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Chapter 5 – Sindh and the Native States of India

The story of the disturbances in the Cis-Satlaj States, in the Panjab, in some districts of the Bombay Presidency, and in Bombay itself, has been told in sufficient detail in the preceding volumes. I do not propose, then, to add a single word with respect to them in this chapter. To this general rule Sindh, however, forms an exception, for though there was no disturbance in that province, there were circumstances connected with it which deserve full mention. I propose, then, to devote a few pages to Sindh, and then to complete the story by recording in such detail as may be necessary, the action of those Native States which have not been prominently mentioned in preceding volumes.

Sindh

How Sindh became a British province, and how the attempt to garrison it with Sipahis from the Presidency of Bengal without giving them the extra allowances to which by custom and regulation they were entitled, landed the Indian Government of the day in a sea of difficulties has been told in the first volume113.

Sir Charles Napier

In a comparatively short time, however, under the wise administration of Sir Charles Napier, Sindh became as tranquil and as easily governed as the most orderly of the older provinces. I might say, indeed, that the more recent recollection by the inhabitants of the grinding sway of the Amirs whom the wise policy of Lord Ellenborough had displaced, rendered them more easy to control, more amenable to the lighter hand of the British ruler, than they probably would have been had they never felt the grinding tyranny from which the British had released them.

In 1857 the Commissioner of Sindh was Mr. Bartle Frere,

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better known to the present generation as Sir Bartle Frere.

Bartle Frere

Bartle Frere was a very eminent man who had won his way to the high post of Chief Commissioner of Sindh by conscientious work to which he had devoted the very great natural ability with which he was endowed. Immediately after the conquest of the province in 1843 it had been, I have said, ruled by the conqueror, Sir Charles Napier.

Sir Charles Napier

Napier had been a very able administrator. Energetic, painstaking, indefatigable, he had instilled into his subordinates a right conception of the nature of the work he wished, to be performed, and a portion of his own spirit in the performing of it. The result was that at the close of the four years of his Government, the province which had ever been regarded as the most oppressed and misgoverned province in India, ranked amongst the best administered and most contented.

Completely pacifies Sindh

Napier took a firm military grasp of the country; then formed and trained from amongst the natives a police so efficient that it became a model to other provinces; lightened the assessment on the ground-down cultivators of the soil; exempted traders from imposts; and laid down, at Karachi, the principle of a harbour, which, perfected, should become the harbour for western and north-western India.

Frere becomes Chief Commissioner in 1850

To carry on the work so well begun by Napier, Frere was nominated Chief Commissioner of Sindh in December 1850. Few men held in higher admiration the organising genius of Sir Charles Napier than did the new Chief Commissioner. The lines upon which he proceeded, then, were distinctly marked out for him. Entirely above the petty passion of jealousy, Frere devoted himself to this work with all the ardour of his earnest and practical nature. He visited every portion of the province, and then set to work.

Success of his policy

He developed an efficient road-system; he enlarged the Bigari canal; submitted a plan for the introduction of railroads; and devoted himself to the development of the harbour of Karachi. The harbour, as it is now, may indeed be said to be his work, for though Sir Charles Napier had marked the spot, it was left to Frere to carry out the design, and this he did with a zeal that speedily overcame all obstacles. With respect to his frontier policy he inaugurated a system which produced the most admirable results. It was a policy of demanding from the

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rude Baluchis who might attack the Sindh villages the surrender of the actual offenders. In course of a short space of time this policy had the effect, not only in causing a cessation of border outrage, but of enlisting on behalf of the administrator who understood so well how to combine justice with the maintenance of order the sympathies of the entire population.

The results

Under the rule of Frere, then, not only had order been maintained, and a system established by which it should be permanently assured, but, as a, natural consequence, trade had increased: the population, mostly Muhammadan, had become reconciled to British rule: the revenues had been placed upon a solid footing: whilst the cultivators of the soil had been made happy by the fixing of a regular settlement on the plan which prevailed in many parts of the Bombay Presidency, that of reserving proprietary rights, and establishing fixity of tenure.

Frere visits England in 1856

The hard work and the anxieties of his Government had affected the health of Frere, and in the early part of 1856 he visited England. Whilst he is absent I propose to describe more minutely the province he was administering.

Rough description of the province

The province of Sindh114 consists of the lower valley and delta of the Indus. It is bounded to the north by Baluchistan, the Panjab, and Bahawalpur; to the east by Jaisalmir and Jodhpur; to the south by the Ran of Kachh and the Indian ocean; to the west by Baluchistan. It has an area of 48,014 square miles, and had a population, in 1857, somewhat in excess of two millions. The chief towns are Haidarabad, the ancient capital, superseded now by Karachi, one of the finest of the modern towns of India, with a magnificent harbour, and Shikarpur. It has but two permanent rivers, the Indus and the Hab. But it contains two deserts; one of the north-west, in the Shikarpur district, called Pat, and the desert in the east and south-east called Thar. There

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are three collectorates, one of which is practically divided into two parts. The collectorates are: 1, Karachi, the head-quarters of which are in the town of that name. In the same division are Sehwan, in the north, near the Indus, and east of the Lake Manchur; and Tattah or Thathah, east of Karachi in the Indus delta; 2, Haidarabad, four miles from the Indus and six miles south of Mani, where in 1843 Sir Charles Napier defeated the Amirs; and Amrkot, to the east, the birthplace of Akbar. Attached to the Haidarabad collectorate, and constituting its second division, are Thar and Parkhar, forming its southern portion, and extending along the Ran of Kachh. The chief towns in this division are Diplu, Islamkot, Viravan, and Nagar Parkhar; 3, the Shikarpur collectorate, with an area of 11,000 square miles. This collectorate comprises the districts of Rohri, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Larkhana, and Mehar. The chief town, Shikarpur, carries on a brisk trade with Afghanistan. Larkhana, west of the Indus, is the chief town of a well-watered district.

Frere returns from England

To return to the period when Frere left Sindh to visit England. During his absence there broke out that Persian war which necessitated the despatch to the Persian Gulf of a considerable force from India.. The war was concluded just as Frere returned in March 1857. But though a small danger had passed, Frere found a greater looming in a very close future.

Warnings of the mutiny

Everywhere he heard of the strange excitement which pervaded the minds of the Sipahis generally, especially those of Bengal, on the subject of the greased cartridges. He found the mind of Lord Elphinstone fully impressed with the danger, especially of that particular danger which arose from the fact that many of the Bombay regiments were recruited from the same country as were those of Bengal. Still, up to the time of his arrival no overt act had been committed; but the air was charged with rumours, and it was evident that, in Bengal especially, mistrust ruled powerfully the native mind. The occurrences at Barhampur and Barrack-Or came to add to the prevailing gloom, but nothing of the nature of a preconcerted outbreak had occurred when Frere left Bombay for Sindh in the beginning of May.

Arrives at Karachi and hears of the Mutiny

Scarcely, however, had he set foot in Karachi when he received a telegram conveying an account of the revolt of the 10th of May at Mirath. Frere.

