A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude Part 22

A JOURNEY

THROUGH THE

KINGDOM OF OUDE

IN 1849--1850;

BY DIRECTION OF THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL.

WITH PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE ANNEXATION OF OUDE TO BRITISH INDIA, &c.

BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. H. SLEEMAN, K.C.B.

Resident at the Court of Lucknow

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.

1858.

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

CHAPTER 1.

Sundeela--The large landholders of the district--Forces with the Amil--Tallookdars, of the district--Ground suited for cantonments and civil offices--Places consecrated to wors.h.i.+p--Kutteea Huron--Neem Sarang, traditions regarding--Landholders and peasantry of Sundeela-- Banger and Sandee Palee, strong against the Government authorities from their union--_Nankar_ and _Seer_. Nature and character of-- Jungle--Leaves of the peepul, bur, &c., used as fodder--Want of good houses and all kinds of public edifices--Infanticide--Sandee district--Security of tenure in groves--River Gurra--Hafiz Abdulla, the governor--Runjeet Sing, of Kutteearee--Thieves in the Banger district--Infanticide--How to put down the crime--Palee--Richness of the foliage, and carpeting of spring-crops--Kunojee Brahmins--Success of the robber's trade in Oude--Shahabad--Timber taken down the little river Gurra to the Ganges, from the Tarae forest--Fanaticism of the Moosulman population of Shahabad; and insolence and impunity with which they oppress the Hindoos of the town.

CHAPTER II.

Infanticide--Nekomee Rajpoots--Fallows in Oude created by disorders-- Their cause and effect--Tillage goes on in the midst of sanguinary conflicts--Runjeet Sing, of Kutteearee--Mahomdee district--White Ants--Traditional decrease in the fertility of the Oude soil--Risks to which cultivators are exposed--Obligations which these risks impose upon them--Infanticide--The Amil of Mahomdee's narrow escape-- An infant disinterred and preserved by the father after having been buried alive--Insecurity of life and property--Beauty of the surface of the country, and richness of its foliage--Mahomdee district--State and recent history of--Relative fertility of British and Oude soil-- Native notions of our laws and their administration--Of the value of evidence in our Courts--Infanticide--Boys only saved--Girls destroyed in Oude--The priests who give absolution for the crime abhorred by the people of all other cla.s.ses--Lands in our districts becoming more and more exhausted from over-cropping--Probable consequences to the Government and people of India--Political and social error of considering land private property--Hakeem Mehndee and subsequent managers of Mahomdee--Frauds on the King in charges for the keep of animals--Kunojee Brahmins--Unsuccessful attempt to appropriate the lands of weaker neighbours--Gokurnath, on the border of the Tarae-- The sakhoo or saul trees of the forest.

CHAPTER III.

Lonee Sing, of the Ahbun Rajpoot tribe--Dispute between Rajah Bukhtawar Sing, and a servant of one of his relatives--Cultivation along the border of the Tarae forest--Subdivision of land among the Ahbun families--Rapacity of the king's troops, and establishments of all kinds--Climate near the Tarae--Goitres--Not one-tenth of the cultivable lands cultivated, nor one-tenth of the villages peopled-- Criterion of good tillage--Ratoon crops--Manure available--Khyrabad district better peopled and cultivated than that of Mahomdee, but the soil over-cropped--Blight--Rajah Ajeet Sing and his estate of Khymara--Ousted by collusion and bribery--Anrod Sing of Oel, and Lonee Sing--State of Oude forty years ago compared with its present state--The n.a.z.im of the Khyrabad district--Trespa.s.ses of his followers--Oel Dhukooa--_Khalsa_ lands absorbed by the Rajpoot barons--Salarpoor--Sheobuksh Sing of Kuteysura--_Bhulmunsee_, or property-tax--Beautiful groves of Lahurpoor--Residence of the n.a.z.im-- Wretched state of the force with the n.a.z.im--Gratuities paid by officers in charge of districts, whether in contract or trust--Rajah Arjun Sing's estate of Dh.o.r.ehra--Hereditary gang-robbers of the Oude Tarae suppressed--Mutiny of two of the King's regiments at Bhitolee-- Their rapacity and oppression--Singers and fiddlers who govern the King--Why the Amils take all their troops with them when they move-- Seetapoor, the cantonment of one of the two regiments of Oude Local Infantry--Sipahees not equal to those in Magness's, Barlow's, and Bunbury's, or in our native regiments of the line--Why--The prince Momtaz-od Dowlah--Evil effects of shooting monkeys--Doolaree, _alias_ Mulika Zumanee--Her history, and that of her son and daughter.

CHAPTER IV.

