CHAP. III.ON SINDE.
Sinde; its extent.
The first territory which we meet in ascending the Indus is Sinde. The subversion of the Cabool monarchy has greatly raised the political importance of this country; and, while it has freed the rulers of it from the payment of a yearly tribute, has enabled them to extend widely the limits of their once circumscribed dominion. The principality is at present in the zenith of its power, and comprises no less than 100,000 square miles, extending from the longitude of 69° to 71° east, and from the latitude of 23° to 29° north. The Indian Ocean washes it on the south, and a diagonal line of 400 miles is terminated a short distance below the junction of the waters of the Punjab with the Indus. The eastern portion of this fine territory is sterile and unproductive; but the Indus fertilises its banks by the periodical swell, and the waters are conducted by canals far beyond the limits of inundation.
Its chiefs and revenue.
The territory is divided among three different branches of the Belooche tribe of Talpoor, who are nearly independent of one another. Theprincipal family resides at Hydrabad, at the head of which is Meer Moorad Ali Khan, and, since the death of his three elder brothers, its sole representative.[18]The next family of importance consists of the descendants of Meer Sohrab Khan of Khyrpoor, whose son, Meer Roostum Khan, is the reigning Ameer, and holds the fortress of Bukkur, with the northern portion of Sinde. The third family, descended of Meer Thara Khan, at the head of which is Ali Morad, resides at Meerpoor, and possesses the country south-east of the capital. These three chiefs are, properly speaking, the “Ameers of Sinde,” a name which has been sometimes applied to the members of the Hydrabad family. The relative importance of the Ameers is pointed out in their revenues: fifteen, ten, and five lacs of rupees are the receipts of the different chiefs; and their aggregate amount, thirty lacs of rupees, shows the annual revenue of Sinde. The treasure, it is said, amounts to about twenty millions sterling, thirteen of which are in money, and the remainder in jewels. The greater portion of this cash lies deposited in the fort of Hydrabad, and is divided between Moorad Ali and the wives of his late brother, Kurm Ali.
Its power and conquests.
If we except the Seiks, the Ameers are more powerful than any of the native princes to whose dominions the territories of Sinde adjoin; for on every side they have seized and maintained by force the lands of their neighbours. To the westward they hold Curachee as a conquest from the chief of Lus, and are at present meditating an extension of their boundary towards Sonmeeanee, that they may keep the trade to Candahar entirely within their own dominions. To the north-west they seized the fort of Bukkur, and the fertile territory of Shikarpoor, from the Afghans; and, though it latterly belonged to the powerful family of Barakzye (who now hold Cabool, Candahar, and Peshawur), they have hitherto engaged in annual but fruitless attempts to retake it. A force of 6000 men were encamped at Sewee, in the plains of Cutch Gundava, when we passed Shikarpoor; but they were unable to meet the Sindians in the field. On the north-east the Ameers hold Subzulcote and a large portion of the Daoodpootra country. To the eastward, they captured the fortress of Omercote, in 1813, from the Joodpoor Raja, and have since pushed their troops far into that Prince’s territories. If we exclude a portion of that country which belongs to Jaysulmeer, they now possess the whole country south of that capital to the Runn of Cutch, Parkur included.On the side of Cutch alone their progress has been arrested by the British Government.
Its military strength.
The value of these conquests is greatly enhanced by the trifling increase of expense which they have entailed on the government; for, except in the forts of the Desert, neither garrisons nor troops are kept in pay to protect them, while every attack endangering their security has been hitherto successfully resisted. The conduct of the Sindian in the field is brave; and if we are to judge by results, he is superior to his neighbours. They parried off an inroad of one formidable army from Cabool by a retreat to the Desert; and they defeated a second with great slaughter in the vicinity of Shikarpoor. Destitute as they are of discipline, and unable, assuredly, to cope with regular troops, we must admit that they excel in the art of war as practised by themselves and the adjacent nations. The Sindians, unlike other Asiatics, pride themselves on being foot soldiers, and they prefer the sword to the matchlock: their artillery, formidable in number, is contemptible in strength; their cavalry does not deserve the name: horses are scarce, and of a very diminutive breed. Various surmises have been made regarding the strength of their army, but they seem to me vague and indefinite; for every native who has attained the years of manhood,the mercantile classes alone excepted, becomes a soldier by the constitution of the government; and he derives his food and support in time of peace from being pledged to give his services in war. The host to be encountered is therefore a rabble, and, as infantry, their swords would avail them but little in modern warfare with an European nation. On an attack from the British Government, it is probable that the rulers of Sinde, after a feeble resistance, would betake themselves, with their riches, as of yore, to the Desert, a retreat which would cost them, in this instance, their country. They might foment for a while conspiracy and rebellion, but the misfortunes of the house of Talpoor would excite compassion nowhere; for their government is unpopular with their subjects, and dreaded, if not hated, by the neighbouring nations.
