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DRY LEAVES 
 
 YOUNG EGYPT 
 
 GLANCE AT SINDH 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 ARRIVAL OF SIR CHARLES NAPIER. 
 
 BY AN EX-POHTICAL. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JAMES MADDEN. 8, LEADENHALL STREET. 
 
 MDCCCXLIX. 
 
.<-»* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8TBPHEN AUSTIN, PRINTER, HERTFORD. 
 
vlt. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 It will be seen from the first line of this Memoir, that 
 it was commenced three years ago, soon after the Vakils 
 of the Amirs of Sindh had been repulsed in all their 
 attempts to obtain redress in this country. I began to 
 write in the hope of shewing that the unfortunate Chiefs 
 of Khyrpore were, from the outset, treated by us with 
 intolerable harshness ; and that, therefore, as we were 
 the first aggressors, we ought not to have treated them 
 with the rigour we have, — even had their hostility to us 
 been earlier evinced,, and more clearly proved than it is 
 in the Blue Book. A consciousness of inability to do 
 justice to the case, made me throw away the pen, but 
 now that information has been received of the deaths of 
 our once firm friend and ally, Mir Sobdar Khan, his 
 mother, and his eldest son — caused partly by anguish 
 
 51322a 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 of mind, and partly by the (to them) unhealthy 
 climate of Bengal, — there seems to be a fit opportunity 
 for making another appeal to public opinion in behalf 
 of the surviving prisoners. I have ventured, therefore, 
 to add my feeble candle to the broad light which has 
 already been thrown on the subject by men like Outram 
 and Sullivan. If I succeed in recalling the attention of 
 any of the former supporters of the fallen Amirs to their 
 cause, my object is gained ; — for the rest 
 
 MeAei rrjs aArjde'ms ficiWoi/ fj rris So^rfs, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DEESA — VISIT TO MOUNT ABU — OBSERVATIONS THERE — ROUTE TO 
 
 KATTIAWAR ' — PATTAN — IDOL-LESS TEMPLE AT MONDHEGRA 
 
 RAJKOTE — THE DUTIES OF A KALA DAGLAWALA — THE GATHERING 
 
 OF THE MONSOON — LAND ROUTE TO SINDH BHUJ THE RAO OF 
 
 CUTCH LAKPAT BANDAR — CROSSING THE RANN — BEHAVIOUR OF 
 
 THE SINDHIS THE INDUS IN FLOOD NAGGAR TATTA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS. THE DECISION OF SULAIMAN — NAGGAR TATTA 
 
 VOYAGE TO HYDERABAD — THE SHIKARGAHS — SEHWAN LAKE MAN- 
 CHAR THE NARAH RIVER — SAKKAR BAKKAR — PERAMBULATIONS 
 
 ROUND SAKKAR VISIT TO ALLORE DATE OF THE RIVER'S 
 
 CHANGING ITS COURSE FROM ALLORE TO ROHRI^SACRED HAIRS 
 AT ROHRI — ANECDOTES OF BILUCHIS THE KOSAHS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE OCCUPATION OF SINDH AND AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 STATE OF THINGS IN UPPER SINDH AT THE CLOSE OF 1839 — PERSIAN 
 
 PRISONERS — PRESENTS FOR RANJIT SINGH FEUD BETWEEN THE 
 
 MILITARY AND THE POLITICALS ALLEGED DESECRATION OF TOMBS 
 
 ROUND SAKKAR— SHAH NAWAZ KHAN OF KHELAT AMIEL'S BILUCH 
 
 CORPS ALAF KHAN TEHRIN. 
 
 b 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WILD HOGS CROSS THE INDUS THE POLITICAL AGENT LEAVES 
 
 SAKKAR — SHUTUR SAWARS — INSTRUCTIONS ON ASSUMING CHARGE 
 OF THE AGENCY — THE RIVAL SEYYADS — VAKIL OF BHAWALPORE 
 
 CHARGES SOME OF THE FIRST GRENADIER REGIMENT WITH 
 
 ROBBING HIM — THEY MUTINY — INFLUENCE OF NATIVE OFFICERS 
 PANCHAYET CHIT CHAT, 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE DIWALI — SHIKARPORE JAIT SINGH, THE HINDU SARRAF — 
 
 MUHAMMED HUSAIN, THE DAROGAH AZIM KHAN BARAKZYK 
 
 IBRAHIM SHAH JAGAN AND JANIDERAH AMIEl's DEFEAT LIEUT. 
 
 WALPOLE CLARKE— BUGTI PRISONERS YARU KHAN KOSAH 
 
 SAULA BURDI FALL OF KHELAT RETURNING COLUMN OF THE ARMY 
 
 FRIGHTFUL SICKNESS HAWKING PARTIES ARTHUR CONOLLY 
 
 SEYYAD ZAIN AL ABIDAIN KAMAL KHAN KAHIRI — BIJJAR KHAN, 
 
 SALE OF HIS FAMOUS MARE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BATTLE OF SARTAF, AND DEATH OF WALPOLE CLARKE AMIEl's 
 
 VAIN PURSUIT OF THE KALPARS MUHAMMAD SHERIF, THE NAIB 
 
 OF KATCHI MISMANAGEMENT OF THAT PROVINCE TH K SINDHI 
 
 ALPHABET — DUBIOUS EPISTLES. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE PIR OF SIRHIND AN OLD WOMAn's STORY A TROUBLESOME 
 
 GUEST REVOLT IN SHAL REFLECTIONS THEREON ABDULLAH 
 
 KAHIRI'S REPORT — A BUILDING EXCURSION IN THE DESERT. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BATTLE OF NAFUSHK RETREAT OF CLIBBORn's FORCE PROCEED TO 
 
 BAGH — CRITICAL STATE OF THE COUNTRY — LEHRI — BURNING OF 
 GANDAVA — RETURN TO SHIKARPORE. 
 
CONTENTS. VU 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SHAHPORE — TURK ALI, AMIEL'S HENCHMAN VISIT TO THE HAIS 
 
 UL ULEMA SKIRMISHES AT KANDAH AND BAGH ATTACK OF 
 
 DADAR MURDER OF LIEUTENANT LOVEDAY DEATH OF MIR NUR 
 
 MUHAMMAD DEFEAT OF NASIR KHAN AT GANDAVA — BRAHUI 
 
 PRISONERS SHOOTING IN A SHIKARGAH. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 STATE OF SINDH AND KHORASAN AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1841 
 
 VISIT TO MIR RUSTAM — STORMING OF KAJJAK — DISTURBANCES AT 
 
 ROHRI — GENERAL VENTURA KITCHEN VISITOR EXTRAORDINARY 
 
 RISING OF THE INDUS SAMAD KHAN DEATH OF THE POLITICAL 
 
 AGENT — VOYAGE DOWN THE RIVER. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HYDERABAD VISIT TO THE AMIRS CHARACTER OF THE AMIRS OF 
 
 HYDERABAD AND THEIR CHIEF OFFICERS ROUTE TO CARACHI 
 
 VISIT TO THE MAGAR TALAO — REFLECTIONS ON LEAVING SINDH 
 
 DEPARTURE FOR BOMBAY. 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 TABLES OF THE RANGE OF THE THERMOMETER AT ABU. 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE AMIRS OF HYDERABAD AND KHYRPORE. 
 
 APPENDICES III AND IV. 
 
 LETTERS AND PETITIONS OF THE VAKILS OF THE AMIRS. 
 
 APPENDIX V. 
 
 STATEMENT OF TU£ CASE OP THS AMIRS, DRAWN UP BY 
 THEMSELVES. 
 

 DRY LEAVES FROM YOUNG EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DEESA VISIT TO MOUNT ABU OBSERVATIONS THERE ROUTE TO 
 
 KATTIAWAR PATTAN IDOL -LESS TEMPLE AT MONDHEGRA RAJ- 
 
 KOTE THE DUTIES OF A KALA DAGLAWALA THE GATHERING OF 
 
 THE MONSOON LAND ROUTE TO SINDH BHUJ THE RAO OF CATCH 
 
 LAKPAT BANDAR CROSSING THE RANN — BEHAVIOUR OF THE 
 
 SINDHIS THE INDUS IN FLOOD — NAGGAR TATTA. 
 
 It was in 1839 (just a week of years) that I commenced 
 a journey which conducted me to the classic but some- 
 what atramentous waters of the Indus ; but stay, — I found my 
 lonely march such an uncomfortable one, that I wished often 
 enough for a companion ; so, reader, this time we will make it 
 together. A pleasant tour one could hardly find it. Cast your 
 eye on the map. Look at that great tract from Deesa to the 
 Hala mountains. It is all sand ; sometimes it has a little 
 ragged clothing of babul or milkbush ; sometimes it tricks 
 itself out with a green fringe, or so ; but, at best, it is but a 
 scanty garment. From the Ban^s to the Indus, I do not think 
 there is a stream, — nothing but dirty wells to put your trust 
 in ; one could scarce be worse off were one a settler in 
 
 B 
 
2 ^ia/;>4: I>EESA. 
 
 « • 
 
 Australia. Your soil is bad, and your people are as bad as the 
 soil. It is like enough that they are '^vTox06vis. I know of 
 no race better entitled to claim such an origin, for they are 
 as poor and niggardly as the sand they tread, and withal as 
 hot and inflammable. And, to say truth, the conquests and 
 inroads, which engraft one nation on another, have had but 
 little place here. From the time of Muhammad Bin Casim, 
 there have been few or no invaders, for little, indeed, would 
 be gained from the robbers of the Rann, or the fish- eaters of 
 the Sindh Delta. So now, to commence disputatiously, I 
 never could find a reason for our infantry regiments being 
 stationed in such a beggarly country as Deesa, nor detect the 
 object of our large cantonment there. Perhaps it was absurd 
 to seek one, for when so many unreasonable things are done, 
 why should not this belong to the same category.? As to 
 the robbers of Naggar Parkar, and their plundering neigh- 
 bours along the borders of the Rann, they would surely be 
 better kept in check by bodies of horse, and would laugh at 
 our sipahis floundering along in the sand after them. Yet 
 so it is, at Deesa we have two infantry regiments, one (bless 
 the mark) of Europeans, sweltering away at white heat, and 
 extremely on the alert to prevent their huts being robbed every 
 second night, by the Bhils. A dry, hot — in simple verity, an 
 intensely arid place is that same Deesa. In lat. 24.15, out- 
 side the tropics, it is true, but no whit the better for that. Our 
 good friend Sol comes down in right earnest on the waste, 
 and there is need of many a fold of twisted muslin round the 
 white topi to keep off his importunacy. And if the head 
 fares badly the feet are in as poor a condition, sinking some 
 six inches at every step in fine sand of a warmth that makes 
 your blood circulate at perilous speed. Alas ! for those whose 
 
MOUNT ABU. 3 
 
 eyes have been accustomed to the green fields and cool breezes 
 of England. Yet there is a charm in this place for the lovers 
 of shikar. The spur and the spear, and the deadly grooved 
 rifle, are never idle here. The game is not far to seek, and, 
 good faith ! if you will not hunt, you may be hunted. I have 
 myself seen the track of a lion round the hospital, and but a 
 few miles from camp is the place where one of the most famed 
 of Indian sportsmen exhibited, much against his will, the 
 celebrated trick of putting his head into a tiger's mouth. It 
 pulled him backwards as he fled from it, and was proceeding 
 to bite off his head, as a child would a cherry, when the bullet 
 of his friend arrested the fatal jaws ere they could close. Of 
 such escapes, or of other excitement in the field personally, I 
 have nought to tell, for after I had passed a very short sojourn 
 at Deesa, came a small, but ineffably exhilarating piece of 
 paper, which, to use the words of my friend, Subadar Ghulam 
 All, conferred on me the dignity of a black coat. I was 
 henceforth to be a Kala dagla wala, and in those days the 
 appointment was one coveted, nor had the flattering toast, 
 ** damnation to the politicals," as yet been proposed. 
 
