It
is
wheat or barley
on the
is
men
cultivated by a class of
called
Dheemurs, who are everywhere fishermen and palankeen bearers
and they keep boats
for the planting,
The holdings
or tenements of each cultivator are marked out carefully on the surface of the water by long bamboos
weeding, and gathering the singhara.
stuck up in
it;
to
for the
The long straws of the plants reach

the surface of the waters, upon which float their
portion they
up
and they pay so much the acre
till.
green leaves; and their pure white flowers expand
among them in the

The nut grows under
beautifully
afternoon.
flowers decay, and
is
of the
latter part
the water after the
of a triangular shape, and covered
with a tough brown integument adhering strongly

to
the
kernel,
which
is
white,
a fine cartilaginous texture.
esculent,
The people
and of
are very
fond of these nuts, and they are carried often upon

bullocks' backs
two or three hundred miles
They ripen
in the
September
and are eatable
ber.
The
cultivator
rent paid
is
latter
for
end of the
till
to market.
rains,
the end of
or in
Novem-
an ordinary tank by the
about one hundred rupees
a year.
have known two hundred rupees to be paid
for a
102
very large one, and even fhree hundred, or thirty

pounds, a year.
from
this
cultivation,
reservoirs in
is
which
it
that
is
it
increases so rapidly
soon destroys
permitted
all
and where
it
thought desirable to keep up the tank for the sake
of the water,
is
But the mud
it
should be carefully prohibited.
done by stipulating with the renter of the
at the renewal of the lease, that
be planted in the tank,
This
village,
no singhara
otherwise
he
will
shall
never
forego the advantage to himself of the rent for the
sake of the convenience, and that only prospective,

of the village
community
in general.
103
CHAPTER
XIII.
THUGS AND POISONERS.
Lieutenant Brown had come on

chiefly with a
to
Dhumow
view to investigate a case of murder,
which had taken place at the village of Soojeina, about

ten miles from
Dhumow, on
the road to Huttah.
gang of two hundred Thugs were encamped in the

grove at Hindoreea in the cold season of 1814, when,
early in the
morning, seven
men
well
armed with
swords and matchlocks passed them bearing treasure
from the bank of Motee Kocheea, at Jubbulpore, to

their correspondents at Banda, to the value of four
thousand
five
hundred rupees.
The value of their
burthen was immediately perceived by these keen-eyed

sportsmen,
and Kosuree, Drigpaul, and Feringeea,
three of the leaders, with forty of their fleetest and

stoutest followers,
were immediately selected
for the
They followed for seven miles unperceived

and coming up with the treasure-bearers in a waterpursuit.
course half a mile from the village of Soojeina, they
104
rushed in upon them, and put them
all
to death with
While they were doing
their swords.
from Soojeina approached with
a tanner
so,
his buffalo
and, to
prevent his giving the alarm, they put him to death

also,
and made
bodies unburied.
none of the
with the treasure, leaving the
off
heavy shower of rain
fell,
and
came to the place till

when some females passing
village people
the next morning early
on their way to Huttah, saw the bodies, and
it
returning to Soojeina, reported the circumstance to
The whole village thereupon
their friends.
the spot
flocked to
and the body of the tanner was burned by his
relations with the usual ceremonies
while
all
the rest
be eaten by jackals, dogs, and vultures,

who make short work of such things in India *
were
left to
* Lieutenant
Brown was suddenly
and could not go himself

intelligent native
to Soojeina.
to
officer
called
the
place,
back
He
to Jubbulpore,
however, an
sent,
but no
man
could be
induced to acknowledge, that he had ever seen the bodies or
heard of the
all
that such
know nothing
of
it
affected ignorance
though Feringeea pointed
where they
exactly
mistake
affair
lay.
They
said
it
out to
must be
them
quite
a thing could not have taken place and they
Lieutenant Brown was aware that
all this
arose entirely from the dread these
people
have of being summoned to give evidence to any of our distant

courts of justice
and wrote
to the officer in the civil charge of
the district, to request that he would assure them, that their
presence would not be
required,
Mr. Doolan, the
assistant
magistrate, happened to be going through Soojeina from Saugor
on deputation
old
men
at the time
and sending
for all the
respectable
of the place, he requested that they would be under no
apprehension, but
tell
him the
real truth, as
he could pledge
105
CASE OF MURDER BY THUGS.
We had
occasion to examine a very respectable old
gentleman
at
Dhumow
upon the
case,
Gobinel Dass,
under the former government, and
a revenue
officer
now about
seventy years of age.
He
told us, that he
had no knowledge whatever of the murder of the
men
eight
at Soojeina; but
he well remembered
another which took place seven years before
we mentioned,
time
on the road
to
Abhana, a stage or two back,
at
Jubbulpore.
Seventeen treasure-
bearers lodged in the grove near that
way from Jubbulpore

set
to Saugor.
their
upon by a large gang of Thugs, and sixteen of

;
noose before
it
way good
laid
hold of the
could be brought to bear upon his
down the
throat, pulled
his
town on
At night they were
them strangled but the seventeenth
the
who held it, and made

The Rajah, Duruk Sing,
villain
to the town.
summoned to any
They then took him to the spot,
himself that not one of them should ever be

distant court to give evidence.
and pointed out to him where the bodies had been found
and
mentioned, that the body of the tanner had been burned by his
The banker, whose treasure they were carrying, had an

dislike to be summoned to court to give evidence, now that
friends.
equal
he could no longer hope
and
it
was not
till
to recover
after Lieutenant
any portion of his
Brown had
given
lost
money
him a
similar
assurance, that he would consent to have his books examined.
The
loss of the
four thousand five hundred rupees was there
found entered, with the names of the

at Soojeina in carrying
minor
down
difficulties
killed
These are specimens of some of the
it.
we had
men who had been
to
the most dreadful of
contend with in our
all
crimes.
put
All the prisoners accused
of these murders had just been tried for others,
Brown would not have been
efforts to
or Lieutenant
able to give the pledge he did.
106
went
the spot with
to
collect
the followers he could
all
but he found there nothing but the sixteen
naked bodies lying

apparently
out
starting
Thugs had
their clothes
all
;
the grove, with their
in
gone
of
off
their
with
the
sockets
eyes
The
and
treasure
and the Rajah searched
for
them
in
vain.
native commissioned officer of a regiment of
native infantry, one day told me, that while he was
on duty over some Thugs
Lucknow, one of them
seeming pleasure, the following
related, with great

case,
at
which seemed to him one of the most remark-
able that he had heard
them speak
of during the
time they were under his charge.
Mogul officer of noble bearing and singularly handsome countenance, on his way from the
Punjab to Oude, crossed the Ganges at Gurmuktesur Ghat, near Meeruth, to pass through Moradabad
and Bareilly. He was mounted on a fine Turkee
horse, and attended by his Khidmutgar (butler) and
"
stout
groom.
Soon
after
crossing the river,
he
fell
in
with a small party of well-dressed and modest-looking
men, going the same road.

respectful manner,
versation with him.

told
them
cions,
and
to be
off.
tried to
They accosted him
in a
and attempted to enter into con-
He
had heard of Thugs, and
They smiled at his idle suspiremove them, but all in vain
the Mogul was determined; they saw
his nostrils
swelling with indignation, took their leave, and fol-
lowed slowly.
The next morning he overtook the
CASE OF MURDER BY THUGS.
same number of men, but of a

all
respectful
different appearance,
They accosted him
Mussulmans.
107
same
in the
manner; talked of the danger of the road,
and the necessity of their keeping together, and
taking-
advantage of the protection of any mounted gentle-
man
Mogul
officer said
not a word in reply, resolved to
They
have no companions on the road.

his nostrils
hand
began again to
persisted
and putting
swell,
he bid them
his sword,
to
The
same way.
that happened to be going the
all
be
his
or he
off,
He
would have their heads from their shoulders.

had a bow and quiver
of arrows over his shoul-
full
and
ders, a brace of loaded pistols in his waist-belt,
a sword by his side, and was altogether a very for-
In the evening another
midable looking cavalier.

party,
that
lodged
the
in
same
surae,
became
They
very intimate with the butler and groom.
were going the same road
and
as
the
Mogul
over-
took them in the morning, they made their bows

respectfully,
and began to enter into conversation
with their two friends, the groom and the butler,
who were coming up
behind.
began again to
and he bid the strangers be
The groom and
swell,
The Mogul's
nostrils
off.
butler interceded, for their master
was a grave, sedate man, and they wanted companions.
All would not do, and the strangers
the rear.
The next
day,
when they had got
middle of an extensive and uninhabited
Mogul
in advance,
and
his
fell
in
to the
plain, the
two servants a few hun-
dred yards behind, he came up to a party of six poor
10
108
Mussulmans,
weeping
sitting
by
the
side
of
They were soldiers from Lahore,

Lucknow, worn down by fatigue in
dead companion.
on their way to
and children once
their anxiety to see their wives
more, after a long and painful service.
Their com-
panion, the hope and prop of his family, had sunk
under the
him
fatigue,
and they had made a grave
for
but they were poor unlettered men, and un-
able to repeat the funeral service from the holy
Koran
would
office for
in this
his
them, he
highness but perform this last
w ould no doubt
T
with
its
pistols
placed in
head towards Mecca.
the Mogul
took off his
reward
The Mogul dismounted
world and the next.
the body had been
find his
its
proper position,
carpet was spread
bow and
quiver, then his
and sword, and placed them on the ground
near the body
called for water,
and washed
his feet,
hands, and face, that he might not pronounce the holy
He
then knelt down
and began to repeat the funeral
service, in a clear
words in an unclean
loud voice.
Two
state.
of the poor soldiers knelt by him,
one on each side in
silence.
The other
four
went
off
a few paces, to beg that the butler and groom would
not come so near as to interrupt the good Samaritan at

his devotions.
All being ready, one of the four, in a
low under-tone, gave the Shirnee,
(signal,)
the hand-
kerchiefs were thrown over their necks, and in a few
minutes
all
three
the Mogul and
his servants
were
dead, and lying in the grave in the usual manner, the
head of one
at the feet of the
one below him.
All the
109
CASE OF POISONING.
parties they
had met on the road belonged
of Jumaldehee Thugs, of the
to a gang-
kingdom of Oude.
In
despair of being able to win the Mogul's confidence,

in the usual way,
and determined to have the money
and jewels, which they knew he carried with him,

they had adopted this plan of disarming him
dug the
grave by the side of the road, in the open plain, and
made
Mussulman of the party

The Mogul being a very stout
a handsome young
the dead soldier.
man, died almost without a struggle,
as
is
usually
his
two servants made no
sensibility,
with hearts overcharged
the case with such
and
resistance."
People of great
with sorrow, often appear cold and callous to those
who seem
An
tions.
it is
to
them
no interest
to feel
in their afflic-
instance of this kind I will here mention
one of thousands that I have met with in
Indian rambles.
was mentioned to
It
that an old Fukeer,
by a
little
who
me
my
one day
lived in a small hut close
shrine on the side of the road near the
town of Moradabad, had
lately lost his son, poisoned
by a party of Dhutooreeas, or professional poisoners

that
now infest
for him,
every road throughout India.
and requested him to
tell
me
I sent
his story, as I
might perhaps be able to trace the murderers.

did
so,
and a Persian writer took
listened with all the
wanted merely
whatever to do
literally
to
coldness of a
learn facts,
with
feelings.
He
down while I
magistrate, who
it
and have
This
is
nothing
his
story
110
"I
my
reside in
hut by the side of the road a
mile and half from the town, and live upon the
bounty of
travellers,
About
villages.
my
the side of
and people of the surrounding
weeks ago, I was
six
shrine after saying prayers, with
only son, about ten years of age,
up with
and
his wife, his son,
older and the other a
little
They baked and
boy.
shrine,
and gave
me
when
little
a one, for I was not hungry.
hanging
in
near
my
my
enough to make two
flour
hungry, and ate one cake and a
fore purchased a
my
one a
younger than
their bread
ate
by
man came
his daughter, the
My
This I prepared and baked.
cakes.
sitting
I ate only half
half.
had a few days be-
new blanket
boy was
my
for
boy, and
it
was
a branch of the tree that shaded the
when these people came. My son and I

soon became stupiiied.
I saw him fall asleep, and I
I awoke again in the evening, and
soon followed.
shrine,
found myself in a pool of water.

to crawl towards
ing
and I
sat
my boy
It
not why.
all
till
my
lap,
sensible.
poor boy.
in the shrine.
washerwomen had put me
my
my
breath-
where
night picking up straws
the third day,
there with
still
head
when
During
his
bones
I did not quite reI
found
into the pool,
out, in
I heard this
and went and gathered up
travellers,
and buried them

cover
head in
his
was not yet quite
the night the wolves ate
from
him
was now evening, and I got up,
and wandered about
know
had sense enough
I found
by him with
he soon died.
that
and
some
left
me
hopes that this would
Ill
CASE OF POISONING.
me
revive
but they had no hope of
my
then taken to the police of the town
me
holders had begged

poisoners, lest
community
and about
and
fair,
but the land-
might get them and their
it
The man was
thirty-five
and about thirty
jected a good deal
woman
the
village
tall
and
stout,
short,
two of her teeth pro-
the boy's eyelids were
was
say nothing about the
to
into trouble.
fair,
son.
much
diseased."
All this he told
me
without the slightest appear-
ance of emotion, for he had not seen any appear-
ance
of
casual
it
What
no more
would
writer; and a
Persian
European observer would perhaps have ex-
claimed, "
feels
my
me, or
in
brutes these natives are
for the loss of his only son

!"
for that of a goat
was there.
The Persian
closed his inkstand

for word,
But
knew
than he
the feeling
writer put up his paper, and
and the following dialogue, word
took place between
Question.
this fellow
What made you
of your boy's death, and
me and
the old man.
conceal the real cause
tell
the police that he had
been killed as well as eaten by wolves?

Answer. The
landholders
could never bring back

village
told
my boy
to
me
life,
that
they
and the whole
would be worried to death by them
if
made
any mention of the poison.

Question.
And
if
they were to be punished for this
they would annoy you
Answer. Certainly.
me for my own good
But
believe they advised
as well as their
own.
112
And
Question.
if
they should turn you away from
that place, could you not
make another?
Answer. Are not the bones of
my
poor boy there;
and the trees that he and I planted and watched

gether for ten years
Have you no
Question.
became of your
boy's
mother?
only three months old.
the
poor old
would break
down on
my
my only
child,
and he has
for the sake of the blanket
man sobbed
boy was
him up my-
I have brought
from that age: he was
been poisoned
What
other relations?
Answer. She died at that place when
self
to-
(Here
as if his heartstrings
and I was obliged to make him
sit
down the
the floor while I walked up and
room.)
Question.
Answer.
Had you any children before ?

Yes, sir, we had several, but
died before their mother.

to beggary
weak and
We
by misfortunes, and I had become too
ill
to work.
I buried
my poor wife's
;
bones
raised
the
shrine over them, planted the trees, and there
have I
in
all
had been reduced
by the side of the road where she died

little
they
my
sat ever since
bosom.
It
is
by her
side,
with our poor boy
a sad place for wolves, and
used often to hear them howling outside
poor boy was never afraid of them when he
but
we
my
knew
w as near him. God preserved him to me, till the

sight of the new blanket, for I had nothing else in
I bought
the world, made these people poison us
it for him only a few days before when the rains were
r
113
CASE OF POISONING.
coming
my
on, out of
savings
was
it
(The poor old man sobbed again, and
all
down while
sat
I paced the room, lest I should sob also
was becoming a
little
too large for
my
heart
apartment.)
its
" I will never," continued he, " quit the
I had.
bones of
my
wife and child, and the tree that he and I watered

for so
many
I have not
years.
many
years to live
there I will spend them, whatever the landholders
may do
they advised me
never turn
me
I found all
man
poor
his wife
in
good, and will
new
stated
to
be true;
had mixed poison with the
flour to destroy the poor old
the sake of the
my own
out."
the
man and
the
for
man and
his son
for
blanket which they saw hanging
the branch of the tree, and carried away with
The poison used on such
them.
monly the
dutora,
and
it is
hookah to be smoked, and
occasions
is
com-
sometimes given in the
at others in food.
When
they require to poison children as well as grown-up

people, or
women who do
The
the poison in food.

to destroy
life,
as "
dead
not smoke, they mix up
intention
men
tell
is
no
almost always
tales
;"
but the
poisoned people sometimes recover, as in the present

case,
The
and lead to the detection of the poisoners.

cases in which they recover are, however, rare
and of those who recover few are ever able to trace

the poisoners
and of those who recover and trace
them, very few will ever undertake to prosecute them
through the several courts of the magistrate, the

sessions,
vol.
and that of
I.
last
instance in a distant disI
114
trict,
to which the proceedings
must be sent
for final
orders.
The impunity with which

perpetrated, and
part
of India,
crime
this
everywhere
consequent increase in every
its
are among' the greatest evils with
which the country
is
poisoners are spread
all
These
at this time afflicted.
over India, and are as nume-
Bombay and Madras
rous over the
is
There
over that of Bengal.
presidencies as
no road
is
free
them, and throughout India there must be
hundreds who gain their subsistence by
They put on
alone.
their purpose
all
manner
from
many
this trade
of disguises to suit
and as they prey
chiefly
upon the
poorer sort of travellers, they require to destroy the
number of
greater
lives to
make up
their incomes.
party of two or three poisoners have very often
succeeded in destroying another of eight or ten

vellers with
whom
they have journeyed for some days,
them a feast on the celebration

the anniversary of some family event.
Sometimes
by pretending
of
tra-
woman
an old
to give
or
man
will
manage the thing
by gaining the confidence of
travellers,
and getting
near the cooking-pots while they go aside
employed to bring the

bazaar.
The poison
or
when
meal from the
flour for the
is
alone,
put into the flour or the
pot, as opportunity offers.
People of
some
all castes
and
casually, others for
callings take to this trade,

life,
and others derive
from their parents or teachers. They assume

ner of disguises to suit their purposes
all
it
man-
and the habit
SYSTEM- OF THE THUGS.
115
of cooking, eating, and sleeping on the side of the

road,
and smoking with strangers of seemingly the
same
caste, greatly facilitate their designs
The small
vellers.
upon
tra-
unconnected with
parties are
each other, and two parties never unite in the same
The members of one party may be some-
cruise.
times convicted and punished, but their conviction

is
for the
accidental,
down
to put
with any
Thug
the
system which has enabled us

associations cannot
be applied,
prospect of success, to the suppression
fair
of these pests to society.
The Thugs went on their adventures in large

gangs and two or more were commonly united in
;
the course of an expedition in the perpetration of
many
Every man shared
murders.
in the booty ac-
cording to the rank he held in the gang, or the part
he took in the murders
and the rank of every man,
and the part he took generally, or
the evidence
these gangs,
we
when
arrested,
it,
or the
among the families and
friends of
whom
the pro-
or with persons to
perty taken had been disposed of

to
all.
we found
required for their conviction
means of tracing
their victims
parti-
were generally well known to
cular murder,
From among
any
in
and in the graves
which the victims had been consigned.
To
ment
give an idea of the system by which the govern-
good
for the
of India has been enabled to effect so great a
people as the suppression of these asso-
ciations, I will
at Delhi,
suppose that two sporting gentlemen,
and
in Calcutta,
had both described

i
116
the killing of a tiger in an island in the Ganges, near
Hurdwar, and mentioned the names of the persons
Among
engaged with them.
named were
D, who had
C,
England, and
who had
retired
deeply interested in
believed.
and
says that
South Wales,
still
in India, but they are
and B's story not
to
There were four other
to Scotland.
named who were
persons
since returned to America,
New
to
thus
persons
the
being
got the skin of the tiger,
states
that he gave
it
of the claws.
Application
is
to C,
who
made
cut out two
to C, D, E, and
F, and without the possibility of any collusion, or
even communication between them, their statements

correspond precisely with those of
and B, as to
the time, place, circumstances, and persons engaged.
Their statements are sworn to before magistrates, in

presence of witnesses, and duly attested.
that he got the skin from B, and gave
Nawab
Rampore
of
took from the

set in gold
hookah
for a
left forefoot
in
states
to the
it
carpet, but that
two of the
by a goldsmith
claws, got
them
Lucknow, and gave
them to the minister of the King of Oude

charm for his sick child.
The Nawab of Rampore being applied to,
for a
states
that he received the skin from C, at the time
place mentioned, and that he
upon
left
it
and that
forefoot.
states that
gold
it
had
he
still
lost the
smokes
his
and
hookah
two claws upon the
The minister of the King of Oude
he received the two claws nicely set in
that they had cured his boy,
who
still
wore
SUPPRESSION OF THE THUGS.
them round
his
117
neck to guard him from the
evil eye.
The goldsmith states that he set the two claws in

gold for C, who paid him handsomely for his work.
The peasantry, whose cattle graze on the island, declare that certain
gentlemen did
kill
a tiger there
about the time mentioned, and that they saw the
body
after the
skin had been taken
upon
vultures had begun to descend
To prove
that
what
and
and the
off,
it.
had stated could
not possibly be true, the other party appeal to some

of their townsmen,
who
are said to be well acquainted
They
with their characters.
know
state that they really
nothing about the matter in dispute
friends,
who
are opposed to
that their
and B, are much
liked by their townspeople and neighbours, as they
have plenty of money, which they spend freely

that they are certainly very
sports,
and generally absent
for three
or four
much
addicted to
but
field-
in pursuit of wild-beasts
months every year
but whether
they were or were not present at the killing of the

great Gurmuktesur tiger they could not say.
Most persons would

be tolerably well
really
after
satisfied
examining
this evidence,
that the said tiger had
been killed at the time and place, and by the
persons mentioned by
the fact judicially,
it
but to establish
would be necessary to bring A,
B, C, D, E, and F, the
minister of the
and
Nawab
of
Rampore, the
King of Oude, and the goldsmith,
the criminal court at Meeruth,
with the persons whose interest
to
it
to
be confronted
was that
and
118
They would
should not be believed.
come
to the said court
from the
all,
perhaps,
different quarters of
the world in which they had thought themselves
snugly settled
but the thing would annoy them so
much, and be so much talked
of,
that sporting gen-
tlemen, nawabs, ministers, and goldsmiths, would in

future take good care " to have forgotten" everything
connected with the matter in dispute, should another
made
similar reference be
to them,
and so
A and B
would never again have any chance.
Thug approvers, whose evidence we

employed
in all parts of India,
down
pointed to put
difficult to
the
trials,
particular
bring
all
required, were
under the
these associations
officers ap-
and
it
was
whose evidence was necessary
at
to the court of the district in which the
murder had been perpetrated.
The
vic-
tims were, for the most part, money-carriers, whose
masters and families resided hundreds of miles from

the place where they were murdered, or people on
their
vice.
way
to their distant
homes from
foreign ser-
There was no chance of recovering any of the
property taken from
the victims,
as
Thugs were
known to spend what they got freely, and never to

have money by them and the friends of the victims,
and the bankers whose money they carried, were
;
everywhere found exceedingly averse to take any

share in the prosecution.
To
obviate
all
these
difficulties,
separate courts
were formed, with permission to receive whatever

evidence they might think likely to prove valuable,
at-
SUPPRESSION OF THE THUGS.
119
taching to each portion, whether documentary or oral,
whatever weight
it
Such
might seem to deserve.
courts were formed at
Hydrabad, Mysore, Judore,
Lucknow, Gwalior, and were presided over by our

highest diplomatic functionaries, in concurrence with
the princes at whose courts they were accredited
and who
Jubbulpore were under the direction of
at
the representative of the Governor-General of India.
By
means we had a most valuable
this
unpaid agency; and I believe there

their public life
is
species of
no part of
on which these high functionaries
look back with more pride, than that spent in presiding over such courts,
government
and
assisting the
supreme
in relieving the people of India
from
this fearful evil.*

* I
may
here mention the names of a few diplomatic officers
of distinction
vice
who have aided
in the
Mr. F. C. Smith, Mr. Martin,
good cause
of the
civil ser-
Mr. George Stockwell, Mr.
Charles Fraser, the Hon. Mr. Wellesley, the Hon. Mr. Shore,
the Hon. Mr. Cavendish, Mr. George Clerk, Mr. L. Wilkinson,
Mr. Box
Majors- General, Cubbon and Fraser
Stewart, Alves, Spiers,
Wilkinson
tain Paton.
Caulfield, Sutherland,
and
Colonels,
Wade
Low,
Major
and among the foremost, Major Bothwick and Cap-
120
CHAPTER
XIV.
BASALTIC CAPPINGS OF THE SANDSTONE HILLS OF CENTRAL
SUSPENSION BRIDGE PROSPECTS OF THE

BUDDA VALLEY DEIFICATION OF A MORTAL.
INDIA
On
we came on
the 29th
derable
little
town
NER-
to Puthureea, a consi-
thirty miles
from Saugor, sup-
ported almost entirely by a few farmers, small agricultural capitalists,

collector.
ally
On
and the establishment of a native
leaving Puthureea,
along the side of the basaltic
we ascend gradu-
hills
on our
the south, for three miles, to a point whence

before us this plane of
flat basaltic
left,
we
to
see
cappings extend-
ing as far as the eye can reach to the west, south,
and north, with frequent breaks, but

one uniform
level.
here and there

or
indurated
On
little
iron
still
preserving
the top of these tables are
conical elevations of laterite,

clay.
The cappings
every-
where repose immediately upon the sand-stone of

the
Vindhya range
of limestone
but they have occasional beds
formed apparently by springs
rising
;;
SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
from their
and strongly impregnated with car-
sides,
For the most part
bonic acid gas.

travertine
mere
is
for building.
December we came
the 1st of
village of
this
but in some places they get good lime
from the beds
On
121
to the pretty
Sunodah, near the suspension bridge built
over the river Beeose by Colonel Presgrave while he
was assay master of the Saugor mint.

at
the
laying
foundation-stone
December, 1827.
I was present
bridge in
of this
Mr. Maddock was the governor-
general's representative in these territories,
and the
w ork was undertaken more with a view to show

what could be done out of their own resources
T
under minds capable of developing them, than to

sujjply
The work
any pressing or urgent want.
was completed in June, 1830; and I have several

times seen upon
the bridge
as
many
hold of a regiment of infantry while
and
at other times,
as
many
and often several elephants
between
feet
the
point
of
it
as
could
it
moved over
of a corps of cavalry,
The bridge
at once.
two
suspension
hundred
and the clear portion of the platform measures
one hundred and ninety feet by eleven and a
The whole
fifty
is
cost
of the work amounted
thousand rupees; and under a
less
to
half.
about
able
and
careful person than
Colonel Presgrave would have
cost perhaps double
the
amount.
This
work has
been declared by a very competent judge to be

equal to any structure of the same kind in Europe
and
is
eminently calculated to show
what genius
122
and perseverance can produce out of the resources

of a country even in the rudest state of industry
and the
arts.
The river Nerbudda neither is nor ever can, I fear,

be made navigable and the produce of its valley would
require to find its way to distant markets over the
;
Vindhya range of hills

the south.
to the north, or the Sathpore to
If the produce
of the
mines, and
soil,
industry of the valley cannot be transported to distant
markets, the government cannot possibly find in
any available net surplus revenue in money
it
for it
has no mines of the precious metals, and the precious
metals can flow in only in exchange for the produce

of the land and the industry of the valley that flows
If the government wishes to draw a net sur-
out.
plus revenue from the valley or from the districts

that border
upon
that
it,
is,
a revenue beyond
its
ex-
penditure in support of the local public establishments,
it
must either draw
it
in produce, or for
can be got for that produce in

Hitherto
little
distant
its
way
abounds in iron mines

hausted by cropping,
soil
is
and
soil
into distant markets
from the valley of the Nerbudda; yet
The
markets.
beyond the rude produce of the
has been able to find
what
its
soil,
this valley
where unex-
of the richest quality. #
It
is
of the valley of the Nerbudda, and that of the
Nerbudda and Saugor

most part of the
territories generally, is
formed
for the
detritus of trap rocks that everywhere covered
the sand-stone of the Vindhya and Sathpore ranges which run
through these
territories.
This basaltic detritus forms what
is
VALLEY OF THE NERBUDDA.
much
not then too
to hope, that in time the iron
of the mines will be worked
manufactures
123
machinery
into
and that multitudes, aided by
for
this
machinery, and subsisted on the rude agricultural
now
produce, which
flows out, will invest the value
of their labour in manufactured commodities adapted

to the
demand of
foreign markets, and better able
from their superior value compared with their bulk,

to pay the cost of transport
till
then, can
we expect
by
Then, and not
land.
to see these territories
pay
a considerable net surplus revenue to government,
and abound in a middle
and agricultural
facturers,
At Sunodah
there
now
or castle
was
class of
capitalists.
a very beautiful
unoccupied, though
by an
built
is
merchants, manu-
officer of the
little fortress
still
entire.
It
Rajah Chutter Saul, of
Bundelcund, about one hundred and twenty years
He
ago.
had a grant on the tenure of military
service of twelve villages situated
and a
man who
round
this place
could build such a castle to defend
the surrounding country from the inroads of freebooters,
and to secure himself and
his troops
from
any sudden impulse of the people's resentment, was

as likely to acquire
an increase of territorial possession
in these parts, as he
would have been
the middle ages.
The son of
in
Europe during
this chief,
by name Rae
Sing, was, soon after the castle had been completed,
called the black cotton
know
not.
soil
by the English,
for
what reason
124
killed
in
an attack upon a town near Chitterkote
and having
in the estimation of the people become a
god, he had a temple

to our
and a tomb raised
encampment.
had become a god
him
close
how he
some one who
I asked the people
and was
to
told, that
had been long suffering from a quartan ague went to

the
tomb one
night,
ashes lay under
it,
and promised Rae Sing, whose
that if he could contrive to cure his
ague for him, he would, during the
make
rest of his
offerings to his shrine. After that
life,
he had never
another attack, and was very punctual in his offerings.
Others followed his example and with like success,

till
Rae Sing was recognized among them
univer-
god, and a temple raised
name
sally as a
to his
made all over the

world at one time, and are still made all over India.
Happy had it been for mankind if those only who
This
is
the
way
that gods were
were supposed to do good had been
On
the 2nd
we came on
deified
to the village of
Kojun-
town and cantonments of Saugor

a distance of some fourteen miles.
The
pore, (leaving the

to our
left,)
road for a great part of the
back of the sandstone

having been washed
off.
strata,
way
lies
over the bare
the covering of basalt
The hills, however,
are every-
where, at this distance from the city and cantonments

of Saugor,
nicely
wooded
intersected by pretty
little
and
valleys,
came over was picturesque and

of
all
these
valleys
is
rich
being constantly
we
the country
beautiful.
The
soil
from the detritus of
the basalt that forms or caps the
hills
but
it
is
125
VILLAGE OF KOJUNPORE.
now
in a
bad state of cultivation, partly from several
which
successive seasons of great calamity, under
the people have been suffering, and partly from over
assessment
by that
and
loss
among the
of
this posture
industry,
energy,
and
farmers
of affairs
and
cultivators,
everywhere result from these two
is
continued
character,
which must
In India,
evils.
where the people have learnt so well how to govern

themselves from the want of settled government,
good or bad government
really
depends almost
alto-
gether upon good or bad settlements of the land re-
Where
venue.
demand
the government
is
imposed
with moderation, and enforced with justice, there

will the
people be generally found happy and con-
tented
and disposed to perform their duties to
each other and to the
state,
except when they have
the misfortune to suffer from drought, blight,
and
other calamities of season.

I have mentioned that the basalt in the Saugor
district reposes for
the most part immediately upon
the sandstone of the Vindhya range
and
it
must
have been deposited on the sand while the latter was

yet at the bottom of the ocean, though this range
is
now, I believe, nowhere
hundred to two thousand
less
feet
than from fifteen
above the level of the
The marks of the ripple of the sea may be

observed in some places where the basalt has been
sea.
recently washed
only yesterday;
to be seen
off,
beautifully defined, as if formed
and there
is
no other substance
between the two rocks.
The texture of
126
comes
in con-
some places been
altered
the sandstone at the surface, where

tact with the basalt, has in
by
it
but in others
changed
it
seems to have been as
it
as the habitations of the people
who were
suffocated
by the ashes of Vesuvius in the
Pompeii.
am
little
city of
from long and careful ex-
satisfied,
amination, that the greater part of this basalt, which

covers the table land of central and southern India,
must have been held
for
some time
the ocean or lake into which
it
in suspension in
was
first
thrown
in
the shape of ashes, and then gradually deposited.
This alone can account for
its
frequent appearance
of stratification, for the gentle blending of
its
par-
ticles
with those of the sand near the surface of the
latter
and above
all,
for those level steps, or tables,
lying one above another horizontally in parallel lines
on one range, corresponding exactly with the same palines
rallel
one above another on a range twenty or
Mr. Scrope's theory is, I
thirty miles across the valley.

believe, that these are all
mere
flowings, or coulees
of lava, which, in their liquid state,
filled
hollows,
but afterwards became of a harder texture as they

dried and crystallized than the higher rocks around
them
the consequence of which
is
that the latter
have been decomposed and washed away, while the

basalt has
My
been
opinion
is,
time formed
lakes
left to
form the highest elevations.
that these steps, or
stairs,
at
one
the beds of the ocean, or of great
and that the substance of which they are
composed was,
for the
most
part,
10
projected into the
127
PETRIFIED PALMS.
water, and there held in suspension
There
deposited.
till
gradually
however, amidst these steps
are,
and beneath them, masses of more compact and

talline basalt, that bear evident signs of
crys-
having been
flows of lava. #
Reasoning from analogy at Jubbulpore, where some

of the basaltic cappings of the
had evidently
hills
been thrown out of craters long after
this surface
had
been raised above the waters, and become the habitation both of vegetable
first
discovery
valley.
of
went
fossil
first
and animal
life,
made
the
remains in the Nerbudda
my
to a hill within sight of
house in 1828, and searched exactly between the

plateau of basalt that covered
immediately below
it,
and the stratum
and there I found several small
trees with roots, trunks,
and branches,
all entire,
and
They had been only recently

washing away of a part of the
beautifully petrified.
uncovered by the
soon after found
basaltic plateau.
bones of animals.
Going over
of 1830, and reasoning there
some
fossil
to Saugor, in the
end
upon the same analogy,
I searched for fossil remains along the line of contact
between the basalt and the surface upon which
it
* Since writing the above, I have seen Colonel Sykes's notes on

the formations of southern India in the India Review.
there described, seem
all
would answer just as well
to support
my
conclusion
nuddee, as well as for those of the
of the basalt
I believe,
attempt to account for the

it.
for
Sohun and Maha-
Baum and the Beema.
he merely describes
map
and his
for central as for southern India
the banks of the Nerbudda and Chumbul,
Sykes does not,
The facts
Colonel
stratification
128
had been deposited
palm
and I found a grove of
silicified
trees within a mile of the cantonments.
These
palm trees had grown upon a calcareous deposit

formed from springs rising out of the basaltic range
of
hills to
the south.
The commissariat
cut a road though this grove, and

officers of
had
the European
a large military station had been every day
riding through
treasure
all
officer
and
it
it
without observing the geological
was some time before I could con-
vince them, that the stones which they had every day
seen were
really
petrified
and trunks were beautifully
palm
trees.
perfect.
The
roots
i ***/
CHAPTER
XV.
LEGEND OF THE SAUGOR LAKE PARALYSIS FROM EATING

THE GRAIN OF THE LATHYRUS SATIVUS.
The cantonments
from the
of Saugor are about two miles
and occupied by three regiments of
city
native infantry, one of local horse, and a
European
artillery.
The
company of
two
city occupies
sides of
one of the most beautiful lakes in India, formed by

a wall which unites two sand-stone
The
side.
hills
and part of the town stands upon
fort
according to tradition, was built
this wall, which,
by a wealthy merchant of the Brinjara

he had finished
dry
that
it,
and he was
it
the bed of the lake

told,
own
lad to whom she
of the place.
caste.
still
in a dream, or
would continue so
sacrifice his
on the north
till
After
remained
by a
priest,
he should consent to
daughter, then a
girl,
and the young
had been affianced, to the tutelary god
He
accordingly built a
little
shrine in
the centre of the valley, which was to become the bed

of the lake, put the
doorway.
VOL.
i.
He
two children
in,
and built up the
had no sooner done so than the whole
130
became
of the valley
merchant,
made
filled
with water, and the old
and
the priest, the masons,
much
their escape with
the Brinjara caste
of
known
that
to
drink of
present
caste at
the water of the

city
say,
religiously
;
but no living
been
since
Certainly
that
all
of
drinking
avoid
and the old people of the
that they have always done so since they
can remember
and that they used to hear from
that they had always
parents
their
lake
has ever
waters
its
From
difficulty.
time the lake has been inexhaustible

soul
spectators,
done
In
so.
nothing does the founder of the Christian religion
appear more amiable than in his injunction, " Suffer
come unto me, and forbid them not."

In nothing do the Hindoo deities appear more hor-
little
children to
rible
than in the delight they are supposed to take
in their sacrifice
it
is
everywhere the helpless, the
female, and the infant, that they seek to devour
and so
it
was among the
Carthaginian colonies.
Phoenicians
Human
tainly offered in the city of
sacrifices
and their
were
cer-
Saugor during the whole
of the Murhutta government up to the year 1800,
when they were put a stop to by the local governor,

Assa Sahib, a very humane man and I once heard
a very learned Brahman priest say, that he thought
;
the decline of his family and government arose from

"
this innovation,
offering
human
been offered
tomed
There
is,"
said he,
sacrifices to the
"no
sin in not
gods where none have
but where the gods have been accus-
to them, they are very naturally
annoyed when
LEGEND OF THE SAUGOR LAKE.

the rite
with
is
all
abolished, and visit the place
He
kinds of calamities."
of reasoning
and people
did not seem to
was anything singular in
think, that there
131
and perhaps three Brahman
this
mode
priests out
manner
of four would have reasoned in the same
In descending into the valley of the Nerbudda

over the Vindhya range of
may
hill,
see
by the
from Bhopaul, one
hills
upon a spur of the
side of the road,
a singular pillar of sand-stone rising in two spires,
one turning above and rising over the other, to the
On
height of from twenty to thirty feet.
hill
half a mile distant,
The
not quite so high.

pillar
is
a spur of
another sand-stone pillar
tradition
is,
was the affianced bride of the
that the smaller

taller one,
was a youth of a family of great eminence

parts.
Coming with
his uncle to
pay
who
in these
his first visit
to his bride, in the procession they call the Buraut,
he grew more and more impatient as he approached

nearer and nearer, and she shared the feeling.
At
last,
unable to restrain himself, he jumped upon his uncle's

shoulder, and looked with all his might towards the
spot where his bride was said to be seated.
happily she
raising
felt
" the
uncle
less
fringed
raised his, they
ment.
no
Un-
impatient than he did, and

curtains of her eye," as
saw each other
at the
he
same mo-
In that moment the bride, bridegroom, and
were
all
converted into
there they stand to this day a
stone
pillars;
monument,
mation of the people, to warn
and
in the esti-
man and womankind
against too strong an inclination to indulge curiosity
k 2
!;
132
It

a singular
is
sive tribes
to
which
of the
Gond
couple
this
that in one of the most exten-
fact,
population of central India,

said to have belonged, the
is
bride always goes to the bridegroom in the procession
of the Buraut, to prevent a recurrence of this cala-
mity
It
the bridegroom
is
who goes
to the bride
among every other class of the people of India, as well

Mahomedans as Hindoos.
Whether the usage
grew out of the
usage,
is
much being
a question that will admit of
on both
said
tradition, or the tradition out of the
I can only vouch for the exist-
sides.
ence of both.
I have seen the pillars, heard the
and ascertained the usage
tradition from the people,
Saugor lake.
as in the case of that of the
The Mahadeo sand-stone hills, which in the Sathpore range overlook the Nerbudda to the south, rise
between four and
to
five
and in one of the highest parts a
level of the sea;
was formerly, and
fair
thousand feet above the
perhaps,
is,
still
held for the
enjoyment of those who assemble to witness the

devotion of a few young men,
as a sacrifice,
to fulfil the
When a woman
is
and promises of
grant
what
found of no
if
she
avail,
offer
vows of
themsel ves
their mothers
without children she makes votive
offerings to all the gods
her
who
who
still
wants.
can,
she thinks, assist
greater in case they should
Smaller
promises
being
she at last promises her first-born,
a male, to the god of destruction, Mahadeo.
If
him her vows till

the age of puberty
she then com-
she gets a son she conceals from
he has attained
self-
HUMAN
municates
believes
it
it
to him,
and enjoins him to
He
fulfil it.
paramount duty
to be his
mother's call
133
SACRIFICES.
obey
to
his
and from that moment he considers
Without breathing
himself as devoted to the god.

to any living soul a syllable of
what she has told him,
he puts on the habit of a pilgrim or religious mendicant
this
god
fair
on the Mahadeo
the celebrated temples dedicated to
visits all
in different parts of India

hills,
and
at the
throws himself from a per-
pendicular height of four or five hundred

is
dashed to pieces upon the rocks below
youth does not

sacrifice
on the
feel
fair.
first visit,
postpone the
val
is
Some
feet,
!
and
If the
himself quite prepared for the
he spends another year in
pilgrimages, and returns to
the next
annual
have, I believe,
sacrifice to a third fair
always spent in painful
celebrated temples of the god.
vow
been known
mother's
fulfil his
at
to
but the inter-
pilgrimages to the
When
Sir R. Jen-
kins was the Governor-general's representative at the

court of Nagpore, great efforts were
and
all
made by him,
the European officers under him, to put a
stop to these horrors by doing
and their
efforts
were
assisted
away with the
fair
by the cholera morbus,
which broke out among the multitude one season

while they were so employed, and
greater part of them.
I believe, considered as
carried off the
This seasonable visitation was,
an intimation on the part of
the god, that the people ought to have been

attentive to the wishes of the white men, for
happens, that
Mahadeo
is
more
it
so
the only one of the Hindoo
134
who is represented with a white

figures among the dramatis persona? of
gods
pantomime of the Ramleela, or

the only one with a white face.
the
fair
the
great
fight for the recovery
demon king
of Seeta from the
He
face.
of Ceylon
know
and
is
not whether
has ever been revived, but think not.
In 1829 the wheat and other spring crops in
this
and
the surrounding villages were destroyed by a severe

hail-storm
in
1830 they were
of seasonable rains
and
in
deficient
from the want
1831 they were destroyed
by blight. During these three years the teoree, or what

in other parts of India
is
called kesarree, (the lathy-
rus sativus of botanists,) a kind of wild vetch, which,
though not sown of
itself,
among the wheat and
is
left carelessly
cattle,
remained uninjured,
and thrived with great luxuriance.

reaped a rich crop of
;
grow
other grain, and given in the
green and dry state to
fields
to
it
and subsisted upon
In 1831 they
from the blighted wheat

its
grain during that and
the following years, giving the stalks and leaves only
In 1833 the sad
to their cattle.
began to manifest themselves.
effects of this food
The younger
part of
the population of this and the surrounding villages,
from the age of thirty downwards, began to be deprived

of the use of their limbs below the waist by paralytic
strokes, in all cases sudden, but in
than in others.
of both sexes
and 1834
some more severe
About half the youth of
became
affected during the years
and many of them have
their lower limbs
this village
entirely,
lost the
1833
use of
and are unable to move.
135
r ANALYSIS.
of the surrounding villages, in which the
The youth
teoree from the
same causes formed the chief
article
of food during the years 1831 and 1832, have suffered

in
an equal degree.
case has occurred
Since the year 1834 no
new
but no person once attacked had
been found to recover the use of the limbs affected
and
my
numbers of the
tent was surrounded by great
youth in different stages of the disease, imploring
my
advice and assistance under this dreadful visitation.
Some
of
them were very
fine-looking
good caste and respectable families
young men of
and
all stated,
that their pains and infirmities were confined entirely to the parts
below the
They described
waist.
the attack as coming on suddenly, often while the
person was asleep, and without any warning symp-
toms whatever
the young
women.
and
men were
It
is
stated, that a greater portion of
attacked than of the young
the prevailing opinion of the natives
throughout the country, that both horses and bullocks,
which have been much fed upon teoree, are
liable to lose
the use of their limbs
but
if
the
poisonous qualities abound more in the grain than in

the stalk or the leaves, man,
the grain, must be
more
who
eats nothing but
liable to suffer
of this food than beasts, which eat
it
from the use
merely as they
eat grass or hay.
I sent the son of the head

another,
who were among
affected, into
Saugor with a
man
of the village and
the young people least

letter to
my
friend Dr.
Foley, with a request that he would try what he
136
could do for them
and
if
he had any
prospect
fair
of being able to restore these people to the use of

their limbs, that measures
the
authorities,
civil
might be adopted through
to provide
them with accom-
modation and the means of subsistence, either by

private subscription or by application to government.
The
however, could find neither ac-
civil authorities,
commodation nor funds
to maintain these people while
under Dr. Foley's care; and several seasons of calamity
had deprived them of the means of maintaining

themselves at a distance from their families.
a medical
man
is
India provided with the means
in
found most effectual in removing such

such as baths, galvanic batteries,
affections,
&c. &c.
It
is
we have
as yet
for the country in the healing art, that art
which
lamentable to think
done
Nor
above
all
how
very
little
others a benevolent and enlightened govern-
ment should encourage among the people

All
we have
as
yet
done has been to provide
medical attendants for our European

ments, and
It
jails.
of India.
must
officers,
not, however,
regi-
be supposed
that the people of India are without medical advice

for there is not a
without
its
town or considerable
village in India
medical practitioners, the Hindoos follow-
ing the Egyptian, (Misreeanee,) and the Mussulmans
the
Grecian (Yoonanee)
scribe little physic
The
practice.
and much fasting
first
pre-
and the second
follow the good old rules of Hippocrates, Galen, and
Avicenna, with which they are

acquainted.
As
all
tolerably well
far as the office of physician
goes,
PARALYSIS.
137
all classes,
high and low, have
the natives of India of
much more
in ours
confidence in their
whom they consider
own practitioners than
too reckless, and better
adapted to treat diseases in a cold than a hot
They cannot
mate.
afford to
cli-
only fees
give the
which the European physicians would accept; and they

see them, in their hospital practice, trust
much
to
who are very few of them able

much less to study the profound
their native assistants,
to read any book,
of the
doctrines
medicine. #
upon
not
No
native ventures to offer an opinion
this abstruse subject in
known
book
nose," a
class,
first
consulting,
as large as a
as indeed all classes
our surgeons.
One
Here they
" spectacles
is
that they do
say,
much
feel that
on
The edu-
church bible.
not want our physicians, but stand
where he
circle
nor would he venture to give a pre-
without
scription
any
to be profoundly read in either Arabic or
Sanscrit lore
cated
masters of the science of
great
in
need of
they are helpless,
of our tent-pitchers one morning, after pitching our tent,
asked the loan of a small extra one for the use of his wife, who
was about
to
be confined.
The basket-maker's
near which we were encamped was called

before
we had
The charge
is
wife of the village
and the poor woman,
finished our breakfast, gave birth to a daughter.
half a rupee, or one shilling, for a boy, and a
quarter, or sixpence, for a girl.
The
tent-pitcher gave her nine-
pence, which the poor midwife thought very handsome.
mother had come fourteen miles upon a loaded

roads the night before
child the night after,
rough
and went the same distance with her
upon the same
cart.
The
Europe could not have done her duty better than

maker's wife did hers.
cart over
The
first
this
midwife in
poor basket-
138
and we are strong
and they seek our aid whenever
they see any chance of obtaining

case.
so,
is
more
people
or less a surgeon, or hoping to find
who
are afflicted, or have children
with any kind of malformation,
afflicted,
organization, flock round
implore their aid
do happen to
by,
fall
but implore in vain, for

in with a surgeon, he
is
go,
man
tresses a benevolent
daily
under of
so
a mere passer
telling
relief.
nothing which
much
and
when they
without the means or the time to afford

is
mal-
or
them wherever they
In travelling over India, there
is
as in the present
Considering that every European gentleman
they meet
him
it
dis-
as the necessity
poor parents,
he
who with
aching hearts and tearful eyes approach him with

their suffering children in their arms, that to relieve
them
requires time and
travellers
command,
he does not possess
means which are not
or a species of
it is
at a
knowledge which
bitter thus to dash to the
ground the cup of hope which our approach has

raised to the lip of mother, father,
and child
but he
consoles himself with the prospect, that at no distant
period a benevolent and enlightened government will

distribute over the land those from
will not seek relief in vain.
whom the afflicted
139
CHAPTER
INSALUBRITY OF DESERTED FORTRESSES.
SUTTEE TOMBS
On
the 3rd
XVI.
we came
to Behrole,
where
camped with Lord William Bentinck on the
when
of December, 1832,
mometer
The
degrees
of
basalt,
same formation.
and
day
Fahrenheit's
was down to
thermometer.
upon a gentle swelling
village stands
decomposed
last
the quicksilver in the ther-
at sunrise, outside our tents,
twenty-six
had en-
is
surrounded by
The Dussan
hill
of
hills
of the
river flows close
under
the village, and has two beautiful reaches, one above,
the other below, separated by the dyke of basalt,
over which
lies
the ford of the river.
There are
beautiful reaches of the kind in all the rivers in

this part of India,
and they are almost everywhere
formed in the same manner.
At Behrole
there are
a very unusual number of tombs built over the ashes

of
women who have
burnt themselves with the re-
mains of their husbands.
Upon each tomb
stands
erect a tablet of freestone, with the sun, the
moon, and a rose engraved upon

10
it
new
in bas-relief, in
140
one
field
in the
and the man and woman, hand
On
other.
in hand,
one stone of this kind I saw a
third field below these two, with the figure of a
horse in bas-relief; and I asked one of the gentle-
men farmers, who was riding with me, what it meant.

He told me, that he thought it indicated that the
widow rode on horseback
ascended the
pile.
I asked
the measure, prohibiting
good or bad
bathe
to
before
him whether he thought
the practice of burning,
he, " in
" It is," said
some
respects good, and in
Widows cannot marry among
others bad.
she
us,
and
who had no prospect of a comfortable proviamong their husband's relations, or who dreaded
those
sion
the possibility of going astray, and thereby sinking

into
to
contempt and misery, were enabled,
relieve
under the
them
their minds,
full
in the
When
in this way,
and follow their husbands,
assurance of being happily united to
next world."
I passed this place
William, he asked
me
on horseback with Lord
what these tombs were
had never seen any of the kind before.

told
him what they were, he
must have
felt
said not a
word
for
When
;
but he
a proud consciousness of the debt of
gratitude which India owes to the statesman
had the courage to put a stop

spite of all the
who
to this great evil, in
fearful obstacles
which bigotry and
prejudice opposed to the measure.
The seven Eu-
ropean functionaries, in charge of the seven

of
he
districts
the newly-acquired territories, were requested,
141
DESERTED FORTRESSES.
during the administration of Lord Amherst, in 1826,
whether the burning of widows could or
to state
should be prohibited; and I believe every one of them

declared, that
it
should not
And
yet
when
it
was put
a stop to only a few years after by Lord William,

not a complaint or
murmur was
to the Governor-general's
The
heard.
inquiries were,
replies
I believe,
throughout India, for the most part, opposed to the

measure.
On
the 24th
we came
to
Dhamonee, ten
miles.
The only thing remarkable here is the magnificent

fortress which is built upon a small projection of the
Vindhya range,
down on each
looking
two enormously deep
glens,
side
into
through which the two
branches of the Dussan river descend over the table
The
land into the plains of Bundelcund.
rays of
the sun seldom penetrate to the bottom of these
and things
glens,
are,
in consequence,
that could not be
grown
Every inch of the
level
in parts
ground
grown there
more exposed.
in the
bed of the
streams below, seems to be cultivated with care.

This
fortress
of
million
is
said
to
money; and
have cost more than a

to have
been only one of
great works, of which a former Rajah of
fifty-two
Bundelcund, Bursing Deo,
laid
the foundation
in
the same happy hour which had been pointed out

to
him by
triangle,
the two
glens
his astrologers.
The works form an acute
with the base towards the table land, and

sides
hanging
perpendicularly
over the
while the apex points to the course of the
142
streams as they again unite, and pass out through a
deep chasm into the plains of Bundelcund.
The
fortress
now
is
entirely deserted,
town, which the garrison supported,
and the
occupied by
is
only a small police guard, stationed here to see that

robbers do not take up their abode
There
is
no fear of
in India
become
bonic acid gas, which

that those
life,
ill,
common
unoccupied
air,
car-
found so inimical to animal
is
to occupy
them become
later almost all die of the conse-
This gas being specifically
quences.
than
by a dense stratum of
who attempt
and sooner or
the ruins.
All old deserted fortresses
this.
filled
among
much
heavier
descends into the bottom of such
fortresses,
and remains
water in old reservoirs.
stagnant
The current of pure
like
air
continually passes over, without being able to carry off
the mass of stagnant air below
render such places habitable

ings in the walls on
all
and the only way to
to
is,
make
from the top to the
sides,
may be
bottom, so that the foul air
driven out by
which
the current of pure atmospheric
fluid,
then be continually rushing
When
tresses
large open-
in.
are thickly peopled,
will
these for-
the continual motion
within tends, I think, to mix up this gas with the
above
air
in,
by
while the numerous
fires
rarifying that below, tend to
lighted with-
draw down a
regular supply of the atmospheric air from above for
the benefit of the inhabitants.
upon the occupation of an old

that
has
When
natives enter
fortress of this kind,
remained long unoccupied,
they always
143
DESERTED FORTRESSES.
make
a solemn religious ceremony of
it
and having
and a crowd of
fed the priests, the troops,
followers,
much
rush in at once with beat of drums, and as
all
noise as they can make.
By
that follow, the bad air
is
this rush,
and the
perhaps driven off
fires
and
never suffered to collect again while the fortress re-
mains
Whatever may be the cause,

that these fortresses become
fully occupied.
the fact
is
certain,
of abode
deadly places
for small
troops, or small parties of
They
any kind.
all
get
and few recover from the diseases they contract
ill,
in
detachments of
them.
From
the year 1817,

of
session
almost
keep
Saugor
the
when we
and Nerbudda
territories,
we
required to
the detachments of troops
all
at a distance
took pos-
first
from the head-quarters of their
regiments, were posted in these old deserted fortifications.
them
sited in
verted
Our
;
collections of revenue
and
into jails
for
Of the
prisoners.
in
some
the
who came
accommodation
so lodged,
soldiers
out
one in four survived
abandoned one
think
ill,
five
our
do not
They were
years.
hundreds, I
was taken.
came out w ell
but
may
it
is
and
I have
all
painful to
say thousands,
of our brave soldiers were sacrificed,

resolution
of
I do not believe that
after the other
how many
were con-
cases they
believe that one in four ever
of those
were depo-
known
before
this
the whole
of the survivors of strong detachments that went

in,
in robust
health, three
months
before, brought
144
away mere
skeletons, and in a hopeless and dying-
state.
All were sent to their homes on medical
certificate,
but they almost
course of their journey.
all
there,
or
in
the
145
CHAPTER
XVII.
INTERVIEW WITH A NATIVE CHIEF

A SINGULAR CHARACTER.
BASALTIC CAPPINGS
On
Soon
the 3rd,
after
we came
leaving
to the village of Sowree.
Dhamonee, we descended the
northern face of the Vindhya range into the plains
The face of
of the Nerbudda
of Bundelcund.
this
the valley
to the south,
have before stated, a

so
many rounded
being to the
series
range overlooking
is,
as I
of mural precipices, like
bastions, the slight dip of the strata
north.
The northern
Bundelcund, on the contrary,
towards
face
here descends gra-
dually, as the strata dips slightly towards the north
and we pass down gently over their back.

strata have, however,
The
been a good deal broken, and
the road was so rugged, that two of our carts broke
down
in
descending.
From
the descent over the
northern face of the table-land into Bundelcund, to

the descent over the southern face into the valley of
the Nerbudda, must be a distance of one hundred
miles directly north and south.
VOL.
I.
The descent over the

l
146
northern face
contrary, there
all
not everywhere so gradual
is
few places where
are but
and some of the
feasible;
on the
at
is
it
rivers of the
table
between Jubbulpore and Mirzapore, have a
land,
perpendicular
fall
of more than four hundred feet
over these mural precipices of the northern face of
the Vindhya range.
may hang
a
man,
he has good nerve,
if
over the summits, and suspend in his hand
plummet
that shall reach the bottom.
I should mention, that this table-land
is
not only
by ranges, but everywhere studded with
intersected
isolated hills rising suddenly out of basins or valleys.
These ranges and isolated
hills
are all of the
same
sandstone formation, and capped with basalt, more

or less amygdaloidal.
The
valleys
and basins have
often a substratum of very compact basalt, which
must evidently have flowed into them

islands
valleys
time
/"
were formed. The question is, how were these
and basins scooped out

Mr. Scrope
says
" grant
I can account for everything!"
that I
after these
am
"
me
Time

time
only time, and
I think, however,
right in considering the basaltic cappings
of these ranges and isolated hills to have once formed

parts of continued
flat
beds of great lakes.
The
flat
parallel planes of these cappings, corresponding with
each other,
however
distantly separated
they cover
may be, would seem
could not
all
the
hills
to indicate, that they
have been subject to the convulsions
of nature, by which the whole substrata were up-
heaved above the ocean.
am
disposed to think,
A NATIVE CHIEF.
147
were
that such islands and ranges of the sandstone
formed before the deposit of the

form of the surface
now
is
and that the
basalt,
returning to what
it
away
was, by the gradual decomposition and wearing
of the latter rock
on both
of
sides
may be
much, however,
as of every
this,
then
said
other question.
After descending from the sandstone of the Vin-
dhya range into Bundelcund, we pass over basalt
and
basaltic soil, reposing
granite, with here
and there beds and veins of pure

and quartz.
feldspar, hornblende,
Tukut
Sing, the younger brother of
the Rajah of Shahgurh,
meet
immediately upon syenitic
me
on
his
came out
several miles to
Finding
elephant.
me
back, he got off from his elephant, and

horse,
and we rode on
we met
till
He
about a mile from our tents.
Urjun Sing,
on horse-
mounted
his
the rajah himself,
was on horseback,
with a large and splendidly- dressed train of followers,

all
mounted on
own
He
stables.
steed of his
bred in the rajah's
was mounted on a snow-white
own breeding
(and I have rarely seen a
and dressed
in a light suit of silver
finer animal)
brocade,
fine sleek horses,
made
to represent the scales of steel armour,
Tukut Sing was
surmounted by a gold turban.
more
more
plainly
dressed,
but
intelligent looking
is
man.
to our tents, they took their

to
their
own,
much
finer
an,d
Having escorted us
leave,
and returned
which were pitched on
ground on the other

mile distant.
rising
side of a small stream, half a
Tukut Sing
resides here in a very
l 2
148
on an eminence.
pretty fortified castle,
It
is
square building with a round bastion at each corner,
and one on each
towers above the
face, rising into
walls.
A
came
went
to
to
Thomas.
mid-day the rajah and
after
little
pay us
return
As
visit
'a
and about four o'clock I
accompanied
it,
his brother
by Lieutenant
usual he had a nautch (dance) upon
upon the sward under awnings,
carpets, spread
front of the pavilion, in which
we were
in
received.
While the women were dancing and singing, a very

fine panther was brought in to be shown to us.
He
had been caught,
in the
six
full
hands of a
months.
It
grown, two years before
skilful
man was
fit
for the chase in
was a very beautiful animal, but
especially indifferent to the
for
He
the sake of the sport kept wretchedly thin.
seemed
and
crowd and the
music, but could not bear to see the
woman
whirl-
ing about in the dance with her red mantle floating

in the breeze
and whenever
towards her he cropped his

play,
head was turned
his
ears.
She
at last, in
swept close by him, and with open mouth, he
attempted to spring upon her, but was pulled back
She gave a
by the keeper.
upon her back

parts
yond
in fright.
shriek,
The
rajah
and nearly
is
man
fell
of no
or character; and his expenditure being behis income,
of her eggs
he
that
and cultivators of
is,
is
killing his goose for the sake
he
is
ruining
his large estate
all
the farmers
by exactions
and
thereby throwing immense tracts of fine land out of
149
A SINGULAR CHARACTER.
tillage.
He
tory of
Gurha
was the heir to the
fortress
Kotali, near Saugor, which
and
terri-
was taken
by Scindheea's army, under the command of Jean

Baptiste Felose, just before our conquest in 1817.
I was then with
manded by
my
Colonel, afterwards Major-general
When
a very singular character.
which was com-
regiment,
our surgeon, Dr.
received the newspaper announcing the capture

,
of Gurhakotah, in Central India, by Jean Baptiste, an

officer of the corps
was with him, who called on the
way home, and mentioned this as a

As soon as this officer had left him,
colonel on his
bit of news.
the colonel wrote off a note to the doctor
dear Doctor,
the Baptist, has
" My
John
I understand that that fellow,
got into Scindheea's service, and
commands an army
do
send
me
the newspapers
These were certainly the words of

the only time I ever heard
now
his note
!"
and at
him speak on the sub-
ject of religion, he discomfited his adversary in an
argument
suppose
Calvin,
at the mess, by, "
that I believe in
Why,
this
you do not
those fellows,
and John the Baptist, do you
Nothing could stand
sir,
Luther,
?"
argument. All the party
burst into a laugh, which the old gentleman took

for
an unequivocal recognition of his victory
was
his adversary
when
into
I
his
first
silenced.
He
was an old
became acquainted with him.
hands,
novels, in the
when
in
camp,
and
man
I put
Miss Edge worth's
hope of being able to induce him to
read by degrees; and I have frequently seen the
150
tears stealing
sat
down over
his furrowed cheeks, as
he
pondering over her pages in the corner of his
tent.
A braver soldier never
lived than old G.
and
he distinguished himself greatly in the command of

his
under Lord Lake, at the battle of
regiment,
Laswaree and seige of Bhurtpore.

persuade him,
sible
ever to
and
incidents
of
creation of fancy
these
he
the
that
were
novels
felt
was impos-
It
them
to
characters
the
mere
be true
he
wished them to be true, and he would have them
We
to be true.
were not very anxious to unde-
ceive him, as the illusion
did
him good.
cient author,
example."
Bolingbroke
" History
With
tion, like that of
gave him pleasure and
is
says,
may we
Maria Edgeworth,
say, that ficis
philosophy
It certainly taught old G. to
be a better man, to leave much of the
had been
an an-
philosophy teaching by
equal truth
teaching by emotion.
after
in the habit of doing,
little evil
he
and to do much of
the good he had been accustomed to leave undone!
151
CHAPTER
BIRDS* NESTS
On
the 6th
XVIII.
SPORTS
we came
OF BOYHOOD.
to Seindpore, ten miles, over
an undulating country, with a

posed
basalt, reposing
syenite,
with veins of
Cultivation partial and very
feldspar and quartz.
bad
upon
decom-
fine soil of
and population extremely scanty.
close to a village, in
We
passed
which the children were
all at
play: while upon the bushes over their heads were
suspended an immense number of the beautiful nests

of the sagacious Baya bird, or Indian yellowham-
mer,
all
within reach of a grown-up boy, and one
so near the road that a
look into
it
help shaking
pean as
as
he passed along, and could hardly
it.
It cannot fail to strike an Euro-
singular, to see so
close to a tillage,
of
so
grown-up man might actually
and families
among them with
nests, situated
remain unmolested within reach
nfany boisterous
proprietors
many birds'
children, with their

fluttering
and
little
chirping
as great a feeling of security
gaiety of heart as the children themselves enjoy.
and
In
152
any part of Europe not a nest of such a colony

could have lived an hour within reach of such a pofor the
pulation
paid to
it
Baya
bird has no peculiar respect
by the people here
like
the wren and
No boy
robin-redbreast in England.
in India has
the slightest wish to molest birds in their nests
it
enters not into their pastimes, and they have no

feeling of pride or pleasure in
different
modes
in
to discover birds' nests
which a boy exercises
plays his love of
he
is
city
Upon his
art.
willing to rest his
and enterprise.
first
With
it.
is
us
it
one of the
his powers,
first
and
skill in finding
is
dis-
them
claim to superior saga-
His trophies are his string of
eggs; and the eggs most prized
among them
are
those of the nests that are discovered with most

difficulty,
The same
and attained with most danger.
feeling of desire to display their skill

prise in search after birds' nests in early
enemy almost
the youth of England the
and enterlife,
renders
of the whole
animal creation throughout their after career.
boy prides himself on

or a stick
his dexterity in
till
the desire to knock
down, or at
if it is
it
lawful to do
he never sees one without
so,
he
serious misfortune not to have
reach at the time.

self
upon
sees a
throwing a stone
and he practises on almost every animal
that comes in his way,
and,
The
his
least to hit it
feels it to
be a most
a stone within his
As he grows up he
prides him-
dexterity in shooting, and he never
member
of the feathered tribe within shot
without a desire to shoot
it,
or without regretting
153
birds' nests.
that he has not a
he
is
gun
hand
in his
to shoot
That
it.
not entirely destitute of sympathy, however,
with the animals he maims for his amusement,

sufficiently manifest
from
his anxiety to
is
put them
moment he gets them.

of mine, now no more, Captain
out of pain the
friend
was once looking with
me
glass, saying,
"
You may
The following
my
say what you like, S

is
of
lines
him
a fine black par-
Walter
me
" As yet the conscious pride of

steel' d
Joe Manton."
Rokeby, have always struck
Had
he put aside the
last
know
but the best landscape I

tridge falling before
at a beautiful landscape
At
painting, through a glass.
Meclwin,
Scott,
his
in
as very beautiful
art,
in his treacherous part
powerful spring of force unguessed
That hath each gentler mood suppressed,
And
many
reigned in
human
breast
From his that plans the rude campaign,

To his that wastes the woodland reign,"
Among
the people of India
it
is
&c.
very different.
Children do not learn to exercise their powers either

in discovering
and robbing the nests of
birds, or in
knocking them down with stones and staves

as
and
they grow up they hardly ever think of hunting
or shooting for
mere amusement.
matter of business
It
is
with them a
the animal they cannot eat they
seldom think of molesting*.
Some
officers
were one day pursuing a jackal,
with a pack of dogs, through
my
grounds.
The
154
animal passed close to one of
him
in
two with
his sword,
my
guard,
who
and held up the reeking
blade in triumph to the indignant cavalcade
when they came

"
up,
What have
cut
were ready to eat him
I done," said the poor
who,
alive.
man,
" to
offend you ?"

