In the midst of this jungle, the landholders have generally one or more mud forts surrounded by a ditch and a dense fence of living bamboos, through which cannon-shot cannot penetrate, and man can enter only by narrow and intricate pathways. They are always too green to be set fire to; and being within range of the matchlocks from the parapet, they cannot be cut down by a besieging force. Out of such places the garrison can be easily driven by shells thrown over such fences, but an Oude force has seldom either the means or the skill for such purposes. When driven out by shells or any other means, the garrison retires at night, with little risk, through the bamboo fence and surrounding jungle and brushwood, by paths known only to themselves. They are never provided with the means of subsistence for a long siege; and when the Oude forces sent against them are not prepared with the means to shell them out, they sit down quietly, and starve or weary them out. This is commonly a very long process, for the force is seldom large enough to surround the place at a safe distance from the walls and bamboo fence, so as to prevent all access to provision of all kinds, which the garrison is sure to get from their friends and allies in the neighbourhood, the garrison generally having the sympathy of all the large landholders around, and the besieging force being generally considered the common and irreconcilable enemy of all.
As soon as the garrison escapes, it goes systematically and diligently to work in plundering indiscriminately all the village communities over the most fertile parts of the surrounding country, which do not belong to baronial proprietors like themselves till it has made the Government authorities agree to its terms, or reduced the country to a waste. The leaders of the gang may sometimes condescend to quicken the process by appropriating a portion of their plunder to bribing some influential person at Court, who gets an injunction issued to the local authorities to make some arrangement for terminating the pillage and consequent loss of revenue, or he will be superseded or forfeit his contract. The rebel then returns with his followers, repairs all the mischief done to his fort, improves its defences, and stipulates for a remission of his revenue for a year or more, on account of the injury sustained by his crops or granaries. The unlucky Amil, whose zeal and energy have caused the necessity for this reduction, is probably thrown into gaol till "he pays the uttermost farthing," or bribes influential persons at Court to get him released on the ground of his poverty.
I may here mention the jungles in Oude which have been created and are still preserved by landholders, almost solely for the above purposes. They are all upon the finest soil, and in the finest climate; and the lands they occupy might almost all be immediately brought into tillage, and studded by numerous happy village communities.
I may, however, before I begin to describe them, mention the fact that many influential persons at Court, as well as the landholders themselves, are opposed to such a salutary measure. If brought under tillage and occupied by happy village communities, all the revenue would or might flow in legitimate channels into the King's treasury; whereas in their present state they manage to fill their own purses by gratuities from the refractory landholders who occupy them, or from the local authorities, who require permission from Court to coerce them into obedience. Of these gratuities such a salutary measure would deprive them; and it is, in consequence, exceedingly difficult to get a jungle cut down, however near it may be to the city where wood is so dear, and has to be brought from jungles five or ten times the distance.
In the Sultanpore District.
1st.—The Jungle of Paperghat, about one hundred miles south-east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, ten miles long, and three wide, or thirty square miles.
In this jungle Dirgpaul Sing, tallookdar of Nanneemow, has a fort; and Rostum Sing, tallookdar of Dera, has another.
2nd.—The Dostpore Jungle, one hundred and twenty miles south-east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Mujhoee river, twelve, miles long, and three broad, or thirty-six square miles.
3rd.—The Khapra Dehee Jungle, one hundred miles south-east from Lucknow, on the plain, about ten miles long, and six miles broad, or sixty square miles.
4th.—The Jugdeespore Jungle, on the bank of the Goomtee river, fifty miles south-east from Lucknow, sixteen miles long, and three miles broad, forty-eight square miles.
Allee Buksh Khan, tallookdar, has the fort of Tanda in this jungle, on the bank of the Kandoo rivulet, which flows through it into the Goomtee. The fort of Bechoogur in this jungle is held by another tallookdar.
5th.—Gurh Ameytee, seventy miles from Lucknow, south-east, on the bank of the Sae river, nine miles long and three broad, or twenty seven square miles.
Rajah Madhoe Sing has a fort in this jungle, and is one of the very worst, but most plausible men in Oude.
6th.—Daoodpoor Jungle, seventy miles south-east from Lucknow, on the plain, four miles long and three broad, or twelve square miles.
The Beebee or Lady Sagura has her fort and residence in this jungle.
7th.—Duleeppore Jungle, one hundred and ten miles east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Sae river, ten miles long, and three miles wide, thirty square miles.
Seetla Buksh, who is always in rebellion, has a fort in this jungle.
8th.—The Matona Jungle, fifty miles south-east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, twelve miles long and three wide—square miles, thirty-six.
Allee Buksh Khan, a notoriously refractory tallookdar, has a fort in this jungle.
In the Uldeemow District.
9th.—Mugurdhee Jungle, one hundred and forty miles east from Lucknow, on the bank of Ghogra river, eight miles long and three broad—square miles, twenty-four.
10th.—Putona Jungle, one hundred and twenty miles east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Tonus river, eight miles long and four miles broad—square miles, thirty-two.
11th.—Mudungur Jungle, one hundred and twenty miles east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Tonus river, six miles long, and three miles broad—square miles, eighteen.
Amreys Sing and Odreys Sing, sons of Surubdowun Sing (who was killed by the King's troops thirty years ago), hold the fort of Mudungur in this jungle.
12th.—Bundeepore Jungle, east from Lucknow one hundred and forty miles, on the plain, seven miles long and one broad—seven square miles.
13th.—Chunderdeeh, south-east from Lucknow one hundred and ten miles, on the bank of the Goomtee river, seven miles long, and three miles wide—square miles, twenty-one.
In the Dureeabad District.
14th.—Soorujpore Behreyla Jungle, east from Lucknow forty miles, on the bank of the Kuleeanee river, sixteen miles long, and four miles broad—square miles, sixty-four.
Chundee Sing has a fort in this jungle, and the family have been robbers for several generations. The widow of the late notorious robber, Rajah Singjoo, the head of the family, has a still stronger one.
15th.—Guneshpore Jungle, sixty miles south-east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, six miles long and two broad—twelve square miles.
Maheput Sing, an atrocious robber, holds his fort of Bhowaneegur in this jungle.
In the Dewa Jahangeerabad District.
16th.—The Kasimgunge and Bhetae Jungle, eighteen miles north-east from Lucknow, sixteen miles long, and four miles wide—square miles, sixty-four, on the bank of the little river Reyt.
Gunga Buksh holds the forts of Kasimgunge and Atursae in this jungle; Thakur Purshad those of Bhetae and Buldeogur; and Bhugwunt Sing that of Munmutpore. Other members of the same family hold those of Ramgura Paharpore. The whole family are hereditary and inveterate robbers.
In the Bangur District.
17th.—Tundeeawun Jungle, on the plain, west from Lucknow, seventy-two miles, twelve miles long and six broad—square miles, seventy-two.
In the Salone District.
18th.—The Naen Jungle, eighty miles south from Lucknow, on the bank of the Sae river, sixteen miles long and three wide—square miles, forty-eight.
Jugurnath Buksh, the tallookdar, holds the fort of Jankeebund, in this jungle; and others are held in the same jungle by members of his family.
19th.—The Kutaree Jungle, on the bank of the Kandoo river, south-east from Lucknow sixty miles, eight miles long and three broad—square miles, twenty-four.
Surnam Sing, the tallookdar, has a fort in this jungle.
In the Byswara District.
20th.—The Sunkurpore Jungle, south of Lucknow seventy miles, on the plain, ten miles long and three wide—square miles, thirty.
Benee Madhoe, the tallookdar, has three forts in this jungle.
In the Hydergur District.
21st.—The Kolee Jungle, fifty miles south-east from Lucknow, on the bank of the Goomtee river, three miles long and one and a half wide—square miles, four and a half.
The rebels and robbers in this jungle trust to the natural defences of the ravines and jungles.
22nd.—Kurseea Kuraea Jungle, south-east from Lucknow fifty miles, on the bank of the Goomtee river, three miles long and one wide—square miles, three.