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at once comprehended the magnitude of the crisis. He, at least, did not regard the emotions called forth by this glaring act of mutiny as a passing and groundless panic115. He realised, on the moment, the fact that a crisis had arrived which would test to the utmost the resources of the Empire. Taking a rapid survey of the position all over India, he saw that the immediate fate of the country must depend on the attitude of the Panjab. Should the warlike people of that province declare against the British, the North-Western Provinces, at the very least, must be lost.

Clear diagnosis of Frere

Reasoning of thus, he asked himself how he, as Commissioner of Sindh, could best aid to prevent such a misfortune. He had at his command two weak European regiments, one of them little more than half its normal strength, a troop of Horse Artillery, four Native Regiments, two battalions of Native Foot Artillery, the Sindh Horse, and the mutinous 6th Bengal Cavalry. With such a force, composed of so many diverse materials, he had to consider the following question. Supposing that the mutiny at Mirath should merge into a general uprising of the entire population, how could he, with the Europeans of the force just enumerated and the Sindh Horse, effectually overawe the other native troops, keep in subjection two pillions of Muhammadans, and yet serve the general interests of British India? There was but one way, and that way Frere adopted.

Dispatches his strongest regiment to Multan

He telegraphed to Lord Elphinstone to the effect that with the view of averting possible danger it. Was his intention to despatch his strongest regiment, the 1st Fusiliers, to Multan. Feeling that even an hour’s delay might have fatal results he did not await the reply to his telegram before issuing the marching order to the regiment. Lord Elphinstone, as I have already told116 gave an immediate reply in the affirmative. But the initial idea was as much Frere’s as Elphinstone’s. The minds of the two men seem to have arrived at the same moment to the same conclusion. Frere proposed to do, and did do, in Sindh, what Elphinstone proposed to do, and did do, in Bombay. But there can be no question as to the courage, the statesmanlike prescience, the unselfishness, of Mr. Frere’s proposal. Responsible for the safety of the province committed to his charge, he deliberately risked that safety to aid in the preservation of

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the Empire. The fortress of Multan has always been regarded as one of the keys of India. Frere risked his own province to secure that key, and he did not risk it in vain. The regiment sent by him from Karachi to Multan held that fortress and Firuzpur during the worst days of the revolt. His noble self-abnegation was rewarded. Whilst contributing to save the Empire, he maintained a firm hold on his province.

Represses three outbreaks with his police

It is true that, during the long months which followed the despatch of the 1st Bombay Fusiliers to Multan, outbreaks did occur in the three larger stations in Sindh, but in every case they were suppressed on the spot, without much trouble, and without external aid. The military police, referred to in a previous page as having been established by Sir Charles Napier, behaved on every occasion with fidelity, zeal, and energy. The consequence was that not a single mutineer escaped. Nor was the ordinary law strained to secure their punishment. The prisoners were tried by regular courts, composed of native officers, and these native officers awarded them the full penalty of their crime, and nothing more.

Further energetic measures of Mr. Frere

But Mr. Frere’s exertions on behalf of the common weal did not confine themselves to the despatch of the 1st Fusiliers to Multan. By degrees, as he felt his hand, and as necessities arose in other parts of the Empire, he still further denuded his own province. In a preceding volume117 I have told of the risings in the Southern Maratha country, and of the manner in which those risings were repressed. To aid in that repression Frere made a further contribution of European troops from his Sindh garrison. Though he would only have been too glad to retain the 1st Baluchis at Karachi, he considered that their presence was required elsewhere, and therefore despatched them to the Panjab. In a word, he employed all the resources at his disposal for the purposes of the general need of British India in a time of exceptional trial.

The Native States

I propose now to turn to the Native States of India, and mark the conduct of their rulers. The subject is not unprofitable. Though the splendid genius of Marquess Wellesley had established British preponderance in Southern, in Western, in Central, and in North-Western

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India, the policy of his immediate successors, directed from the India Office, had had the effect, in Central and Western India especially, of neutralising the great efforts he had made to secure throughout India the British overlordship. From the very moment of his departure to the time of the Pindari war, a period of about twelve years, Rajputana had been systematically pillaged and plundered by Maratha robbers. The scandal at last grew too terrible to be tolerated, and in 1818, Lord Hastings, after a successful campaign against the Peshwa, against Holkar, and against the Pindaris, found himself in a position to restore the Wellesley policy. Clutching at the opportunity, he established the system which has ever since existed. The Native Princes of India became protected princes, debarred from making war against one another, bound to receive a British resident at their courts, and guarded against aggression from beyond the borders by the paramount power. The latter attained then the position designed for it by the Marquess Wellesley, the position of the predominant and protecting power in the peninsula. When the mutiny broke out in 1857 this system had been working for nearly forty years.

Rajputana, Maisur, the Nizam

It will be interesting to notice how it had affected the conduct of the Princes of Rajputana whom we had rescued in 1818 from the most cruel oppression; of the Hindu dynasty of Maisur, where it had been working for nearly sixty years; of the Nizam, our constant ally ever since the British influence at his court had superseded that of the French; of the various Rajahs of Southern, Western, and North-Western India; and of other minor princelets.

The story of Sindhia and Holkar has been already told

Some of this, indeed, has been already told. The preceding volumes have told at great length of the conspicuous loyalty of Maharajah Sindhia, whose predecessor sixty years before had devised the plan for the expulsion of the English from India. The reasons which probably influenced the able representative of the most powerful of the Maratha rulers have likewise been fully considered. Of Sindhia, then, I do not propose to speak in this chapter. Nor, I take it, is it necessary to make further allusion to Holkar. Of him, and of the mutiny at his capital, I have written at sufficient length in the third volume118.

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The question, whether Holkar was loyal or disloyal, is there discussed and decided. The late Maharajah Holkar was not a fighting man; he had about him none of the instincts of the warrior. Essentially a money-grubber, he valued too highly the security afforded by the British overlordship to risk it for a shadow. When, then, in the chapter referred to, I recorded my opinion that Holkar was free from complicity with the mutineers; that his soldiers had slipped out of his hands; that his presence amongst them on the 1st July would have been misinterpreted; and that subsequently he did his best to serve British interests, I rather understated than overstated the case. Subsequent investigation has satisfied me that during that crisis Holkar was quite as much afraid of his own soldiers as a non-combatant in a station, the troops in which had mutinied, would have been afraid of the Sipahis. Regarding Holkar, then, it is unnecessary to add a word to the story contained in the preceding volumes.

Rajputana

It is very different with the princes of Rajputana. Those princes had up to the year 1818 suffered grievously from the plundering and the tyranny of the Marathas and Pindaris. From that plundering and that tyranny the British had rescued them. They had therefore had nearly forty years’ experience of the advantages or disadvantages of the British overlordship, and it seemed natural that in the presence of a revolution which threatened to destroy the protecting power, they would display the real feelings by which they were each individually animated.

How George St. Patrick Lawrence maintained the British supremacy throughout Rajputana I have shown in previous volumes119. But the headquarters of my narrative have been, so to speak, at the place occupied by the Agent to the Governor-General. I propose in the following pages to transfer those headquarters now to the courts of the native princes.