"
Have you not
killed the jackal?" shouted the
whipper-in, in a fury.
"
kill
Of course I have but were you not all trying to

him ?" replied the poor man. He thought their
;
only object had been to kill the jackal, as they would
have killed a serpent, merely because he was a mischievous and noisy beast.
The European
traveller in India
is
often in doubt
whether the peacocks, partridges, and ducks, which

he finds round populous
till
he asks some of the
villages, are
tame or
villagers themselves,
wild,
so as-
sured of safety do these creatures become, and so willing to take advantage of it for the food they find in the
suburbs.
ever,
They very soon
find the difference,
between the white-faced
faced inhabitants.
There
is
visitor,
how-
and the dark-
a fine date tree over-
hanging a kind of school at the end of one of the

streets in the
town of Jubbulpore, quite covered with
the nests of the
day and
all
Baya
birds
and they are seen every
day fluttering and chirping about them
in scores, while the noisy children at their play
fill
the street below almost within arm's length of them.

I have often thought that such a tree so peopled at the
door of a school in England, might work a great revo8
PAREEAR DOG.
155
lution in the early habits and propensities of the
youth educated in
often
amused
in
front
he
is
it.
The European
to see the Pareear
of the
traveller,
is
dog squatted cloe
during the whole time
occupied in cooking and eating his dinner,
under a tree by the road-side,

shall
traveller
have at
assured
least a part of the last
that he
cake thrown
him by the stranger, instead of a stick or a

The stranger regards him wdth complacency,
stone.
to
as
one that reposes a quiet confidence in
ritable disposition,
and
flings
his cha-
towards him the whole
or part of his last cake, as if his meal had put

in the best possible
world.
humour with him and
all
him
the
156
CHAPTER
XIX.
MARRIAGE OF A STONE WITH A
FEEDING PILGRIMS
SHRUB.
At
we
Siedpore
mango
grove,
encamped
in
and here I had a
Jankee Sawuk, the high
friend
visit
pretty
from
little
my
priest of the great
temple that projects into the Saugor Lake, and

called Bindrabun.
He
his
over the country

all
the
members
is
has two villages rent free,
worth a thousand rupees a year
more through
old
numerous
collects
disciples,
something
who wander
and spends the whole
in feeding
of his fraternity, (Byragies,) devotees
of Vishnoo, as they pass his temple in their pilgrimages.
to a
Every one who comes

good meal and
is
considered entitled
night's
lodging
and he
has to feed and lodge about one hundred a day.

is
man
sition,
He
of very pleasing manners and gentle dispo-
and every body
likes him.
He
was on
his
return from the town of Ludora, where he had been,

at the invitation of the
Rajah of Orcha, to
assist
at
157
SALIGRAMS.
the celebration of the marriage of Saligram with the

Toolsee,
which there takes place every year under
who
the auspices, and at the expense of the Rajah,
must be present.
are rounded pebbles
Saligrams
which contain the impression of ammonites, and are
washed down into the plains of India by the

from the lime-stone rocks in which these
imbedded
in the
rivers
shells are
mountains of the Himmalah.
The
Speetee valley contains an immense deposit of
ammonites and bellamnites
fossil
now
in lime-stone rocks,
elevated above sixteen thousand feet above the level

of the sea
and from such beds
clown the fragments, which,

course, the poor
The Saligram
Hindoos that
is
is
when rounded
Hindoo takes
Vishnoo, the preserving
God
the only
as these are brought

in their
for representations of
Hindoo
of the
stone
essentially sacred,
idol
triad.
among
the
and entitled to
divine honours without the ceremonies of consecration
It
is
everywhere held most sacred.
the war against Nepaul, Captain B.,
During
who commanded
a reconnoitring party from the division in which I

served,
one day brought back to camp some four or
five of these Saligrams,
which he had found
hut of some priest within the enemy's

called for a large stone
to
frontier.
He
and hammer, and proceeded
examine them. The Hindoos were
state of consternation,
at the
all in
a dreadful
and expected to see the earth
open and swallow up the whole camp, while he
sat
calmly cracking their gods with his hammer, as he
would have cracked so many walnuts
The Toolsee
158
asymum sanctum) which

Seeta, the wife of Ram, the
is
a small sacred shrub (the
is
a metamorphosis of
seventh incarnation of Vishnoo.

This
shrub
every year married to this
little 'pebble is
and the high
priest told
little
me, that on the pre-
sent occasion the procession consisted of eight elephants, twelve hundred camels, four thousand horses,
mounted and elegantly caparisoned.

On the
leading elephant of this cortege, and the most
all
sumptuously decorated, was carried the pebble god,
who was taken
pay
to
shrub goddess
little
his bridal visit (Barat) to the
All the ceremonies of a re-
gular marriage are gone through
and when com-
pleted the bride and bridegroom are left to repose
together in the temple of Sudora

"
Above a hundred thousand
"
were present
man
old
the next season.
people," the priest said,
the ceremony this year at the
at
Rajah's invitation,
The
till
and feasted upon
his
bounty."
and I got into a conversation upon the
characters of different governments, and their effects
upon the people

would sooner or
deity
with
and he
later
and quoted
my
bad governments
said that
be always put down by the
this verse,
which I took down
pencil.
" Toolsee Ghureeb na Sutae

Booree Ghureeb Kee hae
Muree Khal Kee phoonksee

Soha Bhussum ho jae
" Oh,
Rajah Toolsee
!"
oppress not the poor
for
159
GRASSES.
the groans of the wretched bring retribution from
The contemptible
heaven.
bellows) in time melts
On
had found
my
the smith's
(in
away the hardest
iron."
leaving our tents in the morning,
the ground
little
skin
all
it
round white with hoar
we found
frost,
mornings before
for several
we
as
and a
two which travelled
canary-bird, one of the
in
by the carelessness of
wife's palankeen, having,
the servants, been put upon the top without any

covering to the cage, was killed by the cold, to her
great
the
affliction.
warmth
On
a
soil
of her
the 7th
bosom were
we came
basaltic,
still
syenite,
All attempts to restore
which frequently
above the surface, which
is
reposing upon
and protrudes
partially
The
and scantily peopled.
tivated,
Bumhoree over
less rich,
rises
by
to life
fruitless.
nine miles to
though
it
its
and badly
head
cul-
of
silent signs
bad government could not be more manifest
All
the extensive plains, covered with fine long grass,
which
is
rotting in the ground from
cattle or distant markets.
want of domestic
Here, as in every other
part of central India, the people have a great variety
of good
spontaneous,
but few cultivated, grasses.
They understand the character and qualities of these

They find some thrive best
grasses extremely well.
in dry, and some in wet seasons
and that of inferior
;
quality
when
is
often prized most because
other kinds cannot thrive at
or a deficiency of rain.
make good
hay,
When
all,
it
thrives best
from an excess
cut green, they
all
and have the common denomination
160
of Saheea.
The
finest of these grasses are two,
which
are generally found growing spontaneously together,
and are often cultivated together

the third, purwana
seyna.
fourth,
kele and musele
bhowar or gooneear
fifth,
161
CHAPTER XX.
THE MEN-TIGERS.
Ram Chund
Roo, commonly called the Suree-
He came
munt, chief of Deoree, here overtook me.

out from Saugor to
visit
me
at
Dhamoree, and not
reaching that place in time came on after me.
He
held Deoree under the Peshwa, as the Saugor chief

held Saugor, for the payment of the public establish-
ments kept up
yielded
for
the local administration.
him about ten thousand pounds a
when we took
estate in
year,
It
and
possession of the country he got an
the Saugor
in
district,
rent-free tenure,
estimated at fifteen hundred pounds a year.
This
is
equal to about six thousand pounds a year in Eng-
The
land.
tastes
gentlemen lead them
of native
always to expend the greater part of their incomes

in the
and
wages of
trains of followers of all descriptions,
in horses, elephants, &c.
and labour and the
subsistence of labour are about four times cheaper

in India than in
England.
By
the breaking up of
public establishments, and consequent diminution of
VOL.
i.
162
the local
demand
for agricultural produce, the value
of land throughout
all
central India, after the termi-
nation of the Mahratta war in 1817,

thirty per cent.
and among the
this case of hardship
district, in
by degrees
rest that of
While
poor friend the Sureemunt.

charge of the Saugor
fell
I had the civil
1831, I represented
and government, in the
my
spirit
of liberality which has generally characterized their
made up
him the
difference between what he actually received and what
measures in
this part of India,
they had intended to give him
more than
He
to me.
felt grateful
five feet
high
to
and he has ever since
a very small man, not
is
but he has the handsomest
face I have almost ever seen
and
maimers are
his
He
those of the most perfect native gentleman.
came
upon
to call
versation turned
had of
late
me
upon the number of people that
been killed by
tigers
between Saugor and
Deoree, his ancient capital, which
lies
between Saugor and the Nerbudda

followers,
when a
spirit
who
tiger
of the
about midway
river.
stood behind his chair,
had
killed one
man rode upon

The
from
all
tiger
would be watched
danger.
and the con-
after breakfast,
spirit
for
said,
man he was
his head,
One
of his
" that
safe, for
the
and guided him
knew very
many days
well that the

at the place
where he had committed the homicide, and always

guided him off to some other more secure place, where
he killed other men without any risk to himself.

not exactly
know why
the spirit of the
befriend the beast that had killed
He did
man should
him
but,"
thus
added
THE MEN-TIGERS.
lie,
163
" there is a mischief inherent in spirits
man
better the
the more mischievous
means are not taken
him
to put
is
and the
his ghost, if
This
to rest."
the popular and general belief throughout India
mode
supposed, that the only sure
it is
a tiger,
who
making
has killed
offerings to
many
people
is
and
of destroying
is,
to begin
by
the spirits of his victims, and
thereby depriving him of their valuable services
The
belief that
of a root
is
no
men
less
!*
are turned into tigers by eating
general throughout India.
The Sureemunt, on being asked by me what he

thought of the
matter, observed,
man
doubt much truth in what the
was himself of opinion, that the
wood from Saugor
infest the
kind
different
nor
less
than
said
tigers
is
which now
Deoree were of a
in fact, that they
were neither more
men
turned into tigers
often than people were aware
"
but he
to
a thing which
took place in the woods of central India
difference
was no
" there
of.
much more
The only
visible
between the two," added the Sureemunt,
that the
metamorphosed
tiger has no
tail,
while
the bora, or ordinary tiger, has a very long one. In the
When
Agrippina, in her rage with her son Nero, threatens
to take her step-son, Britanmcus, to the
there assert his right to the throne,

father,
whom
whom
she had murdered.
probra
camp of the Legion, and
she invokes the spirit of his
she had poisoned, and the manes of the Silani,
" Simul intendere manus, aggere
consecratum Chaudium, infernos Silanorum manes
vocare, et tot invita fari nova."
Tacitus,
lib. xiii. sec.
14.
M 2
in-
164
jungle about Deoree," continued he, " there

which,
man
if
on the spot
and
eat
again
he can eat of another,
melancholy instance of
the former of which," said he, " occurred, I
my own
father's family
when
ascertain
what a man
am
told, in
I was an infant.
washerman, Rughoo, was, like

drunkard
a root
converted into a tiger
is
if in this state
man
he becomes a
he
of,
is
all
His
washermen, a great
and being seized with a violent desire to
went one day
the state of a tiger, he
felt in
and brought home two
to the jungle
of these roots, and desired his wife to stand by with
one of them, and the instant she saw him assume

the tiger's shape, to thrust
consented, the
instantly
into his mouth.
it
washerman ate
tiger
but
at the sight of her
his root,
wife
his
Rughoo took
good many of his
terrified
old husband in this shape, that
the woods,
to
hand.
and there ate a
last
shot and recog-
nized from the circumstance of his having no
You may be
"
quite
when you hear
Poor
old friends from the neighbour-
but he was at
ing villages;
and became
was so
she ran off with the antidote in her

old
She
sure,"
tail.
concluded Sureemunt,
of a tiger without a
tail,
that
it
is
some unfortunate man who has eaten of that root

and of all the tigers he will be found the most
mischievous."
How my
friend
of this story I
it,
and
so
do
had
know
all his
satisfied
not,
himself of the truth
but he religiously believes
attendants and mine
and out of
THE MEN-TIGERS.
165
a population of thirty thousand people in the town of

Saugor, not one would doubt the story of the washer-
man
he heard
if
it.
I was one day talking with
of Myhere,
my
on the road between Jubbulpore and
Mirzapore, on the subject of the
had been
the Rajah
friend,
lately killed
by
number of men who

the Kutra Pass
tigers at
on that road, and the best means of removing the

"
danger.
easy or
tigers,
Nothing," said the Rajah, " could be more
more cheap than the destruction of these

they were of the ordinary sort
if
but the
men by wholesale, as these do,

you may be sure, men themselves converted
tigers that kill
tigers
by the force of their
are of
all
"
it,
and such animals
" Nothing,"
said he,
who have once
they learn
it,
or
men
Rajah Sahib, that these
vert themselves into tigers
not.
into
the most unmanageable."
And how is
persons
science
are,
what
?"
" is
more easy than
acquired the science

it is,
con-
we
There was once a high
unlettered
this to
how
men know
;
but
priest, of a large
temple,
Myhere, who was in the habit
in this very valley of
of getting himself converted into a tiger by the force

of this science, which he had thoroughly acquired.
He
had a necklace, which one of
to
throw over
form became
his
fully
neck the
developed.
long given up the practice, and
had gone
off
his disciples
moment
He
all
the
tiger's
had, however,
his old disciples
on their pilgrimages to distant
when he was one day
used
shrines,
seized with a violent desire to
166
take his old form of the

to one of his
new
He
tiger.
expressed the wish
and demanded whether
disciples,
he thought he might rely upon his courage to stand
by and put on the necklace.

said the disciple
God we
upon
'
such
serve, that I fear
this
form.
my
The
and
faith in you,
nothing
in the
The high priest

his hand with the
!'
put the necklace into
requisite instructions,
his
is
Assuredly you may,'
'
and forthwith began
to
change
stood trembling in every
disciple
he heard him give a roar that shook the
limb,
till
whole
edifice,
when he
fell flat
dropped the necklace on the
upon
The
floor.
over him, and out at the door
tiger
bounded
and infested
many
roads leading to the temple for
and
his face,
the
all
years after-
wards."
"
Do
priest
is
you think, Rajah Sahib, that the old high

one of the tigers at the Kutra Pass
?"
may be all
men who have become imbued with a little too much of
when men once acquire this
the high priest's science
" No, I
do not
but I think that they
their
own
be to
to be ordinary tigers,
what
it,
ruin and that of others."
" But, supposing

is
though
it
science they can't help exercising
them
the simple plan you propose to put a stop to their
depredations, Rajah Sahib?"

" I propose," said he,
" to
have the
spirits that
guide them propitiated by proper prayers and

ings
for the spirit of every
man
or
been killed by a tiger rides upon

before him, and
tells
him where
10
woman who
his head,
to
offer-
has
or runs
go to get prey,
THE MEN-TIGERS.
and to avoid danger.
Get some of the Gonds, or
wild people from the jungles,

in these matters
give
and bid them go and
167
who
them ten
are well skilled
or twenty rupees,
raise a small shrine,
The Gonds
sacrifice to these spirits.
and there
will tell
them
that they shall, on this shrine, have regular worship,
and good
every year at
offices
sacrifices of fowls, goats,
least,
if
with the tigers and be quiet.
If this
is
done,
Rajah, " that the tigers
will soon get killed themselves, or cease
from killing
may be quite sure

tigers, but men turned
If they do not, you
they are not ordinary

tigers,
pigs,
they will but relinquish their
I pledge myself," said the
men.
and
or that the
Gonds have appropriated
gave them to their own
use,
all
that
into
you
instead of applying
it
to conciliate the spirits of the unfortunate people!"
168
CHAPTER
XXI.
BURNING OF DEOREE BY A FREEBOOTER
A SUTTEE.
Sureemunt had been one
who escaped
from
the
flames
of the few
which consumed
capital
his
of
Deoree, in the month of April, 1813, and were sup-
posed to have destroyed thirty thousand
asked him to
ferred
Ram
he
me
me how
then only
nothing of
this
happened, and he re-
to his attendant, a learned
Chund, who stood by
said,
"
tell
souls.
his side, as
five years of age,
old pundit,
he was himself,
and could recollect
it."
Murdan
Sing," said the pundit,
Rajah Urpin Sing,
whom
you saw
" the father of

at Seoree,
then our neighbour, reigning over Gurha Kota
was
and
he had a worthless nephew, Zalim Sing, who had

collected together an
army of
the hope of getting a
five
thousand men, in
principality for himself
little
in the general scramble for dominion, incident
upon
Ameer Khan, and the

power among the great
the rise of the Pindarees and

destruction of
all
balance of
sovereigns of central India.
He came
to attack our
169
BURNING OF DEOREE.
capital,
trade,
which was
emporium of considerable
an
and the seat of many useful manufactures,
in the
expectation of being able to squeeze out of us a good
sum
to aid
him
While
in his enterprise.
blocked up every gate,
was, by accident, set to
fire
the fence of some man's garden within.
been no rain for
much
dried
six
his troops
months
and everything was so
up that the
There had
flames spread
rapidly
and though there was no wind when they began,

it
The Sureemunt was then a
soon blew a gale.
boy with
little
his mother, in the fortress,
and nine other
lived with his father
where she
relations.
The
flames soon extended to the fortress, and the powder-
The house
magazine blew up.
was burned down, and every

nant himself, perished in
and
to get out with him,
of the fortress
where she made him

the
ried
saw her charge

"
safe,
He
at first
Goorjamur
but poor
she
died.
blow
to
devoted city from every side
who
the river he car-
down exhausted when
The wind appeared
Sing,
was mounted on a
off across
fell
him
unhurt, to Hureeram,
over,
and
in her struggle
up, and ran with
safely to his friends at
Toolsee the Koormin
down
the bank of the river,
Murwaree merchant.
him
except the lieute-
His nurse, Toolsee
died.
to
good horse, and making
which they lived
His mother tried to
fell
him
the Koormin, snatched

outside
soul,
it.
bear him off in her arms, but
in
in
upon the poor
and the troops of Zalim
prevented the people from rush-
ing out at the gates,
made
off in a panic at the horrors
170
before them. All our establishments had been driven

into the city at the approach of Zalim Sing's troops
and scores of elephants, hundreds of camels, and

thousands of horses and ponies perished in the flames,
Only about
besides twenty-five thousand souls.
five
thousand persons escaped out of thirty thousand, and

these were reduced to beggary and wretchedness by the
loss of their dearest relations,
the time the flames
first
and their property. At
began to spread, an immense
crowd of people had assembled under the

the bank of the Sonar river, to see the
soldier
burn
herself.
widow of a
Her husband had been
one of Zalim Sing's soldiers in the morning
midday she was by the
fore
them what would happen
know
shot by
and be-
body on the
People, as usual, begged her to
funeral pile.
will
side of his
in less than
and she
four hours
replied,
all
in less than four
:'
it
it
must have been decreed by God
No doubt
how
his will
was," said Sureemunt,
Had
it
Do
not
all
!"
"how
could
events depend
Koormin have
carried
her shoulders through such a scene as
when every
No
and
not been his will to save me,
could poor Toolsee the
me upon
"
it
happen
otherwise
upon
concluded, that since the event was so clearly
foretold,
"
tell
the city
hours the whole city had been reduced to ashes
we
on
fortress
other
member
doubt," said
Ram
of our family perished
Chund,
brought about by the will of
this,
!"
" all these things are
God
and
it is
not for
us to ask why."
I have heard this event
described by
many
other
171
SUPERSTITION.
people
and I believe the account of the old pundit
One day
to be a very fair one.
in October, 1833, the
horse of the district surgeon, Doctor Spry, as he was
mounting him,
back with
reared, fell
a stone, and died upon the spot.
not
much
few days
his
hurt
and the
narrow escape.
rearing at this time,

to do so before,
The doctor was
Sureemunt
little
and offered
after,
head upon
his
called a
his congratulations
upon
The cause of so quiet a horse

when he had never been known
was discussed
and he
" that
said,
there could be no doubt that the horse, or the doctor

himself,
mounted
must have seen some unlucky face before he

that morning
places in his
to see so
part,
life,
many
he never
rise, lest
Many
that he had been in
many
man was
liable
but in none where a
ugly or unfortunate faces

left his
house
till
an hour
he should encounter them
and, for his

after sun-
!"
natives were present, and every one
seemed
to consider the Sureemunt's explanation of the cause
quite satisfactory and philosophical.
Some
days after,
Spry was going down to sleep in the bungalow where

the accident happened.
his servants,
His native
came and prayed
assistant,
and
all
that he would not
attempt to sleep in the bungalow, as they were sure

the horse must have been frightened by a ghost
and quoted several instances of ghosts appearing to

people there.
He, however, slept in the bungalow
and, to their great astonishment,

suffered
no
evil
saw no ghost, and
172
CHAPTER
XXII.
INTERVIEW WITH THE RAJAH WHO MARRIES THE STONE TO

THE SHRUB ORDER OF THE MOON AND THE FISH.
On
the 8th, after a march of twelve miles,
we
reached Tehree, the present capital of the Rajah of

Orcha.
soil
Our road
lay over an undulating surface of
composed of the
and poor both from
detritus of the
its
and want of depth.
quality
About three miles from our
sienitic rock,
last
ground
Ave entered
the boundary of the Orcha Rajah's territory, at the

village of Aslone,
tified castle, built
which has a very pretty
upon a ground
the midst of an open grass plain.

villages
we have
little for-
slightly elevated in
This and
all
the
upon the
lately passed are built
bare back of the syenitic rock, which seems to rise

to the surface in large but gentle swells,
like the
broad waves of the ocean in a calm after a storm.

great difference appeared to
me
to be observable be-
tween the minds and manners of the people among
whom we
were now
people of
the
travelling,
and those of the
Saugor and Nerbudda
territories.
BEGGARS AND FOOLS.
They
seemed
here
we
intelligence
want the
to
among our
The apparent
find
latter
quarters.
people
when questioned upon
teresting
subjects
in the
stupidity
of the
points the most in-
and temples, was most pro-
me
and their manners seemed to
and
urbanity
regarding their history, their
their tanks
agriculture,
voking
them,
to
173
to be
more
rude and clownish than those of people in any other

part of India I had travelled over. I asked
little
who rode with me, what he
friend the Sureemunt,
thought of
my
this.
" I think," said he, " that
it
from the harsh
arises
character of the government under which they live

it
makes every man wish
that he
may be thought
to appear a fool, in order
a beggar, and not worth the
plundering."
" It strikes me,
my
friend Sureemunt, that their
government has made them

and the
"
is
fools that
God
only knows," said Sureemunt
what the people of our

intimation of
it
we came
mind nor
" certain
in
it
manners
notice of our approach
till
reached him at Ludora, the day bein.
missing the people
He
was there resting and
after
marriage between the

is
beggars
districts are."
The Rajah had had no
Ludora
reality the
they appear to be."
that they are neither in
fore
in
the
dis-
ceremonies of the
Saligram
and the
Toolsee.
twenty-seven miles north-west of Tehree,
on the opposite side from that on which I was approaching.
He
sent off two
men on
camels with a
174
him
khureeta, (letter,)* requesting that I would let
know my movements, and
arrange a meeting in a
that might prevent his appearing wanting
manner
in respect
and hospitality
that
which he was too polite to
in plain terms,
is,
would consent
use, that I
to remain one stage from his capital,
return and meet
me
These
ceremony.
halfway, with
men
all
me
reached
till
he could
due pomp and
at
Bumhoree, a
;
and I
him by
relays
distance of thirty-nine miles, in the evening

sent back a khureeta, which reached
He
of camels before midnight.

pital to receive
met
half
way
we reached
in
me
at
all
his
is
band was deafening.
tents pitched,
fitted up, as it
A khureeta
always
flat
it,
and one of them

is,
for occasions of
The mouth
which hangs suspended the great
round mass of sealing-wax, with the
side of
thus Iffi
a letter enclosed in a bag of rich brocade,
contained in another of fine muslin.

string of silk, to
of elephants,
mounted and splendidly capa-
and the noise of
my
his visit of congratu-
cortege
a magnificent
had had both
and
his palace,
field-pieces.
Rajah came to pay
with
handsomely
would not wait to be
as I
Tehree on the 9th, and about eleven
camels, and horses,

risoned,
for his ca-
our tents at the same time, under a salute
We halted
lation,
and
due form, he reached
from his two brass
o'clock the
set out
"""
"J j
This
is
seal
is tied
seal,
with a
which
is
impressed on each
the kind of letter which
passes between natives of great rank in India, and between
and the public functionaries of government.
them
;
!
175
INSIGNIA OF HONOUR.
ceremony
like the
present.
twenty paces of the door

its
back, as
it
sat
He came
on. his elej>hant,
down, he entered
my
and from
this vehicle
through two rows of
he
him
tent door, where I received
conducted him up
and, after the usual embraces,
of distinction and
within
his splendid litter
In
without alighting on the ground.
was brought to
to
chairs, placed for his followers
my
own, who are always anxious
to assist in ceremonies like these.
At the head
of
this
placed across, and facing
two rows
jects
more
lane
we
down the middle
and we conversed upon
usually introduced
especially
upon
sat
on
all
chairs
of the
the
;
but
of.
the
such occasions
upon the august ceremonies
sub-
marriage of the Saligram with the Toolsee, in which

his highness
had been
After he had sat with

his leave
so piously
me
engaged
at
Ludora
an hour and a half he took
and I conducted him to the door, whence
he was carried to
his elephant in his litter,
from
which he mounted without touching the ground.

This
litter is called
a Nalkee.
three great insignia which the
It
is
one of the
Mogul Emperors of
Delhi conferred upon independent princes of the

first class,
and could never be used by any person
upon whom, or upon whose ancestors they had not

been so conferred. These were the Nalkee, the order
of the Fish, and the fan of the peacock's feathers.
These insignia could be used only by the prince who

inherited the sovereignty of the one on
had been
originally
conferred.
whom
they
The order of
the
176
Mahee Moratub, was first instituted by

Khoosroo Purwez, King of Persia, and grandson of
the celebrated Nowsherwan the Just.
Having been
or
fish,
deposed by his general, Behram, Khoosroo

protection to the Greek emperor,
fled for
Maurice, whose
daughter, Sheereen, he married; and he was sent back
with an
Persia,
to
Narses,
who
army under the command of
placed him upon the throne of his an-
He
cestors in the year a. d. 591.*

his astrologer,
Aruz Khushusp, that when he ascended
the throne the

Fish,
ascertained from
moon was
in the constellation of the
and he gave orders to have two
balls
made
of
polished steel, which were to be called Koukubas,

(planets,)
and mounted on long
planets, with a large fish
made
poles.
These two
of gold, upon a third
pole in the centre, were ordered to be carried in

regal processions immediately after
before the prime
minister,
whose
all
the king, and

cortege always
followed immediately after that of the king.
The
two Koukubas are now generally made of copper, and

plated,
and
round, as at
in the
first
shape of a
but the
jar,
instead of quite
fish is still
made
of gold.
Two
planets are always considered necessary to one
fish
and they are
still
tween the prince and
carried in all processions be-
his
prime minister.
* During the time he remained the guest of the
resided at Hierapolis,
and did not
visit
Emperor he
Constantinople.
The
Greeks do not admit that Sheereen was the daughter of Maurice,
though a Roman by
birth,
and a Christian by
religion.
Persians and Turks speak of her as the Emperor's daughter.
The
PERSIAN ORDER OF KNIGHTHOOD.
The
court of this Prince Khoosroo Purwez, was
celebrated throughout the East for
magnificence
Furhad,
beautiful queen,
for his
as
many poems
of Petrarch's for Laura
who ascended
Leo
is
the poet,
of
Sheereen,
in the East,
is
the
as that
Noosamanee,
the throne of Persia after the Sassa-
time of his
the
splendour and
in the west.
moon was
ascertained that the

at
its
and the chaste love
theme of almost
nians,
177
in the sign
and ordered
accession,
that the gold head of a lion should thenceforward
accompany the
fishes,
and the two
balls,
in all royal
The Persian order of knighthood is,

that of the Fish, the Moon, and the Lion,
processions.
therefore,
and not the Lion and Sun,
The emperors of the house
as generally supposed.
of Timour, in Hindoostan,
assumed the right of conferring the order upon

they pleased
and they conferred
territorial sovereigns of
tion as to religion.
He
it
all
upon the great
the country without distinconly
reignty can wear the order
who
inherits the sove-
and I believe no prince
would venture to wear or carry the order who was

not generally reputed to have received the investiture from one of the emperors of Delhi.
As
I could not wait
mined that
noon
still all
VOL.
We
made
I.
was deter-
set out
upon our
Lieutenant Thomas, Sureemunt, and my-
attended by
munt.
it
return his visit in the after-
and about four o'clock we
elephant,
self,
I should
another day,
all
had our
my troopers
silver-stick
and those of Suree-
men
with us
but
a sorry figure compared with the splen-
178
We
did cortege of the Rajah.
dismounted at the
foot of the stairs leading to the Rajah's hall of audi-
ence, and
were there met by
two chief
his
officers of
who conducted us to the entrance of the hall,

where we were received by the Rajah himself, who
state,
led us
up through two rows of
actly as
mine had been
in the
chairs laid out ex-
morning.
In front
were assembled a party of native comedians, who exhibited a few scenes of the insolence of office in the
attendants of great men, and the obtrusive importunity of place-seekers, in a
much more than
manner
a dance would have done.
versation was kept up very well

off
that pleased us
and the
visit
Conpassed
without any feeling of ennui, or any thing what-
The
ever to recollect with regret.
ladies looked at
us from their apartments through gratings, and with-
We
out our being able to see them very distinctly.
were anxious to see the tombs of the

elder brother of the present,
who
late Rajah, the
lately died,
and
that of his son, which are in progress in a very fine
garden outside the city
we did not
walls,
above half an hour.
sit
ducted us to the head of the

officers
and in consequence
stairs,
The Rajah
con-
and the same two
attended us to the bottom, and mounted their
horses and accompanied us to the tombs.
dust of the town, raised by the
attended
us,
After the
immense crowd that
and the ceremonies of the day, a walk
in this beautiful garden
I prolonged
orders to have
it
till
all
dark.
was very agreeable
and
The Rajah had given
the cisterns filled during our stay,
RAJAH OF ORCHA'S GARDEN.
179
under the impression that we should wish to see the

garden
and
as soon as
poured into the

mouths.
Our
we
entered, the jet d'eaus
air their little floods
from a hundred
we would
our way, we might
old cicerone told us, " that if
take the old capital of Orcha in
there see the thing in perfection
deluges of the rain of
and amidst the
Sawun and Bhado,
(July and
August,) see the lightning and hear the thunder."
The Rajahs of
delcund, were
this,
all
the oldest principality in Bun-
formerly buried or burned at the
old capital of Orcha, even after they had changed

their residence to Tehree.
These tombs, over the
ashes of the Rajah, his wife, and son, are the

that have been built at Tehree,
are
all to
first
where their posterity
repose in future.
n 2
180
CHAPTER
XXIII.
MURDER OF
THE RAJAH OF ORCHA
MANY
HIS
MINISTERS.
The
present Rajah, Muthoora-dass, succeeded his
brother, Bikurmajeet,
who
made over the government

Bahadur,
man
whom
had
to his only son, Rajah
he almost adored; hut the young
dying some years before him, the father resumed
the reins of government,

death.
He
and held them
till
his
was a man of considerable capacity, but
of a harsh and unscrupulous character.
sembled him
temper and
The
He
died in 1834.
but the present Rajah

disposition,
is
His son rea
man of mild
though of weak
fate of the last three
prime ministers
the character of the Rajah and his son
intellect.
will
show
and the na-
ture of their rule.
The
minister at the time the old
man made
over
the reigns of government to his son, was Khaujoo
Purohut.
after,
him a few years

Rajah Bahadur, employed Mohrum
Wishing
this son,
to get rid of
Sing, one of his feudal Rajpoot barons, to assassinate
RAJAH OF
As a reward
him.
seals of office ;
OJEtCHA.
181
for this service
he received the
and the Rajah confiscated
all
the pro-
perty of the deceased, amounting to four lacks of ru-
pees
and resumed the whole of the estates held by
The young Rajah died soon after and

his father, when he resumed the reigns of government, wishing to remove the new minister, got him assassinated by Gumbeer Sing, another feudal Rajpoot
the family.
baron, who, as his reward, received in his turn the seals
of office.
This
man was
a most atrocious
employed the public establishments of
carrying trea-
amount of ten thousand
rupees, from
Saugor to Jansee,
to
murder them
party,
their
through Tehree, and intended
but,
by the sagacity of one of the
way back
to Saugor,
and complained to the ma-
That minister discovered the nature of
their burdens as they lodged at Tehree,
and sent
to put
made
and a lucky accident, they escaped,
gistrate.
his
men who were
followers robbed four

to the
his chief to
In 1833
plunder travellers on the high road.
sure,
and
villain,
after
them
them a party of
in the
bed of a
on their way,
soldiers,
with orders
rivulet, that
separated
the territory of Orcha from that of the Jansee Rajah.
One
of the treasure party discovered their object
and on reaching the bank of the

grass jungle, he threw
down
rivulet, in a
his burden,
deep
dashed un-
perceived through the grass, and reached a party of

travellers
whom
mile in advance.
when they found
he saw ascending a
hill
about half a
The myrmidons of the

that one had escaped,
minister,
were
afraid
182
murder the
to
but took their treasure.
others,
In
spite of great obstacles,
and with much danger to the
families of three of those
men, who resided in the capi-
tal
Tehree, the magistrate of Saugor brought
of
home to the minister; and
the crime
to avail himself of the occasion to
him
and
and brave man.
fill
his coffers, got
The Rajah was then about eighty
assassinated.
years of age
the Rajah, anxious
his minister
was a strong,
athletic,
One morning while he was
sitting
with him in private conversation, the former pretended
a wish to drink some of the water in which his household god had been washed, (the Chunda
begged the minister to go and fetch
where
it
idol,
As a man cannot take
the minister put
it
The water
sword before
idol,
prostrated himself
is
considered a very holy draught,
That with which the image of the god Sewa,
for princes.
is
his
of the Ganges, with which the image of the god
Vishnoo has been washed,
Mahadeo,
from the place
down, as the Rajah knew
he would, and going to the

*
and
stood by the side of the idol in the court of
the palace.
the
it
rnirt,*)
washed, must not be drunk.
that in a dispute between
him and
The popular
fit
alias
belief
his wife, Parbuttee,
is,
alias
Kalee, she cursed the person that should thenceforward dare to
The
drink of the water that flowed over his images on earth.

river
Ganges
is
supposed to flow from the top-knot of Sewa's
head, and no one would drink of

that the sacred stream
Vishnoo,
are
is
the Preserver.
made out
it
after this curse,
supposed to come
All the
little
first
were
it
not
from the heel of
images of Sewa, that
of stones taken from the bed of the
Nerbudda
river,
are supposed to be absolved from this curse, and water thrown
upon them can be drunk with impunity.
MURDER AND ROBBERY.

before
it
183
preparatory to taking away the water.
In
was cut down by Beearee, another

feudal Rajpoot baron, who aspired to the seals, and
some of his friends, who had been placed there on
that state he
He
purpose by the Rajah.
and
service,
command
as
obtained the seals by his
he was allowed to place one brother in
of the forces, and to
make another cham-
he hoped to retain them longer than any of
berlain,
his predecessors
Gumbeer
had done.
Sing's brother,
Jhoojhar Sing, and the husband of his
put to death.
and
hearing
made off, but were soon pursued and

The widows were all three put into
of his murder,
prison,
sister,
the property and estates were con-
all
The moveable property amounted to three

of rupees.
The Rajah boasted to the Gover-
fiscated.
lacks
nor-general's representative in Bundelcund, of this

act
of retributive justice, and pretended that
executed merely as
bery
but
it
was with
punishment
it
was
for
the rob-
infinite difficulty
the mer-
him any share of the

plundered property out of that confiscated.
The
chants could recover from
Rajah alleged,
that, according to
our
rules,
the chief,
within whose boundary the robbery might have been
committed, was obliged to
On
inspection,
it
make good
the property.
was found, that the robbery was
perpetrated upon the very boundary
line,
and
" in spite
of pride, in erring reason's spite," the Jansee Rajah

was made to pay one-half of the plundered treasure
The
old Rajah, Bikurmajeet, died in
June 1834;
184
and though
had been some time expected,
his death
he no sooner breathed
his last
than charges of Dee-
slow poison, were got up as usual in the Zenana,
naee,
(seraglio.)
Here the widow of Rajah Bahadur, a vio-
and sanguinary woman, was supreme
lent
and she
persuaded the present Rajah, a weak old man, to

take advantage of the funeral ceremonies, to avenge
He
the death of his brother.
and
his three brothers,
tions,
thers
alive.
did so
with above
and Beearee,
fifty
of his rela-
The widows of the four browere the only members of all the families left
One of them had a son four months old anwere murdered.
other one of two years
other children.
the four brothers had no
Immediately
after the death of their
husbands, the two children were snatched from their

mothers' breasts, and threatened with instant death
unless their mothers pointed out all their ornaments
They did
and other property.
so
and the
spoilers
having got from them property to the amount of one
hundred and
thousand rupees, and been assured
fifty
that there was no more, threw the children over the
high
wall,
by which they w ere dashed to

T
The poor widows were tendered

sweepers, the lowest of
all
as wives to four
low castes
of sweepers would not suffer any of
take the widows of
men
pieces.
its
but the tribe
members
to
of such high caste and sta-
tion as wives, notwithstanding the tempting offer of

five
hundred rupees
rent free tenure
as a present,
and a village
in
secured a promise while at
Tehree, that these poor widows should be provided
TOWN OF TEHREE.
for,
as they had,
up
to that time,
the good feeling of a
on
of castes,
whom
little
185
been preserved by
community of the lowest
they had been bestowed as a
punishment worse than death, inasmuch as
it
would
disgrace the whole clan to which they belonged, the
Purheear Rajpoots.
Tehree
a wretched town, without one respect-
is
able dwelling-house tenanted beyond the palace, or
one merchant, or even shopkeeper of capital and

credit.
There are some tolerable houses unoccupied
and in ruins
and there are a few neat temples built
as tombs, or cenotaphs, in
it
can be called.
The
and around the
same ruinous
state
and accommodations
stables
for all public establishments
as
the
seem
to be all in
dwelling-houses.
revenues of the state are spent in
mans and
religious
city, if city
mendicants of
all
the
The
feeding
Brah-
kinds
and in
such idle ceremonies as those at which the Rajah and

his court
all
have just been assisting
which concentrate
for a
ceremonies
few days the most useless
of the people of India, the devotee followers (Byragees) of the god Vishnoo, and tend to no purpose,
either useful or ornamental, to the state or to the
people.
This marriage of a stone to a shrub, which takes place

every year,
is
supposed to cost the Rajah, at the most
moderate estimate, three lacks of rupees

one-fourth of his annual revenue.*
*
Wealthy Hindoos,, throughout
India, spend
same ceremonies of marrying the stone
a-year, or
The
highest
money
to the shrub.
in the
186
of which his government
officers,
is
ceive small beggarly salaries, hardly

cient for their bare subsistence
make by
indirect
composed, re-
more than
suffi-
and the money they
means they dare not spend
like gen-
tlemen, lest the Rajah might be tempted to take their
hold of
lives in order to get
are of the
same
it.
All his feudal barons
tribe as himself, that
is,
but they are divided into three clans
Powars, and Chundeles.

a
woman
own
of his
clan,
his
own
for her.
Bondelas,
Bondela cannot marry
he must take a wife from
the Powars or the Chundeles
two clans
Rajpoots
and so of the other
no member of one can take a wife from
clan,
but must go to one of the other two
They
are very
each other, but not
much
less are
against
any third party,
Braver
men do
disposed to fight with
they disposed to unite
not of the same
tribe.
not, I believe, exist than the Raj-
poots of Bundelcund,
who
all
carry their swords
from their infancy.

It
may be
central
said
India
generally,
perors of Delhi
the Emperors of
Malwa and
Mogul Em-
of the Rajpoots of
that
the
made the same use of them, that

Germany and the Popes made of
the military chiefs and classes of Europe during the
middle ages.
Industry and the peaceful arts being-
reduced to agriculture alone, under bad government

or
no government
at
all,
the land remained the only
thing worth appropriating; and
it
accordingly be-
came appropriated by those alone who had the power

to do so
by the Hindoo military classes collected
FEUDAL TENURE.
around the heads of their
These held
their union.
it
clans,
it
and powerful
in
under the paramount power
on the feudal tenure of military

or
187
service, as militia
was appropriated by the paramount power
itself,
who let it out on allodial tenure to peaceful peasantry.

The one was the Zemindaree, and the other the
Malgoozaree tenure of India.* The military chiefs,
essentially either soldiers or robbers,
each other, or against the pea-
fighting, either against
santry, or public officers of the

like the barons of Europe;
or
its
were continually
paramount power,
and that paramount power,
delegates, often found that the easiest
way
to
crush one of these refractory vassals was to put him,

as such
men had been

and
the empire,
put in Germany, to the ban of
offer his
lands, his castles,
This victor brought his
wealth to the victor.
clansmen to occupy the lands and

quished
and
and
as these
his
own
castles of the van-
were the only things thought
commonly involved
the utter destruction of the former occupants.
The
new possessors gave the name of their leader, their
worth
living for, the
clan, or their
*
change
former place of abode, to their
The paramount power
often assigned a portion of
its
new
reserved
lands in Jagheer to public officers for the payment of the esta-
blishments they required for the performance of the duties, military or
civil,
which were expected from them.
Other portions
were assigned in rent-free tenure for services already performed,

or to favourites
but in both cases the rights of the village or
land-owner, or allodial proprietors, were supposed to be unaffected, as the
government was presumed to assign only
claim to a certain portion as revenue.
its
own
188
possession,
and the
which they
tract of country over
Thus were founded the Bondelas, Powars, and
spread.
Chundeles, upon the ruin of the Chundeles in Bun-
Rewa, the
delcund, the Boghelas in Boghelcund, or
Kuchwahas, the Sukurwars, and others along the
Chumbul
These
and throughout
river,
classes
parts of India.
all
have never learnt anything, or con-
sidered anything worth learning, but the use of the
sword
and a Rajpoot
next to leading a gang
chief,
own on great enterprises, delights

much as having a gang or two, under
of his
so
There
age, for little ones.
of the Hindoo military
Gwalior
territories,
class,
who
in nothing
his patron-
hardly a single chief,
is
Bundelcund, or
in the
does not keep a gang of
robbers of some kind or other, and consider
it
as a
very valuable and legitimate source of revenue; or
who would not embrace with
cordiality the leader
of a gang of assassins by profession,
bring him
home from every
who
should
expedition a good horse,
a good sword, or a valuable pair of shawls, taken
from their victims.
It
is
much
the same in the
kingdom of Oude, where the lands are
for the
most
same Hindoo military
classes,
who
part held by the
are in a continual state of
war with each
with the government authorities.
other, or
Three-fourths of
the recruits for native infantry regiments are from

this class of military agriculturists of
been trained up
of the lads,
to have
Oude, who have
in this school of contest
when they
and many
enter our ranks, are found
marks of the cold
steel
upon
their persons.
NATIVE RECRUITS.
braver set of
or one trained
men
is
hardly anywhere to be found
up with
finer
towards the power whose
many
189
salt
feelings
they
eat.
good
of the other fourth of the recruits for our
native infantry, are
drawn from among the Oujeynee
who were estathe same manner
Rajpoots, or Rajpoots from Oujeyn,

blished
at
of devotion
many
generations ago in
Bhajpore on the bank of the Ganges.
190
CBAPTER XXIV.
CORN DEALERS
SCARCITIES
Near Tehree we saw
FAMINES IN INDIA.
the people irrigating a field
of wheat from a tank, by means of a canoe, in a
new
quite
to me.
The
mode
surface of the water
about three feet below that of the
field to
was
be watered.
The inner end of the canoe was open, and placed to

the mouth of a gutter leading into the wheat-field.
The outer end was closed, and suspended by a rope
to the outer end
pended
On
of a pole, which was again sus-
to cross bars, thus
the inner end of this pole was fixed a weight of
stones sufficient to raise the canoe
water
and
at
when
the outer end stood five
filled
with
men who
191
SCARCITIES.
into the water as
down and sunk the canoe
pulled
often as
was raised by the stones, and emptied into
it
The canoe was more curved
the gutter.
end than ordinary canoes are
been made
and seemed to have
The
the purpose.
for
at the outer
lands round the
town generally were watered by the Persian wheel

but where
it
near the surface this I should think
is
a better method.
On
we came on
the 10th
twelve miles over a bad
to the village of Bilgaee,
soil
badly cultivated
the
hard syenitic rock rising either above or near to the
way
surface all the
small
hills,
in
some places
ocean
and gently,
like the backs of whales
in others, the
country resembled very
much
whole surface of the

the face of the sea,
not after but really in a storm,

sizes,
of waves of
full
all
contending with each other " in most admired

After the dust of Tehree, and the fatiguing
disorder."
ceremonies of
its
court, the quiet
in this secluded spot,

tiful trees,
playing,
tremely
and
air,
ill
and
morning I spent
under the shade of some beau-
with the surviving canary singing,
journey, was
of
abruptly, in
decomposinginto large rounded boulders
in others slightly
in the
my
boy
my wife sleeping off the fatigues of her

to me most delightful.
Henry was ex-
when we
all
left
Jubbulpore but the change

;
the other changes incident to a march,
have restored him to health.
During the
scarcity of 1833,
two hundred people
died of starvation in this village alone
thrown into one large well which
and were
all
has, of course, ever
192
Autumn
since remained closed.
cultivated
crops
are
chiefly
and they depend entirely on the sky
for
water, while the poor people of the village depend
upon the returns of a
single season for subsistence
during the whole year.
They lingered on
hope of aid from above
till
in the
the greater part had
become too weak from want of food
The Rajah gave half-a-crown
to
emigrate.
to every family
but
merely to kindle their hopes of more,
this served
and to prolong their misery.
Till the
people have
a better government they can never be secure from
Such secu-
frequent returns of similar calamities.

rity
must depend upon a greater variety of
and better means of

supplies
over
suffered
from
means
irrigation
crops,
better roads to bring
from distant parts which have not
same calamities; and greater
the
in reserve of paying for such supplies
brought
when
things that can never be hoped for under a
government
which allows no
like this,
enjoyment of property.
wall has been
a small lake
made
man
the free
Close to the village a large
to unite
but the wall
two small
is
hills,
and form
formed of the rounded
boulders of the syenitic rock, without cement, and
The land which was
does not retain the water.
have formed the bed of the lake

I
is all
in tillage
had some conversation with the man who
vated
He
it.
built with the

piety, (pap
that the
told
money
kee pysa
man who
"
me,
and
culti-
That the wall had been
of sin and not the

se,
to
money
of
na poon kee pysa se burra,)
built
it
must have
laid
out his
193
SCARCITIES.
money with a
(neeat)
that,
and not a
worldly,
on such occasions,
religious
mind,
men generally assem-
bled Brahmans and other deserving people, and fed
and clothed them, and thereby consecrated a great

work, and made
acceptable to God, and
it
heard from his ancestors, that the

this wall
had
do
failed to
this
he had
man who had
built
that the construction
could never, of course, answer the purpose for which

it
was intended
tually
and
name had ac-
that the builders
been forgotten, and the work did him no good
either in this world or the next
!"
This village, which
a year or two ago was large and populous,
is
now
reduced to two wretched huts inhabited by two very

miserable families.
Bundelcund
more
suffers
more severely
often and
from the want of seasonable showers of rain than
any other part of India; while
the
Malwa, which adjoins
and south, hardly
ever suffers at
all
it
to the west
There
all.
province of
a couplet, which, like
is
other good couplets on rural subjects,
this effect
" If
thunder on such a night, you,

I to Gozerat
!"
that
is,
attributed
demigod brothers of the
to Sehdeo, one of the five
Mahabhurat, to
is
you hear not the
father,
go to Malwa,
there will be no rain, and
must seek subsistence where
rains
never
fail;
we
and
the harvests are secure.
The province of Malwa

and groves of
fine trees
as they are wafted
from
the
vol.
i.
gulf
is
well studded with hills
which intercept the clouds,
by the prevailing westerly winds,
of
Cambay
to the
valley of
the
194
Ganges
soil
and make them drop their contents upon a
of great natural powers, formed chiefly from the
detritus of the
decomposing basaltic rocks, which cap
and intersect these
hills.
During the famine of 1833,

sions,
as
on
all
similar occa-
grain of every kind, attracted by high prices,
flowed up in large streams from this favoured province towards Bundelcund; and the population of
Bundelcund, as usual in such times of dearth and

scarcity, flowed off towards
Mai wa
against the stream
of supply, under the assurance, that the nearer they
got to the source, the greater would be their chance

of employment and subsistence.
its
Every
had
village
numbers of the dead and the dying; and the
roads were
strewed with them
all
but they were
mostly concentrated upon the great towns, and
and military
stations,
for their support
communities.
where subscriptions were open
by both the European and native
The funds
scriptions lasted
civil
till
arising
from these sub-
the rains had set fairly
in,
when
all
able-bodied persons could easily find employment
in
tillage
villages
among
the agricultural communities
After the rains have
around.
the sick and helpless only should

trated
upon
large towns
no employment
is
youngest of those
easily find
to
and
who
employment
where
for the
are able to
in
fairly set in
be kept concen-
stations,
be found
little
oldest
or
and
work can then
weeding the cotton,
sugar-cane, and other fields under
of
autumn
crops,
rice,
and
in preparing the lands for the reception of the wheat,
195
SCARCITIES.
and other spring seeds; and get advances
grain,
from the farmers, agricultural
members
of the
village
and other
capitalists,
communities,
who
are
all
glad to share their superfluities with the distressed,
and
to
pay
liberally for
the
little
service they are
able to give in return.

It
is
may be
very unwise to give from such funds what

considered
bodied persons, as
a,
full rate of subsistence to able-
it
tends to keep concentrated upon
such points vast numbers
who would
otherwise be
scattered over the surface of the country

village communities,
who would be
among
the
glad to advance
them stock and the means of subsistence upon the

pledge of their future services when the season of
tillage
commences.
always be something
The
rate of subsistence should
less
than what the able-bodied
person usually consumes, and can get for his labour

in the field.
For the
sick
and feeble
this rate will
be enough, and the healthy and able-bodied, with

unimpaired appetites, will seek a greater rate by the
offer
of their services
vators of the
among
the farmers and culti-
surrounding country.
By
this
pre-
caution, the mass of suffering will be gradually diffused
over the country, so as best to receive what the
As soon as
the able-bodied men, women,
country can afford to give for

the rains set
in,
all
and children, should be sent

blanket,
to last
its relief.
off with
each a good
and a rupee or two as the funds can
them
the farmers.
till
afford,
they can engage themselves with
Not a farthing
after that
day should
o 2
196
be given out except to the feeble and
sick,
who may
be considered as hospital patients.
At
where the greater numbers are
large places,
concentrated,
tressing,
the scene becomes exceedingly
for in spite
of the best dispositions and
greatest efforts on the part of

officers,
dis-
government and
its
and the European and native communities,
At Saugor,
thousands commonly die of starvation.
mothers, as they lay in the streets unable to walk,
were seen holding up their

passing stranger to take
might
at
least
live
and imploring the
infants,
them
in slavery, that they
hundreds were
into gardens, court-yards,
and old
seen creeping
ruins, concealing
themselves under shrubs, grass, mats, or straw, where

they might die quietly, without having their bodies
torn by birds and beasts before the breath had
left
home
in
them
who
Respectable families,
left
search of the favoured land of Malwa, while yet a

little
property remained, finding
all
exhausted, took
opium rather than beg, and husband,

dren, died in each other arms
families lingered
on
pended then shut

;
altogether,
rather
in
hope
till
wife,
and
chil-
Still
more of such
all
had been ex-
their doors, took poison,
and died
than expose their misery, and
submit to the degradation of begging.

things I have myself
known and
seen
All these
and
in the
midst of these and a hundred other harrowing scenes
which present themselves on such occasions, the
European cannot
fail
to
remark the patient
resig-
nation with which the poor people submit to their
197
FAMINES IN INDIA.
fate
acts
and the absence of almost
all
those revolting
which have characterized the famines of which
he has read
in other countries
such
as the living feed-
ing on the dead, and mothers devouring their
No
children.
famines
here
such things are witnessed in Indian

all
who
suffer attribute the disaster to
want of rain
cause, the
its real
own
in
due season
and
in-
dulge in no feelings of hatred against their rulers,
more fortunate equals
superiors,
or
happen to
live
ties.
in society,
who
beyond the influence of such calami-
They gratefully
receive the superfluities which
the more favoured are always found ready to share
with the afflicted in India
and though their
suffer-
ings often subdue the strongest of all pride, the pride
of caste, they rarely ever drive the people to acts of
The stream
violence.
always
in
is
of emigration, guided as
it
by that of the agricultural produce flowing
from the more favoured countries, must necessarily
concentrate upon the communities along the line

takes,
a greater
number
it
of people than they have
the means of relieving, however benevolent their

dispositions;
and I must
say, that
have never
either seen or read of a nobler spirit than seems to
animate
all classes
of these communities in India on
such distressing occasions.
In such seasons of
distress
we
often, in India,
hear
of very injudicious interference with grain dealers on
the part of
civil
and military
to persuade themselves,
authorities,
who
contrive
that the interest of these
corn-dealers, instead of being in accordance with the
198
interests of the people, are entirely
opposed to them
and conclude, that whenever grain becomes dear
make them open
they have a right to
and
sell
their granaries,
their grain at such price as they, in their
wisdom,
may deem
make them do
If
reasonable.
by persuasion,
this
fine,
they
cannot
or imprison-
ment, they cause their pits to be opened by their

soldiers or native officers,
their
own
own
and the grain to be sold at

If in a hundred pits thus
arbitrary price.
opened, they find one in which the corn happens to
be damaged by damp, they come to the sage conclusion, that the proprietors
all
must be what they have
along supposed them to be, and treated as such,
common enemies of mankind, who, blind alike to

their own interests and those of the people, purchase
up the superabundance of seasons of plenty, not to
the
sell it
again in seasons of scarcity, but
and that the whole of the grain

nine
pits,
to
destroy
it
in the other ninety-
but for their timely interference, must have
inevitably shared the
same
fate
During the season here mentioned, grain had be-
come very dear

in
at Saugor,
Bundelcund and other
usual, supplies of land
Nerbudda
districts
and west of the
from the nnusual demand
districts to the north.
As
produce flowed up from the
along the great roads to the east
city
but the military authorities in
the cantonments would not be persuaded out of their
dread of a famine.
There were three regiments of
infantry, a corps of cavalry,

artillery,
and two companies of
cantoned at that time at Saugor.
They
199
FAMINES IN INDIA.
were a mile from the
city
and the grain
for their
supply was exempted from town duties to which that

for the city
was
liable.
The people
in
cantonments
got their supply, in consequence, a good deal cheaper
than the people in the city got theirs
and none but
persons belonging bona fide to the cantonments were
ever allowed to purchase grain within them.
When
the dread of famine began, the commissariat
officer,
Major Gregory, apprehended that he might not be

permitted to have recourse to the markets of the
city in times of scarcity, since the people of the city
had not been suffered to have recourse to those of

the cantonments in times of plenty
by the magistrate, to purchase
as
but he was told
much
as
he
liked,
man as free to sell his grain

pots and pans, to whom he chose. He
since he considered every

as his cloth, or
added that he did not share in the

military authorities
fears
of the
that he had no apprehension
whatever of a famine, for when prices rose high

enough, they would be sure to divert away into the
city
from the streams then flowing up from the valley
of the Nerbudda, and the districts of
Bundelcund, a supply of grain

This
new demand upon
Malwa towards
sufficient for all.
the city increased rapidly
the price of grain, and augmented the alarm of the

people,
who began
to their prayers,
to urge the magistrate to listen
and coerce the sordid corn-dealers
who had, no doubt, numerous pits yet unopened.