 Ere I started for my destination I resolved on a visit to 
 Mount Abii, for my conscience stoutly remonstrated against 
 departing without one glance at wonders now within ken, and 
 soon to be so distant. Besides, I was eager to be on the 
 move. What is it that makes travelling so delightful, in spite 
 of all its budget of disasters and difiiculties .'' Or is it only 
 the retrospect that delights us ? I think all can remember 
 being very sick, very cross, very hot, and most decidedly un- 
 comfortable on a journey, yet, when 'tis past, how the mind 
 recurs to it. All the pleasant things have become a thousand 
 times more pleasant, and all the disagreeables, all the ugly 
 
 B 2 
 
MOUNT ABU. 
 
 joltings on the road, are clean forgotten. So it was with my 
 journey to Abii, in the which I was marvellously ill-fed, and 
 worse lodged, yet shall turn to it now with an aspect of extreme 
 good humour. Abu is a detached mountain of the Aravalli 
 range, which divides the table land of Kajputana from the flats 
 of Anhulwdrra, and is situated some forty miles to the north- 
 east of Deesa. It towers over the neighbouring mountains like 
 a tall leader in front of his line. I was not long in getting 
 sight of it, for forty miles are soon sped in India. If you 
 have not horses of your own for relays, borrow from your 
 friends. Be not in the least scrupulous — your turn will come 
 to lend ; and so constant is the need and the application, that 
 many a crafty old stager keeps an indifferent saddle and an ill- 
 favoured nag to answer such demands. '* Does the Saheb, 
 your master, ride this brute ? " I enquired of a native groom, 
 as I found myself at the outset uncomfortably placed on a 
 small pony, that persisted in standing on his hind legs, like 
 a petitioning poodle. *' No, Saheb ! my master does not ride 
 him, he lends him to the strange gentlemen !" About three 
 miles from the Deesa camp I crossed the Banas, which (it 
 being the middle of March) was nearly dry. The jungle on 
 its banks is full of wild beasts ; and what is, I believe, most 
 rare, harbours the lion and tiger together, for these lords of 
 the forest seem to have agreed on the old principle, "divide et 
 impera," and are seldom found together. The remainder of 
 the road to the foot of the hills lay over a sandy plain, matted 
 with milk-bush and prickly pear, thick as the hair of Siva, 
 and about as ornamental. In one part the fresh marks of 
 a paw, in size somewhat like a small plate, gave me a sHght 
 inkling of who my fellow travellers were in " dingle and bushy 
 dell of this wild wood." 
 
MOUNT ABU. 5 
 
 About four miles from the foot of Abii lies a Bhil village, 
 called Anadura, where the traveller may stop and get a drink 
 of milk. Or, if he will none of it, he will desiderate it not a 
 little before ** half of his heavy task be done ;" for it is no holi- 
 day-work climbing that steep, craggy, perspiration-exciting 
 Abii — Saint's Pinnacle, indeed, they term it ! A man may be 
 a saint when he reaches the pinnacle, but he is marvellously 
 inclined to use certain heathenish and sinful expressions on his 
 way up. Four thousand feet upward — perpendicular ascent ! 
 how it differs — immune quantum — from the same measure in 
 a level straight- forward progression. I started from Anadura on 
 foot, in the simplicity of my heart, not even deeming it desirable 
 to ride as far as was practicable. A paggi, or tracksman, I 
 had brought from Deesa went before me with a Bhil of the 
 village, 'who beguiled the way with telling his comrade a 
 legend about some Raja who had married the beautiful 
 daughter of a poor inhabitant of the mountain, whose only 
 dowry was kanya (Anglice, her maidenhood). The path lies 
 through a forest of tall trees, under which there were several 
 great herds of oxen of the tall Gujerat breed, almost as wild 
 as the Sambar (elk), we could hear, ever and anon, blowing 
 in the distance. At our approach they drew together in 
 agmine nigro; or, to use a military term, they fell in, as if they 
 were on the look-out for mischief ; and well they might, for 
 the place is excessive tigerish. At last we began to ascend, 
 and, though I have since climbed some ugly places, I remember 
 nothing like this. There is no winding or sloping here, no 
 cheating yourself into the belief that after another turn it 
 will be over. No ! all is fair treadmill work — each step con- 
 sisting of two motions, the first brings your right knee as near 
 as possible to your chin, and the second draws the lagging 
 
b MOUNT ABU. 
 
 limb after it. At last I was fairly tired ; and, throwing myself 
 down under a crag, was soon fast asleep. Meantime, I sus- 
 pect, the Bhil villagers had guessed their services would be 
 wanted, for when I awoke I found a party of them standing 
 by me, with a sort of bambu chair, which they strongly 
 recommended me to occupy, and to make the rest of the 
 ascent with the aid of their shoulders. However, I went on 
 by myself to nearly the top, when I was obliged to yield, and 
 "take the chair," on the special invitation of these good 
 savages. If any one feels inclined to laugh, I wish he were 
 made to try getting up Abu in a tight pair of trousers and 
 without his breakfast. Well, well ! once on the mountain's 
 brow, and I felt my toil fairly recompensed. I can imagine no 
 scene more beautiful. The far view over the unbroken plain 
 beneath, the fantastic rocks around, crowned and clustered over 
 with the rarest plants and flowers, the strange white temples 
 with their grotesque figures and quaint embellishment, the 
 clear peaceful lake, over which nods many a drowsy pinnacle 
 hallowed in Hindu legend, — these are things to be gazed on, 
 not described. I sate and basked in the sun, no longer fierce 
 but genial, and mused, and could have wept over the long roll 
 of chiefs and princes who have here set up their names, and 
 dreamed that the story of their achievements would live ; and 
 there is none to read it but the stranger and the alien. They 
 are Rajputs of a lineage ancient and renowned, before the name 
 of Muslim was known. Well, there is a better name than 
 either Rdjput or Muslim, and such shall be the name of these 
 tribes also, we may humbly hope and trust, ere long. 
 
 Abu has been from ancient times a place of pilgrimage to 
 the Hindus. Its natural advantages, and the remarkable 
 beauty of its scenery, must have recommended it from the 
 
JAIN TEMPLES. • 7 
 
 earliest ages to a religion which delights to sacrifice on the 
 mountains, to hallow every lake and stream, and which seeks, 
 in the magnificence of nature, proof of the existence of the 
 Deity to whose Being the voice of Revelation does not here 
 bear its testimony. Rishis and Munis, the Saints of the Hindu 
 mythology, are said to have made the summit of this moun- 
 tain their abode. Hence its highest peak is called Gurusikr, 
 *' the Saint's Pinnacle ;" and here Indra, Rudra, Brimha, and 
 Vishnu are said to have re-produced the warrior caste or 
 Kshatris, who had been extirpated by Parsuram on account 
 of their impiety. The temples now adorning Abii are of com- 
 paratively modern date, having been built within the last few 
 centuries, chiefly by the Jains. They are of white marble, 
 ornamented with innumerable figures, and the richest tracery. 
 So exquisite is the carving, that it may be doubted whether 
 any other of the beautiful pagods of India can be compared with 
 these. Yet they stand on a spot now trodden only by savage 
 Bhil or wandering Jogi, and difficult of access even to them. 
 There existed, however, in the fourteenth century, a city called 
 Chandravati, about fourteen miles to the east of Abii, inhabited 
 by the Puor Rajputs, and it is probable that the approach to the 
 sacred mountain was then neither a work of so much toil nor 
 infrequency as now. The lake called the Nakki Talao — from 
 its having been scooped out by an ascetic, who certainly turned 
 his length of nail to good purpose, — is about 3,800 feet above 
 the sea. It is a mile long, a quarter of a mile broad, and in 
 some places several fathoms deep. Nearly on a level with it, 
 and at about half a mile distant, are the Jain temples, in a 
 westerly direction, while to the north rises the peak of Gurusikr 
 to an altitude of nearly 6,000 feet. The extracts contained in 
 Appendix I. from the register of a friend, will show the 
 
8 PATTAN". 
 
 nature of the climate at a time when the plain country round 
 Deesa is positively unbearable. 
 
 With this beautiful retreat before my eyes, I could not 
 but think it strange that our European regiments should be 
 suffered to languish out the hot months at Deesa, when a 
 moderate outlay would secure for them comfortable quarters 
 in this Eden of the Hills. In how short a time would a legion 
 have made these heights accessible ; how soon would a little of 
 the skill and energy that the French display in their Algerian 
 roads suffice to place our men in a climate little inferior to 
 that of their native country. During the cold months, the 
 Europeans might keep the plain and be employed in their 
 parade work, and March would see them winding up the 
 mountain on a broad level road formed by their own industry, 
 and to be transferred as an invaluable legacy to their suc- 
 cessors. 
 
 After seeing as much as was possible of Abu in the brief time 
 I could afford for my visit, I prepared to descend once more to 
 the burning plain. On reaching Deesa, one day sufficed to 
 put myself in marching order, and on the 18th of March 
 I again quitted it, and halted that evening at Pattan, a march 
 of eighteen miles. My route was to lie through a country not 
 guilty of those detestable little buildings which bear the name 
 of travellers' bungalows. These are generally built in such a 
 position as to command the whole supply of dust and flies 
 that the neighbourhood yields, and with their sickly white 
 walls, and discontented, empty look, make hideous contrast to 
 the picturesque and carved pagoda or choultry that hides itself 
 amongst the thick foliage from its ugly European neighbour. 
 I halted at Pattan, in a choultry beneath a top of magnificent 
 Banyan trees, filled with monkeys, whose antics afforded me 
 
ROUTE TO KATTIAWAR. 9 
 
 unceasing amusement. Watching their opportunity, when 
 the men who guarded the adjoining fields were absent, a large 
 body of them descended and bounded one after another over 
 the hedge, leaving a sentinel on the outside, while they 
 bundled up the corn with all despatch. Suddenly the alarm 
 was given, but long before the incensed cultivators could reach 
 the spot my friends were safe enough over my head, and 
 making an exact distribution of their plunder to the heads of 
 families. From Pattan I passed on without adventure, and 
 with little of interest or note, to Wadwan in Kattiawar, a 
 distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. At the second 
 stage from Pattan I encountered a vast concourse of pilgrims, 
 who were thronging to a temple built by Damaji Gaikwar, 
 and in which there is no image of any kind. It is, however, 
 sacred to Devi, and the crowd was assembling to endeavour 
 by their prayers to avert the ravages of the small-pox. The 
 Brahmins shewed me a pool of green water near the temple, 
 which they said became red twice a year at the advent of the 
 goddess. It appears to be a mineral spring, and the water is 
 tepid. As I approached Kattiawar the country became more 
 and more barren, and I found each village surrounded by a 
 Golgotha of bones. In fact, the drought was so terrible that 
 all the cattle of the country had either perished or been driven 
 beyond the frontiers. The famine was, indeed, sore in the land. 
 Parents were ofi'ering their children for sale, and numbers, 
 doubtless, died unknown and unheeded. These calamitous 
 seasons are of constant recurrence, both in Kattiawar and 
 in the neighbouring country of Catch. Yet the preventative 
 might be found, could or would the Government turn its 
 attention to the subject. We collect annually 6,80,105 
 rupees from the province, of which no part is expended in 
 
10 • ROUTE TO KATTIAWAU. 
 
 public works. Now, the grand want is that of dams across 
 the principal streams, to prevent them running ofF and falling 
 when the rains are light. It is true that works of this 
 nature are costly ; but it is also true that the outlay is, in a 
 few years, restored with interest. The probable advantage of 
 such embankments was brought to my observation on one 
 occasion clearly enough. During my stay at Rajkote, and 
 while the drought was at its height, water being obtainable 
 only by digging pits in the channel of the river, a most 
 violent thunder storm occurred, and in a few hours the bed 
 of the stream, where children had that day been playing, 
 was filled with a deep and furious torrent quite impassable. 
 Could the water have been retained, its value would have been 
 beyond calculation ; as it was, it fell as rapidly as it had risen, 
 and left us in the same distress as formerly. To add to the 
 affliction caused by these droughts, the com merchants of the 
 country purchase up the grain during the years of plenty, 
 and store it in magazines under ground. They then wait 
 patiently with their hoard, watching, and no doubt devoutly 
 praying, for a bad year. As soon as this arrives, these evil 
 Josephs raise the price of corn so high that the unfortunate 
 poor are placed beyond hope, while the greedy Banyan fattens 
 on the destruction of his fellowmen. One such sordid wretch 
 had meted out to a poor family a meagre supply of grain at 
 an exorbitant rate until they were deeply in his debt. He 
 then proposed an abatement of his demand at the price of the 
 honour of one of the females of the family. Pressing, how- 
 ever, as the exigency was, he was met by a refusal ; and on 
 his bringing the matter into court, shortly after my arrival, he 
 found his malice baffled, for, owing to some informality, he 
 could not make good his debt. 
 