Rajputana comprises eighteen principalities: it has an area of 128,750 square miles, and, in 1857, its population was somewhat less than nine millions. The States Composition within it, except Tonk, Bhartpur, and Dholpur, of Rajputana are ruled by Rajput princes. They are: Bikanir, Jaisalmir, Krishugarh, Karauli, Alwar, Tonk, Dholpur, Udaipur or Mewar, Dungapur, Banswara, Partabgarh, Jaipur, Jodhpur or Marwar,

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Bhartpur, Bundi, Kota, Jhalawar, and Sirohi. I propose to consider as briefly as possible the action of their rulers in 1857-8 so far as it has not been referred to in previous volumes.

Bikanir

I begin with Bikanir. Bikanir is the easternmost of the states of Rajputana. It is bounded to the north-west by the state of Bahawalpur; to the north by the Panjab; to the east by Jaipur; to the south and south-west by Jaipur and Jaisalmir. It has an area of 22,340 square miles, and a population (in 1857) of something less than half a million. It occupies a considerable portion of the Rajputana desert: water is rarely found at a depth short of three hundred feet.

Sketch of recent history of Bikanir

Up to the year 1835 the Rajah of Bikanir had been engaged in constant feuds with his neighbour, the Rajah of Jaisalmir. The evil had reached such a point in the year mentioned that the British Government, compelled to interfere, deputed an officer with powers to bring about a settlement. The exertions of the British officer soon realised the wished-for result. Both Rajahs renounced their previous ill-will, and entered into a pact of friendship. That pact was existing when the Rajah who made it, Ratan Singh, died (1852), and was succeeded by Sirdar Singh, who also observed it.

Loyalty of Sirdar Singh

Sirdar Singh was ruling when the Mutiny broke out at Mirath. The event did not disturb either himself or the people whom he ruled. Bikanir was out of the line of the mutineers. It was a poor country, sparsely populated, and the events occurring in other parts of India affected it but slightly. The ruler, Sirdar Singh, was in the happy position of having no grievance. His northerly neighbours, the Panjab and Bahawalpur, were loyal to the British master. The British districts between himself and Dehli, Hansi and Hisar, had indeed risen in sympathy with the capital, but the tendency of the rebels was to march in a direction the exact opposite of that which led to his desert home. In the other parts of Rajputana, British authority, though threatened, was upheld. In the truest sense of the term, then, the British were nearer to him than were the rebels. Under the circumstances it was manifestly his policy to remain loyal to his overlord so long as that overlord should display vitality. He was loyal, therefore, throughout the troublous times. He could not, indeed, afford very great assistance in the field, for his entire military force

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did not exceed three thousand men, but what he could do he did. Not only did he shelter British fugitives from Hansi and Hisar, but he sent parties into those districts to co-operate against the rebels.

Rewards apportioned to Bikanir

The Government of India did not forget these services. They assured to him the right of adoption; they added to his territory forty-one villages from the Sirsa (Hisar) district; they confirmed his right to a salute. This loyal chief lived till 1879.

Jaisalmir

Jaisalmir is the nearest Rajput neighbour of Bikanir. It is bounded to the north by Bahawalpur; to the east by Bikaner and Jodhpur; to the south by Jodhpur and the Thar and Parkhar districts of Sindh; to the west likewise by Sindh. It has an area of 16,447 square miles, but a great part of this is desert. It rejoices in but one stream, the Kakni. The chief of this principality is styled the Maharawal.

Previous immediately antecedent history of Jaisalmir

The ruler of Jaisalmir who concluded the pacific arrangement with Bikanir referred to in the notice of that principality was Maharawal Gaj Singh, a man of considerable ability and force of character. His just administration made him extremely popular with his people. In the first Afghan war he assisted his overlord by supplying the British army with camels. The Indian Government of the day did not forget this service, for when Napier conquered, and Lord Ellenborough wisely annexed, Sindh, the latter transferred to the Rajput prince three important forts which, in previous wars, the Amirs of Sindh had wrongfully wrested from Jaisalmir. This great ruler died in 1856, the year before the Mutiny, leaving his territories to the disposal of his widow. She at once adopted a relative, Ranjit Singh, and this prince was ruling throughout the troublous times of 1857-9. His own territory remained quiet and loyal. The troops at his disposal never exceeded a thousand men, and he kept these wisely at home.

It had no history in 1857

Throughout the period referred to Jaisalmir was absolutely without a history. It has as happily continued to have none.

Krishngarh

The next state to be noticed is Krishngarh. Krishngarh is a small state with an area of 724 square miles, and a population (in 1857) of about 100,000. The chief Krishngarh town, also called Krishngarh, lies on the road from Nasirabad to Hansi, twenty-one miles north-east of the former, and two

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hundred and twenty-two south-west of the latter. The chief adopts the title of Maharajah.

Antecedent history of Krishngarh

From the period when this state came under British protection, 1818 till 1840, this little territory was the scene of constant confusion, caused by the oppression and extortions of the Maharajah, Kalian Singh. But, in 1859, this chief was succeeded by Pirthi Singh. Pirthi Singh was ruler during the troublous times of the Mutiny.

It is loyal in 1857,

He was a mild, inoffensive man, whose sympathies were entirely with his overlord. The total number of troops at his disposal did not exceed five hundred and fifty, and he kept these as much as he could for the protection of himself and his capital.

Karauli

Next in order comes the state of Karauli, the earlier history of which has been told in the first volume120. Karauli lies between Jaipur and Dholpur. It has an area of 1,208 square miles, and a population (in 1857) of about 130,000. To the south-east, the river Chambal separates it from the Gwaliar territory: to the south and west it is bounded by that of Jaipur: and to the north and north-west by Dholpur and Bhartpur.

Madan Pal

In 1857, the Maharajah Madan was still that Madan Pal whose accession in 1853-4 had only been recognised after a reference to the Home Government.

Conditions made to him on his accession

That accession had been accompanied by the withdrawal of the British agency from Karauli, and by the intimation to the ruler that if he should fail in the annual payment of the debt due to the paramount power, the British Government would take possession of one or more of his districts until the whole debt, amounting then to 94,312 rupees, should be liquidated.

Excellent conduct of Madan Pal in 1857-8

Madan Pal found not only that he was unable to comply with this condition, but that the debt became larger with each succeeding year. When the mutiny broke out in 1857 he was, then, in the condition of a man who, under the terms of his occupation, ought to desire the death of his overlord, for that death alone would apparently wipe out his obligation. But Madan Pal was a loyal and far-seeing man. He preferred the little finger of the British to the loins of the revolted Sipahis. He exerted himself heart and soul therefore to further the

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interests represented in Rajputana by George St. Patrick Lawrence. So true and loyal was his conduct throughout those troublous times, that, when peace was restored, the British Government remitted the whole of his debt, then amounting to 117,000 rupees; bestowed upon him a dress of honour; and increased his salute. There could not have been a greater justification of the conduct of the Court of Directors in refusing to allow the Government of India to treat Karauli as a lapse than was given by Maharajah Madan Pal within four years of his recognition as chief of that state.