The alarm became still greater in the cantonments,
where the commanding officer attributed all the evil
200
to
the inefficiency
of the
villany of the corn-dealers
commissariat,
and the
and Major Gregory was
in dread of being torn to pieces by the soldiery.
Only one
bazars
was
day's supply
the
left
cantonment
in the
become clamorous almost
to
the people of the town began
to
troops had
a state of mutiny
rush in upon every supply that was offered for sale
and those who had grain to dispose of could no longer venture to expose
pressed on
tary
as
to have recourse to the old salu-
all sides
method of searching
the grain
pits,
and
The magistrate was hard
it.
for,
selling the contents at such price
might appear reasonable.
town
declared,
no longer
safe
The
The
cotwall of the
that the lives of his police would be

unless this great and
now
remedy, which had

deferred,
and forcibly opening
never-failing
unhappily been too long
were immediately adopted.
magistrate,
who had
already taken
every
other means of declaring his resolution never to suffer
any man's granary to be forcibly opened, now issued

a formal proclamation, pledging himself to see, that
such granaries should be as

other property in the city
keep
his grain
and expose
whenever he pleased
as the people
that his
much
that
it
respected as any
every
for sale
man might
wherever and
and expressing a hope,
knew him
that,
too well not to feel assured
word thus solemnly pledged would never be
broken, he trusted they would
sell
what
stores they
had, and apply themselves without apprehension to
the collecting of more
This proclamation he showed
FAMINES IN INDIA.
to
201
Major Gregory, assuring him, that no degree of

clamour among the people of the
distress or
make him
the cantonments should ever
pledge therein given to the corn-dealers
was prepared to
risk
situation
his
a public officer upon the result.
city or
violate the
and that he
and reputation
as
After issuing this
proclamation, about noon, he had his police esta-
blishments augmented, and so placed and employed

as
to give
to the people
assurances conveyed in
entire
The
it.
confidence in the
no
grain-dealers,
longer apprehensive of danger, opened their pits of
and sent
grain,
much
and every
man who had money
he pleased.
as
The
they required from the

astonished
soldier
means
In the morning the bazars were
in more.
plied
off all their available
to bring
all
sup-
could buy as
troops got as
much
as
Major Gregory was
city.
and delighted; the
colonel,
a fine old
from the banks of the Indus, who had com-
manded a corps of horse under the former government, came to the magistrate in amazement every
shop had become full of grain as if by supernatural
" Kala admee ka akul kalian tuluk chule
agency.
;
ga," said he, "
How
dom
in such an
serve
him
There was
little
a firm reliance
ciple
could a black man's wis-
little
emergency
wisdom
in all this
which should guide
great
only to
but there was
upon the truth of the general

all
prin-
public officers on such
The magistrate judged, that there were

many pits of grain in the town known
their own proprietors
who were afraid to
occasions.
!"
202
open them, or get more

chance
the
of
civil
grain,
while there was a

yielding
authorities
clamours of the people and the anxiety of the
commanding the troops

remove these
fears,
by
officers
and that he had only
oifering a
order to induce the proprietors
what they had, but to apply

almost
all
But
it
not
only to
means
all their
is
to
solemn pledge, and
manifesting the means and the will to abide by
collecting of more.
the
to
a singular
it,
in
sell
to the
fact,
that
the officers of the cantonments thought
the conduct of the magistrate, in refusing to have the

grain pits opened under such pressing circumstances
Had he done
extremely reprehensible.
have given the people of the
ments the supply
at
hand
city
he might
so
and the canton-
but the injury done to the
corn-dealers by so very unwise a measure
w ould have
T
recoled upon the public, since every one would have
been discouraged from exerting himself to renew the

supply,
and from laying up
necessities in future.
By
meet
stores to
similar
acting as he did, he not
only secured for the public the best exertions of
all
the existing corn-dealers of the place, but actually
many to
that trade from
other employments, or from idleness.
A great many
converted for the time a great
families,
their
who had never
means
traded before, employed
in bringing a supply of grain
and con-
verted their dwelling-houses into corn-shops, induced
by the high
profits
and assurance of
protection.
During the time when he was most pressed, the

magistrate received a letter from Captain Robinson,
203
FAMINES IN INDIA.
who was
in charge of the bazars at Elichpore, in the
Hydrabad
territory,
even more
felt
where the dearth had become
what measures had been adopted
to regulate the
and secure the supply of grain
price,
know
than at Saugor, requesting to
and
for the city
cantonments at Saugor, since no good seemed to

result
told
He
from those hitherto pursued at Elichpore.

in reply, "
him
That these things had hitherto
been regulated at Saugor as he thought they ought

to be regulated everywhere
else,
by being
left
en-
tirely to the discretion of the corn-dealers themselves,
whose
self-interest will
always prompt them to have
a sufficient supply, as long as they
may
feel secure
of being permitted to do what they please with
what they
The commanding
collect.
in his
officer,
anxiety to secure food for the people, had hitherto
been continually interfering to coerce

gulate prices
sales,
and
and continually aggravating the
of the dearth by so doing."
Saugor magistrate's
letter,
On
re-
evils
the receipt of the
a different
course was
adopted; the same assurances were given to the

corn-dealers, the
same
ability
and inclination
to
them manifested, and the same results folThe people and the troops were steadily
lowed.
enforce
supplied
and
all
were astonished that so very simple
a remedy had not before been thought
of.
The ignorance of the first principles of political

economy among European gentlemen of otherwise
first-rate
education and abilities
lamentable
for
in India,
is
quite
there are really few public officers
204
even in the army, who are not occasionally
liable to
be placed in situations where they may, by
false
measures, arising out of such ignorance, aggravate

the evils of dearth
men.
soldier
among great bodies
of their fellow-
may, however, find some excuse
for
such ignorance, because a knowledge of these principles are not generally considered to
dispensable part of a soldier's education
cuse can be admitted for a
civil
form any
in-
but no ex-
functionary
who
is
so ignorant, since a thorough acquaintance with the
principles of political
always
is
economy must
and indeed
be,
considered, as an essential branch of that
knowledge which
is
to
fit
him
for public
employment
in India.
In India, unfavourable seasons produce much more
In Eng-
disastrous consequences than in Europe.

land, not
more than one-fourth of the population
rive their
incomes from the cultivation of the lands
de-
Three-fourths of the people have in-
around them.
comes, independent of the annual returns from those

lands; and with these incomes they can purchase
agricultural produce
upon them
fail.
from other lands when the crops
The
farmers,
who form
so large a
portion of the fourth class, have stock equal in value

to four times the amount of the annual rent of their
lands.
They have
also a great variety of crops
and
it is
very rare that more than one or two of them
fail,
or are considerably affected,
If they
is
fail in
one
the same season.
district or province, the deficiency
very easily supplied to a people
who have
equiva-
205
FAILURE OF CROPS.
The
lents to give for the produce of another.
navigable rivers, fine roads,

all
all
sea,
are open and ready at
times for the transport of the superabundance of
one quarter to supply the deficiencies of another. In

India, the reverse of all this
more than
is
unhappily everywhere
to be found
population
are engaged in the
land,
and depend upon
them stock equal
in
amount of the annual
The autumn
ripen in
have none of
cultivators
more than half the

of their lands. They have
rents
but
are exposed to the
all
and commonly
fail
at the
June and July, and

October and November and if seasonable
;
fall
during July, August, and Sep-
The
all fail.
spring-crops are
sown
ber and November, and ripen in March

sonable showers do not happen to
ber or January,
fail.
same time.
crops are sown in
showers do not
tember,
the
value to
a great variety of crops

accidents,
cultivation of
annual returns for sub-
its
The farmers and
sistence.
same
three-fourths of the whole
If they
all,
fail
fall
in Octo-
and
during
if sea-
Decem-
save what are artificially irrigated,

in
one
district
or province, the
people have few equivalents to offer for a supply of

land produce
scarcely
any
from
any other.
anywhere passable
season,
and nowhere
nowhere a navigable
all
seasons
and only
produce
navigable river.
Their land
upon the backs of
bullocks, that
six or eight miles a day,
are
for wheeled-carriages at
at
canal,
Their roads
move
they have
in
is
one line a
conveyed
at the rate of
and add one hundred per
cent, to the cost of every
hundred miles they carry
206
it

and more than two hundred
in the best seasons,
in the worst.
becomes
dearth,
tages,
What
a scarcity
Europe
in
under
in India,
aud what
comes here a famine.
merely as a
felt
is
all
these disadvan-
there a scarcity, be-
is
Tens of thousands die here
of starvation, under calamities of season, which in
Europe would
class.
involve
of suffering
little
Here man does everything
and he must have
three-fourths of the collective
tion of man's physical enjoyments,
and
this daily food to sustain its
are independent of the seasons
work of the
and
society in the production, preparation,
no need of
any
In England, machinery does
his daily food or starve.
more than
to
distribu-
stands in
it
powers
the water,
they
fire, air,
and other elemental powers which they require to

render them subservient to our use, are always available in abundance.
This machinery
is
the great assistant of the pre-
sent generation, provided for us
the industry of the past
can always provide
its
by the wisdom and
wanting no food
proprietors with the
itself, it
means of
purchasing what they require from other countries,
when the harvests

of season deprive
of their
men
of
own
fail.
When
employment
for a
they can, in England, commonly find
tillage,
calamities
it
time in
in other
branches of industry, because agricultural industry
forms so small a portion of the collective industry of the

nation
and because every man
to his status in society,
dustry he pleases.
can, without prejudice
take to what branch of in-
But when these calamities of

6
207
ARBITRARY PRICES OF CORN.
men
season throw
a
out of employment in tillage for
time in India, they cannot find
it
in
any other
branch, because agricultural industry forms so very

large a portion of the collective industry of every
part of the country
men
and because
are often
prevented by the prejudices of caste from taking to

that which they can find.
In
societies constituted
trade of the corn-dealer
among them
is
more
essentially necessary
community than
for the welfare of the

for it
is
the
that of India,
like
in
any other,
that the superabundance of
seasons of plenty requires most to be stored up for

seasons of scarcity
and
public functionaries will
if
take upon themselves to seize such stores, and
them
own
at their
happen to
rise
short-sighted
arbitrary prices,
ever collect such stores.

has
become dear
we have
seen the
hibit its egress
whenever prices
beyond the rate which they
wisdom think
just,
civil
and
if
civil
station,
functionaries urged to pro-
to search for the hidden stores,
and
manner
they do not yield to the ignorant
clamour, they are set
down
as
indifferent to the suf-
ferings of their fellow- creatures

as blindly
will
Hitherto, whenever grain
to coerce the proprietors to the sale in all
of ways
their
in
no corn-dealer
any military or
at
sell
supporting
around them
and
the worst enemies of man-
kind, in the worst species of iniquity.
If those
asked,
who urge them
to
such measures are
whether silversmiths or linendrapers, who
should be treated in the same manner as they wish
208
the corn-dealers to be treated, would ever collect and
keep
stores of plate
readily answer,
no
and cloths
for their use, they
they see at once the evil effects
of interfering with the free disposal of the property

of the one, but are totally blind to that which must
any interference with that of the
as surely follow
other,
whose
entire
freedom
is
much more
when grave
Smollett, could even in
historians, like
England fan the flame of
their vulgar prejudice against one of the

classes of society.
vital
There was a time, and
importance to the public.

that not very remote,
of so
That day
most useful
thank God, passed
is,
and no man can now venture to write such trash in

his history,
circle
or even utter
of English society
it
in
and
any well-informed
if
any
man were
to
broach such a subject in an English House of Com-
mons, he would be considered as a
fit
subject for a
madhouse.
But some who

dealers,
retain their prejudices against corn-
and are yet ashamed to acknowledge their
ignorance of the principles of political economy, try

to persuade themselves
ever applicable these

in
European or
and
their friends,
may be
that
how-
to the state of society
christian countries,
they are not so
to countries occupied
by Hindoos and Mahomedans
This
is
ous one
a sad delusion
and may be a very mischiev-
when indulged by
public officers in India.
209
CHAPTER XXV.
EPIDEMIC DISEASES
In the evening,
after
received a visit from
my
conversation with the
every
little
turban
fine rose-coloured
gracefully
my
upon the wall that united the two
cultivator,
His
SCAPE-GOAT.
hair of
hills,
friend the Sureemunt.

is
his
always put on very
eyebrows
jet-black
and mustachios seems to be kept always most

giously in the
same place
same charming smile upon

never, I believe,
what the natives

" Nishust or
reli-
and he has always the
his little face,
which was
distorted into an absolute laugh or
No man was
frown.
ever more perfectly master of
call "
Burkhaust
the art of rising and sitting"

"
namely,
good manners. I
should as soon expect to see him set the Nerbudda on

fire as
this
commit any infringement of the convenances on
head established in good Indian
society,
or be
guilty of anything vulgar in speech, sentiment,
manners.
I asked
him by what means
it
or
was that
the old queen of Saugor drove out the influenza that

vol.
I.
210
afflicted
there on a
no part
till
much
the people so
He
me.
visit to
in 1832, while
he was
told me, " that he took
was he aware of them
in the ceremonies, nor
awoke one night by the noise, when
his attendants
informed him that the queen and the greater part of

the city were making offerings to the
new
god,
Hur-
He
found next morning

had
that a ôat
been offered up with as much noise as possible, and

doul Lala.
with good
for the disease
effect,
was found to give
way from that moment. About

when great numbers were dying
effect
man
in
own
his
little
from a similar epidemic, he
capital of Pithooreea,
had he said
years before,
six
same thing with
tried the
greater
still
on that occasion, he had had the aid of
but,
very learned in such matters.
This
made up
caused a small carriage to be
man
after a plan
of his own, for a pair of scape-goats, which were har-
nessed to
it,
wood some
let loose.
and driven during the ceremonies to a
distance from the town, where they were
From
in the town.
that hour the disease entirely ceased
The
goats never returned
"
had they
come back," said Sureemunt, " the disease must have

come back with them so he took them a long way
indeed, he believed, the man, to
into the wood
make sure of them, had afterwards caused them to
;
be offered up as a
sacrifice,
Lala, in that very
wood
to the shrine of
He
Hurdoul
had himself never seen
a poqja, religious ceremony, so entirely and immediately efficacious as this,
and much of
its
success
was, no doubt, attributable to the science of the
man
211
EPIDEMIC DISEASES.
who planned
the carriage, and himself drove the pair
of goats to the
wood
No one had
ever before heard
of the plan of a pair of scape-goats being driven in

a carriage
but
it
was
likely,
he thought, to be ex-
tensively adopted in future."
Sureemunt's
man
of affairs mentioned, " that
Lord Hastings took the

in 1817,
his
field against
when
the Pindarees,
and the division of the grand army under
command was encamped
near the grove in Bun-
delcund, where repose the ashes of Hurdoul Lala,
under a small shrine,
cow was taken
into this
grove to be converted into beef for the use of the
The
Europeans.
but in vain
priest
the
priest in attendance remonstrated,
cow was
killed
and eaten.
The
complained, and from that day the cholera
morbus broke out

tral point
it
have spread
in the
camp
and from
this cen-
was, he said, generally understood to

all
travelled at the
over India*
The
same time, and the
story of the
spirit
cow
of Hurdoul
Lala was everywhere supposed to be riding in the

whirlwind and directing the storm
Temples were
everywhere erected, and offerings made to appease
The people in the Saugor territories used to show several

decayed mango trees in groves where European troops had encamped during the campaigns of 1 8 1 6 and 1817, and declare that
they had been seen to wither from the day that beef, for the use
of these troops, had been tied to their branches.
The only
coin-
cidence was in the decay of the trees, and the encamping of the
troops in the groves
that the withering
trees
were those to which
the beef had been tied, was of course taken for granted
p 2
212
him

and
he had himself
in less than six years after,
seen them as far as Lohore, and in almost every
vil-
lage throughout the whole course of his journey to
He
that distant capital and back."
most sensible and

"
with.
Up
" the spirit
freely
men
spoken
to within the last
few
one of the
met
that I have
years,"
added
he,
of Hurdoul Lala had been propitiated
only in cases of cholera morbus
posed to preside over
and
is
offerings
all
but
now he
is
sup-
kinds of epidemic diseases,
have everywhere been made to
his
shrine during late influenzas."

"
This of course
arises," I observed,
c;
from the
who are now spread all over

and you know that there is hardly a
in-
dustry of his priests,
the
country
vil-
lage or hamlet in which there are not

to be found subsisting
" I
upon the
some of them
fears of the people."
have no doubt," replied he, " that the cures
which the people attribute to the
spirit
of Hurdoul
Lala often arise merely from the firmness of their

faith (Itakad) in the efficacy of their offerings
and
that any other ceremonies that should give to their
minds the same assurance of recovery, would be of

great advantage in cases of epidemic diseases.
remember a
"
singular instance of this,"
When Jeswunt Rao
Lake
to the
Hoolkar was
said
flying before
I
he.
Lord
banks of the Hyphases, a poor trooper
when he tied
the grain-bag to his horse's mouth, said, Take this
in the name of Jeswunt Rao Hoolkar, for to him
The poor man
you and I owe all that we have
of one of his lordship's irregular corps,
'
!'
213
EPIDEMIC DISEASES.
had been suffering from a severe attack of ague and

fever
but from that moment he
and the fever never returned.

fever prevailed
more generally
felt
himself relieved,
At that time this

among the people of
Hindoostan than any I have ever known, though I
am now an
old man.
The speech
the supposed result, soon spread
of the trooper, and

;
and others
the experiment with similar success;
and
it
tried
acted
I had the fever myself,
everywhere like a charm.
and though by no means a superstitious man, and

no lover of Jeswunt Rao Hoolkar, I tried
certainly
the experiment, and the fever
From
that time,
till
left
me
from that day.
the epidemic disappeared, no
man, from the Nerbudda to the Indus, fed

without invoking the
spirit
of Jeswunt Rao, though
the chief was then alive and well.

said
he found great
relief
his horse
Some one had
from plunging into the
stream during the paroxysms of the fever
others
followed the example, and some remained for half an
hour at a time, and the
sufferers generally
found re-
The streams and tanks throughout the districts

between the Ganges and the Jumna became crowded,
lief.
till
the propitiatory offering to the spirit of the living
Jeswunt Rao Hoolkar were found equally good, and

far less
troublesome to those
must have got
name
their
grain,
who had
horses that
whether in Hoolkar's
or not."
There
is
no doubt that the great mass of those who
had nothing but their horses and their good

depend upon
for their subsistence, did
blades to
most fervently
214
pray, throughout India,

ratta chief,
when he
MahLord Lake's army
for the safety of this
fled before
for they considered, that with his fall the
Company's
dominion would become everywhere securely
and that good
blished,
soldiers
would be
at
esta-
a dis-
Company ha amid men hooch roozgar

nuheen hy ;"
" there is no employment in the Comcount
"
pany's dominion,"
among
among
tive,
the
men
is
not only
of the sword and the spear, but
those merchants
civil,
common maxim,
who
lived
by supporting na-
and military establishments,
with
luxuries and elegancies which, under the
new
the
order
of things, they have no longer the means to enjoy.
The
noisy poojah, (worship,) about which our con-
versation began, took place at Saugor in April, 1832,
while I was at that station.
More than
four-fifths
of the people of the city and cantonments had been

affected
by a violent influenza, which
commenced
with a distressing cough, was followed by fever, and

in
some
cases terminated in death.
cation from the old
had an appli-
Queen Dowager of Saugor, who
received a pension of ten thousand pounds a year
from the British government, and resided in the
city,
to allow of a noisy religious procession, to implore
deliverance from this great calamity.
and children,
procession,
in this
Men, women
were to do their
utmost to add to the noise by " raising their voices

in
psalmody? beating upon their brass pots and pans
with
all
their might,
they could get them
and discharging fire-arms where

;
and before the noisy crowd
215
EPIDEMIC DISEASES.
was to be driven a
buffalo,
which had been pur-
chased by a general subscription, in order that every

family might participate in the merit.
to follow
it
out eight miles, where
turned loose for any
man who would
animal returned, the disease,

turn with
it
was
it
take
They were
was to be
If the
it.
must
said,
re-
and the ceremony be performed over
it,
I was requested to intimate the circumstance
again.
to the officer
commanding the troops
in cantonments,
in order that the hideous noise they intended to
make
might not excite any alarm, and bring down upon
them the
of the soldiery.
visit
It was, however,
subsequently determined, that the animal should be

a goat
ingly.
and he was driven before the crowd accordI have
on several occasions been requested
to allow of such noisy poojahs in cases of epidemics
and the confidence the people

no doubt a good
While
feel in their efficacy has
effect.
in civil charge of the district of Nursing-
pore, in the valley of the Nerbudda, in April, 1823,
the cholera morbus raged in almost every house of
the towns of Nursingpore and Kundelee, situated
near each other, and one of them close to

ing-house and court.
all
The European
my
dwell-
physicians lost
confidence in their prescriptions, and the people
declared that the hand of
God was upon them, and
by appeasing him could they alone hope to be saved.
religious procession
population of
point,
was determined upon
but the
both towns were divided upon the
whether a
silent or
a noisy one would be most
216

Hundreds were dying around
acceptable to God.
me when
I was applied to, to settle this knotty point
between the
parties.
numbers and
respectability the majority
I found that both in point of
of the silent procession, and I

this
The
should be adopted.
was
in favour
recommended
that
procession took place
about nine the same night, with
all
due ceremony
bat the advocates for noise would none of them assist
in
it.
Strange as
it
moment
abated from that
may
the disease
appear,
and the great majority of
the population of both towns believed

prayers had been heard
mind somewhat
ing of
and I went to bed with a
relieved by the hope, that this feel-
might be
confidence
About one
useful.
was awoke from a sound sleep by the most
o'clock I
hideous noise that I had ever heard
moment
that their
and not at that
recollecting the proposal for the noisy pro-
cession, ran out of
my
house, in expectation of see-
ing both towns in flames.

cates for noise,
found that the advo-
resolving to have their procession,
had assembled together about midnight
my
and appre-
down by
hensive that they might be borne

vocates for silence, and
police
the ad-
establishments,
had determined to make the most of their time, and

put in requisition
all
the pots, pans, shells, trumpets,
pistols,
and muskets that they could muster
opened
at
once about one o'clock
been any virtue
in discord,
All
and had there
the cholera must soon
have deserted the place, for such another hideous
compound
of noises I never heard.
The
disease,
217
EPIDEMIC DISEASES.
which seemed to have subsided with the
went
cession before I
to bed,
now
silent pro-
returned with
double violence, as I was assured by numbers who
my
flocked to
lation
house in terror
and the whole popu-
became exasperated with the
noisy faction,
who
dreadful scourge
I asked the
means
had, they believed, been the
among them
of bringing back
leaders of the
all
the horrors of this
Hindoo Sudder Ameer, or head na-
tive judicial officer at Saugor, a very profound Sanscrit scholar,
what he thought of the
efficacy of these
He
processions in checking epidemic diseases.

" that there could
total
inefficiency
when medicine
prayers
be nothing more clear than the
failed,
a man's only resource was in
mankind were
classed under three general heads
fered
for sins
and
of medicine in such cases;
that the diseases of
said,
committed
in
first,
to
be
those suf-
some former
births
second, those suffered for sins committed in the present birth
third,
those merely accidental.
said the old gentleman,
"
it
must be
Now,"
clear to every
unprejudiced mind, that the third only can be cured

or checked
must
all
inflicted
by the physician
!"
Epidemics, he thought,
be classed under the second head, and as
by the Deity
for
some very general
consequently, to be removed only by prayers
whether
silent
or noisy,
sin
;
and
was, he thought, matter of
little
importance, provided they were offered in the
same
spirit.
I believe
that
among
the great mass
of the people of India, three-fourths of the diseases
218
of individuals are attributed to evil
eyes
and
spirits,
among them there

The faith in them is
very great and very general
posed to be supernatural,
and
it
is
The
without fee or reward.
as the gift
child of one of our servants

its
exorcises gratis.
was one day
call that
in con-
The
morning, and he
The poor mother
offered to lance the child's gums.
thanked him
sup-
gifted person subsists
sufferings in cutting its teeth.
surgeon happened to
civil
is
commonly exercised
upon some other employment, and

vulsions from
evil
every physician
for
are certainly ten exercisers
and
but stated, " that there could be no
possible doubt as to the source of her child's suffer-
ings
that the devil had got into
it
during the night,
and would certainly not be frightened out by

little
my
lancet
but she expected back every
old tent-pitcher,
this description
whose exorcisms no
his
moment
devil of
had ever yet been able to withstand
!"
The small-pox had been raging in the town of

Jubbulpore for some time during one hot season that
I was there, and a great many children had died
from it. The severity of the disease was considered
to
have been a good deal augmented by a very unto-
ward circumstance that had taken place
in the family
of the principal banker of the town, Khoshal Chund.
Sewa
Ram
Seith, the old
ing two sons,
Ram
Chund, the second.
man, had
lately died, leav-
Kishen, the eldest, and Khoshal
The
eldest gave
up
all
nagement of the sublunary concerns of the

and devoted
his
mind
entirely to
the mafamily,
religious duties.
219
EPIDEMIC DISEASES.
They had a very
temple of their own, in
fine family
which they placed an image of their god Vishnoo, cut

out of the choicest stone of the Nerbudda, and consecrated, after the
most approved form, and with
very expensive ceremonies.
This
Ram
idol,
Kishen
own hands with

with precious ointments. One
used every day to wash with his

rose-water, and anoint
day, while he
busily
had the image
employed
in anointing
and was
in his arms,
it,
it fell
to the
ground
upon the stone pavement, and one of the arms
To
was broken.
live after
such an untoward acci-
dent was quite out of the question, and poor
Ram
Kishen proceeded at once quietly to hang himself
He
got a rope from the stable, and having tied
over the
fall
beam
in the
room where he had
in, laid
that sect
Ram
his brother
his
came
hold of him, called for assistance, and put
him under
restraint.
conclave of the priests of
was immediately held
town, and
in the
Kishen was told that hanging himself was not
absolutely necessary that
it
might do
take the stone image, broken arm and

back, and carry
to Benares,
who
the god
upon the stone-pavement, he was putting
head calmly into the noose, when
own
let
it
it
he would
if
upon
all,
his
two hundred and sixty miles
where resided the high
priest of the sect,
would, no doubt, be able to suggest the proper
measures for pacifying the god.
At
this time, the only son of his brother
Chund, an interesting
of age, was extremely
little
ill
Khoshal
boy of about four years
of the small-pox
and
it
is
220
a rule with Hindoos never to undertake any journey,
even one of pilgrimage to a holy
shrine, while
member
with this disease
of the family
they must
He
ashes.
at
all sit
afflicted
is
home
clothed in sackcloth and
was told that he had better defer
journey to Benares
his
the child should recover;
till
but he could neither sleep nor
so great
eat,
some dreadful calamity should
terror, lest
any
whole family before he could expiate
was
his
befall the
his crime,
or
take the advice of his high priest, as to the best
means of doing
and he resolved to leave the
it;
decision of the question to
God
himself!
He
took
two pieces of paper, and having caused Benares
to
be written upon one, and Jubbulpore upon the other,

he put them both into a brass
vessel.
After shaking
the vessel well, he drew forth that on which Benares
had been written.
Kishen
All
" Tt
is
the will of
God
who were
the family
!"
said
Ram
interested
in
the preservation of the poor boy, implored him not

to set out,
lest
Davey, who presides over small-pox,
should become angry.

set out with his
it
himself,
It
was
household god
he put
it
it
Chund, sent
offerings
for
at
his
vain
it
at
He w ould
7
and unable to carry
into a small litter
and hired a bearer to carry

supported
all in
upon a
pole,
one end, while he
His brother, Khoshal
the other.
second wife, at the same time, with
Davey, to ward
brother's rashness from his
off the
child.
By
effects
of his
the time the
brother had got with his god to Adhartal, three miles
from Jubbulpore, on the road to Benares, he heard
221
EPIDEMIC DISEASES.
of the death of his
this
feel
nephew
blow
slight
in his
but he seemed not to

of the dreadful
terror
but undefined calamity which he
be impending
felt to
over him and the whole family, and he trotted on
Soon
road.
his
after
an infant son of their uncle
died of the same disease
came
at
and the whole town be-
once divided into two parties
those who
held that the children had been killed by
punishment
Ram
for
Davey
as a
Kishen's presuming to leave
Jubbulpore before they recovered
and those who
held that they were killed by the god Vishnoo himfor
self,
having been so rudely deprived of one of his
Khoshal Chund's wife sickened on the road,
arms.
and died on reaching Mirzapore, of fever; and as
Davey was supposed

this
fevers,
to
have nothing to do with
event greatly augmented the advocates
of Vishnoo.
It
is
a rule with Hindoos to bury, and
not to burn, the bodies of those
pox
" for,"
who
say they, " the small-pox
caused by the goddess Davey, but

herself;
and
to
to
is,
is
not only
in fact,
Davey
burn the body of the person affected
with this disease
than
die of the small-
is,
in reality, neither
burn the goddess
more nor
less
"
!
Khoshal Chund was strongly urged to bury, and

not burn his child, particularly as
was usual with
it
Hindoos to bury infants and children of that age, of

whatever disease they might die;
upon having
his
boy burned with
but he insisted
all
due pomp and
ceremony, and burned he was accordingly.

that
moment,
it is
said,
From
the disease began to rage
222
with increased violence throughout the town of Jub-
At
bulpore.
one half of the children affected
least
had before survived; but from that hour at

three out of four died
lence which he
and instead of the condo-
expected from his fellow-citizens,
poor Khoshal Chund
a very amiable and worthy
received nothing but
man
ing
down
many
so
by maltreating
to theirs
least
their execrations for bring-
upon
calamities
own
his
their heads
first,
god, and then by setting fire
I had a few days after a visit from
Gungadhur
Row, the S udder Ameer, or head native judicial

officer of this district, whose father had been for a
short time the ruler of the district, under the former
government
and I asked him whether the small-pox
had diminished
set
in.
He
in the
told
that a great
me
many
town
had now
since the rains
that he thought
it
had
but
children had been taken off by
the disease.
u
the
I understand,
banker,
is
Row Sahib,
that Khoshal Chund,
supposed to have
augmented the
virulence of the disease by burning his boy: was

it
so?"
" Certainly
face
!"
my
said
" the disease
friend, with a grave,
was much increased by
this
long-
man's
folly !"
I looked very grave in

"
Not a
my turn,
child escaped after
Such incredible
folly
To
and he continued.
he had burned
his boy.
set fire to the goddess in
the midst of a population of twenty thousand souls

it
might have brought destruction upon us
!"
all

;;
223
EPIDEMIC DISEASES.
"
What makes you
think that the disease
is
itself
?"
the goddess
when any member of a

Davey
family becomes attacked by the small-pox,
Nikulee
that is, Davey has shown herself in that
"
Because we always
say,
'
;'
family, or in that individual.
And
the person affected
can wear nothing but plain white clothing

silken or coloured garment,
kind
or participate
nor an ornament of any
god
any kind of
in
!
brother set out on a journey with

cousin,
rejoicings,
They broke the arm of

and he drove them all mad. The elder
he give offence to her
their
nor can he or any of his family undertake a
journey,
lest
not
and
and
it,
nephew,
his
sister-in-law fell victims to his temerity
and then Khoshal Chund brings down the goddess
upon the whole community by burning

doubt he was very fond of his child
and wished to do him

is
so
all
honour
complicated religious
Hindoos,
is
all
No
are
and I told him
preparations for the funeral
but he would not listen to reason
we
but some regard
surely due to the people around us,
when he was making
so
boy
his
to the priest,
code,
!"
like that
of the
what a complicated
code, like that of the English,
is
to the lawyers.
Hindoo can do nothing without consulting
civil
his priest
and an Englishman can do nothing without consulting his lawyer
224
CHAPTER XXVI.
ARTIFICIAL LAKES IN BUNDELCUND
ROMAN
On
the 11th
HINDOO,
GREEK, AND
FAITH.
we came on twelve
miles to the
town
of Bumhoree, whence extends, to the south-west, a

ridge of high and bare quartz
all others,
hills,
towering above
curling and foaming at the top, like a
when suddenly
ready to burst,
arrested by the hand
of Omnipotence, and turned into white stone.

soil all
the
way
is
thin.
The
wretchedly poor in quality, being
formed of the detritus of
and very
wave
sienitic
Bumhoree
beautifully situated on the
is
and quartz rocks,

nice little
bank of a
town,
fine lake, the
waters of which preserved during the late famine the

population of this and six other small towns, which
are situated near
irrigated
from
it.
its
borders,
and have their lands
Besides water for their
fields, this
lake yielded the people abundance of water-chesnuts
and
fish.
found
In the dryest season the water has been
sufficient to supply the
wants of
all
the people
225
BOW OF PURSORAM.
of these towns and villages, and those of
the
all
country around, as far as the people can avail themselves of

ficial
it.
bank or
This large lake
is
formed by an
arti-
which
rests
wall, at the south-east end,
one arm upon the high range of white quartz rocks,
which runs along
down
looking
its
south-west side for several miles,
into the clear deep water,
and forming
a beautiful landscape.
From
this
pretty town, Sodora, where the great
marriage had lately taken place, was in

only four miles distant.
It was,
learnt,
and
sight,
the resi-
dence of the present Rajah of Orcha, before the

death of his brother called him to the throne.
Many
people were returning from the ceremonies of the
marriage of Saligram with Toolsee
immense
that the concourse had been
hundred and
fifty
had
them
feasted
progress of the
thousand
all
and
four
for
ceremonies,
who
told
me
at
least
one
that the Rajah
days during the
but that
they were
obliged to defray their expenses going and coming,
except
when they came by
honour
to the occasion, as
special
in
friend the Saugor high priest,
me
told
Jug
that they called
invitation, to
the case of
my
Jankee Sewuk.
this festival the
do
little
They
Dhunuk
and that Junuk Raj, the father of Seeta, had
in his possession the
Dhunuck, or immortal bow of
Pursoram, the sixth incarnation of Vishnoo, with
which he exterminated
all
the Kshatryas, or original
military class of India, and which required no less
VOL.
I.
Q,
226
men
than four thousand
The
to
raise
on one end.*
it
prince offered his daughter in marriage to any
man who
Hundreds of heroes
should bend this bow.
and demigods aspired
to the
hand of the
and essayed to bend the bow
but
all
fair Seeta,
in vain,
till
young Ram, the seventh incarnation of Vishnoo, then
came
a lad of only ten years of age,

of his great toe the
bow
popular
all
Seeta became the wife of
poem
of the
at the
touch
flew into a thousand pieces,
which are supposed to have been
heaven
and
Ramaen
taken up into
Ram
and the
describes the abduction
Rawun
of the heroine by the monster king of Ceylon,
and her recovery by means of the monkey General
Hunnooman.
assured
me
Every word of
was written,
Deity himself, at
least
the same thing, and

*
The
tradition
is,
it
if
by
this
his inspiration,
Vishnoo,
that a prince of this military class was sport-
and his father
He
prince,
when Renuka,
He
was no
He
offended her, and
less a
her
His
person than the sixth incarnation of

the
human shape merely
to destroy
vowed, now that his mother had been insulted
killed,
destroyed them
the wife of
but was put to death by him.
who had assumed
these tyrants.
which was
must, consequently, be true.f
Jamadagni, went to bring water.
son, Pursoram,
the people
not by the hand of the
ing in a river with his thousand wives,
husband cursed the
poem
not to leave one on the face of the earth.
all
twenty-one times, the
women with
child
producing a new race each time.
f When
Ram
set
out with his
posed to have worshipped the
army
but
he
is
tree called Cheonkul,
little
stood near his capital of Ajoodheea.
between a shrub and a tree
for Ceylon,
It is a
I
wretched
little
sup-
which
thing,
have seen a procession of
227
HINDOO CREDULITY.
Ninety-nine out of a hundred,
among the Hindoos,
implicitly believe, not only every
but every word of every
replies with the greatest naivete
in the world,
" Is
how
be there written
Hindoo
it
man whether he
any very egregious absurdity quoted
from these books, he
should
poem,
this
that has ever been
If you ask a
written in Sanscrit.
really believes
poem
word of
it
not written in the book
religion reposes
if
not true
and
The
?"
upon an entire prostration
of mind, that continual and habitual surrender of
the reasoning faculties, which

to
make
occasionally, while
we are accustomed
engaged at the theatre,
We
or in the perusal of works of fiction.

scenes, characters,
allow the
and incidents to pass before
"
our
move our feelings, without asking,

moment to ask, whether they are real
mind's eye? and

or stopping a
or
There
true.
is
only this difference, that with
among
us,
even in such short
intervals of illusion or abandon,
any extravagance in
people of education
the acting, or flagrant improbability in the
fiction,
destroys the charm, breaks the spell by which
we
have been so mysteriously bound, stops the smooth

current of sympathetic emotion, and restores us to
reason and to the realities of ordinary
life.
With
the Hindoos, on the contrary, the greater the impro-
the more monstrous and preposterous the
bability,
fiction,
the greater
is
the charm
more than seventy thousand persons attend

worship of
it
on the
festival
it
has over their
their prince to the
of the Dusebra, which
is
celebration of this expedition to Ceylon.

ft
held in
228
minds and the greater their learning in the Sanscrit

;
the more are they under the influence of this charm.
Believing
inspirations,
to have
be written by the Deity, or by his
all to
and the
been very
men and
different
things of former days
from the
men and
things
of the present day, and the heroes of these fables to
have been demi-gods, or people endowed with powers

far
superior to those of the ordinary
own day, the analogies of

moment considered nor do
;
men
of their
nature are never for a

questions of probability,
or possibility, according to those analogies, ever ob-
trude to dispel the charm with which they are so
They go on through
pleasingly bound.
and talking of these monstrous
fictions,
life
reading
which shock
the taste and understanding of other nations, without
once questioning the truth of one single incident, or

hearing
it
when
not very distant,
and
am
in every other
some
afraid,
are concerned,
is
was the same
in England,
European nation and there

;
faith,
Europe where
so far as
it is
are, I
so
still.
religious questions
not more capacious or absurd than
that of the Greeks
and Cicero
among the Hindoos

tions
it
parts of
But the Hindoo
Socrates
There was a time, and that
questioned.
and Romans
the
in the
only difference
a greater
number
days of
is,
that
of the ques-
which interest mankind are brought under the
head of
religion.
There
is
nothing in the Hindoos more absurd than
the piety of Tiberius in offering up sacrifices in the
temple, and before the image of Augustus, while he
229
THE LAKE.
was
solicited
suffer
by
temples to be built and
himself while
to
the great cities of the empire, to
all
make
he might
still
living
be made to
or than Alexander's attempt
a goddess of his mother, while yet alive, that

feel
the more secure of being made a god him-
In
self after his death.
at
sacrifices to
all religions
there are points
which the professors declare that reason must
and cease to be a guide to

thinks, that all
The
superstitions
own
religion,
and good works of history and
I think,
make
man
re-
must be above
of the people of India will
diminish before the spread of science,

rature
pious
which he cannot comprehend or
concile to reason in his

it.
The
faith.
stop,
far greater
arts,
and
lite-
fiction would,
havoc among these super-
even than good works in any of the sciences,
stitions
save the physical, such as astronomy, chemistry, &c.
In the evening we went out with the intention of
making an excursion on the

been prepared
for
in boats that
lake,
had
our reception, by tying three or
four fishing canoes together; but on reaching the
ridge of quartz
side,
we
hills,
preferred
ing the boats.
which runs along the south-east
moving along
its
The prospect on
ridge was truly beautiful.
and on our
wheat
cultivation,
left
to enter-
either side of this
noble sheet of clear
water, about four miles long by

right,
summit
two broad, on our
a no less noble sheet of rich
irrigated
from the lake by drains
passing between small breaks in the ridges of the

hills.
The Persian wheel
is
This sheet of rich cultivation
used to raise the water.

is
beautifully studded
230
with mango groves and

lake
almost double the size of that of Saugor, and
is
the idea of
made
tion,
my
great utility for purposes of irriga-
its
appear to
it
in our walk, said, " that
and a
it
me
more
far
had not a
fine
it
said I,
and
fine city
"
but
us
could not be so handsome,

castle
government house on the
" But,"
beautiful
who accompanied
little
since
The
fields of sugar-cane.
no man's
on two
sides,
third."
field
is
watered from
that lake!"
man
" No," replied he, " but for every
of the waters of
that
'
from that lake
thirty
is
called Kewlus, after
Chundelee prince by
palace,
now
thousand people get
!"
aram? (comfort) every day

This lake
drink of the waters of
fifty
this,
whom
it
Kewal Brim,
on the top of the ridge of
in ruins, stood
mit, about eight miles to the west,
larger lake,
called the
From the sumwe could see a
Nundunwara Lake,
tending under a similar range of quartz
hills
ning parallel with that on which we stood.

lake,
we were
scale the
ex-
run-
That
answered upon a much larger
same admirable purpose of supplying water
for the fields,

ful
told,
the
His
was formed.
rocks in a very beautiful situation.
still
that drinks
and securing the people from the dread-
effects of droughts.
The extensive
level plains
through which the rivers of central India generally
way have,
immense natural
cut their
for the
most
part,
been the beds
of
lakes
and these
rivers sink so
deep into these beds, and leave such ghastly chasms
231
GRACEFUL CUSTOM.
and ravines on either side, that their waters are hardly

ever available in due season for irrigation.
It
characteristic of the rivers of central India that
is
this
makes
such lakes so valuable to the people, particularly in
The
seasons of drought.
known
to rise seventy feet, in the course of a couple
of days, in the rains

its
Nerbudda has been
river
and during the season, when
waters are wanted for irrigation, they can no
where be found within that of the surface; while a

level piece of
ground
fit
for irrigation
is
rarely to be
met with within a mile of the stream.

The people appeared to improve as we advanced
farther into Bundelcund in appearance, manners, and
intelligence.
There
Bondelas, which at
is
first
a bold
one
is
bearing about the
apt to take for rude-
ness or impudence, but which in time he finds not to
be
The employes
so.
attentive, frank,
no longer
budda
of the Raja were everywhere
and polite and the peasantry seemed

;
inferior
to those of our
Saugor and Ner-
The females of almost all the

through which we passed came out with
territories.
villages
their kullus in procession to
meet us
one
of the
most affecting marks of respect from the peasantry

to their rulers or their superiors that I
woman
carries
while
all
of the village crowd around her,

rural song, that
lasts
the other families
and sing in chorus
from the time the re-
spected visitor comes in sight,
He
One
on her head a brass jug, brightly
polished, full of water
some
know.
till
usually puts into the kullus a
he disappears.
rupee, to pur-
232
chase goor, (coarse sugar,) of which

partake, as a sacred offering
member
parts of
all
all
the
men
it
all
that I have seen
over India,
;
and yet I
have witnessed a governor-general of India with

passing by this interesting group without
ing or asking what
my
quietly put
it
all his
knowand
I lingered behind,
was.
it
stand aloof in re-
This custom prevails
spectful silence.
suite,
No
to the sex.
of the other sex presumes to partake of
and during the chorus

or over
made
the females
all
into the jug as if from the
silver
Governor-general.
The man who administers the government over

these seven villages in
and
fiscal,
branches
all its
receives a salary
rupees a year
He
part of government
collects
;
and,
civil,
of only
criminal,
two hundred
the revenues on the
with
the assistance
the heads and the elders of the villages, adjusts

petty matters of dispute
and criminal.
ter are sent
Rajah and
among
of
all
the people, both civil
Disputes of a more serious characto
his
be adjusted at the capital by the

ministers.
The person who
over the seven villages of the lake,
is
reigns
about thirty
years of age, of the Rajpoot caste, and I think one of
the finest young

tors
men
His ances-
I have ever seen.
have served the Orclia state in the same station
for seven generations
his posterity will serve
me, that he hopes
and he
tells
them
for as
many
more, pro-
vided they do not forfeit their claims to do so by

their
infidelity
or
seemed to have the
incapacity.
This
young
man
respect and the affection of every
LAW OF PRIMOGENITURE.
member
of the
through which
little
we
233
communities of the villages
passed
and
it
he deserved their attachment.
was evident, that
I have rarely seen
any similar signs of attachment to one of our own

native officers.
This arises chiefly from the circum-
stance of their being less frequently placed in autho-
among
rity
those upon whose
good
and
feelings
opinions their welfare and comfort, or those of their
In India,
children, are likely 'permanently to depend.
under native
rule, office
became
expended the whole of
officers
because
hereditary,
their
incomes in
reli-
gious ceremonies, or works of ornament and utility,
and
left their families
hopeless dependence upon
in
chief in whose service they had laboured
the
their lives, while they
all
had been educating their sons
exclusively with the view to their serving that chief

in the
same capacity that
him before them.
It
is
their
in this case
that the law of primogeniture
Among Mahomedans,
and personal,
real
dren
is
fathers
is
and
had served
alone
this
in force in India.
as well as Hindoos, all property,
divided equally
but the duties of an
and
among
office will
the chil-
not admit of
when
the same subdivision
ditary, as it often
descends to the eldest son with
is,
this therefore
here-
the obligation of providing for the rest of the family.
The family
consists of all the
members who remain
united to the parent stock, including the widows and
orphans of the sons or brothers
who were
so
up
to
the time of their death.*

*
But
it is
only the smaller
local, ministerial officers
who
secure in their tenure of office under native governments
are
those
234
The
with us from the Rajah, gets fifteen
and
who came
rupees a month
old Chobdar, or silver-stick bearer,
ancestors have served the Rajah for several
his
The Deewan who has charge
generations.
of the
treasury receives only one thousand rupees a year, and
who seems
the Bakshee, or paymaster of the army,

at present to rule the state as the
These
the same.
dare
and though they are no doubt
handsome incomes by
make any
not
two
latter are at present the only
great officers of state

realizing
prime favourite,
display
might induce the Rajah or
indirect means, they
lest
signs
of wealth
his successors
to
treat
them as their predecessors in office were treated for

some time past. The Jageerdars, or feudal chiefs,
as I have before stated, are almost all of the same
family or clan as the Rajah
and they spend
all
the
revenues of their estates in the maintenance of military retainers,
upon whose courage and
can generally
rely.
attend
the
all
great occasions,
and
at
and are made to contribute some-
Almost
thing to his exchequer in tribute.
beyond
they
These Jageerdars are bound to
prince on
certain intervals
fidelity
their legitimate
deficiency by maintaining
make up
means, and
upon
all live
the
their estates gangs
of thieves, robbers, and murderers,
who extend
their
depredations into the countries around; and share

on whose
The
efficiency the well-being of village
communities depends.
greatest evils of governments of the kind
security in such tenures which pervades
government
and the
government with them
instability of all
;
all
is
the feeling of in-
the higher officers of
engagements made by the
and by them with the people.
235
CHARACTERISTIC INCIDENT.
the
prey with these chiefs and their
They keep them
under-tenants.
their dogs;
officers,
as poachers
and
keep
and the paramount power, whose subjects
they plunder, might as well ask them for the best

horse in the stable as for the best thief that lives
under their protection
!*
I should mention an incident that occurred during

the Rajah's
visit
Thomas was
sitting
me
to
Lieutenant
Tehree.
at
next to the
little
Sureemunt, and
during the interview he asked him to allow him to

look at his beautiful
Sureemunt held
little
gold-hilted sword.
The
and told him, that he should
it fast,
do himself the honour of waiting upon him in his

tent in the course of the day,
him the sword, and

Rajah
felt
left
him
After the
its history.
me, Thomas mentioned
much
very
tell
when he would show

this,
and
hurt at the incivility of
said
my
he
little
friend; but I told him, that he was in everything
he did and said so perfectly the gentleman, that
w ould
I felt quite sure he
explain
all
to his satis-
when he called upon him. During his visit

Thomas he apologized for not having given over
faction
to
his
sword to him, and
men have
said, "
You European
gentle-
such perfect confidence in each other, that
* In the Gualior territory, the Mahratta arnils, or governors

of districts, do the same, and keep gangs of robbers on purpose to
plunder their neighbours

they will actually
tell
and
if
you ask them
for their thieves,
you, that to part with them
would be
ruin, as they are their only defence against the thieves of their
neighbours
236
you can
at all times,
and
in all situations, venture to
matters, and draw
gratify your curiosity in these
your swords in a crowd just as well as when alone
but had you drawn mine from the scabbard in such

a situation, with the tent full
of the Rajah's per-
sonal attendants, and surrounded by a devoted and
not very orderly soldiery,
it
might have been
at-
Any man
out-
tended by very serious consequences.
might have seen the blade gleaming
side
serving distinctly
suspected
treachery,
when we should
child,
why
and
all
it
had been drawn, might have
and called out
Thomas was not
rescue,
the
to
have been cut down
all
!"
and not ob-
the lady,
only satisfied with
the Sureemunt's apology, but was so
much
delighted
with him, that he has ever since been longing to

get his portrait
for
he says
it
was
tention to draw the sword had the

it
him
to
beautiful
and
his
As
really his
Sureemunt given
I have said, his face
model
quite a
is
extremely
for a painter or a statuary
though
figure,
in-
small,
is
handsome.
He
dresses with great elegance, mostly in azure-coloured

satin,
surmounted by a rose-coloured turban, and a
waistband of the same colour.

graceful,
and
manners have an exquisite
his
greater master of
seen
though he
is
said, in stature less
all
polish.
the convenances I have never
of slender capacity, and as I have
than five feet high.
poor half naked man, reduced to beggary by the
late famine,
road
All his motions are
ran along by
my
horse to show
and to the great amusement of
my
me
the
attendants
THE PATRIOT BEGGAR.

exclaimed, " That he
down a
falling
well,"
He
in cold water.
exactly as
felt
meaning
"
said,
to a poor
but,
he were always
he were immersed
That the cold season was
who could
suited only to gentlemen
clothed
if
if
237
man
man ;* and
He told
"
me,
the
That the
that his good sense, and above
good fortune,
(Ikbal,)
but that
better."
least,
though a harsh was thought to be a just
late Rajah,
entire
much
and the
like himself,
great mass of people, in Bundelcuncl at
hot season was
be well
afford to
his
all
had -preserved the principality
God
only,
and the forbearance of
the honourable company, could
now
save
it
under
He seemed
such an imbecile as the present chief."
quite melancholy at the thought of living to see this

principality, the oldest in
pendence.
Even
Bundelcund, lose
this poor, unclothed,
wretch had a feeling of patriotism

try,
its
inde-
and starving
a pride of coun-
though that country had been so wretchedly
governed, and was
now desolated by
a famine.
Just such a feeling had the impressed seaman
No
fought our battles in the great struggle.
who
nation has
ever had a more disgraceful institution than that of the

press-gang of England.
be
called,
This institution,
must be an eternal
stain
if so it
can
upon her glory
posterity will never be able to read the history of
her naval victories without a blush

*
My
poor guide had as
ministers,
whom
of England
Eighth
little
without reproach-
of sympathy with the prime
the Tehree Rajah put to death, as the peasantry
had with the great men and women
sacrificed.
whom Harry
the
238
RAMBLES AND RECOLLECTIONS
ing the lawgivers
who
could allow
them
men as
those
chased with the blood of such
man
to
for her
fought
"
Eng;"
do his duty on that day
but had England done her duty to every
on that day to fight
who
and Trafalgar.
for us the battles of the Nile
land expected every
to be pur-
man who w as
T
was not every English
gentleman of the lords and commons a David sending his Uriah to battle
The
seamen
intellectual stock
for
which we require in good
our navy, and which
is
acquired in scenes
of peril " upon the high and giddy mast,"
which other
their property as that
schools and colleges

seize
common, uninstructed
barristers,
acquire in
in our battles
seamen covering the yards
we
clergy-
When
I have stood
in a storm,
and seen the
and physicians.
on the quarter-deck of a ship
many
to
upon
labour, than
should have had to seize and employ as
men,
much
as
and we had no more right
and employ these seamen
the wages of
men
is
in taking in
sail,
with the
thunder rolling and the lightning flashing fearfully
around them the sea covered with foam, and each

succeeding billow, as
sweep them
less abyss
all
from the
below
like these to
it
rushed by, seeming ready to

frail
footing into the fathom-
I have asked myself,
be seized like
common
"
Are men
felons
torn
from their wives and children, as soon as they reach

their native land
and put
subjected
every day to the
in front of those battles
the honour,
lash,
on which the wealth,
and the independence of the nation
depend, merely because British legislators know, that
239
RAJPOOT LANDHOLDERS.
when there, a regard for their own personal character

among their companions in danger, will make them
Englishmen
fight like
which exists
arises
in
the
This feeling of nationality
!"
little
states of
from the circumstance, that the mass of the
Bondelas
same
the
are of
land-holders
clan
as
the chief
and that the public establishments of the
state are recruited almost exclusively
The
Bundelcund,
states of
from that mass.
Thausee and Jalone are the only ex-
There the rulers are Brahmans and not
ceptions.
Rajpoots, and they recruit their public establishments
from
all classes,
and
all
The landed
countries.
tocracy, however, there as elsewhere,
aris-
are Rajpoots,
either Powars, Chundeles, or Bondelas.
The Rajpoot landholders
of Bundelcund are linked
to the soil in all their grades
from the prince to the
peasant, as the Highlanders of Scotland
long ago
were not
and the holder of a hundred acres
proud as the holder of a million.
He
is
as
boasts the
same descent, and the same exclusive possession of

arms and agriculture, to which unhappily the industry of their little territories
fined,
for
is
almost exclusively con-
no other branch can grow up among so
whose quarrels with their
turbulent a
set,
among each
other are constantly involving
civil wars,
which render
ingly insecure.
life
chiefs or
them
in
and property exceed-
Besides, as I have stated, their pro-
pensity to keep bands of thieves,
robbers, and
derers in their baronial castles,
as
their dogs, has scared
mur-
poachers keep
away the wealthy and
respect-
240
able capitalist, and peaceful and industrious
manu-
facturer.
All the landholders are uneducated, and unfit to

serve in any of our civil establishments, or in those of
any very
civilized
unfitted
to
where
governments
serve
in
strict discipline
and they are just as
our military establishments,

is
The
required.
lands they
occupy are cultivated because they depend almost

entirely
upon the rents they get from them

and because every petty chief
sistence;
for sub-
and
his
family hold their lands rent free, or at a trifling quitrent on the tenure of military service, and their resi-
due forms
all
the market for land produce which the
They dread the
cultivators require.
rule
to
our government,
almost exclusively
domestic
chief,
all
transfer of the
because they
the establishments of their
as well as military,
civil
now form
and know,
that were our rule to be substituted they would be
almost entirely excluded from these, at least for a
In our regiments, horse or
generation or two.
there
is
hardly a
man from
reasons above stated
regiments
Bunclelcund for the
nor are there any in the Gualior
and contingents, which are stationed
the neighbourhood, though the land
become minutely
subdivided,
among them
seek service or starve.
They
for
manual
the plough.
labour, even at
delcund Rajpoot
hand
will,
in
is
and they are obliged
to
his
foot,
are
all
too proud
No Bun-
I believe, condescend to put
to one.
Among
the Mahratta states,
Seiks and
Mahome-
OPINIONS OF THE PEOPLE.

dans there
is
no bond of union of
establishments, military as well as
where among them composed

foreigners
241
civil,
for the
The
kind.
this
are every-
most part of
under such
and the landed interests
governments would dread nothing from the prospect

of a transfer to our rule
on the contrary, they and
the mass of the people would almost everywhere

hail it as a blessing.
There are two reasons why we should leave these

small native states under
their
when
the claim to the succession
tive;
first,
because
it
own
is
chiefs,
even
feeble or defec-
tends to relieve the minds of
other native chiefs from the apprehension, already
among them, that we desire by degrees

to absorb them all, because we think our government would do better for the people and secondly,
because, by leaving them as a contrast, we afford to
too prevalent
the people of India the opportunity of observing the

superior advantages of our rule.
" 'Tis distance lends
governments
enchantment to the view"
as well as
in landscapes;
and
if
in
the
people of India, instead of the living proofs of what

perilous things native governments, whether
or
Mahomedan,
Hindoo
are in reality, were acquainted with
nothing but such pictures of them as are to be found

in their histories and in the imaginations of their priests
and learned men, (who
lose
and importance under our
much
rule,)
of their influence
they would certainly,
with proneness like theirs to delight in the marvellous,
be
far
from
VOL.
I.
satisfied, as
they
now are,
that they never
242
had a government
so
good
as ours,
and that they never
could hope for another so good were ours removed.
For the advantages which we derive from leaving
them independent, we
are,
no doubt, obliged
to
pay
a heavy penalty in the plunder of our wealthy native

subjects by the gangs of robbers of
whom
they foster; but
this
evil
all
descriptions
may be
greatly
diminished by a judicious interposition of our authority to
put down such bands.
In Bundelcund, at present, the government and

the lands of the native chiefs are in the hands of
three
of the
Hindoo
Dhundelas, and Powars.

the
first,
two.
principal chiefs are of

chiefly of the other
Bundela cannot marry the daughter of a

;
he must take
the other two tribes
two take
The
Bundelas,
classes,
and their feudatories are
Bundela
military
his wife
from one or other of
his wife
member of the other

own tribe, he must take
nor can a
from
his
her from the Bundelas, or the other
tribe.
The
wives of the greatest chiefs are commonly from the

poorest families of their vassals
nor does the proud
family from which he has been taken feel itself exalted by the alliance
among the Powars
neither does the poorest vassal
and Dhundels
feel
that
the
daughter of his prince has condescended in becoming

his
wife.
All they expect
is
a service for a few
more yeomen of the family among the
retainers of
the sovereign.
The people
are in this manner, from the prince to
the peasant, indissolubly linked to each other, and to
243
NATIVE MILITIA.
the
soil
they occupy
for
where industry
is
confined
almost exclusively to agriculture, the proprietors of

the
soil
and the
tained out of
officers of
rents,
its
government who are main-
constitute nearly the whole
About one-half
of the middle and higher classes.

of the
lands
of every
held on service-
state are
tenure by vassals of the same family or clan as the

chief;
and there
who is not
The revenue
hardly one of them
is
connected with that chief by marriage.

derived from the other half
is
spent in the main-
tenance of establishments formed almost exclusively
members of these families.