RAJKOTE. 11 
 
 I reached Rajkote on the 22nd of March. Here is a small 
 cantonment, and the Political Agency which is to administer 
 justice to all and singular of a population amounting to more 
 than a million and a half. This, indeed, is the fountain head, 
 but the justice which flows from it becomes somewhat diluted 
 ere it reaches the extremities of this wide province. The truth 
 is that our civil establishment in Kattiawar is numerically- 
 unequal to the discharge of its duties. Three European 
 gentlemen may have the most fervent zeal, and the most 
 unwearied industry, but so little leaven can never leaven so 
 great a mass. With the most Titanic struggles it is impossible 
 that they can bear up the weight of whole provinces hurled 
 upon them. Kattiawar is parcelled out into more than two 
 hundred petty states, each of which has, at the Court of 
 the Political Agent, a representative or Vakil, who is to the 
 full as verbose and as important in his own eyes as the 
 corresponding functionary of a first-rate European power; 
 I had almost said as knavish. Each one of this motley 
 crew thinks himself bound to present a certain number of 
 annual grievances, otherwise he would consider his occupation 
 gone ; and unfortunately, grounds of complaint against their 
 neighbours, crimes and outrages, are but too rife among the 
 Kattis, so that there is no fear of this market ever becoming 
 dull. Arriving, as I did, at a time of famine, it was not likely 
 I should find a stagnation of business ; on the contrary, 
 litigiousness increased, the less there was to struggle about. 
 In the two months I stayed in oflice I investigated nearly 
 300 cases, and my work averaged ten hours a- day. Nor 
 let the fond aspirant for staff appointments suppose that I was 
 proportionately paid. So far from this, my allowances were 
 reduced below those of an ensign with his regiment, for I 
 
12 BHUJ. 
 
 lost my company allowance, and received in exchange fifteen 
 rupees a month, civil pay. Add to this, that I had to defray 
 all the expenses of a long march ; and I think it will be 
 confessed that my "black coat" was somewhat an expensive 
 one. 
 
 It was with no great regret, therefore, though with con- 
 siderable surprise, that one morning in the end of May, as 
 I carelessly opened the General Orders, I read my own name, 
 placed at the disf)osal of the Government of Bengal. Adieu, 
 then, land of opium-eating and little-daughter-sacrificing 
 Rajputs ; and adieu, long hours of labour and short allow- 
 ances, and let us see, as the Persians have it, what the curtain 
 of the future will disclose. On the 5th of June I quitted 
 Rajkote, and marched to Juria — a small sea-port belonging 
 to the Jam of Nowanaggar, a Rajput chief celebrated for 
 his drinking propensities, and also for being a fearless and 
 dashing horseman. He has often contended for the spear 
 with some of our most celebrated hog-hunters. The night 
 set in stormily ; the sky, gloomy with the clouds of the gather- 
 ing monsoon, was greeted by the starving ryots with far more 
 delight than the bright sunshine is hailed in merry England. 
 On the ramparts of the fort I found some old ship-guns, of 
 English make. The two next days brought me to Bhuj — the 
 principal town of Catch, passing by the way of Anjar — which 
 is sweetly pretty in appearance, but, like most native towns, 
 alas ! possessing more than two and seventy stenches, *' all 
 separate and well defined." At Bhuj I had the pleasure 
 of being introduced to the Rao, who shows much talent in 
 the management of his country, and still more in conciliating 
 the favour of our Government and winning the good opinion 
 of all the political agents who are sent to his Court. He 
 
LAKPAT BANDAR. 13 
 
 speaks English fairly, and I soon found, on conversing with 
 him, that he had exact information of the dues and customs 
 levied both in his own country and in that of Kattiawar. He 
 shewed me his palace, once the scene of the atrocious orgies 
 of his uncle, the Rao Bharmalji, who now lies imprisoned 
 in one of the hill forts, — though not the world forgetting, by 
 the world forgot. A notice of all the ex-Rajas, princes, and 
 chieftains who at this moment eat the bread of affliction (in 
 some cases merited indeed, but no less bitter), in the moun- 
 tain-holds of our Indian empire, would surprise our English 
 world. Such a register, at least, it were well to keep, and 
 surely some names might be found against whom the terrible 
 words — confinement for life — need not be recorded. We 
 may well believe that though the allowances of many of them 
 may be high, and their position as much as possible softened, 
 they would still unite in the affecting answer of the Sindhian 
 Amir, when some one spoke of such advantages to him, " Ah, 
 Saheb ! the shade of a tree in my own country is better than 
 a palace here in exile." 
 
 At Bhuj I received a letter from Sir Henry (then Colonel) 
 Pottinger, dissuading me from attempting to prosecute my 
 route to Sindh across the Rann, which is considered imprac- 
 ticable during the monsoon. I had, however, no alternative, 
 as the sea had been closed for some time, the wind blowing 
 directly on shore, and no boat venturing to attempt the 
 passage after the 1st of June. Accordingly, on the 19th, 
 I left Bhuj and reached Lakpat Bandar on the 23rd. Within 
 twenty miles of this port the road becomes dreary, with bare 
 rocks on either hand, destitute alike of verdure and of water. 
 Lakpat itself is a half ruined, scorched- up town. The fort 
 is large, built by Fateh Muhammad, the late Vazir of Catch. 
 
14 THE RANN. 
 
 After the death of that ambitious and gifted man the place 
 declined rapidly, and the population is now not a third of 
 what it was in his life-time. During my halt the cholera 
 made fearful ravages, and the only spring of muddy water 
 was thronged day and night to such a degree that a guard 
 was kept over it, to see that each new comer waited his 
 proper turn. A sentence I heard exchanged between two 
 squalid women will give some idea of the misery of the 
 place: — "What news, Bhagea," said the first. — "The same 
 as ever," was the reply, " our distress, and this curse of the 
 want of water.** The heat during the day was dreadful ; but 
 night brought a biting and furious wind, which came howl- 
 ing about the tent as if querulous that any still lived and bore 
 up against the manifold curses of this mournful region. It 
 is inconceivable how any human being could locate himself 
 in it, with the world before him where to choose. Bad, 
 however, as such a halting place was, my next march was 
 to be worse. On the morning of the 24th I embarked and 
 landed, about six p.m., in the Rann of Sindh — 
 
 *' a boggy Syrtis— neither sea 
 Nor good dry land." 
 
 Far as the eye could reach nothing appeared but one wide, 
 
 boundless flat, of a dull brown, and so completely on a level 
 
 with the ocean that I saw at once what I had heard of — its 
 
 being covered at flood-tides — was true.* It seemed like 
 
 " that Serbonian bog 
 Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old, 
 Where armies whole have sunk." 
 
 As I was aware that seven persons who had attempted the 
 
 * That I have not exaggerated the difficulties of crossing the Rann at 
 this season, will be shown by the following extract of a letter from Sir 
 
THE RANN. 15 
 
 passage a few days previously had perished, I confess I 
 regarded my receding boat somewhat wistfully. My retinue 
 consisted of four horsemen and twelve camels, and the usual 
 number of servants. The first two miles were rather trying, 
 for the mud was so deep that we had the greatest difficulty in 
 getting the camels through it. Meantime, down went the 
 sun, and we found ourselves at length on the hard sand, with 
 a red moon to light us, by whose lamp appeared the sea tossing 
 and threatening to our left, and in front that same monoto- 
 nous waste, stretching out long and lank, which a few hours 
 rain might convert into a Syrtis, that would soon engulph 
 our whole party. Here Dame Nature showed me for the 
 first time one of her conjuring tricks — the mirage. Well as 
 I knew the description of this delusion, I was, nevertheless, 
 deceived when I myself witnessed it. Surely, I thought, that 
 must be the village of Lah, as there appeared in the distance. 
 
 H. Pottinger to me on the subject, dated June 8th, 1839: — "The trip 
 on the other side of Lakpat Bandar will, I fear, be a terrible undertaking 
 at this season. I understand the Rann is overflowed with water, and all 
 the small branches of the river and canals filled to the brim, so that I 
 doubt whether camels could travel at all. There are two routes, the one 
 by which we travelled in September last, and that by Tatta. Both will 
 be most difficult; but I should be inclined to choose the latter, as it is 
 most frequented, and you will find boats at the different ferries, which I 
 apprehend will not be the case on the road we took. The first march 
 from Lakpat (including the river there) is nearly fifty miles, and must 
 be done at one stretch. A couple of men from the Amirs, and three or 
 four horsemen, should be sent to meet you. It is impossible to travel 
 in Sindh without some such people to procure supplies, get guides, 
 boats, etc." 
 
16 
 
 THE RANN. 
 
 houses, and a low jungle round them. But on approaching 
 nearer, my village was nought but a mouldering heap of 
 camels' bones. When at last we did arrive at Lah, we found 
 no habitation of man, but some stunted trees and a few 
 hillocks covered with the camel- thorn. This was about 
 eighteen miles from Kotru, the place where we had landed; 
 and the sun was high and scorching ere we reached Sir 
 Gandah, a miserable Sindhi village on the Pinyari. Thus, 
 between Kotru and Gandah, a distance of more than thirty 
 miles, no water is procurable, except a little of the most 
 brackish kind at Lah ; and at Gandah it would be difficult, 
 if not impossible, to supply with water a squadron of cavalry. 
 Sindh, therefore, may be reckoned inaccessible by this route 
 from Catch, at least, for troops ; and the passage is one of 
 difficulty and peril, even for a small party. The night after I 
 passed, the tide was unusually high, and heavy rain falling 
 at the same time, the whole tract I had crossed, as far as 
 Lah, was covered with water. I halted at Sir Gandah only till 
 the evening, when, as my camel drivers, who were Sindhis, 
 refused to proceed, I left all my luggage and servants, and 
 started myself with a couple of horsemen for Tatta. We 
 crossed the Pinyari, which is a salt creek, about sunset ; and 
 on inquiry of the Sindhis the distance to the next village, they 
 told us four cos, or eight miles. German miles, they proved, 
 however ; and the further we went, the greater the distance 
 became ; for, after riding all night, the answer next morning 
 to our question, how far is the village ? was, six cos. The 
 heat of the sun became intense, and we had nothing to eat ; 
 nor was a house to be seen anywhere ; and the Sindis we 
 met would have nothing to say to us. Towards night we 
 
INHOSPITALITY OF THE SINDHIS. 17 
 
 arrived, quite exhausted, at Ladi, which by the route we had 
 followed, was at least fifty miles from Sir Gandah. As no 
 European had ever been seen in these regions before, every 
 soul in the village turned out to take a look at the Faringis ; 
 and let me tell you it is plaguy annoying, when one has been 
 fasting six-and-thirty hours, to be surrounded with rows of 
 staring faces, and to hear the little children calling to one 
 another to come and see the *' Kafir." After some time the 
 head man of the village presented himself, and as he spoke 
 Persian, I endeavoured to conciliate him, and procure some 
 refreshment. He said, however, we should have no supplies. 
 Finding all my fair words vain, I told him I would complain 
 to the Amirs ; to which he replied that he was a Seyyad, and 
 the village was his. He was the master, and not the Amirs ; 
 and we should have nothing. With this speech he went 
 away, and we had nothing for it but to dine on a little rice 
 that the horsemen had brought with them, and which was 
 but a scanty meal divided amongst three. Next morning we 
 started, and passed through Bahddurpiir, about twelve miles 
 from Ladi, and thence fourteen miles to Sidpiir, where we 
 reached the banks of the river, along which we continued six 
 miles, thus arriving at the ferry opposite Tatta. By this time, 
 from the want of food, and the intense heat of the sun, I was 
 fairly exhausted : and not even the appearance of the Indus, 
 **that ancient river,'* of which I had had such romantic 
 visions, could rouse one spark of enthusiasm in me. Far from 
 it being an object of interest to me, I beheld with dismay 
 some two miles of tumbling, rushing, whirling water before me ; 
 and, behind, the scorched-up, gasping, sandy plain. Not a boat 
 nor a living creature was to be seen anywhere ; and ignorant 
 
 c 
 
18 INHOSPITALITY OF THE SINDHIS. 
 
 as we were of the country, and ourselves and our horses 
 wearied out, our case seemed really desperate. Some good 
 angel surely put it into the heads of the authorities in camp to 
 send an express courier just at this moment across the river to 
 Hyderabad. The boat came tossing over the billows, and in 
 a few minutes we were rolling about on our way across the 
 stream to Naggar Tatta. 
 