The landholders trust in the same way to natural defences.
In the Khyrabad and Mahomdee Districts.
23rd.—Gokurnath Jungle, north-west from Lucknow one hundred miles, extending out from the Terae forest, and running south-east in a belt thirty miles long and five wide—square miles, one hundred and fifty.
Husun Rajah, the tallookdar of Julalpore, has a fort in this jungle. Sheobuksh Sing, the tallookdar of Lahurpore, holds here the fort of Katesura; and Omrow Sing, the tallookdar of Oel, holds two forts in this jungle.
In the Baree and Muchreyta Districts.
24th.—The Suraen Jungle, north-west from Lucknow thirty-four miles, along the banks of the Suraen river, twelve miles long and three miles wide—square miles, thirty-six.
In this jungle Jowahir Sing holds the fort of Basae Deeh; Khorrum Sing, that of Seogur; Thakur Rutun Sing, that of Jyrampore. They are all landholders of the Baree district, and their forts are on thenorthbank of the Saraen river. Juswunt Sing holds the fort of Dhorhara; Dul Sing, that of Gundhoreea; Rutun Sing holds two forts, Alogee and Pupnamow.—They are all landholders of the Muchreyta district, and their four forts are on thesouthbank of the Saraen river.
This gives twenty-four belts of jungle beyond the Terae forest, and in the fine climate of Oude, covering a space of eight hundred and eighty-six square miles, at a rough computation.* In these jungles the landholders find shooting, fishing, and security for themselves and families, grazing ground for their horses and cattle, and fuel and grass for their followers; and they can hardly understand how landholders of the same rank, in other countries, can contrive to live happily without them. The man who, by violence, fraud, and collusion, absorbs the estates of his weaker neighbours, and creates a large one for himself, in any part of Oude, however richly cultivated and thickly peopled, provides himself with one or two mud forts, and turns the country around them into a jungle, which he considers to be indispensable as well to his comfort as to his security.
[* The surface of the Oude territory, including the Terae forest, is supposed to contain twenty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine square miles. The Terae forest includes, perhaps, from four to five thousand miles; but within that space there is a great deal of land well tilled and peopled.]
[* The surface of the Oude territory, including the Terae forest, is supposed to contain twenty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine square miles. The Terae forest includes, perhaps, from four to five thousand miles; but within that space there is a great deal of land well tilled and peopled.]
The atrocities described in the above narrative were committed by Bhooree Khan, in the process of converting his estate of Dewa into a jungle, and building strongholds for his gang as it increased and became more and more formidable. Having converted Deogon into a jungle, and built his strongholds, he would, by the usual process of violence, fraud, and collusion with local authorities, have absorbed the small surrounding estates of his weaker neighbours, and formed a very large one for himself. The same process, no doubt, went on in England successively under the Saxons, Danes, and Normans; and in every country in Europe, under successive invaders and conquerors, or as long as the baronial proprietors of the soil were too strong to be coerced by their Sovereign as they are in Oude.
An Englishman may further ask how it is that a wretch guilty of such cruelties to men who never wronged him, to innocent and unoffending females and children, can find, in a society where slavery is unknown, men to assist him in inflicting them, and landholders of high rank and large possessions to screen and shelter him when pursued by his Government. He must, for the solution of this question, also go back to the MIDDLE AGES, in England and the other nations of Europe, when the baronial proprietors of the soil, too strong for their sovereigns, committed the same cruelties, found the same willing instruments in their retainers, and members of the same class of landed proprietors, to screen, shelter, and encourage them in their iniquities.
They acquiesce in the atrocities committed by one who is in armed resistance to the Government to-day, and aid him in his enterprises openly or secretly, because they know that they may be in the same condition, and require the same aid from him to-morrow—that the more sturdy the resistance made by one, the less likely will the Government officers be to rouse the resistance of others. They do not sympathise with those who suffer from his depredations, or aid the Government officers in protecting them, because they know that they could not support the means required to enable them to contend successfully with their Sovereign, and reduce him to terms, without plundering and occasionally murdering the innocent of all ages and both sexes, and that they may have to raise the same means in a similar contest to-morrow. They are satisfied, therefore, if they can save their own tenants from pillage and slaughter. They find, moreover, that the sufferings of others enable them to get cultivators and useful tenants of all kinds upon their own estates, on more easy terms, and to induce the smaller allodial or khalsa proprietors around, to yield up their lands to them, and become their tenants with less difficulty. It was in the same manner that the great feudal barons aggrandised themselves in England, and all the other countries of Europe, in the MIDDLE AGES.
In Oude all these great landholders look upon the Sovereign and his officers—except when they happen to be in collusion with them for the purpose of robbing or coercing others—as their natural enemies, and will never trust themselves in their power without undoubted pledges of personal security. The great feudal tenants of the Crown in England, and the other nations of Europe, did the same, except when they were in collusion with them for the purpose of robbing others of their rights; or fought under their banners for the purpose of robbing or destroying the subjects and servants of some other Sovereign whom he chose to call his enemy.
Only one of these sources of union between the Sovereign and his great landholders is in operation in Oude. Some of them are every year in collusion with the governors of districts for the purpose of coercing and robbing others; but the Sovereign can never unite them under his banners for the purpose of invading and plundering any other country, and thereby securing for himself and them presentglory, wealth, and high-sounding titles, and the admiration and applause of future generations. The strong arm of the British Government is interposed between them and all surrounding countries; and there is no safety-valve for their unquiet spirits in foreign conquests. They can no longer do as Ram did two thousand seven hundred years ago—lead an army from Ajodheea to Ceylone. They must either give up fighting, or fight among themselves, as they appear to have been doing ever since Ram's time; and there are at present no signs of a disposition to send out another "Sakya Guntama" from Lucknow, or Kapila vastee to preach peace and good-will to "all the nations of the earth." They would much rather send out fifty thousand more brave soldiers to fight "all the nations of the east," under the banners of the Honourable East India Company.
An English statesman may further ask how it is that so much disorder can prevail in a small territory like Oude without the gangs, to which it must give rise, passing over the border to depredate upon the bordering districts of its neighbours. The conterminous districts on three sides belong to the British Government, and that on the fourth or north belongs to Nepaul. The leaders of these gangs know, that if the British Government chose to interpose and aid the Oude Government with its troops, it could crush them in a few days; and that it would do so if they ventured to rob and murder within its territory. They know, also, that it would do the same if they ventured to cross the northern border, and rob and murder within the Nepaul territory. They therefore confine their depredations to the Oude territory, seeing that, as long as they do so, the British Government remains quiet.
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 singularSuttee—Bukhtawar Sing's notions ofSuttee, and of the reason why Rajpoot widows seldom becomeSuttees—Why local authorities carry about prisoners with them—Condition of prisoners—No taxes on mango-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.
Poorae Chowdheree, of Kuchohee, held a share in the lands of the village of Bhanpoor in Radowlee. He mortgaged it in 1830, to a co-sharer, who transferred the mortgage toMeherban Sing, of Guneshpoor. Poorae disliked the arrangement, and made all the cultivators desert the village of Bhanpoor, and leave the lands waste. Meherban attacked the village of Kuchohee in consequence, killed Porae, and seized upon all the lands of Bhanpoor for himself. Rajah Ram, one of the ousted co-sharers in these lands, attacked and killed Meherban in 1832, and seized upon all the lands of Bhanpoor.
After the death of his first wife, Meherban had attacked the house of Bhowanee Sing, Rajpoot, of Teur, carried off his daughter, who had been affianced to another, and forcibly made her his wife. By her he had one daughter and one son, namedMaheput Sing, who now inherited from his father a fifteenth part of one of the six and half shares into which the lands of Guneshpoor were divided. He, by degrees, murdered, or drove out of the village, all his co-sharers, save Gunbha Sing and Chungha Sing, joint proprietors of a small part of one of the shares, known by the name of the Kunnee Puttee. From the year 1843, Maheput Sing became a robber by profession, and the leader of a formidable gang; and in three years, by a long series of successful enterprises, he acquired the means of converting his residence, on the border of the town of Guneshpoor, into a strong fort, among the deep ravines of the Goomtee river. This fort he calledBhowaneegur, after Bhowanee, the patroness of the trade of murder and robbery, which he had adopted.