They are none of them educated
of the
under any other

or
rule,
two be induced
to
for civil offices
nor could they for a generation
submit to wear military uni-
They
form, or learn the drill of regular soldiers.

are
mere
militia,
brave as
tible of discipline.
men
They
can be, but unsuscep-
have, therefore, a
natural
horror at the thought of their states coming under
any other than a domestic
for they
would have
in the civil
or military
rate,
no chance of employment
establishments of a foreign power
would, they
fear,
and their lands
be resumed, since the service for
which they had been given would be no longer

available to the
new
rulers.
long interval from the
It
is
said, that in
commencement of the
the
reign
of Alexander the Third to the end of that of David
the Second, not a single baron could be found in
Scotland able to sign his
cund barons have never, I
own name.
believe,
The Bundel-
been quite so bad
r 2
244

though they have never yet learned enough
as this,
to
fit
them
for civil offices
can write and read their
common
under
own
Many
us.
of
language, which
to the other countries
is
them
that
around them.
Bundelcund was formerly possessed by another

tribe of Rajpoots,
now
who have
the proud Chundales,
disappeared altogether from this province. If one
of that tribe can
still
be found,
it is
rank of the peasant or the soldier

strength
in the
but
humblest
its
former
indicated by the magnificent artificial
is
them
lakes and ruined castles which are traced to
and by the reverence which

dominant
classes of their
is still felt
by the present
old capital
of Mahoba.
Within a certain distance around that rained
now
one
used in
old
city
dares to beat the nagara, or great
no
drum
festivals or processions, lest the spirits of the
Chundale
roused
to
who
chiefs,
vengeance
there repose, should be
and a kingdom could not
tempt one of the Bundelas, Powars, or Chundales,

accept the government of the parish in which
situated.
They
will
take subordinate
under others with fear and trembling

could induce one of them
to
offices
to
it is
there
but nothing-
meet the governor.
When
the deadly struggle between these tribes took
place
cannot
now be
discovered.
In the time of
Akbar, the Chundales were powerful in Mahoba, as

the celebrated Dhurghoutee, the queen of Gurhee
Mundula, whose reign extended over the Saugor and
Nerbudda
territories
and the greater part of Berar,
was a daughter of the reigning Chundale prince of
245
ROYAL HEROINE.
Mahoba.
He
condescended to give his daughter
Gond
only on condition that the
who decome with
prince
manded her should, to save his character,

an army of fifty thousand men to take her.
He
did
Dhurghoutee departed to
reign over a country where her name is now more
and "nothing
so,
loth,"
revered than that of any other sovereign
She was
had.
it
has ever
above two-hundred and
killed
fifty
years ago, about twelve miles from Jubbulpore while

gallantly leading on her troops in their third
last
attempt to stem the torrent of
Her tomb
vasion.
fell,
in a
narrow
is
defile
still
and
Mahomedan
in-
be seen where she
to
between two
hills
and a pair
of large rounded stones which stand near, are, accord-
ing to popular belief, her royal drums turned into

stone, which, in the
deed of the night, are
still
resounding through the woods, and calling the
heard
spirits
of her warriors from their thousand graves around her.
The
who
travellers
fully place
pass this solitary spot, respect-
upon the tomb the
prettiest
specimen
they can find of the crystals which abound in the
neighbourhood
and with so much of kindly feelings
had the history of Dhurghoutee inspired me, that I

could not resist the temptation of adding one to the
number when
I visited her
tomb some
sixteen years
ago.
I should mention that the Rajah of Sumpter, in
Bundelcund,
is
by caste a Gojur
any landed aristocracy

him.
One
of his
and he has not yet
like that of the
ancestors,
not
Bundelas about
long ago, seized
246
upon a
fine
open
plain,
and
means
the family has ever since, by
chiefs
are
and
drawn part of
from depredations upon their neigh-
their revenues
and
it
of this fort, kept
possession of the country around, and
bours
upon
built a fort
The Jhausee and Jhalone
travellers.
Brahmans of the same family
the
as
Peshwa.
In the
governed by chiefs of the military
states
nearly the whole produce of the land goes to
classes,
maintain
soldiers, or military retainers,
ready to fight
who
are always
In those
rob for their chief.
or
governed by chiefs of the Brahmanical
class,
the whole produce goes to maintain priests
nearly
and the
other chiefs would soon devour them, as the black

ants
were not the paramount
devour the white,
power
to
Peshwa
interpose
and
lived he interposed
While the
them.
save
but
dominions
all his
were running into priesthood, like those in Saugor
and Bundelcund
and must soon have been swal-
lowed up by the military

not taken his place.
chiefs
Jhalone and Jhausee are pre-
served only by us, for with
them
impossible for
establishments
to
all
sliced
Peshwa was
all
in
their religions
maintain
them
efficient
chiefs
it
is
military
have always
up, since these states
out of their principalities
when
the
powerful in Hindoostan.
The Chutturpore
had been
all
and the Bundela
a strong desire to eat
were
around him had we
rajah
is
a Powar.
His father
the service of the Bundela rajah
when we entered upon our
duties as the
but
paramount
CHUTTURPORE RAJAH.
power
in
247
Bundelcund, the son had succeeded to the
little principality
seized
upon by
his father
and on
the principle of respecting actual possession, he was
recognized by us as the sovereign.
The Bundela
Rajahs, east of the Dussan river, are descended from
Rajah Chuttursaul, and are looked down upon by the
Bundela Rajahs of Orcha, Chunderee, and Duttua,

west of the Dussan, as Chuttursaul was in the service of one of their ancestors, from
the estates which his descendants

tursaul, in his will,
whom
now
he wrested
enjoy.
Chut-
gave one-third of the dominion
he had thus acquired, to the strongest power then

in
India,
the Peshwa, in order to secure the other
two-thirds to his
in the
two
same manner
sons,
Hirdee Sa and Jugut Raj,
as princes of the
Roman
empire
used to bequeath a portion of theirs to the emperor.
Of the Peshwa's share we have now got all except

J h alone. Thause was subsequently acquired by the
Peshwa; or rather by
sanction and assistance.
his
subordinates
with his
248
CHAPTER XXVII.
BLIGHTS.
had
from
visit
my little friend
the Sureemunt,
and the conversation turned upon the causes and

effects
of the dreadful blight to which the wheat-
crops in the Nerbudda districts had of late years
He
been subject.
said that " the people at
first at-
tributed this great calamity to an increase in the
crime of adultery which had followed the introduc"
tion of our rule, and which," he said,
stood to follow
it
everywhere
by most people attributed
ment of the
land,
that afterwards
to estimate their capabilities to pay

incest,
Deity, can never tolerate.
fields,
the great parent
which the people
and which he himself, the
The land is,"
maintains him
his
from
was
with a view
said he, "consi-
dered as the mother of the prince or chief

it
it
to our frequent measure-
and inspection of
considered a kind of
was under-
whom he
who
holds
derives all that
family and his establishments.
If well treated she yields this in abundance to her
son
but
eye of
sends
if
he presumes to look upon her with the
desire,
down
she ceases to be fruitful

hail
or blight
to
destroy
or the Deity
all
that she
249
BLIGHTS.
yields
The measuring the
and
surface of the fields,
the frequently inspecting the crops by the chief himor by his immediate agents, were considered by
self,
the people in this light
and in consequence he never
ventured upon those things. They were," he thought,

" fully satisfied that
we
more with a view to

the burthen of taxation equally upon the
distribute
did
than to increase
people
thought, " that either
we
it
it
collectively
should not do
it
still,"
he
at
or
all,
delegate the duty to inferior agents, whose close inspection of the great parent could not be so displeas-
ing to the Deity." *
Ram Chund
Pundit
" that
said,
was no
there
doubt much truth in what Sureemunt Sahib had

stated
that the crops of late had unquestionably
suffered from the constant measuring going on
the lands
in attributing the calamities of
under which these
fering so
much, to the
Sureemunt
right,
had been
districts
eating of beef-
thought, " the great source of
was
now
but that the people, as he knew, had
become unanimous
season,
upon
all
suf-
this was,"
their sufferings
he
!"
declared, " that he thought his Pundit
and that
it
would, no doubt, be of great
advantage to them and to their rulers
if
government
could be prevailed upon to prohibit the eating of
that so great
beef
and so general were the
suffer-
ings of the people from these calamities of seasons,

*
We
are
told
in
2 Samuel, chap,
was displeased at a census of the people,
xxiv.,
that
the
Deity
taken by Joab by the
order of David, and destroyed of the people of Israel seventy
thousand, besides
women and
children.
250
and so
and now so general the opinion, that
firm,
they arose chiefly from the practice of killing and

eating cows, that in spite of
blessings of our rule,
all
the other superior
the people were almost be-
ginning to wish their old Mahratta rulers in power

again."
I reminded
him of the
still
greater calamities
the people of Bundelcund had been suffering under.

" True,"
said he,
" but
among them
there
are
crimes enough of every day occurrence to account for

these things
but under your rule the Deity has only
one or other of these three things to be offended with
and of these three
it
must be admitted, that the
eat-
ing of beef so near the sacred stream of the Ner-
budda
is
The
the worst
blight of
veral seasons,
!"
which we were speaking had
for se-
from the year 1829, destroyed the
greater part of the wheat-crops over extensive districts
along the line of the Nerbudda, and through
Malwa
generally
recollected
and old people
two returns of
of from twenty to
that they
stated,
this calamity,
twenty-four years.
at intervals
The
pores
with which the stalks are abundantly supplied to ad-
mit of their readily taking up the aqueous particles

that float in the
easterly
air,
wind than
prevails at the
seem
in
to be
any other
same time that the
more open in an
and when this wind
air is filled
farina of the small parasitic fungus,
tions
with the
whose depreda-
on the corn constitute what they
call
the rust,
mildew, or blight, the particles penetrate into these

pores, speedily sprout
and spread their small roots
251
BLIGHTS.
where they intercept and
into the cellular texture,
feed on the sap in
deprived of
ear,
its
its
is
and the grain
in the
nourishment, becomes shrivelled,
and the whole crop

It
ascent
is
often not worth the reaping.
at first of a light, beautiful orange colour,
found chiefly upon the ulsee,
much
not seem
to injure
(linseed,)
which
it
and
does
but about the end of Fe-
bruary the fungi ripen, and shed their seeds rapidly
and they are taken up by the wind, and carried over

I have sometimes seen the air tinted
the corn-fields.
of an orange-colour for
these seeds which
it
many
days by the quantity of
has contained
the wheat-crops suffering at

easterly
wind has prevailed
charged with
this farina, let
for twenty-four hours,

its
and
influence are destroyed
The
stalks
colour,
and that without
when any but an

but when the air is so
all,
but an easterly wind blow

all
the wheat-crops under
nothing
and leaves become
first
can save them
of an orange-
from the light colour of the farina which ad-
heres to
them
but this changes to deep brown.
All
exposed seems as
if it
that part of the stalk that
is
had been pricked with needles, and had exuded

blood from every puncture
and the grain in the ear
withers in proportion to the

intercept and feed
upon
stalk that are covered
uninjured
its
number of
sap
fungi that
but the parts of the
by the leaves remain entirely
and when the leaves are drawn
off
from
them, they form a beautiful contrast to the others,
which have been exposed to the depredations of these

parasitic plants.
Every
pore,
it is said,
may
contain from twenty to
252
forty of these plants,
and each plant may shed a hun-
dred seeds, so that a single shrub, infected with the
may
disease,
district
wheat
disseminate
over the face of a whole
warm month
for in the
it
when the
of March,
attaining maturity, these plants ripen and
is
shed their seeds in a week
and, consequently, in-
crease with enormous rapidity,
when they
find plants
with their pores open ready to receive and nourish
them.
I went over a rich sheet of wheat cultivation
in the district of Jubbulpore, in January, 1836,
me
appeared to
It
which
devoted to inevitable destruction.
was intersected by
slips
and
fields of ulsee,
which
the cultivators often sow along the borders of their

wheat-fields,
which are exposed to the road, to preAll this ulsee had become of a beau-
vent trespass.
orange colour from these fungi
tiful light
who had had every
cultivators,
field
destroyed the
year before by the same plant, surrounded
medy.
knew
me
imploring
in despair,
of none
to tell
and the
my
tent
them of some
but as the ulsee
is
re-
not a
very valuable plant, I recommended them, as their

only chance, to pull
it
it all
into large tanks that
They
the
did
like
for,
roots,
field
my
of wheat
drowning
men
suggestion seemed to
w as
of Jubbulpore;
fling
intentionally left in
catching at a
straw, they caught everywhere at the little
hope that
and
were everywhere to be found.
and no ulsee was
so,
district,
up by the
offer.
gleam of
Not a
that season injured in the district
but I was soon
satisfied
that
my
suggestion had had nothing whatever to do with their

escape, for not a
single stalk of the
wheat was, I
253
BLIGHTS.
believe, affected
ulsee
while some stalks of the affected
must have been
left
by accident.
Besides, in
several of the adjoining districts, where the ulsee re-
mained
in the ground, the
that about the time
when
I found
wheat escaped.
the blight usually attacks
the wheat, westerly winds
and that
prevailed,
it
never blew from the east for
many
The common
natives was, that the
belief
among the
hours together.
prevalence of an east wind was necessary to give

effect to the attack of this disease,
of
them pretended
operandi
indeed
to
though they none
know anything
of
modus
its
they considered the blight to be a
demon, which was to be driven
and
full
off only
by prayers
sacrifices.
It
is
worthy of remark, that hardly anything suffered
from the attacks of these fungi but the wheat.

ulsee
upon which
it
always
first
made
suffered something certainly, but not
its
in this plant
still
less
appearance,
much, though the
The
grain
indeed the
grain
stems and leaves were covered with them.

(cicer arietinum) suffered
The
often remained uninjured,
while the
stems and leaves were covered with the fungi, in

the midst of fields of wheat that were entirely destroyed by ravages of the same kind.
other pulses were injured, though
same manner
None
situated in the
in the midst of the fields of
were destroyed.
of the
wheat that
I have seen rich fields of uninter-
rupted wheat cultivation for twenty miles by ten, in

the valley of the Nerbudda, so entirely destroyed by
this disease, that
the people would not go to the
trouble of gathering one field in four, for the stalks
254
and the leaves were so much injured that they were

considered as unfit or unsafe for fodder
the same season
districts
its
ravages were equally
and during
felt in
the
along the table lands of the Vindhya range
north of the valley, and I believe those upon the
Sathpore range, south.

blight
was
where
its
in
The
last
March, 1832, in the Saugor
district,
ravages were very great, but partial
I kept bundles of the blighted
my
time I saw this
and
wheat hanging up in
house, for the inspection of the curious,
the
till
beginning of 1835.
When
I assumed charge of the district of Saugor,
the opinion
in 1831,
among the
farmers and land-
holders generally was, that the calamities of season
under which they had been suffering were attributable to the increase of adultery, arising, as they thought,
from our indifference, as we seemed to treat

matter of
little
importance
been considered,
whereas
it
it
as a
had always
under former governments, as a
The husband
case of
life
and
waited
till
they caught the offending parties toge-
death.
or his friends
ther in criminal correspondence, and then put
both to death
and the death of one pair generally
acted, they thought, as a kind of sedative

evil passions
them
upon the
of a whole district for a year or two.
Nothing can be more unsatisfactory than our laws

the punishment of adultery in India, where the
homedan
Ma-
criminal code has been followed, though
the people subjected to
medans.
for
it
are not one-tenth
Maho-
This law was enacted by Mahomed, on the
occasion of
his favourite wife,
Aesha, being found
255
BLIGHTS.
circumstances with another
under very suspicious
man.
special direction
from heaven required that
four witnesses should swear positively to the fact
Aesha and her paramour were of course acquitted

and the witnesses being
less
than
received the
four,
same punishment which would have been

upon the
had the
criminals,
fact
inflicted
been proved by the
direct testimony of the prescribed
number
that
is,
eighty stripes of the kora, almost equal to a sentence

of death.
This
(See Koran, chap. xxiv. and chap,
became
among all Mahomedans.

succeeded Mahomed, and Omur suclaw
the
Aesha's father
ceeded Aboo Bakur.

throne,
iv.)
Omur had
to
Soon
after his accession to the
in judgment
sit
upon Mogheera,
a companion of the prophet, the governor of Busara,
who had been
accidentally seen in an
tion with a lady of rank,
awkward
posi-
by four men while they
in an adjoining apartment.
The door
or
sat
window
which concealed the criminal parties was flung open
by the wind,
at the
time when they wished
Three of the four
to remain closed.
directly to the point.
it
men
Mogheera was Omur's
most
swore
favourite,
and had been appointed to the government by him.

Zeead,
the brother of one of the three
sworn to the
fact,
who had
hesitated to swear to the entire
fact.
" I think," said
Omur,
man whom God would
not
" that
make
see before
me
the means of dis-
gracing one of the companions of the holy prophet."
Zeead then described, circumstantially, the most

6
256
unequivocal position that was, perhaps, ever described

in a public court
of justice
but
still
hesitating to
swear to the entire completion of the crime, the

criminals were acquitted, and his brother and the
two others received the punishment prescribed. This

decision of the Brutus of his age and country settled
the law of evidence in these matters
hommedan judge would now
and no Ma-
give a verdict against
any person charged with adultery, without the four
No man
witnesses to the entire fact.
viction for this crime in our courts
have to drag
than three
his wife
hopes for a con-
and
as
paramour through no
or
to seek
it,
he has recourse to poison,
either secretly or with his wife's consent.
streets a
rather die
nature
while
will
The seducer escapes
his victim
all
that
Where
hus-
suffers
capable of enduring.
is
She
than be turned out into the
degraded outcast.
with impunity
human
less
that of the police officer, the magistrate,
and the judge
commonly
he would
bands are in the habit of poisoning their guilty

wives from the want of legal means of redress, they
will
sometimes poison those who are suspected upon
insufficient grounds.
No
magistrate ever hopes to get
a conviction in the judges' court,
minal for
trial
on
this charge,
if
he commits a
(under Regulation 17, of
1817,) and therefore he never does commit.

tion 7,
cri-
Regula-
of 1819, authorises a magistrate to punish
any person convicted of enticing away a wife or unmarried daughter for another's use
nant functionary
may sometimes
and an indig-
feel
disposed
to
257
BLIGHTS.
stretch a point,
that the guilty
man may
not altoge-
ther escape.
Redress for these wrongs
never hope to get
courts, because they can

it is
never sought in our
is
it.
But
a great mistake to suppose that the people of
India want a heavier punishment for the crime than
we
are disposed to inflict
they want
all
is
a fair
chance of conviction upon such reasonable proof as

cases of this nature admit
rulers think the crime a
the poorest
tion
man would
and such a measure
make
of punishment as shall
are disposed to protect
of,
it
appear that their
serious one,
them from
and that they
Sometimes
it.
refuse pecuniary compensa-
but generally husbands of the poorer classes
would be glad to get what the heads of their caste

or circle of society might consider sufficient to defray the expenses
of a second marriage.
not dare to live in adultery

if
they did
They do
they would be outcasts
they must be married according to the
forms of their caste
and
it is
reasonable that the
seducer of the wife should be obliged to defray the

costs of the injured husband's second marriage.
rich
this
of course, always refuse such a compen-
will,
sation,
The
but a law declaring the
man
convicted of
crime liable to imprisonment in irons at hard
labour for two years, but entitled to his discharge

within that time on an application from the injured
husband,
or
father,
would be extremely popular
The poor man would make the

when assured of the sum which the
throughout India.
application
vol.
i.
258
elders of his caste consider sufficient
and they would
take into consideration the means of the offender to
The woman
pay.
graded condition.
is
sufficiently
The teitwa
punished by her de-
Mahomedan law
of a
should be dispensed with in such cases.
officer
In 1832 the people began
to search for other
The frequent measurements
causes.
of the land,
with a view to equalize the assessments, were thought

of ; even the operations of the trigonometrical survey,
which were then making a great noise in central
where
India,
were seen every night burn-
their fires
ing upon the peaks of the highest ranges, were sup-
posed to have had some share in exasperating the
Deity
and the services of the most holy Brahmans
were put in
to exorcise
requisition,
the peaks from
which the engineers had taken their angels, the mo-
ment
were
their instruments
places, to the great
removed.
In many
annoyance and consternation of
the engineers, the land-marks which they had
left,
to
enable them to correct their work as they advanced,
were found to have been removed during their short

intervals
their
of absence, and they were obliged to do
work over
disposition
that
again.
The
priests
encouraged the
on the part of the peasantry to
men who
required to do their
believe,
work by the
aid
of fires lighted in the dead of the night upon high

places,
and work which no one but themselves seemed
able to comprehend,
supernatural beings
must hold communion with
a communion which they thought
might be displeasing to the Deity.

5
259
BLIGHTS.
At last,
who lived
the year 1833, a very holy Brahman,
in
in his cloister, near the iron suspension-
bridge over the Beeose river, ten miles from Saugor,
down with a determination
sat
Deity
till
to wrestle with the
he should be compelled to reveal to him
the real cause of
all
those calamities of season under
which the people were groaning.
After three days
and nights of fasting and prayer, he saw a vision

which stood before him in a white mantle, and told
him, that
of cows
tice
all
these calamities arose from the slaughter
and
that under former governments this prac-
had been
strictly prohibited,
and the returns of
the harvest had, in consequence, been always abundant,
and subsistence cheap, in
spite of invasion
without, insurrections within, and a
from
good deal of
misrule and oppression on the part of the local go-
The holy man was enjoined by the vision

make this revelation known to the constituted
vernment.
to
authorities,
and to persuade the people generally
throughout the
district, to
join in the petition for the
Nerbudda
prohibition of beef eating throughout our

territories.
He
got a good
many
of the most re-
spectable of the landholders around him, and ex-
plained the wishes of the vision of the preceding
was soon drawn up and signed by

many hundreds of the most respectable people in the
night.
district,
petition
and presented to the Governor-general's
presentative in these parts, Mr. F. C. Smith.
were presented to the

and
all
stating in the
civil authorities
re-
Others
of the district,
most respectful terms,

s
"
how
260
were of the inestimable benefits
sensible the people
of our rule, and
how
protection to
life
and property, and to the
ployment of
all
their advantages,
under
it
and
grateful they all felt for the
for the frequent
account of calamities of seasons.

all
that
which they had
and large reductions

These, they stated,
government could do to
fering people, but they
and yet under
em-
and remission in the demand on
in the assessments,
were
free
had
all
relieve a suf-
proved unavailing
this truly paternal
rule the people
were suffering more than under any former govern-
ment
in its worst period of misrule
incensed
at last,
God was upon them and as

after many fruitless attempts,
;
real cause of this
that
we would
plenty and
they
they had
discovered the
listen to their prayers,
and restore
blessings to the country
all its
said,
now
anger of the Deity, they trusted
biting the eating of beef!
had,
the hand of an
by prohi-
All these dreadful evils
unquestionably originated
in
the
(Sudder Bazar) great market of the cantonments,

where, for the
first
time, within one hundred miles
of the sacred stream
of the Nerbudda,
purchased and eaten cows'
rule,
flesh
much attached to us, and

and were many of them on the most
These people were

to our
men had
all
intimate terms of social intercourse with us; and at
the
time they signed this petition, were entirely
satisfied that
they had discovered the real cause of
all their sufferings,
we
and impressed with the idea that
should be convinced, and grant their prayers.
261
BLIGHTS.
The day
is
Beef continued to be eaten with
past.
undiminished appetite
the
blight, nevertheless, dis-
appeared, and every other sign of vengeance from
above
and the people are now, I believe,
that they were mistaken
They
many
lands do not yield so
us as under former rulers
satisfied
think that the
still
returns of the seed under

that they have lost
some
of the burkut (blessings) which they enjoyed under
them
they know not why.
The
fact
is,
that under us
the lands do not enjoy the salutary fallows which fre-
quent invasions and
civil
who
Those
former governments.
civil
wars used to cause under

survived
such
wars and invasions got better returns for their
seed
During the discussion of the question with the

people, I had one day a conversation with our Sudder
Ameer, or head native
judicial officer,
He
already mentioned.
whom
I have
told me, " that there could
be no doubt of the truth of the conclusion to which

the people had at length
"
some countries
come
There
are,"
he
said,
in
which punishments follow crimes
after long intervals,
and, indeed, do not take place
till
some future
immediately
birth
and such
in others they follow crimes

is
the country bordering the
stream of Mother Nerbudda
This," said he, "
is
stream more holy than that of the great Ganges

herself, since
nefit
man
no
is
supposed to derive any be-
from that stream, unless he either bathe in
Nerbudda from
or drink from
it
a distant
could bless him, and purify him.
hill
but the
sight of the
it
In
262
other countries, the slaughter of cows and bullocks
might not be punished
for ages
and the harvest, in
many
such countries, might continue good through
successive generations, under such enormities
in-
deed, he was not quite sure that there might not be
countries in which no punishment at

evitably follow
would
in-
but so near the Nerbudda this could
not be the case
all
Providence could never suffer beef
to be eaten so near her sacred majesty without visit-
ing the crops with blight,
mity
or
hail,
some other
cala-
and the people with cholera morbus, small-pox,
and other great
As
pestilences.
should never be persuaded that
all
himself,
for
he
these afflictions
did not arise wholly and solely from this dreadful
habit of eating beef.

if
I declare," concluded he, " that
government would but consent to prohibit the
eating of beef,
it
might levy from the lands three
times the revenue that they
The great
festival of the
now
pay."
Hooghly, the saturnalia of
India, terminates on the last day of Phagoon, or 1 6th
of March.
On
that day the
Hooghly
is
burned
on that day the ravages of the monster

they will have
field that
it
discover
Any
has remained untouched up to that time
Hooghly has been committed

rise
and
monster
to be) are supposed to cease.
considered to be quite secure from the
gave
(for
to
moment
to the flames.
is
the
What
the notion I have never been able to
but such
is
the general belief.
I suppose
the silicious epidermis must then have become too

hard,
and the pores in the stem too much closed
263
BLIGHTS.
up
admit of the further depredation
to
of the
fungi.
In the
latter
end of 1831, while I was
at Saugor,
a cowherd, in driving his cattle to water at a reach

of the Beeose river, called the Nurdhardhar, near the
little village
of Jusruttee, was reported to have seen
a vision, that told
him the waters of that
up and conveyed
to the fields in pitchers,
keep
tually
off the blight
reach, taken
would
effec-
from the wheat, provided
the pitchers were not suffered to touch the ground
on the way.
to be
made
On
reaching the
field,
bottom of the
at the
keep up a small but steady stream,

ried
might
ing,
round the border of the
it
fall
pitcher,
so as to
as the bearer car-
field,
that the water
in a complete ring, except at a small open-
which was to be kept
monster or demon
through
a small hole was
it,
blight
dry, in order that the
might
make
escape
his
not being able to cross over any part
watered by the holy stream.
The waters
of the
Beeose river generally are not supposed to have any

peculiar virtues.
The
rapidly over the country
report of this vision spread

;
and the people who had
been suffering under so many seasons of great calamity
were anxious to try anything that promised the

slightest
district
chance of
relief.
Every cultivator of the
prepared pots for the conveyance
water, with tripods to support
of this
them while they rested
on the road, that they might not touch the ground.
The
spot pointed out for taking the water
was im-
mediately under a fine large peepul-tree which had
264
fallen into the river,
and on each bank was seated a
The
Byragee, or priest of Vishnoo.
blight began to
manifest itself in the ulsee (linseed) in January, 1832,
but the wheat
never considered to be in danger
is
late in February,
that
when
nearly ripe
it is
and during
month and the following the banks of the
were crowded with people
Some
of these people
miles to fetch
it
came more than one hundred
and
gave the Byragee

half-pence,
river
in search of the water.
all
seemed
to feel quite sure
Each person
that the holy water would save them.
two
till
priest, of his
own
side of the river,
(copper pice,) two pice weight
of
ghee, (clarified butter,) and two pounds of flour, before
he
it.
These
filled his pitcher, to
priests
secure his blessings from
were strangers
were entirely voluntary.
and the
The roads from
offerings
this
reach
of the Beeose river, up to the capital of the Orcha

Rajah,
more than a hundred
lined with these water-carriers
number
of persons
clay, for six
who
miles,
;
were
literally
and I estimated the
passed with the water every
weeks, at ten thousand a day.
After they had ceased to take the water, the banks
were long crowded with people who flocked to see

the place whose priests and waters had worked such
miracles,
and to try and discover the source whence
the water derived
its virtues.
It
was remarked by
some, that the peepul-tree, which had fallen from

the bank above
many
years before, had
still
tinued to throw out the richest foliage from
branches above the surface of the water.
conthe
Others de-
265
BLIGHTS.
clared that they saw a
spot,
than
monkey on the bank near the
which no sooner perceived that

it
it
was observed
plunged into the stream and disappeared.
Others again saw some

waters, indicating that
of steps under the
flights
had
it
in days of yore
been
the site of a temple, whose God, no doubt, gave to

the waters the wonderful virtues
had been found
it
The priests would say nothing, but " that

and, like all his works, beit was the work of God
yond the reach of man's understanding." They made
their fortunes, and got up the vision and miracle, no
As to the effect, I
doubt, for that especial purpose.
was told by hundreds of farmers who had tried the
to possess.
waters, that though
it
had not anywhere kept the
blight off entirely from the wheat,
the
fields
it
was found that
which had not the advantages of water
were entirely destroyed

been taken
all
round the
and where the pot had

field
without leaving any
dry opening for the demon to escape through,
almost as bad
left,
was
but when a small opening had been
and the water carefully dropped around the field
elsewhere, the
crop had been very
which showed clearly the

all
it
little
injured,
efficacy of the water,
when
the ceremonies and observances prescribed by
the vision had been attended to
I could never find the cowherd
have seen
friend, the
this vision;
and
in
speaking to
Sudder Ameer, learned
the subject, I told
him
that
who was
said to
my
in the shastres,
we had
old
on
a short saying
"
266
that

would
explain
all
this
" a
drowning
man
catches at a straw."
" Yes," said he,
without any hesitation, " and
have another just as good for the occasion

will follow each other
well.'
though
it
'
we
Sheep
should be into a
267
CHAPTER
XXVIII.
PESTLE AND MORTAR SUGAR-MILLS
WASHING AWAY OF THE
SOIL.
On
the 13th
we came on
a road winding amongst

hills,
to
Burwa
Saugor, over
small ridges and conical
none of them much elevated or very steep
whole being a bed of brown
syenite, generally
the
exposed
to the surface in a decomposing state, intersected by
veins and beds of quartz rocks, and here and there a
narrow and shallow bed of dark
basalt.
One
of these
beds of basalt was converted into grey syenite by a

large granular mixture of white quartz
with the black hornblende.
From
this
and
feldspar,
rock the people
form their sugar-mills, which are made like a pestle
and mortar, the mortar being cut out of the hornblende rock, and the pestle out of wood, thus
268
We saw a great many
of these mortars during the
march, that could not have been in use for the
last
half-dozen centuries, but they are precisely the same

as those
used
still
upon the end of the horizontal

bullocks are yoked
common
at his
and
The driver
beam to which
over India.
all
in cold
mornings
it is
sits
the
very
him with a pair of good hot embers

buttocks, resting upon a little projection made
to see
behind him to the beam for the purpose of sustaining
am
it.
disposed to think that the most pro-
ductive parts of the surface of Bundelcund, like that

of some of the districts of the Nerbudda territories
which repose upon the back of the sandstone of the
Vindhya
chain,
is fast
flowing off to the sea through
the great rivers, which seem by degrees to extend

the channels of their tributary streams into every
man's
away
to drain
field,
for the benefit of those
its
substance by degrees,
who may
occupy the islands of their
delta.
in
some future age
I have often seen
a valuable estate reduced in value to almost nothing,
by some new
may
in a
few
call
them, thrown out from the tributary streams of
years,
antennce, if I
great rivers into their richest and deepest
formed, the
clivities are
soils.
its
the more of
the
Bay
Cambay
surface
its
is
De-
gets nothing from the
soil
cultivator but the mechanical aid of the plough,
the more
so
and
ploughed and cross-ploughed,
substance
is
washed away towards
of Bengal in the Ganges, or the Gulf of

in the Nerbudda.
Nerbudda,
we
often
see
In the
these
districts
black
of the
hornblende
PESTLE AND MORTAR SUGAR-MILLS.
269
mortars, in which sugar-canes were once pressed by
a happy peasantry,
now
standing upon a bare and
barren surface of sandstone rock, twenty feet above

the present surface of the culturable lands of the
country.
There are evident signs of the surface on
which they now stand having been that on which

they were
last
worked.
The people get more
from their small straw-coloured canes
and mortar
mills,
juice
in these pestle
than they can from those with
cylindrical rollers in the present rude state of the
mechanical
arts
coloured cane
The
is
all
over
India;
and
the
straw-
the only kind that yields good sugar.
large purple canes yield a watery and very in-
ferior juice
sally,
and are generally, and almost univer-
sold in the markets as a fruit.
The
straw-
coloured canes, from being crowded under a very

slovenly system, with
little
manure and
degenerate into a mere reed.
The
which was introduced into India by

spread over the Nerbudda, and
ries
ner,
less
weeding,
Otaheitie cane,
me
many
in 1827, has
other territo-
but that that will degenerate in the same man-
under the same slovenly system of
probable.
tillage, is
too
270
CHAPTER XXIX.
INTERVIEW WITH THE CHIEFS OF JANSEE
DISPUTED
SUCCESSION.
On
see.
the 14th
About
we came on
five
miles
fourteen miles to Jan-
from our
last
ground we
crossed the Bytuntee river over a bed of syenite.
At
this river
we mounted
our elephant to
the water was waist-deep at the ford.
turned to her palankeen as soon as
but our
little
boy came on with
me
cross,
My
we had
as
wife recrossed,
on the elephant,
meet the grand procession which I knew was apThe Rajah of

proaching to greet us from the city.
Jansee, Ram Chunder Row, died a few months ago,
to
leaving a young
widow and a mother, but no
He
man
was a young
age, timid, but of

disposition.
munication ;
My
child.
of about twenty-eight years of
good capacity, and most amiable
much into comand though we never met, we had conduties brought us
ceived a mutual esteem for each other.
He
long suffering from an affection of the
liver,
had been
and had
27 L
RAJAH OF JAN SEE.

latterly
persuaded himself that his mother was prac-
upon
tising
his
with a view to secure the go-
life,
vernment to the eldest son of her daughter, which

would, she thought, insure the real power to her for
That
life.
she wished him dead with this view,
I had no doubt
veral years
up
for she
to 1831, during
to consider his minority
power into
his
had ruled the
state for se-
what she was pleased
and she surrendered the
hands with great reluctance, since
it
enabled her to employ her paramour as minister, and

enjoy his
society as
much
as
the pretence of holding privy councils upon
He
great public interest.
under
she pleased,
affairs
of
used to communicate his
fears to
me; and
that his
mother might some day attempt to hasten
his death
I was not without apprehension
by poison.
death he wrote to
me
About a month before

to say,
his
that spears had been
found stuck in the ground under the water where he
was accustomed to swim, with their sharp points upwards

tice,
and had he
not, contrary to
his usual prac-
walked into the water, and struck his foot against
one of them, he must have been
killed.
This was,
no doubt, a thing got up by some designing person,
who wanted
to ingratiate himself with the
man
mother was too shrewd a woman ever
to
for the
attempt her son's
About
pital,
four
this
months
life
young
by such awkward means.
before
reached
the
ca-
amiable young prince died, leaving two
paternal uncles, a mother, a widow, and one
sister,
the wife of one of our Saugor pensioners, Moreesur
272
Row. The mother claimed the inheritance for her grandson by this daughter, a very handsome young lad, then
at Jansee,
on the pretence that her son had adopted
him on his death-bed. She had his head shaved, and

made him go through all the other ceremonies of
mourning, as for the death of his real father.
The
eldest of his uncles, Rogonath Row, claimed the inheritance as the next heir
and
his party turned
all
the young lad out of caste as a Brahman, for daring

to go into
mourning
for a father
who was
yet alive,
one of the greatest of crimes, according to Hindoo
law and
religion, for they
would not admit that he
had been adopted by the deceased

tion of inheritance
had been referred
supreme government
the
channel,
when
prince.
I arrived
through
The
ques-
for decision to
the prescribed
and the decision was every
The mother, with her daughter and
day expected.
grandson, and the widow, occupied the castle situated
on a high
hill
overlooking the city; while the two
uncles of the deceased occupied their private dwell-
ing-houses in the city below.

eldest,
me
Ragonath Row, the
headed the procession that came out to meet
about three miles, mounted upon a fine female
elephant, with his younger brother by his side.

minister,
Naroo Gopaul, followed, mounted upon
another on the
Some
of
the
of the finest
and
or
some
The
of
paymaster,
part of the
Rajah's
male
their
mother and widow.
relations
elephants I
friends
(always
an
with
were
upon two
have ever seen;

the
important
buckshee,
personage,)
ROGONATH ROW.
upon two
273
Rogonath Row's elephant drew
others.
up on the right of mine, and that of the minister on

the
left
and
after the usual
us,
all
between
line
in
compliments had passed
the others
fell
back and formed a
They had about
our rear.
mounted upon very
fine
horses in excellent condi-
which curvetted before and on both
tion,
together with a good
some four or
many men on
sides of us
camels,
hundred foot attendants,
but in various costumes.
dressed,
were
five
troopers
fifty
all
and
well
The elephants
so close to each other, that the conversation,
which we managed
general almost
to
the
all
well,
was
every
man
keep up tolerably
way
to our tents
taking a part as he found the opportunity of a pause

to introduce his little
Company
or to myself, which I did
my best to answer
man was everywhere
with which the old
had
to the honourable
I was glad to see the affectionate respect
or divert.
for I
compliment
in
my own mind
received,
no doubt whatever that
the decision of the supreme government would be in

his favour.
The whole cortege escorted me through
the town to
my
side
tent,
which was pitched on the other
and then they took their
on their elephants, while I
on my knee,
The
till all
sat
had made
leave, still seated
on mine, with
their
bow and
my
boy
departed.
elephants, camels, and horses, were all magni-
ficently caparisoned
were extremely
rich.
and the housings of the whole
good many of the troopers
were dressed in chain-armour, which, worn outside

VOL.
I.
274
light-coloured quilted vests,
their
black gauze
My
had
scarfs.
lately died
own
the Sureemunt's
friend,
little
another with
elephant,
and being unable to go to the cost of
all its
appendages, he had come on thus
on horseback.
far
look very like
native gentleman can never
condescend to ride an elephant without a train of at
dozen attendants on horseback
least
almost as soon ride a horse without a
been considered
these Rajahs, I
at
knew
he would
tail.
Having
one time as the equal of

that he would
feel
all
little
mortified at finding himself buried in the crowd and
dust
and invited him,
to take
sideration,
It
w as
r
we approached
side.
move
as well
safety of the
we reached our
tents,
as
we were
slowly through the streets of the
for our
own convenience
as for the
crowd on foot before and around
wife,
and
dust, reached the tents half an
who had gone on
In the afternoon, when
my
hour before
and I found him a very

as
us.
second large tent had
with a large train of followers, but with
gentlemanly man, just
us.
before to avoid the crowd
been pitched, the minister came to pay
city,
This gained him con-
My
play
the
and evidently gave him great pleasure.
late before
obliged to
city,
my
a seat by
as
me
a visit
little dis-
sensible, mild,
and
expected from the
high character he bears with both parties, and with

the people
served
of the
country generally.
conversation here in such a
Any
unre-
crowd was of
THE MINISTER.
275
course out of the question, and I told the minister,

that
the
it
my
was
tomb
intention early next morning to visit
of his late master
glad to meet him
if
where I should be very
he could make
He
come without any ceremony.

pleased with
met a
little
the proposal
convenient to
seemed much
and next morning we
before sunrise within the
tomb
encloses the
it
or cenotaph
railing that
and there had a good
deal of quiet, and, I believe, unreserved talk about
the
of the Jansee state, and the family
affairs
the late prince.
He told me,
of
that a few hours before
the Rajah's death, his mother had placed in his arms

for adoption the son of his sister, a very
lad of ten years of age
handsome
but whether the Rajah was
or was not sensible at the time he could not say, for
he never
after heard
him speak
that the mother of
the deceased considered the adoption as complete,
and made her grandson go through the funeral ceremonies, as for the death of his father, which for
nine
it
days were performed unmolested
came
to
the tenth
and
last
but when
which,
had
it
passed quietly, would have been considered as completing the title of adoption
his friends
interposed,
Rogonath
Row
and
and prevented further pro-
ceedings, declaring that while there were so
male heirs no son could be adopted
many
for the deceased
prince, according to the usages of the family.
The widow of the Rajah, a timid, amiable young

woman, of twenty-five years of age, was by no means
anxious
for
this
adoption, having shared the sus-
t 2
276
picions of her husband regarding the practices of his
mother
them
and found
who now
his sister,
in the castle, a
woman, who would be
resided with
most violent and overbearing

likely to exclude her
share in the administration, and
make
her
from
life
all
very
miserable were her son to be declared the Rajah.
Her wish was
to be allowed to adopt, in the
name
of
her deceased husband, a young cousin of his, Sadasoo,

the son of
brother of
Nana Bhow. Gungadhur, the younger

Rogonath Row, was exceedingly anxious
to have his elder brother declared Rajah, because he
had no
from the debilitated state of
sons, and,
frame,
must soon
him.
Every one of the three
die,
his
and leave the principality to

parties
had sent agents
to the Governor-general's representative in Bundel-
cund, to urge their claim
and
till
the final decision,
the widow of the late chief was to be considered as
The minister
the sovereign.
told
me, that there
was one unanswerable argument against Rogonath

Row's succeeding, which, out of regard
ings,
he had not yet urged
to his feel-
and about which he
wished to consult me, as a friend of the late prince
and
his
widow
this was,
that he was a leper, and
that the signs of the disease were
day more and more manifest.
had observed them

that any one else
in his
I told him, that I
but was not aware
had noticed them.
however, not to advance

since they all
face,
becoming every
this as a
knew him
to
I urged him,
ground of exclusion,
be a very worthy man,
while his younger brother was said to be the reverse
FAMILY SCANDAL.
and more especially I thought
and unwise to
as I
distress
it
277
would be very cruel
and exasperate him by so doing,
had no doubt that before
this
ground could be
brought to their notice, government would declare

in his favour, right being so clearly
on
his side.
After an agreeable conversation with this sensible
and excellent man, I returned
to
my
Row
pare for the reception of Rogonath
They came about nine
party.
tents, to pre-
and
o'clock with a
his
much
greater display of elephants and followers than the
He
minister had brought with him.
kept
me
spite of
in close conversation
my
wife's
many
breakfast was waiting.
till
and
his friends
eleven o'clock, in
considerate messages, to say
He
told
me, that the mother
of the late Rajah, his nephew, was a very violent
woman, who had involved the
state in
much
trouble
during the period of her regency, which she managed

to prolong
till
her son was twenty-five years of age,
and resigned with

ago
infinite reluctance only three years
that her minister, during her regency,
Gungad-
hur Moolee, was at the same time her 'paramour; and
would be surely restored to power and to her embraces,

were her grandson's claims to the succession recognized
that
it
was with great
difficulty
he had been
able to keep this atrocious character under surveillance pending the consideration of their claims by
that by having the head
of her grandson shaved, and
making him go through
the supreme government
all
the other
members
funeral ceremonies
with
of the family, she had involved
the
other
him and
his
278
young innocent wife (who had unhappily continued to

drink out of the same cup with her husband) in the
dreadful crime of mourning for a father
knew
to be
yet
alive,
whom
they
a crime that must be expiated
by the praschut* which would be exacted from the

young couple on
their return to
Saugor before they
could be restored to their caste, from which they
were now considered

the young widow,
wish
but she was so timid, that she would be go-
she should have any osten-
if
her in the administration.!
sible part assigned
I told the old gentleman, that I believed
my
duty to pay the
mother of the
first visit
late prince, as
and that I hoped
my
to the
now be looked up
The praschut
is
one of pure condolence
who must
an expiatory atonement, by which the per-
birth,
It is often
as indicated
imposed
by
for crimes
afflictions suffered
t The poor young widow died of grief some months

:
He
to as the head of the family.
committed in a former
visit
would
doing so would not be consi-
son humbles himself in public.
in this
it
widow and
dered any mark of disrespect towards him,
for
she was everything they could
verned by the old lady
be
As
excommunicated.
as
her
spirits
after
my
never rallied after the death of her husband
and she never ceased to regret, that she had not burned herself
with his remains.
The people
of Jansee generally believe, that
the prince's mother brought about his death by (deenall) slow
poison
and
am
of the poor widow.
afraid that this
The
was the impression on the mind
minister,
who was
entirely
and a most worthy and able man, was quite
on her
side,
satisfied that this
suspicion was without any foundation whatever in truth.
279
RIGHTS OF MOTHERS.
remonstrated against this most earnestly; and at

last tears
paid the
came
into his eyes as
first visit
be able to show
he told me, that
if
to the castle he should never again
his face outside
so great
his door,
would be the indignity he should be considered to

have suffered
but rather than I should do
would come to
my
Much was
the castle.
the weighty question
arguments were in
castle
tents,
and escort
his favour
that if I
he might possibly resent
first,
woman and
the prime minister
it
went
when he came
I might be consulting their interest as
by going to
his
house
to the
upon the poor
power, as I had no doubt he soon would
feelings
sides of
thought that the
last I
first.
he
himself to
on both
to be said
but at
me
this
into
and that
much
as his
In the evening I
received a message from the old lady, urging the neces-
death
my paying the first visit of condolence for the

of my young friend, to the widow and mother.
"
rights of mothers," said she, " are respected in
sity of
The
all
countries
and in India, the
lence for the death of a man,
mother,
lution
if alive."
first visit
is
always due to the
I told the messenger that
was unaltered, and would, I
of condo-
trusted,
my resobe found
the best for
all parties
I told him,
that I dreaded the resentment towards
under present circumstances.
them of Rogonath Row, if he came into power.

" Never mind that," said he
" my mistress is of too
;
proud a
spirit
to dread resentment
from any one
pay her the compliment of the first visit, and let her
enemies do their worst !" I told him that I could
280
leave Jansee without visiting either of them, but
could not go
to the castle
first
and he
said, that
my
departing thus would please the old lady better than

the second
this
visit
The
minister would not have said
the old lady would
not have ventured to send
such a message by him

strapper
my
pay
and I
two
With
the
him, to
left
man was an
under-
mount my elephant and
visits.
the best cortege I could muster, I went to
Rogonath Row's, where
from some large guns in
was received with a salute

his courtyard,
and enter-
tained with a party of dancing girls and musicians

in the usual
given
manner.
Ottar of roses and
and valuable shawls put before me, and
fused in the politest terms I could think

"
pawn were
Pray do
me
of,
re-
such
as,
me
the favour to keep these things for
I have the happiness of visiting Jansee again,
till
as I
am
able
is
hour, I
going through Gwalior, where nothing valu-
moment
safe
mounted my
from thieves."
After sitting an
elephant, and proceeded
up
to
the castle, where I was received with another salute
from the bastions.
I sat for half an hour in the hall of
audience with the minister and

of the court, as Rogonath
as
private
gentleman
all
Row
till
the principal
was to be considered
the
decision of the
supreme government should be made known

the handsome young
old
woman
lad,
seen at Saugor, was at

seated by
Krishnu Row,
wished to adopt, and
my
side.
my
By him
men
whom
whom
and
the
had often
request brought in and

T
sent
my
message of
CASTLE OF JANSEE.
281
condolence to the widow and mother of his deceased

uncle,
couched in the usual terms, that the happy
effects of
city,
good government in the prosperity of
this
and the comfort and happiness of the people,
had extended the fame of the family
all
over India
and that I trusted the reigning member of that

family,
it
was
whoever he might
his
would be
be,
sensible, that
duty to sustain that reputation by imitating
who had gone before him.

and pawn had been handed
the example of those
After ottar of roses
round in the usual manner, I went to the summit of

the highest tower in the castle, which
commands an
extensive view of the country around.
The
of syenitic rock.
is
upon the summit of a small
castle stands
The
hill
elevation of the outer wall
about one hundred feet above the level of the
plain
and the top of the tower on which I stood
about one hundred feet more, as the buildings

gradually from the sides to the summit of the
The
city
rise
hill.
extends out into the plain to the east
from the foot of the
Around the
hill
city there
gated from four or
and now under
is
five
on which the castle stands.

a good deal of land
tanks in the neighbourhood,
wheat crops
rich
and the gardens
are very numerous, and abound in
all
the fruit and
vegetables that the people most like.
very abundant and very fine
been actually buried
in them,
Oranges are
and our tents have
and
all
the other fruits
and vegetables which the kind people

have poured in upon
irri-
us.
The
city of
of Jansee
Jansee con-
282
tains about sixty-thousand inhabitants
brated for
its
manufacture of carpets.
very beautiful temples in the
and
cele-
is
There are some
city, all built
by Goosa-
one of the priests of Sewa, who here engage in
ens,
much wealth.* The family of the

tombs and that now raised over
trade and accumulate
do not build
chiefs
the place where the late prince was burned

cated, as a temple, to
Sewa
The
dedi-
and was made merely
with a view to secure the place from

profanation.
is
all
danger of
ashes themselves were taken to the
Ganges, and deposited in the holy stream with the

usual ceremonies.
The
face of the country
the tanks
tivation
is
beyond the influence of
The
neither rich nor interesting.
seemed scanty and the population
owing to the irremediable
sterility
of
soil
culthin,
from the
poverty of the primitive rock, from whose detritus

is
chiefly formed.
Rogonath
Row
it
told me, that the
wish of the people in the castle to adopt a child as

the successor to his nephew, arose from the desire to
escape the scrutiny into the past accounts of disburse-
ments which he might be
likely to order.
I told
him, that I had myself no doubt that he would be

declared the Rajah
and urged him to turn
thoughts to the future

to be
made
all his
and to allow no inquiries
into the past, with a view to gratify
* These buildings are both tombs and temples
the Goosaens
of Jansee do not burn but bury their dead, and over the grave,
those
cate
who can
it
afford to do so, raise a
to Sewa.
handsome temple, and
dedi-
283
LEPROSY.
own resentment
either his
or that of others
that
the Rajahs of Jansee had hitherto been served by

the most respectable,
and honourable
able,
men
in
the country, while the other chiefs of Bundelcund
man
could get no
them
of this class to do their
that this was the only court in
men
which such
work
for
Bundelcund in
could be seen, simply because
it
was
the only one in which they could feel themselves secure
while
other
chiefs
who had
ministers
confiscated
served them with
pretence of embezzlement
try to enjoy
Such
it.
capitals
possessors being
or to go out of the coun-
it
all
who adorned
other countries
its
rulers thus found their courts
and capitals deprived of

respectability
on the
fidelity,
the wealth thus acquired,
however, soon disappearing, and

obliged either to conceal
of
the property
those
men
of wealth and
the courts of princes in
and embellished not merely their
but the face of their dominions in general
with their chateaus and other works of ornament and
Much more of this sort passed between us,

and seemed to make an impression upon him for he
utility.
promised to do
Poor
man
existence,
all
to him.
he can have but a short and miserable

for that
dreadful disease, the leprosy,
making sad inroads upon

uncle,
recommended
that I had
his
Rogonath Row, was
system already.*
afflicted
with
it
is
His
;
and
by drown-
having understood from the
priests,
ing himself in the
(taking the sumad,) he
T
This
Ganges,
chief died of leprosy in
that
May, 1838.
284
should remove
went
traces of
all
He
twenty years ago.
ease
*
been the
showed
Rogonath
from
first
had no children, and
of his family in
Row
was the
first
the dis-
of his family invested by the
had acquired from the Bundelcund

1
whom
said
is
itself.*
Peshwa with the government of the Jansee

in
he
his family,
and there drowned himself, some
to Benares,
to have
it
territory,
He went
chiefs.
which he
to
Benares
795 to drown himself, leaving the government to his third
brother,
Sewram Bhow,
Luchmun Row, was

Sewram Bhow
incapable.
as his next brother,
dead, and his sons were considered
died in 1815, and his eldest son, Krishnu Row, had died four
him
years before
two daughters.
in 1811, leaving one son, the late Rajah,
This was a noble
sacrifice to
and
what he had been
taught, by his spiritual teachers, to consider as a duty towards his
family
and we must admire the man, while we condemn the
gion and the priests.
There
is
parents are more reverenced than in India

readily
make
Peshwa
where
or where they
more
sacrifices of all sorts for their children, or for those
they consider as such.

the
in the world
no country
reli-
in
We
Bundelcund
succeeded in 1817 to
all
the rights of
and with great generosity converted
the viceroys of Jansee and Jhalone into independent sovereigns

of hereditary principalities, yielding each ten lacs of rupees.
285
CHAPTER XXX.
HAUNTED VILLAGES.
On
the 16th,
we came on
nine miles to Amabae,
the frontier village of the Jansee territory, bordering upon Duteea, where I had to receive the fare-
many members
well visits of
who came on
that,
of the Jansee parties,
to have a quiet opportunity to assure me,
whatever
may be
the final order of the supreme
government, they will do their best for the good of

the people and the state, in whose welfare I feel
great interest, for I have always considered Jansee
among
the native states of Bundelcund as a kind of
oasis in the desert
the
only one in which
man
can
accumulate property with the confidence of being

permitted by
its
rulers freely to display
and enjoy
it.
I had also to receive the visit of messengers from the
Rajah of Duteea,
camp the next day

amiable
me
little
at
;
whose
and
capital
finally, to
we were
to en-
take leave of
who here
my
left
on his return to Saugor, with a heavy heart I
really believe.
286
We
common
talked of the
belief
among
cultural classes, of villages being haunted
of ancient proprietors,
"
sary to propitiate.
the agri-
by the
spirits
whom it was thought necesHe knew," he said, " many in-
stances where these spirits were so very froward,
that the present
heads of the villages which they
haunted, and the
members
found
nities,
good humour
it
little
commu-
almost impossible to keep them in
and their
of their
and children were, in
cattle
consequence, always liable to serious accidents of one
kind or another.
Sometimes they were bitten by
snakes, sometimes
became possessed by
at others,
devils
and
were thrown down and beaten most un-
Any
who
down in an
epileptic fit, is supposed to be thrown down by a
They feel little of
ghost, or possessed by a devil.
mercifully."
person
our mysterious dread of ghosts
what they dread from them

self in
"
As
one of these
for himself,
villages
upon
old patel,
a sound drubbing
is
and he who hurts him-
considered to have got
it.
whenever he found any one of the
his estate
(village
point of giving
well
fits is
falls
haunted by the
proprietor,)
him a
neat
little
endowed and attended,
of an
he always made a
shrine
to
spirit
and having
keep him
in
it
good
humour this he thought was a duty that every landRamchund, the pundit,
lord owed to his tenants !"
said, "That villages which had been held by old
Gond (mountaineer) proprietors were more liable
:
than any other to those kinds of visitations
was easy to say what
village
that
it
was and was not haunted
;;
HAUNTED VILLAGES.
but often exceedingly
the
belonged
ghost
287
difficult to discover
once
This
to
whom
discovered,
his
nearest surviving relation was, of course, expected

to take steps to put
wrong
is
him
to rest
but," said he,
it
to suppose that the ghost of an old pro-
must be always doing mischief
prietor
"
he
is
often
the best friend of the cultivators, and of the present

proprietor, too, if he treats
he
for
him with proper respect
will not allow the people of
to encroach
and they
will
upon
their boundaries with
for the settlement of
is
much
(judicial tribunals)
boundary disputes.
to conciliate these spirits
generally well laid out
all
It will not
and the money
!"
me
Several anecdotes were told
and
impunity
be saved all the expense and annoyance
of a reference to the Adawlut
cost
any other village
in illustration;
that I could urge against the probability or
possibility of such visitations
appeared to them very
inconclusive and unsatisfactory
they mentioned the
case of the family of village proprietors in the Saugor

district,
who had
for several generations, at every
settlement, insisted
spirit
upon having the name of the
of the old proprietor of another tribe inserted
in the lease instead of their own,

his
new
good graces on
all
and thereby secured
occasions.
before mentioned this case to me.
Mr. Fraser had

In August, 1834,
while engaged in the settlement of the land revenue

of the Saugor district for twenty years, he was about
to deliver the lease of the estate
made out
in
due
form to the head of the family, a very honest and
288
when he asked him, rewhose name it had been made out?
respectable old gentleman,

spectfully,
"
in
In yours to be sure
lease for
twenty years
great alarm, begged
he and
diately, or
have you not renewed your
The
?"
him
his
old man, in a state of
have
to
altered
it
family would
all
imme-
be destroyed
that the spirit of the ancient proprietor presided
over the village community and

that
He is,"
"
spirit
and
said the old
will not
proprietor of the estate
my
many
man,
generations
It has
me
been held by
but the lease deeds have always
his
name
and ours have been
serted merely as his managers, or bailiffs
good old
rule,
really
man and
infringed,
made
!
we should all
been the case
his family
proprietor
this
perish under
Mr. Fraser found, upon inquiry, that
his anger."
had
were
in-
under which we have so long pros-
now
pered, to be
papers
being
a proprietor or joint
as
man
ancestors immediately under government for
been made out in
this
and
" a very jealous
admit of any living
moment,
considered, for a
and
interests
of importance were transacted in his
all affairs
name.
its
and, to relieve the old
from their
fears,
he had the
out afresh, and the ghost inserted as the
The modes
of flattering and propitiating
these beings, natural and supernatural,
who
are sup-
posed to have the power to do mischief, are endless.
While
was
in charge of the district of Nursing-
pore, in the valley of the Nerbudda, in 1823, a culti-
vator of the village of Bedoo,
about twelve miles
289
HAUNTED VILLAGES.
distant
my
from
court,
was one day engaged
in the
of his field on the border of the village
cultivation
of Burkhara, which was supposed to be haunted by
the spirit of an old proprietor, whose temper was so
froward and violent that the lands could hardly be

let for
anything
to cultivate
his
his
them
ghostship's
after
any
for hardly
man would
venture
he might unintentionally incur
lest
The poor
displeasure.
begging his pardon in
secret,
cultivator,
ventured to drive
plough a few yards beyond the proper line of his
boundary, and thus to add half an acre of the lands

of Burkhara to his
own
tenement, which was
That very night
in Bedoo.
situated
little
was bitten by a snake, and

seized with the murrain.
his
his only son
two bullocks were
In terror he went
the village temple, confessed his
sin,
off to
and vowed not
only to restore the half acre of land to the village of
Burkhara, but to build a very handsome shrine upon

the spot as a perpetual sign of his repentance.
boy and the bullocks

shrine
was
built
the boundary
The
all
and is, I
mark
The
three recovered, and the

believe,
still
to be seen as
fact was, that the village
stood upon an ele-
vated piece of ground rising out of a moist plain, and

a colony of snakes had taken up their abode in
The
bites of these snakes had,
proved
fatal
the village.
on many occasions,
and such accidents were
to the anger of a spirit
At one
it.
all
attributed
which was supposed to haunt
time, under the former govern-
ment, no one would take a lease of the village

vol.
i.
290
on any terms
and
it
had become almost entirely
deserted, though the soil
With a view
district.
dices of the people,
was the
to
whole
finest in the
remove the whole preju-
the governor, Goroba Pundit,
took the lease himself at the rent of one thousand

rupees
and
a year;
from
his
own
ploughs,
residence,
month of June went
twelve miles, with ten of his
superintend
to
the
middle of the
village,
his horse, sat
tree,
down upon
him under a
a carpet that had been spread for
self
the
reaching
situated on the top of the
he alighted from
and beautiful banyan
commencement
On
an undertaking.
of so perilous
little hill,
in the
large
and began to refresh him-
with a pipe before going to work in the
fields.
As he
quaffed his hookah, and railed at the follies of
men,
"
desert
whose absurd superstitions had made them

so
beautiful
village
with
snake
which had coiled round one of
branches immediately over his head,

if
resolved at once to pounce
blasphemy
for his
dant,
mounted
He
his horse,
gave
down and punish him

his pipe to his atten-
from which the saddle had

till
home.
Nothing could ever induce him to
village
again,
me
its
and seemed as
not yet been taken, and never pulled rein
under
upon an enormous
tree in its centre," his eyes fell
black
noble
so
he got
visit this
though he was afterwards employed
as a native collector
and he has often
told me, that he verily believed this
was the
spirit
of
the old landlord that he had unhappily neglected to

propitiate before taking possession
291
HAUNTED VILLAGES.
My
predecessor in the
civil
charge of that
the late Mr. Lindsay, of the Bengal
district,
service,
civil
again tried to remove the prejudices of the people

against the occupation and cultivation of this fine
village.
It
revenue
had never been measured

backed by
officers,
all
and
the
all
the farmers and cul-
tivators of the neighbourhood, declared that the spirit
of the old proprietor would never allow
it
to be so.
Mr. Lindsay was a good geometrician, and had long
been in the habit of superintending
his
revenue sur-
veys himself; and on this occasion he thought him-
upon to do
called
particularly
self
so.
A new
measuring cord was made for the occasion, and with
and trembling
fear
the
first field
but in measuring
accident, broke
taken
ill,
his officers
all
and obliged to return to Nursingpore, where
more beloved by
fallen a victim to the
declared
all
did not believe
moment
to me,
over the
the
went
him
to
spirit
to the village
have
of the
some
the people in the neighbourhood

that they saw the cord with
which he was measuring,

the
ever
of the people of his dis-
resentment of the
When
years afterwards,
No man was
and I believe there was not one
among them who
old proprietor.
fever.
all classes
than he was
person
the rope, by some
Poor Lindsay was that morning
he died soon after from
trict
it
attended him to
fly
into a thousand pieces
men attempted
to straighten
it
first field.
A very respectable old gentleman from the Concan,

u 2
292
me
or Malabar coast, told
one day, that every
man
there protects his field of corn and his fruit tree by
dedicating
to one or other of the
it
there abound, or confiding
He
up something
sticks
thing to the tree, in the
from that moment
feels
it
which
spirits
to his guardianship.
on some-
in the field, or ties
name of
the said
spirit,
himself responsible for
who
its safe
keeping.
If any one, without permission from the
proprietor,
presumes to take either an ear of corn
from the
or fruit from the tree, he
field,
killed outright
protection
"for our
made extremely
or
required,"
is
and
fields
said
No
other
gentleman,
old
direction,
that
in
sure to be
"
ill.
the
fruit trees
is
though whole armies should have to march through

them.
saw a man come to the proprietor of
I once
a jack tree, embrace his
manner implore
the matter.
and in the most piteous
feet,
his protection.
took,'
He
asked what was
the man,
said
'
a jack from
your tree yonder three days ago, as I passed at

night; and
in
my
have been suffering dreadful agony
stomach ever
upon me,
and
proprietor took
name of
up a
bit of
the spirit,
it
and he went
this,
off,
is
The
cow-dung, moistened
it,
upon the man's forehead
and put some of
knot of hair on the top of

sooner done
the tree
spirit of
you only can pacify him.'
and made a mark with

in the
The
since.
his head.
than the man's pains
vowing never again
it
He
into the
had no
all left
him,
to give similar
cause of offence to one of these guardian
spirits/'
HAUNTED VILLAGES.
"
Men,"
said
my
same regulated
exclusively
293
old friend, " do not die there in the

spirit,
towards
whether a man's
after his death all
with their thoughts directed
God, as in other parts
spirit is to
and
haunt the world or not
depends on that."
294
CHAPTER XXXI.
INTERVIEW WITH THE RAJAH OF DUTEEA FISCAL ERRORS
OF STATESMEN THIEVES AND ROBBERS BY PROFESSION.
On
the 17th,
a dry and poor
we came
soil,
thinly
to Duteea, nine miles, over
and only
partially covering
a bed of brown and grey syenite, with veins of quartz
and
feldspar,
and here and there dykes of basalt, and
a few boulders scattered over the surface.
The
old
Rajah, Paureechut, on one elephant, and his cousin,
Duleep Sing, upon a second, and several of

relations
upon
others,
came out two miles
to
and splendid cortege.
meet
My
on in her palankeen very
and dust of
boy, Henry,
splendidly
all
early, to
at the
caparisoned,
with a very large
wife, as
this istakbal, or
went on
us,
their
usual,
had gone
avoid the crowd
meeting
same time
and
my
little
in the palan-
keen, having got a slight fever from too
much
ex-
posure to the sun in our slow and stately entrance

into Jansee.
armour
There were more men
in this cortege than in that of
in steel chain
Jansee
and
295
INTERVIEW WITH THE RAJAH OF DUTEEA.