In the decline of other Mahommedan states, the prosperity of Sinde has exalted it in the eyes of foreigners.
Its external policy.
Of the princes bordering on Sinde, the Ameers have most intercourse with Mehrab Khan, the Brahooee chief of Kelat and Gundava, who, like themselves, was formerly a tributary of Cabool. By this alliance they have skilfully interposed a courageous people together, with a strong country between their territories and that kingdom. The Afghans have endeavoured by bribes and promises to bring over the Kelat chief to their interests, but he has not been hitherto persuaded, and professes himself, on all occasions, ready to assist the Ameers in the protection of that part of their frontier adjoining his dominions. He is related by marriage to the Hydrabad Ameer; and the Brahooees and Beloochees, considering themselves to be originally descended from one stock, may be therefore supposed to have one common interest. With the Seiks at Lahore there is no cordiality, and but little intercourse: they dread, and with reason, Runjeet Sing’s power, and they are likewise anxious to avoid giving offence to any of the Cabool family by a show of friendship. They owe the Maharaja no allegiance, nor has he hitherto exacted any; but it has not escaped their observation, that, of all the countries which adjoin the Sindian dominions, there are none from which an invasion can be so easily made as from the Punjab, and it is very doubtful if they could withstand an attack conducted by the Seiks from that quarter. With the Rajpoot chiefs on their eastern frontier their intercourse is confined to the exchange of presents.
Its internal state.
The internal resources of Sinde are considerable; nor must we look to the confined revenues of her rulers for an index to that wealth, as in their struggle for supremacy, the Ameers received many favours from their Belooch brethren, which have been repaid by large and numerous grants of land. By deteriorating the value of what remained as their own share, they hope to allay the cupidity of their neighbours. Trade and agriculture languish in this land. The duties exacted on goods forwarded by the Indus are so exorbitant that there is no merchandise transported by that river, and yet some of the manufactures of Europe were to be purchased as cheap at Shikarpoor as in Bombay. We are informed in the Periplus of the Erythrean sea, that the traffic of Sinde, when ruled by a powerful prince in the second century of the Christian era, was most extensive, and it is even said to have been considerable so late as the reign of Aurungzebe. The present rulers, possessing as they do such unlimited authority over so wide a space, might raise up a wealthy and commercial kingdom; but the river Indus is badly situated for the trader, and has no mouth like the Ganges accessible to large ships: it is separated, too, from India by an inhospitable tract; and a very vigorous and energetic government could alone protect commerce from being plundered by the Boordees, Moozarees, and other hill tribes to the westward. The Indus can only become a channel for commerce when the chiefs possessing it shall entertain more enlightened notions.At present much of the fertile banks of this river, so admirably adapted for agriculture, are only used for pasture. Flocks and herds may be driven from the invader; but the productions of the soil can only be reaped in due season, after care and attention. I now proceed to describe the state of parties at present existing in Sinde.
The Hydrabad family.
The Hydrabad family, from having been visited by several British missions, is better known than any of the others. It includes the southern portion, or what is called “Lower Sinde.” Since its first establishment, in 1786, it has undergone great change; and the reins of government, from being wielded by four brothers, have been left without bloodshed in the hands of the last survivor. But the struggle for dominion, so long warded off, has been bequeathed to a numerous progeny; and on the death of Moorad Ali Khan, who has attained his sixtieth year, the evil consequences of the founder of the family, raising his brothers to an equality with himself, will be felt in a disputed succession, and perhaps in civil war.[19]One Ameer died without issue; two of them left sons who have now attained to manhood, and the remaining Ameer has a family of five children, two of whom, Noor Mahommed and Nusseer Khan, have for years past sat in durbar on an equality with their cousins, Sobdar and Mahommed. The different parties of these four young princes form so many separate factions in the court of Sinde, and each uses that influence and policy which seems best suited to advance its ends. Three of them, as the eldest descendants of Ameers, might claim a right of sharing as their fathers; but the second son of Moorad Ali Khan has greater weight than any of them, and the government of the Ameers of Sinde could never, as it first stood, be considered an hereditary one.