I shall now mention, more circumstantially, a few of the many atrocities committed by him and his gang, during the last few years of his career, as illustrative of the state of society in Oude. Bulbhudder Sing, a subadar of the 45th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, resided at Rampoor Sobeha, in the Dureeabad district. By degrees he purchased thirteen-sixteenths of the lands of these two small villages, which adjoin each other, out of the savings from his pay, and those of his nephew, Mugun Sing, havildar of the 43rd Regiment Bengal Native Infantry. On his being transferred to the invalid establishment, the subadar resided with his family in Rampoor, and in May, 1846, his nephew, Mugun Sing, came home on furlough to visit him. Gujraj, an associate of Maheput Sing's, held the other three-sixteenths of the lands of these two villages; and by the murder of the subadar and all his family, he thought he should be able to secure for himself the possession of the whole estate in perpetuity. The family consisted of the subadar and his wife,—Mugun Sing, the son of his deceased brother, Man Sing, and his wife; and his son Bijonath and his wife,—Dwarka Sing, son of Ojagur Sing, another deceased brother of the subadar,—Mahta Deen, the son of Chundun Sing, another deceased brother of the subadar, and his wife and young son, Surubjeet Sing, seven years of age,—Kulotee Sing, son of Gobrae, another deceased brother of the subadar,—Bag Sing, a relative,—Bechun Sing, a servant,—Seo Deen, the gardener,—Jeeawun Sing, the barber, and the widow of Salwunt Sing, another son of Mugun Sing, havildar.
When the family were all assembled, Maheput Sing, with Gujraj and other associates, and a gang of one hundred and fifty armed followers, proceeded to the village at midnight, and carefully reconnoitred the premises. It was, after consultation, determined to defer the attack till daybreak, as the subadar and his nephews were known to be brave and well-armed men, who kept watch till towards morning, and would make a desperate resistance, unless taken by surprise. They remained concealed within the enclosure of Gujraj's house, till just before daylight, when they quietly surrounded the subadar's house. As day dawned the subadar got up, opened the door and walked out, as usual, to breathe the fresh air, thinking all safe. He was immediately shot down, and on Mugun Sing's rushing out to assist his uncle, he received a shot in the eye, and fell dead on his body. The robbers then rushed in, cut down Jeeawun, the barber, while attempting to shut the door, and wounded Kulotee Sing,* Bag Sing, and others of the party. Finding that they could no longer stand against the numbers, rushing in at the doors and windows, the defenders climbed from the inside to the flat roof of the house, over the apartments of the men, fired down upon the robbers, who were still inside, and shot one of them. The robbers, finding they could not otherwise dislodge them, set fire to that part of the house, and the men were obliged to leap off to save themselves. In doing this, Bag Sing hurt his spine, and Seo Deen sprained his ankle, and both lay where they fell, pretending to be dead, till night. The others all went off in search of succour.
[* Kulotee Sing was murdered, a few days afterwards, by Maheput and Gujraj, as he was superintending the cultivation of his lands.]
[* Kulotee Sing was murdered, a few days afterwards, by Maheput and Gujraj, as he was superintending the cultivation of his lands.]
The robbers found the boy, Surubjeet, lying sick on his bed, attended by his mother. They seized him and dashed his head against the ground; and when he still showed signs of life, Gujraj cut him to pieces with his sword. They then seized and stripped the females naked, and sprinkled boiling oil over their bodies, till they pointed out all the property concealed in the house. Seventeen hundred rupees were found buried in the floor; and the rest of the property in clothes, gold and silver ornaments, and brass utensils, amounted to about ten thousand rupees.
About noon, while the robbers were still in the house, the Amil of Mohlara came with a large force and one gun, and surrounded them; but stood at a safe distance, whence he kept up for some time a fire from his gun and his matchlocks, which had no effect whatever. The robbers fired in return from the house, merely to show that they were not to be frightened from their booty in that way. This went on till after dark in the evening, when the robbers all retired to the jungles with their booty, unmolested by the Amil.
Byjonath, who had brought the Amil to the spot, urged him on as much as he could to save the property and females, and avenge the death of those who had fallen, and he killed one man and seized another, the son of one of the leaders; but he was obliged to give him up to the Amil as an hostage, for the recovery of the property, and a witness to the robbery. The Amil kept him for six months, and then let him go on the largest ransom he could get for him from his father. The circumstances were all represented, through the Resident, to the Durbar, and redress prayed for, but none was ever obtained.*
[* When the Resident visited this place, in his tour, in January, 1850, Dwarka Sing and other members of the family described all the circumstances of this attack, and they were taken down; and have been confirmed since by a judicial investigation.]
[* When the Resident visited this place, in his tour, in January, 1850, Dwarka Sing and other members of the family described all the circumstances of this attack, and they were taken down; and have been confirmed since by a judicial investigation.]
In May 1846, Maheput attacked the house of Seobuksh, a gardener, and after plundering it, he seized and carried off to the jungle the gardener's brother, Puroutee, and tortured him to death with hot irons, because he could not raise the sum demanded for his ransom.
In August 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of Meherban Tewaree, subadar of the Gwalior Contingent, in the village of Hareehurpoor, in the district of Rodowlee. It was about ten at night, and the whole family were asleep. The subadar lay on his cot below, near the door, his brother, Angud Tewaree, slept on the upper story. Some placed ladders and entered the upper story through a window; Maheput, with others, broke open the door, near which the subadar slept below. The brother got a sword-cut in the hand, and called out from the upper story as loud as he could for help; but their neighbours were all too much alarmed to come to their aid. Maheput seized and bound the subadar with his own waistband, and commanded his brother to come down, saying, that he need not call for help, as the villagers all knew him too well to molest him; and if he did not come down instantly he would set fire to the house. Seeing no chance of help, he came down, and was bound with his own waistband in the same manner. When the subadar remonstrated against this treatment, Maheput struck him over the face. They then plundered the house of all the property it contained, to the value of six hundred and fifty rupees; and took the subadar and his brother to the jungles; and, in the morning, demanded a ransom of one thousand rupees. At last they came down to four hundred rupees and the horse, which the subadar kept for his own riding. The subadar consented, and his brother was released to get the money and horse. He borrowed the money and sent it with the horse through Bhowanee Deen Tewaree, landholder of Ladeeka Poorwa, and the subadar was released. He presented three petitions, through the Resident, and orders were sent from the Durbar to the local authorities, Hurdut Sing and Monna Lal, but they were both in league with the robbers, and tried to get the subadar made away with, to save further trouble, and he sought security with his regiment.*
[* Meherban Tewaree, subadar, was present, as a witness at the subsequent trial of Maheput and Gujraj, who were sentenced to transportation beyond seas for life.]
[* Meherban Tewaree, subadar, was present, as a witness at the subsequent trial of Maheput and Gujraj, who were sentenced to transportation beyond seas for life.]
In January 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the village of Bahapoor, in the Rodowlee district; and after plundering all the houses, seized and carried off among others Seetul, the spirit-dealer, and the two sons of Reehta, the widow of Bhosoo, one twenty-two years of age, and the other eighteen. They tortured them with red-hot irons, and tied bamboos round their necks every day for fifteen days. Maheput then shot the eldest son, and cut his body to pieces with his sword. The younger son, at night, made his escape while they were asleep, and returned to tell the tale of his brother's murder to his mother. Seetul, the Kalwar, got his uncle to lend him twenty-eight rupees, for which he was released.