Nuseer-od Deen Hyder's death--His repudiation of his son, Moona Jan, leads to the succession of his uncle, Nuseer-od Dowlah--Contest for the succession between these two persons--The Resident supports the uncle, and the Padshah Begum supports the son--The ministers supposed to have poisoned the King--Made to disgorge their ill-gotten wealth by his successor--Obligations of the treaty of 1801, by which Oude was divided into two equal shares--One transferred to the British Government, one reserved by Oude--Estimated value of each at the time of treaty--Present value of each--The sovereign often warned that unless he governs as he ought, the British Government cannot support him, but must interpose and take the administration upon itself--All such warnings have been utterly disregarded--No security to life or property in any part of Oude--Fifty years of experience has proved, that we cannot make the government of Oude fulfil its duties to its people--The alternative left appears to be to take the management upon ourselves, and give the surplus revenue to the sovereign and royal family of Oude--Probable effects of such a change on the feelings and interests of the people of Oude.

CHAPTER V.

Baree-Biswa district--Force with the n.a.z.im, Lal Bahader--Town of Peernuggur--Dacoitee by Lal and Dhokul Partuks--Gangs of robbers easily formed out of the loose characters which abound in Oude--The lands tilled in spite of all disorders--Delta between the Chouka and Ghagra rivers--Seed sown and produce yielded on land--Rent and stock --Nawab Allee, the holder of the Mahmoodabad estate--Mode of augmenting his estate--Insecurity of marriage processions--Belt of jungle, fourteen miles west from the Lucknow cantonments--Gungabuksh Rawat--His attack on Dewa--The family inveterate robbers--Bhurs, once a civilized and ruling people in Oude--Extirpated systematically in the fourteenth century--Depredations of Pa.s.sees--Infanticide--How maintained--Want of influential middle cla.s.s of merchants and manufacturers--Suttee--Troops with the Amil--Seizure of a marriage procession by Imambuksh, a gang leader--Perquisites and allowances of Pa.s.see watchmen over corn-fields--Their fidelity to trusts--Ahbun Sing, of Kyampoor, murders his father--Rajah Singjoo of Soorujpoor-- Seodeen, another leader of the same tribe--Princ.i.p.al gang-leaders of the Dureeabad Rodowlee district--Jugurnath Chupra.s.sie--Bhooree Khan-- How these gangs escape punishment--Twenty-four belts of jungle preserved by landholders always, or occasionally, refractory in Oude --Cover eight hundred and eighty-six square miles of good land--How such atrocious characters find followers, and landholders of high degree to screen, shelter, and aid them.

CHAPTER VI.

Adventures of Maheput Sing of Bhowaneepoor--Advantages of a good road from Lucknow to Fyzabad--Excellent condition of the artillery bullocks with the Frontier Police--Get all that Government allows for them--Bred in the Tarae--Dacoits of Soorujpoor Bareyla--The Amil connives at all their depredations, and thrives in consequence--The Amil of the adjoining districts does not, and ruined in consequence-- His weakness--Seetaram, a capitalist--His account of a singular _Suttee_--Bukhtawar Sing's notions of _Suttee_, and of the reason why Rajpoot widows seldom become _Suttees_--Why local authorities carry about prisoners with them--Condition of prisoners--No taxes on mangoe-trees--Cow-dung cheaper than wood for fuel--Shrine of "Shaikh Salar" at Sutrik--Bridge over the small river Rete--Recollection of the ascent of a balloon at Lucknow--End of the pilgrimage.

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Private Correspondence subsequent to the Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, and relating to the Annexation of Oude to British India.

DIARY

A TOUR THROUGH OUDE.

CHAPTER I.

Sundeela--The large landholders of the district--Forces with the Amil--Tallookdars, of the district--Ground suited for cantonments and civil offices--Places consecrated to wors.h.i.+p--Kutteea Huron--Neem Sarang, traditions regarding--Landholders and peasantry of Sundeela-- Banger and Sandee Palee, strong against the Government authorities from their union--_Nankar_ and _Seer_. Nature and character of-- Jungle--Leaves of the peepul, bur, &c., used as fodder--Want of good houses and all kinds of public edifices--Infanticide--Sandee district--Security of tenure in groves--River Gurra--Hafiz Abdulla, the governor--Runjeet Sing, of Kutteearee--Thieves in the Banger district--Infanticide--How to put down the crime--Palee--Richness of the foliage, and carpeting of spring crops--Kunojee Brahmins--Success of the robber's trade in Oude--Shahabad--Timber taken down the little river Gurra to the Ganges, from the Tarae forest--Fanaticism of the Moosulman population of Shahabad; and insolence and impunity with which they oppress the Hindoos of the town.

The baronial proprietors in the Sundeela district are Murdun Sing, of Dhurawun, with a rent-roll of 38,000; Gunga Buksh, of Atwa, with one of 25,000; Chundeeka Buksh, of Birwa, with one of 25,000; and Somere Sing, of Rodamow, with one of 34,000. This is the rent-roll declared and entered in the accounts; but it is much below the real one. The Government officers are afraid to measure their lands, or to make any inquiries on the estates into their value, lest they should turn robbers and plunder the country, as they are always prepared to do.