Alwar

The State of Alwar is bounded on the north by Gurgaon and the district of Kot Kasin; on the east by Mathura and Bhartpur; on the south and on the west by Jaipur. The principality forms a portion of Mewat or the country of the Mewatis. It has an area of 3,024 square miles, a population (in 1857) of something over half a million, and has, as principal towns, Alwar, the capital, Rajgarh, and Ramgarh.

Rao Rajah Benei Singh

When the year 1857 dawned, the chief of Alwar was that Rao Rajah Benei Singh who had defied Lord Combermere at the time of the second siege of Bhartpur, and who had between his submission after that siege and the beginning of 1857 given repeated proofs of the possession of a turbulent spirit, especially resentful of the restraints imposed in the interests of the general peace of the country by the British overlordship.

Alwar is too much occupied by domestic rivalry to take part in the mutiny

Benei Singh died just after the Mutiny had broken out, and was succeeded by his son, Rao Rajah Leodan Singh, then thirteen years old. His accession was the signal for a struggle between the two parties in the State, the Muhammadan faction, always strong in Alwar, and the Rajput Thakurs or barons, representing chiefly the landed interest of the principality. For the moment, the Muhammadan faction gained the upper band. The struggle for power within the State apparently blinded the eyes of both parties to the occurrences beyond its borders. The struggle was long and desperate. But, in 1858, the Thakurs prevailed, and the Muhammadan ministers were expelled and deported to Banaras. The paramount power then appointed a resident to advise the Rao Rajah, to assist the council of administration formed to conduct affairs during the chief’s minority. His principality was not affected by the Mutiny.

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Tonk

Tonk, the one principality in Rajputana ruled by a Muhammadan sovereign, has an area of 2,509 square miles, and a population (in 1857) of just over 300,000. It consists of six detached districts, named after the principal town in each, the districts of Tonk, Ramparah, Nimbhera, Sironj, Chaprii, and Perawa. The capital. Tonk, lies on the river Bands, two hundred and eighteen miles to the south-west of Dehli.

The Nawab of Tonk

In 1857, the Nawab of Tonk was Wazir Muhammad Khan, son of the famous freebooter Amir Khan, the founder of the principality. He was of middle age when the Mutiny of 1857 broke out, and he was wise. The principality carved out by his father in a period of disturbance and plunder had been confirmed to his father’s family by the British, and could be secured only by loyal service to them. Such service Wazir Muhammad Khan rendered throughout 1857-8 to the best of his ability. He could do but little actively, for his military establishment consisted of but from five to six hundred horse. But what little he could do, especially at the time of Tantia Topi’s raids, was done heartily and earnestly. The realer will find a short account of his action in the fifth volume121. Wazir Muhammad lived to June 1864.

Dholpur

Dholpur is bounded to the north and north-east by the Agra district: to the south-east by the Chambal, which separates it from the Gwaliar territory: to the west by Karauli and Bhartpur. It has an area of 1,200 square miles, and a population (in 1857) of about 210,000. Its chief towns are Dholpur, the capital, Bari, and Rajahkhera. The Ranas of Dholpar have a hereditary enmity to the house of

Loyalty of its Rana

In 1857, the Rana Bhagwant Singh, a Jat by caste, had reigned over twenty years. His mature age had given him opportunities of noticing the great advantage. of the protection of paramount power. That protection, and that alone, had saved him in 1841 from the vengeance of Sindhia, whom he had grossly insulted. When, then, the Mutiny occurred, he cast in his lot with his overlord. When the outbreak took place at Gwaliar, in the manner described in the third volume122, he sent his carriages and escorts to convey the fugitives to Agra. It is true that

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his minister, Deo Hans, less prescient than himself, believing that the hour of doom had sounded for the British, endeavoured to enrich himself by taking advantage of the defenceless state of the country to plunder villages in the Agra district; and that, having nefariously succeeded, he endeavoured then to supplant his master. But this development took place after the Mutiny had been suppressed. It resulted in the removal to Banaras, as a State prisoner, of the intriguing minister. For his services in 1857-8, Rana Bhagwant Singh was made a knight of the Star of India in its highest grade.

Udaipur

I now come to the most ancient and most important of all the States of Rajputana, the State of Udaipur or Mewar. Udaipur is bounded to the north by Ajmir; to the east by the States of Bundi, Tonk, and Partabgarh; to the south by Banswara, Dungarpur, and the Mahi Kantha; to the north-west by Sirohi, Godwar, and Mahirwara-Ajmir. It has an area of 12,670 square miles, and a population numbering (in 1857) over a million, of whom about 45,000 were Bhils. The chief town, seventy miles west of Nimach, is also called Udaipur. The other chief places are, Gogundah, to the north-west of the capital, where Man Singh defeated Rana Kika in 1576; Chitor, between the capital and Nimach, a renowned fortress, containing a large pillar of victory erected by Rand Rumba in 1440, but which had to succumb to both Allah-ud-din and Akbar. The Rana of Udaipur maintains a force of 263 guns, 1,338 artillerymen, 6,240 cavalry, and 13,900 infantry.

Maharana Sarup Singh

The prince who reigned in Udaipur when the Mutiny broke out was Maharana Sarup Singh. This prince had succeeded his brother Maharana Sirdar Singh, an unpopular ruler, in 1842. The experience he had of ruling had convinced Sarup Singh that his own welfare, the very maintenance of his power, were bound irrevocably to the assertion of the supremacy of his British overlord.

Captain L. Showers

The Governor-General’s agent at Udaipur, Captain Lionel Showers, was at Mount Abu, in the neighbouring state of Sirohi, when the news of the outbreak of the 10th of May at Mirath reached that capital. The Rana fully appreciated the gravity of the crisis. But his position was a difficult one, for he could not tell how far he might be able to control the troops – Muhammadans and Hindus – who formed his army. His anxiety increased when a few

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days later he heard of the mutiny at Nasirabad on the nth of May, and of the rising at Nimach on the 3rd of June123. Showers returned from Abu on the 29th of May. In this emergency, the Maharana, anticipating the period when the progress of events would deprive his state of the protection it had always enjoyed since 1818, proposed, on the advice of his officers, to concentrate his troops in Udaipur. But on the advice of Showers, he resolved to take a more distinct step in the way of espousal of the British cause, and to that end he publicly placed his army at the disposal of the Agent.

rescues the fugitives from Nimach

How, with these troops and the gallant Rao of Bedla, Showers succeeded in rescuing the fugitives from Nimach has been told in a previous volume124. Showers went on to Nimach, whilst the Rao of Bedla escorted the fugitives to Udaipur. There they met a right royal welcome from the Rana, who placed at their disposal one of the palaces on his beautiful lake. The same kindness and the same consideration characterised all the Rana’s actions during that eventful period.