In April 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of Ramoutar, Brahmin, of the Brahmin village of Guneshpoor, in Rodowlee; plundered it of properly valued at one hundred rupees, and then bound Ramoutar, his father and two sons, and took them off to the jungles; and there tortured them all for seven days. He then had the two boys, one nine years old and the other five, suspended to a tree and flogged; and Ramoutar himself tied to a thorny tree and beaten till the blood flowed down and drenched his waistband, because he could pay nothing, and would not sign a bond to pay two thousand rupees. His sufferings and the sight of those of his two sons made him at last sign one for one thousand rupees. He was flogged again till his friends brought four hundred out of the thousand, and Cheyt Sing, Thakoor, a respectable landholder of Koleea, in Rodowlee, consented to give security for the payment of two hundred and forty-two rupees more. Ramoutar and his family were then released, after they had been confined and tortured for thirty-six days, and they went off and resided at Bookcheyna in Khundasa. A year after his house was there attacked by Maheput Sing and his gang, and plundered of all it contained; and his brother Seetul, and his youngest son were seized and taken off to his fort at Bhowaneegur, and there tortured and starved for six months. Ramoutar then borrowed one hundred and sixty rupees, and obtained the release of his brother Seetul, and a year after he was able to raise forty-seven rupees more, with which he ransomed his son.
In May 1847, Maheput Sing attacked the house of Seolal Tewaree of Torsompoor, in Rodowlee, at midnight; and after plundering it and stripping his mother and wife, and the wife of his brother, Jurbundun Sing, of all the clothes and ornaments they had, he bound and carried off to the jungle the two brothers, Seolal and Jurbundun. They were flogged, and had hot irons applied to their bodies every day for twenty days, and had only a little flour to eat and water to drink, once in three days. After twenty days they contrived to make their escape one dark and stormy night, and got home; but three days after he again attacked their house and burnt it to the ground, with all they possessed. He, at the same time, burnt down the house of their uncle, in the same village, and that of one of their ploughmen; and two cows and one bullock were burnt to death in the flames.
In July 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of Chubbee Lal, Brahmin, in the village of Bunnee, in the Rodowlee district, and after plundering it of property to the value of five hundred rupees, he bound and took the old Brahmin off to the jungles, and demanded from him a ransom of eight thousand rupees. This sum the old man could not pay, and he was flogged with thorns, and had red-hot irons applied to his body every day. Maheput then sent a letter to the old man's son, Dwarka, desiring him to send the eight thousand rupees if he wished his father to live. The house having been plundered, the family had nothing left, and could persuade no one to lend them. On receiving a reply to this effect, Maheput had the old man's body plastered all over with moist gunpowder, and made him stand in the sun till it was dry. He then set fire to the powder, and the poor man was burnt all over. He then cut off both his hands at the wrists, and his nose, and sent them to his family, and in this condition be afterwards sent the poor man to his home upon a cot. The son met his father at the door, but the old man died as soon as his son had embraced him.
Maheput carried off Pem, the son of Teeka, at the same time, and tortured him till his family paid the ransom demanded. He was witness to the tortures of the old Brahmin.
In August 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the house of Bichook, a Brahmin, in the village of Torsompoor, in Rodowlee, at midnight, while he was sleeping, and bound and carried him off to the jungle. The next day, when he was about to have him tortured for a ransom, one of his followers interceded for him, and he was released. But a month after, Maheput and his gang again attacked his house, and after plundering it of all it contained, they burnt it to the ground. Bichook had run off on hearing their approach, and he escaped to Syudpoor.
In November, 1846, Maheput Sing attacked the house of Sook Allee, in Guneshpoor, at midnight, with a gang of one hundred men; and, after plundering it of all the property it contained, to the amount of four hundred rupees, he burnt it to the ground, and bound and carried off Sook Allee to the house of his friend, Byjonath Bilwar, a landholder in the village of Kholee, eight miles distant. He there demanded a ransom of five hundred rupees; and on his declaring that he neither had nor could borrow such a sum, he had him tortured with hot irons, and flogged in the usual way. He kept him for two months at Kholee, and then took him to Tukra, in the Soorajpoor purgunnah, where he kept him for another month, torturing, and giving him half a meal every other day. At the end of three months, Akber Sing and Bhowanee Deen, Rajpoot landholders of Odemow, contrived to borrow two hundred rupees for Sook Allee, and he was released on the payment of this sum. The marks of the hot irons, applied to his body by Maheput Sing, with his own hands, are still visible, and will remain so as long as he lives.*
[* I saw these marks on the sufferer.]
[* I saw these marks on the sufferer.]
About the same time—the latter end of 1846—Maheput Sing sent to Sheik Sobratee, of the same place, a message through a pausee, named Bhowanee Deen, demanding twenty-five rupees. This sum was sent; but six weeks had not elapsed, before Sheik Sobratee received another demand for the same amount, through the same person. He had no money, but promised to send the sum in ten days. At midnight, on the fourth day after this, Maheput and his gang attacked his house, and plundered it of all they could find, female ornaments, and clothes, and brass utensils. Sobratee was that night sleeping at the house of his friend Peree, the wood-dealer, in the same town. Maheput tried to make his mother and wife point out where he was, by torturing them, but they either would not or could not do so. After some search, however, they discovered him, and bound and took him off, with handcuffs, and an iron collar round his neck, to the Kurseea jungle, in the Hydergur pergunnah. His son, a boy, had escaped. After torturing him in the usual way for eight days, they sent a message to his mother by Maheput's servant, Salar, to say, that unless she sent a ransom of five hundred rupees, her son's nose and hands should be cut off and sent to her as those ofChubbee Lal, Brahmin, of Bunnee, had been. She prevailed upon Baroonath Gotum to lend the money; and Maheput sent Sobratee to him, accompanied by one of his armed retainers, with orders to make him over to the Gotum, if he pledged himself in due form to pay. He did so, and Sobratee was made over to him, and the next day sent home to his wife and mother. Some months after, however, when he had completed his fort of Bhowneegur, Maheput sent to demand two hundred rupees more from Sobratee, and when he found he could not pay, he had his house pulled, down, and took away all the materials to his fort. What he did not require he caused to be burnt. He got from Sobratee, in ransom and plunder, more than three thousand rupees; and he has been ever since reduced to great poverty and distress.
In November 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang seized and carried off Khosal, a confectioner, of Talgon, in Rodowlee, who had gone to his sister at Buhapoor, near Guneshpoor, to attend a marriage—took him to the jungle, and tortured and starved him in the usual way for five weeks. He had him burnt with red-hot irons, flogged and ducked in a tank every day, and demanded a ransom of two hundred rupees. At last, his brother, Davey Deen, borrowed thirty-three rupees from Rambuksh, a merchant of Odermow, and offered to pay it for his ransom. Maheput sent Khosal, with his agent, Bhowanee Deen, to Rambuksh, and he released him on getting the money. He still bears on his body the marks of the stripes and burnings.*
[* These marks I have seen.]
[* These marks I have seen.]
In December 1847, Maheput and his gang attacked the house of Motee Lal Misser, a Brahmin, in the village of———, and after robbing it of all that it contained, he seized and carried off his nephew, Ram Deen, a boy of seven years of age, and tortured him for a month in the jungle. He then cut off his left ear and the forefinger of his right hand, and sent them to the uncle in a letter, stating, that if he did not send him one thousand rupees, he would send the boy's head in the same manner. The boy's father had died, and his uncle, with great difficulty, prevailed upon his friends and neighbours to lend him two hundred and twenty rupees, which he sent to Maheput, and his nephew was released. The boy declares to me that Maheput cut off his ear and finger with his own hands.*
[* This boy was present, as a witness, at the trial of Maheput.]
[* This boy was present, as a witness, at the trial of Maheput.]