19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS. THE DECISION OF SULAIMAN NAGAR TATTA — 
 
 VOYAGE TO HYDERABAD THE SHIKARGAHS SEHWAN LAKE MAN- 
 CHAR THE NARAH RIVER SAKKAR BAKKAR PERAMBULATION^ 
 
 ROUND SAKKAR VISIT TO ALLORE DATE OF THE RIVER'S CHANGING 
 
 ITS COURSE FROM ALLORE TO ROHRI SACRED HAIRS AT ROHRI 
 
 ANECDOTES OF BILUCHIS THE KOSAHS. 
 
 Well, now that one is in a new country, one must surely 
 have some impressions. If Charles Dickens were here, what 
 impressions he would have ! All the world would soon be 
 reading Dickens' impressions of Sindh. He would fill you 
 three volumes of odds and ends, of striking superficialities, of 
 grotesque little notions, shaken up together like bits of glass 
 in a kaleidoscope, before one dull fellow could compound 
 a chapter on the geology and extinct fishes of the country. 
 My first impression was that the Sindhis had voices of four 
 men's power. They spoke with such a stentorian utterance 
 that I thought some offence had been given, but I soon found 
 it was their natural manner ; and, after leaving Tatta, I was 
 introduced to one of the nobles of Khyrpor, whose tone made 
 that of his countrymen appear a whisper. Where all were 
 loud, the loudest he ! I have made a considerable detour, 
 when travelling, to avoid this man, and on one occasion, when 
 suffering from fever, he cruelly way-laid me, and inquired 
 
 c 2 
 
20 SINDHIAN TALE. 
 
 after ray health with such violence that it was very long 
 before I recovered. Yoa will say, then, that my first impres- 
 sion was not a pleasing one ; — neither was my second. As 
 my ears were tormented by harsh sounds, so were my eyes 
 excruciated by a continual stream of the finest sand, which 
 pursued our boat across the river, and was ready waiting for 
 us as soon as we landed on the other side. This annoyance 
 commences about eight o'clock in the morning and lasts till 
 evening, when the sand storm generally lulls and resigns 
 the task of persecuting man to myriads of mosquitoes and 
 sand-flies, whose stings could not be brought into operation 
 while it lasted. The Sindhis have an odd story about this. 
 They say that when Sulaiman (on whom be peace) ruled over 
 genii, men, and animals, the mosquitoes brought a complaint 
 against the wind, which they said used them despitefully 
 and prevented them from following their lawful avocations. 
 Sulaiman heard their complaint with much attention, and 
 expressed a strong desire to see them righted. '* But you 
 know," he said, ** justice demands that both parties should be 
 heard.'* ** Call the defendant into court," said his Majesty. 
 In rushed the wind, and the poor complainants vanished, suit 
 and all, in a moment. 
 
 Nothing is seen of Tatta from the banks of the river, whence 
 it is nearly three miles distant. At one time the Indus washed 
 this ancient city, and brought wealth and traffic to its gates ; 
 but whether, like the English Government, it took umbrage 
 at the high tolls which were levied, or out of pure fickleness, 
 I wot not, — it has long since abandoned the town to squalid 
 poverty, disease, and filth. Such, and no better, I found it, in 
 spite of the long rows of glittering domes and cupolas and 
 the rising lines of our regiment, which, from a distance, gave 
 
TATTA. 21 
 
 it an appearance of population and comfort. I soon found 
 that all these buildings were but tombs ; the one kind ancient 
 and already tenanted, — the other modern and just being pre- 
 pared for immediate use. Of the sixteen hundred men full of 
 hope and energy, that our regiments mustered when I arrrived 
 in the beginning of July, by the middle of November there were 
 not fifty left fit for duty. The Sindhian inhabitants of Tatta 
 amount to rather more than five thousand. Among them are 
 no men of rank or education. One Seyyad, who was said to 
 speak Persian, was introduced to me, but I found that his 
 knowledge of the language did not extend beyond the word 
 "bisiyar," "Very, very," repeated with a variety of intona- 
 tions. The tombs are objects of some interest, being well 
 built of brick, and faced with coloured tiles of a very fine 
 smooth kind. Indeed, the living are here infinitely worse 
 lodged than the dead. The houses are of mud, and flat roofed ; 
 for every one sleeps al fresco, which gives rise occasionally to 
 some odd sights. One morning, as I was rubbing my eyes 
 and gazing vacantly over the parapet of the Agency, a white 
 figure walked slowly across the roof of the house just under 
 me. Not being used to apparitions of the kind, I was obliged 
 to convince myself, by a regular logical process, that the 
 same was, in fact, a Sindhian woman, clothed with no other 
 raiment than her skin, which, for a country like Sindh, was, 
 I must avow, eminently white. Just as I arrived at this 
 conclusion, I was seized with a fit of coughing which reached 
 the ears of the fair Sindhi, and removed her from my sight 
 in an instant. Among the lions of the place was shown a 
 criminal confined in a cage. He was entirely naked, and — 
 from having been penned up for years in this condition, 
 like a wild beast — the lamp of reason had long since been 
 
22 DEPARTURE FROM TATTA. 
 
 extinguished. It was a hideous spectacle. Man without 
 reason is the lowest of animals. His story was this. A 
 Seyyad by birth, he had killed his brother to obtain some 
 property, and being proved guilty, the Amirs had sentenced 
 him to confinement for life ; *' for," said they, ** we cannot 
 slay * the seed of the Prophet.' " I halted at Tatta but a few 
 days, resting as much as the multitudinous miseries of the 
 place would let me, and getting successfully through a violent 
 attack of fever brought on by the exposure I had undergone 
 in my march across the Rann. 
 
 On the 11th of July, I shook the dust off my feet against 
 the inhospitable shore, as I entered a large boat, with a 
 thick roof of straw, which was to be my habitation during 
 a long and tedious six weeks, for so long did my voyage 
 to Upper Sindh last. In another and still larger boat, I 
 embarked my horses and most of my servants, who had 
 reached Tatta some days after myself. My horse-boat was 
 the one in which Sir A. Burnes made his first expedition up 
 the Indus. I was afterwards sorry that I had not selected 
 it for myself, for it sailed much better than my own, of which 
 I soon got a proof. It blew very hard when we started, and 
 the waves, which Arrian tells us did in this place so confound 
 and toss about the triremes of Alexander, were not a whit 
 more merciful to me. In short, my vessel being an Upper 
 Sindh boat, was built too low to the water's edge for such 
 surges as were rolling here. It began to fill, and was 
 evidently settling to the no small dismay of the Tindal and 
 his men, who were Panjabis, and had no notion of being 
 drowned out of their regular line. The helmsman turned 
 the vessel out of the current, and in a minute we struck 
 on a bank with great violence, the wind at the same time 
 
VOYAGE UP THE INDUS. 23 
 
 blowing our sail and yard away, and tearing off the 
 thatched roof in great flakes. The rudder broke, and 
 it seemed probable that we should turn over. Our Tindal 
 jumped out on the bank, on which was not four feet water, 
 and, with another man, attempted to plant a great stake, to 
 which a rope was attached, and so anchor the vessel. How 
 we should have been benefited, had he succeeded, I am at a 
 loss to know, for we were almost in the centre of the river, 
 and consequently half-a-mile from land. He failed, however, 
 for the rope broke, and we were driven right across the stream 
 to the opposite side, leaving our Palinurus and his comrade 
 standing up to their middles in water, and rather puzzled to 
 keep their footing against the rush of the current, which I 
 do not think they could have done, but for the pole they 
 had with them, and which they had forced into the ground. 
 While all this was happening, my other boat had disappeared 
 from sight, not observing, or not heeding our distress, and 
 we were left to pass the night sorely discomfited, and with 
 the loss of two of our crew, as we supposed. Next morning, 
 however, on crossing to the Tatta side, these men rejoined 
 us, having been rescued by another boat from their perilous 
 situation, and we repaired our damages, and prepared for a 
 fresh start. We were much assisted by Mr. Scott, of the 
 Indian Navy. This officer had had experience of rapids and 
 river navigation in America, and he assured me that the 
 Indus in flood was much worse than anything he had wit- 
 nessed across the Atlantic. With this encouraging assurance, 
 but with a more moderate wind, we sailed again, and, 
 passing the scene of our late disaster, entered a country 
 clothed with the thickest jungle. Here, in fact, commence 
 the Shikkrgahs, or hunting seats of the Amirs of Hyderabad, 
 
24 SHIKARGAHS. 
 
 which answer the double purpose of preserving game and 
 supplying the whole country with timber of excellent quality, 
 as well for the construction of boats and houses as for firing 
 and every other useful purpose. 
 
 It has been said that these forests are a great impediment to 
 the navigation of the river, since boats are got up against the 
 stream chiefly by tracking, being towed by the crew, who 
 disembark for that purpose whenever the wind is unfavourable 
 and the bank admits of their advancing along it. Strange 
 that the Amirs should not see this disadvantage. Not quite 
 so strange if they did see it, and thought it more than counter- 
 balanced by keeping the avaricious, grasping, never satisfied 
 Faring! out of their land. Very droll, indeed, our procedure 
 with regard to these Shikargahs. We built all our agencies, 
 our cantonments, with timber from them, without troubling 
 ourselves as to payment ; nay, we generously bestowed many 
 valuable trees on the P^rsi merchants without allowing the 
 owners to accept a rupee for them ; then we seized the whole 
 on the plea of their being highly injurious to trade, and jocu- 
 larly insisted that those people were unfit to govern who could 
 think more of their own amusements than the comforts of their 
 enemies. "Nay, but,*' says Aquila, "the Amirs destroyed 
 whole villages adjacent to their Shikargahs because the 
 crowing of the cocks disturbed their game." Friend Aquila, thou 
 hast been in Sindh never, — therefore thou art ignorant that 
 villages on the banks of the Indus consist of a few huts built 
 of mud and thatched with the Palmyra leaf ; and that, if Mir 
 Karam Ali did remove a few such huts from one part of his own 
 property to another, he did somewhat less violence than an Irish, 
 yea, or an English landlord does when he ejects his starving 
 tenants from a poor farm to seek subsistence from the parish. 
 
HYDERABAD. 25 
 
 But let US not anticipate events. On the 13th of July, 1839, the 
 Shikargahs still belonged to the Amirs, and they gladdened 
 my eyes with their bright green branches as we swept by 
 them. The wind was so fresh that we passed up rapidly 
 against the stream, avoiding, wherever it was possible, the 
 main set of the current. This day we reached Jarakh, to my 
 mind the best place in Sindh for a cantonment ; situated about 
 half way between Tatta and Hyderabad, on high ground, 
 washed by the river and surrounded by verdure. 
 
 The 14th brought me to Hyderabad, and here I halted 
 seven days. Till the 19th it rained incessantly, a most 
 unusual thing in Sindh. Several houses and part of the 
 wall of the Fort fell in consequence; and this, happening 
 exactly at the time when the Amirs put their signatures 
 to the treaty of thirteen articles, was regarded by them as 
 a bad omen. The thermometer fell from 100^ to 76^^, but 
 it soon recovered itself, and made up for the short interval of 
 coolness by additional and excessive heat. I found two com- 
 panies of sipahis at Hyderabad, and some irregular horse, 
 as guard to the Agency. A sharp attack of fever confined 
 me to my bed during the whole week, and gave me an earnest 
 of what I was to undergo hereafter. 
 