Loyalty of the Maharana

He continued loyal and true to the end; assisted the British by all the means at his disposal; never despaired of their ultimate success; and rejoiced at their final victory. A vista of what Rajputana might become if the protecting arm of the overlord were withdrawn was vouchsafed to him and his countrymen during the raids of Tantia Topi, described in the fifth volume. Sarup Singh lived till 1861. He was succeeded by his nephew, Sambhu Singh.

Dungapur

The next State in the order I have given is Dungapur. It has an area of a thousand square miles, and a population (in 1857) of about 125,000, of whom more than 50,000 were Bhils. It is bounded to the north by Udaipur; to the east by Udaipur, the river Mahi, and Banswara; to the south by the Mahi; and to the west by the Mahikanta States. The rivers are the Mahi and the Som. The chief towns are the capital, Dungapur, and Galiakot. The ruler is styled the Maharawal.

Curious disposal of authority in Dungapur

When, in 1818, the British Government assumed the protection of the States of Rajputana, the ruling Maharawal was Jaswant Singh. But he was not only incompetent as a ruler, but was addicted to the lowest

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and most degrading vices. Consequently, in 1825, he was deposed, anti his adopted son, Dalpat Singh, grandson of Sawant Singh, chief of Partabgarh, was made regent. But in 1844, the succession to Partabgarh devolved on Dalpat Singh. The question then arose whether Dungapur and Partabgarh should be united into one state; whether a fresh adoption should be made for .Dungapur; or whether Partabgarh should escheat to the British Government. It was finally decided, after considerable discussion, that Dalpat Singh should adopt as his successor in Dungapur Udai Singh, son of the Thakur of Sabli, and that he should continue to rule during his minority. This arrangement worked, however, so unsatisfactorily that, in 1832, the British Government in India transferred the chief authority in Dungapur from Dalpat Singh to a native agent of their own selection until the adopted chief should attain his majority. Dungapur was under the management of this agent when the Mutiny broke out in 1857.

Fidelity of Dungapur

He was true and faithful to his trust, and the territory, during the two eventful years, had no history. Maharawal Udai Singh subsequently assumed the direction of affairs.

Banswara

Banswara, lies to the south-east of Dungapur. It has an area of 1,500 square miles, and a population (in 1857) of 136,000. Its chief river is the Mahi; and its principal town is Banswara. This town lies on the high road from Man to Disa, being 123 miles to the north-west of the former, and 178 miles to the south-east of the latter. It is a fine town, with many gardens, a picturesque palace, and a beautiful tank.

During the events of 1857-8 the Maharawal was Lachman Singh, who was true and loyal to his overlord. Banswara was traversed more than once in 1857, troops coming from Bombay, and, towards the close of 1858 Tantia Topi and his followers took a momentary refuge in the jungles of the principality. The British troops in pursuit of Tantia pursued him, and aided by the Bhils of the district, who “followed his track as the vulture follows the wounded hare125,” eventually expelled him. Throughout the raid of Tantia Topi, the sympathies of prince and people were strongly with the British.

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Partabgarh

Partabgarh lies to the south of Udaipur; is bounded to the east by Gwaliar, Jaura, and Patlam; to the south-west by Banswara. It has an area of 1,460 square miles, and a population (in 1857) of about 65,000. Its capital is also called Partabgarh126.

Partabgarh has also no history

In the reference to Dungapur I have shown how in 1844, Dalpat Singh, who had been adopted Maharawal of that principality, succeeded to the chiefship of Partabgarh, and how, in 1852, the Government of India relieved Dalpat Singh of his duties in Dungapur. His rule in the latter state was uneventful, being disturbed only towards the end of 1858 by the raid of Tantia Topi. The Rajah was true to his liege lord, and emerged from the crisis without a stain.

Jaipur

The next state is the important state of Jaipur. Jaipur has an area of 14,465 square miles, and had, in 1857, a population of over two millions. It is bounded. on the north by Bikanir and Hisar; to the east by Alwar and Bhartpur; to the south by Karauli, Gwaliar, Tonk, Mewar, and Ajmir; to the west by Krishngarh, Marwar, and Bikanir. Its chief mountains are parts of the Aravalli hills: its chief rivers are the Jamnah and its tributaries, the Sabi, and the Kaotli: its chief towns are Jaipur, Amber (the ancient capital), Basalt, Bagra, and Chatsu. South-east of Jaipur, near the confluence of the Banas and the Chambal, is Fort Rantanbhur, often mentioned in Indian history.

Loyalty of the Maharajah

In 1857, the Maharajah was Ram Singh, an intelligent prince, fully alive to the duties which devolved upon him as ruler, and anxious to perform them. He was in the prime of early manhood, being twenty-five years of age, and had benefited greatly from the lessons instilled into him by the officer who had been Political Agent at Jaipur between January 1844 and December 1847, Major Ludlow. When the Mutiny broke out, then, he acted in no uncertain manner. He at once placed127 the whole of his

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forces, amounting to between six and seven thousand troops, at the disposal of the Political Agent, Major Eden, leaving only seven hundred Sipahis and eighteen hundred police for the defence of the capital. The Jaipur troops marched with the Political Agent to Riwari and Gurgaon, and subsequently to Palwal, thirty miles to the south-east of Gurgaon, after the troops from Bhartpur and ..,Alwar had joined the rebels, as related in an earlier part of this volume. The Jaipur troops rescued several Europeans, and escorted them safely to Agra. They also restored order in the plundering villagers of Mewat, but, when that had been accomplished, Major Eden receiving a hint from their officers that it would not be prudent to try them further, wisely ordered them back to Jail-Air. Considering that the men who composed the Jaipur army were of the same class as the Sipahis in the British service, were exposed to the same influences, and were animated by a spirit quite as much disposed to mutiny, it speaks volumes for the influence of their officers, all Rajputs, and for the tone of native society in Jaipur, that they behaved as well as they did. The Maharajah, certainly, set them a noble example. He sheltered the family of the Political Agent in his own palace, and by his wise and careful conduct, assisted by the exhortations of the chief pandit, and by the loyal feeling of the members of his Court, succeeded in steering Jaipur safely through the perilous crisis. When the evil days were passed the Government of India did not forget his eminent services. They showed their appreciation by transferring to him, from the neighbouring district of Gurgaon, the parganah of Kot-Kasim. The Maharajah lived for several years after the Mutiny was quelled. He opened out roads, constructed railways, and gave an impulse to education. During the scarcity of 1868 he abolished transit ditties on the frontiers of his dominions. Twice was he nominated a member of the Viceroy’s Council.

Jodhpur

Jodhpur, or Marwar’, is bounded to the north by Bikanir and Jaipur; to the east by Jaipur and Krishngarh; to the south-east by the Ajmir district; to the south by Sirohi and Palanpur; to the west by the Ran of Kachh, and the Thar and Parkhar districts. It has an area of 37,000 square miles, and had, in 1857, a population of about a million and a half. The chief river is the Loni and its tributaries: the chief mountains are the Aravallis, but there are several high hills, the Nadolai and others: the chief towns are Jodhpur the

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capital, Pali, and Merta. The ruler in 1857 was Maharajah Takht Singh.