In June 1848, Forsut Pandee, of Resalpandee-ka-Poorwa, in Rodowlee, accompanied Girwar Sing, a Rajpoot of Bowra, in Rodowlee, to Guneshpoor, on some business. They were smoking and talking together at the house of Mungul Sing, Thakoor, a large landholder of that place, when five of Maheput's armed men came up, and told Forsut Pandee to attend them to their master. Girwar Sing remonstrated and declared that his honour had been pledged for Forsut Pandee's personal safety. Mungul Sing, Thakoor, however, told him, that he must offer no opposition, as they seized all travellers who came that way, and it was dangerous to oppose them. He was taken to Maheput Sing, in his fort at Bhowaneegur, situated half a mile from Guneshpoor. Maheput told him that he had heard of his having a good flint gun, and a shawl in his house, and that he must have them. Forsut Pandee swore on the Ganges that he had no such things. He then had him tied up to a tree and flogged him with his own hands with thorny bushes, the scars of which are still visible. He then demanded a ransom of three hundred rupees, and had him flogged and tortured every day for a month, while he gave him to eat only half a pound of flour every two or three days. The prisoner's brother, Bhoree Pandee, sold all the clothes and ornaments of his family, utensils, and furniture, and their hereditary mango and mhowa grove, and raised two hundred and six rupees, which he sent to Maheput, through Baldan Sing, a landholder of Bharatpoor, two miles from Guneshpoor. On the receipt of this Forsut Pandee was released.
In October 1848, Maheput Sing sent ten of his gang to seize a cultivator, by name Khosal, who was engaged in cultivating his land in a hamlet, one mile south of the town of Syudpoor. They seized and bound him and took him off to their leader, Maheput, who had him tortured for a month in the usual way. He had him tied up to a ladder and flogged. He had red-hot irons applied to different parts of his body—he put dry combustibles on the open palms of his hands and set fire to them, so that he has lost the use of his fingers for life. For the whole month he gave him only ten pounds of flour to eat; but his friends contrived to convey a little more to him occasionally, which he ate by stealth. He was reduced, by hunger and torture, to the last stage, when his family, by the sale of all they had in the world, and the compassion of their friends, raised the sum of one hundred and twenty-six rupees, which they sent to Maheput, by Thakoor Persaud, a landholder of the village of Somba, and obtained his release. The tortures have rendered him a cripple, and the family are reduced to a state of great wretchedness.*
[* This man was a witness at the trial of Maheput, and I saw the signs of his sufferings.]
[* This man was a witness at the trial of Maheput, and I saw the signs of his sufferings.]
The village of Guneshpoor yielded a revenue to Government of twenty-one thousand rupees a-year, and was divided into six and half shares each, held by a different person. One belonged to Omrow Sing, Rajpoot, the father of Hunmunt Sing, a corporal in the 44th Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, and descended to Omrow Sing's eldest son, Davey Sing. One share was held, jointly, by Maheput Sing and Chotee Sing, when, in October 1848, Maheput assembled a gang of about two hundred men, and attacked the house of Davey Sing, while his brother Hunmunt Sing was at home on recruiting service. There were in the house the corporal and his three brothers, and all mounted, with their friends, to the top of the house, with their swords and spears, but without fire-arms. The robbers, unable to ascend from the outside, broke open the doors, but the brothers descended and defended the passage so resolutely, that the gang was obliged to retire and watch for a better opportunity.
Three months after, in January 1849, Maheput attacked the house again, with a gang of five hundred men and good scaling-ladders. Some ascended to the top on the ladders, while others broke open the doors and forced their way in. The brothers and the other male members of the family defended themselves resolutely. One of the brothers, Esuree Sing, his uncle, Runjeet Sing, sipahee of the 11th Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, his cousin, Beetul Sing, sipahee of the 8th Regiment Bombay Native Infantry, were all killed, and hacked to pieces by Maheput and his gang. No person came to the assistance of the family, and the robbers retired with their booty, consisting of five hundred and ten rupees in money, four muskets, and four swords, and twelve hundred maunds of corn, and all the clothes, ornaments, and utensils that could be found. They burnt down the house, and dispossessed the family of their share in the estate, and plundered all the cultivators. Davey Sine the eldest brother, went to reside at Bhanpoor, in the neighbourhood. While he was engaged in cutting a field of pulse, in the morning, about seven o'clock, in the month of March following, Maheput Sing, with a gang of two hundred men, attacked his house, killed his two brothers, Gordut and Hurdut Sing, and their servant, Omed, and shot down his nephew, Gorbuksh Sing. Ramsahae, the nephew of Maheput Sing, ran up to despatch him with his sword, but Gorbuksh rose, cut him down, and killed him with his sword before he himself expired.
The corporal, Hunmunt Sing, of the 44th Native Infantry, described all these things in several petitions to the Resident, and prayed redress, but no redress was ever obtained. Saligram and other relatives of the corporal had been plundered and wounded by Maheput Sing and his gang, and he describes many other atrocities committed by the same gang. His petition of the 27th September 1849, was sent to the King by the Resident, who was told, that the Amil of the district of Dureeabad, Girdhara Lal, had been ordered to seize Maheput Sing and his gang. This Amil was always in league with them.
In December 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of a female, named Arganee, the widow of Sheik Rozae, in the village of Pertab Pahae. It was midnight, and she was sleeping with her two grandchildren, the sons of her son, who was a sipahee in the 66th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry. They bound her hands: and leaving her young grandchildren alone, took her off to the jungle eight miles distant. There Maheput demanded from her the seven hundred rupees which she was said to have accumulated; and when she pleaded poverty, and said that the sipahee's pay was their only means of subsistence, he had her stripped naked and flogged in the usual way. For a month he had her stripped and flogged in the same manner every day. She then signed a bond to pay one hundred rupees on a certain day, and was released. She sold all she had, and borrowed all she could, and on the fourth day sent him fifty, and the other fifty on the fifteenth day; but he afterwards had the poor widow's house pulled down and all the wood-work carried to his fort of Bhowaneegur.
In April 1849, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of Seodeen Misser, sipahee of the 63rd Regiment Bengal Native Infantry; and after plundering it, seized and carried off to the jungle his brother and that brother's two sons—one seven years of age and the other five—and his sister. He sold the two boys as slaves for two hundred rupees to a person named Davey Sookul, of Guneshpoor; and tortured the brother and sister till the sipahee and his friends sold all they had in the world for their ransom, when he released them.
In the month of May 1849, Maheput Sing and his gang at midnight attacked the house of Eseree Sing, a Rajpoot of the Chouhan tribe, in the village of Salpoor, in Dureeabad; and after stripping his mother and all the other females of the family of their clothes and ornaments, plundering the house of all it contained, rupees, twenty-five in money, two handsome matchlocks, two swords, two spears, and two shields, and brass utensils, weighing one hundred and sixty pounds, he bound Eseree Sing himself, and took him off with his sister, four years of age, and his daughter, only three, to a jungle, four miles distant. He there released Eseree Sing himself, but took on the girls, and made over his daughter to Akber, one of his followers, and his sister to Bechoo, another of his gang, to be united to them in marriage. It was at their instigation, and for that purpose chiefly, that he made the attack.*
[* Akber and Bechoo are now in prison, with Maheput, at Lucknow.]
[* Akber and Bechoo are now in prison, with Maheput, at Lucknow.]
In August 1849, Maheput and his gang attacked the houses of Seetul, Gorbuksh, and Sook Lal, Brahmins, of Guneshpoor; and after plundering them, he carried off Gorbuksh and his son, Ram Deen, and Bhowanee, the son of Seetul, and Sook Lal, and murdered them. He carried off and tortured, in a shocking manner, Benee, of the same place, till he paid a ransom; and Ongud, son of Khunmun, an invalid Khalasie, of the 26th Regiment Native Infantry.
In September 1849, Maheput attacked and plundered the house of Ongud Sing, sipahee of the 24th Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, and confined the sipahee for some time. His petition was sent to the King on the 11th November 1849.
On the 15th of December 1849, Monowur Khan, havildar of the 62nd Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, complained that Maheput Sing had seized him as he was walking on the high road, and extorted eleven rupees from him. His petition was sent to the King, with a request, that all local authorities might be urged to aid in his arrest; and orders were again sent to the Frontier Police.