though the elephants were not quite so
were just
numerous, while the crowd of foot
as
attendants was
still
and
handsome,
though, being
picturesque;
They were
greater.
individually
dresses,
we
that
we
soldiers
all
in
me
"with
to
having our
uniform dresses, according to their

to care
" Yes," said the old
matters.
our elephants,
much importance
while he seemed
corps,
not quite
I remarked to the
rode side by side on
attached
in fancy
collectively
soldiers,
all
pleasing to the eye of a soldier.
Rajah, as
every
man
little
about these
man, with a
They
clean."
smile,
pleases himself in his dress
and 1 care not what he wears, provided he

and
they
fine,
is
neat
formed a body more
certainly
picturesque, from being allowed individually to consult their
own
taste
dress
in
elephants
fancies in their dresses, for the native
generally very good.
is
came on abreast; and the Rajah and
conversed as freely as
converse.
careless
He
is
men
in
such situations can
apparently about
;
own dress as about

much more sensible and
his
and a
agreeable person than I expected

to learn from him, that
he had
and I was sorry
for twelve years
from an attack of sciatica on one
been
side,
which had deprived him of the use of one of

I
legs.
that
a stout, cheerful old gentleman, as
that of his soldiers
suffering
Our three
was obliged
might hunt
his
to consent to halt the next day,

in
his preserve
morning, and return his
visit
(rumna) in the
in the evening.
the Rajah's cortege there were several
In
men mounted
296
on excellent
who
horses,
upon them, and sang
and played
carried guitars,
in a very agreeable style.
had never before seen or heard of such a band and

;
was both surprised and pleased.
The great
part of the wheat, grain, and other ex-
portable land produce which the people consume, as

far as
we have
budda
districts,
upon them
yet
and
come,
is
drawn from our Ner-
those
of
Malwa which border
and par consequent, the price has been
we recede from them in our

advance northward. Were the soil of those Nerbudda
rapidly increasing as
districts, situated as
any great market
bad
as
over,
it is
they are at such a distance from
for
their agricultural products, as
in the parts
of Bundelcund that I
no net surplus revenue could possibly be drawn
from them in the present state of

try.
came
The high
prices paid here
and indus-
arts
land produce,
for
from the necessity of drawing a great part
arising
of what
is
consumed from such
distant lands, enables
the Rajahs of these Bundelcund states to draw the

large
revenue they do.
These
expend the
chiefs
whole of their revenue in the maintenance of public

establishments of one kind
or
other
essential articles of subsistence, wheat
which are produced in their own

immediately around them, are not
and
as
and grain, &c,
districts, or
territories.
All this produce
on the backs of bullocks, because there

from the
districts
those
sufficient for the
supply of these establishments, they must draw
from distant
the
whence they obtain
it,
is
is
them
brought
no road
over 'which
297
FISCAL ERRORS.
a wheeled carriage can be drawn with safety
mode
as this
of transit
when
of the produce,
which these
it
is
and
very expensive, the price
reaches the capitals, around
local establishments are concentrated,
They must pay a
becomes very high.
to the collective cost of purchasing
substance from the most distant
price equal
and bringing
districts, to
this
which
they are at any time obliged to have recourse for a

supply, or they will not be supplied
and as there
cannot be two prices for the same thing in the same

market, the wheat and grain produced in the neigh-
bourhood of one of these Bundelcund

as high a price there as that brought
remote
while
from
comparatively nothing to
costs
the
from the most
on the banks of the Nerbudda river
districts
it
capitals, fetch
former
lands to
lands, in consequence,
it
Such
markets.
the
yield a
bring
rate of rent
much
greater compared with their natural powers of fertility
than those of the remotest
duce
all
is
drawn
for these
districts
whence pro-
markets or capitals
and
as
the lands are the property of the Rajahs, they
draw
all
these rents as revenue.*
Were we to
now enjoy, in
take this revenue, which the Rajahs

tribute for the maintenance of public
concentrated
establishments
at
these local establishments would
once disbanded
and
all
distant
seats,
all
of course be at
the effectual
demand which
* Bundelcund exports to the Ganges a great quantity of cotton,
which enables
it
duce which
draws from distant
it
to
pay
for the wheat, grain,

districts.
and other land pro-
298
they afford
distant
raw
the
for
districts,
would
produce of
agricultural
The
cease.
price of this
produce would diminish in proportion
and with
it
the value of the lands of the districts around such
Hence the
capitals.
folly of
conquerors and para-
mount powers, from the days of the Greeks and

Romans down to those of Lord Hastings and Sir
John Malcolm, who were
all
bad
political economists,
supposing, that conquered and ceded territories could
always be
made
amount of
to yield to a foreign state the
same
gross revenue as they had paid to their
domestic government, whatever
.their
situation with
reference to the markets for their produce
the state of their arts and their industry
whatever
and what-
ever the character and extent of the local establish-
ments maintained out of

land revenue in
all
settlements of the
the territories acquired in central
the Mahratta war,
India during
made upon
1817, were
The
it.
the
which ended,
in
supposition, that the
lands would continue to pay the
same
rate of rent
under the new, as they had paid under the old

government, uninfluenced by the diminution of
local establishments,
civil
of what they had been
and
that,
all
tillage,
and be able to pay
before tillage
under the new order of
as high a rate of rent as
and, consequently, that the aggregate
available net revenue

!
military, to one-tenth
the waste lands must be brought into
things,
crease
all
must greatly and rapidly
in-
Those who had the making of the settlements,
and the governing of these new
territories, did
not
299
FISCAL ERRORS.
consider, that the diminution of every establishment
was the removal of a market

for land
produce
of an effectual
and that when
should be brought into
all
the waste lands
the whole would dete-
tillage,
from the want of
riorate in fertility,
demand
fallows,
under
the prevailing system of agriculture, which afforded
the lands no other means of renovation from over

cropping.
The settlements
of
the
revenue
land
which were made throughout our new acquisitions
upon these
During a
fallacious assumptions,
of course failed.
quinquennial
settlements, the
of
series
assessment has been everywhere gradually reduced
what
to about two-thirds of
began
and to
Malcolm, and
less
it
was when our rule
than one-half of what Sir John
the other local
all
authorities,
and
even the worthy Marquis of Hastings himself, under

the influence of their opinions, expected
The land revenues of the

central India, who reduced their
be.
ments, which the
new
order
it
would
native princes of
public establish-
of things seemed to
render useless, and thereby diminished their only
markets for the raw produce of their
been everywhere
lands,
have
same proportion
falling off in the
and scarcely one of them now draws two-thirds of

the income he drew from the same lands in 1817.
There are in the valley of the Nerbudda,

that yield a great deal
either
districts
more produce every year than
Orcha, Jansee, or Duteea
and
yet,
from
the want of the same domestic markets, they do not

yield one-fourth of the
amount of land revenue. The
300
lands are, however, rated equally high to the assess-
ment, in proportion to their value to the farmers and

cultivators.
To enable them
to yield a larger re-
venue to government, they require
have larger
to
establishments as markets for land produce.
These
may be either public, and paid by gothey may be private, as manufactories,
establishments
vernment, or
by which the land produce of these
consumed by people
be
would
districts
employed
in
investing
the value of their labour in commodities suited to

the
demand
more valuable
of distant markets, and
than land produce in proportion to their weight and
These are the establishments which govern-
bulk.
ment should exert
itself
to introduce
since the valley of the Nerbudda,
exceedingly
soil
its
source to
its
fertile,
has in
foster,
addition to a
in
whole
its
and
from
line,
embouchure, rich beds of coal re-
posing for the use of future generations, under the

sand-stone of the Sathpore and Vindhya ranges
beds no
less rich of
very fine iron.
and
These advantages
have not yet been justly appreciated
but they will
be so by-and-bye.
About
half-past four in the afternoon
we reached Duteea, I had

who came in his palankeen,
a visit from the Rajah,
with a very respectable,
but not very numerous or noisy train

with
me
about an hour.
of the day
My
and he
sat
large tents were both
pitched parallel to each other, about twenty paces

distant,
and united to each other
at both ends
separate kanats, or cloth curtains.
My
little
by
boy
301
GIGANTIC PALACE.
was present, and behaved extremely well

refusing, without
in steadily
even a look from me, a handful of
gold mohurs, which the Rajah pressed several times
upon
my tent,
as
him
I received
his acceptance.
and supported him upon
at the door of
my arm to his
he cannot walk without some
slight assistance,
from the affection already mentioned in

salute
from the guns of
parture and return to
tenant
Thomas and
his castle
chair,
his leg.
announced
his de-
After the audience, Lieu-
it.
I ascended to the
summit of a
the former Rajahs of this state, which
palace of
stands upon a high rock close inside the eastern
gate of the
the city a
city,
still
whence we could
the west of
see, to
handsomer palace standing.
larger and
why
I asked our conductors, the Rajah's servants,

"
was unoccupied.
No
it
prince of these degenerate
days," said they, " could
muster a family and court
worthy of such a palace
the
family and court of
the largest of them would, within the walls of such
a building, feel as
palaces were
were quite
made
if
they were in a desert
Such
for princes of the older times,
different beings
who
from those of the present
days."
From
the deserted palace,
garden which
is
we went
the southern wall of the
and well managed.
The
city,
and
is
It
is
close to
very extensive
orange-trees are
and sinking under the weight of

India.
new
preparing for the young Rajah, an
adopted son of about ten years of age.
in
to the
all grafted,
as fine fruit as
any
Attempting to ascend the steps of an
302
empty bungalow, upon a raised terrace at the southern

extremity of the garden, the attendants told us rethat they
spectfully,
shoes
if
we wished
whom
Rajah, by
hoped we would take
built,
Ram
Chund, had
become a god, and was there worshipped

is
hand or
it
This
trident.
owed
stance of
pillars.
upon a ground of whitewash,
pillar,
some one having vowed an
builder, if
most desired
and, having obtained
who do
it,
circum-
offering to the
he obtained what
manes of the
believe that those
is
and I found
this character of sanctity to the
On
the only sign of a sacred
is
character the building has yet assumed

that
lately
The roof
of stone, supported on carved stone
the centre
our
to enter, as the ancestor of the
was
it
off
all
his soul
the people
the same at the same
place, in a pure spirit of faith, will obtain
what they
pray for
I
made some
inquiries about
son of Birsingdes,
who
Hurdoul Lala, the
built the fort of
Dhumoree,
one of the ancestors of the Duteah Rajah, and found

that he was as
place,
as
much worshipped
upon the banks of the Nerbudda,
supposed great originator
There
much
is
here, at his birth-
at
of the cholera morbus.
Duteea a temple dedicated
frequented
as the
to him,
and one of the priests brought
and
me
a flower in his name, and chanted something indicating that Hurdoul Lala was
now worshipped even so
of Calcutta ! I asked the

old prince what he thought of the origin of the wor-
far as the British capital
ship of this his ancestor
and he told me,
" that
TOWN OF DUTEEA.
when
the cholera broke out
first
in the
303
camp
of Lord
Hastings, then pitched about three stages from his

capital,
on the bank of the Sinde, at Chandpore Sopeople recovered from the disease im-
nari, several
mediately after making votive offerings in his
and that he
really
thought the
spirit
name
of his great-
grandfather had worked some wonderful cures upon
people afflicted with this dreadful malady
The town
tween
of Duteea contains a population of be-
and
forty
are narrow
allows every
There
in
thousand
man
Many
blishments with them
chiefs
own inclinations.
many excellent houses
this
is
alto-
and have
all
their esta-
practice which does not, I
anywhere
and
Rajah
of his feudatory chiefs re-
side occasionally in the city,
believe, prevail
streets
to consult his
and the appearance of the place
gether very good.
cund
The
souls.
as in dress, the
for in buildings,
however, a great
are,
Duteea
fifty
else
among
makes the
these Bundel-
capital
much larger*
handsomer, and more populous than that of Tehree.

This indicates more of mutual confidence between
the chief and his vassals, and accords well with the
character they bear in the surrounding countries.
Some
of the houses occupied by these barons are
very pretty.
They spend the revenue of their
distant
and embellishing the
capital,
estates in adorning them,
which they certainly could not have ventured to do

under the
Rajahs of Tehree, and
may
not pos-
be able to do under the future Rajahs of Du-
sibly
teea
late
The present minister of Duteea, Gunesh,
is
304
a very great knave, and encourages the residence
upon
his master's
robbers,
who
estate of all kinds of thieves
and
bring back from distant districts every
season vast quantities of booty, which they share
with him.
The
chief himself
man, who would not

any of
his nobles,
is
a mild old gentle-
be offered to
suffer violence to
though he would not, perhaps,
quarrel with his minister for getting for
him a
little
addition to his revenue from without, by affording
As
a sanctuary to such kind of people.
in
Tehree,
so here, the pickpockets constitute the entire population
of several villages, and carry their depreda-
northward to the banks of the Indus, and south-
tions
ward
to
Bombay and Madras.
But
colonies
of
thieves and robbers like these, abound no less in our
own
are
territories
than in those of native states
more than a thousand
districts of Mozuffeernugur,
Dooab,
in the upper
local
authorities,
They extend
tricts,
all
of
families
them
there
in the
Saharunpore, andMeerut,
well enough
known
to the
who can do nothing with them.
their depredations
into
remote
dis-
and the booty they bring home with them they
share liberally with the native police and landholders
under whose protection they
and police
officers
make
Many
landholders
large fortunes
share they get of this booty.

tricts
live.
from the
Magistrates in our dis-
do not molest them, because they would despair
of ever finding the proprietors of the property that
might be found upon them
and
if
they could trace
them, they would never be able to persuade them to
ROBBERS AND GODS.
come and
" enter
in prosecuting
305
upon a worse than sea of
them.
troubles,"
These thieves and robbers of
the professional classes,
who have
the sagacity to
avoid plundering near home, are always just as secure

in our best regulated districts, as they are in the worst
native states, from the only three things which such
depredators care about
the penal
laws, the
odium
of the society in which they move, and the vengeance

of the god they worship
and they are always well
received in the society around them, as long as they
can avoid having their neighbours annoyed by sum-
monses
to give evidence for or against
They
courts.
feel quite sure of the
them
good
god they worship, provided they give a

of their booty to his priests
and no
less
in our
will of the
fair
share
secure of
impunity from penal laws, except on the very rare

occasions
fact, in
when they happen
to
be taken in the
a country where such laws happen to be in
force
vol.
i.
30G
CHAPTER XXXII.
SPORTING AT DUTEEA
CHIEFS
FIDELITY OF FOLLOWERS TO THEIR
LAW OF PRIMOGENITURE WANTING

AMONG MAHOMEDANS.
IN
INDIA
The morning
out
we reached Duteea, I went

with Lieutenant Thomas to shoot and hunt in
after
the Rajah's large preserve
and with the humane and
determined resolution of killing no more game than

our camp would be likely to eat
for
we were
that the deer and wild hogs were so very
that
we might
We
were posted upon two terraces
shoot just as
many
as
numerous
we
one
told
pleased.
near the
gateway, and the other in the centre of the preserve
and
after waiting here
a hog.
an hour we got each a shot at
Hares we saw, and might have shot
we had
loaded
game.
We left
all
but
our barrels with ball for higher
the
Rumna, which
is
a quadrangle of
about one hundred acres of thick grass, shrubs, and
brushwood, enclosed by a high stone wall.
one gate on the west
side,
and
this is
There
is
kept open
307
SPORTING.
game out and in. It is

and guarded during the day, when the animals
during the night, to

shut
let
the
are left to repose in the shade, except on such occasions as the present,
when
the Rajah wants to give
On
a morning's sport.
his guests
the plains and
woods outside we saw a good many large
deer, but
could not manage to get near them in our
own way,
and had not patience to try that of the
we came back without
killing
natives, so that
or having
anything,
The
had any occasion to exercise our forbearance.

Rajah's people, as soon as
their sport after their
buck antelope
we
left
them, went about
own fashion, and brought
after breakfast.
us a fine
They have a bullock
trained to go about the fields with them, led at a
quick pace by a halter, with which the sportsman

guides
him
as he walks along with
opposite to that facing the deer he
him by the
is
side
in pursuit
of.
He
goes round and round the deer as he grazes in
the
field,
shortening his distance at every circle
he comes within
lock stands
upon
his
still
back and
go with a
fine
and the sportsman

fires.
They seldom
upon the
rests his
gun
Others
miss.
fresh bushes,
for the occasion into a
behind which a
signal given the bul-
buck and doe antelope, tame, and
trained to browze
woven
At the
shot.
till
man
which are
kind of hand-hurdle,
creeps along over the fields to-
wards the herd of wild ones, or
sits
still
with his
matchlock ready and pointed out through the leaves.
The
herd, seeing the
male and female strangers so
very busily and agreeably employed upon their ap-
x2
308
parently inviting repast, advance to accost them, and
when they get within
are shot
hurdle was
with branches
filled
(Ly thrum fructuosum)

for
tree, of
from the
which the jungle
most part composed, plucked
fche
The
dhow
a secure distance.
is
we went
as
along; and the tame antelopes, having been kept
long fasting for the purpose, fed eagerly upon them.
We had
two
also
pairs of falcons
but a knowledge
of the brutal manner in which these birds are fed
and taught,
is
enough to prevent any but a
from taking much delight in the sport they
The
officer
who conducted
brute
afford.
us was evidentlv
much
disappointed, for he was really very anxious, as he
knew
his
master the Rajah was, that
a good day's sport.

ride
by
my
side,
On
our way back I
if
he had any soul
in palaces
and temples,"
you,
mouldering in
"
ruins,
The noble works
"which you see around

were
in battle
hover over and protect the
times, under the late disorders
paramount rule
I got
knew would animate
he had.
said he,
who had beaten emperors

still
since
at all for poetry or poetical
recollections, as I thought
sir,
made him
me about Duteea,
show me any sport.
thoughts into a train that I
him,
should have
and talk to
he had been unable to

his
we
in Hindoostan,
built
by princes
and whose
place.
spirits
Several
which preceded your
when
hostile forces
assembled around us and threatened our capital with

destruction, lights
and elephants innumerable were
seen from the tops of those battlements, passing and

repassing under the walls, ready to defend them, had
FEUDAL FIDELITY.
309
Whenever our
soldiers endeavoured to approach near them they disappeared and everybody knew that they were spirits
of men like Birsing Deo and Hurdoul Lala that had
come to our aid, and we never lost confidence !"
enemy attempted an
the
assault.
It
is
easy to understand the devotion of
chiefs,
men
to their
when they believe their progenitorsto have been
demigods, and to have been faithfully served by their
We
ancestors for several generations.
neither have,
nor ever can have, servants so personally devoted to

us as these
who
soldiers
as
men
we have
are to their chiefs, though
under
our banners with
fidelity.
They know that
fight
will
much courage and
their grandfathers served the grandfathers of these

chiefs,
and they hope their grandchildren
The one
their grandsons.
feels as
much
will serve
pride and
pleasure in so serving, as the other in being so served
and both hope that the link which binds them may
never be severed.
Our
private and public,
are always in dread that
accident
some
trivial fault,
not to be avoided
on the contrary,
servants,
or
some
some
slight offence,
will sever for ever the link that
them to their master.

The fidelity of the military
binds
classes of the people of
India to their immediate chief, or leader, whose

they eat, has
monly bears
been always very remarkable, and comlittle
or conduct towards
it
is
tects
salt
their duty
them and
to
reference
to
his
his superiors.
serve
him who
their families,
in
moral
They
virtues,
feel
that
feeds and pro-
all situations,
and
310
under
circumstances
all
and the chief
while he has a right to their services,

rative duty so to feed
families.
He may
feels,
it is
his
that
impe-
and protect them and their
change
sides as often as
he pleases,
but the relations between him and his followers re-
main unchanged.
About the
side
he chooses to take
in a contest for dominion, they ask

feel
in
no
God
responsibility.
dependence upon
the
his
no questions, and
has placed their destinies
and to him they cling to
In Malwa, Bhopal, and other parts of cen-
last.
the
tral India,
Mahomedan
rule could be established
over that of the Rajpoot chiefs, only by the entire

annihilation of the race of their followers. In
no part
of the world has the devotion of soldiers to their im-
mediate
among
chief,
been more remarkable than in India
the Rajpoots
and in no part of the world has
the fidelity of these chiefs to the paramount power
been more unsteady, or their devotion
The laws
lied upon.
of
less to
Mahomed, which
be
re-
prescribe
that the property in land shall be divided equally
among
the sons, leaves no rule for succession to ter-
ritorial or political
served by
Hume
dominion.
The
"
hurtful,
been justly ob-
right of primogeniture
introduced with the feudal law

is
It has
was
an institution which
by producing and maintaining an unequal
division of property
but
it is
advantageous in ano-
ther respect, by accustoming the people to a preference in favour of
the eldest son, and thereby
preventing a partition or disputed succession in the
monarchy."
311
PRIMOGENITURE.
Among
that
the
Mahomedan
princes there was no law
bound the whole members of a family
to
obey
Every son of
the eldest son of a deceased prince.
the Emperor of Hindoostan considered that he had
a right to set up his claim to the throne, vacated by

the death of his father; and, in anticipation of that
means of
death, to strengthen his
establishing such
claim by negociations and intrigues with

ritorial chiefs
However
and
all
the ter-
influential nobles of the empire.
prejudicial to
the
interests
of his
elder
brothers such measures might be, they were never
considered to be an invasion of his
rights,
because
such rights had never been established by the laws
As
of their prophet.
the sons considered that
all
they had an equal right to

chiefs
and nobles,
solicit
the support of the
so all the chiefs
and nobles
consi-
dered that they could adopt the cause of whichever

son they chose, without incurring the reproach of
either treason or dishonour.
The one w ho succeeded

T
thought himself justified by the law of self-preservation, to put,
to death
sion,
not only his brothers, but
an entire clearance of
dantic tutor,
new succesmale members of
all
the
Ourungzebe
who wished
said to his pe-
to be raised to high station
his accession to the imperial throne, "
Should not
you, instead of your flattery, have taught
what of that point
so important to a king,
me
and those of the subjects to
some-
which
what are the reciprocal duties of a sovereign

subjects,
sons
so that there was, after every
the imperial family
on
all their
is,
to his
their sovereign
312
And
ought not you to have considered, that one day
I should be obliged, with the sword, to dispute

life
and the crown with
the destiny almost of
Now that
all
my
brothers
my
Is not that
?" #
the sons of Hindoostan
they have become pensioners of the British
government, the members increase like white ants

and, as Malthus has
means of
it,
" press so hard against their
subsistence," that a great
many
of
them are
absolutely starving, in spite of the enormous pension the head of the family receives for their main-
tenance
The
city of
Duteea
is
surrounded by a stone wall
about thirty feet high, with

rock
little
but
it
has no ditch or
its
foundation on a solid
glacis,
and
is
capable of
or no defence against cannon. In the afternoon
I went, accompanied by Lieutenant Thomas, and
fol-
lowed by the best cortege we could muster, to return

the Rajah's
visit.
He
resides within the walls of the
city in a large square garden,
and
wall,
filled
enclosed with a high
with fine orange
trees,
at this time
bending under the weight of the most delicious
The
old chief received us at the
flight
built
It
bottom of a
fruit.
fine
of steps leading up to a handsome pavilion,
upon the wall of one of the
was enclosed
at the back,
faces of this garden.
and in front looked into
the garden through open arcades.
The
floors
were
spread with handsome carpets of the Jansee manufacture.
In front of the pavilion was a wide terrace
of polished stone, extending to the top of the flight

* Bernier's Revolution of the
Mogul Empire.
313
CITY OF DUTEEA.
of steps
and
in the centre of this terrace,
we looked
opposite to us, as
was a
and with
off the rich
out into the garden,
d'eau in a large basin of water in
fine jet
full play,
and directly
shower of diamonds, showing
its
green and red of the orange trees to the
best advantage.
The
large quadrangle
killah or fort,
corner.
On
is
and the wall that surrounds
called the
it is
thirty
a round embattled tower at each
high, with
feet
thus occupied
the east face
is
a fine large gateway for
the entrance, with a curtain as high as the wall

Inside the gate
is
a piece of ordnance painted red,
with the largest calibre I ever saw.
once a year, at the

arrival at the wall
some
brass
fine
festival
This
is
fired
Our
of the Dusecra.
was announced by a salute from

guns upon the bastions near the
As we advanced from
gateway.
itself.
the gateway up
through the garden to the pavilion,
we were
again
serenaded by our friends with their guitars and excellent voices.
They were now on
foot,
along both sides of the walk that

through.
and arranged
we had
to pass
The open garden space within the
appeared to
me
and recrossed
to be about ten acres.
at right
It
is
walls
crossed
angles by numerous walks,
having rows of plantain and other fruit-trees on each

side
and orange, pomegranate, and other small
trees to
rich
fill
the space between
fruit
and anything more
and luxuriant one can hardly conceive.
In the
centre of the north and west sides are pavilions with
apartments for the family above, behind, and on each
314
side of the great reception room, exactly similar to
that in which
we were
The whole formed,
received on the south face.
I think, the most delightful re-
sidence that I have seen, for a hot climate.

is,
There
however, no doubt that the most healthy stations
and every other hot climate, are those situated
in this,
upon
dry, open,
sandy plains, with neither shrub-
beries nor basins.
We
were introduced to the young Rajah, the old
man's adopted son, a lad of about ten years of age,
who
to
is
He
be married in February next.
is
plain
in person, but has a pleasing expression of coun-
tenance
and
and not
if
he be moulded
accident'''
man
than the Rajah, and
We had
speak well of him.
man
to
keep them
may
perhaps
all
more preposhis
subjects
an elephant, a horse,
abundance of shawls, and other

before us as presents
old man,
of a good go-
I have rarely seen a finer or
vernor.*
sessing
the country
after his minister,
have in him the " lucky
after the
fine clothes placed
but I prayed the old gentle-
all for
me
till
I returned, as I
was a mere voyageur without the means of carrying

* This lad has since succeeded his adoptive father as the chief
of the Doteea principality.
The
old chief found
him one day
lying in the grass, as he was shooting through one of his pre-
His elephant was very near treading upon the infant be-
serves.
fore
he saw
son,
own.
it.
He
brought home the boy, adopted him as his
and declared him
The
seemed
his successor,
from having no son of his
British government, finding that the people generally
to acquiesce in the old
sure as the paramount power.
man's wishes, sanctioned the mea-
HINDOO FLATTERY.
such valuable things in safety
satisfied
and two
which Lieutenant Thomas and I pro-
mised to keep
were
all
hilts of swords,
the manufacture of Duteea, and of
spears,
value,
little
but he would not be
had taken two plain
till
315
The
for his sake.
rest of the presents
taken back to their places.
talk with the old
man and
After an hour s
ottar of
his ministers,
and pawn were distributed, and we took our
roses
leave to go and visit the old palace, which, as yet,
There were only two
had seen only from a distance.
men
beside the Rajah, his son, and ourselves, seated
upon
All the other principal persons of the
chairs.
court sat around cross-legged on the carpet
they
joined
freely
in
the
conversation.
had, during the day,
happiness of seeing
my
but
was
came
honour and
asked when he would have the
me
and the old chief was
how many good
hearing,
since I
tilings
my
This
credit.
of sense,
and offensive
that they
we
are
doomed
all
for
it
but
still,
he can hardly ever help feeling
could venture to treat him with

to put too harsh a construction
mean
to submit
never ceases to be distressing
must think him a mere
the people
said
a species of bare-
is
in our intercourse with these native chiefs
man
had
told,
into his territories, all tending to his
faced flattery, to which
to a
by these courtiers how often the young chief
told
in
we
it.
child before they
This
is,
upon what,
only as civility
however,
in reality,
and they who can
so easily consider the grandfathers of their chiefs as
gods,
and worship them
as
such,
may be
suffered to
316
treat us as heroes
offence
We
and sayers of good things without
ascended to the summit of the old palace, and
were well repaid
by the view of an
for the trouble
extremely rich sheet of wheat, grain, and other spring

crops, extending to the north
and
the
east, as far as
eye could reach, from the dark belt of
three
forest,
miles deep, with which the Rajah has surrounded

his capital
on every
side,
as hunting grounds
The
lands comprised in this forest are, for the most part,
exceedingly poor, and water for irrigation

tainable within them, so that
little
lost
is
unat-
is
by
this
taste of the chief for the sports of the field, in which,
however, he cannot himself
On
the 19th
we
left
now
indulge.
Duteea, and after emerging
from the surrounding forest came over a
fine plain
covered with rich spring crops for ten miles,

entered
among
till
we
the ravines of the river Scinde, whose
banks are like those of
all rivers in this
part of India,
bordered to a great distance by these deep and ugly

inequalities.
Here they are almost without
grass or
shrubs to clothe their hideous nakedness, and have
been formed by the torrents which, in the season of

the rains, rush from the extensive plain as from a
wide ocean, down to the deep channel of the river in
narrow streams.
through the
soft
These streams cut their way

alluvial soil,
easily
which must once have
On coming
formed the bed of a vast
lake.
the
we
discovered our error of
we found
excellent deer shooting
forest,
before sunrise,
the day before, for
through
WHOLESALE SPORT.
and brushwood which grow luxu-
in the long grass
some distance from the
riantly at
come out a couple

have had noble
sport,
nimously resolved to
;
for
city.
of miles the day before,
and
Had we
we might
really required the for-
bearance and humanity, to which
sportsmen
317
sacrifice
we saw many
we had
so
our " pride of
magnaart," as
herds of the neelgae,
antelope, and spotted deer, browsing within a few
paces of us, within the long grass and brushwood on
both sides of the road.

ever, to indulge in
before us.
much
We
sport,
could not stay, how-
having a long march
318
CHAPTER XXXIII.
BHOOMEEAWUT.
Though, no
doubt, very familiar to our ancestors
during the middle ages, this
understood
little
Bhoomeeawut,
in
Europe
in
When
at the
Bundelcund,
fight for landed inheritance,
earth, &c.
a thing happily but
is
member
signifies
war or
proprietor.
of the landed aristocracy,
matter however small, has a dispute with his
he
collects his
war upon
towns and
till
he
is
followers,,
and
no
ruler,
levies indiscriminate
his territories, plundering

villages,
day.
from Bhoom, the land,
Bhoomeea, a landed
present
and burning
his
and murdering their inhabitants,
invited back
upon
this war, it is a point of
his
own
During
terms.
honour not to allow a single
acre of land to be tilled upon the estate which he
has deserted, or from which he has been driven
he
will
murder any man who attempts
plough in
The
it,
smallest
together with
member
all his family,
to
if
and
drive a
he can.
of this landed aristocracy of
BHOOMEEAWUT.
the Hindoo military
class, will
319
often cause a terrible
devastation during the interval that he
Bhoomeeawut
in his
engaged
is
for there are always vast
bers of loose characters floating
num-
upon the surface of
Indian society, ready to " gird up their loins" and

use their sharp swords in the service of marauders of
this
kind,
that
of
when they cannot get employment

the
constituted
of
authorities
in
govern-
ment.
Such a marauder has generally the sympathy of

nearly
who
all
the
members
of his
own
are apt to think that his case
their own.
He
the interests of
and
class
clan,
may one day be
thus looked upon as contending for
is
all
and
if his
chief happens to be on
bad terms with other chiefs in the neighbourhood, the

latter will
cause,
hills
clandestinely support the outlaw and his
by giving him and
his followers shelter in their
and jungles, and concealing their families and
stolen property in their castles.

India,
and in the
less settled parts
one, that " one Pindara or robber
that
is,
It
where one robber, by a
of
is
it
maxim
in
a very true
;"
makes a hundred
series
of atrocious
murders and robberies, frightens the people into nonresistance,
a hundred loose characters from
among
the peasantry of the country will take advantage of

the occasion, and adopt his name, in order to plunder
with the smallest possible degree of personal risk to

themselves.
Some
magistrates and local rulers, under such
cir-
cumstances, have very unwisely adopted the measure
320
of prohibiting the people from carrying or having
arms in their houses, the very thing which, above

others,
such robbers most wish
not,
the innocent only, and the friends to order,
obey the command.
The robber
that
it is
who
will
will always
be able
keep with them out of the
to conceal his arms, or
reach of the magistrate
know,
for they
though such magistrates and rulers do
all
and he
is
now relieved
alto-
gether from the salutary dread of a shot from a door
He may
or window.
like a gentleman,
rob at his leisure, or
and have
all
sit
down
that the people of the
surrounding towns and villages possess brought to

him, for no
man
can any longer attempt to defend
himself or his family.
Weak governments
are obliged soon to invite back
own
terms, for the people can pay
the robber on his
them no revenue, being prevented from

their lands,
robbers,
and obliged to give
all
cultivating
they have to the
or submit to be plundered of
it.
Jansee
and Jhalone are exceedingly weak governments, from

having their territories
studded with estates held
rent-free or at a quit-rent,
by Powar, Bondela, and
Dhundele barons, who have always the sympathy of

the numerous chiefs and their barons of the same
clans around.
In the year 1832, the Powar barons, of the estates

of Nonnere, Signee, Odegow, and Belchree, in Jansee,
and
as
had some cause of

this
dissatisfaction with their chief,
they presented to Lord William Bentinck
he passed
through the province in December.
321
BHOOMEEAWUT.
His lordship told them, that these were questions of

internal administration
which they must
settle
among
themselves, as the supreme government would not inter-
They had
fere.
disputes,
therefore only one
and that was to
meeawut, and
cry, "
way of settling such
raise the standard of
To your
BhooThis
Israel."
tents,
and though the Jansee chief had a
mili-
tary force of twelve thousand men, they burnt
down
they did
every town and village in the territory that did not
come
into their terms,
of only two
and the chief had possession
Jansee, the
and the large com-
capital,
Mow, when the Bondela Rajahs of

Orcha and Duteea, who had hitherto clandestinely
mercial town of
supported the insurgents, consented to become the
arbitrators.
barons got
all
suspension of
arms followed, the
they demanded, and the Bhoomeeawut
ceased.
But the Jansee
lent large
sums
chief,
who had
hitherto
to the other chiefs in the province,
was reduced to the necessity of borrowing from them

all,
and from Gwalior, and mortgaging to them a
good portion of
Gwalior
portion of
his lands.
is itself
its
weak
in the
same way.
lands are held by barons of the
military classes,
equally addicted to
and one or more of them
is
great
Hindoo
Bhoomeeawut,
always engaged in this
kind of indiscriminate warfare
and
it
must be con-
fessed, that unless
they are always considered to be
ready to engage in
it,
they have very
little
chance of
retaining their possessions on moderate terms,
VOL.
I.
for
322
these
weak governments are generally the most

when they have it in their power.
cious
rapa-
good deal of the lands of the Mahomedan
vereign of
Oude
same manner, held by
are, in the
barons of the Rajpoot tribe
almost always in the
and some of them are
engaged in the same kind
field
of warfare against their sovereign.
pursues
it
back upon
with vigour
is
The baron who
almost sure to be invited
own terms very
his
soon.
If his lands
are worth a hundred thousand a year, he will
them for ten and have this remitted

;
years,
till
for the
get
next
five
ready for another Bhoomeeawut, on the
ground of the
which
so-
injuries sustained during the last,
his estate has
from
The baron who
to recover.
is
peaceable and obedient soon gets rack-rented out of
and reduced to beggary.
his estate,
my
In 1818, some companies of

for several months,
Bhoomeeawutee of
He
gur,
employed
this
Oude, after a young
in
Sew Ruttun
kind,
Sing.
was the nephew and heir of the Rajah of Pertab-
who wished
to exclude
him from
by the adoption of a brother of
Sew Ruttun had

and
regiment were,
that
if
He
bride.
the governor of
invita-
ceremony of adoption.
He
he acquiesced any longer he would
lose his inheritance,

Israel."
till
Gholam Hoseyn, accepted an
tion to be present at the
knew
young
a small village for his maintenance,
said nothing to his old uncle
the province,
his
his inheritance
and
cried,
"
To your
tents,
got a small band of three hundred
323
BHOOMEEAWUT.
Rajpoots, with nothing but their swords, shields,
spears, to follow him, all of the
men.
They were bivouacked
same
elan,
and
and true
in a jungle not
more
than seven miles from our cantonments at Pertabgur,
when Gholam Hoseyn marched
to attack
them
with three regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and
two nine-pounders.
He
thought he should surprise
them, and contrived so that he should come upon
them about daybreak.
He
plans.
in
placed one hundred and
ambuscade
fifty
they had got well
rushed upon the

front.
rear,
by him
in,
men
and kept
the centre.
ambush
them
while he attacked
in
After a short resistance, Gholam Hoseyn's
field,
he bribed
hundred men dead
and their two guns behind them. Gholam
Hoseyn was
so
all
ashamed of the drubbing he
to court, and he never
got, that
the news writers, within twenty miles
of the place, to say nothing about
self.
in
all his
of his
the party in
force took to flight, leaving five
on the
fifty
at the entrance of the jungle,
the other hundred and
When
Sew Ruttun knew
detachment of
made any
my
it
in their reports
report of
it
him-
regiment passed over the
dead bodies in the course of the day, on their return

to cantonments
from
detached command,
or
known nothing about it. It is true,

firing, but that we heard every day
and
should have
heard the
we
we
have seen from

flames, at the
my bungalow
half a dozen villages in
same time, from
this species of contest
between the Rajpoot landholders and the govern-
Y 2
324
ment
full
Our cantonments were generally
authorities.
of the
women and
who had been burnt
children
out of house and home.
In Oude such contests generally begin with the

harvests.
During the season of
tillage all is quiet
but when the crops begin to ripen, the governor

begins to rise in his demands for revenue
and the
Rajpoot landholders and cultivators to sharpen their
One hundred
swords and burnish their spears.
them always consider themselves a match

thousand of the kings troops in a
they have
all
one heart and
fair field,
for
of
one
because
while the king's
soul,
troops have many.
While the Powars were ravaging

state with their
Jansee
Bhoomeeawut, a merchant of Saugor
had a large convoy of valuable
cloths, to the
I think, of
forty thousand rupees,
them on
way from Mirzapore
its
the
amount,
intercepted by
to Rajpootannah.
I was then at Saugor, and wrote off to the insurgents

to say that they
had mistaken one of our subjects
one of the Jansee

convoy.
was
lost.
They
This
did
chiefs,
so,
and
must
his subjects
release the
and not a piece of the cloth
Bhoomeeawut
is
supposed to have
cost the Jansee chief above twenty lacs
and
for
of rupees,
double that sum.
Gopaul Sing, a Bondela, who had been

vice of the chief of Punna, took to
in the ser-
Bhoomeeawut,
in
1809, and kept a large British force employed in

pursuit through Bundelcund and the Saugor territo-
325
BHOOMEEAWUT.
for three years,
ries
till
he was invited back by our
government, in the year 1812, by the
on the banks of the Dussan
estate
twenty thousand rupees a

enjoys,
many
and which
of
whom
will,
is
year,
yielding
river,
which
a fine
gift of
his
son
now
descend to his posterity,
to
no doubt, animated by their
for-
tunate ancestors example, take to the same trade.
He
had been a
trade, but
by
man
of no note
till
and when I came to
much
the country no other man's chivalry was so
talked
this
he soon became
his predatory exploits
celebrated throughout India
he took to
off.
Bondela, or other landholder of the Hindoo
military class, does not think himself, nor
deed thought by
others,
respectable for having
he
is
in-
in the slightest degree less
waged
this indiscriminate
war
upon the innocent and unoffending, provided he has

any cause of
is,
dissatisfaction with his liege lord
that
provided he cannot get his lands or his appoint-
ment
in his service
others of the
same
his
class
and clan
interested in his success.
of land, or of
does
field
him
office, is
They
feel
because
more
feel that their
all
or less
tenure
improved by the mischief he
because every peasant he murders, and every
he throws out of
in his
own terms
upon
most tender
tillage,
affects their liege lord
point, his treasury
and indisposes
to interfere with their salaries, their privileges,
or their rents.
He who
wages
this
war goes on mar-
rying his sisters or his daughters to the other barons

or landholders of the
same
clan,
and receiving
theirs
326
in marriage during the
nothing at
if
all
whole of
his
Bhoomeeawut, as
extraordinary had happened, and
game he
thereby strengthening his hand at the
is
playing.
Omrow
Sing, of Jaklone, in Chunderee, a district
of Gwalior, bordering upon Saugor, has been at this
game
for
more than
fifteen vears
out of the last
among the
baronial families
twenty, but his alliances
around have not been in the slightest degree affected
by
it.
made
His sons and
grandsons have, perhaps,
his
better matches than they might, had the old
man been
at peace with all the world,
time that he has been desolating one

atrocities,
aud demoralizing
all
during the
district
those around
by
his
it
by
example, and by inviting the youth to join him
his
occasionally in his murderous enterprises.
age nor sex
and
villages
pride
and
is
;
Neither
respected in their attacks upon towns
and no Mahomedan can take more
pleasure
monstrous idol
in
than
maiming an innocent
defacing idols
the
most
Bhoomeeawutee takes
peasant,
who presumes
in
to drive
plough in lands that he chooses to put under the
his
ban.
In the kingdom of Oude
this
Bhoomeeawut
is
kind of nursery for our native army, for the sons of
Rajpoot yeomen, who have been trained in

all
it,
are
exceedingly anxious to enlist in our native in-
fantry regiments, having no dislike to their drill or

their uniform.
The same
cund and the Gwalior
class of
state,
men
Bundel-
in
have a great horror of

8
327
BHOOMEEAWUT.
the
and uniform of our regular infantry
drill
and
nothing can induce them to enlist in our ranks.
Both are equally

salt
that
the
is,
brave,
than the Bondela.
our
all
faithful to their
who employs them but

much more tameable amiable
to the person
Oude Rajpoot
have
and equally
is
In Oude,
this class
of people
inherited from their fathers a respect for
rule,
and a love for our service.
In Bundelcund
they have not yet become reconciled to our service
and they
still
look upon our rule as interfering a
good deal too much with their sporting propensities.
328
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE SUiciDE
RELATIONS BE1WEEN PARENTS AND
CHILDREN IN INDIA.
The day
we
before
Duteea, our cook had a
left
violent dispute with his mother,

daily occurrence
some
for
old lady, she
a thing of almost
though a very
fat
and hand-
He
was a very violent one.
was
a quiet man, but unable to bear any longer the abuse
she was heaping upon him, he

of water and flung
it
life,
struck her.
She quietly took up
took up a pitcher
at her head.
and he then snatched up a

time in his
first
all
It missed her,
stick, and, for
He was
her things
the
first
her only son.
and walking
off
towards a temple, said she would leave him for ever
and he having passed the rubicon declared, that he
was resolved no longer to submit to the parental

tyranny, which she had hitherto exercised over him.
My
water
much
carrier,
however, prevailed upon her with
difficulty to return,
with him and his wife and

tent
we had given them.
and take up her quarters

five children in a
Maddened
small
at the thought
THE
329
SUICIDE.
of a blow from her only son, the old lady about sunset
swallowed a large quantity of opium
the circumstance was discovered,
We
apply a remedy.
and before
was too
it
were told of
late to
about eight
it
o'clock at night, and found her lying in her son's
arms
tried
success,
remedy
every
hand,
at
and about midnight she
her son, and he respected her
without
but
She loved
died.
and yet not a day
passed without their having some desperate quarrel,

generally about the orphan daughter of her brother,
who
lived with them,
cook could
as the
and was
money
stolen
ant
fast
always reproaching him
enough.
This
and the old lady thought
for his
it
likewise thought
admonitions to those of
his
mother
not saving
for
cousin had
little
some of the cook's tobacco
The cook
her.
money enough
The old
the ceremonies.
save, out of his pay,
to defray the expenses of
woman was
to be married as soon
young assist-
right to
it
;
admonish
right to
add
his
but the old lady
would have her niece abused by nobody but

and she flew into a violent passion
now
at his
herself,
presuming
This led to the son's outrage, and the
to interfere.
The son
mother's suicide.
is
a mild, good-tempered
young man, who bears an excellent character among

his
equals
been
less
and
mild
is
it
Had he
a very good servant.
had perhaps been better
for his
mother would by degrees have given up that despotic
sway over her
child,
which in infancy
in youth useful, but in

"
God
is
manhood becomes
necessary,
intolerable.
defend us from the anger of the mild in
spirit,"
330
said
an excellent judge of human nature, Mahomed,
the founder of this cook's religion

the mildest tempers are those which
and certainly
become the most
ungovernable when roused beyond a certain degree
and the proud
woman
of the old
spirit
could not
brook the outrage which her son, when so roused, had
been guilty
of.
From
the time that she was disco-
vered to have taken poison

last,
she
till
breathed her
she lay in the arms of the poor man,
sought her to
is
be-
that her only son might atone for
and not be a parricide
his crime,
There
live,
who
no part of the world, I believe, where
parents are so
much
they are in India in
reverenced by their sons as

classes
all
of society.
This
is
sufficiently evinced in the desire that parents feel to
have
sons.
The duty
of daughters
is
from the day
of their marriage transferred entirely to their hus-
bands and their husbands' parents, on
whom
alone
devolves the duty of protecting and supporting them
through the wedded and the widowed

links that united
them
state.
The
to their parents are broken.
All the reciprocity of rights and duties which have
bound together the parent and
child from infancy,
is
considered to end with the consummation of her
marriage
female
backsliding ever
parents
which
a
nor does the stain of any subsequent
is
widow
it
can
affect
affect
that
the family
only
of her
of
husband,
held alone responsible for her conduct.

inherits the
her
If
property of her husband, on
her death the property would go to the widow of her
331
PARENTS AND CHILDREN.
husband's brother, supposing neither had any chil-
dren by their husbands, in preference to her

brother
but between the son and his parents this
reciprocity of rights
One
grave.
and duties follows them
but, as in the present
apt to occasion a domineering
case, it is too
whichproduces much mischief even in private
more
still
to the
delighted to see in sons this habitual
is
reverence for the mother
but
own
in sovereign ones.
attains the age of
A prince,
spirit,
families,
when he
manhood, and ought to take upon
himself the duties of the government,
is
often obliged
to witness a great
deal of oppression and misrule
from
persuade his widowed mother to
his inability to
resign the
power
He
willingly into his hands.
often
tamely submits to see his country ruined, and his

family
dishonoured, as at Jansee,
before
he can
bring himself, by some act of desperate resolution,

to wrest
his
from her grasp.
it
doing
so,
In order to prevent
or to recover the reins he has thus
obtained, the mother has often been
her
own
son
and many a princess
Isabella of England, has,
husband, to
known
in
to poison
India,
like
I believe, destroyed her
enjoy more freely the society of her
paramour, and hold these reins during the minority

of her son.
In the exercise of dominion from behind the curtain (for
it is
those
seem most anxious
who
live
to hold
it)
behind the curtain that
women
select ministers
who, to secure duration to their influence, become

their
paramours
or at least
make
the world believe
332
that they are
The
so,
own
to serve their
selfish purposes.
sons are tyrannised over through youth by their
mothers,
who endeavour
to subdue their spirit to the
yoke, which they wish to bind heavy upon their necks

for life;
and they remain through manhood timid,
ignorant,
and altogether unfitted
public
affairs,
and
for the
for the
government of men under
a despotic rule, whose essential principle
fear of the prince in the minds of
a salutary
is
his
all
Every unlettered native of India
officers.
Montesquieu was
sible of this principle as

tell us, that in
must have a smack of the
for if
he has not, his public servants
innocent
is
;
public
as sen-
and
will
countries like India, a chief, to govern
well,
his
conduct of
devil (shytan) in
and industrious
will
him
prey upon
In India
subjects.
there are no universities or public schools in Avhich
young men might escape,

the
enervating and
The
Zunana.
as they
stultifying
state of
do in Europe, from
influence
of
the
mental imbecility to which a
youth of naturally average powers of mind, born to

territorial
dominion,
is
in India often reduced
by a
haughty and ambitious mother, would be absolutely incredible to a
man bred up
They are
in such schools.
often utterly unable to act, think, or speak for themselves.
If they happen, as they sometimes do, to
get well informed in reading and conversation, they
remain Hamlet-like, nervous and
diffident
and how-
ever speculatively or ruminative^/ wise, quite unfit

for action,
drama of
or for performing their part in the great
life.
333
SLEIGHT OF HAND.
In
my
evening ramble on the bank of the
which was flowing against the wind, and
my mind
waves,
when
lie
my
my
I sat with
little vessels as
ponds and streams of
my
rising into
wandered back to the hours of
fancy and boyhood,
watching our
river,
brothers
they scudded over the
native land
and then of
poor brothers John and Louis, whose bones
As we advance
beneath the ocean.
painful feelings
now
in age the
must necessarily become
dearest scenes of early days
more and more
in-
associated in our recollection with

;
for they
who enjoyed such
scenes
with us must by degrees pass away, and be remem-
bered with sorrow even by those who are conscious

of having fulfilled
them
but with
all
their duties in life towards
how much more by
those,
who can
never remember them without thinking of occasions

of kindness and assistance neglected or disregarded
Many
of
them have perhaps
left
behind them widows
and children struggling with adversity, and

from us aid which we
During
my
visit to
guise of one of
chased for
Europe
me
my
five
chintz, for
soliciting
strive in vain to give.
the Rajah, a person in the dis-
went to a shop and pur-
sipahees
and twenty rupees worth of
fine
which he paid in good rupees,
which were forthwith assayed by a neighbouring goldsmith.
The sipahee put
purse and laid
it
ascertain from
these rupees into his
down, saying, that he should go and
me
whether I wished to keep the
whole of the chintz or not; and

quire back the
own
same money
if
that
not he should reI
was to halt
to-
334
morrow, when he would return to the shop again.

Just as he was going away, however, he recollected
that he wanted a turban for himself ;
the shopkeeper to bring

in the verandah,
his
The) were
one.
When
he came
would not
suit his
shop to bring out the turban.

it,
purpose
and went
sitting
and the shopkeeper had to go into
out with
lay
him
and requested
the sipahee said

off,
it
leaving the purse where
it
and cautioning the shopkeeper against changing
any of the rupees, as he should require
money back if his master

chintz.
The shopkeeper waited
tical
own
his
iden-
rejected any of the
four o'clock in
till
the afternoon of the next day without looking into

the purse.
Hearing then that I had
left
Duteea, and
seeing no signs of the sipahee, he opened the purse
and found that the rupees were

thin coating of silver.
all
copper, with a
The man had changed them
while he went into the shop for a turban

stituted a purse exactly the
same
in
and sub-
appearance.
After ascertaining that the story was true, and that

the ingenious thief was not one of
insisted
my
followers, I
upon the man's taking his money from me,
spite of a great deal of
the Rajah's agent,
in
remonstrance on the part of
who had come on with us.
335
CHAPTER XXXV.
GWALIOR PLAIN ONCE THE BED OF A LAKE
OF PEACOCKS.
On
the 19th, 20th, and 21st,
TAMENESS
we came on
forty
miles to the village of Antree in the Gwalior terri-
over a fine plain of rich alluvial
tory,
spring
This
crops.
soil
under
manifest signs of
plain bears
having been at no very remote period,
like
kingdom of Bohemia, the bed of a
bounded
by the ranges of sandstone

skirt the horizon all
merable islands of
rise
abruptly in
plain.
The
a vast lake
all
all
plain
round
hills
vast lake,
which now seem to
and studded with innu-
shapes and
is still
and the
which now
like the unruffled surface of
rich green of the spring crops,

in
one wide sheet uninter-
sected by hedges, tends to keep

rivers
sizes,
directions out of the cultivated
which cover the surface

which the
the
have
little
up the
illusion,
tendency to dispel
for
though they have cut their way down immense

depths to their present beds through this soft alluvial
deposit, the
traveller
no sooner emerges from the
336
hideous ravines which disfigure their banks, than he
them.
loses all trace of
by
Their course
any of the signs
trees, large shrubs, or
The
the course of rivers in other quarters.

the vast plain
unmarked
which mark
is
over
everywhere of good quality, and
is
everywhere cultivated, or rather worked,

hardly
soil
consider a
cultivated
soil
for
we can
is
never
which
either irrigated or manured, or voluntarily relieved
by fallows or an alternation of
scended to the
crops,
till
last stage of exhaustion.
it
has de-
The prince
rack-rents
the
cultivator,
and the cultivator rack-rents the
Soon
farmer rack-rents the
the
farmer,
after crossing the Scinde river
we
soil.
enter upon
the territories of the Gwalior chief, Sindheea.
The
everywhere few, and their com-
villages are
The
munities very small.
greater part of the pro-
duce goes for sale to the capital of Gwalior, where

the
money
it
brings
is
paid into the treasury in rent,
who distributes it in salaries

establishments, who again pay it for land
or revenue to the chief,
among
his
produce to the cultivators, farmers, and agricultural

capitalists,
who
again pay
it
back into the treasury
No more
people
in the
reside
in land
revenue.
villages
than are absolutely necessary to the
vation of the land, because the chief takes
produce beyond what

sistence
is
that
reside
where any jungle to be

villages that
all
the
necessary for their bare sub-
and out of what he
blishments
culti-
takes, maintains esta-
elsewhere.
seen,
There
is
no-
and very few of the
are scattered over the plains have any
TAMENESS OF PEACOCKS.
ornamental trees
fruit or
which the
crops, to
left
337
and when the spring

are
tillage is chiefly confined,
taken off the ground, the face of the country must
have a very naked and dreary appearance.

one village on the road I saw some
corn in a
men
Near
threshing
and among them a peacock (which of
field,
course I took to be domesticated) breakfasting very
comfortably upon the grain as
little
his
way
flew around him.
it
saw another quietly working
farther on, I
into a stack of corn, as if he understood
have been made

to
me
it
off in
for his use alone.
my
as I passed, that I put out
fright at
play
and to
my white
followed by
all wild,
if
my
surprise
and strange
face
the others.
was
It
it
it
so close
stick to push
flew off in a
dress,
and was
found that they were
that term can be applied to
birds that
On
on such excellent terms with mankind.
live
reaching our tents
we found
several
feeding in the
them, undisturbed by our
close around
corn-fields
to
camp followers and were told by the villagers, who had assembled to greet us, that they were
" Why," said they, " should we think of
all wild.
keeping birds that live among us on such easy terms
of
host
I asked whether they ever
without being kept?"

shot
them
and was
told, that
they never killed or
molested them; but that any one

shoot
them might do
so,
gious regard for them.
since they
who wished
had here no
to
reli-
Like the pareear dogs, the
peacocks seem to disarm the people by confiding in
them
vol.
their tameness
i.
is
at once the cause
and the
338
The members
effect of their security.
among whom they
communities,
live
them
and
take them to be domesticated, or
are at once disarmed
At Autree, a
little
on such friendly
terms, would not have the heart to shoot

travellers either
of the
by their tameness.
quantity of salt
sufficient
manu-
is
factured for the consumption of the people of the
The
town.
earth that contains most salt
dug up
some distance from the town, and brought to
at
small reservoirs
is
is
made
here poured over
as over tea
it
ing through the earth,
and
it
yards distance, whence
removed
it
is
to small pits
small enclosed platforms, where

rays
till
soil
tents
had been
and
fire
it is
Pass-
some
in buckets to
exposed to the
evaporates,
and leaves
of trees over this vast plain
from the Scinde
The people
my
water
The want
the salt dry.

of fine
the
coffee.
below into a
flows out
it
small conduit, which takes
sun's
Water
close outside the walls.
river, is quite
lamentable.
of Antree pointed out the place close to
where a beautiful grove of mango trees

lately
taken
off to
wood, in spite of
Gwalior for gun carriages

all
urge of the detriment to his
the proprietor could
own
interest in this
world, and to those of his ancestors in that to which
they had gone
moved they
trees, in
Wherever the army of
this chief
invariably swept off the groves of fruit
the same reckless manner.
Parts of the
country which they merely passed through have recovered their

the
trees,
because the desire to propitiate
Deity and to perpetuate their name by such a
POPULAR OPINION.
work, will always operate
339
among Hindoos
cient incentive to secure groves wherever
as a suffi-
men
can be
made
to feel that their rights of property in
trees
will
village,
as
be respected.
which had a well
much
as those
The
around the
lands
for irrigation, paid four times
of the
same
none, and were
made
As everywhere
else, so here,
quality which
two crops
to yield
water flows from the
the
had
in the year.
those lands into which
town,
and can be made to
stand for a time, are esteemed the best, as this water

brings
down with
it
manures of
I had a
kinds.
all
good deal of talk with the cultivators
as I
walked
through their fields in the evenings and they seemed

;
to dwell
much upon
the good faith which
by the farmers and

Company's
territories
those of Sindheea's,
of,
observed
cultivators in the honourable

;
and the
total absence of
it
in
where no work, requiring an
outlay of capital upon the land,
ever thought
is
is,
in consequence,
both farmers and cultivators en-
gaging from year to year, and no farmer ever feeling

secure of his lease for
more than
one.
z 2
340
CHAPTER XXXVI.
GWALIOR AND
On
lior,
the 22nd,
ITS
we came on
GOVERNMENT.
fourteen miles to
over some ranges of sandstone
seemingly
continuations
Hills of indurated
which are
Vindhya
of the
brown and red
upon and intervene between these
hills,
Gwarange.
iron clay repose
ranges, with strata
generally horizontal, but occasionally bearing signs of
having been shaken by internal convulsions.

convulsions
are also indicated by
compact basalt which
These
some dykes of
cross the road.
Nothing can be more unprepossessing than the

approach to Gwalior; the hills being naked, black, and
ugly, with
the
soil
rounded tops devoid of grass or shrubs, and
of the valleys, a poor red dust without any
appearance of verdure or vegetation, since the few
autumn crops
that lately
stood
upon them have
From Antree to Gwalior there is no

sign of any human habitation, save that of a miserable police guard of four or five, who occupy a
been removed.
wretched hut on the side of the road midway, and
;;
GWALIOR AND
GOVERNMENT.
ITS
341
seem, by their presence, to render the scene around
more dreary.*
The road
is
a mere footpath unim-
proved and unadorned by any single work of art
and except in
this footpath,
guard, there
absolutely no single sign in
is
and the small police

all this
long march to indicate the dominion or even the

presence of
guous
man
capitals,
ancient,
and yet
is
it
between two conti-
one occupied by one of the most
and the other by one of the greatest native

of Hindoostan.
sovereigns
One cannot but
feel,
that he approaches the capital of a dynasty of bar-
barian princes, who, like Attila, would choose their

places of residence as devils choose their
for
nia,
their ugliness
pandemo-
and rather reside
in
the
dreary wastes of Tartary than on the shores of the
Bosphorus
There are within the dominions of
Sindheea seats for a capital that would not yield to
any in India in convenience, beauty, and salubrity

but in
these
all
dominions there
is
not, perhaps,
another place so hideously ugly as Gwalior, or so hot
and unhealthy.
that should
It
has not
recommend
prince, particularly to
capital as his
it
one redeeming quality
to the choice of a rational
one who
still
camp, and makes every
that he has as
considers his
officer
army
feel,
in his
house as he would have in his tent.
little
of his
of permanent interest
* Johnson, in his journey to the western islands, observes,
"
Now
press
and then we espied a
little corn-field,
more strongly the general barrenness."
which served
to im-
342
Phool Bag, or the flower-garden, was suggested to
my
me
as the best place for
had
built a splendid
this
most gloomy and uninteresting march,
tents,
As
summer-house.
man
the heart of a rational
where Sindheea
I
came over
which
in
sickens as he recollects
that all the revenues of such an enormous extent of
dominion over the richest
soil,
and the most peace-
able people in the world, should have been so long
concentrated upon this point, and squandered without leaving one sign of
human
art or industry, I
looked forward with pleasure to a quiet residence in

the flower-garden, with good foliage above, and a
fine
dust,
sward below,
and
we find
Mahomedan
such as
dences of
tents I found
an atmosphere
in
and around
them pitched
all
On
princes.
free
from
the resi-
reaching
my
close outside the flower-
garden, in a small dusty plain, without a blade of

grass or a shrub to hide
place
as
its
deformity
the pig-keepers occupy
of other towns.
On
and looking into
it,
one side of
in
this
such a
-just
the suburbs
little
plain,
was the summer-house of the
prince, without one inch of green sward, or one small
shrub before
it.
Around the wretched
little flower-
garden was a low, naked, and shattered

such as
we
mud
wall,
generally see in suburbs, thrown up to
keep out and
in the pigs, that usually
places " and the
swarm
in such
swine they crawled out, and the
swine they crawled in
!"
tent-door, a sipahee of
When I cantered up to my
my guard came up, and re-
ported, that as day began to
dawn
a gang of thieves
343
UNIVERSAL THIEVES.
my
had stolen one of

brackets of
my
best carpets,
the brass
all
and the brass
tent-poles,
with
bell
which the sentries on duty sounded the hour

Lieutenant Thomas's
cooking
all
and many
utensils,
other things, several of which they had found lying
between the tents and the
of a large heavy box of
particularly the contents

geological specimens
They
prince's pleasure house,
had, in consequence, con-
cluded the gang to be lodged in the prince's pleasure-
The guard on duty
house.
no answer to their
at this place
inquiries,
and I
really believe
The
that they were themselves the thieves.
the Rajah of Raghoghur,
would make
who had come
tents of
to pay his
respects to the Sindeea, his liege lord, were pitched
He
near mine.
had the day before had
stolen from him,
with
all
valuable clothes he possessed
the
;
plate,
five horses
and
jewels,
and I was told that I
must move forthwith from the flower-garden, or cut

Without
off the tail of every horse in my camp.
tails
they might not be stolen
tainly
would
Having had
we moved
dexterity,
with them they
sufficient
our tents to
cer-
proof of their
a
grove
near
the residency, four miles from the flower-garden and

the court.
As
a citizen of the world, I could not help think-
ing that
it
would be an immense blessing upon a
large portion of our species if an earthquake
to swallow
up
that surrounds
succeed
this court of Gwalior,

it.
Nothing worse
and something better might.
were
and the army

could possibly
It
is
lament-
344
how much of evil this court and camp

upon the people who are subject to them. In
able to think
inflict
January, 1828, I was passing with a party of gen-
tlemen through the town of Bhilsa, which belongs

to this chief,
when we
and
between Saugor and Bhopaul,
lies
found, lying and bleeding in one of the
men
streets,
twelve
zapore,
who had
belonging to a merchant at Mir-
the day before been wounded and
plundered by a gang of robbers close outside the
Those who were able ran
walls of the town.
the Amib, or chief of the
town
who
district,
in to
resides in the
and begged him to send some horsemen
after
the banditti, and intercept them as they passed over

"
the great plains.