 On the 22nd I again embarked, and I now found I was 
 to be initiated into the character of Sindhi boatmen, who, 
 I am convinced, would cheat the most accomplished Russian, 
 and outdo the most extortionising Hebrew. My Tindal — 
 Miisa, or Moses, was a grave, taciturn man, who confined his 
 discourse to short ejaculations on the wisdom, greatness, and 
 goodness of God, and to demands for bakhshish, or '* gift 
 money,'* to which he declined annexing any reasons. This 
 day our progress was a miserable ten miles to Pir Ka Gote, 
 
26 PALLA FISHING. 
 
 and in the evening three of the crew decamped, a misfortune 
 which Musa bore with all the meekness of his illustrious 
 namesake, but he demanded an advance of rupees to procure 
 fresh hands. I gave him five, with the assurance that I should 
 deduct it at the end of the voyage, to which he said nothing. 
 The 23rd carried us to Mazind^, nearly forty miles : a 
 distance which I afterwards found occupied the fleet of boats 
 under Major B,, of H. M. 2nd infantry, twenty-five days. We 
 avoided the main stream, which was too violent to be 
 stemmed, and sailed up several narrow branches from it. In 
 some places the banks were prettily wooded ; in others nought 
 appeared but low brushwood, from among which came the 
 blithe enticing cry of the black partridge. Ever and anon 
 we passed a village of fishermen, near which would be a line 
 of fellows floating on their huge earthenware pots, engaged 
 in catching the Palla — a fish much like the salmon both in 
 shape and flavour. They press down into the water a 
 long pole, to which is fastened a bag net, into which the fish 
 swims ; the pole is then jerked up and the fish secured. I 
 have known a very large fish swim away with the net, carry- 
 ing the fisherman down the stream, until rescued by others 
 whom his loud vociferations had called to his aid. Pallewadu 
 is the Telugii for a fisherman. Is this connected with 
 the Sindhi word Palla? On the 24th, we reached Sena, a 
 town of some size. Its glittering white mosque looks well 
 from a distance. Here we were brought up by a most 
 formidable current. Our tow-rope broke and delayed us 
 considerably. I observed a piece of superstition in the crew : 
 they would not suff^er a crow to alight on the vessel, and gave 
 me to understand it was extremely unlucky. From this place 
 the mountains of Sewestan are first visible. The contrast 
 
THE RIVER PORPOISE. 27 
 
 of the plain running up to their very base, gives them an 
 appearance of height; but the highest can scarcely exceed 
 twelve hundred feet. Passed Ganchi and several small 
 villages, and anchored about twenty miles from Sehwan, 
 which we should have reached, but for a sudden squall, which 
 enveloped us in clouds of dust, and then sprinkled us with 
 a spattering rain, attended with lightning and thunder. We 
 moored in deep water off the windward shore. To leeward 
 were high barren crags, part of the Hala range of mountains. 
 The river here has a depth of sixty fathoms, and is dark and 
 sullen. Whether from the height of the other shore, I know 
 not, but the eye is strangely deceived here. One could fancy 
 a vigorous spring would send one-half across the river, so 
 near appears the opposite bank ; yet the distance is, perhaps, 
 two hundred yards. I saw several river porpoises, of the kind 
 the natives call the Bolan. They are fat, sleek creatures, 
 about four feet long, with a most formidable jaw filled with 
 sharp white teeth. The shape of this animal reminded me of 
 the old prints of the dolphin — all, save the snout, which is 
 long and narrow. The alligators, no doubt, prey upon them 
 as they, in their turn, revel handsomely on the palla fish — the 
 salmon of the Indus. Of this there is great plenty, but other 
 fish of good flavour are not in abundance. The river swarms 
 with otters, and tortoises. On one occasion I was taking a 
 lesson in swimming from my Khidmatgar, Muhammad Jafir. 
 Jdfir was not a little of a coxcomb, and was showing off his 
 skill in the water, with no slight conceit, when all at once he 
 uttered a shrill cry, and his head remained stationary just seen 
 above the water in one spot, as if he had suddenly cast anchor. 
 I thought an alligator had seized him, but it was only a villain 
 tortoise that, perhaps, disgusted with his grimaces, had bitten 
 
28 SEHWAN. 
 
 him quite through the great toe. Though I have been for 
 weeks together on the Indus and have rowed on it day after 
 day for years, I have never seen an alligator in it, nor did I 
 ever hear of an accident from one. So little risk is there of 
 such a thing, that it is not uncommon to send a letter down 
 the river by a water courier. This person places the epistle 
 in the folds of a huge turban, and, divesting himself of his 
 other apparel, steps into the stream, with a large skin which 
 is inflated with air. To the legs are fastened two hoops, 
 into which our friend inserts his nether members and, taking 
 the full blown hide lovingly to his bosom, floats down with 
 the current to his destination. It has a droll eflfect, — meeting 
 a great Turk's head thus hastening on its mission, and 
 bobbing up and down with every undulation of the water. 
 
 The 26th brought us on a mile or so to Sehwan, when my 
 boatmen insisted on stopping and paying their respects to 
 Lall Shah Baz, the aaint of the place. I did not land, the 
 heat was so intense ; I saw nothing, therefore, of the old ruins 
 of what is said to have been a castle built by Alexander. The 
 truth is, one can make nothing of Arrian's account of Sindh, and 
 it is probable that the whole course of the river is altogether 
 changed since the days of Macedonia's madman. At Sehwan 
 we entered a branch stream, called the Aral, which brought 
 us to the Manchar Lake, after a few miles run. Into this lake 
 the Nara, or Snake River, (so called from its many windings) 
 an arm of the Indus, pours itself, and, by following this course, 
 we avoided the fury of the main stream, which, at this season, 
 is almost insurmountable. 
 
 On the 27th we made good progress, twenty miles at least, 
 nearly across the lake of Manchar. The heat during the day 
 was something that defies description. Towards evening 
 
LAKE MANCHAR. 29 
 
 the wind failed, and, as a few fishermen shewed themselves 
 in their canoes, I asked them to tow the boats on ; this they 
 did for a small piece of money, — to them, no doubt, a great 
 treasure, for a more miserable race of starved, or semi-human, 
 beings I never beheld. They were naked, all but a slender 
 belt round their loins, and their features resembled the grim 
 visages one sees carved on walking sticks. Such ill-favoured 
 guides could bring nought but ill-luck ; and so it was. We 
 reached a forest of tall grass and sedges, that grew up in the 
 lake, and here the boatmen began to make fast. I suggested 
 to the Tindal that the slightest puff of wind would tear us 
 away from such moorings as these. Miisa, however, would 
 have his own way, and the ropes were scarce tied when down 
 came a furious squall, with tremendous bursts of thunder and 
 vivid flashes of lightning ; in an instant our boat was whirled 
 away from the place where it had been fastened, and we were 
 driven in wild haste over the lake in Egyptian darkness, 
 broken only when the lightning shewed us the water, — late so 
 tranquil, now boiling, hissing, and foaming like a witch's pot. 
 Ever and anon we plunged into a field of sedges, which in 
 places were so thick that they half capsized us. As usual my 
 Panjabis were on their knees blubbering out prayers to Allah 
 and every saint they could recollect, and I was obliged to 
 utter some ejaculations of a contrary tendency before I could 
 get one of them to take the helm. The roof of the boat 
 took the wind so much that it seemed she would upset every 
 instant, and I think it would have puzzled even the boatmen 
 to reach the land, at the distance we were off from it. 
 However, after madly careering about the lake for some hours, 
 the wind sunk, and next morning when I awoke I found we 
 were moored at a small village called Kiyan, and our consort, 
 the horse-boat, was also in sight. 
 
30 LAKE MANCHAR. 
 
 28th. — This day we succeeded in getting out of the 
 Manchar lake by the aid of four dhundhis (small boats) 
 which tugged us along at the rate of two miles an hour. 
 Heartily glad was I to be quit of this accursed place, and 
 turning round I quoted, with great emphasis, the Persian 
 proverb, Ai Khudd chun Manchar dashti churd dozakh sdkhti, 
 *' O God ! since thou hadst Manchar, what need of creating 
 Hell?" I am afraid one gets into the habit of saying 
 questionable things in a language other than our own. This 
 proverb, which sounds very glibly in Persian, has a slight 
 smack of the profane in English. Manchar, however, if the 
 proverb is to be applied at all, deserves its full application. 
 It has an abominable odour, being stagnant, and in many parts 
 dry, during the cold weather; vast tracts of it are covered 
 with long grass and weeds, where mosquitoes are bred in 
 number infinite ; and the foul air and putrid mud engender 
 every creeping thing venomous as the worms of old Nile. The 
 natives say the length of this detestable water is twenty-five 
 miles, and its breadth fifteen. The western shore is some- 
 what picturesque, but it is the picturesqueness of sterility. 
 There are high bold mountains in the distance, 
 
 And, bosomed 'mid the trees afar, 
 Bright gleams the Mosque and white Min4r. 
 
 The other coast is ugly and flat. The lake abounds in fish 
 and water fowl. These lay their eggs on the broad leaves of 
 the lotus, in the deep water. I observed three eggs of a dark 
 brown colour, and three parts of a hen's egg in size, so depo- 
 sited. As night fell, we moored in the Nara river, six miles 
 from the lake. And such a night ! I request of those who 
 enjoy the luxury unspeakable of a cool clean English bed, 
 who are not compelled to draw aside the curtain with stealthy 
 
SLEEPING ON POLKS. 31- 
 
 hand, and then, plunging with wild haste into the aperture, 
 timorously reclose it, and shroud themselves in impenetrable 
 gauze, — I say I request of all such to pause and think of 
 what we Indians undergo. Bruce tells us somewhere, that 
 your real African heat, and that to which the highest grade 
 is to be assigned is, when one, without clothes, and without 
 motion, perspires profusely. I can truly say such was our 
 state. Fanned by a pankah all night, I escaped suffocation, 
 and listened the long hours through to the croaking of 
 innumerable frogs and the hum of countless myriads of mus- 
 quitoes. Here, too, a new plague introduced itself to my 
 particular notice — the sandfly. Your mosquitoe is a long, 
 lank, pestilent fellow, that exasperates you as much with 
 his dreary, discontented hum, as with his puncture. He is 
 your "Trois Echelles," while your " Petit Andr6'* is the sandfly, 
 a droll little short- winged gentleman, who skips about 
 merrily, and seems as happy as possible all the time he is 
 putting you to the torture. 
 
 29th. — This day took us sixteen miles to Ghulam Hyder 
 Ka Gote. The country, from the inundations, appeared 
 like one extensive swamp. In many places, we could see 
 nothing but reeds and tamarisk jungle; but now and then 
 we encountered patches of cultivation. 
 
 30th. — Twenty miles to Bhawalpor, a wretched nest of 
 hovels, mud, children, and dogs. Like all the other villages 
 I have seen along the Nara, it bears testimony to the heavy 
 rain, by its fallen huts. Many of the people sleep on beds 
 which are suspended on high poles. The climbing of these 
 Tvould require some practice, — for the fair sex especially. 
 Imagine a tender husband working his way up one pole, 
 while his bride is struggling up the other; what exertions 
 
32 PROVISIONS BARTBRED. 
 
 would be used ! the idea is quite charming and romantic. 
 The heat still intolerable, the musquitoes unbearable ; and the 
 being confined in a little dirty cabin, full of flies and other 
 pests, the refinement of misery. Then one is compelled to 
 goad on the boatmen to their work, and exhaust invention 
 and lungs together in entreaties, promises, and threats. On 
 the other hand, they fail not at one place to desire a goat ; at 
 another, to require more flour ; at a third, to want fish. In 
 this country there is one eternal cry, " Give ! Give ! " If you 
 stop at a village, up steps a big-bearded fakir, and bids you 
 deliver in the name of the Prophet. *' What is given to me," 
 says the fellow, ** is given to God." If you bestow aught 
 upon him, he receives it with a sulky scowl, but if you refuse 
 he will leave you with all the curses he can invoke. 
 