On the 24th December 1849, Madho Sing, sipahee of the 11th Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, complained that Maheput Sing had attacked and plundered his house twice, burnt it down, and cut down all the trees which the family had planted for generations, and turned them all out of the village—that in the second attack he had murdered his daughter, a girl of only nine years of age. His petition was sent to the King, who, on the 13th of February 1850, replied that he had proclaimed Maheput as a robber and murderer, and offered a reward of three thousand rupees for his arrest.
On the 16th of March 1850, Goverdhun complained, that Maheput had attacked and plundered his house, and carried off his father to the jungles, and extorted from him a ransom of one hundred and ten rupees. His petition was sent to the King, who, on the 27th March, replied, that he had given frequent and urgent orders for the arrest of Maheput Sing.
Gunga Deen, a trooper of the Governor-General's body-guard, complained to the Resident, on the 9th of August 1844, that Maheput Sing had attacked and killed with his own hand his agent, Thakoor Sing, while he was taking seven hundred and seventy-four rupees to the revenue-collector. On the 11th of September 1849, he again complained to the Resident, that Maheput Sing had plundered Bhurteemow and other villages, in Dureeabad, of property to the value of six thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine rupees, and murdered five men, besides Thakoor Sing, his servant, and had committed numerous robberies in other villages during the year 1848. Among them one in Bhurteemow, in which he killed Ramjeet and four other men—that he had soon after committed a robbery in which no less than twenty-two persons were killed and wounded, and property to the value of two thousand rupees was carried off. The King was frequently pressed most earnestly to arrest this atrocious robber; and on the 9th of December 1849, the Frontier Police was, at the Kings request, directed to do all in their power to seize him.
In July 1847, Maheput Sing and his gang attacked the house of Mungul Sookul, a corporal of the 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, at midnight, robbed it of property to the value of five hundred rupees, and so rent the ears of his little son, by the violence with which he tore the gold rings from them, that the boy was not likely to live. The commanding officer of the regiment sent the corporal's petition for redress, through the Resident, to the Durbar; and orders were sent to the local authorities to afford it, but they were unable or unwilling to do anything.
Gunga Aheer, of Buroulee, in the district of Rodowlee, had been for three years a sipahee in the 48th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, under the name of Mata Deen. Continued sickness rendered him unfit for duty, and he obtained his discharge, and came home to his family. In March 1850, having been long without employment, and reduced, with his family, to great distress, he went to his relation, Ramdhun, of the Intelligence Department, in the service of the King of Oude, and then; on duty at Dureeabad, with the Amil. A reward of three thousand rupees having been offered by the King for the arrest of Maheput Sing, the Amil ordered Ramdhun to try his best to trace him out, and he took Gunga Aheer with him to assist, on a promise of securing for him good service if they succeeded. They went to a jungle, about two miles from Guneshpoor, and near the foot of Bhowaneegur. While they were resting at a temple in the jungle, sacred to Davey, Maheput came up, with twenty followers, to offer sacrifice; and as soon as they recognized the Harkara, Ramdhun, they seized both, and took them off in the evening to a jungle, four miles distant. In the hope of frightening Maheput, the Harkara pretended to be in the service of the Resident at Lucknow; but as the reward for his arrest had beenoffered on the requisition of the Resident, on the application of injured sipahees of the British army, this did not avail him. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and as soon as it became dark, they took Ramdhun off to a distance of twenty paces from where Maheput Sing sat, and made him stand in a circle of men with drawn swords. One man advanced, and at one cut with his sword, severed his right arm from his body, and it fell to the ground. Another cut into the side, under the stump, while a third cut him across the left side of the neck with a back cut, he all the time calling out for mercy, but in vain. On receiving the cut across the neck he fell dead, and the body was flung into the river Goomtee. Maheput sat looking on without saying a word.
They then amused themselves for some time by flogging Gunga Aheer with thorn bushes, while he in agony cried for mercy. The next day, by Maheput's orders, they laid him upon a bed of thorns and beat him again, while he screamed from pain, and they laughed at his cries. One of the followers told Maheput, that they had been cautioned by the outlaw, Jugurnath, the chuprassie, not to murder Ramdhun and his companion, or the English would some day avenge them; but he laughed and said that spies must be punished, to deter others from pursuing them. One of his followers then sat on Gunga's chest while another held his arms, and a third his legs, while a fourth cut off his nose, and one of his hands at the wrist, and the fingers of the other hand. He became senseless, and Maheput and his followers all left him in this state. In the evening a servant of Seochurn Chowdheree, of Bhowaneepoor, on his way to the jungle, saw him and reported his condition to his master, who sent people and had him taken to him on a litter. He had his wounds dressed by a village surgeon, and the next day sent him home to his wife and mother. The landlord of the village reported the case to Captain Orr, of the Frontier Police, at Fyzabad, who had Gunga taken off to the hospital at Lucknow, where he remained under the care of the Residency surgeon till he recovered. This poor man had to support his mother, wife, and daughter by his labour. His mother came in with him, and attended him in hospital, while his wife and child remained at their village.
While in hospital recovering, Maheput Sing was brought before him, by the Frontier Police, to be recognized. As soon as he saw him all the terrible scene of Ramdhun's murder and his own torture came so vividly before him, that he trembled from head to foot, like a man in an ague fit, and was for some time unable to speak. At last, when he saw the fetters on Maheput's legs, and the handcuffs on his wrists, and armed Government servants around him, he recovered his senses; and by degrees, recorded what he had witnessed and suffered at his hands.
On the 25th March 1850, Rajah Maun Sing, under orders from the Durbar, with all the force he could muster, invested the fort of Bhowaneegur, while the force under Captains Weston, Thomas, Bunbury, and Magness, attacked the three forts belonging to Rajah Prethee Put, of Paska. Maheput Sing left the fort on the 27th, with eleven followers, to collect reinforcements and harass the besiegers, and the garrison was commanded by his nephew.
On the 28th, Maun Sing had three men killed and several wounded, from the fire of the garrison, and wrote for reinforcements to Captain Weston, who was at Dureeabad, twelve miles distant. As soon as he got the letter, he mounted his horse, and leaving the force to follow, rode with his Assistant, Captain Orr, to the place, which is half a mile from Guneshpoor south, and two hundred yards from the left bank of the Goomtee river north. They were attended by a few sowars, under Seo Sing, and they reached the place before daybreak, on the 29th; and as soon as day appeared, proceeded with Captain Magness, who had galloped on in advance of his regiment to reconnoitre the fort, and were fired upon by the garrison wherever they were seen. Maun Sing's people had retired after the loss of a few men, to the distance of a mile, and lay scattered over the jungle.
The Infantry came up before sunset, and the guns before it grew dark, and all were placed in position, and a fire opened upon the fort till it grew too dark to point the guns. The garrison soon after attempted to escape by the west side, and were fired upon by the parties posted on that quarter. Captain Weston, hearing the fire, collected all the men he could, and getting with difficulty into the fort, found it empty. In the attempt to cut their way through, the garrison had two men killed and fifteen wounded and taken, and five managed to escape, under cover of the night, into the thick jungle. Bikhai, one of the most atrocious of Maheput's followers, was killed; but he killed two of the besiegers, and wounded two more before he fell. Akber Sing, the most atrocious of all the gang, had his arm taken off by a cannon-shot, and was seized. Maheput's nephew, the commandant of the garrison, was taken, with one of Maheput's secretaries and advisers.