" or hire
men to
Send your own
send
Am
people," said he,
I here to look after the
private affair of merchants and travellers, or to collect the revenues
Neither he nor
of the prince?"
the prince himself, nor any other officer of the public

establishments, ever
to protect the
lers,
the
of their
Amib
own
human
families.
was
their duty
beings,
In
save the
this pithy ques-
of Bhilsa described the nature and
character of the government.

his
it
property, or character of travel-
or indeed of any other
members
tion,
life,
dreamed that
immense dominions
are
All the revenues of
spent entirely in the
maintenance of the court and camp of the prince
and every
this court
officer
employed beyond the boundary of
and camp, considers
his duties to
to the collection of the revenue.
be limited
Protected from
all
external enemies by our military forces, which sur-
FAVOURABLE CONTRAST.
round him on every
him
his
side,
for purposes of parade
345
whole army
and display
left to
is
and having
according to his notions, no use for them elsewhere,
he concentrates them around

lives
among them
and assassination
capital,
where he
mutiny
in the perpetual dread of
He
has nowhere any police, nor
any establishment whatever,

life
his
and property of
for the protection of the
his subjects
nor has he, any more
than his predecessors, ever, I believe, for one
moment
thought, that those from whose industry and frugality
he draws
his
revenues have any right whatever to ex-
pect from him the use of such establishments in re-
They have never formed any legitimate part
turn.
of the Mahratta government, and, I fear, never will.
The misrule of such

of our dominions,
as
Gibbon
human
is
states,
situated in the midst
not without
its use.
There
is,
justly observes, " a strong propensity in
nature to depreciate the advantages, and to
magnify the
times
evils of the present
people had not before their
;"
eyes such
and
if
the
specimens
of native rule, to contrast with ours, they would think
more highly than they do of
homedan and Hindoo
Ma-
that of their past
sovereigns
and be much
less
disposed than they are to estimate fairly the advantages of being under ours.
The
native governments
of the present day are fair specimens of what they
have always been

their
grinding
whole history
is
military despotisms
that of " Saul has killed his
thousands, and David his tens of thousands

rulers
were made merely
to slay,
;"
and the ruled
as if
to
be
346
slain
In
" 'Tis distance
as in landscape,
politics,
lands enchantments to the view," and the past might
be
all
couleur de rose in the imaginations of the people,
were
not
it
states,
represented
"
where the
governor
lucky
where the secret of the
The
ill-governed
accident "
of
is
good
not to be expected in a century
is
the people
these
in
and
responsibility of ministers to
yet undiscovered.
fortress of
Gwalior stands upon a table land,
a mile and a half long by a quarter of a mile wide, at

the north-east end of a small insulated sandstone
hill,
running north-east and south-west, and rising at both

ends about three hundred and forty feet above the
At the base
level of the plain below.

glacis,
which runs up at an angle of
the plain to within
twenty
feet,
fifty,
this,
from
forty-five
The
interval
is
face of the horizontal strata of
The
the sandstone rock.

all
a kind of
and in some places within
of the foot of the wall.
the perpendicular
of basalt in
is
formed of a bed
glacis is
stages of decomposition, with which
like the other sandstone hills of Central India,
was once covered, and of the debris and chippings
The
of the rocks above.
uniform height
cipice, and
all
round upon the verge of the pre-
being thus
of the rock, the line
walls are raised a certain
made to correspond with
is
extremely irregular.
the edge
They
are
rudely built of the fine sandstone of the rock on which
they stand, and have some square and some semicircular bastions of
few
different sizes
raised above the level of the
w all
r
itself.
of
these
On
the
TOWN OF GWALIOR.
347
eastern face of the rock, between the glacis and foot
of the wall, are cut out in bold

figures of
men
bareheaded under canopies,
sitting
on each side of a throne or temple

place, the colossal figure
The town
foot of the glacis
side,
above a mile long
standing naked,
I took to be
of Gwalior
on one
and in another
man
of a
and facing outward, which

Boodh.
the colossal
relief,
and
that of
extends along the

consists of a single
is
a very beautiful
mosque, with one end built by a
Mahomed Khan,
street
a. d.
1665, of the white sandstone of the rock above

It looks as fresh as if
it.
there
month
had not been finished
it
and, struck, as I passed
it,
with so noble
a work, apparently new, and under such a govern-
ment, I alighted from
my
the inscription, which told
ing and the
name
work over any
me
went
in,
part of
it,
nor
and read
the date of the build-
of the founder. There
beautiful materials;
that
horse,
is
is
no stucco-
any required on such
and the stones are
all
so nicely cut,
cement seems to have been considered
It has the usual
useless.
two minarets or towers, and over the
arches and alcoves are carved, as customary, passages
from the Koran, in the beautiful Kufik characters.
The
court and
camp
of the chief extends out from
the southern end of the
The whole
lior stands,
hill for several miles.
of the hill on which the fort of
had evidently,
been covered by a mass of

crust of indurated
at
Gwa-
no very distant period,
basalt,
surmounted by a
brown and red
iron clay,
with
Hthomarge, which often assumes the appearance of
348
common
still
The boulders
laterite.
cap some part of the
of
which
basalt,
and form the greater
hill,
part of the glacis at the bottom, are for the most part
in a state of rapid decomposition
are
still
so hard
upon them
and
upon a
as
The
liantly crystalline.
Gwalior
plain,
is
rings
is bril-
the same as that
of the Vindhya range
hills
The sandstone hills around

the same abrupt manner from the
Malwa.
all rise in
as those
have almost
hammer
and their fracture
basalt
which caps the sandstone

throughout
that the
fresh,
bell,
but some of them
all
through
of
Malwa
generally
them the same
and they
basaltic glacis at
their base, with boulders of that rock scattered over
the top,
all
indicating that they were at one time
buried in the same manner, under one great mass of

volcanic matter, thrown out from their submarine
craters in
streams of lava, or diffused through the
ocean or lakes in ashes, and deposited in
The
strata.
geological character of the country about Gwalior
is
very similar to that of the country about Saugor;
and I may say the same of the Vindhya range generally, as far as I
have seen
the Ganges, to Bhopaul in
it,
from Mirzapore on
Malwa
hills
of sand-
stone rising suddenly from alluvial plain, and capped,

or bearing signs of having been capped, by basalt,
reposing immediately upon

its
it,
and partly covered in
turn by beds of indurated iron clay.
The
fortress of
Gwalior was celebrated
for its
strength under the Hindoo sovereigns of India
was taken by the Mahomedans
but
after a long siege,
349
FORTRESS OF GWALIOR.
The Hindoos regained possession, but

were again expelled by the Emperor Altumash, a. d.
1235.
The Hindoos again got possession, and after
1197.
a. d.
holding
it
one hundred years, again surrendered
the forces of the
1543
Emperor Ibraham,
Emperor Hoomayoon,
to Sharekhan,
competitor for the empire.
In
1519.
his successful
It afterwards fell into
Rana
the hands of a Jat chief, the
of Gond, from
was taken by the Mahrattas.
it
their possession,
the
to
was surrendered up by the troops of the
it
whom
a. d.
it
command
it
Popham
and on the 3rd of
The party
August, 1780, taken by escalade.
was gallantly led by a very
guished and most promising
Rana
of Gond,
that
distin-
Captain Bruce,
officer,
brother of the celebrated traveller.
over by us to the
in
was invested by our troops under
of Major
scaled the wall
While
It
was made
who had been our
Failing in his engagement to us, he
ally in the war.
was afterwards abandoned
to
resentment of
the
Madhajee Sindheea, chief of the Mahrattas.
In
1783, Gwalior was invested by Madhajee Sindheea's

troops,
under the command of one of the most ex-
traordinary
tory
the
many
men
that have ever figured in Indian his-
justly celebrated General Duboine.
unsuccessful attempts to take
it
by
After
escalade,
he
bought over part of the garrison, and made himself

master of the place.
after, in
escape.
784
He
Gond
itself
was taken soon
but the Rana, Chuturput, made his
was
closely pursued,
Kuroube, and confined in the
made
fortress
prisoner at
of Gwalior,
350
where he died
and
his
in the year 1785.
claims
upon Gond
He
left
devolved
no son;
upon
his
nephew, Keerut Sing, who, at the close of our war

with the Mahrattas, got from Lord Lake, in lieu of
these claims, the estate of Dholepore, situated on the
left
banks of the river Chumbul, which
at the annual value
is
estimated
of three hundred thousand, or
three lacks of rupees.
He
died this year, 1835, and
has been succeeded by his son,

lad of seventeen years of age.
Bhugwunt
Sing, a
351
CHAPTER XXXVII.
CONTEST FOR EMPIRE BETWEEN THE SONS OF SHAH JEHAN.*
Under the Emperors of Delhi,

was always considered
lior
an imperial state prison,
as
which they confined those
in
for
dominion
whom
rivals
prison,
who ended
and
large menagerie,
other things, for their amusement.

of the princes,
and competitors
they did not like to put to a
They kept a
violent death.
Gwa-
the fortress of
Among
the best
their days in this great
was Sooleeman Shakoh, the eldest son of the
unhappy Dara.
em-
narrative of the contest for
between the four sons of Shah Jehan, may, per-
pire
haps, prove both interesting
and instructive
I shall have occasion often, in the course of

bles,
to refer to the characters
who
and
my
figured in
as
ramit,
shall venture to give it a place.

*
The
following twelve chapters contain an historical piece, to
the personages and events of which the author will have frequent
occasion to refer
and
nexion with Gwalior
it is
the
introduced in this place from
state prison in
ended their days.
its
con-
which some of its actors
352
Shah Jehan, who
built
Agra the celebrated
at
mausoleum, now called after the wife over whose

remains
it
Tomb
or the
of the
Crowned
and three daughters.
He
Shakoh.
" Taj
was erected, the
is
Beebee ka Ronza,"
had four sons
Princess,
The
was Dara
eldest son
considered to have been one of the
handsomest men in the empire. His figure was majestic,

his
countenance noble, his manners
dignified, his dis-
and benevolent, and
his spirit full of
position kind
generous impulses, but not sufficiently under control
deportment towards the Mahomedan nobi-
and
his
lity
was often too haughty and imperious.
those,
his
whose good opinions and
interest to
by harsh
was most
it
though
which,
often
strong feeling
resentment upon their
and
also
deeply regretted,
of apprehension,
throne,
when
would be
firmly
likely to
seated
add
upon
it.
left
minds;
man who
that the
used them while merely looking
un-
always
premeditated, and
of
of
were alienated from him
conciliate,
expressions,
feelings
Many
so
forward to the
injuries to insults
He
had studied
carefully the religious systems of both the eastern
and western world, and was supposed to have become

at last a convert to Christianity.
Certain
it is,
that
he cultivated the society of the European gentlemen

about his court more than of others, and by that
means he gave great umbrage
The
Jesuits
who
to the
Mahomedans.
resided at his court were persuaded
of his conversion, and felt assured that,

to
the
throne,
their
religion
if
he came
would soon spread
353
DARA.
throughout the
But Dara resembled
east.
Emperor Akbar,
grandfather, the
his great-
that spirit of
in
made him tolerant of

believed what Akbar always
universal benevolence which
He
all religions.
seemed
really
to believe,
that every nation had
book
its
given to them from above for their special guidance
and that
spirit,
these books were studied in a proper
if
they would
great end
the
benevolence
be found tending to the same
all
promotion of
among men, and
charity,
justice,
and
the worship of one
He
God, the creator and preserver of the universe.
found the European gentlemen at his father's court

better informed than any others with
at that time associate
them more of
his
were the persons
among
most
whom he
on intimate terms
and he gave
The
time and attentions.
whom
the Europeans
in his confidence
could
Jesuits
he seemed most to esteem
and among the
Jesuits, those
were the fathers Stanislaus
Malpica, a Neapolitan, Pedro Juzarti, a Portuguese,
and Henry Busie, a Fleming.
All the artillery, not
only in the imperial, but in every other army through-
out India, was at that time served and conducted
They had
most entirely by Europeans or Christians.

churches and church establishments in
the empire
al-
all
parts of
and had Dara succeeded to the throne,
our religion would, no doubt, have had everywhere

great encouragement.
Jehanara Begum, the eldest of three daughters,
was older than Dara.
She was a person of great
beauty, wit, and accomplishments
VOL.
I.
and
so
much
A A
after
354
her brother Dara's
own
heart in
supported his interest with
all things,
that she
her unbounded
all
in-
fluence over her father, as long as he reigned. Sultan
Shoojah was neither so handsome, so
liberal, so
minded, nor so well-informed as Dara
but he was
equal in courage, enterprise, and natural
and never subject to those
fits
high-
abilities,
of passion by which his
many
of those
who
could best have served him in time of need.
He
brother had alienated from him
had, too, less scruple than
means necessary
to
Dara
men
win
in
employing the
over to his interest in
such a struggle as was about to take place between
them
for
He
dominion.
had changed
from
his sect
that of Soonnee, or the Turks, to that of Sheea, or
the Persians, with a view to conciliate the Persian
noblemen, who then

in the empire, civil
filled
almost every great
and military
office
and he was in
respondence with the king of Persia.
cor-
The adven-
turers from Persia in those days had almost as great a
monopoly of
offices as
the Europeans in the present,
because they were really the only Mahomedans of

education in India, and of that address which fitted
them
for courts
and court favour.
Ourungzebe, well known to

father of " Lalla Rookh,"
my
countrymen
was the third
son.
as the
He
was
of middle stature and slender figure, long features,

particularly the nose
but with an expression of
countenance peculiarly mild and pleasing,

always sedate.
His complexion was
were a good deal sunk
and
pale,
though
his eyes
as his conversation ge-
355
OURUNGZEBE.
the subject of the religion and
nerally turned on
laws of his prophet,

his thoughts
was commonly believed that
dwelt more on his interests in the next
world than in
this.
art of dissimulation
He
existed.
it
more perfect master of the
than Ourungzebe perhaps never
generally appeared thoughtful
and
nothing was ever seen to disturb the calm serenity of

his
He
temper.
always carried the Koran under his
arm, and was observed regularly at the prescribed

five
times in the day at his prayers, which he repeated
with a loud and singularly melodious voice.
He was a
rigid religionist, according to the sect of the Soonnees,
and never appeared

dress,
in public except in a clean white
unadorned by any of those jewels and expen-
sive ornaments,
imperial family.
worn by the other members of the
He
had inscribed
name among
his
the Fuquers, or religious mendicants, lived altogether

like one,
upon
rice,
roots,
and water
and never
in-
dulged in wine, or any other luxury whatever of the

table.
From
his tenderest years
he seems to have
been strongly impressed with the conviction, that on

the death of his father, his
his ability to
to
life
conquer and destroy
persuade them
that he
must depend upon

all his
sought nothing but a
peaceful, religious retirement near the
prophet.
used always to
man
tomb of
his
His youngest brother became his dupe,
but his eldest brother, Dara,
that
brothers, or
say, "
Of
all
my
knew him
well,
and
brothers, I fear only
of prayers," (Nimazee,) and Shoojah was
A A 2
;;
350
just as
well aware of the true nature of his cha-
racter.
Roshunara Begum was the second daughter, and

child of
fifth
ability,
Shah Jehan.
She had
less of natural
of beauty, wit, and accomplishments than
her eldest
more of
Jehanara
sister,
artifice
but she had infinitely
In mind and
and cunning.
much
she resembled Ourungzebe as
tion
nara resembled Dara
disposi-
as
Jeha-
and in the same manner she
devoted herself entirely to the interests of the brother she so
much
She became
resembled.
and kept him always
fully
his spy
informed of everything
that occurred at court which could be useful for

to
him
know.
Moorad Buksh was the

brave headstrong man,
the sports of the
field,
fourth and youngest son, a
who devoted
all his
time to
to military exercises,
and the
pleasures of the table.
He
prided himself upon his
courage, and frankness;
strength,
and seemed to
think these were the only qualities worthy of being

cultivated
He
by a prince who aspired
to an empire.
had a good deal of generosity, and was very
honest in his profession of the
Mahomedan
faith,
though much addicted to wine.
Miher Omissa Begum was the youngest

she had
person.
little to
Her
attract
dress,
amusements of the
tion
or interest in her
her ornaments, and the

seraglio,
engaged
all
child
mind
or
trifling
her atten-
and she never was known to take the
least
POSITION OF THE PARTIES.
357
any of the different factions that distracted
interest in
the rest of the court and empire.
Dara was made Viceroy of Cabul and Lahore, with

permission to
reside at the
assist his father in
of Delhi,
capital
the conduct of
Shoojah was
clared heir apparent to the throne.
of
zebe,
all
the
Deccan
or
as the de-
affairs,
made Viceroy of Bengal, Bahar, and
and
Ourung-
Orissa.
dominions
imperial
south of the Nerbudda river; and Moorad
Buksh,
The Em-
of the provinces of Gozerat and Malwa.
peror Shah Jehan was, at the time of these appoint-
ments, (1651,) at Cabul with his court
Moorad
out for his government of Gozerat alone.
set
Shoojah
and Ourungzebe took leave of their father on the
same
day,
and proceeded together to Delhi, where
they remained together six days. Ourungzebe passed

three days with his family in his brother Shoojah's
tents
and on that occasion Shoojah's eldest son was
betrothed to Ourungzebe's eldest daughter, and his

eldest daughter to Ourungzebe's eldest son.
this
time they had been fond of each other
now swear upon

through
the holy
Koran
to
Up
to
and they
remain the same
life.
In the year
1658, Shah Jehan became sud-
a. d.
denly and dangerously
supposed to be dead
for that contest
ill
for
some time he was
and the four sons
all
prepared
which was to give them a throne or
a grave.
Ourungzebe
Moorad,
whose viceroyalty adjoined
easily
managed
to
his
persuade
own, and
358
who had married a younger
sister
that he had no wish but to put
of
his wife,*
him on the throne
with the view to revenge the death of their poor old

father,
who had
evidently been poisoned by Dara, and
to preserve the law
and true religion of their great
now endangered
prophet,
had become an unbeliever,
become a
united
heretic.
efforts,"
"
sent
his permission,
and spend the
of their prophet, and
him
as the real
accordingly."
him a few hundred thousand rupees
This headstrong young
wall,
man
fell
to the attack of Surat,
which
found
city
of
into the
and took the
his troops
were taught to make
and spring by the Hollanders, who worked
He
his
month, by means of a mine
city after a siege of a
under the
imme-
and recommended him to replenish
marched
lery.
for
by taking the great commercial
treasury
snare
tomb
retire
of Hindoostan, and obey
diate use,
by their
as they had,
meantime consider him, Moorad,
Emperor
Surat.
from Shoojah, who had
As soon
rest of his days near the
He
as
from Dara, who
he said, "effected these two great objects,
he should, with
in the
as well
his artil-
treasure than he expected
less
;f
but the reputation of having taken a place of such
The Sultan Shoojah,
had married a third
the fourth competitor for the throne,
sister.
All three were the daughters of
Shahnewag Khan, of Gozerat.
f Over and above

in the fortress,
the public treasure, which
he got from the merchants of the
put into rigorous confinement, a ransom of

rupees.
fell
five
into his
city,
hands
whom
he
hundred thousand
AMEER JUMLA.
note,
359
by means of blowing the walls into the
air,
and
treasure found had been
the supposition that the
enormous, were of great advantage to his enterprise.
His wise brother, Ourungzebe, had calculated upon

the moral effect of
this,
and cared
little
about the
money.
From
Surat he marched his army to Mandoo, the
ancient capital of Malwa, near the river Nerbudda,
where
his brother,
Ourungzebe, was to cross
it
on
his
Here the brothers met,
way up from Doulatabad.
Ourungzebe had
and the two armies joined.
lately
taken leave of the most extraordinary person of that

age in India,
Mahomed Mouzzim Ameer Jumla,
whose advice had been to him, and

be,
of
more importance than the
army, though he had
Deccan.
left
Ameer Jumla was
still
continued to
services of a third
him a prisoner
a native of Persia
in the
his per-
son was handsome, his manners graceful, and his mind,

naturally of
uncommon
by early studies with
all
Bernier, " he was a
man
He came
of an attendant
had been well stored
the knowledge that a Per-
could impart.
sian education
pacity."
powders,
In the language of
of almost unimaginable ca-
to southern India in the quality
upon a Persian merchant, and en-
tered the service of the king of Golconcla.
Here he
soon became Viceroy over the richest province of

the kingdom, commander-in-chief of the armies, and
sole
paramour
been, and was
to the
still,
mother of the king, who had

a beautiful woman.
Possessed
of the mines of Golconda, which lay within his vice-
360
royalty,
he soon became possessed of immense wealth;
and, discovering a design on the part of the king to

seize this wealth,
and to banish him
for the intrigue
with the queen mother, he instigated Ourungzebe

to the conquest of Golconda,
peror,
when
surest road to
Dara became alarmed, and
the throne of his father.
Golconda was saved
as the
at the interposition of the
Em-
the king had been reduced to the last
extremity in the citadel, and his kingdom was on the
The
point of falling into the hands of Ourungzebe.

eldest daughter of the king
son of Ourungzebe,
was united to the eldest
Sultan
his plighted faith to the
Mahomed,
in spite of
daughter of Shoojah, with a
pledge that he should succeed to the crown of Gol-
conda on the death of the king
his
father-in-law.
The king was obliged to consent to allow Ameer

Jumla to depart with Ourungzebe, and to take with
him all his family, private property and troops and,
;
above
all,
greater
which had been brought to
his artillery,
under
perfection,
the
superintendence
Europeans, than any other artillery
in
of
India ever
had been.
As
commencement, Ourungzebe, through the
intrigues of his sister Roshunara, (or Rozanara,) prevailed

his
court
family,
He
upon the Emperor

at Delhi,
to invite
Ameer Jumla
to
whither he repaired with his
the better to deceive Dara and Jehanara.
took with him
many
presented to Shah Jehan

great diamond,
known
valuable presents, which he

;
and among them was the
since
by the name of Kali-
CELEBRATED DIAMOND.
mountain of
noor, or the
light,
which he had got
He
from one of the Golconda mines.
death
of
Sodulla
Khan; and he persuaded

were many such diamonds as
be found in the principalities of the Deccan,
and that he had only
mand
after
of prime minister, vacant by
Shah Jehan that there

this to
was soon
office
appointed to the
the
361
of an
to entrust
him with the com-
army for their conquest,

avaricious,
become master
The Emperor was
of sources of unbounded wealth.
become exceedingly
to
and he immediately
ordered an efficient army to be placed at his disposal;
but Dara and Jehanara saw that such an
army, under such a leader, added to the forces
al-
ready under the command, and devoted to the interests of
Ourungzebe, would be
sufficient to give
him the empire whenever he might wish

upon
it
seize
and they urged their father not to be caught
in the snare that
He
to
had been so manifestly
laid for him.
was at that time angry, however, with Dara
for
having, as he believed, caused to be poisoned his minister,
Sadoollakhan, one of the best and ablest
empire, to
whom
men in the
he had been fondly attached; and
his
cupidity had been inflamed by the pictures which the
Ameer drew
of the treasures of the yet un conquered
kingdoms of the south of

the
India.
Emperor from sending
this
Unable
to prevent
army, or entrusting
Ameer with the command of it, they persuaded

him to make his command entirely independent of
the
Ourungzebe, to confine
civil
government of the
this
prince merely to the
states already
conquered,
362
and to
upon the Ameer leaving
insist
his wife
and
children at court as hostages for his fidelity.
The
Ameer
this
command upon
hesitated to accept the
last condition
upon him to
but at length the Emperor prevailed
yield the point, to
calm the anxieties of
and daughter, under a promise that he
his eldest son
would undertake very soon to send

His eldest son,
children after him.
was appointed to
his office of
and
Mahmood Ameer,
prime minister during
The king
his father's absence.
his wife
of Beejapore having
had the misfortune to displease Ourungzebe, or excite

his cupidity,
he obtained the Emperor's permission to
He had
invade the kingdom.
reduced Beejapore
to
itself
heard of his father's
taken Kaleeanee, and
He now
illness.
one million of money that had been

the
siege,
and retired to
Jumla w as engaged
T
Ourungzebe sent
Ameer
treat the
he did
his
offered, raised
Ameer
Ourungabad.*
Mahmood,
eldest son,
to join him.
he declined.
so,
accepted the
in the siege of Kulburga,
wife and children would be

if
when he
extremities,
all
and
to en-
Dreading that
his
put to death by Dara,
The second
son,
Mou-
zim, was sent, and he came.f It was planned that he
* Adil Shah, the then king of Beejapore,

sent to the imperial court at Delhi,
had before sent a pre-
consisting of forty lacs of
rupees and forty elephants, with gold and silver housings, for
Shah Jehan
for
fifteen lacs of rupees, fifteen elephants,
Dara Shakoh
and
five lacs
and jewels,
of rupees and five elephants for
his sister Jehanara.
t Mouzim, the second son
of
Ourungzebe,
was then only
DAY-DREAMS OF AN ARMY.
363
should be there seized, put in silver fetters* and kept
This was
a close prisoner in the fort of Doulatabad.
done to make
it
appear that he had been forced, and
thereby save his wife and children from the resent-
ment
We
"
of Dara.
must," said Ourungzebe, " kill
the snake, without breaking the stick that

All his army,
with."
were
tive,
zebe,
we do
it
knowing or suspecting the mo-
persuaded to join that of Ourung-
easily
whose ambition and capacity were well known
They
to them.
upon the throne

had done
so,
calculated not only
upon placing him
but upon following him after they
to the conquest of Persia, China,
and a
variety of other places that enter into the dreams
of a
successful
army
so
circumstanced and com-
now
always addressed Moorad
manded.
Ourungzebe, who
with the
title
of your imperial majesty
>
got off his
elephant and walked some distance to meet him, at

their first interview, in front of the
whole army, and
played the saint so admirably, that in spite of the
He had
seventeen years of age.
without any of his bad qualities
all
the address of his father,
while
Mahmood had
all
petuosity of Dara, without any of his good qualities.

struggle for the throne,
his death,
Mouzim
made by
the im-
In the
the four sons of Ourungzebe on
carried off the victory.
Mahmood had
long
before died.
*
When
Richard Cceur de Lion of England took the king of
Cyprus prisoner, he put him

old man's vanity very
much.
in silver fetters,
He had
which nattered the
behaved extremely
ill
to
the
shipwrecked family of Richard, on their way to the holy
wars
his wife
and
sister,
the widowed queen of Sicily.
364
constant warning of his affectionate and faithful

lower, Shahabas,
Moorad resigned himself
fol-
into his
hands, with entire confidence in the sincerity of his
He
professions and devotion.
wished nothing but to
revenge the death of his good old father, and to relieve the religion of their holy prophet
pire of Hindoostan,
and the em-
from the immediate danger with
which they were threatened by the unbelieving Dara,
and the
He knew
heretic Shoojah.
perfectly well
ere this, from his sister, and other friends at court,
that his father had been long out of all danger, and
almost restored to health
Moorad should get no
but he took care that
from Delhi or Agra.
letters
Khuleeloolah, and other secret friends of his about
Dara, persuaded that prince to get Ourungzebe's able
agent at court, Eesa Beg, dismissed by the Emperor on

the pretence that he was conveying intelligence to
his
master;
and by
convey to him
all
this
means they contrived
the information he most wanted,
without the risk of having
was at
this
were
troops which
and thirty thousand of the
Dara was preparing
him, were devoted
his industry,
seemed
to
sagacity,
those about
him
much
person.
to
to his interest.
and
vigilance,
to control all
from being so much more able to

so
There
intercepted.
man of any influence or

with whom Ourungzebe was
not in correspondence
against
it
time hardly a
note in the empire,
finest
to
foresee, or
send
Such
that he
events,
becoming
sooner acquainted with them, than any other
But the
qualities
that
stood him in most
365
SHOO.TAH.
stead,
were the quick and almost intuitive percep-
had of the
tion he
tions of
men
who were
do
and the
ability to
never
left
felt
was never more

nistered
charge
desire to
a service unrecompensed
himself worthy
that he possessed
vigilantly or
more
it.
Justice
rigorously admi-
countries committed
than in the
to his
and he always considered a reputation
strictness in that respect as
no
less
cause than one for undeviating piety

cially as the
li
disposi-
inspire all those
and every man who had proved

of his confidence,
and
him, with the
able to serve
He
so.
capacities, characters,
An army
necessary to his
the more espe-
jurisprudence and the religion of the
omedans are
for
Ma-
alike derived from the sacred code.
was
first
sent by
who was advancing upon the
Dara against Shoojah,

capital
from Bengal.
Shoojah's viceroyalty was by far the richest.

cavalry alone
amounted
to forty thousand
men
His
and
he carried money enough in gold upon camels

the payment of his
On mounting
troops
his horse to
for
during the campaign.
make
his first
march upon
the capita], Shoojah exclaimed, " Death or the throne
and
this
was always
his motto.
He
caused
it
to
;"
be
proclaimed as he advanced, that the Emperor had

died of poison administered by his perfidious and unbelieving brother,
to revenge the
command
Dara
and that he was hastening
murder of the
best
of fathers.
The
army employed against Shoojah

Sooleeman Shakoh, the eldest son of
of the
was given to
Dara, then in his twenty-fifth year.
He
was
as
hand-
366
some
and had
as his father;
without any of his bad
and
generous,
proached him.
affable
his fathers
He
qualities.
and beloved by
good
was frank,
all
who
ap-
Anxious to prevent a battle between
and grandson
his son
all
if possible,
Emperor
the
ap-
pointed, as Sooleeman's lieutenant, the Rajah Jysing,
of Jeypore,
who commanded
the Rajpoot troops, and
was esteemed one of the ablest men
in the empire,
and Dulele Khan, who commanded the Afghans.
He
ordered
persuade
them
to
do
all
in
their
power to
Shoojah to retire into Bengal,
without
committing himself in an action with the troops of

his
father,
who, they were to assure him, was
now
quite well, and as capable as ever of conducting the

affairs
of the government, and punishing his rebel-
The armies met near

the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna, at Allahabad.
The two lieutenants found it impossible to
lion,
should he persist in
restrain the fire
it.
and impetuosity of the young Soolee-
man, who burned with
the desire
to
distinguish
himself in the service of his insulted grandfather
and Shoojah could not be persuaded to avoid the

action, as
to
he knew that a great struggle was about
take place
brothers
might,
between Dara and the other two
and a victory over the young Sooleeman
probably, enable
him
to
seize
the
capital
and Emperor before the successful party could be

prepared to march and intercept him.
commenced with some

sides,
The
action
discharge of artillery on both
and concluded with the retreat of Shoojah.
CRIMINALITY OF MUSIC.
367
His army would have been entirely destroyed had

the two lieutenants supported the young prince vigorously in the pursuit
ror
knew that
but they
the
Empe-
was unwilling that he should either be taken
Sooleeman was arrested
prisoner or entirely ruined.

in his pursuit of his uncle
from court, that
Mooghere by news
at
two other uncles were advancing
his
Nerbudda towards Agra, where
rapidly from the
his
He
father required the aid of his victorious troops.
had taken nearly

elephants,
uncle's artillery, with forty
all his
and a great number of prisoners; and
having sent the whole off to his grandfather, he
marched
he could to support
as fast as
his father
but his two lieutenants did everything they could to

retard his
one of
movements
Jysing, because
his fits of passion, called
* In the
trial
of one of the
mode
for his scandalous
his accuser Cato, as the

nesses, charged
of
Roman
life,
and
Dara had,
him a music master ;*
consuls elect, L. Mursena,

for bribery
and corruption,
most monstrous of his manifold wicked-
him with
dancing.
Cicero,
his defence, replied to this charge thus
"
who had undertaken

admonish you, Cato,
not to throw out such a calumny so inconsiderately, or to

consul of
crimes a
Rome a dancer
man must needs be
;
be objected to him
since
but to consider
places,
for
dancing
and much
was the
effect
is
the
other
who was
in solitude,
not either drunk or
the last act of rioting, banqueting, gay
jollity.
You
charge him, therefore, with what
many
vices,
yet with none of these without
of
no amours, no nightly
expenses, &c."
how many
nobody ever danced even
which that vice could not possibly subsist

feasts,
call
guilty of before that of dancing can
or in a private meeting of friends,
mad
in
The Hindoo
revels,
with no scandalous
no lewdness, no extravagant
prince was just as
much
exaspe-
368
and Dulele Khan, because he thought

interest to
support in
it
to be his
things the views of his
all
Rajah Jysing.
friend the
rated at being charged with having taken a part in a concert, as
the
Roman
consul was
at being accused
of taking
one in a
any native gentlemen in India,
quadrille.
I really believe that
Mussulman
or Hindoo, would rather be accused of
murder than of
In the same speech Cicero implores Cato not
dancing.
his influence to deprive the people of their
ments of
gladiatorial exhibitions,
for
to use
much-loved amuse-
though dancing was no
doubt very atrocious, there could be no harm in putting three

or four
hundred couple of these people
the stage for their
amusement
to
murder each other on
Telemachus had not then raised
his christian voice, nor were there Walter Scotts or
Maria Edge-
worths among them to disseminate that philosophy which teaches
by emotions.
369
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
OURUNGZEBE AND MOORAD DEFEAT THEIR FATHERS ARMY
NEAR OJEYN.
Shah Jehan, unable

Moorad
to persuade
Ourungzebe and
by orders written with
to retire
his
own
hand, sent a force to arrest their progress, under the
command
of Kasim Khan,
but disliked Dara

Joudpore,
saul,
who revered
the Emperor,
and Jeswunt Sing, the Rajah of
who had married
the daughter of Chutter-
the Rajah of Hurrouthee or
Kotah Kasim Khan,
was appointed viceroy in Gozerat,
in succession to
Moorad, who was transferred to the viceroyalty of
Jeswunt
Berar.
Sing was
appointed viceroy
of
Malwa, with orders to see that Moorad obeyed and
The Emperor commanded

them, when they took leave, to prevail upon his sons,
made
if
place for Kasim.
possible,
to return voluntarily to their govern-
ments before
it
should be too
late.
As they
ad-
vanced, they sent messengers with letters to both
Ourungzebe and Moorad, communicating the com-
mands of
VOL.
I.
their
father
but Ourungzebe found

B B
little
370

persuading his brother, that these two
difficulty in
were entirely in the interest of Dara, and
chiefs
not to be at
all
relied upon.
had been the
It
in-
tention of Jeswunt Sing to dispute the passage of the
Nerbudda with Ourungzebe, and prevent the junctwo brothers
tion of the
but Ourungzebe,
after
giving his troops two days' repose, crossed the Ner-
budda on the 6th
1658; and on the 15th of
April,
month the two armies
that
Jeswunt Sing
joined.
advanced to the bank of the
little
ten miles south of Ojeyn, and about
river
Gumbeer,
midway between
that place and Debalpore, where the brothers had met.
Jeswunt Sing
called in
his
all
Dhar and other
places,
ments he could
for the action.
and made the best arrange-
corrupt him, but in vain
have succeeded better with
who
is
Sing
brave
Ourungzebe
although he
that he depended
little
Mahomed
is
his colleague,
won
supposed to have been
felt
detachments from
tried to
thought to
Kasim Khan,
over.
Jeswunt
upon the courage of
his
band of eight thousand Rajpoot cavalry.^
Sultan crossed over at the head of his party,
and the division of Kasim Khan, composed entirely of
Mahomedans, gave way before

Sing was
left
his charge.
*
fell
rally his
Mahomedan
men, and return to the
historians relate,
in this battle, the father
blood,
stain his
upon the enemy
who
Kasim Khan
alone amidst his faithful Rajpoots,
fought desperately, in the hopes that
would
Jeswunt
that
was seen
own forehead with

to revenge his death,
it,
when a son
field.
All
of a Rajpoot
to dip his finger in his
and then rush furiously
JESWUNT
their efforts
to
show
own
were vain
and Jeswunt Sing, ashamed

towards his
his face to the empire, retreated
one-fourth of his force,
capital with less than
the rest having been

field
371
SING.
all
dead or disabled on the
left
of battle, which took place on the 17th of April,
Ourungzebe
1658.
built a fine
vanserae on the ground, to
mosque, and a cara-
commemorate
this action
and rested a few days to refesh his soldiers*
wunt
Jes-
when he reached the gates of his own

His wife
found them shut against him.
Sing,
capital,
" It
is
defeated, as he
is
declared that he could not be her husband.

impossible that Jeswunt Sing,
if
reported to have been at Ojeyn, can be
still
alive
must have died by the hands of the enemy

midst of his brave followers, or by his
my
and in either case
him
the next
to
duty
is
w orld upon
r
can never meet him again in
was prepared, but she could
husband to burn herself with

"
inexorable.
"
in the
own hands
the funeral
The
find
he
I can follow
clear.
this."
no
pile,
but I
funeral pile
relict
of her
for nine days she
was
daughter of Chuttersaul," said she,
cannot be the wife of a craven
!"
At last her mother
persuaded her that her husband had been betrayed
by the
traitor
Kasim Khan
that he had fled not from
Ourungzebe, but merely retired to

to fight
him
with,
and to retrace
the advantages he had lost
raise
for the
new
levies
Emperor
and that the honour and
* In a letter to the king of Beejapore, announcing this victory,
Ourungzebe says that
six
thousand of the enemy had been
killed.
B B 2
372
depended upon
interests of their family
and the
state
the support he might
now be
able to give to the
Emperor and
peared
to
by
be,
Mahomed
the
all
as they ap-
son, betrayed,
his eldest
chiefs of the
army.* She thereupon consented to see him
was soon again
As soon
as
and he
in a condition to take the field.
Shah Jehan heard of
heaven and exclaimed, "
raised his eyes to
thy will be done
it is
for
my sins
he
this defeat,
that I
am
Lord,
afflicted,
and much heavier punishments have they merited."
Dara broke out

passion
of
He
of
wished to have the heads of
and son struck
to the bazaar,
said,
fits
and demanded vengeance upon the family
Ameer Jumla.
his wife
most ungovernable
into the
off
and sold to
the great author of
and
his
daughters sent
prostitutes, as
he was, he
these calamities, since
all
he furnished his rebellious brothers with the men,
money, and cannon, that were the
Shah Jehan would not
their strength.
to be molested, saying, " That the
Mahomedan
female
suffer
them
as
he had too
historians relate instances of the training of the
members of
On
his family.
that
some jessamine flowers which
less
odour than usual.
was the same, but
sinews of
Ameer must have
been betrayed and seized by violence,

*
sole
his wife held in her
She sharply
his sense of smell
he put his foot upon
his nose"
one occason he remarked
replied,
hand had
" That the odour
had been impaired ever
that
is,
ran away.
since
His cook one
bring dinner, by saying, " That
day excused himself for delaying
to
he had been obliged
to
in iron utensils instead of brass."
"Impudent knave,"
said his sister,
before his highness.
cook
Do you
it
not
"how
dare you mention iron
know how much he abhors
it
V*
373
CONFIDENCE OF DARA.
much good
members
sense voluntarily to expose the
of his family to so
much danger
and he was himself
probably suffering from his misplaced confidence in the
honour of Ourungzebe, and now languishing in a dun-
geon with
fetters
upon
his legs like a
common felon
!"
The Emperor now proposed to take the field, and

command the army in person, though still very weak
from sickness
but Dara was afraid that he should
sink into insignificance if his father commanded, for
;
he was idolized by the people
and he used
all his
he was
efforts
to dissuade him.
In these
joined
by
Roshunara, Khuleeloolah
the
princess
efforts
Khan, and other friends of Ourungzebe, who feared
Moorad would
that
he found
retire
his father
against him, and that
who had
was
all
with his army the

really
already been brought over by Ourungzebe,
round him.
fidelity,
on
would
at once
Yielding to their earnest, and
apparently honest solicitude, the
Dara at
in person
the old chiefs of the empire,
or were wavering in their

rally
moving
moment
least to wait for his son
Emperor
intreated
Sooleeman, who was
way back from Mooghere with an army of

courage and fidelity
but Dara was too con-
his
tried
fident of success,
covered with
or unwilling that his son, already
laurels
as
he was by the defeat of
Shoojah, should share in the renown of conquering
the two other brothers.
374
CHAPTER XXXIX.
DARA MARCHES IN PERSON AGAINST HIS BROTHERS,
AND IS DEFEATED.
He
left
Agra
at the
head of an army consisting of
one hundred thousand horse,

about a thousand pieces of
fifty
thousand
Almost
artillery.
of sixty elephants
all
and
the
There were
large guns were served by Europeans.

sixty small pieces of artillery
foot,
mounted on the backs
and innumerable camels with
similar but smaller pieces.
The
page of Dara, who had the
folly to
private
take
camp
all his
equi-
family
with him, was carried upon the backs of five hundred

camels.
He
proceeded in H\e days to the banks of
the Chumbul, where they were to dispute the passage

of that river with the rebels
strong position on
its
and here he
fortified a
north bank about twenty-five
miles from Agra, on the 25th of May, 1658.
Ourung-
zebe came up a few days after with an army almost
worn clown with the

in the
fatigues of such
hottest season of the
year
long marches
and deeming
it
375
A TRAITOR.
too dangerous to attempt the passage of this large

river in the face of an
enemy fresh from the capital, and
more than three times the amount of his own, he

purchased by large bribes from a Hindoo prince,
Chumpul, whose
river,
territories lay along the
bank of
this
permission to march through these territories
during the night unmolested, and cross the river at a
good ford about

camp.
the east of Dara's
fifteen miles to
men were
Eight thousand
possession of the ford
sent on to take
and when the two brothers
received intelligence that this had been effected, they
broke up their camp soon after dark, and moved
much
with so
secrecy and celerity, that they had
nearlv crossed the river before
they had
of the
left their
ground.
Dara was aware that
He
sent on a division
army under Khuleeloolah Khan,
passage of the
to check the
enemy till he could bring up the main
body; but this chief had been corrupted by Ourungzebe,
As soon as
main body of daring and devoted Rajpoots came
Ram Sing urged Dara to attack the enemy before
and did
the
up,
all
he could to
facilitate his passage.
they could entrench themselves

overruled by Khuleeloolah
but his advice was
the traitor,
who urged
the danger of an immediate attack, and the advan-
The enemy were allowed to adSamsugur on the bank of the Jumna,
tage of waiting.
vance
to
within ten miles of Agra; and there to entrench
themselves.*
*
Dara placed himself between them
Samsugur was from that time named Futtehabad or the
town of
victory, the 7th June, 1658.
376
and the
sight
capital
and the armies remained within
of each other four days
without an action.
The Emperor wrote to urge Dara still

arrival of the army under his son, and
to wait the
sent
him a
present of the imperial sabre, but was told in reply,

that before this
army could join him
might expect
two
his
his
majesty
rebellious sons in chains at his
feet!
Dara drew up
1st of June.
He
army
his
in order of battle
on the
had ascertained from a Byragee,
a Hindoo mendicant, called Purangeer, the lucky
hour to begin the battle
mand
Khuleeloolah had com-
of the right wing, consisting of thirty thou-
sand Mogul troops, having been raised to the rank

of a captain-general of the cavalry in the place of
Danishmund Khan, who had
recently resigned that
post in disgust at the treatment he received from
Dara.*
The
left
wing was commanded by Rostum
Khan, and the Rajah's Ramsingf and Chuttersaul of

Hurrouthee.
The centre by Dara himself. Moorad
commanded
the
Ourungzebe the
left
wing.
The
right
centre,
right
traitor Khuleeloolah,
officers
wing of the rebel army,

and Mahomed,
his son, the
wing did nothing under the
who assumed
authority over the
of artillery, and by his manoeuvres rendered
The French physician Birmer was
in the service of this
Danishmund Khan.
f
Ramsing
is
commonly
called the Roteelee
and he
is
sup-
posed to have been a son or nephew of the Hurrouthee or Kotah

chief, Chuttersaul, the father of
Jeswunt Sing's
wife.
BATTLE OF FUTTEHABAD.
The
their fire entirely useless.
Dara fought
them
Ram
Rajpoots in the
which
its
body of
Sing, with his devoted
wing, cut his
left
wing of the enemy, up
right
centre division under
and carried everything before
bravely,
while
377
way through the
to the high elephant
Moorad, was seated with
leader,
Moorad received three arrows
his face
in
on
his son.*
and
his
elephant-driver being killed, he was obliged to guide

it
himself with one hand, while he defended himself
and
his son
from
with the other.
Ram
his horse,
Unable to reach him
Sing leaped from his saddle, and
attempted with his sword to cut the ropes which

supported the
him
javelin from above
youngest
son
sand horse, was

the death of
father Dara, with

action.
by a cannon
of Dara,
shot,
five
sat
thou-
a rallying point for the Raj-
still
Rostum Khan,
whom
while
Sipeher Shekoh,
but Chuttersaul, with his
his side ;f
On
and throw
Rostum Khan
to pieces against the ground.
the
sat,
and the enraged animal dashed
had before been killed
by
which he
Moorad stabbed him with a
the ground.
to
him
in
castle
this
youth was taken to his
he remained during the
These princes took
their sons with
show that they were confident of victory

their soldiers with courage.
them
rest
in action to
and thereby
This Rostum
Khan
of the
to inspire
built the city
of Moradabad, in Rohilcund, while he was governor of the province,
the
and
called
it
after
Moorad, the youngest son of his master,
Emperor Shah Jehan,
to
whom
he was now opposed.
t This was Eezud Buksh, the son of Dara, whom Ourungzebe took out from the fort of Gwalior and married to his daughter,
Mihoronnissa, in the 15th year of his reign.
378
poot
who seemed
soldiers,
to bear
down
before
all
them.
The
seemed now
battle
was obliged
way
to give
ported gallantly by his

at
moment
this
desperate
effort,
Ourungzebe, who
lost to
before Dara, though sup-
Mahomed
son,
Sultan, but
the traitor Khuleeloolah, as a last

to
which he was animated by
knowledge of the impetuous character of the
his
prince,
rode up to Dara, told him that the enemy had given
way throughout the
line,
and implored him
to
make
God had given him,

descend from his elephant, which moved so slowly,
mount his horse, and seize Ourungzebe, who would
otherwise make good his retreat, and get back to his
the most of the victory which
government
prince,
who
in
the
in times
Deccan
This
unfortunate
of peace could never tolerate
the advice of any man, again lost his only chance of

victory by resigning himself blindly to the prepos-
terous councils of a traitor
upon
his elephant,
waving on
the battle, had animated
his
them
The moment
enthusiasm.
His majestic presence
to
men
in the front of
fits
of irresistible
saw
that his troops
his
place upon this elephant vacant, the cry ran through
the ranks like

killed,
an electric shock, that
Dara was
and from that moment they ceased to
for they
had no longer anything to
fight for.
fight,
Dara
rushed upon the enemy on horseback, but soon saw

his error.
The
Ourungzebe
Mogul
troops.
traitor
had
left
his
side for that of
and carried over with him
Dara
his best
tried to rally his forces, but in
VICTORY OF OURUNGZEBE.
vain
the panic and flight had
The
defeat irretrievable.
seven in
the morning
Onrungzebe
on
sat
general, the
action had
his elephant
from
lasted
the
in
five
till
the scenes of greatest danger
God
you
become
afternoon.
with his quarran in
arms, animating his soldiers by his presence in
his
"
379
;"
guides you,
and
my
and always repeating,
brave
soldiers,
God
guides
orthodox Mahomedans of the soonnee
all
sect to this day believe,
God
that
did really guide
them, and confound Dara and his army; for they

conceive that their religion was never in greater peril
than
on that day, when Ourungzebe, a devoted
Mahomedan
of their
was
sect,
brother, an unbeliever.
opposed
to
his
This battle was fought on
month of Ramzan, during all

which month Mussulmans fast from the dawn of
the
eighth of
day
till
Ramzan
and
the
sunset
and when,
this
occasion,
occurs in the hottest season of the year,
in the longest days,
and
on
as
they
all
become very weak
spiritless.
Ourungzebe took possession of the tents and baggage of the imperial army
and placing Moorad in
the tent of Dara, retired to a small hut, where he re-
mained a long time
God
for
emerged
in prayer, offering
great
this
man
like a
victory
inspired,
From
his lips,
hut he
still
flowing
he entered the apartment of Moorad,
and presented to him the

is,"
this
and with the quarran
pressed in his bosom, and the prayers
from
up thanks to
said he, " to
traitor Khuleeloolah.
Heaven, to your majesty, and to
" It
this,
380
we
the most able and faithful of your friends, that

are indebted for this victory
I have done
my
first
duty in returning thanks to the great eternal God,
who
to day interposed his
the law of his prophet
my
myself before
my
arm
My
for the protection of
second
is
to prostrate
him
earthly master, and to offer
By your unexampled
congratulation.
you have, with troops worn down by
behaviour
fatigue,
and ex-
hausted by privations, defeated and dispersed the
most splendid army that ever took the

I have
now
only to
who has aided

your reign
solicit
India
your favour for our friend,
commencement
in this fortunate
and who
field in
of
be found worthy to
will always
fill
a post of honour in that empire of which you
are
now become
tiny
victory
shall
throne you so
much
my
for
have
religion
you
placed
merit, I shall go
of the one
God
over
my
desas
upon
the
and reign over
you maintain the
whilst
passions in solitude,
me,
As soon
about to be accomplished.
is
third
As
the master.
all
the
regions
of
Hindoostan."
By
who was
devoted to his interests, he was sure to be made acquainted with all that was said or done in his camp
placing near his brother this traitor,
and while he treated
his brother as his master,
was in communication with
and several other
his
influential persons
and with almost every viceroy and

in the
empire,
master
spirit
sister
who
that
all
he
Roshunara,
about his father,
officer of
any note
looked up to him as the
must ultimately have
to decide
THE MASTER
upon
381
SPIRIT.
All his nights were spent in
their destinies.
these communications
and while
appeared to think of nothing but a future
more observing saw, that

the army that
knew no
his
rest
he
to the careless
state, the
was the only mind in
from worldly
He
cares.
wrote to the two lieutenants
under
Jysing and Dulele Khan, to
them of the defeat
of Dara;
tell
Sooleeman,
and to command them to put their prince
to death, or to bring
the conqueror
him
in chains to the feet of
Moorad Buksh.
Though he always
pretended to be acting for his youngest brother,
Moorad, he wished the people to know, that the
power and the wisdom on which the struggle of

great contest was to depend, were his
that if his
brother should really be suffered to reap the
w ould
r
be by
his forbearance
and that
if
this
fruit, it
he should
choose to grasp the helm himself, they might
all
be
found willing to submit to the guidance of a pilot
whose
skill
had been tried in such a tempest.
Khan, the brother of the mother of

of Shah Jehan, (who
side in the
earth, the
now
Moosalman
at
struggle for
sidered
the
the children
buried by her husband's
most splendid of
before the
as
lies
all
all
the tombs of the
Agra, and had died long
empire began,) was
most accomplished writer
time in Hindoostan;
Shaesta
and
he,
like,
con-
at that
Khuleeloolah,
had been exasperated against Dara by some supposed indignity, or by a deportment which showed
too
plainly that
must tend greatly
Dara's
to
accession
diminish his
to
the throne
power and
in-
382
fluence.
He now
he had been
his revenge,
so
employed the power
for
much
to
distinguished,
which
gratify
by forming parties to support the cause
of Ourungzebe in every quarter of the empire.
38 O
CHAPTER
XL.
DARA RETREATS TOWARDS LAHORE IS ROBBED BY THE

JATS THEIR CHARACTER.
As soon
and Dulele
as Jysing
Ourungzebe's
letters,
it
Khan
received
was determined that they
should be shown to the young prince, that he might be
induced to
fly
from the army, and thus save them from
the dilemma of either supporting the weaker side, or

seizing
and delivering the most amiable and most
popular
member
hands of the
of
victor,
all
who would probably some day
himself, out of policy,
sumed
sides,
the imperial family into the
punish them for having pre-
to lay violent hands
upon
the prince was a favourite
his
among
person.
Be-
the soldiers
and thev would not allow him to be taken without
much
to
bloodshed.
whom
Dulele
Under these considerations Jysing,
Khan was
entirely subservient
from
views of interest, took the letters open in his hand

to that prince,
father's
the
who had himself
defeat and flight
just heard of his
and urged him to leave
army forthwith and seek an asylum with Prithee
RAMBLES AND RECOLLECTIONS,
384
Himmalah
Sing, the Rajah of Seereenuggur in the
mountains,
who would
him
receive
in his fastnesses be able to defend
the
army he had
against his uncle,
now
him
and
against all the
Sooleeman soon saw, that
armies in the world.

all
hospitably,
so
successfully
in
commanded
that his father had been de-
feated and driven from the capital, he could calculate
upon the
fidelity of only
a few personal friends
and
with these he set out under a solemn pledge from

the two lieutenants, that they would protect him in
his flight,
and secure the safety of
he took with him.
He
with gold coins
tirely
part of
all
all
the property
had an elephant loaded en-
and
this,
with the greater
the other valuable property, was soon
taken from him by detachments sent secretly after
him
for the
parties
purpose by these two
and the
the road,
who always
seized with avidity the oppor-
of whatever party, he lost almost
many
these
militia of the great landholders along
tunity of plundering flying armies,
while
By
traitors.
or detachments
all
baggage
his
of his remaining followers were killed in
the attempt to defend
it
and
still
from following him to the end of
more discouraged
his journey.
He
reached at length the capital of the Rajah, lying on

the banks of the Aluknunda river, thirty miles above
its
junction with the Ganges
and only
six stages
from Hurdwar, where the united streams emerge into

the great plains of India.
with him.
He
had
his wife
The Rajah received him with
and child
all
honour?
and cordial hospitality; and assured him that he
THE
would be there
385
JATS.
and he hoped as happy,
as safe,
as if
he was himself sovereign of the country.