 31st. — In this day's sail we passed several villages, a 
 Sonmiani, a Khumbarea, etc. Thirty miles to Jambhos^a a 
 better-looking village than usual. This is the only place in 
 Sindh where I have seen the women speak to strangers, but 
 here some of them spoke to the boatmen, who, however, were 
 perhaps acquaintances. Putting my head suddenly out of the 
 cabin window, it nearly came in contact with that of an 
 extremely beautiful girl, who was fiUing her pitcher with 
 water ; her face was oval, with large gazelle eyes ; — truly a 
 very Madonna-like appearance. She stared heartily at the 
 Faring!, and I wished for my friend Postans to make a sketch 
 of her. 
 
 August 1st. — Towed up the stream about ten miles past 
 Fatehpor and Khyrpor, two extremely pretty Gaums. The 
 country improves here ; it is less jungly, drier, and free from 
 the poisonous atmosphere of the lake and the first forty miles 
 of the Nara. Met a party of the 26th N. I. escorting stores. 
 
DUPLICITY OF THE BOATMEN. 33 
 
 They have been two months and eight days on the way from 
 Tatta to this. We offered money to a Sindhi for some milk ; 
 but he refused the cash, and bartered his milk to us for a sir 
 of rice. Another asked for a bottle in exchange for his fowls. 
 These are very cheap, and may be purchased for four pice 
 each, about five farthings. Wheat sells for a rupee the eight 
 patis, or sixteen sirs of forty pice weight. 
 
 2nd. — Passed Batta and Pallo to Thirli where, having 
 engaged nine additional hands, we passed Rahdin and Mira 
 to Yarigo Got, where we moored. Thirli is a beautiful village. 
 Some of the Sindhis asked if we had cannon in the boat. 
 Several came for medicine. One of our boatmen decamped, 
 because the Tindal had struck him. The Tindal Musa again 
 petitioned for an advance, and called God to witness that 
 he had no money ; so did the Jemadar, to whom Sir A. Burnes 
 had given a letter of recommendation. Each of these men 
 produced a bag of some hundred rupees at Sehwan, when 
 they thought I did not see them. I am convinced that those 
 who first visited Sindh did wrong in giving away large sums ; 
 it has left the impression that every Faringi is a little Plutus. 
 
 3rd. — Advanced twenty miles up the river, which winds in 
 a perpetual maze. In the map you have a direct line, which 
 looks mighty short and convenient. You take your com- 
 passes, and find it eighty miles ; and then, perhaps, you will 
 fling in twenty more to make up for turnings ; when, all the 
 time, the distance is above two hundred. And what makes 
 the matter worse is, that the wind, which is fair for one 
 quarter of a mile, by a sudden bend in the stream becomes 
 dead foul for the next mile ; and after towing and toiling for 
 three or four leagues you are often within a quarter of one, as 
 the crow flies, from your place of departure. 
 
 D 
 
34 DESERTIONS. 
 
 We now passed two villages called Jattalea, and a Paga 
 of horses belonging to Mir Niir Muhammad — the stud did 
 not exceed twenty, and the village where it was located 
 was but a poor one. 
 
 4th. — Twenty miles more of the Nara. The banks are 
 studded with small villages of the Myknis, or Sindh boat- 
 men ; these will give a good supply of sailors, should the 
 commerce on the Indus reach the height we expect. Moored 
 a little beyond a large village called Bakni; cotton planta- 
 tions extended on each side, and Persian wheels were at work 
 in all directions. The heat has become less intolerable. 
 
 5th. — Fifteen miles; past Mahrpor and Mhadd, the latter 
 place being on a parallel with Larkhanah. At Mahrpor, 
 Sumer, the head khalasi of the additional hands, left us, with 
 all his train, in spite of my remonstrances. 
 
 6th. — Ten miles, to a place called Khalego, a neat village, 
 with numerous herds of buifaloes, cows, and goats ; it has 
 all the appearance of a thriving place. Here, while I was 
 walking along the bank in despair at my slow progress, 
 a courier reached me with a letter from Shikarpore. 
 
 7th. — Ten miles more of the Nara. We passed several 
 villages. Two of Musa's men deserted. At night ran up 
 four or five miles. The stream very deep and rapid, a proof 
 we are nearing the Darya, or fresh- water sea, as the Sindhis 
 call the Indus. We here fell in with a fleet of boats, some 
 of which got under weigh, and stood out into the Dary^ 
 with us. Left the boat Mr. Wood recommended to me, 
 heartily disgusted with the infamous conduct of the crew, 
 and embarked in the horse-boat. Entered the Larkhanah 
 canal, and, passing a large village called Maddaji, we moored 
 at a village of the Sohrabanis. Heat intense. 
 
A RAPID. 35 
 
 9th. — Two miles to the mouth of the Mik^na canal, 
 where a foul wind detained us the whole day. A tre- 
 mendous rapid runs across the mouth of the canal, the 
 whole force of the stream breaking a little beyond its left 
 bank. The current is more violent here than I have yet 
 seen it; and trunks of trees, bushes, and dead cattle, are 
 whirled furiously along in it. There is a small village near 
 this called Ghulam Husain Ka Got, whence I despatched 
 a courier to Sakkar. I observe the boatmen have another 
 superstition as to mentioning the number of days in which 
 they expect to arrive ; they refrain from making any exact 
 calculation, which they think would inevitably lead to disaster, 
 or at least to longer detention. 
 
 10th. — My other boat came up during the night, and, as 
 soon as it dawned, attempted the rapid, but was driven back. 
 We then got out of the boats, and towed them out of the 
 canal down the stream to some little distance, in the hope 
 of crossing, and thus eluding in some degree the fury of the 
 current. We crossed, and just as we reached smooth water, 
 the boats grounded within a few yards of a tremendous lahar, 
 or rapid ; at last we got them off, and they drove across the 
 lahar. As we entered the enormous surges, dark and crested 
 with foam, the crew set up a shout to their patron saint. 
 "Dam al Hak," "Long live St. Hak," was the cry; and 
 again, as we passed out of danger. I am bound to think 
 well of St. Hak, and I am persuaded he did as much 
 for us as Saint George or any other saint could have done. 
 Certainly I have nowhere seen so furious a current, or 
 such a huge surge as breaks at this place. We passed 
 Salikni, Sawitri, and Jalli, and moored at Seyyadabad. From 
 this the fort of Bakkar was plainly visible. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 SAKKAR. 
 
 11th. — This morning I landed at Sakkar, where destiny- 
 had resolved on grilling me till the 10th of November. I 
 found the political officers living in tents on the river side, 
 in a grove of palm trees, closely shut in by a line of low, 
 bare, and barren hills. On the summit of these were piled 
 heaps of rubbish, the remains of tombs and mosques, thrown 
 together in one indiscriminate ruin. At the southern end of 
 this ridge one solitary wall remained, of great height, faced 
 with bright coloured bricks, and with two small porches pro- 
 jecting from it ; — tradition said it was the tomb of a Moghal 
 Princess. Having worked my way to it, through the chaos 
 strewed around, I fancied I might make there a better habita- 
 tion than in the thin tents that were pitched below. In these 
 the thermometer stood daily at 105^ Fahrenheit, and con- 
 stant attacks of fever warned me that I needed better shelter. 
 Every one said it was impossible to cleanse the Augean stable 
 above us, though all wished that it could be done, for the 
 wind that came from that quarter was redolent of odours 
 other than those of " Araby the blest." By help of a number 
 of boatmen and stragglers of all kinds I managed to clear an 
 area of some extent, put a roof between the two porches, and 
 soon found myself the first householder in the force. For the 
 three years I remained in Sindh, this building always had 
 a tenant, and in all likelihood is occupied to this day. Sakkar, 
 in spite of its heat, is a very interesting place. One sees at 
 a glance how, on this point of the Indus, three towns have 
 grown up. The island of Bakkar, washed on all sides by 
 a deep and rapid stream, was a position which, to Asiatics, 
 appeared almost impregnable. It was fortified, became a place 
 of much importance — and was looked on as the key of Sindh 
 and of the Lower Indus, and on either side of it grew up 
 
ANCIENT HISTORY. S7 
 
 the towns of Rohri and Sakkar. In my leisure moments I 
 was fond of wandering among the mosques and ruins which 
 surrounded these towns. I endeavoured to glean from them 
 some records of the past, but with little success. In truth, 
 not Sakkar alone, but the whole country of Sindh presents 
 but a scanty field for the researches of the antiquarian, and 
 but few monuments which could prove of use to the writer of 
 history. Though traversed by the classic waters of the Indus, 
 and trodden by the armies of every invader of Hindustan, 
 scarcely any work of by- gone ages reminds the traveller of 
 the past, or aids him in removing the obscurity in which the 
 early history of this region is enveloped. Even the site 
 of the once most celebrated cities of Sindh is disputed; 
 and though, perhaps, but eight centuries have elapsed since 
 the prosperity of AUore or Brahminabad was at its height 
 — no record of the inhabitants is left; and vague tradition 
 alone informs us that the mouldering heaps we now behold 
 were once the abode of thousands, and the seat of empire. 
 In the Chachnamah and Masiimnamah we find no account 
 of the ages which intervened between the invasion of 
 Alexander and the conquest of Sindh by the Generals of 
 the Khalifs, except, indeed, a few names of kings and 
 some puerile legends. We are left without any guide as 
 to the natural changes which must have happened in that 
 lapse of time, and which, if we may argue from what 
 has occurred more recently, must have been of no common 
 magnitude. It is therefore vain to speculate on the ancient 
 geography of the tracts bordering on the Indus, and to 
 build on conjectures which must be purely arbitrary. With 
 reference, however, to AUore, once the capital of the Hindii 
 Rajas who governed Sindh, some scanty information may. 
 
38 INSCRIPTION OF KHWAJAH KHIZR. 
 
 perhaps, be collected; and, among other things, it appears 
 possible to fix the date on which the Indus abandoned that 
 ancient city, and directed its course into a new channel 
 between Rohri and Sakkar. 
 
 In the small island of Khwaja Khizr, nearly opposite Rohri, 
 is a masjid, or mosque, whose appearance bespeal^s antiquity. 
 In this building is the following inscription, which, in one 
 of my expeditions, I fell in with and deciphered : — 
 
 "When this Court was raised, be it known. 
 That the waters of Khizr surrounded it." 
 
 " Khizr wrote this in pleasing verse. 
 It's date is found from the Court of God, 
 341, A.H." 
 
 If this date, 341, A.H., be correct, the masjid was erected 
 in the year 952, B.C., about 250 years after the Muham- 
 madan invasion of India. The mistake, if there is any, 
 is intentional, as the literal date corresponds to that of the 
 figures : for, be it known to the uninitiated reader, that every 
 Arabic letter has a corresponding number, so that when the 
 date of a building, or of the publication of a book, is to be 
 transmitted to posterity, a title is given to it in which the 
 sum of the numerical value of the letters correspond to the 
 year in which the work is finished. It would save one's 
 memory some trouble if the practice were adopted in Europe ; 
 one would then have only to inquire the name of a cathedral, 
 to know the year of its erection, and one could not mention 
 a celebrated poem, without recalling the time of its first 
 appearance in the world of letters. 
 
 But the inscription is corroborated both by tradition and 
 by other circumstances which present themselves to the local 
 inquirer. The popular legend tells us, that a shepherd named 
 
LKGENDS. 39 
 
 Bajee, whose hut stood where the Mahal of Bajee, one of the 
 divisions of the town of Rohri, now stands ; observed at night 
 a bright flame burning at some distance from him : thinking 
 it had been kindled by travellers, he sent his wife to procure 
 a light from it, but, as often as she approached, it vanished. 
 She returned and told her husband ; and he, disbelieving her 
 report, went himself, and then discovered that it was indeed 
 a miraculous manifestation. Awe-struck with what he had 
 seen, he erected a Takea, or hermit's hut, on the spot, and 
 devoted himself as a fakir to the religious care of the place. 
 Soon after this the Indus altered its course, and, abandoning 
 the walls of AUore, encircled the ground on which the Takea 
 of Bajee stood, and which is now called the island of 
 Khwaja Khizr. 
 