Of Maun Sing's party, four were killed and thirteen wounded, and Captain Magness had one havildar severely wounded. The fort was levelled, and the jungle around cut down. The force then proceeded and took possession of the forts of Futtehpoor, Oskamow, Sorrea, Dyeepoor, and Etonja, all belonging to Jugurnath Chuprassie, another leader of banditti of that district They were only a few miles distant from Bhowaneegur, and were deserted by his gangs on their seeing a British force and hearing the guns open upon Bhowaneegur. Two hundred head of stolen cattle were found in the forts of Jugurnath, and restored to their proper owners. Parties were sent in pursuit of Maheput Sing, and two of his followers were secured; but he himself escaped for the time. The forts were all destroyed. Captain Orr, the Assistant Superintendent, in charge of the Frontier Police at Fyzabad, had been long in pursuit of Maheput Sing, and his parties, knowing all his haunts and associates, gave him no rest. His subadar, Seetul Sing, became acquainted with Prethee Paul, tallookdar of Ramnuggur, who had been deprived of his estate for defalcation, and become associated with Maheput Sing. The subadar persuaded this landholder that it would be to his advantage to aid in the arrest of so atrocious a robber and murderer; and when Maheput next came to him to seek some repose from his pursuers, and consult about future plans, he sent intimation to Seetul Sing, whose detachment of sipahees was at no great distance. On receiving the intimation, the subadar marched forthwith, and reached the place at the dawn of day, on the morning of the 1st of July 1850. Maheput Sing had just left the house to perform his ablutions, but on seeing them, he suspected their designs and re-entered the house. The subadar's party saw him, immediately surrounded the house, and demanded his surrender, Maheput Sing begged Prethee Paul to join him in defending the house or cutting their way through; but Prethee Paul told him that he had ruined himself by his atrocities, and must now submit to his fate, since he could not involve himself and all his family in ruin merely to assist him. Prethee Paul then took him by the arm, brought him out, and made him over to Seetul Sing, who had threatened to set fire to the house, forthwith unless he did so. He was then secured and taken off, well guarded, and in all possible haste, to Captain Orr, lest his gang might collect and attempt a rescue. Captain Orr sent him off, under a strong guard and well fettered, to Lucknow, to Captain Weston, the Superintendent of the Frontier Police.
Prethee Paul, the tallookdar, for the good service, got back his estate from the Oude sovereign, and an addition of five hundred rupees a-year to his nankar or personal allowance. Gunga Aheer is now a pensioner on the Residency fund, and his family has been provided for. Maheput Sing and his associate Gujraj were sentenced to transportation beyond seas, and sent off in October 1851.
It is remarked by the people, that few of these baronial robbers ever die natural deaths—that they either kill each other, or are killed sooner or later by the servants of Government. More atrocious crimes than those which they every month commit it is difficult to conceive. In the Bangor district, through which we passed last month, this class of landholders are certainly as strong and as much disposed to withhold the just dues of Government, and to resist its officers and troops, as they are here, but they do not plunder and burn down each other's villages, and murder and rob each other's tenants so often as they do here. The coalition has introduced among them a kind ofbalance of power, which makes them respect each other's rights, and the rights of each other's tenants, for the chiefs are dependent upon the attachment and fidelity of their respective tenants. The above list contains only a part of the leaders of gangs, by which the districts of Dureeabad, Rodowlee, Sidhore, Pertabgunge, Deva, and Jehangeerabad, are infested. We have seen no manufacture of any exportable commodity in Oude, nor have we seen traffic on any road in Oude, save that leading from Cawnpore to Lucknow.
In consequence of some bad seasons, a good deal of the grain required at the Capital, and in the districts to the north-cast, comes from Cawnpore over this road. Were the road from Fyzabad to Lucknow good and safe, a good deal of land produce would, in ordinary seasons, come over it from the Goruckpoor district, and those intervening between Lucknow and Fyzabad. It would, however, be useless to make the road till the gangs which infest it are put down. A good and secure road from Lucknow through Sultanpoor to Benares, would be of still greater advantage.
February 25, 1850.—Halted at Dureeabad. I here saw the draft-bullocks attached to the guns, with Captain Orr's companies of Frontier Police. They are of the best kind, and in excellent condition. They have the same allowance of a seer and half of grain a-day, which is drawn for every bullock attached to his Majesty's artillery. The difference is that they get all that is paid for in their name, while the others get one-third; and really got none when on detached duty till lately. On Fridays, Captain Orr's bullocks get only half; and this is, I believe, the rule with all the others that get any at all. His bullocks are bred in the Nanpara, Nigasun, Dhorehra, and other districts in the Oude Tarae, and are of an excellent quality for work. They cost from 40 to 75 rupees a-pair. In these districts of the Tarae forest, the cows are allowed to go almost wild in large grass preserves, where they are defended from tigers; and the calves are taken from them, when a year old, to be taken care of at home, till sold for the dairy or for work. Captain Orr's bullocks have no grazing-ground, nor are they sent out at all to graze—they get nothing but bhoosa (chaff) and corn. Of bhoosa they get as much as they can eat, when on detached duty, as they take it from the peasantry without payment; but when at Lucknow, they are limited to a very small quantity, as Government has to pay for it. On the 15th of May, 1833, the King prohibited any one from taking bhoosa without paying for it, either for private or public cattle; and directed that bhoosa, for all the Artillery bullocks, should be purchased at the harvests, and charged for in the public accounts; but the order was disregarded like that against the murder of female children.
February 26, 1850—Sidhore, sixteen miles, W.S.W. The country, a plain, covered as usual with spring crops and fine foliage; but intersected midway by the little river Kuleeanee, which causes undulations on each side. The soil chiefly doomut and light, but fertile. It abounds more in white ants than such light soil generally does. We passed through the estate of Soorujpoor Behreylee, in which so many of the baronial robbers above described reside, and through many villages beyond it, which they had lately robbed and burnt down, as far as such villages can be burnt. The mud-walls and coverings are as good as bomb-proofs against the fire, to which they are always exposed from these robbers. Only twenty days ago, Chundee Behraleea and his party attacked the village of Siswae, through which we passed a few miles from this—plundered it, and killed three persons, and six others perished in the flames. They served several others in the neighbourhood in the same manner; and have, within the same time, attacked and plundered the town of Sidhore itself several times.
The boundary which separates the Dureeabad from the Sidhore district we passed some four miles back; and the greater part of the villages lately attacked are situated in the latter, which is under a separate Amil, Aga Ahmud, who is, in consequence, unable to collect his revenue. The Amil of Dureeabad, Girdhara Sing,* on the contrary, acquiesces in all the atrocities committed by these robbers, and is, in consequence, able to collect his revenue, and secure the favour of the Court. Some of the villages of the estate, held by the widow of Singjoo, late Rajah of Soorujpoor, are under the jurisdiction of the Sidhore Amil; and, as she would pay no revenue, the Amil took a force a few days ago to her twelve villages of Sonowlee, within the Dureeabad district, and seized and carried off some three hundred of her tenants, men, women, and children, as hostages for the payment of the balance due, and confined them pell-mell, in a fort. The clamour of the rest of the population as I passed was terrible, all declaring that they had paid their rents to theRanee, and that she alone ought to be held responsible. She, however, resided at Soorujpoor, within the jurisdiction, and under the protection of the Amil of Dureeabad.
[* Girdhara Sing's patron is Chundee Sahaee, the minister's deputy, whose influence is paramount at present.]
[* Girdhara Sing's patron is Chundee Sahaee, the minister's deputy, whose influence is paramount at present.]
The Behraleea gangs have lately plundered the five villages of Sadutpoor, Luloopoor, Bilkhundee, and Subahpoor, belonging to Soorujbulee, the head Canoongo, or Chowdheree of Dureeabad, who had never offended them. Both the Amils were with me for the latter part of the road; and the dispute between them ran very high. It was clear, however, that Girdhara Sing was strong in his league with the robbers, and conscious of being able to maintain his ground at Court; and Aga Ahmud was weak in his efforts to put them down, and conscious of his being unable much longer to pay what was required, and keep his post. He has with him two Companies of Nujeebs and two of Telingas, and eight guns. The guns are useless and without ammunition, or stores of any kind; and the Nujeebs and Telingas cannot be depended upon. The best pay master has certainly the best chance. It is humiliating and distressing to see a whole people suffering such wrongs as are every day inflicted upon the village communities and town's people of Dureeabad, Rodowlee, Sidhore, and Dewa, by these merciless freebooters; and impossible not to feel indignant at a Government that regards them with so much indifference.*
[* Poor Aga Ahmud was put into gaol, for defalcation, at the end of the season; but Girdhara Sing was received with great favour by the Court. The government of the district, for the next season, was confirmed, and the usual dress of honour was conferred upon him, but the Resident deemed it to be his duty to interpose and insist upon his not being sent out. The government of the district was, in consequence, taken from him, and made over to Rajah Maun Sing.]