Dara, after his defeat, was ashamed to see his
father,
he had an interview with his
but
sister,
Jehanara, as he passed through Agra in his retreat
towards Delhi.
His father
tried,
through her and
other confidential messengers, to inspire him with
hopes and sent him one hundred camel loads of gold

;
him
and
silver coin,
He
took with him his wife,
Purmez,
his uncle
son, Sipeher
all
that
tunes
to assist
still
in raising
who was
his daughters,
new
levies.
the daughter of
and
his
youngest
Shekoh, and about four hundred persons,
remained
faithful to
him
in his misfor-
but he expected to be joined at Delhi by
the army of his son Sooleeman, on whose fidelity
he thought he could
still
rely,
but by which that
son had been already actually deserted, plundered,
and driven a
fugitive
to
the
On
mountains.
his
way from Agra to Delhi he was attacked by the

Jats, a tribe known up to that time only as peasants
and robbers. They plundered him of almost all his
valuable property and among other things took the
;
hundred camel loads of gold and

he had been provided by
this
his father.
with which
The
fruits
of
and other similar attacks upon travellers and
remnants of armies, were

of
silver
the
mud
forts
of
laid out in the construction
Bhurtpore,
Hatras,
Deeg-,
Gohud, &c, which enabled their leaders to make

depredations on
all
the surrounding territories, and
retain garrisons that were long considered impreg-
vol.
i.
c c
386
by the natives, and afterwards found very
liable
for-
midable even to our own armies.
The spirit of union, which animated and strengthened them in their infancy, as mere bands of robbers,
fostered and supported their growth to the mature
age of formidable
dignified with
principalities,
name
the
when
of patriotism, or national
They continued, what they
feeling.
been, cultivators of the
now robbed upon
became
it
soil
had always
and robbers
a large scale
only they
and had not two
powerful rivals appeared, in the English and Mahrattas,
the Jats would probably have soon
become
empire of Hindoostan.
Out of
sole masters of the
the nuclei of these bands of robbers, grown into principalities
and converted to the religion of Nanuk
Shah, extending from the

formed, by one master
Jumna
spirit,
to the Indus,
was
the empire of the Seiks.
The unconverted Jats along the Jumna and Chumbul, virtually
wielded the power of the house of
Tymoor on the throne

entered the arena
rivals
the same master

efforts
spirit,
of Delhi,
;
when those two
and they waited only
the Runjeetsing, to unite their
upon more distant expeditions, with the name,
pomp, and circumstance, of glorious war
Jumna and Chumbul

ment
Along the
they have now, under a govern-
can effectually prevent their indulging
that
their old
into
for
sporting propensities, sunk quietly
peaceful
subjects
and industrious peasantry,
and between the Jumna and the Indus,

hoped they
will, at
down
it
is
to be
no distant period, sink to the
THE
same
is
under the same beneficent
state
difference
this
387
JATS.
between the two.
There
rule.
The Gangs
or
enemies of both were composed almost exclusively of
members of the same
family or tribe, Jats or Seiks,
(which the Jats easily became, having no recognized

caste of their
own among Hindoos ;) but
the conquest
and occupation of Cashmere, Peshawar, and Mooltan,
augmented the Seik army

all
the
members of the
occupied;
their
into swords
soldier.
men
ploughshares were
Their places in
of other castes
whom
absorbed
it
tribe over the country they

all
converted
soil,
agriculture were filled by
and the Seiks became segre-
and from the mass of the peace-
and industrious over
with
much, that
and every Nanuk Shahee Jat became a
gated from the

ful
so
whom
they tyrannized, and
they have never since had any bond of
union or sympathy
" a
breath
may mar them
as a
The Jats along the Chumbul
breath hath made."
and the Jumna, on the contrary, were never united

under any conqueror, whose ambition could combine
and direct their powers to foreign conquests, and
keep them up
a standing
as
army employed exclu-
sively in military duties for his
tinued to drive their

their
own
battles
them, like the

history.
service.
own ploughs
They con-
while they fought
or their families drove
Romans
them
for
in the early periods of their
Dara had orders from
his father
governor of Delhi, to furnish him with

phants and horses in the imperial
would of themselves have been
all
to
the ele-
stables,
sufficient to
c c
the
which
mount
388
considerable force
in
correspondence
Sooleeman had
his
army
but
with
the mountains, and
fled to
to the victor
who had been

Ourungzebe, knew that
this governor,
left all
and he refused to allow Dara
to enter into the citadel, or to take anything from
the treasury, arsenals, or stables of his father.
now, deserted by
all
in his days of pride
march
the chiefs
insulted
and power, proceeded by a rapid
to Lahore, accompanied
men, mostly new
whom he had
Dara
levies.
by about ten thousand
389
CHAPTER XLL
SHAH JEHAN IMPRISONED BY HIS TWO SONS, OURUNGZEBE
AND MOORAD.
On
3rd
the
of
Moorad marched
June,
1658,
Ourungzebe and
their armies to Agra,
and encamped
about two miles from the fortress in which stood the

palace of their father.
Shah Jehan
tried
him a
could to persuade his two sons to pay
unattended
the
capital
and
them both
fined in prison,
It
preparations
seized and put to death, or con-
by means of a band of masculine

well
armed
in the
All that he did and intended to do was
made known
to Ourungzebe,
and other friends with

pondence.
by
his sister
Roshunara,
whom he kept up a close corres-
Jehanara, however, steady to the interests
of her father and Dara, entered into the scheme

did
all
of
was Shah Jehan's intention
Calmuck women, whom he kept

seraglio.
the
he
visit
days the people
were amused with
for the interview.
to have
for several
all
she could to persuade Ourungzebe to
and
come
390
into the citadel,
Two
and become reconciled to
his father.
plans had been proposed and deliberated upon
One, for the Emperor to
after the defeat of Dara.
take the
field,
and
round him
rally
forces that he could
all
the chiefs and
the other to inveigle the rebel
brothers into the fortress, and there to dispose of
them.
Ourungzebe was made every day acquainted
with these deliberations and afraid that the Emperor

;
might be tempted to adopt that plan which would

still
give
him a chance of
success,
he made his
sister
Jehanara believe, that he was really impatient to

,
throw himself
and implore
for-
she could only secure to
him
at his father's feet,
giveness for the past,
if
protection against the resentment of his two brothers,
the ambitious
Moorad and the haughty Dara
this she believed,
Moorad had
because she wished
insulted her by the indolent
which he
received her
knew how
or
due
it
when
his passions.
advances.
All
and because
manner
in
Moorad never
to suppress his emotions, or sub-
Jehanara, hating as she did her
brother Ourungzebe, paid her
first visit
to
Moorad,
pretending that she believed Ourungzebe had been

honest in considering him as the Commander-in-chief.
Moorad, knowing how much she was devoted to

Dara, and opposed to them, treated her with indignity
and she was leaving the camp in disgust when
Ourungzebe rushed out bare-footed, and holding one

of the legs of her palanqueen in his right hand, ran
along by her
side,
and entreated her to honour
tent with her presence,
if
but for a moment.
his
She
FORGERY OF OURUNGZEBE.
was pleased with
commander of a
soldiers
this
mark
flattered
homage from the
army
victorious
and went back to
of
where she was
his tent,
man he pretended
real
in the midst of his
Ourungzebe was
into the persuasion, that
really the
391
to
be,
from seeking a reconciliation with
and deterred
his father
merely
by the dread of the resentment and ambition of his

brothers
Full of this persuasion, and pleased with
the notion that she had herself inspired
him with
these better feelings, she returned to her father to
make arrangements
for the
Shah Jehan was by

taking the
field,
visit
letter
visits
this
after
on various pretences,
to
him
the
out of
palace,
day expecting the pro-
Ourungzebe deferred
of his sons.
was brought
means prevented from
or appearing
where he waited day

mised
expected interview.^
in
till
at last
his
an intercepted
open council, addressed
from the Emperor to Dara, commanding him to advance no further than Delhi, as he was about to
re-
ceive a visit from his two brothers, and should take
good care that they never stood
in
his
way
again.
This letter had been forged by Ourungzebe himself

for the occasion
but the thing had been so well
contrived and executed, that hardly any person in
the army but this prince himself and Shaestakhan
knew
the secret
and the sympathy
which had begun to be
felt
by
* Jehanara's visit took place on the
for
all classes
the father,
of people
12th of June, 1658, and
Ourungzebe and Moorad went and took possession of the palace

of Dara on the 15th.
392
through the army and
was
city,
transferred to the two rebel sons.
escaped the net
is
some measure
in
"
The
bird that
about to be caught again," was
the expression in this letter, which was sent by a fast

It was in-
runner well known, and called Nadir Dil.
The
tercepted by one of Shaestakhan's troopers.

tress
for-
was surrounded by the two armies, and the prince
Mahomed had
erected his batteries ready to blow
clown the walls,
him
receive
when
the
as
his grandfather consented to
representative
Ourungzebe, who pretended to
of
father
his
be extremely
ill.
This prince contrived to gain over the soldiers on
duty at the gates, who admitted a considerable body

of select armed followers.
Advancing with them to
the interior apartments of the palace, he put to death
every
man he
slaves, eunuchs,
met, without distinction.
and women, were
all
Soldiers,
indiscriminately
murdered. Shah Jehan sat on his throne ready to receive him, amidst the presents of inestimable value,
which had been prepared as a bait
The
for his father.
Emperor was mad with rage when he found himself

foiled at his
hands of
own game, and
his grandson, with his attendants cut
and massacred
at
his palace
he sent to the young
come
in
actually a prisoner in the
In
doors.
soldier,
and ascend the throne
his
down
passion
and invited him to

at
which
his
father
was aiming, but which he would disgrace by

armies.
He
offered to swear solemnly
on the Koran,
to bestow that throne on him, and maintain

it,
if
he would only
set himself
up
his
him upon
as the defender
393
IMPRISONMENT OF SHAH JEHAN.
grandfather against his rebellious sons.
of his old
'
Such an action would," he
said, "
secure to
him
blessing of heaven, and establish
him the
in the affec-
good men, who would applaud the
tions of all
deli-
very of his grandfather from a vile prison, and the
punishment of two rebellious
Had Mahomed
sons."
consented to be
made
the means
of avenging the old man's injuries upon his two sons,
he might possibly have attained the throne

trusting his grandfather's designs,
father's
powers and
but
dis-
and dreading
his
abilities to frustrate
them, should
they be honest, he declined the invitation, and de-
manded the key

his father
of every gate of the fortress, that
might come with
to throw himself at his feet
waited with
keys,
till
all his
at last
after the other,
led to
men under arms
to receive the
all
the guards, one
withdrawn from the small gates that
who conveyed them

in
Etbar Khan,
vernor of the fortress
apartments,
causing
that
as
the keys
to his
to
father.
temporary go-
and he shut up the Emperor
his eldest daughter,
windows
For two days Mahomed
Shah Jehan, seeing
Ourungzebe sent
and
assurance of safety
apartments, delivered up
his
grandson,
his
full
all
and
all
the
his
women,
in their
gateways, doors,
and
were not indispensable, and well-
guarded, to be walled up, to prevent any communication
between them and the people without, except
through him.*
Ourungzebe wrote
at the
same time a
short letter addressed to his father, excusing himself

*
The Emperor was put
in prison
on the 16th of June, 1658.
; ;
394
for
proceeding to such lengths against his august 'person,
on the ground of
all
determination to sacrifice
his evident
other sons to the passions and ambition of
his
Dara, as evinced in the intercepted
and the
letter,
necessity they were under to provide for their

"
safety.
Had
his respects
and as soon
to
still
him on the
first
said, "
day of his arrival

out of Dara's
it
would
to prosecute his evil designs, he
and implore
his
forgiveness and blessing.
took care that copies of this letter should be
culated through the armies, and sent to

vinces of the empire
it
have paid
come, open the gates to him, throw himself at
his feet,
He
he should," he
life,
he should have put
as
power further
not been for these, his father's de-
it
signs against his
own
to his father, as
it
but
it is
all
cir-
the pro-
believed he never sent
was no longer a matter of any
importance to him what he might think or
feel
upon
the subject of his conduct towards him.
The
family of
Ameer Jumla had been
set
at
when the victors first entered Agra and he

was now sent off as the viceroy of Moorad, to GoThe treasures found in the
zarat and Khandeish.
palace were, to all appearance, divided equally among
liberty
the brothers
allow
much
after to find
part
it
ability
all
was Ourungzebe's policy to
to be concealed,
it
where he was sure here-
and of what was taken, the greater
went unperceived
their uncle,
and
but
to his coffers.
Shaestakhan,
he could entirely
in
rely, as
whose
He
appointed
devotion and
governor of the city
the great officers of state
now
flocked about
IMPOLICY OF THE EMPEROR.
him
to
395
The Emperor, who
tender their services.
had suffered himself to be thus shut up in

apartment, was no longer thought
Had
of.
own
his
he, in-
stead of attempting to contest with his wary son,
Ourungzebe, at his own game, and trying to inveigle
him
into his power,
shown himself among
boldly
a few days before, the armies which he
his troops
had created and commanded with
brilliant
interrupted success for thirty years, would
and un-
thought by most people, have supported him

his sons
might have been ashamed openly to
against
their
at
lay in his being unable to
first,
venerable
suaded to remain at
and
fight
Their only hope,
father.
the head of his troops in the
it is
still,
show himself
field,
home by Dara
or being peras this
at
was the
only thing that could give a colour to their impu-
dent pretence, that he was a prisoner in the hands of
and not a
his eldest son,
had
really
But
after they
taken up arms to rescue and avenge him.
fled before
do
so,
had got to the
them,
with a
most powerful
the
and that they
free agent,
fair
it
and Dara had
was, perhaps, too late for
chance of success.
leaders,
Emperor was
capital,
all
who knew
him
Many
to
of the
perfectly well that
along a free agent, had com-
promised themselves by openly joining the rebel sons
and
like
these sons themselves, they
they had gone too far to recede
now
crush the
that the old
not
Emperor
or perish.
man would have made
Ourungzebe managed
to
all
felt
that they
It
is
that
must
thought
the attempt, had
persuade his
5
sister
396
Jehanara, that he would really wait upon his father,
and throw himself at

vailed
that
his feet.
upon her father
to rely
Ourungzebe would come
the incapacity of
he came or not.
She
certainly pre-
upon her assurance,

and the father knew
Moorad too well
to
care whether
397
CHAPTER
XLI1.
OURUNGZEBE THROWS OFF THE MASK, IMPRISONS HIS

BROTHER MOORAD, AND ASSUMES THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE EMPIRE.
Having
provided
capital,
secured the person of the Emperor, and
for
the
fidelity
the two armies
pursuit of the
keeping on the
of the river
fugitive
right,
and
tranquillity
commenced
Dara
their
march
Ourungzebe's
in
army
left
bank
Ourungzebe crossed the
river,
and Moorad's on the
Jumna.
the
of
and passed much time with
his brother
every day,
talking chiefly on the subject of his coronation, which
he had resolved should take place near the old
mosque
to
at Mathara, but his real design
everybody but his
He was
infatuated
seemed
brother
clear
himself.
advised to remain at the capital, since he had
been declared Emperor, and to permit Ourungzebe

to pursue
Dara alone
but his desire for military
fame would not permit him
to see his armies led to
further victories by another. His favourite attendant,
398
the eunuch Shah Abas, every day urged upon him

the necessity of guarding himself against the designs
of his brother, which had
body but himself;
become evident
to every-
but nothing could awaken the
who saw the preparations that

brother was making for his coronation with un-
suspicions of Moorad,
his
disguised delight, and entirely relied

tion,
and professed desire

and
to religion,
was most
the armies
to see
upon
his affec-
to devote himself entirely
on the throne the
man who
Before
likely to enforce its observances.

left
arrears of pay,
Agra, that of Moorad clamoured for
and he
tried in vain to persuade the
bankers of that city to send him the means to defray

them.
Ourungzebe's army had been regularly paid,
and he now lent Moorad money enough
army.
had been entirely disregarded
The
tents of the prince
petual debauchery
and
riot
in Moorad's
were scenes of per-
and disorder
filled his
camp. In Ourungzebe's, on the contrary, the

disci pline
was observed
their morning, evening,
much
regularity in
were made to
as
and midday prayers, with as

as in
and
feel that
strictest
the whole army went to
camp
were regularly held
their prince,
his
During the whole march to Matliara,
their arrears.
discipline
pay
to
all
quarters.
Councils
the principal officers
they had the confidence of
and could entirely rely upon him
he should be able to rely upon them.
as long
This con-
fidence in the capacity of their leader, and his ability

to discern merit and reward services, the officers im-
parted to their
men
and,
in spite of all his crimes
INFATUATION OF MOORAD.
and dissimulations, no
more devoted
man
399
commanded an army
ever
to his service.
The preparations
for the coronation
of
Moorad
being ready, the day for the ceremony, after consulting

the
stars,
was fixed
for the
The
27th of June, 1658.
spot chosen was the great plain in front of the old
mosque.
Tents, formed of the richest gold brocade,
were pitched
all
round
this
plain
and the whole
area within was covered with canopies of rich co-
loured cloth, supported upon poles fastened to the
ground by ropes of
Upon
silk.
a throne, under these
magnificent canopies, and in the midst of the armies,
Moorad was
to receive the turban
and the imperial
sabre from the hands of the great Quazee, or chief

priest of the
Mahomedan
The day
religion.
ceremony was to have taken
place,
unable to pay his usual evening
Ourungzebe was
more
to
visit
consequence of sudden indisposition

necessary once
before the
Moorad, in
and, as
it
w as
r
to consult the astrologers about
the suitableness of the day fixed upon, he begged
Moorad would come and sup with him.
Shah Abas
again urged his prince not to put himself in the
power of
his
brother, but in vain.
lowed by only a few of
his
household troops.
landed on the right bank of the

acquaintance,
brother
army.
river,
Ibrahim Khan, now an
Shocked
As he
he met an old
officer in his
by the
bridle,
and
my
prince,
and
exclaimed, " Whither are you going,

evil star leads
fol-
to see the generous prince
so infatuated, he seized his horse
what
They were
you to Ourungzebe?"
400
" I go,
Ibrahim, to fetch the crown
Quazee's hands that I
Ibrahim
retired,
am
to receive
it is
from the
it."
and turning away
his face,
wiped
him
a tear from his eye, for he had received from
much
kindness, though he was
now
in the service of
The Quazee, from whom he was to receive

the imperial ensigns, met him at the door of Ourungzebe's tent, and tried to put him on his guard by
another.
greeting him with these words

fortunate,
my
"
Your entrance
is
May it please the Almighty

may be so likewise!"
prince.
that your departure
There was so much of kindness,
affection,
and
re-
manner with which Ourungzebe received
spect in the
his brother, that all feelings of distrust
in their cordial embrace,
were removed
not only from Moorad's
own bosom, but from
that of every one of his fol-
lowers, save the trusty
Shah Abas, who gave
ter
up
with
the
him with
warmth of a
all
mas-
Ourungzebe, while he embraced him
as lost.
all
his
brother's affection, addressed
After em-
the respect of a subject.
bracing him, he, with the feelings of the tenderest

solicitude, gently passed his
face,
and wiped
journey
for the
off the dust
handkerchief over his
and perspiration of
this
weather had become intensely hot,
and the roads were very dusty.
He
had arranged
Ameer Khan, and a few other of his

officers, who really supped with him;
everything with
confidential
and when the wine began to
circulate,
brother to permit him to take a
was
still
little
he begged
his
repose, as he
weak, and in a good deal of pain
and wished
401
SEIZURE OF MOORAD.
to prepare for the august ceremonies of the corona-
which was to take place the next morning.
tion,
The wine of Shiraz

drunk, and
asleep upon the carpet.
All the rest
All Moorad's officers had, by Ourungzebe's
retired.
orders,
fell
Moorad got
circulated freely.
been entertained by the principal
officers of
with the same excellent wines.
Shah Abas
his suite
and the other attendant,
when they found their

master left alone, went in and sat by him as he slept
but about midnight Ourungzebe ordered them out,
that his brother might sleep the
had then
his
he put on an
Moorad with
and shortly
"
are you bringing
What
if
after going in
air of great indignation,
his foot.
He
quietly.
sword and poniard removed, as
incommoded him
self,
more
they
him-
and spurned
shame, what infamy
upon us and our cause
An em-
peror of the Moguls to be lying drunk upon the

floor
What
be said of us
will
mous man," exclaimed

rage,
" this beastly
laws of
God and
into yonder dark
bv
/
he, in a
drunkard,
Take
seeming transport of
who
thus violates the
his holy prophet,
room
this infa-
and throw him
to sleep out his
wine unseen
!"
man
Six men
rushed in well armed, with silver
Moorad awoke, stood
up, and,
called out lustily for help.

said his brother.
sists,"
upon
his legs
tent,
and well guarded.
play as
if
VOL.
I.
"
The
fetters.
not finding his sword,
Let him die

fetters
if
he
re-
were soon put
and he was thrown into a separate
The music continued
to
nothing had interrupted the festivity of the
D D
402
two brothers
his shouts,
and the friends of Moorad, roused by
were rushing towards him, when they were
assured that their master, in a
of drunkenness, too
fit
common to him, had been abusing everybody, even

his own brother
and was now put to bed that he
;
might repose, and be ready

morning.
Shah Abas was
ceremonies in the
for the
same time pinioned
at the
and thrown into another
Men
tent.
were sent
through the whole camp with the same story about

Moorad's drunken
fit,
and with handsome presents
to all the principal officers
and promises of increased
pay and promotion to the whole army,

for the value of their past
services.
as
a reward
In the morn-
ing the greater part of Moorad's army
came
across
the river to see the ceremony of the coronation,
unarmed, according to orders, as
it
all
had been pre-
tended, that on the occasion of such tumultuous rejoicings,
it
might be dangerous to allow the multi-
tude to be armed.
Almost
all
the officers had ex-
pected this event, and the greater part of them desired
it,
as they considered
man who
enterprise
Ourungzebe to be the only
could lead them safely through the perilous

in
which
they had
all
embarked
their
hopes, and only dreaded that he might be honest

in his professed
desire of a life of religious retire-
ment.
Moorad and
his faithful follower,
Shah Abas, had
before daylight, on the morning that he was to have
been crowned, been placed

sent off
in
two
close
litters,
and
upon the backs of two elephants towards
403
CORONATION OF OURUNGZEBE.
Delhi, where they were imprisoned in the small fort
of Suleengurh, situated upon an island in the Jumna.*

of the most trusty of the troops of Ourungzebe
Some
were placed
all
around the enclosure
and when the
armies had assembled to witness the coronation, some

persons, placed near the platform on which
take place, called out, "
Long life
to the
was to
it
Ourungzebe
!"
This was echoed by other persons placed in different
and by the armed squadrons out-
parts of the area,
and soon
side,
shouted with an enthusiasm
after
throughout the whole multitude
who waited
zebe,
self
and when Ourung-
only for this signal, showed him-
upon the platform where
his brother
was to have
crowned, he was received with tumultuous
been
shouts of applause, as
if
but one uncontrollable
He
ing of delight animated the whole mass.
himself for a
moment upon
feel-
seated
the throne, and then re-
tired.
There was not the
ment
slightest appearance of a
in favour of his brother,
minds of the people
they had
retained their real head

reality there
and they
glory
*
them
for
nominal, but
that in
all felt,
the better, that

of a
man
to wealth, honour,
and
they were under the undisguised

capable of conducting
or a change in the
lost their
had been a change
move-
command
and bound to wear the crown they should win
Moorad was put
in prison
on the 27th of June, 1658,
Ourungzebe was formally crowned Emperor on the 23rd of July,
1658
and the day
after set out in pursuit of
Dara.
The
nation took place in the Shalamar garden, near Delhi.
DD
coro-
404

"
for him, or perish.
The Emperor became,"
says a
sensible Italian narrator of these events, " the fruit
of an intrigue the best sustained, and most ably con-
ducted of any recorded in history."
Ourungzebe
was now forty years of age
Shah Jehan,
his father,
sixty-seven.
Ourungzebe now
left
Mathara
at the
head of both
armies, and proceeded to Delhi in search of Dara,
who, hearing of his approach,
left
that city, and took
the road to Lahore, raising troops and levying contributions for their
payment
as
he advanced. Soolee-
man, at the head of seven thousand men,
whom
he
had collected around him in the mountains, descended

into the plains at
Hurdwar
to join his father
Ourungzebe, calculating upon the probability of
but
this
attempt, had pushed on Fidac Khan, at the head of

fifteen
the
thousand veteran troops, who soon dispersed
new
of the young prince, and he was
levies
Dara passed
obliged to return to the mountains.
men
the Sutlege at the head of thirty thousand
crossed the Bea, and leaving there a large force, under
the
command
of
Daood Khan,
against his brother,
Ourungzebe,
went on
to defend the passage
to Lahore.
six days after the coronation,
29th of July, set out in pursuit of Dara.

tial rains
had
set in heavily,
either to
alone
He knew the
Dara or
many
his
own
The
solsti-
and the countries over
which the armies passed were

under water.
on the
for
the most part
danger of giving repose

troops.
He
was often
miles in advance of his troops, eating
405
FLIGHT OF DARA.
nothing but dry unleavened bread, drinking nothing

but water, and reposing,
when he reposed
Daood Khan
humblest soldier in his army.
had taken up a strong position on the Bea, had

tified it well,
all,
his shield for a pillow,
under a tree with nothing but

like the
at
for-
was devotedly attached to the cause of
Dara, and so strong in force, that he could have effectually kept
Ourungzebe
check several months.
in
The Emperor saw this, and having endeavoured in vain

to corrupt him, he
Dara's camp, to circulate reports so

judice,
post,
that
opposition,
friends in
much
to his pre-
Dara commanded him
and join him
reluctance.
his
managed, through
at
Lahore
He
to
abandon the
did so with great
Ourungzebe passed the Bea without

and continued the
have retreated
from Lahore
Mohubbut reigned
as viceroy,
pursuit.
Dara should
upon Cabool, where

was much beloved by
the army and the people, and devotedly attached to
the cause of Shah Jehan and Dara.
He commanded
Khyber Pass between Cabool and Lahore, and

the Bholan Pass between Bukkur and Candahar;
the
which passes have always been considered the keys of

Hindoostan to the westward, and might have been
easily
defended against Ourungzebe by a very small
force.
The traitor, Khuleeloolah, however, who dehim on the Chumbul, and others who had been
serted
sent on in advance, in pursuit of him, were too close to

give
him much time
for deliberation
and in an
evil
hour he determined to take the road through Mooltan to Gozerat.
His troops, finding that they had
406
nothing to hope, and everything to fear from the

guidance of such a man,
what
now
to do,
or
deserted
whom
him
who never seemed
to
know
to trust in time of difficulty,
in crowds.
407
CHAPTER
XLIII.
OURUNGZEBE MEETS SHOOJAH IN BENGAL AND DEFEATS HIM,

AFTER PURSUING DARA TO THE HYPHASIS.
Ourungzebe pursued him

there, finding that
so far as Mooltan,
he was no longer formidable, and
that his brother Shoojah was in full
march from
Bengal to Delhi, with the pretended desire to

lease their father
and
and Moorad from
the pursuit to a division under the
Meer Baba, and

of his army towards
prison,
he
command
releft
of his
foster brother,
retraced his steps
with the rest
Delhi.*
Mooltan and Lahore, while,

advance of
his troops,
met the Rajah
Between
as usual, several miles in
he suddenly and unexpectedly
Jysing, at the head of six thousand
Rajpoot cavalry.
Jysing was following up with the
design of siding with the strongest, for he was at-
tached to the old Emperor, Shah Jehan, and would
have been glad of an opportunity of rescuing him

* Ourungzebe left Mooltan, on his return, on the 11th of October, 1658.
"
408
from prison, though he disliked Dara, from the affront

he had passed upon him in calling him a music-
When
master.
he saw Ourungzebe advancing
to-
wards him on his elephant, almost alone, he concluded that he had been defeated, and was retreating
and
him
at first resolved to seize
Emperor
prisoner to Agra, and restore the old
and warded
it
is
exclaimed
he
you are come in good time

and I have
Meer Baba
left
to pursue him,
settle affairs at Agra.
may be making
My
a handful of
that I
am
yours
is lost
fresh
Saying
!"
money
may go back and
My
make you governor

he took from his own neck
I
over the neck of the Rajah, saying
"
to such a friend I
me
for ever
can entrust any-
But Dulele Khan is not with you

be revenged upon him. Farewell, my best of
thing.
Saying
I shall
this
he passed
on,
hesitated a
and taken
Had he
Agra by the Rajpoot
all
his
faltered, or
moment, he would have been a

off to
friends
and the Rajah, with
troops, followed in his train.
them
Your conduct
towards Sooleeman Shekoh has made

:
fast
and take
a string of pearls of immense value, and put
your debtor
army
come on
go, for God's sake,
this,
he
afraid that his deserters
care of that city and province.
them
men under
disturbances at Lahore.
is
and
friend
Dara
a good deal fatigued, and does not
enough
of
Going up
a wretched fugitive in the deserts, without
or troops
is
"
to
danger,
his
off with his usual address.
boldly to Jysing,
father,
Ourungzebe saw
and empire.
liberty
take him a
prisoner,
cavalry,
be-
409
BIRTH-DAY FESTIVAL.
fore
any of
his troops could
have been brought up
to his rescue.
Jeswunt Sing followed up with
new
his
levies to
support the cause of Dara, should he find him in a
make
condition to
a stand against his brother
but
discovering that he had been deserted by his armies,
he tried to make a virtue of necessity, and joined

Ourungzebe, who received him coldly.
Ourungzebe
entered Lahore on the 25th of October, and Delhi
on the 21st of November.
and celebrated
days,
Here he halted three
his birth-day,
being in his forty-
All the most able chiefs of the empire
first year.
assisted at this
Khan, the
ceremony
last
and among the
of the great
men who
rest
Daood
deserted the
Finding him determined to persist
cause of Dara.
in his resolution to take the road through Scinde to
Gozerat, he gave up his cause in despair, and offered

his services to
ties,
received
Ourungzebe, who, aware of
him with great
his abili-
distinction.
Ameer Jumla, who had been
sent to the govern-
ment
of Gozerat and Khandeish, after his release
from
prison,
with
all
was now ordered to join Ourungzebe
the troops that he could bring from these
provinces, to assist in the campaign against Shoojah.
Having reinforced the troops under Shaesta,

to enable
him
to
meet any attempts on the part of
young Sooleeman from the mountains

brother
Gwalior,
at Agra,
Moorad from Suleengurh

Ourungzebe now
December, to meet
set
his brother
out,
and sent
prisoner
his
to
on the 3rd of
Shoojah,
who was
410
advancing from Bengal at the head of an army
more powerful than he had yet had
far
encounter,
to
because better organised and disciplined, and more

united in feelings of attachment and fidelity to their
He
chief.
took the Rajah Jeswunt Sing with him.
Not one man
in the
upon
vailed
army of Shoojah could be
to betray him,
so
pre-
much had he made
himself beloved and respected in his government.
Mahomed, the
had been
eldest son of Ourungzebe,
appointed governor of Mooltan, and he was
now
ordered to join his father with four thousand horse
from that province.
Meer Jumla
Ourungzebe, to enable him and
moved down
to join him,
tween the Ganges and Jumna.

freshed his
army a few days
which stands
Shoojah, having re-
at the city of Allahabad,
at the junction of these
moved up seventy
slowly be-
two
rivers,
miles to the town of Kujwa, where
he took up an excellent position on the bank of a

large reservoir of fine water, without
beyond
ment
it
for
many
wood
or water
miles, to afford shade or refresh-
to an army.
This position he fortified strongly, placing his batteries
round;
on a
rising ground, with
entrenchments
all
and Ourungzebe was obliged to encamp
several miles distant, from the
want of water. Ameer
Jumla, who had pushed on before his forces from
Khandeish and Gozerat, and joined him a few days

before,
suggested a plan to draw Shoojah from his
strong entrenchments by a
armies were
drawn out
10
feigned retreat.
for action
The
on the 6th of
411
BATTLE OF KUJWA.
January, 1659
but after a few discharges of
artil-
lery both retired.
During the following night Ameer
Jumla got
guns well placed, and chained to
forty
each other, so that no cavalry could charge through
He
them.
was
all
night employed in preparing this

for the
artillery,
and encouraging the troops
conflict
while Ourungzebe remained
all
coming
night fer-
vently at prayers, imploring the Deity to grant

victory.
Just before dawn, and while he was
his prayers,
rear,
still
at
horrible screams were heard from the
where the
families of
Mahomed
chief nobility had been placed

that
him
Jeswunt
Sing, with all the
Sultan and the
and
was found
it
Rajpoot cavalry,
twenty thousand in number, had treacherously
at-
tacked the rear of Ourungzebe's camp, and were

cutting up men,
women, and
off all the valuables
children, and carrying
they could collect.
Jeswunt
Sing had the evening before sent word to Shoojah,

that he should do
in order to give
this,
him an op-
portunity to attack his brother, in the midst of the

disorder.
This he was
prevented from doing by
Ameer Jumla's judicious disposition of the artillery.

Ten thousand men were sent back to defend the
baggage and camp followers and many officers of
distinction who were among them with their fol;
lowers, either
went
off to the
their homes, for the
enemy
or returned to
defection of twenty thousand
Rajpoot cavalry at such a
critical time,
and the
dis-
order which followed, seemed to leave Ourungzebe
no chance of
victory,
for
none of Ameer Jumla's
412
come up from Gozerat. Not more

army remained when the rising sun saw
troops had yet
than half his
their chief, with his usual serenity of countenance,
marshalling them for action, and assuring them of

divine protection
Jumla by
and, above
his side.
Shoojah had two sons in the action.

the
Ameer
they saw
all,
eldest;
and Balund Akhteer,
Ourungzebe had
the
youngest.
Mahomed
eldest son,
his
Zyaoddeen,
Sultan.
The elephant on which Shoojah was mounted was

the
largest
Ourungzebe
and boldest in the
field
in the
the battle by bearing him
down
ceded by some squadrons of
his guards,
way up
to the spot on
troops
but one of Ourungzebe's
intention,
he pushed
in the midst of his troops,
on upon him,
the animal
and seeing
pushed
which he
hope of deciding
before him.
Pre-
he made
his
on
his
stood, urging
his elephant in
officers seeing his
between them. His
elephant was overthrown in the shock, but he saved

that of his master
that
and Shoojah's was so stunned
he stood trembling in every limb.
Shoojah's
officers
now pushed
and the girths of the

time,
it
castle
was nearly coming
fell
giving
of
elephant upon
his
Ourungzebe's, which in the shock
One
upon
way
his knees,
same
at the
None
to the ground.
the horses could be brought up to join in the
of
strife,
and Ourungzebe had put one foot out of the castle

to descend,
when Ameer Jumla
from a distance, with a stentorian

the
Deccan now!
Where
is
called out to
voice,
"
him
Where
is
the Deccan now!"
413
ELEPHANT CONFLICT.
Meaning there
and
foot,
is
down again
sat
by the shock, held

pressed him,
still
the girths, though loosened
The
on.
managed
adversary's
when the man who
Ourungzebe shot the driver

pressed on,
He drew back his
no retreat now.
elephant
behind
sat
but the animal
still
the driver of Ourungzebe's elephant
till
to spring
upon
his neck,
His place was supplied by the
and force him
man behind
off.
the prince,
who now got over upon the neck of his elephant, and
made him retire. The day seemed lost to Ourungzebe, when Alia Verdee Khan came up to Shoojah,
who was unable to urge on his elephant after the
shock in which he had been so much stunned, and
entreated him earnestly not to
sit
there
idle, as
dark-
enemy must escape

under it if he did not descend, mount his horse, and
pursue them.
He addressed him almost in the same
ness was coming on, and the
words that Khuleeloolah had addressed to the unfortunate

"
Dara
Come down,
wieldy beast,
in
the
battle
of the
Chumbul
name of God, from that unand mount your horse. God has made
in the
you sovereign of India.

that Ourungzebe
may
Let us pursue the
not escape us !"*
fugitives
He had
no
sooner descended from his elephant, in the dusk of
Khan was no
* Alia Verdee
only
way
crown
to
for
traitor.
He
thought this the
secure the person of Ourungzebe and the imperial
Shoojah
but after the battle he was put to a cruel
death by the prince he intended to serve for this supposed

act of treason
Rajmahal.
He had
his tongue pulled out
by the
roots at
son of his was put to death at the same time.
414
the evening, than a report spread quickly through
that their chief had been slain.
his army,
seized the whole
and they retreated with
panic
precipita-
which they had only a few
tion from the field, of
minutes before been the acknowledged masters. The
camp was given up
to
got one hundred and fourteen guns,

chest and
w ardrobe,
T
As soon
as
of Shoojah's
Jeswunt heard the unexpected news
army
flying
from the
make
as
good terms
field,
as
the best of his
he
set out
had been
It
his
he could with
Shoojab, should he gain the victory;
made
the treasure
as his share of the spoils.
towards Agra with the treasure.

intention to
Ourungzebe
plunder, but
but he
way home through Agra.
now
News
had gone before him, that Ourungzebe had been entirely defeated
and when he reached Agra
it
was
supposed that he came to release Shah Jehan, and put
him once more upon the
throne.
Shaestakhan, the
governor and uncle of the contending princes,
at-
tempted to take poison, knowing that he had no
mercy
to expect either
from Shoojah or
his
father,
should the defeat of Ourungzebe leave either of them

his master.
Jeswunt
He
was prevented by
Sing's rapid retreat through
the drooping spirits of

capital.
his wife;
and
Agra restored
Ourungzebe's party at the
415
CHAPTER
XLIV.
ELDEST SON SHOOJAH AND

ALL HIS FAMILY ARE DESTROYED.
OURUNGZEBE IMPRISONS
HIS
Sending Ameer Jumla and
his son
Mahomed
in
pursuit of Shoojah, Ourungzebe returned to Agra;
and on the way the Rajah Jysing joined him. Ameer
Jumla was promised the government of Bengal, with

the reversion of
it
said at parting
"
dren
and
fightest.
it
as nothing,
Thou
and to the
art the first
for thine
is
Much
to his son
own
hast thou done
born of
latter
he
my chil-
interest that thou
but
all
must count
unless Shoojah, the most powerful, and
most able of
all
our enemies,
is
overcome
!"
He
kept, as hostages for their fidelity, the only son of
Jumla, ostensibly that he might look after his education,
and the wife of
his son
Mahomed, the daughter
of the king of Golconda, on the pretence that the
wife of the heir apparent ought not to be again ex-
posed as she
had
been at the battle of Kujwa.
Shoojah had retreated to Mongheer, where he hoped
416
He
to defend himself against Jumla.
move
afraid to
the war further down, lest the Rajahs of
Bengal should take part with
him
was
his
brother against
Mahomed and
but he soon found that
Lower
Jumla,
leaving part of their army, with the artillery and baggage, to
come down by
water, had passed his flanks
with their light troops, and were actually attempting
by rapid maches upon Rajmahal
to cut off his retreat
He now moved
haste,
army down with
his
all
possible
and reached that place before them.
In a few days
Shoojah's defences were beaten
all
down by the enemy, and he was

across the river
Ganges
obliged to retreat
Jumla intended
at night.
to follow in the morning, but the rains
night in
torrents,
and he and the young prince
were obliged to take up their quarters
where they were.
brother,
dislike
The
for that season
prince had never forgiven
when he was
him, and coming afterwards, when his younger
Jumla for
sent for
set in that
refusing to
come
to his father
Mouzzim, was sent

arising
from
and to the personal
this cause,
was now added a
feeling of jealousy at the superior reliance which his
father
seemed
to place in Jumla's
abilities
for the
successful termination of hostilities against Shoojah.
He became
every day more haughty and insolent,
and boasted continually of having given the crown

to his father.
merits and
Jumla,
abilities,
fully
conscious
of his
own
and of the confidence reposed in
him by Ourungzebe, found

unsupportable, and reported
his
it
conduct altogether
to his father.
He
MAHOMED AND AESHA.

was severely reprimanded
417
and fearing that Jumla
had orders to arrest him, he went over to his uncle,

to
whose eldest daughter he had
From
affianced.
in his
boyhood been
Mahomed and Aesha
their infancy,
are said to have been fond of each other
and
it
was
with great reluctance that he yielded to the injunctions of his father, to unite himself to the daughter
of the king of Golconda, with a view to the inhe-
Shoojah and his daughter
ritance of that kingdom.
were aware of
much
kindness
this,
and the prince was received with
but the wary Ourungzebe, by letters
addressed to the young
knew would be
prince himself, which he
intercepted, soon caused
it
to be
strongly suspected that he was there by his advice;
and Shoojah refused,
in
consequence,
entrust
to
him with any important command. Unable to remain where he knew he had become an object of
he returned to the camp of Jumla, who
suspicion,
received
him
kindly,
and promised to intercede with
his father for his pardon.
He
emptory orders from Ourungzebe, sent

the capital with a strong escort
was transferred
covered
Bernier,
In the
fifteenth
towards
off
but on the way he
which took him, in a
on an elephant, to the
litter
Gwalior.*
to another,
by per-
was, however,
who was
at
fortress
of
that time at the
year of Ourungzebe's reign,
Mahomed
Sultan was taken out of prison, and married to the daughter of
the unfortunate
His
marriage.
Moorad Buksh.
intellects
he lived a secluded
VOL.
I.
He
died six years after the
had been impaired by
his captivity,
life.
E E
and
418
court
Delhi,
of
in
Danishmund Khan,
he heard of
his
the
capacity
that Ourungzebe,
states,
eldest
of physician
son
Mahomed
to
when
being safely
lodged in the fortress of Gwalior, observed to his
second son, the young but sagacious Sultan Mouzzim,
who had been married to the daughter of Rajah

Roopsing " To reign securely over such an empire
as that of Hindoostan, a sovereign needs,
my
be jealous even of his own shadow
if
and
son, to
you are
not more discreet than your brother has been, the
same
fate
which has now befallen him, must befal
you, for you

zebe,
is
not a
him what
must know that your
man
father,
Ourung-
likely to suffer his sons to
his father,
Shah Jehan, did
do to
to his father,
Jehangeer, and what you have seen done to your

grandfather,
" this son
Shah Jehan.
If,"
adds the physician
continue to deport himself
as
he hath
hitherto done, Ourungzebe will never have any cause

to suspect him,
or to be in any
way
dissatisfied
with
him, for no slave can be more tractable than he
is
and Ourungzebe himself never appeared more careless of
worldly greatness, nor more entirely given up
to religious devotion than
men
of great parts
who
he does
Yet I know
believe that he
is
not at
heart so pious and disinterested, and that he puts on
the appearance of these virtues, like his father, out

of policy, to serve his
own
ambitious purposes."
a struggle, similar to that which I
now
In
narrate, be-
tween the four sons of Ourungzebe, which took place

forty years after, Prince
Mouzzim attained the throne
419
FORTUNES OF ZEENODDEEN.
by the destruction of
all
But
other competitors.
piety was nevertheless sincere, and he
his
considered
is
to have been the most amiable of the brothers.
Shoojah, after
many unsuccessful battles, was
from place to place along the
driven
Ganges by
line of the
Jumla, whose armies were reinforced by
all
the
means which Ourungzebe could spare from time
to
time as he mastered Dara, and got young Sooleeman

into his
power
and they kept up the pursuit with
great activity and skill on both sides of that great
On
river.
reaching the city of Dacca, he sent off
Zeenoddeen, to the Rajah
his eldest son, the Sultan
of Aracan, to request that he would afford

his family
an asylum in
dominions
his
till
him and
the season
should be favourable for him to embark with them

for Aracan,
whence he intended
or Turkey.
The young
Aracan, and promised
to proceed to Persia
prince was well received at
all
that his father asked.
He
received orders from the Rajah to take what vessels
he required for his

gong,
and
occupied exclusively by
christian pirates,
who
and ravaged
Coromandel,
colony of
from Portugal, Holland, and other
parts of Europe,
tection,
conveyance from Chitta-
then within the territories of this
a place
Rajah,
father's
taking
resided here under his proall
the coast of Bengal and
the
ships
and
selling
the
crews as slaves to him and other chiefs along the
Aracan
coast.
In these vessels Shoojah embarked
with his wife, three sons, and three daughters, and a
few
faithful followers.
He
took
all
his
most valu-
e e 2
420
able property with
him
and
it
said that
is
money
pirates designedly sank one vessel, containing
and other valuables not

water,
knowing that the prince would be
pursued by the enemy

to secure
His
from the
likely to suffer
remain long enough to recover
it
for themselves
glad
afraid to
while so closely
it,
and that they should be able

on their return.
force, after his departure,
who was
the
to receive
went over
them
all
to Jumla,
on favourable
terms, that they might not disperse, and create dis-
orders in the province for whose good government
he was in future to be alone responsible.
and
were hospitably received in Aracan,
his family
and allowed to remain there
Jumla
though
in security,
often attempted by large promises to prevail
upon the Rajah
When
Shoojah
the
to
season
deliver
them
for sailing
to
into
hands.
his
Arabia
arrived,
Shoojah demanded from the Rajah the ship he had
promised to provide them with for the passage
he was put
off
it
but
from day to day, and month to month,
with vain promises,
and
became
tention to suffer
till
the season had passed away
evident,
that the Rajah had no in-
them to depart from his
coast. #
He
had determined to possess himself of the treasures of

which Shoojah and
making too
his family
were
ostentatious a display.
* Tavernier says, " That Shoojah here
The Rajah commarried one of the
daughters of the Rajah, and had a son by her."

I don't find this
European.
mentioned
in
in the habit of
Para. 2,
Book
ii.
any other author, either native or
421
FATAL GENEROSITY.
plained at last that Shoojah had never honoured his
palace with a
visit.
It
was not usual
of the Emperors to return the
rank
and Shoojah was,
visits
for the
of
men
besides, afraid to
sons
of his
entrust
himself so entirely to the power of this chief.
was suspected, that he had a design
him
quietly,
his family,
make him over
to
to get
Ameer Jumla,
and possess himself of
It
hold of
destroy
his treasures.
all
Shoojah, therefore, sent his eldest son to pay his

respects to the Rajah,
father's
and request him
to excuse his
not coming, on the plea of indisposition, and
urge the fulfilment of his promise, to provide them
The young
with a ship for their passage to Arabia.
prince ostentatiously scattered gold and silver coin
among
the
palace,
and along the road leading to
crowd
assembled round
before the Rajah, he placed before

great value in
gold brocades, and
richest embroideries
the
it.
Rajah's
Coming
him presents of
the rarest and
of the east, and magnificent
gold ornaments set with precious stones.
All these
things are supposed to have kindled the avidity of
the chief,
who promised
to have the ship prepared
forthwith for their conveyance
but took good care
that none should be forthcoming.
Five days after the

said to
visit
of the prince, his father
have received a message from the Rajah,
demanding from him one of

This
and
is
demand Shoojah
in despair of ever
his daughters as a wife.
rejected
with indignation;
being able otherwise to get
out of the power of the Rajah, he formed the reso-
422
him and
lution to destroy
all his
family,
and get
About three hun-
himself declared king of Aracan.
dred of his old companions in arms had followed him
Aracan
to
great
and they now formed
many Mahomedans from Bengal had
the service of the
Rajah, and
still
his guards.
got into
more had been
captured by the Christian pirates of Chittagong, and

sold as slaves.
All these people were found ready to
join in the enterprise; and everything being prepared,
the day was fixed for carrying
it
into effect.
Sultan
Shoojah and his sons were in person to have led the

guards, and all the
Mahomedans that should be found
ready to join them, at the palace, where they were

to have put the Rajah and all his family to the
The day
sword.
before this was to have been done,
however, the plot was discovered and
attempted to escape through the

it
to
Shoojah with his family and followers
the Rajah.
as
made known
forests to
Pug an,
was now the cold season, when no danger was to
be apprehended from sickness in passing such dense,
and at the other seasons deadly jungles
were the same day pursued by
all
but they
the troops the
They came up with them
Rajah could
collect,
narrow
on the 7th February, 1660, and attacked
defile
them on
bravely,
all sides.
followers
son,
Shoojah and his followers fought
and slew a great many of the enemy
they were at
last
in a
overpowered by numbers.
were killed or disabled
and
but
All his
his eldest
Zeenoddeen, was knocked down senseless by a
large stone
thrown upon him from the
hill
above.
>
423
CATASTROPHE.
down in the
eunuch who attended
Sultan Shoojah was himself knocked
same manner
him, raised
up
his
but a faithful
him from the ground
head in
in his arms,
bound
and enabled him to
his handkerchief,
climb to the summit of the precipice, where he hoped

to rally
still
all
some few of
his followers
but they had
been overpowered and taken, with
his wife
and
One female attendant and the eunuch

were the only persons who reached the summit of
the hill with him.
Darkness came on, they plunged
his children.
and were never
into the thickest of the forest,
seen
The sword and dagger
of the prince were
afterwards found in the forest, and

that
all
it
is
supposed
three were destroyed by wild beasts.
chief of the
Dutch
after
factory, in a letter
The
which Bernier
himself saw, declared, that the body of the prince
had been found among the

firmed to Bernier by some
slain
and
who were
this
was con-
in the action
but others, who were there also, and whose testimony
he seems to have valued more, declared that he

escaped from the action in the manner above related,
and was never afterwards seen.

His wife and children were taken back to Aracan,
where they were
all
thrown into
with great harshness,
till
and treated
prison,
the eldest daughter con-
sented to become the wife of the Rajah,
were
indulged
with
more
liberty.
when they
Zeenoddeen,
however, managed to get around him some desperate

characters of his
own
faith,
who
prevailed
upon the
424
Mahomedans
of the country to join
On
conspiracy.
them
the very day the
in another
attack
was to
have been made on the palace, one of the conspiin a
rators,
fit
of intoxication, fancying himself
sufficient for the purpose, fell
some hours before
to
The guards got
the signal was to have been given.

ready, and the conspirators
were
all
they could begin to act in concert.
came
so exasperated
by
this
all-
secured before
The Rajah
be-
second attempt, that he
determined to guard against
all
dangers from the
same source by exterminating the whole family save

Zeenoddeen and
the daughter he had married.
two young brothers had

rude axes
their heads cut off with
and the widow of Shoojah, with her two
young daughters, were mured up
in walls of masonry,
where they perished miserably of hunger.*
many
his
For
years after, the capital of Delhi was often
agitated with rumours of Shoojah's being
At one time he was
still alive.
in strong force with the kings of
Golconda and Beejapore, ready to march towards
At another
Delhi.
time, he
had been seen passing
the coast of Malabar, in sight of Soorat, with two

ships bearing the red flag of Pegu, or Siam.
At
another, he had been seen at the court of Persia on

his return
from Constantinople
and was now actu-
* Tavernier says, " That the daughter

to
who had been married
the Rajah himself, was included in the general massacre,
though pregnant
and he
is
at the time."
Bernier says, she was spared,
perhaps the better authority.
MOT OF OURUNGZEBE.
ally
marching at
the
through Candahar to
facetiously to say, "
425
head of an immense army

Cabool.
That
his
Ourungzebe used
good brother the Sul-
tan Shoojah had become the most indefatigable of

pilgrims
!"
426
CHAPTER XLV.
SECOND DEFEAT AND DEATH OF DARA, AND IMPRISONMENT
OF HIS TWO SONS.
Dara,
after
on the Indus
Ourungzebe had given up the pursuit
at Mooltan, passed
down
the
bank
left
of that river to the strong fortress of Bukur, which

lies
on a small island in the midst of the stream.
This fortress he confided to his faithful follower the
eunuch, and he
left
with him for
body of Mahomedan
and engineers.
artillerymen
tirely confided in,
It
had been
infantry,
its
defence a good
many
with a great
men he
These
and they deserved
en-
his confidence.
Euro-
his undisguised intention to raise
peans when he attained the throne to the highest

station
among
the aristocracy, which in India has
always been one exclusively of
office
and the know-
ledge of this intention tended perhaps more than

It gave, in the estimation
anything else to his ruin.

of
all
bigoted Mahomedans, a colour of truth to his
brother's pretence of taking
fence
of the
religion
of
up arms merely
Mahomed,
in de-
which
had
427
TOLERANCE OF DARA.
become endangered by Dara's obvious preference of
Men
the Hindoos and Christians *
always like to be
persuaded, that in serving themselves
God
they like best, they are serving their
way
the way
in the
in
most pleasing to him, and that the object most suitable

and
to their interests
consonant to his will
means
all
one most
inclinations, is the
in the pursuit,
this
sanctifies all
manner of
and
relieves the
mind from
disagreeable scruples in the use of the very worst
and from much of the

otherwise suffer in
In
ment.
this
fear
and uneasiness
it
would
progress towards the attain-
its
fortress of
Bukur, he deposited the
greater part of his treasure, and having rested and

refreshed his family and followers a few days, he set
out for Tatta, another fortress situated on the right
bank of the
Indus.
river
He
was
still
closely pur-
sued by a division of the army under Bahadur
Khan
and obliged to move from Tatta towards Ahmedabad,
He
the capital of Gozerat.
had
still
about him two
thousand faithful followers when the enemy gave up
Some
the pursuit at Tatta.
Bukur
returned to the siege of
while the others, under peremptory orders
from Ourungzebe, hastened back to reinforce the
army which was about

*
Dara had written a book trying
with the Hindoo
mans
to
faith, in the
less intolerant.
oceans.
march towards Bengal

to reconcile the
Mahomedan
hope of thereby making the Mussul-
This book he called the union of the two
The learned Abdool Fuzul had
of Akber, tried in the same
manner
to
before him, in the reign
show that the Hindoo
gion was in reality a pure system of Deism.
reli-
42S
under
command
his personal
against his brother the
Sultan Shoojah.
Dara, with
all
that
remained
still
in his adversities, passed
him
faithful to
from Tatta over a most
hospitable country with almost incredible speed
in-
and
The governor of this

was Shah Newaz Khan, who had one daughter
at last reached
city
Ahmedabad.
married to Ourungzebe, a second to Shoojah, and a

third to Moorad, his brothers
when he
wife with her father

prise against Dara,
Moorad had
on
set out
left his
his enter-
and confided the government of
the province of Gozerat and that of
its
capital to
him.
They had heard of the imprisonment of
prince
and
in the
hope that
of his release, his wife
now
it
might be the means
prevailed
upon her father
to espouse the cause of the unfortunate Dara,
showed him
assuring
him
at the
round him
that he had only to
the Hindoo chiefs,
force, to
He
seized
lacks of rupees from
upon the commercial
have
who had nothing
hope from the intolerant bigotry of
Dara got ten
chiefs,
show himself once
head of a well-organized
all
who
that he had received from the
Jeswunt Sing, and other powerful
Rajah
more
letters
this
his
to
brother.
Shah Newaz Khan.

city of Soorat,
and
got a further supply, and from the militia of the
country
whom Shah Newaz
brought over to his
in-
terest,
he collected together twenty thousand horse.
When
Ourungzebe heard that
Ahmedabad
his brother
Dara had
in safety,
he was extremely sur-
prised and embarrassed; but
deeming the case of
reached
429
HINDOO TREACHERY.
Shoojah,
way
his
who had by
to the
capital,
him with
against
time passed Allahabad on
this
all
more
he marched
pressing,
available forces
his
crushed him as above related.
first,
and
Jeswunt Sing had
been in correspondence with Dara
and
in the action
with the other two contending brothers at Kujwa, he

did
he could to cause the ruin of Ourungzebe,
all
sure of a large immediate booty, and hardly less so
Dara the
of being able to give
vanquished of the two
if
victory over the
he could, as he retired
through Agra, rescue from prison the old Emperor
Shah Jehan, and put him

In
his letters
at the
at the
head of his army.
he urged Dara to hasten
his
march
head of the best force he could muster, that
they might be ready to meet his
rival,
the victor,
before he could recover from the loss he must sustain in the conflict with
unexpected victory,
Agra
after
the other.
Ourungzebe's
and sudden movement upon
Jeswunt Sing, disconcerted the plans of
Emperor
this chief for the release of the
and he
was obliged to retreat precipitately upon

capital.
Dara,
He
had gone out several marches
when he received
letters
from
and existence of
support of a ruined cause

the present occasion, to
own
to
meet
his friend Jysing,
written at the desire of Ourungzebe, urging

to risk the welfare
his
him not
his family in the
but to take advantage of

secure the pardon of the
victor for all his past transgressions.
Dara," said Jysing, "and joining
cause of Ourungzebe, which,
me
it is
"
By
deserting
in supjôrt of the
clear from so
many
430
manifest interpositions, has been adopted by Providence,* you will not only save your
own house from
impending
all
ruin,
principalities
princes,
but avert ruin from
in the country
for if
of these
under the influence of your example, should
become exasperated, and wreak

all.
the
many
round the standard of Dara, Ourungzebe will
flock
us
the Hindoo
If,
vengeance upon
his
on the contrary, you quit the cause of
man whom
Providence has so manifestly
for-
saken, Ourungzebe promises to forgive you all that
has passed, permit you freely to enjoy your large

estates,
and
camp
ment
Kujwa
at
all
;
the plunder you obtained from his
and
to confer
upon you the govern-
of Gozerat, which, lying close
hereditary dominions, cannot

as honourable to
you
and
fail
upon your own
to be as agreeable
for the fulfilment of this
promise, I most solemnly pledge myself.
You have
only to remain neutral in the approaching contest,
Emperor,
for the
(for so
Ourungzebe was now
styled,)
has no wish to employ your arms against his brother."
Jeswunt Sing yielded
to these persuasions,
retired just as Dara, relying entirely
support and co-operation,
towards Delhi with Shah
upon
and
his cordial
advanced from Gozerat
Newaz Khan, and
all
the
troops he had been able to collect.
Dara had made thirty-five marches from Ahmedabad, and was only thirty miles from Joudpore, the
* Shah Jehan
is
reported to have said about this time,
wished Dara to succeed
Moorad
me
the
army Shoojah
"I
the people
but the Deity seems to have wished Ourungzebe."
DILEMMA OF DARA.
capital of
tion
Jeswunt Sing, when he heard of
and
431
was now too
it
his defec-
late to retrace his steps
with any chance of keeping his army together and in
He
spirits.
sent his young son, Sipeher Shekoh, to
Jeswunt Sing to urge him on but

;
before
common
sent their
was
it
had
Doodeechund, a
Jeswunt promised every-
a very able diplomatist.

thing, but
friend
He
in vain.
clear that
he intended to do nothing.
The hot weather was about
to set in
and the roads
over which he would have to pass in his retreat,
would be found devoid of water, while they had, by

his advance,
been exhausted of supplies of provisions.
These roads passed through the

Rajpoot
chiefs,
who had now
and they would not
fail
of the
territories
so basely deserted
him
to take advantage of his
who was
advancing rapidly from the capital, and harass him
with continual attacks for the sake of plunder.
To
attempt to retreat under so many disadvantages
retreat before the
armies of his brother,
would be to abandon himself to inevitable ruin

advance were at
profiting
by any accident that the chances of war
him near him
tunity to avenge
and
to efface
his
errors
and
again,
his
follies
to continue his
had once been
and give him the oppor-
mind the
at
He
might not Providence
own and
all his
from
"
favour.
his
near his brother in battle
mined
to
put himself in the way of
least to
might produce in
place
his father's
wrongs
bitter recollection of
Sureenugur?"
He
march upon Delhi
deter-
but on
reaching Ajmere, he intrenched himself in a strong
432
position
between two
the beginning
in
hills,
of
March, 1659.
Several
unsuccessful
Ourungzebe
attempts
At
to carry his position.
made by
were
Dara
last
have tried to contend with Ourungzebe at
said to
own game, and
make
his
to have invited Jysing to join him.
camp
This chief promised to quit the

hour, and
is
off
with
all his
at a certain
followers to his lines,
he would have the gates open to receive them
if
that
might not
they
from the
suffer
of
artillery
Ourungzebe, which would be sure to play upon his

rear.*
At
making
at full speed for the lines with the artillery
the same time Jysing's cavalry were seen
of Ourungzebe playing upon
the whole
them from behind, and
camp apparently in
The gates were thrown
pursuit of the fugitives.
open, and the prince and his
cavalry received with shouts of joy

ever,
They had, how-
no sooner got inside the entrenchments than
they turned their swords upon the garrison
was now discovered, that the

rest of
artillery
and
and
all
it
the
Ourungzebe's troops, which had seemed to be
attacking the fugitives in the rear, were in reality

following up to support their assault, and passing in
through the gates, of which they had made them*
The time appointed was during an attack that was about to

be made by some Rajpoot infantry under Rajah Roopsing, supported by the Moguls, upon the Pohkur Puharee
overlooked Dara's position.
gallantry,
and the
hill carried
the 17th March, 1659.
The
attack was
hill,
made with
which
great
with great loss on both sides, on
FLIGHT OF DARA.
master.
selves
great confusion
Dara's
;
433
were thrown into
troops
and he would himself have been
taken prisoner, had not Jysing advised him to
from the
leaving
field
of battle with his wife and family,
his
baggage to divert the enemy from
all
pursuit.
was not from any regard
It
he gave
this advice,
feelings
of implacable
for
he
still
he
laid
prince,
remembered with
but he knew, that
hands upon the person of the
violent
would be one day remembered to
it
advantage, however
might
it
Khan was
for a
his dis-
time please and
new Emperor.
serve the purpose of the
Dara
Dara that
for
resentment, that Dara had
once called him a music-master

if
fly
Shah Newaz
killed in the action.*
left
the field with his wife, daughter, and
youngest son, Sipeher Shekoh, followed by about two
thousand
soldiers,
who
resolved
Without a tent
fortunes.
any kind, he passed with
band of
still
to adhere to his
or accommodations of
his family
and
this small
faithful followers, in the hottest season of the
among
The wild
year, through the hottest country in the world,
people
now everywhere
hostile
tribes,
who occupy the
hilly
which
his road
was
intersected,
to him.
and woody
and
live
tract
by
by plunder,
pressed upon his flanks and rear, and robbed and

* Kafee
Khan, who
who hardly
thet,
is
a devoted admirer of Ourungzebe, and
ever mentions
Dara without some opprobrious
epi-
makes no mention of the simultaneous attack of Jysing, or
the attempt of Dara to corrupt him.
Some other
narrators of
these events are equally silent upon this point.
VOL.
I.
F F
434
murdered
every
who ventured
person
by
either
night or by day to go aside a few paces only from
the main body
for the
few stages of
last
this dis-
astrous retreat, the roads were lined with the dead
women, and
bodies of men,
children,
who had been
murdered by these savages, or had perished from

hunger,
or fatigue
thirst,
and with the carcases of
elephants, camels, bullocks,
and
horses,
which had
sunk under the labour and privations of such
march
at such a season of the year.
from Ahmedabad, he
Three stages
met the French physician
Bernier, travelling from Surat to Delhi in a carriage
drawn by three large bullocks

to attend
him
to
and requested him
that city, as he had no medical
person with him, and his family and followers stood
much
On
in
need of one.
reaching
the
vicinity
of
Ahmedabad, the
prince lodged in a miserable open caravanserai
being
still
and
pressed by the savage murderers of the
woods called Bheels, he made Bernier lodge
same court with

lest this
his family,
and bring
in the
in his carriage,
should be taken from him, and he be killed in
attempting to defend
it.
His
the daughter of Purwez, the
wife, Nadira,
who was
eldest brother of the
Emperor Shah Jehan, and his daughter Juhanzebe,

who had both been born and bred with tender care
in the imperial palace,
were now concealed behind a
wretched screen tied to one of the wheels of Bernier's carriage.
Dara sent word
whom
confided
he had
to the governor, to
the city and fortress
of
435
ANECDOTE FROM BERNIER.
Ahmedabad during the absence
Newaz Khan,
should enter the city early the next morn-
that he
ing,
of Shah
and hoped soon to be in condition again to take
the field against his brother.
man
This
had, during
been brought over to the interests of
his absence,
Ourungzebe; and he sent back to
say, that if
he
attempted to enter the city he would find the gates
armed
and the people
shut,
against
This
him.
message was received as the day began to dawn
when
and
it
sobs,
was communicated to the
and
ladies, their cries
and those of their female attendants, brought
tears into
those of
the
eyes of the
who were near enough
the rest
all
French physician, and

to hear
them.
"
in
And now
an unspeakable
upon
or
behold," says this
his neighbour,
what
Every
one
forth half dead,
Soon
to one,
then to another, even to the meanest soldier

seeth
all
What
counsel
gone
must needs be
to mention.
Whither can he go
You may judge
instantly.
had
for
my
in
Of
by
He
and ready to abandon him.
astonished,
?
do,
we saw
after
now speaking
was
looks
and nobody knows what to
become with him.
will
Dara come
confusion.
physician, " all
He must
be-
of the extremity he
this small accident I
am
going
these great oxen of Gozerat, which
chariot,
one died the night before, ano-
ther was dying, and the third was tired out, for
been forced to march
we had
for three days together almost
night and day, in an intolerable heat and dust.
What-
ever Dara could say or command, whether he alleged

f f 2
436
was
it
been
for
for himself or for
one of the ladies who had
or for me, he could not possibly procure
hurt,
me, whether
my
was obliged, to
or horse, so that he
or camel,
ox,
saw him march away, and that with
eyes,
there
tears in his
acconrpanied by four or five hundred cavaliers
at most,
and with two elephants that were
laden with gold and
Dara passed
into Kutch,
was soon brought over
where he was
;
be
at first re-
but this chief
to the interest of
from Jysing
letters
said to
silver."
ceived with hospitality by the Rajah
by
me
good fortune, to leave
Ourungzebe
and Dara, perceiving the
altered tone of his voice towards him, set out for the
Bukur, which, under
fortress of
the eunuch,
still
Bahadur Khan.
his
faithful friend
held out against the army under
In
his passage
through the dreary
sandy deserts that lay between Kutch and Bukur,
he
lost the
greater part of his remaining followers
and domestics
and in despair of being able to
raise
the siege, or render any assistance to the besieged,
he proposed to strike
off at
once through the Bholan
Pass and Candahar to Persia
proud in her adversity,
but his wife,
said, " that
still
she would rather
perish by poison than run the risk of being, with the
daughter,
made
the slaves of the heretical sovereign
of Persia." #
*
The
Persians are
all
of the sect of Alee, or Sheeas.
imperial family of Delhi are of the sect of
Each thinks the other destined
Osman,
or Somnees.
to the infernal regions.
sometimes see an European gentleman, who
is
The
married to a
We
Ma-
ANOTHER HINDOO TRAITOR.