 There is another story to be found in the Chachnamah, 
 which relates that the Raja of AUore was desirous of pos- 
 sessing the beautiful daughter of a merchant who resided in 
 his city. The unhappy father, unable to oppose the wishes 
 of the king, entreated that a respite of eight days might 
 be allowed to him ; and having spent that time in fasting and 
 prayer, he was miraculously conveyed with his daughter and 
 all his wealth to the island of Khizr, the river at the same 
 time deserting the city of AUore, which was thus doomed 
 to desolation for the tyranny of its king. 
 
 However the truth of these tales may be, the existence 
 of the legend gives strength to our beUef in the genuineness 
 of the inscription. We find, too, that among the tombs in 
 Rohri and Sakkar, though, for the most part, they are of the 
 age of Akbar, there are some whose antiquity ascends nearly 
 to the date of the inscription given above. In the island of 
 Sati, opposite the fort of Bakkar, called also the island of the 
 
40 INSCRIPTIONS AT ROHRI, 
 
 Seven Virtuous Damsels (Query, — Where did this astonishing 
 supply come from ?) is the following inscription : — 
 
 ** Seyyad Uddin, born of a noble house, 
 Unequalled and perfect in wisdom. 
 His soul, removed from this house of clay, 
 He made Paradise his abode.'* 
 
 " When I sought the year of his death my heart responded. 
 The Mir, lord of my heart, became an inhabitant of Paradise." 
 
 Now these words would give the date 384, A.H., an 
 extraordinary antiquity, it must be allowed, to assign to a 
 monument of this nature, and which made me perpend the 
 matter over and over again, lest some old Sindhi should detect 
 me in an error when I spoke of it, and express himself, 
 d. la the old Gaberlunzie in ''The Antiquary", " Prsetorium 
 here, prsetorium there, I mind the bigging o 't." Nay, I made 
 my old Muhammadan Munshi, and the grave, lean, Hindu 
 treasurer, who was never out in his reckoning the millionth 
 decimal of a farthing, compute the date together, but they 
 both agreed in the correctness of that given above, so that we 
 may fairly assume that it is right. 
 
 The appearance of the tomb is extremely ancient, and 
 justifies our belief in the date. It is situated at the eastern 
 extremity of the island, and is much dilapidated; it seems 
 probable, therefore, that the change in the course of the 
 Indus from AUore to Rohri actually took place in the year 
 341, A.H., as given in the inscription in the Masjid of 
 Khwdja Khizr ; and that, soon after the divergence of the 
 stream, the population of Allore began to migrate to Rohri, 
 and among them, probably, came the family of Seyyads, 
 on the tomb of one of whom appears a date only fifty years 
 subsequent to that of the Masjid of Khwaja Khizr. In 
 
INSCRIPTIONS. 4i 
 
 assigning an antiquity of eight centuries to Rohri, and even 
 to Sakkar, it will not be thought that their foundation is 
 carried too far back, for it appears that, several centuries ago, 
 they had reached a high state of wealth and importance. 
 This is attested by the numerous and costly structures 
 erected prior to and during the reign of Akbar, and by 
 the resort of Seyyads who emigrated hither from the most 
 distant countries. Akbar conquered Sindh in 1572, A.D., and 
 though nearly three centuries have elapsed, the buildings 
 erected during his reign, are evidently among the most 
 modern of the edifices which cover the hills on each side 
 of the river. The Jama Masjid or chief mosque of Rohri, 
 bearing the following inscription, will serve as an instance : — 
 
 "The Khusrau of the age, the asylum of the faith, Shah Akbar I 
 Giver of crowns and subduer of kingdoms, 
 
 The Shah, whose host is as the stars, and whose throne is the sky ; 
 Defender of the law and leader of the age; 
 Whose servants equal Caesars and Emperors, 
 Whose nobles are great as the Khan of Tartary. 
 The lowest of thy servants, O Shah 1 
 The Chief resembling Jamshid, throne of the age, 
 Leader of bright soul, bounteous as the ocean. 
 Pillar of liberality and storehouse of benefits. 
 Fateh Khan, whose blood-shedding scymitar 
 Laid waste the foundations of injustice, 
 Built this cathedral for a heavenly recompense, 
 And in the hope of a more ennobled abode in Paradise. 
 Heart-expanding as the holy Caabah, 
 Soul-delighting as the gardens of Eden, 
 May it continue uninjured by the lapse of ages. 
 I sought in my mind for a word corresponding to its date 
 The Khan built this Masjid, and bid adieu to life." 
 
 Another example will be found in a small domed building 
 which now forms part of the Agency at Sakkar, which is 
 
42 INSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 of the time of Akbar, but of perfectly modern appearance. 
 It bears the following inscription : — 
 
 **In the time of the Khilafat, of the great Shdh, most 
 revered king of kings, brightness of the faith, Muhammad 
 Akbar the king, exterminator of infidels, may God establish 
 his kingdom ! 
 
 " This building was erected for good purposes, by the 
 noble Muhammad Masiim of Bakkar, the son of Seyyad Sifa, 
 for the common benefit of all Musalman. Whoever makes 
 a tomb in this edifice, the curse of God, and of the prophet, 
 and of angels, and of the faithful, on him rest ! 1008, A.H.'* 
 
 Opposite is another building with these verses : — 
 
 " Sweet spot 1 that, like the gardens of the blest, 
 Breathes heavenly pleasures to th' enraptured breast, 
 Mansion of bliss ! thy date let strangers find, 
 In hailing thee, the Eden of the mind.— 1006 A.H." 
 
 Contrasted with these buildings, the tombs on the hill 
 overlooking the Agency, seem evidently of a far higher 
 antiquity. Among all these ruins there is no trace of any 
 place of Hindu worship. Not even at AUore, though once 
 governed by a Hindu dynasty, is there any specimen of 
 Hindu architecture to be found. There are some circular 
 towers which would seem very ancient, and the tracery and 
 carved work of which is laid on to the walls in a very rude 
 fashion; but these are, nevertheless, seen to be tombs of 
 Musalman from the Kabar, or sepulchre, — in the inside being 
 turned towards Mecca. What is said to have been the K6t 
 and palace of the Rajas, is now a vast mound of undistin- 
 guishable ruin. In one place where Mir Rustam Khan, the 
 Khyrpore chief, caused an excavation to be made ; the wall 
 
ALLORK. 43 
 
 has been laid bare and appeared to be of great thickness — 
 about twelve feet, as nearly as I could guess. The Mir was 
 not rewarded for his labour by discovering anything, and the 
 work was soon discontinued from superstitious motives. The 
 distance of AUore from Rohri is about five miles, and the road 
 passes over a bridge to which an undue antiquity has been 
 ascribed by some. There is no reason, however, to suppose 
 it older than the statements of the natives would make it, 
 that is, about two centuries. It is plain that it never could 
 have been thrown across the main stream of the Indus, for 
 the height of the centre arch is only fourteen feet, and the 
 whole length of the bridge does not exceed six hundred. 
 Long after the main river had deserted AUore, it is probable 
 that a small body of water may have continued to flow in 
 the ancient channel, across which this bridge was thrown 
 either by Muhammad Masiim, or some other munificent 
 noble of that age. After crossing the bridge you come upon 
 a small village containing about sixty inhabitants, of whom 
 two-thirds are Miisalman and the rest Hindus. They are 
 subject to little exaction from the Amirs, and find a sale 
 for the produce of their farms among the votaries of Shakar 
 Ganj Shah. From this village an extensive ridge of ruins 
 is to be traced in a north-easterly direction. In this huge 
 congeries there is no inscription to be found, or anything 
 worthy of notice, except a picturesque ruin, which bears the 
 name of Alamgir's Masjid, and two tombs of Seyyads — 
 Shakar Ganj Shah, and his Khalifa Kiitab Uddin Shah. 
 The tomb of the former is a celebrated ziyarat, and the 
 people of the neighbouring villages make a pilgrimage to 
 it twice a month. It has no dome or edifice over it, but 
 is a plain white sepulchre with a neat border of carved 
 
44 SACRED HAIRS. 
 
 flowers, resembling the fleur-de-lys. Among the ornaments 
 which the piety of the devotees had suspended over the tomb 
 were some stopples of decanters, but evidently in ignorance 
 of their use ; for, on my explaining to the Mujawar that 
 these ornaments had originally belonged to wine vessels, he 
 v/as greatly scandalised and forthwith threw them away, 
 laying all the blame of their suspension on his wife. I could 
 discover nothing else at AUore worthy of notice except two 
 stones in the bed of the river, bearing an inscription to the 
 effect that they were set up by Muhammad Masum, to 
 mark the ancient course of the stream. This noble Seyyad 
 was the founder of many costly works in the vicinity of 
 Rohri. He is buried in the cantonment at Sakkar, at the 
 foot of a tower ninety feet high, which he erected and which 
 overlooks the country for many miles. The person who 
 claims to be his descendant has already prepared his last 
 resting-place in the same cemetery. At Rohri they pretend 
 to possess a hair and a half from the head of the prophet, — 
 the Mui Mubarik, as it is called. They are set in a gold 
 tube adorned with large rubies, and a great deal of mummery 
 is observed in displaying them. The Mujawar gave me the 
 following account of their translation to Rohri : — 
 
 *' In the year nine hundred and fifty -two of the Hejira, 
 Makhdum Miyan Abdiilbaki Sadiki, the Mujdwar of the Mui 
 Mubarik, arrived at Sakkar, from Istambol (Constantinople), 
 and gave such convincing proofs of the genuineness of these 
 blessed relics, that all the great and pious men of the time 
 visited them as pilgrims, such as Shah Hyder Hakani, and 
 Mdkhdum Abdiilmalak. The office of Mujawar then descended 
 on Haji Muhammad bin Abdulsatar Sadiki, who enjoyed it 
 for no less a period than eighty years. After him, Shah Hafiz 
 
RAHMAN. 45 
 
 Muhammad Izhak became Mujawar, and Hafiz Muhammad 
 Riza, and Hafiz Muhammad Murad, the sons of the said Haji 
 Muhammad, and to the descendants of Hafiz Muhammad 
 Izhak the office now belongs." 
 
 I had not been long at Sakkar before I began to see 
 specimens of the robber tribes who surrounded us. A few 
 days after my arrival, Rahman Biirdi, a celebrated freebooter, 
 came in and took service with us at fifty rupees a month. 
 He was a tall stern-visaged Biluch, with but one arm ; the 
 other had been amputated by the Sindhian Government under 
 the idea that it would stop his plundering. Rahman, how- 
 ever, redoubled his zeal in the good cause. As soon as his 
 hurt was healed he was once more on his famous black 
 mare, and among the first of his exploits was an attack 
 upon one of our Miinshis, who was cut down and left for 
 dead by him, with five ghastly wounds, which none but 
 a Hindu could have survived. By this and other atrocities he 
 made himself so notorious that a price was set upon his head. 
 Some time after. Shir Muhammad Khan, the Chief of the 
 Burdi clan, came to pay his respects to one of the political 
 officers. The conversation turned upon Rahman, and the 
 officer expressed his earnest desire for the apprehension of 
 this ruffian. A well-dressed Biluch among the retainers 
 of the Chief, and who had taken a leading part in the pre- 
 vious conversation, assented to the necessity of his capture, 
 but shook his head very solemnly, and with much apparent 
 regret, and said it would be difficult, extremely difficult, — that 
 Rahman was such a haramzadah (rascal) that there would 
 be no catching him. After some other remarks the meeting 
 ended, and it was not till Rahman had been duly installed 
 as our servant, that we discovered he was the very Biluch 
 