[* Poor Aga Ahmud was put into gaol, for defalcation, at the end of the season; but Girdhara Sing was received with great favour by the Court. The government of the district, for the next season, was confirmed, and the usual dress of honour was conferred upon him, but the Resident deemed it to be his duty to interpose and insist upon his not being sent out. The government of the district was, in consequence, taken from him, and made over to Rajah Maun Sing.]
A respectable young agricultural capitalist from Biswa, Seetaram, rode along by my side this morning, and I asked him, "over whom these suttee tombs, near Biswa, and other towns were for the most part raised."—"Sir," said he, "they are chiefly over the widows of Brahmins, bankers, merchants, Hindoo public officers, tradesmen, and shopkeepers." "Are there many such tombs in Oude, over the widows of Rajpoot landholders?"—"I have not seen any, sir, and have rarely heard of the widow of a Rajpoot landholder burning herself." "No, sir," said Bukhtawar Sing, "how should such women be worthy to become suttees? They dare not become suttees, sir, with the murder of so many innocent children on their heads. Sir, we Brahmins and other respectable Hindoos feel honoured in having daughters; and never feel secure of a happy life hereafter till we see them respectably married. This, sir, is a duty the Deity demands from us, and the neglect of which we do not believe he can ever excuse. When the bridegroom comes sir, to fetch our daughter, the priest reads over the marriage-service, and the parents of the girl wash her feet and those of her bridegroom; and, as they sit together after the ceremonies, put into her arms a tray of gold and silver jewels, and rich clothes, such as their condition in life enables them to provide; and then invoke the blessing of God upon their union; and then, and not till then, do they feel that they have done their duty to their child. What can men and women, who murder their daughters as soon as they are born, ever hope for in this life or in a future state? What can widows, conscious of such crimes, expect from ascending the funeral pile, with the bodies of their deceased husbands who have caused them to commit such crimes?" "And you think that there really is merit in such sacrifices on the part of widows, who have done their duties in this life?"—"Assuredly I do, sir; if there were none, why should God render them go insensible to the pain of burning? I have seen many widows burn themselves in my time, and watched them from the time they first declared their intention to their death; and they all seemed to me to feel nothing whatever from the flames: nothing, sir, but support from above could sustain them through such trials. Depend upon it, sir, that no widow of a Rajpoot murderer of his own offspring would ever be so supported; they knew very well that they would not be so; and, therefore, very wisely never ventured to expose themselves to the trial: faithful wives and good mothers only could so venture. The Rajpoots, sir, and their wives were pleased at the prohibition, because others could no longer do what they dared not do!" "What do you think, Seetarum?"—"I think, sir, that this crime of infanticide had its origin solely in family pride, which will make people do almost anything. These proud Rajpoots did not like to put it into any man's power to call themsalahsorsussoors,* (brothers-in-law or fathers-in-law).
[* These are terms of abuse all over India. To call a man sussoor or salah, in abuse, is to say to him, I have dishonoured your daughter or your sister!]
[* These are terms of abuse all over India. To call a man sussoor or salah, in abuse, is to say to him, I have dishonoured your daughter or your sister!]
"I remember an instance of a woman burning herself at Lasoora, six miles from Biswa, when I was fifteen years of age, and I am now twenty-five. She certainly seemed to suffer no pain. One forenoon she told her husband that in a former birth she had promised him that when he should be born amaha brahmanat Biswa, she would unite herself in marriage to him, and live with him as his wife for twelve years; that these twelve years had now expired, and that she had that night received intimation from Heaven that her real husband,Rajah Kirpah Shunker, of Muthura, had died without having been married in this birth; that she was in reality his wife, and had already burnt herself five times with his body, and would now mix her ashes with his for the sixth time, and he must forthwith send her to the village of Lasoora, where she would become a suttee. The husband was astounded, for they had always lived together on the best possible terms, and out of the four children they had had two still survived. He and all their relations did all they could to dissuade her, but she disregarded them, and ran off to the Sewala (temple) in Biswa, which was built by my father. Thence she sent a Brahmin, by name Gokurn, to call me and my elder brother, Morlee Munohur, then seventeen years of age. We went, and she told us that she had been our mother in a former birth, and wished to see us once more before she died; she blessed us, and prayed that we might have each five sons, and then told us to arrange for her funeral pile at Lasoora, as all her former five suttees had been performed at that place.
"We thought she was delirious, and no one supposed that she would really burn herself. She, however, left the temple and proceeded towards Lasoora on foot, followed by a party of women and children, and by her husband, who continued to implore her to return home with him. He had a litter with him to take her, but she would not listen to him or to any one else. We reached Lasoora about an hour and a half before sunset, and she ordered the people to collect a large pile of wood for her, and told them that she would light it with a flame from her own mouth. They seemed to regard her as an inspired person, and did so. She mounted the pile, and it soon took fire, how I know not! Many people said they saw the flame come from her month, and all seemed to believe that it did so. The flames ascended, for it was in the month of March, and the wood was dry, and she seemed to be quite happy as she sat in the midst of them, and was burnt to death. Her husband told us, that she had lost one son some years before, and another only four days before she burnt herself, and that she had been much afflicted at his death. Whether there really had been such a person as Rajah Kirpah Shunker, no one ever thought it necessary to inquire. Her suttee tomb still stands at Lasoora among many others. Our mother was alive, though our father had been dead many years, and she used to say that the poor woman must have become deranged at the death of her child. The people all believed that she told the truth, and the husband was obliged to yield, though he seemed much afflicted. Her two sons still live, and reside at Biswa." *
[* Moorlee Monowur, a very respectable agricultural capitalist, tells me, that all that his younger brother, Seetaram, told me, about the suttee, if strictly true, and can be proved by a reference to the poor woman's husband and sons, who still survive, and to the people of Bilwa and Lasoora.]
[* Moorlee Monowur, a very respectable agricultural capitalist, tells me, that all that his younger brother, Seetaram, told me, about the suttee, if strictly true, and can be proved by a reference to the poor woman's husband and sons, who still survive, and to the people of Bilwa and Lasoora.]
I asked the Amil, "How he fed, clothed, and lodged his prisoners?" He said, "We always take them with us in our marches, secured in stocks or fetters. We cannot leave them behind, because we have no gaols or other places to keep them in, and require all our troops to move with us. As to food and clothing, they are obliged to provide themselves, or get their families or friends to provide them, for Government will not let us charge anything for their subsistence and clothing in the accounts."
"I understand that you and all other public servants who have charge of prisoners not only make them provide themselves with food and clothing, but make them pay for lamp-oil, whether they have a lamp burning at night or not?"—"When they require a lamp they must of course pay for it, sir; prisoners are always a source of much anxiety to us, for if we send them to Lucknow, they are almost sure to be let out soon, on occasions of thanksgiving, or on payment of gratuities, and enabled to punish all who have assisted us in the arrest; and with hosts of robbers around us, we are always in danger of an attempt to rescue them, which may cost us many lives." "If the gaol darogahs at Lucknow had not the power to sell his prisoners, sir," said Bukhtawar Sing, "how should he be able to pay so much as he does for his place? He is obliged to pay five hundred rupees or more for his place, and is not sure of holding it a month after he has bought it, so many are the candidates for a place so profitable!" "But he gets a share of the subsistence money, paid for the prisoners from the Treasury, does he not?"—"Yes, sir; of the four pice a-day paid for them by the King, he takes two, and sends them to beg through the city for what more they require." "If they get more than what he thinks they require from the public or their friends, he takes the surplus from them, I am told?"—"It is very true, sir, I believe. Fellows, sir, who have no substantial friends, and cannot and will not beg, soon sink under this scanty supply of food."