Meer Nusseer Khan, and Meer Mahommed.
Meer Nusseer Khan, to whose influence I have just alluded, has been brought forward by his father in the intercourse with the British, and though fourth in rank below the Ameer himself: he is the only person who, with his father, addresses, on all occasions, and is addressed by, the British Government. He openly professes his attachment to the English, and informed me by letters, and in two public durbars, that he had been the means of procuring a passage for the mission by the Indus to Lahore. Strange as it may appear, it is said that his parent, otherwise so jealous of the British, had strenuously advised this line of procedure in his son; nor was it disguised from me by many who hadopportunities of knowing, that the Prince acted under the hope of assistance from our Government when the hour of difficulty arrived. Nusseer Khan maintains likewise a friendly intercourse with several members of the fallen monarchy of Cabool; and while we were at Hydrabad he was despatching presents to Kamran at Herat. This prince is a mild and engaging man, much attached to the sports of the field. He has more liberality than talent, and less prudence than becomes one in the difficult part which he will shortly have to perform. His success will depend on the possession of his father’s wealth, for money is the sinew of war; and the good will of a venal people like the Sindians is not to be retained by one who has spent his inheritance. Noor Mahommed, the eldest brother of Nusseer Khan, cultivates a closer friendship with the Seiks than any other of the Talpoor family, but he has neither partisans nor ability to achieve an enterprise. He is, besides, addicted to the grossest debauchery and the most odious vices; but it is always to be remembered that he is the eldest son of the reigning chief.
Mahommed and Sobdar.
Meer Mahommed seems to hope, and not without cause, that the services of his father, Gholam Ali, will secure to him his rights. He sent a messenger to me privately with an offer to enter into a secret treaty with the British Government, which I declined for obvious reasons. Sobdar is the rightful heir of Moorad Ali, being the eldest son of the founder of the house. He is no favourite with the Ameers; but, besides a treasure of three millions sterling, and lands which yield him three lacs of rupees annually, he has many chiefs and partisans, who cling to him from a remembrance of his father’s virtues. He is, too, the ablest “scion of the stock,” and by one rebellion has already asserted his rights. The contest will probably lie between Sobdar and Nusseer Khan; and if these two choose to govern as those who preceded them, they may revive the title and retain the power of the Ameers of Sinde. At present, Meer Sobdar conceals his plans and intentions from dread of his uncle; and I may mention, as a specimen of Sindian jealousy, that because I asked several times after his health (according to the formality of this court), seeing him seated on the right hand of the Ameer, he was displaced at our second interview to make room for Meer Nusseer Khan. Should Moorad Ali attain “a good old age” these opinions may prove fallacious, as the stage will then be occupied by other competitors, who are at present in their childhood, and from among whom some one, more daring than his relations, may meet with success and power.
The Khyrpoor family.
The Khyrpoor chief, Meer Roostum Khan,succeeded to his father, who was killed in 1830 by a fall from a balcony. He is about fifty years of age, and has five sons and two brothers. This family is so numerous that there are at present forty male members of it alive, descended in a right line from Meer Sohrab Khan. The chief maintains greater state than the Hydrabad family. The territory is extensive and productive, extending on the east bank from a short distance above Sehwun to the latitude of 28° 30´ north, and on the west bank from Shikarpoor to within fifteen miles of Mittun, on the verge of the Punjab, skirting to the westward the mountain of Gendaree and the plains of Cutch Gundava. There is little cordiality existing between the Khyrpoor and Hydrabad Ameers; and the breach has been lately increased by some disputes relative to the duties on opium, of which the former have hitherto, and in vain, claimed a share. The whole family expressed themselves cordially attached to the British Government; and evinced, by a continual succession of kindness, and even munificence towards our party, that they were sincere in their sentiments: none of them had ever before seen an European. The treasure, which amounts to three millions of money, is held by Ali Moorad, the youngest brother of Meer Roostum Khan, who having access to it, as thefavourite son, seized it on Sohrab’s death, and still retains it. With this exception, the family are united, and have no subject of dissension.