Cause of the rebellion in Jodhpur

In the fourth volume128 I have shown how insurrection rose and spread in the Jodhpur territories; how, also, thanks to the energy and daring of George St. Patrick Lawrence, it was stamped out. It seems only necessary to add that the Maharajah himself was thoroughly loyal, and that the disturbances were caused far more by the rebellion against his authority of one of his powerful Thakurs, than by any ill-feeling against the British. So little sympathy indeed had the rebel Thakur with the revolted Sipahis that he hesitated long before he would avail himself of their proffered co-operation, nor did he do so until the Political Agent at Jodhpur had declined the responsibility of making the slight concessions which he demanded from his liege lord. Sir George Lawrence, I have stated, acting with the full sympathy and concurrence of the ‘Maharajah, restored order and on the return of peace and tranquillity the good disposition of the latter was acknowledged.

Bhartpur

Bhartpur is bounded to the north by Gurgaon; to the east by Mathura and Agra; to the south and south-west by Dholpur, Karauli, and Jaipur; to the west by Alwar. It has an area of 1974 square miles, and had, in 1857, a population of a little over half a million. The chief towns are Bhartpur and Dig, both famous in Anglo-Indian history. The people belong mostly to the Jat tribe.

Loyalty of the Council and mutiny of the troops

The Rajah of Bhartpur in 1857 was a minor, and the State was ruled by a Council of five nobles, under the superintendence of the Political Agent. How loyally disposed was this Council the events already told in this volume have fully illustrated129. They sent their troops to Mathura, and towards Dehli. But the loyalty of the troops did not correspond to the loyalty of their rulers. How they cast in their lot with the rebels has been told. The sins of the troops were not, however, visited on the Rajah on the restoration of tranquillity. The privileges which were granted to other native chiefs were extended to him.

Bundi

Bundi is bounded to the north by Tonk, Jaipur, and Krishngarh; to the east by Sindhia’s dominions;

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to the west by Ajmer and Mewar; to the south by Kota and Mewar. It has an area of 2300 square miles, and had, in 1857, a population of about 210,000. Its chief town is Mande, ninety-five miles south-east of the town of Ajmer.

The ruler of Bandi in 1857 was the Rao Rajah Ram Singh, then forty-seven years old. Ram Singh had acceded to his high office in 1821, and during that period his conduct Lukexottierhni- had not been altogether of a nature to conciliate ‘al the respect. A quarrel of a domestic nature with Jodh-

pur in 1830, had resulted in the murder of his very able prime minister, Kishan Singh, and, but for the prohibition of the paramount power, this quarrel would have led to war between the two States. Whether the prohibition brooded in the mind of Barn Singh, or whether he nursed other fancied wrongs, it is difficult to state with certainty. But when the Mutiny of 1857 occurred, he showed no disposition to make common cause with his overlord. It is true that when ‘panties Topi marched on his capital, Ram Singh shut the gates in his face130. But the Tantia was at the time a fugitive, closely pursued by a British force, and Ram Singh felt that to ally himself with a fugitive rebel would be to court destruction. His conduct, however, in other respects was so unfriendly that, on the restoration of peace, the paramount power showed its sense of his disloyalty by declining to resume confidential intercourse with him. It conferred upon him, nevertheless, the same privilege it bestowed upon the other princes of Rajputana, the privilege of the right to adopt; and in 1860, it extended to him complete forgiveness.

Kota

Kota was, originally, an offshoot from Bundi. It lies due south of, and contiguous to, that principality. Its area extends over 3797 square miles, and it had, in 1857, a population of about 450,000. Its chief river is the Chambal and its tributaries. The ruler, in 1857, was Maharao Ram Singh.

Mutiny of the Kota Contingent and its consequences

It should be premised that, in pursuance of a treaty with the paramount power, the Mallard° had, since 1838, maintained an auxiliary force, officered by British officers, and called the Kota Contingent. It was contingent composed of the three arms. How this force mutinied in 1857, first at Agra, afterwards at Kota itself, and how the last-named outbreak resulted in

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the murder of the Political Agent, Major Burton, and his sons, I have told in the preceding volumes131. How far the Maharao was guilty, or whether he was merely passive, cannot with certainty be stated. It is an ascertained fact, however, that he made no attempt to put down the revolt, nor to aid Major Burton. How a British force under General Roberts speedily recovered the town has been recorded in the pages immediately following those just referred to. On the restoration of tranquillity throughout India, the Government evinced its displeasure by reducing by four the number of salute-guns theretofore allowed to the Maharao. This curtailment, which was deeply felt, continued in force throughout the remaining years of the life of that prince. But on his death in 1866, the Viceroy of the day took the opportunity to restore to his son and successor the suspended honours.

Jhalawar

Of the next State, Jhalawar, which is separated from Kota by the Mukandra range, which had in 1857 a population of about 280,000, in an area covering 2604 square. miles, the capital of which is Jhalra Patan, and the rivers the Parwan, the Newaj, the Bali Sind, the An, and the Chhota Kali Sind, it is only necessary to state that the Maharaj Rana, Prithi Singh, displayed throughout the Mutiny unflinching loyalty.

Loyalty of the rana

He rendered excellent service by conveying to places of safety several Europeans who had taken refuge in his districts. His record was absolutely without a stain. How Tantia Topi attacked him in his capital, and how the loyal prince fled to Man for refuge, has been told in sufficient detail in a previous volume132.

Sirohi

The last state in Rajputana, to be noticed is Sirohi. Sirohi is bounded to the north by Jodhpur; to the east by Udaipur; to the south by Palanpur and the Mahikantha States of Idar and Danta; and to the west by Jodhpur. It has an area of 3020 square miles, and, in 1857, its population numbered about 120,000. The Arawalli range separates Sirohi from the table-land of Mewar. It is divided into ten parganahs inhabited by Rajputs, Bhils, Minas, and Grasias. Its chief

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town, Sirohi, lies sixty-seven miles to the north-east of Nasirabad. At Erinpuram, a town in the principality, seventy-eight miles south of Jodhpur, was the head-quarters of the Jodhpur legion, officered by British officers. The sanitarium, Mount Abu, a mountain connected with the Aravalli range, but rising far above any other point of that range, is the place where the Governor-General’s agent, and the other political officers of Rajputana can take refuge from the extreme heat of the plains. Its greatest height is 5650 feet above the sea. Mount Abu133 lies forty miles to the north-east of Disti, a military station in the Bombay Presidency.

Troubles in Sirohi

In 1857 the nominal chief of Sirohi was the Maharao Sheo Singh. But Sirohi had always been a troublesome state to govern, and, in 1854, the British Government, at the earnest request of Sheo Singh, had taken upon itself the administration of the country. It was under British management when the mutiny broke out. How, at the first alarm, the Governor-General’s agent, Sir George Lawrence, hastened to his post in the plains and thence took decisive measures to ensure the safety of the several districts, has been told in the third volume. How mutiny broke out at Erinpuram, how the mutineers attempted to surprise and master Mount Abu, and how that outbreak was ultimately suppressed, has been related with some detail in the fourth134. These events combine the whole material history of events in Sirohi, in 1857-8. It only remains to add that the Maharao, Sheo Singh, though not exercising sway, evinced the most friendly and loyal spirit. The Indian Government rewarded him by reducing his tribute by one-half. He died in 1861, and in 1865, the debt of the state having been entirely liquidated, the rule of the native prince, son of Sheo Singh, was restored in its integrity.