Dara then resolved
to seek assistance
Khan, a Mahomedan chief of a small
way
to Bukur,
whose
life
437
from Jehan
territory, in his
He
he had twice saved.
had been twice sentenced to death
for treason
and
and pardoned by the Emperor at the earnest
rebellion,
solicitation of Dara,
who, with his usual want of
dis-
He
crimination, had conceived a liking for him.
resolved to ask his aid to raise the siege of Bukur,
from which he thought he should be able to take
and troops
treasure
pass
his
through Candahar into
Cabool, and joined by Mohubbut, the governor of

that province, and supported by the Affghans and
Uzbecks, be once more able to meet his brother in

the
His wife strongly urged him to attempt
field.
the passage to Cabool, without trusting to the grati-
tude of a convicted rebel and
or attempting
traitor,
to raise the siege of Bukur, arguing that such
an
at-
tempt, with the means at his command, could be of
no advantage whatever
to the besieged, while
deprive
him of the only chance now
escape
that if he crossed the Indus, left
left
it
would
him of
Bukur
to
the right, and passed into Candahar, he might be

sure that
homedan
Bahadur Khan, who, by the sagacity and
lady,
bargain that the daughters shall
all
become Ma-
homedans, that they may marry respectable Mahomedans, and

the sons
is
all
Christians
the
mother of course
sending her sons, and the father that he
ters,
often,
to
I
suasions.
the same quarters.

fear,
make
the
is
satisfied that
she
sending his daugh-
Protestants and
Roman
Catholics
same bargains with the same per-
438
vigilance of the eunuch, was every day alarmed with
the reports of the large force he was bringing up to

raise the siege,
would be
afraid to
move
himself, or
detach any part of his force after them.
Dara,
however, determined to confide in the gratitude of

this traitor,
and proceeded to the capital of Jehan
Khan, who received him with great demonstrations

of joy and gratitude, supposing that he had
still
strong force coming up in his rear.
When
he found that he had not more than two or
three hundred followers, he determined to
most of the occasion
and valuables he had
left,
force before Bukur.
Having
seize
men he could, he secured

and seized upon
his
all
the
the treasures
and make him over to the

collected all the
armed
Dara, threw him into prison,
property,
and daughter.*
his wife
upon
make
and the jewels of
Dara's wife, Nadira, rather
than be exposed to the indignities which she
now
thought inevitable, took the poison, which she always

carried about her, and died in the arms of her hus-
Dara
band.f
fetters,
and
his
young son were bound
and carried to Bukur on the back of an
in
ele-
* Tavernier says that young Sipeher Shekoh was outside the
house when seized, and that he killed three
men
with his
bow
and arrows before he was secured.
f Nadira was the daughter of Purwez, the elder brother of

Shah Jehan. Her daughter was adopted by Jehanara, and ten
years after married to Ourungzebe's son,
lived to see
him hunted down
Mahomed Azum.
thirty years after,
on the death of
Ourungzebe, in the same manner that her father had been.
name was
Julian Zebe, ornament of the world.
She
Her
LAST SCENE FROM BERNIER.
439
phant, while his daughter was conveyed in a
He
was escorted by the
traitor,
litter.
Jehan Khan, who
was commanded by Bahadur Khan to take him on
The
to Delhi.
sequel of poor Dara's history cannot
be better told than by Bernier, who was at Delhi, on

the staff of one of the chiefs, Danishmund Khan,
when
"
the prince arrived.
When
liberated
he was at the gates of Delhi,
it
was de-
by Ourungzebe, whether he should be made
to pass through the midst of the city, or be carried
Many
thence direct to Gwalior.
did advise that
some disorder
was by no means
to be
might
some might come
arise
and besides
that
that,
it
the family royal.

viz.
that
it
done
that
to save
him
would be a great dishonour to

Others maintained the contrary,
was absolutely necessary he should pass
through the town to astonish the world, and to show

the absolute power of Ourungzebe, and to disabuse
the people, that might
still
doubt whether
it
were
many noblemen did doubt and to

take away all hopes from those who still preserved
some affection for him. The opinion of these last
himself, as, indeed,
was followed
he was put on an elephant, his
son,
Sipeher Shekoh, at his side; and behind him was

placed Bahadur Khan, as an executioner.*
This was
none of those brave elephants of Ceylon or Pegu,

which he was wont to ride
on,
w ith
r
gilt
harness and
embroidered covers, and seats with canopies, very

* This was not the
against Bukur.
Bahadur Khan that commanded the troops
440
handsomely painted and

from the sun.
and
nasty, with
open
all
It
to defend themselves
gilt,
was an old
caitiff animal,
an old torn cover, and a
very dirty
pitiful seat,
There was no more seen about him that
necklace of big pearls which those princes are wont
nor those rich turbans and vests embroi-
to wear,
All his dress was a vest of coarse linen,
dered.
and a turban of the same, with a wretched
dirty,
scarf of a
Kashmere over
his head, like a varlet
his
Sipeher Shekoh, being in the same equipage.
son,
In
all
this
miserable posture he was
made
to enter into
the town, and to pass through the greatest merchant

to the
streets,
end that
all
the people might see
him, and entertain no doubt any more whether
were
"
it
he.
As
for
me, I fancied we went to see some strange
and was astonished
massacre,
making him thus
at
the
boldness of
pass through the town, and that
knew that he was very ill guarded;

neither was I ignorant that he was very much beloved by the lower sort of peoj)le, who at that time
the more, because I
exclaimed highly against the cruelty and tyranny of
Ourungzebe, as one that kept

also
his
Sultan
son,
Moorad Buksh.
his father in prison, as
Mahomed, and
was well prepared
his
for
brother,
it,
and
with a good horse, and two good men, I went, together with two others of
in the greatest street
one
man had
there were
my
friends,
where he was
to place
to pass.
myself
But not
the boldness to draw his sword, only
some of the Faqueers, and with them
441
some poor people, who seeing that infamous Jehan
Khan
by
ride
his
began to
side,
stones at him, and to call
were ready to break
him
for the
rail
traitor.
All the shops
crowd of
spectators, that
and there was heard nothing but loud
wept
bitterly
cries
and lamentations, invectives, and
and throw
upon Jehan Khan.
In a word,
great and small, (such
is
heapen
curses,
men and women,
the tenderness of the hearts
of the Indians,) were ready to melt into tears for
compassion
rescue
to
but not one there was that dared
him
Now,
after
stir
he had thus passed
through the town, he was put into a garden called
Hydrabad.
"
the
They were not wanting
to tell
Ourungzebe how
people at this sight had lamented Dara, and
cursed the Pethan that had delivered
him
and how
the same was in danger to have been stoned to death

as also that there
some
sedition
had been a great apprehension of
and
mischief.
Hereupon
another
council was held, whether he should indeed be carried to Gwalior,
whether
it
as
had been concluded
before, or
were not more expedient to put him to
death without more ado
Some were
of opinion
that he should go to Gwalior with a strong guard,
and that would be
enough
Danishmund Khan,
though Dara's old enemy, insisting much upon
But Roshunara Begum,
in pursuance
that.
of her hatred
against this brother of her's, pushed Ourungzebe to make
him away, without running the
clanger there
sending him to Gwalior, as also did
all his
was of
old ene-
442
mies,
Khuleeloolah Khan, and Shaesta Khan, and
especially a certain flatterer,

fled out of Persia,
first
called
being become a
afterwards,
Tukurrub Khan.
Hakim Daood, and

great
noble,
named
This villain boldly rose up in
assembly, and cried out that
'
it
full
was expedient
him
the safety of the state to put
for
imme-
to death
and that the rather because he was no true
diately,
Mussulman
liever,
who had
a physician,
that long since he had turned unbe-
without religion, and that he would charge
the sin of
it
upon
his
own head
Of which impre-
!'
cation he soon after felt the smart, for within a short
time he
famous
fell
into disgrace,
fellow,
carried
manded
and was treated
an
like
in-
and died miserably. But Ourungzebe,
away by these instances and motives, comthat he should be put to death
and that
Gwa-
Sipeher Shekoh, his son, should be sent to

lior.
"
The charge of
this great tragical
execution was
given to a certain slave, called Nazir,* that had been
bred by Shah Jehan, and was
known
formerly ill-treated by Dara.
This executioner, ac-
to have
been
companied by three or four parricides more, went to

Dara, who was then himself dressing some lentils
with Sipeher Shekoh his son.
Nazir, than he cried out to
He
Sipeher Shekoh,
dear son, behold those that come to

hold, at the
no sooner saw
same time, of the small
kill us!'
knife,
'
laying
which was
What became of this wretch Nazir, Bernier could never

He appears to have been quietly made away with.
cover.
8
*
My
dis-
443

all
now
the arms
One
him.
left
of these butchers
upon Sipeher Shekoh, the others

upon the arms and legs of Dara, throwing him to
immediately
fell
the ground, and holding
fortress to
Nazir cut his

the
to
Ourungzebe, who presently commanded
to be put in a dish,
when
which,
till
head was forthwith carried
His
throat.
him under,
it
and that water should be fetched
brought, he wiped
it
off
with a hand-
kerchief; and after he had caused the face to be
washed
and the blood done away, and was
clean,
fully satisfied that it
and
weeping,
unfortunate
was the head of Dara, he
said these words,
man
Take
it
'
Ah
fell
bed bukht
away, and bury
it
in the
sepulchre of Hoomaeon, his great-grandfather.'

"
At
night the daughter of Dara was brought into
the seraglio, and afterwards sent to Shah Jehan and
Jehanara Begum, who asked her of Ourungzebe.*

Concerning Dara's
fore at
Lahore
had ended her days be-
wife, she
she had poisoned herself, foreseeing
the extremities which she was falling into, together
Sipeher Shekoh was sent to
with her
husband.
Gwalior.
Sipeher Shekoh was taken out of prison in
the fifteenth year of Ourungzebe's reign
and
in the
sixteenth of his reign he was married to Ourungzebe's daughter,
Zebonnissa
Jehan Khan was sent
for to
and after a few days
come
before Ourungzebe
* Tavernier says that the daughter of Dara was afterwards
made over
to
Ourungzebe by Shah Jehan. (Part
was adopted by Jehanara Begum,
Azum,
as above stated.
II.
and married
book
to
ii.)
She
Mahomed
444
To him were given some
in the assembly.
and
so
he was sent away; but being near
he was rewarded according to

dered in a wood.
his deserts,
presents,
his lands,
being mur-
This barbarous man, not knowing,
or not considering, that if kings do sometimes permit
such actions for their interest, yet they abhor them,
and sooner or
No
later
avenge them
place could be
Bukur
more
!"
resolutely defended than
Dara was only a few
was.
stages from
it
when
he resolved to throw himself upon the protection of
Jehan Khan.
It
was the opinion of
all
the Euro-
peans in the place, that had he gone he would have

entered the fortress without molestation, and raised
the siege
approach,
skill
to such a state of despair,
and dread of
his
had the besiegers been reduced by the

Orders for the
and vigilance of the governor.
surrender of this fortress were extorted from Dara
while a prisoner, and the governor surrendered
it
on
condition that the garrison should be permitted to
proceed to their homes with their property unmolested.

all
his
He
proceeded to Lahore, and there he and
faithful
followers were treacherously
mur-
dered, and cut to pieces by the governor, Khuleel-
oolah Khan, (the same
who had betrayed Dara
the battle of Sureenugur,) by orders,
it
was
said,
in
from
Ourungzebe, who had heard that they intended to
march
to
Gwalior
Shekoh from
prison.
and rescue the young Sipeher
The Europeans had
all
to Delhi, to seek service at the court of the
Emperor.
gone
new
SOOLEEMAN SHEKOH.
Jysing
now wrote
pressing letters to the Rajah
of Sureenugur, urging
Many
son of Dara.
at the
445
him
up the
to surrender
eldest
of the neighbouring chiefs were
same time invited
to
make war upon him by
the promise of a grant of his dominions by the
At
peror.
last
a grant of the
between
his
he was persuaded to give him up for
Dehra Doon,
little
great chain of the
or the valley which lies
Sewalik range of
Ganges flowing across
river
Jumna, seventy miles
it
and the
at the eastern,
distant,
extremity.
Sooleeman Shekoh
this bargain,
and attempted to make
snowy range
hills
Himmalah mountains, with
river
the
Em-
at
the
and the
the western
got intimation of
into Thibet, but
his escape across
was closely pursued
by the son of the Rajah, taken, and made over to the

emissaries from Delhi. #
was confined
in the
On
reaching the capital, he
small fortress
of Suleengurh,
where Moorad had remained imprisoned
till
sent to
Ourungzebe commanded that he should
Gwalior.
be brought before him in open court, before

assembled nobles,
all
the
that no person might hereafter
pretend that the real prince had not been secured.
At
the gate leading to the great hall of audience, the
fetters,
his
which were of
feet
were
left
were removed from
but his handcuffs, of the same material,

on.f
* Tavernier says
and that he himself

taken.
silver gilt,
all
his followers were killed in defending him,
killed nine of the assailants before
Bernier makes no mention of
he was
it.
f Prethee Sing was the name of the
hill
Zemindar, of Suree-
446
"
When
physician,
this
proper young man," says the same
" so
handsome and
enter, there
was seen
to
was a good number of the nobles that
could not hold their tears

all
gallant,
and, as I was informed,
the great ladies of the court, that had leave to see
him come
in,
fell
Ourungzebe, who ap-
a weeping.
peared himself to be touched at his misfortunes,
began
to
speak very kindly to him, and to comfort
him, telling him that he should fear nothing, that no

hurt should be done to him
on the contrary, that
he should be well treated, and therefore be of good

courage
that he had caused his father to be put to
death for no other reason than that he was turned

unbeliever,
this
and a man without
religion
Whereupon
young prince returned to him the salaam, and
blessed him, abasing his hands to the earth,
and
lift-
ing them, as well as he could, to his head, after the
custom of the country

enough, that
if
and told him with resolution
he were to drink the poust, he en-
treated him, that he might die presently, being very

willing to submit to his fate.
mised him
faithfully, that
But Ourungzebe
pro-
he should not drink of
it
that he should rest satisfied as to that, and not entertain
nugur,
any sad thought about
who
seized
Delhi by his son

service,
and a
This being
Sing.
He
got the
title
of Rajah for this
of the valley of the Dehra Doon, which the
family held up to the beginning of this century,
taken from them by the Gorkhas, from

1815.
said,
Sooleeman Shekoh, and he was escorted to
Ram
gift
it.
when
whom we
it
took
was
it
in
447
THE POUST.
he once more repeated the salaam
had asked him several questions,

Ourungzebe,
touching
and
name
the
in
of
was
which
elephant
that
after they
charged with rupees of gold, taken from him when
he went to Sureenugur, he was sent to Gwalior to

the
This poust
rest.
nothing else but poppy ex-
is
pressed and infused a night in water.
And
it is
that
potion which those that are kept at Gwalior are com-
monly made
to drink
heads they think

first
thing that
it
mean
not
fit
those princes, whose
to cut
drunk a great cupful of

starve.
Sipeher
it
till
they have
they would rather
die insensibly, they losing little
their understanding,
senseless.
the
let
This emaciates them exceedingly, and
maketh them
little
is
brought them in the morning, and
is
they have nothing given them to eat
them
This
off.
And by
this
by
and growing torpid and
very means
it
is
said that
Moorad Buksh, and Sooleeman
Shekoh,
Shekoh, were despatched."

This prince was sent to Gwalior on the 30th of
January, 1661.
It
is
inside the entrance
door of
the apartment where Ourungzebe sat while he passed

the sentence upon his brother Dara, his
Mahomed, and
his
own
nephews Sooleeman and Sipeher
Shekoh, that his father,
Shah Jehan, inscribed
black letters upon a slab of alabaster, " If there

paradise on earth
leave
it is
Moorad Buksh
this
it is
this
!"
in
is
Afraid to
to die by the slow operation
widow was made to present a petiOurungzebe, charging him with having, while
of the poust, a
tion to
son
448
in power,
put her husband to death without
and claiming
his execution
of retaliation
The
trial
by the Mahomedan law
case was referred to the chief
who denied her right, or disbelieved the

ground of it. He was made to resign his office, and
another more tractable was appointed.
Moorad was
justice,
sentenced to death, and executed in the fortress of
tomb now stands by the side of

nephew. " I mind not being put to
Gwalior, where his

that of his
death," said he, " for that only shortens the duration of
my
misery here
but
it
is
hard to be thus
sent out of the world with a blighted reputation!"
Ten
years after
Dara's daughter, Jehanara,
this,
was married
to
Azum, with
great pomp.
Ourungzebe's third son,
Mahomed
Fifteen years after the
death of Dara, Sipeher Shekoh, his youngest son, and
Mahomed
Ourungzebe's eldest son,
Sultan,
brought from Gwalior, and confined in the
Mahomed
Suleengurh.
were
fort
of
Sultan was united in mar-
Moorad Buksh, who got a

dowry of ten lacks of rupees. Sipeher Shekoh was
united to a daughter of Ourungzebe, who got a
riage to the daughter of
dowry
of
four
lacks
of rupees.
Buksh was taken from Gwalior

and married
to
Sultan
at the
same time,
another of the Emperor Ourung-
zebe's daughters.
Mahomed
Sultan got a pension
of twelve thousand rupees a year, Sipeher
one of
Eezud
six thousand,
thousand a year.
out of confinement.
Shekoh
and Eezud Buksh one of four
They were
never,
I believe, let
449
JEHANARA.
Ourungzebe was not unmindful of the assistance

he had received from his sister Roshunara, who was
long treated with high honour in her splendid seclu-
but never suffered to have anything to say or
sion,
do in public
came
Long
affairs.*
before her death he be-
alienated from her on account of her
The
guised amours.
ill-dis-
princess Jehanara shared the
and remained with him
captivity of her father,
till
During her seclusion with her father her
his death.
time was chiefly occupied in writing the
lives of the
celebrated saints of the valley of Cashmere

his death,
and on
she became reconciled to her
in 1666,
who
brother Ourungzebe,
restored to
her
all
the
estates
and governments she had enjoyed under her
father,
yielding a revenue of
pounds sterling a
year,
more than one
million
and honoured her with the
At the first
title
of Shah Begum, or sovereign princess.
visit
her brother paid her after their fathers death, he
found, spread out to be presented to him,
all
those
jewels of immense value, which he had tried in vain

to get from her and his father during his lifetime.
" These," said she, " are
all
now
yours, as the first
surviving representative of the house of Tamerlane.
What
has
to forget
"
The
made you
so
we must now
try, if possible,
!"
truth
is,"
says Tavernier, " she
is
woman
of prodigious parts, able herself to govern the whole
empire
and had her father and her brother Dara
* She died in the fourteenth year of Ourungzebe' s reign, six

years after her father,
VOL.
I.
who
died in the eighth.
G G
450
taken her counsel at the beginning of the war,
Ourungzebe had certainly never been king."

This Ourungzebe
knew
and being
satisfied
now
that she felt her interest identified with his own, he
paid her
public
all
honour, and often consulted her upon
affairs.
When
Ourungzebe
perial throne,
himself secure in his im-
felt
by the death or imprisonment, in the
fortress of Gwalior, of all his brothers
he sent
his
and their
sons,
second son, the Sultan Mouzzim, to his
government of the Deccan, with limited powers

and resources. Mohubbut received the government of
Gozerat ostensibly, as a reward for his

benefactor,
Shah Jehan, but
fidelity to his
in reality for
ble presents of Persian rarities he
some valua-
made to Roshunara,
ere her brother had thought her services to

ficiently repaid.
Shaesta
and commander-in-chief,
him
suf-
Khan was made governor

first
in the Deccan,
and
Meer Khan got the government of Cabool, and Khuleeloolah Khan that of
Lahore Meer Baba that of Allahabad, and Lushkur
Khan that of Behar. Danishmund Khan was made
governor of Delhi, and Deeanut Khan of Cashmere.
Nijabut Khan, who had done great service in the
afterwards in Bengal.
battles of
ing,
Sureenugur and Kujwa, became overbear-
and got no government
in consequence.
Sing was sent to the Deccan
some
forces
as
under Shaesta Khan
Jeswunt
commandant of
but justly sus-
pected of being in league with the enemy, the celebrated Sewajee, the founder of the Mahratta empire,
DEATH OF JYSING.
in his daring attack
called,
and sent to
451
upon Shaesta Khan, he was
his
own
re-
estate in disgrace. Jysing
brought Sewajee under subjection
and died
at Ber-
haunpore, in the Deccan, leaving his large estates

to his eldest son.
g g 2
452
CHAPTER
XLVI.
DEATH AND CHARACTER OF AMEER JUMLA.
Ameer Jumla
succeeded the Sultan Shoojah in
the government of Bengal, which he wished to form

into an independent
kingdom
for himself.
paratory step, he entreated the
Emperor
As a
pre-
to allow his
wife and children to repair to him, that he might
enjoy the pleasure of their society in his old age
Ourungzebe saw through
his designs
and, to prevent
any further attempt to carry them into execution,
and at the same time to keep on good terms with

valuable a friend and servant, he sent
and daughters, but retained
whom
dignity of
He
Ameer
his wife
at court his only son, in
he knew Jumla rested
ing a dynasty.
him
so
all his
hopes of found-
appointed Jumla himself to the
of Omura, the highest in the state
next his own, with permission to hold the distant

viceroyalty of Bengal; and he
general,
made
it
made his son paymaster
the third office in the state, but one that
imperative on the holder to reside at the
INVASION OF ASSAM.
453
Jumla saw the Emperor's
imperial court.
these appointments
and
object in
at his suggestion undertook
the conquest of Assam, as a preliminary step to that

of China.
His armies, elate with their recent victories and

conquests, found no difficulty, under such a leader, in
They penetrated
the conquest of this country.
the capital, Goorgon, and took
it
but being obliged
to canton during the season of the rains at

pore, in the midst
great part of the
to
Muthura-
of plains covered with water, a
army perished from
the enemy, recovering
spirit,
ments, and reoccupied
drove in
the
disease
all
country.
and
the detach-
They were
driven back to their mountains with great slaughter,
when Ameer Jumla
again took the field in
Decem-
ber; and on the 17th of January, 1662, a peace was
concluded at the foot of the Namroot mountains.
part of the stipulated tribute or ransom* was paid
in advance,
and hostages were given
for the
payment
of the balance.f
The Rajah
of
Asham,
or Assam,
ostensible cause of the invasion
into the territory of
was
was Jydhuj Sing, and the
his having
marched an army
Kamroop, a dependency of the empire.
The
advance of tribute amounted to twenty thousand tolas of gold,
one hundred and eight thousand tolas of
phants for the Emperor,

Duleer Khan, through
fifteen for
whom
f The hostages given on
silver,
twenty
Ameer Jumla, and
ele-
five for
the negociations were conducted.
this occasion
were a daughter of the
Rajah, a daughter of one of his nearest relations, and four sons

of his principal chiefs and clansmen.
454
On
the 22nd of January, 1662,
Ameer Jumla
set
out with the remnants of his army on his return
and on the 3rd of February he reached Lukhoopore.
He
passed
through
Gonputlee,
whence
Rusheed Khan,
to
and
Kujalee
he
Pandoo,
detached a
Kamroop; and
near
under
force,
another, under
Asker Khan, to Kooch Behar; and proceeded
He
wards Khizerpore.
had been long
ill,
to-
and within
four miles of that place he died, on the 12th of
The Emperor,
April, 1662.
the
first
public audience, after the event had been
announced, said
have
lost
but,
at the
ever had.
Be
them the
me
a father."
office,
With
They
augmented
this
friend I
did so
he con-
his pension,
and
wealth they retired to the
kingdom of Golconda, where the son
much
following
is
lived to
respected.
a sketch
of the character of
while in the service of the king of
Golconda, by Tavernier,
less
greatest,
Massulipatam, on the Coromandel coast,
Ameer Jumla,
"
and I the
entire disposal of all their father's im-
a good old age,
The
Mahomed Ameer Khan,
assured that you and your sisters shall
mense wealth.
in the
You,
same time, the most dangerous
tinued him in his
district of
"
an excellent father;
always find in
left
in addressing his son at
who saw him
Meer Goolam was a person
often.
of great wit, and no
understanding in military than in state
I had occasion to speak with
him
affairs.
several times
and
I have no less admired his justice than his dispatch

to all people that
had to do with him
while he gave
455
AMEER JUMLA.
out several dispatches at the same time, as
but one entire business in hand.

chap, x.)
he had
(Part II. book
i.
The 14th of September, 1648, we went
to take our leaves of the
Nawab, and
he had further to say to
us,
dities
if
we had then shown
to
concerning
know what
the commo-
But then he
him.
told us
he was busy at present, with the examination of certain offenders

is
For
which are brought before him.
man
in
taken, he
is
the custom of that country never to put a
prison,
but as soon as the offender
examined, and sentence
is
pronounced upon him ac-
is
cording to his crime, which
is
immediately executed
or if the party taken be found innocent, he
And
acquitted.
nature
"
The 15th
him
again,
tent,
immediately decided.
in the
morning we went
to wait
upon
and were immediately admitted into
where he
sat with his
The Nawab was
two
according to the custom of
sitting,
number of papers
and others between the
his
by him.
secretaries
the country, barefoot, like one of our

great
as soon
is
the controversy be of whatever
let
it will, it is
it
sticking
tailors,
between
with a
his
fingers of his left hand,
toes,
which
papers he drew sometimes from between his fingers
and sometimes from between
his
toes,
and ordered
what answers should be given to every one.

his
secretaries
them
had written the answers, he caused
to read them,
sealed
them
After
and then took the
himself, giving
others to horsemen
for
some
and
letters
to foot messengers,
you must know, that
those letters which are sent by foot-posts
all
all
over
456
more speed than those which are carried by horsemen. While we stayed with the Nawab,
certain officers came to tell him, that they had
India, go with
brought certain offenders to the door of his
He
tent.
was above half an hour before he returned them
any answer, writing on, and giving instructions to

his secretaries
commanded
but by-and-by,
all
of a sudden he
the offenders to be brought
in,
and
after
he had examined them and made them confess the

crime of which they stood accused, he was above an
hour before he said a word,
In the mean while several
ploying his secretaries.

of the officers of the
respects to
whom he
him
writing on, and em-
still
army came
to tender their
in a very submissive manner, all
answered only with a nod. There was one of
the offenders which were brought before him, had
broken into a house, and had killed the mother and

three children.
He
to have his hands
was condemned upon the spot
and
feet cut
off,
and to be cast
out into the highway, there to end his days in misery.
Another had robbed upon the highway

the
Nawab
for
which
ordered his belly to be ripped up, and
himself to be cast upon the dunghill.
know
not
what crimes the other two had committed, but both

their heads
were cut
at a little leisure,
other
commands
off.
He
perceived him
we asked him whether he had any

to lay
thought our commodities

king.
When we
upon
us,
fitting to
and whether he
be shown to the
answered that we might go
and that he would write to
his
to Golconda,
son in our behalf
AMEER JUMLA.
and that
And
his letter
ries
would be there sooner than we.
in order to our journey,
horsemen
to
upon the
457
convey
road."
us,
he ordered us sixteen
and to provide us necessa-
(Part II. book
i.
chap, xviii.)
458
CHAPTER
XLVII.
REFLECTIONS ON THE PRECEDING HISTORY.
The
contest for the empire of India here described
very like that which preceded
is
between the
it,
sons of Jehangeer, in which
Shah Jehan succeeded
destroying
and nephews
his brothers
all
which succeeded
it,
forty years after, in
in
and that
which Mouz-
zim, the second of the four sons of Ourungzebe, did
the same
*
On
;*
and
it
may, like the rest of Indian history,
the death of Ourungzebe, which took place in the
Deccan, on the 3rd of March, 1707, his son Azim marched at

the head of the troops which he
commanded
in the Deccan,
meet Mouzzim, who was viceroy in Cabool.
Azim was
fought near Agra.
marched
to
killed near
empire.
Hydrabad
On
in the Deccan,
his death,
They met and
defeated and killed.
meet his other brother,
Kham
to
Buksh,
and secured
The
victor
whom
he
to himself the
which took place in 1713, his four sons
contended in the same manner for the throne at the head of the
armies of their respective viceroyalties.
crafty,
Moizoddeen, the most
persuaded his two brothers, Rufee Oshan and Jehan Sheh,
to unite their forces with his
Azeemoshan,
whom
destroyed his two
against their ambitious brother,
they defeated and killed.
allies
Moizoddeen then
LAW OF PRIMOGENITURE.
459
teach us a few useful lessons. First, we perceive the ad-
vantages of the law of primogeniture, which accus-
toms people to consider the right of the eldest son as
violate
as criminal.
it
perty,
well real as personal,
as
among
only
man who attempts to

Among Mahomedans, pro-
and the conduct of any
sacred,
the sons
civil
divided equally
is
and their Koran, which
and criminal, as well as religious code,
makes no provision
for the successions to sovereignty.
The death of every sovereign

lowed by a contest between
in consequence, fol-
is,
his sons, unless
overawed by some paramount power

succeeds in this contest finds
security, to
lest
their
is
put
all his
they are
and he who
brothers and nephews to death,
made
they should be rescued by factions, and
But sons who exercise
the cause of future civil wars.
the powers of viceroys, and
where the succession
own
necessary, for his
it
command
armies, cannot,
unsettled, wait patiently for
is
delay may be dan-
the natural death of their father
now seem more
Circumstances which
gerous.
vourable to
brothers
may
their views than

alter
to
those
of
fa-
their
the military aristocracy around
them depend upon the
the chief they
success of
choose in the enterprise, and the army more upon
plunder than regular pay

of the
more wary
flattered into
ability
may
both
for that of the
desert the cause
more daring
an overweening confidence
and good fortune
the throne yet
filled
in the history of his
by
own
and
all
their
each
in his
is
own
rush on to seize upon
wretched parent, who,
crimes,
now
reads those of
460
Iris
"
Gibbon has
children.
The
justly observed, (chap,
superior prerogative of birth,
when
it
vii.)
has ob-
tained the sanction of time and popular opinion,
the plainest and least invidious of
guishes the hopes of faction
distinctions
all
The acknowledged
among mankind.
right extin-
and the conscious
we owe
ful succession
To the
the frequent
civil
is
fathers.
tion
defeat of
we must
attribute
wars through which an Asiatic
obliged to cut his
Yet even
it,
way
to the throne of his
in the East the sphere of conten-
usually limited to the princes of the reigning
is
house
the peace-
and mild administration of European
monarchies.
despot
se-
To the
curity disarms the cruelty of the monarch.
firm establishment of this idea,
is
and
as soon as the
more fortunate competitor
has removed his brethren by the sword and the bow-
he no longer entertains any jealousy of
string,
meaner
subjects."
Among
is
his
Hindoos, both real and personal property
divided in the same manner, equally
among the
among them,
considered
sons
as
but a principality
an exception to
this
is,
rule
and every large
estate,
within which the proprietor holds criminal jurisdiction,
and maintains a military establishment,
sidered a principality.
primogeniture
is
is
con-
In such estates the law of
always rigidly enforced
and the
death of the prince scarcely ever involves a contest

for
power and dominion among
ings of the people,
who
his sons.
The
feel-
are accustomed to consider
the right of the eldest son to the succession as
reli-
FIEFS OF
461
THE HINDOOS.
would be greatly shocked
giously sacred,
tempt of any of
his brothers
younger brothers, never
to
invade
moment
for
at the atit.
The
supposing
they could be supported in such a sacrilegious attempt,
feel
their
for
inferior only to that
eldest brother a reverence
which they
feel for their father
and the eldest brother, never supposing such

tempts on their part as possible,
own
as towards his
feels
towards them
All the
children.
at-
members of
such a family commonly live in the greatest har-
mony.
In the
laws,
usages,
people upon this subject,
and feelings of the
we had
the means of pre-
venting that eternal subdivision of landed property,
which ever has been, and ever

everything that
is
will be, the
great and good in India
bane of
but un-
happily our rulers have never had the wisdom to

avail themselves of
them.
In a great part of India
the property, or the lease of a village held in farm
under government, was considered as a principality,
and subject
ture
it
strictly to
was a
fief,
the same laws of primogeni-
held under government on con-
dition of either direct service, rendered to the state

in war, in education, or charitable or religious duties,
or of furnishing the means, in
money
or in kind, to
provide for such service. In every part of the Saugor
and Nerbudda
in such leases
territories,
was
in force
and has been ever since
the law of primogeniture
when we took possession,

preserved.
The eldest of
the sons that remain united with the father, at his
death succeeds to the estate
and to the obligation
462
of maintaining
all
the widows and orphan children
of those of his brothers
who remained united
parent stock up to their death,

sisters,
and above
brothers aid
tained by
him
him
all,
his mother.
unmarried
his
All the younger
management, and are main-
in the
till
all
to the
they wish to separate,
and
division of the stock takes place,
is
when a
adjusted by
The member who thus
the elders of the village.
separates from the parent stock, from that time forfeits for
ever
all
claims to support from the possessor
of the ancestral estate, either for himself, his widow,

or his orphan children.
Next,
obvious that no existing government in
it is
India could, in case of invasion or
civil
war, count
upon
the fidelity of their aristocracy either of land or of office.

It
is
observed by
King John,
sides in a
Hume,
in England,
civil
in treating of the reign of
" That
men
easily
change
war, especially where the power
is
founded upon an hereditary and independent authority,
and
is
not derived from the opinion and favour
of the people"
or the nation
that
;
for
is,
upon the people
collectively,
the hereditary and independent
authority of the English baron, in the time of
John, was founded upon the opinion and
King
fidelity
of
only that portion of the people over which he ruled,

in the
same manner
as that of the
India in the time of Shah Jehan

reference either
to
the
Hindoo
but
it
chiefs of
was without
honesty of the cause he
espoused, or to the opinion and feeling of the nation
or empire generally regarding
it.
The Hindoo
terri-
;;
463
FEUDALITY IN INDIA.
torial chiefs,
like the
feudal barons of the middle
ages in Europe, employed

in the
estates
upon whose
all
the revenues of their
maintenance of military followers,
fidelity
they could entirely
what-
rely,
ever side they might themselves take in a
civil
and the more of these resources that were
war
left at
the more impatient they became of
their disposal,
the restraints which settled governments imposed
upon them.
felt,
Under such
that they had an
governments they
settled
arm which they could not use
and the stronger that arm the stronger was their desire
to use
it
in the subjugation of their neighbours.
The
reigning emperors tried to secure their fidelity by

assigning to
them
posts of honour about their court,
that required their personal attendance in
pomp
of pride
in marriage.
duties,
all their
and by taking from each a daughter
If any one rebelled or neglected his
he was either crushed by the imperial
or put to the ban of the empire
and
forces,
his territories
were assigned to any one who would undertake to

conquer them.
Their attendance at our viceroyal
court would be a sad encumbrance
nor-general could not well conciliate
monial
alliances, unless
we were
in his favour our law against
be desirable to
" let slip the
and our Gover-
them by matri-
to alter a good deal
polygamy nor would

;
it
dogs of war" once more
throughout the land by adopting the plan of putting

the refractory chiefs
to
the ban
of
the empire.
Their troops would be of no use to us in the way

they are organized and disciplined, even
if
we could
464
rely
upon
their fidelity in time
of need
and
this I
do not think we ever can.

If
be the duty of
it
contribute
to the
all
such territorial chiefs to
support of the public establish-
ments of the paramount power by which they are

secured in the possession of their estates, and de-
fended from
is,
it is
all
external danger, as
it
most assuredly
the duty of that power to take such contri-
bution in money, or the means of maintaining es-
more
tablishments
suited to
rude militia can ever be
its
purpose, than their
and thereby
to impair the
powers of that arm which they are so impatient to

wield for their
own aggrandizement, and
judice of their neighbours
to the pre-
and to strengthen that of
the paramount power by which the whole are kept

in peace, harmony,
and
We give
security.
what India never had before our

could have
will
without
always
it,
be at the head of the
school in the world
office
in
the best
and the enforcement of the duties prescribed
or caprice of individuals in power.
India
the people of
upon the
They
will
These assurances
now everywhere
understand, and appreciate.
thoroughly
see in the native
around them that the lucky accident of an
able governor
while
government
and that the security of the
or defined by law, will not depend
states
and never
the assurance that there
a sensible ruler trained up to
rights,
rule,
to India
all
is
too rare ever to be calculated upon
that the people have of property, office, or
character,
depends not only upon their governor,
465
MAHOMEDAN GOVERNMENT.
but upon every change that he
may make
in
his
ministers.
The government of the Mahomedans was always

and the aristocracy was always
essentially military,
one of military
There was nothing
office.
upon
All high civil
which an aristocracy could be formed.
were combined with the military commands.
offices
The Emperor was the

and
lands,
collected
great proprietor of
and distributed
Koran
in his
own lawyer
the
all
rents
their
Every Mussulman with
through his own servants.

his
else
hand was
his
own
priest
and
his
and the people were nowhere repre-
sented in any municipal or legislative assembly

there was no bar, bench, senate, corporation,
science,
or literature, by which
eminence and power.

concentrated
turing
great
and
all
had nowhere been
There were,
or manufacin
short,
no
but the military servants of government
the servants of government held their posts
at the will
* In
could rise to
upon great commercial
establishments.
men
Capital
men
art,
and pleasure of their sovereign.*
Rome,
as in
Egypt and
India,
many
If a
man
of the great works
which, in modern nations, form the basis of gradations of rank

in society, were executed
by government out of public revenue or
byindividuals gratuitously for the benefit of the public; for instance,

roads, canals, aqueducts, bridges,
an income, though
all
&c, from which no one derived
derived benefit.
vested with a view to profit in
There was no
capital in-
machinery, railroads, canals,
steam-engines, and other great works which, in the preparation
and
many
distribution of
man's enjoyments, save the labour of so
millions to the nations of
VOL.
I.
modern Europe and America,
H H
466
was appointed by the Emperor to the command of

thousand, the whole of this five thousand de-
five
and supply the incomes of many of the most useful and most
enlightened members of their middle and higher classes of society.
During the republic, and under the
first
emperors, the laws were
simple, and few derived any considerable income
them.
fewer derived their incomes from expounding the
Still
religion of the people
till
which property was invested with a
in
and the concentration of
profit,
Man
the establishment of Christianity.
was the principal machine

view to
from explaining
capital in hordes of
slaves,
and the farm of the public revenues of conquered pro-
vinces
and tributary
the aristocracies of
were with the land the great basis of
states,
Rome, and the Roman world
and equestrian orders were supported
senatorial
The
generally.
chiefly
by lend-
ing out their slaves as gladiators and artificers, and by farming

the revenues, and lending
provinces,
enable
The
and
them
slaves
number
to
to
money
to the oppressed subjects of the
vanquished princes, at an exorbitant
pay what the
throughout the
Roman
to the free population,
classes,
ploying them.
what
days.
who
demanded.
state or its public officers
empire were about equal in
and they were
for the
members of
concentrated in the hands of the
middle
interest, to
most part
the upper and
derived their incomes from lending and em-
They were
to
those classes in
canals, railroads, steam-engines,
Some Roman
citizens
had
as
&c,
the old world,
are to those of
many
modern
as five thousand slaves
educated to the one occupation of gladiators for the public shows

of
Rome.
Julius Caesar
return from Gaul
hundred pair
dred and
had
this
number
in Italy waiting his
and Gordianus used commonly
for a public festival,
and never
less
to give five
than one hun-
fifty.
In India, slavery
is
happily but
little
known
the church had
no hierarchy either among the Hindoos or Mahomedans

interpreters.
In
marriage, inheritance, succession,
and
had the law any high
all
its
civil
contract,
it
nor
branches of
was
to the
MAHOMEDAN ARMY.
pended entirely on
467
employment
his favour for their
and upon their employment
their subsistence,
for
whether paid from the imperial treasury, or by an

assignment of land in some distant province.
armies there
is
In our
and
a regular gradation of rank;
every officer feels that he holds his commission by a

tenure as high in origin, as secure in possession, and
as independent in its exercise, as that of the general
who commands and
the soldiers
know and feel,

who are killed or
all
that the places of those officers

disabled
in
action, will
those next in rank,
who
be immediately
Mahomedan
the
com-
are equally trained to
mand, and whose authority no one
by
filled
In
dispute.
vvill
armies there was no such gradation
people of the two religions as simple as the laws of the twelve

tables
and contributed just as
tocracy as they did.
same
In
all
to the support of
little
these respects, China
the land belongs to the sovereign, and
divided
among
those
who farm and
in canals, aqueducts,
&c,
ment, and yield no private income.

centrated in expensive
hierarchy,
therefore
machinery
the
minutely sub-
are
made by governis
nowhere
church
their
much
is
the great works
Capital
their law without barristers
aris-
it
cultivate
bridges, roads,
is
an
is
con-
without a
their higher classes are
composed almost exclusively of the public servants of
the government.
The
rule
which prescribes that princes of the
blood shall not be employed in the government of provinces and

the
command
of armies, and that the reigning sovereign shall
have the nomination of his successor, has saved China from a

frequent return of the scenes which I have described.
the princes are put to death, because

acquiesce in the nomination
always
is
it
is
known
None of
that
all will
when made known, supported
by the popular sentiment throughout the empire.
H H 2
as
it
468
of rank.
Every man held
the chief
whom
moment made
bis office at the will of
he followed; and he was every
to feel, that all his hopes of advance-
ment must depend upon his pleasure. The relation

between them was that of patron and client the
client felt bound to yield implicit obedience to the
commands of his patron, whatever they might be
and the patron, in like manner, felt bound to protect
and promote the

continued to do
sides in a
him
interests of his client, as long as
so.
civil war,
As
often as the patron changed

clients all blindly followed
his
and when he was
killed,
they instantly
whom
persed to serve under any other leader
might
he
find willing to take their services
dis-
they
on the same
terms.
The Hindoo
chiefs of the military class
ditary territorial possessions;
of these possessions were
had here-
and the greater part
commonly
distributed on
among their followers,

same clan. But the highest
conditions of military service,
who were all of the

Mahomedan officers of the empire had not an acre
more of land than they required for their dwellingThey had nothing
houses, gardens, and cemeteries.
but their
office
to
depend upon
naturally anxious to hold

in
any competition
it
and were always
under the strongest side
for dominion.
of the competitor under
whom
under
make
the star
they served seemed
some
plausible
their peace with his rival,
and serve
to be on the wane, they soon found
excuse to
When
his banners.
Each competitor fought
for his
MAHOMEDAN ARMY.
own
and those of
life
throne could be
man
his children
by only one
filled
469
the imperial
man
dared not leave one single brother
and that
His
alive.
had taken good care to dispose of
all his
own
brothers and nephews in the last contest.
The
sub-
father
sistence of the highest as well as that of the lowest

officer in
in
the army depended upon their employment
the public service
and
such employments
all
would be given to those who served the victor
Under such circumstances one
struggle.
is
in the
rather
surprised that the history of civil wars in India exhibits so
many
instances of fidelity and devotion.
The mass of the people stood

tests
aloof in such con-
without any feeling of interest, save the dread
that their
homes might become the
seat of the war,
or the track of armies which were alike destructive

to the people in their course, whatever side they
might
The
follow.
their laws
and
have no
result could
institutions
dustry and property.
As
and
little
upon
effect
upon
their in-
ships are from necessity
formed to weather the storm to which they are constantly liable at sea, so
were the Indian
village
com-
munities framed to weather those of invasion and

civil
war, to which they were so
by land
and
much accustomed
in the course of a year or
two no
traces
were found of ravages that one might have supposed

it
would have taken ages
to
recover from.
lands remained the same, and their
improved by the fallow; every
him the implements of
man
his trade,
fertility
carried
The
was
away with
and brought them
470
back with him when he returned
and the industry
of every village supplied every necessary article that
the community required for their food,

furniture,
and
accommodation.
communities, when
little
left
the
their
land
taxes,
Arrian
violence.
these
of
was
unmolested,
members
duties of all the different
in
Each
in
secure the rights and enforce the
itself sufficient to
wanted from
clothing?
and
government was,
all
they
moderation
and protection from external
says,
" If
any intestine war hap-
pens to break forth among the Indians,
deemed
it is
a heinous crime either to seize the husbandmen or

spoil their
All the rest
harvest.
each other, and
kill
and
wage war
against
slay as they think conve-
they live quietly and peaceably
among
them, and employ themselves at their rural
affairs
nient, while
either in their fields or vineyards." *
armies were not

in the days of
his
followers
much more
am
afraid
disposed to forbearance
Alexander than at present, and that
must have supposed they remained
untouched,
merely because
sudden
again from their ruins by that spirit of
rise
moral and
political
vitality
they
heard of their
with which
necessity
seems to have endowed them.

* Diodorus Siculus has the same observation.
ever does any prejudice to the
regard to the
degree
common
husbandmen
"
No enemy
but out of a due
good, forbear to injure them in the least
and therefore the land being never spoiled or wasted,
yields its fruit in great abundance,
with plenty of victuals and
all
and furnishes the inhabitants
other provisions."
Book
ii.
chap. 3.
471
MAHRATTA CONFEDERACY.
During the early part of
his life
and
reign,
Ourung-
zebe was employed in conquering and destroying the
two independent kingdoms of Golconda and Beejapore in the Deccan, which he formed into two pro-
Each had had an
governed by viceroys.
vinces
army of above a hundred thousand men while
The
pendent.
and
officers
inde-
soldiers of these armies
had nothing but their courage and their swords to
depend upon
for
their
no
Finding
subsistence.
longer any employment under settled and legitimate

authority, in defending the
life,
property,
and
in-
dependence of the people, they were obliged to seek

it
around the standards of lawless freebooters
upon the
their
ruins of these independent
and
kingdoms and
disbanded armies rose the Mahratta power,
the hydra-headed monster which Ourungzebe thus

created by his ambition, and spent the last twenty
years of his
life
in
vain attempts to crush.
The
monster has been since crushed by being deprived
or
Peshwa, the head which alone could infuse into
all
its
the
members
onality,
one
is
of the confederacy a feeling of nati-
and direct
common
all
object.
their efforts
when
Scindeea, the chief of Gwalior,
one of the surviving members of
federacy
the
rest
required to
this great con-
are the Holcars of Indore, the
Ghoslas of Nagpore, and the Gykwars of Barodah,

the grandchildren of the
armies,
commandants of predatory
who formed capital cities
out of their standing
camps
in the countries they invaded
in the
name
and conquered
of their head, the Satarah Rajah, and
472
afterwards in that of his mayor of the palace, the
Peshwa.
There
nationality left
not
is
among
now
the Mahratta states either
collectively or individually.
est feeling of
the slightest feeling of
There
not the slight-
is
sympathy between the mass of the
who rules over them, and his

establishments.
To maintain these public
people, and the chief
public
establishments, he
who most
everywhere plunders the people,
heartily
detest
him and them.
public establishments are composed of
and
religions
India,
sects,
gathered from
all
men
of
all
quarters of
and bound together by no common feeling
save the hope of plunder and promotion.

in ten
These
from, or has his family
is
where he
with his
serves,
chief.
provision
wounds or
either
nor
is
in,
Not one
the country
one in ten of the same clan
Not one of them has any hope of a

for
old age,
himself,
when
disabled
from
from serving his chief any longer,
or for his family, should he lose his
life
in his service.
473
CHAPTER XL VIII.
THE GREAT DIAMOND OF KOHINOOR.
The
foregoing historical
large a space in
it
occupies
too
what might otherwise be termed a
personal narrative
to
episode
but
still
am tempted
to
append
a sketch of the fortunes of that famous diamond,
called with oriental extravagance,
the Mountain of
Light, which, by exciting the cupidity of
Shah Jehan,
played so important a part in the drama.

After slumbering for the greater part of a century in the imperial treasury,
it
Persia,
who invaded
Mahomed
Shah, in the
by Nadir Shah, the king of

India under the
reign
of
was afterwards taken
Nadir Shah, in one of his
year 1738.
mad
fits,
had
put out the eyes of his son Rizakolee Mirza, and
when he was
assassinated, the conspirators
gave the
throne and the diamond to this son's son, Shahrookh

Mirza,
mud
who
Shah,
fixed his residence at Meesheed.
the Abdalee,
commanded
the
Ah-
Anghan
474
cavalry in the service of Nadir Shah, and had the
charge of the military chest at the time he was put

to death.
the
With
this chest,
camp during the
he and
his cavalry left
disorders that followed
murder of the king, and returned with
the
haste to
all
Candahar, where they met Turiekee
Khan on
way
tribute of the
camp with the
to Nadir Shah's
five provinces
which he had retained of
his
his
Indian
conquests, Candahar, Cabul, Tatta, Bukkur, Moultan,
They gave him the

the death of the king, seized upon his
and Peshawar.
news of
first
treasure, and,
with the aid of this and the military chest,
Shah took possession of these

formed them into the
little
w hich he
Afghanistan, over
Ahmud
five provinces,
and
independent kingdom of
long reigned, and from
which he occasionally invaded India and Khorassan.
Shahrookh Mirza had
by a
after
relief,
son,
his eyes
Ahmud Shah marched
faction.
to his
put the rebels to death, and united his eldest
Tymoor Shah,
in marriage to
the unfortunate prince, from
diamond, since
could
put out some time
it
whom
he took the
could be of no use to a
no longer see
Tymoor
the daughter of
its
beauties
He
man who
established
as his viceroy at Heerat,
and
his
son at Candahar; and fixed his
own
residence at
Cabul, where he died.
He was
youngest
succeeded by Tymoor
who was succeeded by his eldest son, Zuman

Shah, who after a reign of a few years was driven
from his throne by his younger brother, Mahmood.
He sought an asylum with his friend Asheek, who
Shah,
475
MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT.
commanded
a distant fortress, and who betrayed him to
the usurper, and put
him
He
into confinement.
con-
cealed the great diamond in a crevice in the wall of
the room in which he was confined

his jewels in
a hole
As soon
dagger.
as
made
and the
rest of
in the ground with his
Mahmood
received intimation
of the arrest from Asheek, he sent for his brother,

his eyes
put out, and demanded the jewels, but
Zuman Shah
pretended that he had thrown them
had
into the river as he passed over.

this,
Two
years after
the third brother, the Sultan Shoojah, deposed
Mahmood, ascended the throne by the consent
of his
elder brother, and, as a fair specimen of his notions
of retributive justice, he blew
away from the mouths
of cannon, not only Asheek himself, but his wife and

all his
He
innocent and unoffending children
intended to put out the eyes of his deposed
Mahmood, but was dissuaded from it by his

mother and Zuman Shah, who now pointed out to
him the place were he had concealed the great
diamond. Mahmood made his escape from prison,
raised a party, drove out his brothers, and once more
ascended the throne.
The two brothers sought an
brother
asylum in the Honourable Company's
territories
and
have from that time resided at an out frontier station

of Loodheeana,
upon a
liberal
upon the banks of the Hyphasis,
pension assigned for their maintenance
by our government.
territories of the
Sikh
On
their
chief,
was discovered to have
way through the
Rimjeet Sing, Shoojah
this
great
diamond,
the
476
mountain of
a
little
body,
mind and
torture skilfully applied to the
made
to surrender
Mahmood was
fortress
about his person; and he was, by
light,
to his generous host
it
succeeded in the government of the
and province of Heerat by
his son
Kamran
but the throne of Cabul was seized by the mayor of

the palace,
who bequeathed
med, a man,
reign,
it
to his son
Dost Maho-
in all the qualities requisite in a sove-
immeasurably superior to any member of the
house of
Ahmud Shah
Runjeet Sing had
Abdalee.
wrested from hirn the province of Peshawar in times

of difficulty
covering
it
and
we would not
as
from our old
justified in seeking the aid
Russians and Persians,
themselves of so
ing in India.
ally,
assist
him
in re-
he thought himself
who would, the
of those
who were
eager to
avail
an occasion to establish a
fair
foot-
Such a footing would have been mani-
festly incompatible
with the peace and security of
our dominions in India, and
we were
obliged, in self
defence, to give to Shoojah the aid which he had so

often before in vain solicited, to enable
cover the throne of his very limited
him
number
to re-
of legal
ancestors.
In India, there are a great many native
chiefs
who
were enabled, during the disorders which attended

the decline and
fall
of the
Mahomedan power and
the rise and progress of the Mahrattas and English,

to raise
and maintain armies by the plunder of their
neighbours.
being
now
The paramount power

securely
established
of the British
throughout
the
MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT.
they
country,
are
477
from indulging any
prevented
propensities; and might
longer
in
employ
their vast revenues in securing the blessing
such
sporting
of good civil government for the territories, in the

possession of which they are secured by our military
establishments.
But these
chiefs are not
much
dis-
posed to convert their swords into ploughshares

they continue to spend their revenues in the main-
tenance of useless military establishments for pur-
poses of parade and show.
native prince would,
they say, be as insignificant without an army as a

native gentlemen
cade, or
upon an elephant without a
upon a horse without a
army have
tail
caval-
But the
said
learnt from their forefathers, that they
were to look to aggressions upon their neighbours

to pillage, plunder,
motion
and conquest,
and they continue
live in the
of
hope of some
to
turn his atten-
They
government.
civil
and pro-
to prevent their prince
from indulging in any disposition

tion to the duties
for wealth
disaster to the
paramount
power which secures the increasing wealth

surrounding countries from their grasp
ened innovations from the north-west

spirits
and hopes
all
of the
and threatraise
their
in proportion as they depress those
of the classes engaged in
all
branches of peaceful
industry.
There
are, in all parts of India,
of thousands
who have
lived
thousands and tens
by the sword, or who
wish to live by the sword, but cannot find employ-
ment
suited to their tastes.
These would
all flock
478
to the standard of the

offer
all
them a
fair
prospect
lawless chief
;
wars and rumours of
moment
who could
of plunder and to them
wars are delightful. The
first
they hear of a threatened invasion from the
north-west, they
whet
their swords,
and look
fiercely
around upon those from whose breasts they are " to

#
cut their pound of flesh."
The above
upon.
history of the Kohinoor may, I believe, be relied
I received a narrative of
it
from Shah Zuman, the blind old
king himself, through General Smith,

at
Loodheeana
long and too
full
who commanded
the troops
forming a detail of the several revolutions too

of
new names
for insertion here.
END OF VOL.
I.
LONDON:
PlilNTF.D
UV 0.
J.
PALURR4 SAVOY
STRttFT,
STRAND.
PI. Z5
I>^
9nniet's Chro.
if
j:
Quiiiets Chro
DayfcHagta Uth'Hoth&Qo
IP
L A M T
Plate 21
:'-'^j.z
J1TC:
FIAIT
DW43LS^ Jli ivXcvU?^.
Ouiiiet's Clu
LryK
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(JPB
ymnc.t''-.
Giro
\)
[ft
,1
%{
Plate 30
(ûxaets-
Chro:
22
M 1111! T
2>aySLHaghe
tetta i^Veai
JOHN HATCHARD AND SON

HAVE LATELY PUBLISHED.
RECOLLECTIONS OF CEYLON,
After a Residence of nearly Thirteen Years; with an Account of the
CHURCH MISSIONARY
SOCIETY'S
By
Operations in that Island, and Extracts from a Journal.

the Rev. JAMES SELKIRK, Curate of Myddleton Tyas, Yorkshire.
1 vol.
8vo. price 14s. with a
Map and
FUTUEE
A Series
of Letters to
my
Pupils.
1
Among
various Illustrations.
DAYS,
Intended as a Present for

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Young
Ladies leaving School.
the contents will be found

Content and Occupation Mental Cultivation Conversation
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Sketch Liberality The
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Christian's Hope Biographical Notices.
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Wives
" The tone
is
unexceptionable, and the morality inculcated not of too impracticable a character."

Spectator.
The late War.
A DIABY OF A MAECH THBOUGH SINDE AND AFGHANISTAN,

WITH THE TROOPS UNDER THE COMMAND OF GENERAL SIR W. NOTT, &C, DURING THE
CAMPAIGN OP 1842.
By the Rev. I. N. ALLEN, .Assistant Chaplain to the Hon. E. I. Company's Bombay Establishment.
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post 8vo. price 12s. cloth, with several Original Illustrations by the Author.
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has been hitherto almost untouched."
Asiatic Journal.
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Affghans,
proceedings of the army, the manners, customs, and mode of warfare
will be read with
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" Everything
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lie
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" Nothing can be more unaffected than the style in which the author relates the occurrences which
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Morning Herald-
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By
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Works
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recently Published by J.
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TOUB TO THE SEPULCHRES OF ETRURIA IN 1839.

By
Contents:
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Introduction Veii Monte
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Castel d'Asso Clusium Conclusion.
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3 1197 22728 2503

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

Assembled by David Magee

OF THE BENGAL ARMY.

The proper study

PALMER, SAVOV STREET, STRAND.

what has been

their greatest source of pleasure while

there, perhaps nine in ten

which they receive from their

things, perhaps, tend

most to link our

the landscapes, so dear to

our recollections, with ever-varying groups of the

hope to spend the winter of our days.

They have a very happy

made from time

time to the dramatis persona of these scenes after

quit them, in the character of husbands, wives,

and while thus contributing

us better citizens of the world, and ser-

our " struggles through

an eye to the approbation

of those circles which our kind sisters represent

be considered in the exalted

of a valuable species of unpaid magistracy to

the government of India

correspondent than I have had in you,

of your valued letters unanswered in the

Rambles and Recollections" while on

the banks of the Nerbudda river to the

mountains, in search of health, in the end of 1835

and beginning of 1836.

a few notes, obser-

and conversations with natives, on the sub-

and amuse you

and the other members of our family

are strangers to us both.

thing I must beg you to be assured, that I

have nowhere indulged in

either in the nar-

rative, the recollections, or the conversations.

I relate, on the testimony of others, I believe to be

and what I relate upon

you may rely

might possibly have made

interesting; but I question whether

valued by you, or so useful to

and these are the objects I have had

people of India better understood by those of

The work may,

destinies are cast

and inspire more kindly

feelings towards them.

to the general reader,

considered, by the Indian states-

man, as the most useful and important.

opportunities of observation which varied

ployment has given me, have been such

but although I have endeavoured to

the most of them, the time of public servants

and that of few