The influence of the chief of Khyrpoor in the affairs of Sinde is considerable. No undertaking which has reference to the well-being of the country is planned without his being consulted; and hitherto no operations have been carried on without his sanction. The refusal of Meer Sohrab to enter into a war to protect the Daoodpootras, and prevent encroachment by the Seiks, defeated the plans of the Ameers; for though the families are independent of one another, they will only act when united. Meer Roostum Khan is on much better terms with his neighbours than the Hydrabad family: he has agents from the Jaysulmeer and Beecaneer Rajas, and from the Daoodpootras, resident at his court, and has more intercourse with the Seiks at Lahore. Meer Roostum is prepared, however, on all occasions with his troops to protect from invasion the boundaries of Sinde as they at present exist; and has readily furnished his quota of troops when the Afghans have endeavoured to retake Shikarpoor from the Hydrabad chief.
Meerpoor family.
The Meerpoor family, at the head of which is Ali Moorad, has the least influence of the Sinde Ameers. His immediate vicinity to Hydrabad, and his less fertile and more circumscribed boundary, have kept it more under the subjection of the principal Ameer. The territory, however, is exactly situated on the line of invasion for an army from Cutch; and this Ameer might render material service to any expedition. The family is allied to Sobdar; and will, in all probability, follow that prince’s fortunes on a change of government.
Condition of the people.
With reference to the condition of the people in these different chiefships, much has been said by various writers; and I would have willingly passed it unnoticed, did not the means of observation, which I enjoyed for so many months, lead me to dissent from some of their opinions. The Sindians are passionate and proud; and all of them would be considered deceitful, in so far as they praise and promise without sincerity. Their passion proceeds from their savage ignorance, and their pride from jealousy: their deceit does not deceive each other, and, consequently, ought not to deceive a stranger. I found those in my employ most honest and faithful servants, and passed from one extremity of Sinde to another without any other guard than the natives of the country, and without losing a trifle, though our boats were boarded by crowds daily. The Sindians are governed by their princes, after the spirit of the country; and ifthey could discern how much the advantages of civil life, and the encouragement of industry and art, rise superior to despotic barbarism, we might look upon Sinde and her people in a different light: but these rulers, who seized it by the sword, must be excused for so maintaining it. Where the principles of honour are not understood (as has ever been too much the case in Asiatic governments), men must be ruled by fear; and it is only as the subject gets liberal and civilised, that he can appreciate the advantages of free institutions, and deserves such or any share in the government of his country. The inhabitants of Sinde are miserably poor, both in the towns and villages; for when we except a few Belooche chiefs, and some religious families, who are attached to the court, there is no distributed wealth in the land but among a few Hindoo merchants. The people of that tribe share no greater evils than their Mahommedan brethren, and enjoy as much toleration and happiness as in other Moslem governments. If they were formerly treated with rigour, the age of fanaticism has passed; and the Hindoo Dewans of Sinde now transact the entire pecuniary concerns of the state, while the Shroffs and Banians, who are also Hindoos, pursue their vocations without interruption, marry off their children, when they attain the prescribed age,to inherit, after their demise, the substance which had been realised by commerce.
Its extent of population.
It is difficult to fix the population of Sinde, and I bear in mind that I have seen the fairest portion of the country in my progress through it by the Indus. The large towns are neither numerous nor extensive: Hydrabad, the capital, has about 20,000 people, but it is exceeded by Shikarpoor: Tatta, Currachee, and Khyrpoor have 15,000 each; Meerpoor, Hala, Sehwun, Larkhana, and Roree (with Sukkur), have each about 10,000; Muttaree, Ulyartando, and Subzul, with five or six others, have 5000 each; which gives a population of nearly 200,000 souls. The number of people in the delta does not exceed 30,000; and the parts away from the river, both to the east and west, are thinly peopled, for pastoral countries are not populous. The villages within reach of the inundation are, however, large and numerous; and, including the whole face of the country, there cannot be less than a million of human beings. One fourth of this number may be Hindoos; and the greater portion of the Mahommedans are descended from converts to that religion.