I have now, at some length, given the reader an outline of

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the history of the large tract known as Rajputana, during the eventful period 1857-9.

Summary of the attitude of Rajputana

The reader will have noticed, I am sure with pleasure, that, with scarcely an exception, the princes who ruled the eighteen states which formed that division of India, were loyal to the paramount power. An experience of the protection of Great Britain lasting over thirty-nine years had given them proof that under no other supreme Government would their rights and privileges he so thoroughly secured. It may be added that the loyalty of the nobles and of the Rajput population did not fall short of the loyalty of the princes. The fact that the Thakur of Awah rose in rebellion against his liege lord, as shown in the last chapter of the fourth volume, and that he resisted the British troops was a fact that stood alone. But even he, though he accepted the services of the revolted Sipahis, had no sympathy with their cause, and employed them only to use them against his own master. That the Sipahis in the service of the Rajputana princes should revolt was to be expected, for they were enlisted from the class which supplied the British Native Regiments, and were animated by sentiments akin to these by which the latter were inspired. How little they were able to effect in the territory in which they were employed has been shown in the narrative. Thanks to the cordial understanding between George St. Patrick Lawrence and the chiefs of Rajputana, every hostile movement was baffled, every rising was nipped in the bud. Those chiefs or their fathers had had a sad and bitter experience of a period when no British protection was accorded to Rajputana. The memory of that terrible period was strong within them. Then – between 1805 and 1818 – disorder was rampant; no one was secure of his house, his lands, his cattle, his life. Then – to use the phrase they were wont to employ – ” the buffalo was to him who held the bludgeon.” The misery of those twelve or thirteen years, when the Maratha and the Pindari stalked ruthlessly over their fields, still remain a legend, fraught with bitter memories, in the minds of the people of Rajputana. With the inauguration of British protection all this misery disappeared. The change was marvellous. The princes and people were secured against an enemy from outside, and were forbidden to fight amongst themselves. Whatever differences they had were referred to and settled by the paramount power. To the principal States Political agents were nominated, under the

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control of the Governor-General’s agent for the entire province, to guide, assist, and counsel the Rajah or Rana in his internal administration. Under the fostering influence of these gentlemen, specially selected as a rule for their qualifications, reforms were inaugurated, state-debts were paid off, inhuman sacrifices were abolished, the general condition of society was greatly improved. Under this new order prosperity grew apace. There was not a man in the country who did not feel and rejoice in the change. Security took the place of its opposite: order of disorder; contentment of misery. The Rajprito.na of 1857 was, in all the circumstances which make a country happy, prosperous, and peaceful, as different from the Rajputana of 1805-17, as the Ireland of 1689-00 differed from the Ireland of our own time. There was no part of India in which the Sipahis would be less likely to find sympathy than in Rajputana. The presence of the lawless bands of revolted contingents, and of Tantia Topi and his following, gave a terrible foretaste of miseries which had been endured; which, since 1818, indeed, had been absent, but which the fall of the British power would most certainly re-introduce. The attitude of Rajputana in those years of trial, 1857-9, was, then, a striking testimony to the success of the British rule, a convincing proof that there at all events British overlordship was regarded alike by princes and people as a blessing.

Similar conclusions to be drawn in central India

Nor was it less so in the vast tract comprising 83,600 square miles, and a population of nearly eight millions, known as the Central Indian Agency. Of the conduct of the two most powerful princes in this part of India I have already spoken in this chapter, and I will now only refer to them to repeat my testimony. Sindhia and Holkar were, and remained, loyal, though the troops of both princes slipped from their hands. Dhar rebelled, but its Rajah was a minor.

The Nawab of Jaura

The Rajahs of Dewas were loyal; so, likewise, was the Nawab of Jaura. The services of this prince to his British overlord were indeed of a marked character. It was mainly owing to him that the British Government was indebted for valuable information in more than one important conjuncture. It was, moreover, the Nawab of Jaura who informed the Governor-General’s agent of the day, the late Sir Henry Durand, of the understanding between the troops of Holkar and the revolters outside Indur; and, when

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Sir Henry took the field, the Nawab of Jaura was the only chieftain who boldly and promptly joined him in camp. His name was Ghaus Muhammad. He was thirty-four years of age, and he lived till April 29, 1865, honoured and respected.

Bhopal

The other Muhammadan state in Central India, Bhopal, was conspicuously loyal. Of this state I may be allowed to say a few words. It was governed by a lady of remarkable ability and strength of will, Sikandar Begam. This lady, after some opposition on the part of rivals and others, had assumed the reins of power in February 1847, as regent for her daughter. In that office she had a large field for the display of her talents, and she more than justified the expectations which had been formed of her. In six years she paid off the entire public debt of the State; she abolished the system of farming the revenue, and made direct arrangements with the beads of villages; she put a stop to monopolies of trades and handicrafts; she brought the mint under her own management, and she re-organised the police. When the mutiny of 1857 broke out, she was still at the helm. Most loyally and truly did she behave. As early as April she communicated to the British Agent the contents of a lithographed proclamation which had been sent to her, urging the overthrow and destruction of the English. In June she expelled from Bhopal a native who was raising troops fur purposes which he did not care to avow. In July she afforded shelter to the British officers who had been driven from Indar by the mutinous troops of Holkar. She had enormous difficulties to contend with. Her mother, who had become a bigot, and her uncles, who were weak-minded and priest-ridden, were constantly urging upon her to declare a religious war against the infidel. The contingent raised in her own capital, and officered by British officers, mutinied. Other men, not wanting in position and influence, murmured that she was losing a great opportunity. But Sikandar Begam never wavered. She caused the British officers to be escorted safely to Hoshangabad; then, with infinite tact, and a display of unshakable firmness, allayed the excitement in her capital; put down the mutinous contingent with a strong hand, and restored order throughout the Bhopal territory. Then, when the tide turned, she was as prompt and vigorous in another way with her assistance. To the British camp she despatched supplies, soldiers, carriages, all that could he useful. No one

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in the same situation could have done more than did this noble lady135.

Nor, casting the eye over the north-eastern division of the Central India Agency, can I lay my finger on any blot. Of Rewah and its loyal Rajah, guided by the chivalrous Willoughby Osborne, I have told the tale in the fifth volume136. In the same volume I have described the true service of the Rajah of Urchhah137. In the third I have shown how the Rani of Chhatarpur assisted the fugitives from Naogaon138. Datia, when the Mutiny broke out, was in a state of civil war, the Regent-Rani attempted to oust the adopted son of the Rajah who died in 1857. In the small state of Samptar there were no disturbances.