They have always a number of armed and brave retainers, ready to support them in any enterprise, and can always add to their number on emergency. There is never any want of loose characters ready to fight for the sake of plunder alone. A tallookdar, however, when opposed to his government, does not venture to attack another tallookdar or his tenants. He stands too much in need of his aid, or at least of his neutrality and forbearance.

_January_ 18, 1850.--Halted at Sundeela. To the north of the town there is a large uncultivated plain of _oosur_ land, that would answer for cantonments; but the water lies, for some time after rain, in many places. The drainage is defective, but might be made good towards a rivulet to the north and west. There is another open plain to the west of the town, between the suburbs and the small village of Ausoo Serae, where the Trigonometrical Survey has one of its towers.

It is about a mile from east to west, and more from north to south, and well adapted for the location of troops and civil establishments.

The climate is said to be very good. The town is large and still populous, but the best families seem to be going to decay, or leaving the place. Many educated persons from Sundeela in our civil establishments used to leave their families here; but life and property have become so very insecure, that they now always take them with them to the districts in which they are employed, or send them to others. I observed many good houses of burnt brick and cement, but they are going fast to decay, and are all surrounded by numerous mud- houses without coverings, or with coverings of the same material, which are hidden from view by low parapets. These houses have a wretched appearance.

The Amil has twelve guns with him; but the bullocks are all so much out of condition from want of food that they can scarcely walk; and the Amil was obliged to hire a few plough-bullocks from the cultivators, to draw out two guns to my camp to fire the salute. They get no grain, and there is little or no gra.s.s anywhere on the fallow and waste lands, from the want of rain during June, July, and August.

The Amil told me, that he had no stores or ammunition for the guns; and that their carriages were all gone, or going, to pieces, and had received no repairs whatever for the last twelve years. I had in the evening a visit from Rajah Murdun Sing, of _Dharawun_, a stout and fat man, who bears a fair character. He is of the Tilokchundee Bys clan, who cannot intermarry with each other, as they are all of the sama gote or family. It would, according to their notions, be incestuous.

_January_ 19, 1850.--Hutteeah Hurrun, thirteen miles. The plain level as usual, and of the loose doomuteea soil, fertile in natural powers everywhere, and well tilled around the villages, which are more numerous than in any other part that we have pa.s.sed over. The water is everywhere near the surface, and wells are made at little cost. A well is dug at a cost of from five to ten rupees; and in the muteear, or argillaceous soil, will last for irrigation for forty years. To line it with burnt bricks without cement will cost from one to two hundred rupees; and to add cement will cost a hundred more. Such lining is necessary in light soil, and still more so in sandy or _bhoor_. They frequently line their wells at little cost with long thick cables, made of straw and twigs, and twisted round the surface inside. The fields are everywhere irrigated from wells or pools, and near villages well manured; and the wheat and other spring crops are excellent. They have been greatly benefited by the late rains, and in no case injured. The ground all the way covered with white h.o.a.r frost, and the dews heavy in a cloudless sky. Finer weather I have never known in any quarter of the world.

This place is held sacred from a tradition, that Ram, after his expedition against Cylone, came here to bathe in a small tank near our present camp, in order to wash away the sin of having killed a _Brahmin_ in the person of Rawun, the monster king of that island, who had taken away his wife, Seeta. Till he had done so, he could not venture to revisit his capital, Ajoodheea. There are many legends regarding the origin of the sanct.i.ty of this and the many other places around, which pilgrims must visit to complete the _pykurma_, or holy circuit. The most popular seems to be this. Twenty-eight thousand sages of great sanct.i.ty were deputed, with the G.o.d Indur at their head, on a mission to present an address to Brimha, as he reposed upon the mountain Kylas, praying that he would vouchsafe to point out to them the place in Hindoostan most worthy to be consecrated to religious wors.h.i.+p. He took a discus from the top-knot on his head, and, whirling it in the air, directed it to proceed in search. After much search it rested at a place near the river Goomtee, which it deemed to be most fitted for the purification of one's faith, and which thenceforth took the name of _Neem Sarung_, a place of devotion. The twenty-eight thousand sages followed, and were accompanied by Brimha himself, attended by the Deotas, or subordinate G.o.ds. He then summoned to the place no less than _three crores and half_, or thirty millions and half of _teeruts_, or angels, who preside each over his special place of religions wors.h.i.+p. All settled down at places within ten miles of the central point, Neem Sarung; but their departure does not seem to have impaired the sanct.i.ty of the places whence they came. The angels, or spirits, who presided over them sent out these offshoots to preside at Neemsar and the consecrated places around it, as trees send off their grafts without impairing their own powers and virtues.