It will thus be seen that the native state of Central India had felt equally with those of Rajputana the beneficent over-rule of the British. Not one single prince of mature age rose in revolt. One state alone, and that a very small one, acted upon by influences which would not have risen into life had the prince been other than a child, did revolt. The others, one and all, showed by their loyal concurrence with the paramount power, even in the darkest days of the Mutiny, that they preferred the supervising hand of England to the revived rule of the Mughul, or a new experiment under any other native prince.

Of Jhansi and of some of the minor princelets in the Sagar and Narbada territories, it is unnecessary to say more than has been said already. The Rani of Jhansi had, in my opinion, suffered great wrongs, and she resented them in the manner which was natural to her.

Bundelkhand

In the fifth volume139 I have given reasons why the minor chiefs of Bundelkhand felt justly aggrieved. Some of its chiefs nobly forgave the grievance; others attempted to work a remedy with the sword. It was, as I have pointed out, the working of the detested Thomasonian principle that drove those chiefs into revolt.

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Western India

But, in western India, – the southern Maratha territory excepted, – the same feeling prevailed which had influenced the action of the chiefs of Rajputana, and central India. At Barodah, the Gaekwar, Khande Rao, was true and loyal. In the words of Lord Canning, “ he identified his cause with that of the British Government.” At Kolhapur, in 1857, the state was under British management. It is true that the native regiments at that station mutinied, as, likewise, did those at Belgaon and Dharwar. How these mutinies arose, and how they were suppressed, has been told in the fifth volume140. In the same volume is related the story of the abortive rising of the chief of Nargund, and of the causes which led to it. But in Sawant-wari not only was there no disaffection, but even the two chiefs who had been deprived of power, Khem Sawant and Anna Sahib, showed a firm attachment to the interests of the paramount power. In Kachh, too, Rao Daisal displayed the same loyalty.

If we travel into southern India we shall find the display of the same feeling. Here, as in the other parts referred Southern to, the exceptions only prove the rule. Of Haidarabad I have written in the fifth volume141. Maisur, once so formidable, ably guided by Sir Mark Cubbon, displayed a fidelity to the overlord beyond praise. Travankur was equally loyal. So likewise was the able Rajah of Kochin, Rajah Ravi Vurma. Nowhere, except at Shorapur, and for a moment at Haidarabad and Aurangabad, was there a symptom of disaffection in the southern Presidency. Even the exceptions I have referred to, and which have been described in the fifth volume142, were mere passing outbursts, to be succeeded by a fervent display of loyalty.

I think, then, it will be generally conceded that the attitude of the principal protected chiefs throughout India, during the most terrible crisis to which English rule has ever been subjected, was of a character to justify generally the antecedent administration of the foreign overlord. The action of the native chiefs was, in fact, a barometer full of encouragement and yet not wanting in warning for the future. It was gratifying to see that the indicator gave evidence of, in the great majority of cases, just and beneficent dealing. In fact, in those

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parts of India in which the British rule had been beneficent, for instance, in Rajputana, in central India, in western India (except the southern Maratha territory), in southern India, including Haidarabad and Maisur, the native chiefs were loyal, often as anxious and energetic on behalf of their overlord as though that cause had been their own. In other places where the natives had not appreciated the rule of their masters, in places for instance where these had displayed a hard and unsympathising resolution to graft western ideas on an eastern people – in, for example, the North-West Provinces of India, in the Sagar and Narbada territories, in Jhansi, in western Bihar, in the southern Maratha territories, in Oudh, the native chiefs and people, acting in concert, evinced a hatred to the British rule which led them to risk all they possessed in the world to shake off their yoke. It is consolatory to know that the good impressions produced by British rule largely predominated over the dislike engendered by British mistakes, and that the foreign race which held supreme power in India could point to an amount of sympathy, of energetic action, of co-operation such as no native ruler of the past, with the possible exception of the illustrious Akbar, could have called forth.

Footnotes

113. Vol. I. pages 202–21.

114. Sometimes barbarously and incorrectly spelt “Scinde.” Blochmann, who is a high authority in such matters, thus writes regarding the derivation of the name. “Sindh derives its name from the Indus river (for s is often exchanged in Sindh with h; hence Sindh makes Hind, whence Indus and Hindustan). From ancient times,” adds Blochmann, “Sindh has been divided into Lower Sindh, or Lar, Middle Sindh, or Vichalo, and Upper Sindh, or Siro. The Indus has considerably shifted its course from what it was in former times.”

115. Vide Vol. III. page 1.

116. Vol. V. page 3.

117. Vide Vol. V. pages 13–27, and 164–72.

118. Vol. III. pages 132–61.

119. Vide Vol. III. pages 163–74; Vol. IV. pages 385–404.

120. Vide Vol. I. pages 66–9.

121. Vide Vol. V. pages 222, 223.

122. Vol. III. page 115.

123. Vide Vol. III. pages 168, 169.

124. Vol. III. page 169.

125. Vide Vol. V. pages 248, 249.

126. There are many towns of this name in India. There is one in the district of the same name in the Rai Bareli division of Oudh; one, a hill-fort, in the Satarah district; and one in the Bhandara district of the Central Provinces.

127. Vide Vol. III. pages 171, 172. See also the Political History of the State of Jaipur, in Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department, Calcutta, 1868.

128. Vide Vol. IV. pages 385–404.

129. Vide pages 89–94. See also Vol. III. page 101 and beyond.

130. Vide Vol. V. page 223.

131. Vide Vol. III. page 179; Vol. IV. pages 397–9.

132. Vide Vol. V. pages 227, S. It is a fact well worthy of note that, at Jhalra Patan, as at Gwaliar, and as at Indur, the native troops of the state were not so loyal as their master. Even at Kota, it is by no means certain that the 7+1aharao eratid have restrained his sold era, if he had tried. Certainly Prithi Singh could not, Sindhia could not. and. I believe, Holkar could not.

133. The visitor to India should make a point of riding to the top of Mount Abu. It is a famous place of pilgrimage, especially for the Jains, whose place of worship is at Dalwara, situate about the middle of the mountain, five miles distant from the highest point, Gurusikar. The group consists of four marble temples ranged in the form of a cross. Of this group Colonel Tod wrote: “Beyond controversy this is the most superb of all the temples in India, and there is not an edifice besides the Taj Mahal that can approach it.”

134. Vide Vol. III. pages 163–74; Vol. IV. pages 385–404.

135. It is satisfactory to record that the splendid services of the Begam of Bhopal met with splendid recognition. The British Government recognised her as ruler in her own right, with succession to her daughter and to the daughter’s descendants according to the Muhammadan law; made over to her the district of Bairsia, forfeited by Dhar, having an area of 456 square miles; presented her with tour guns; and invested her with the highest grade of the order of the “Star of India.”

136. Pages 75–7.

137. Page 110.

138. Pages 128,9.

139. Vide Vol. V. pages 61–5.

140. Vide Vol. V. pages 13–27; also pages 161–72.

141. Vide Vol. V. pages 80–8.

142. Vide Vol. V. Pages 8–12 and 82–4.

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