46 BILUCHI TALE. 
 
 who had expressed so much earnestness for his own appre- 
 hension. Like Lord Burleigh's, his shake of the head must 
 have been very significant to his Biluchi hearers, and a good 
 laugh they must have had afterwards. But Biliichis are 
 not, like other men, "laughing animals.'* Their manner is 
 generally grave or rather stern, and when anything surprizes 
 or pleases them, the expression of their feelings seldom 
 exceeds a ** Wah, wah !" (wonderful). They are fond of 
 listening to marvellous stories, and however incredible, they 
 never express a doubt if the agency of a Saint or Jin be 
 introduced. One day a man related to me a story of Kismat 
 or destiny, which he solemnly assured me occurred within 
 his own knowledge. Pyarah Khan, a Biluchi, he said, 
 of the Jamali clan, was a young warrior of much promise. 
 He was considered an unerring shot, and very few excelled 
 him at the use of the sword ; some cause or other induced 
 him to take a journey into Mekran, contrary to the advice of 
 his friends, for a Pir had told them that he would not return. 
 Pyarah laughed at their remonstrances, and only assented 
 so far as to promise not to expose himself to any peril. He 
 was on his way home when, passing among a grove of palm 
 trees, of which there are great plenty in that country, he 
 heard a fearful cry of distress. He looked up and saw 
 a man who had ascended one of the tallest trees to extract 
 the juice from the top. The fellow was obliged to cling 
 by arms and legs to the tree, so that he could not in any 
 way defend himself from a large snake, which was close 
 upon him, and threatened every moment to seize him. 
 Pyarah raised his matchlock, but then came the doubt of 
 striking the man, part of whose body was in line with the 
 snake. The man screamed to him in his agony of fear to 
 
ANECDOTES OF BILUCHIS. 47 
 
 fire, and Py^irah discharged his piece with such good aim 
 that it went through the serpent's head, and killed it 
 instantaneously. The climber now descended with alacrity 
 to thank his preserver, but what was his horror, on alighting, 
 to find him dead. Part of the jaw, in which was the poison- 
 tooth, had been cut away by the ball, and fell directly on 
 Pyarah's face, which it wounded, and so mortal was the 
 poison that ere the Makrani alighted, the victim of destiny 
 had expired. " It is a very odd story," I said to my 
 Munshi. " Yes, Saheb, but it was his Kismat ; what more 
 can be said?** The Biluchis indeed, have a great appetite 
 for the marvellous, and they seem to have the vaguest pos- 
 sible idea of number, time, dates, etc., in which we matter- 
 of-fact and humdrum Feringis are so fond of being precise. 
 A political officer, who spoke Biluchi (the only one in fact 
 who could) stopped an old grey-bearded Biluch, of the Rind 
 tribe, who was carrying bricks for the construction of the 
 Agency, and asked him what he thought of our expedition 
 into AfFghanistan. The old fellow shook his head, " I think 
 your army will never come back ; before this, seven lacs of 
 men (700,000) went up from Hindustan to Cabul to conquer 
 it, but they left their bones there : so will your soldiers.'* 
 "Well, how many men do you think we have.^'* "Three 
 lacs.'* This is a slight specimen of their accuracy in point 
 of numbers. On another and subsequent occasion, I asked 
 Bibarak, the Bugti chief, how old he was. He said, 
 without hesitation, •* I am 120 years old." At the most 
 he was 70, and, indeed, was surprisingly young in appearance 
 for that age, having brown hair and bright hazel eyes. The 
 Biliichis were very fond of coming to those officers who 
 showed attention to them, and when other business was 
 
48 ANECDOTES OF BILUCHIS. 
 
 being transacted, would sit quiet for hours, content with 
 watching proceedings. No doubt everything among us was 
 new and interesting to them, and the mixture of castes and 
 tribes in our camp, seemed to afford them much amusement. 
 It was with reference to this that a Biluchi gave the follow- 
 ing description of us to his tribe : — ** There are several sorts 
 of devils in the Feringi army. There is one devil who is 
 black, and who is an idolater, and is altogether detestable. 
 There is a second sort of a white colour, that has no religion 
 at all ; and there is a third, who is a good Muslim, and 
 says his prayers as we do.*' By this description was 
 intended, first the Hindu, then the European, and lastly 
 the Miisalman. 
 
 The specimens of Biluchis, however, to be met with at 
 Sakkar, with the exception of Rdhman, were in general such 
 as to give one too favourable an impression of the race — an 
 impression not confirmed by the reports which daily reached 
 us from more advanced posts, of forays, plunderings, and 
 massacres committed by them. The tribe nearest Sakkar 
 had indeed lost much of the distinctive character of the 
 Biluch. The Kosahs — albeit their name, which signifies 
 robber, had an ill-omened sound with it — were now peaceful 
 cultivators, who carried, indeed, their swords and warlike 
 harness with them, and had not forgotten its use ; but 
 fought only for the protection of their own villages or 
 camels. Their chief, Kadir Baksh, an extremely handsome 
 young man, with mild features and a soft voice, shewed 
 but little military ardour, and very gladly entered into an 
 agreement to furnish a body of horsemen from his clan, who 
 should carry the letter-bags between Sakkar and Shikarpore, 
 and act as mounted police in that district. These men, at 
 
THE KOSAHS. 49 
 
 that season, were of infinite use to us, and deserved much 
 more than the scanty pay they received ; for, independently 
 of the actual service rendered, their example operated power- 
 fully in tranquillising the natives in other districts, and 
 disposing them to look to us for pay and employment on 
 condition of orderly behaviour. In this manner, and acting 
 on this foundation, a body of police was gradually formed 
 by the officer who first had the political management of 
 Upper Sindh, which, as it employed the most active spirits 
 and protected the communication between different parts and 
 detachments, soon promised to terminate the old regime of 
 anarchy and bloodshed, and to confer on the whole province 
 the blessings of peace and tranquillity. How these fair 
 hopes were blighted the malevolent reader may have the 
 pleasure of seeing in the following chapters. 
 
50 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE OCCUPATION OF SINDH AND 
 AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 There is a Persian proverb which says, "When you hunt 
 the deer, be prepared to meet the tiger." Our friends who 
 conquered Afghanistan had, unfortunately, read the proverb 
 the other way — they went to hunt the tiger, and made their 
 preparations for the deer. In short, it happened to our 
 troops to despise their enemy. This 1 put down as the first 
 great cause of our disasters in the Afghan war. The second 
 cause was the want of a head — of a leader of talent, firmness, 
 and decision; if Sir Henry Pottinger or Sir Charles Napier 
 had been our Envoy at Cabul, we should never have heard 
 of the Caudine forks. The third cause of our disasters and 
 disgrace sprung from that just mentioned; for had we had 
 a great General at the head of affairs, he would never have 
 posted himself at Cabul to play a paltry second to His 
 Majesty Shah Shuja ul Mulk, — to make British troops act 
 the part of janissaries to one who was prepared to intrigue 
 for their destruction ; nor would he have placed them where 
 they could neither defend themselves nor retreat. Let us 
 examine these three causes, and see if they existed, and 
 if they were suificient for the effect that followed : the 
 destruction of our army and the sullying of our — till then — 
 untarnished name. No one will maintain that the force 
 
HEFLECTIONS. 51 
 
 which crossed the Indus in February, 1839, was inadequate 
 in point of numbers, discipline, or equipment, for the com- 
 plete subjugation of all the territory which the Shah had 
 ever governed. But, unhappily for us, that force advanced 
 from the Indus to the Bala Hissar without once encountering 
 an enemy more potent than the robbers of the Bolan and 
 Kojak passes, or the rabble which assembled to oppose 
 us under the walls of Ghizni. An undefined terror pervaded 
 the wide region of Khorasan ; at the name of the English 
 host the warriors of Mihrdb Khan and Dost Muhammad 
 quailed ; and the sharp swords of the Biliichis of the moun- 
 tains slept in their scabbards, or were drawn only against 
 the defenceless straggler. It was literally true, that ancient 
 saying, "One man shall chase many, and a thousand shall flee 
 at the sight of ten." ** Give me,'* said a young officer who 
 has since witnessed some of our most sanguinary encounters, 
 "a naik and three (a corporal's party), and I will go any- 
 where through the Biluchi Hills." "I only wish," wrote 
 another, who was just then leading a thousand men to defeat 
 and death, "that these rascally Biluchis would stand and meet 
 us, but there is no chance of that !" Acting in accordance 
 with these ideas, all that we did, until repeated disasters 
 opened our eyes, was one tissue of imprudence, negligence, 
 and incautiousness. Will it be believed that, where forts 
 existed, our troops were encamped at a distance from them, 
 in the open country, exposed to attacks from the enemy, and 
 separated both from their supplies and their treasure ; that 
 enormous sums in rupees and silver ingots were often left 
 to the protection of some twenty sipahis ; that no attempt 
 was ever made to fortify and garrison those tremendous 
 gorges which are the keys of Khorasan; and that the most 
 
 B 2 
 
52 
 
 REFLECTIOXS. 
 
 important post in all the region between the Indus and 
 Candahar was held to be sufficiently garrisoned by a native 
 officer and thirty sipahis. Yet such was the case; Khelat, 
 which had cost us so much blood, was actually so left, and 
 it needed none of those atrocious acts which ingenious 
 calumny has assigned to our ill-fated Agent there, to stir 
 up the newly-conquered Brahuis to the recapture of a fort 
 so utterly defenceless. To such a height was this absurd 
 notion of the pusillanimity of our enemies carried, that when 
 the General, whom good fortune more than skill had carried 
 triumphantly to Cabul, returned through Sindh, his first act 
 was to denude the force stationed there of three-fifths of its 
 officers. Not a single engineer was left in the whole country 
 of Upper Sindh ; and whoever applied for leave, however 
 trivial the pretext, obtained it. It was this same spirit which 
 sent my gallant friend, poor Walpole Clarke, w^ith forty horse- 
 men and a small detachment of infantry, to escort an innume- 
 rable train of camels into the Marri hills, into fastnesses, 
 which, afterwards, whole regiments endeavoured to penetrate 
 in vain. The same spirit caused our General to linger at 
 Bagh with six thousand men while he detached as many 
 hundreds of native infantry against the fort of Kajjak, 
 defended by the bravest tribe of the plain, who had often 
 measured swords with the Marris of the Hills, and come off 
 with honour. For what says the old adage — "Marri mi 
 nazad ba koh wa Kajjak bamaidan." "Let the Marri go boast 
 on his hills, the Kajjak will hold the flat country!" The 
 same spirit led us to cheat the keepers of the northern passes 
 of their pay, to recal a large division of the Cabul army just 
 as winter was advancing, and encamp those who remained 
 where they could most conveniently be cut off from their 
 
REFLECTIONS. 53 
 
 supplies. Lastly, it was the same spirit that encumbered 
 our advanced posts with a number of women and children. 
 "You may make yourself comfortable," wrote the highest 
 authority to the political officer at Quetta, ** the rest of your 
 life, if you please, may be passed among the green valleys 
 of Shal.*' The words had nearly been verified, but not quite 
 in the sense intended ; for, in the interval of a few months, 
 our hermit of Shal was defending himself with desperation 
 against a band of Kakars, who had prefaced their attack by 
 the sacrifice of a dog, in the pleasant idea of propitiating some 
 Cacodemon or Erinnys, who should aflford them an oppor- 
 tunity of doing as much to the Faring!. Nay, to increase the 
 jest, our friend of Shal had but just written to promise a 
 diversion in favour of the Kahan fort then sore beleaguered 
 by means of these very Kakars whose knives were now 
 pointed at his own throat. But a short time before, I had 
 been requested to despatch through the Bolan — no warlike 
 engine or subsidiary — nought else, in short, but one of ^ 
 Broadwood's best pianos. Its notes, we may suppose, were 
 soon jangled and out of tune ; perhaps at this hour it forms 
 part of the household goods of some truculent Kakar or 
 shaggy Biliich. 
 
 It will be at once acknowledged that such a system as 
 this could never have prevailed under a supreme officer of 
 prudence and activity. That Sir William Macnaghten was 
 deficient in the former quality no one can doubt, who is 
 at all acquainted with his administration at Cabul. But 
 so little was his authority exerted beyond the districts 
 dependent on that city, that he can scarce be regarded as the 
 supreme authority or governor beyond the Indus. Thei 
 officers in political charge at Candahar and Quettah acted » 
 
54 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 if not nominally, at least virtually, in independence of him, 
 while the Agent in Upper Sindh entirely disclaimed his 
 authority. On the other hand, the chief military com- 
 manders were still more intractable, and carried their jealousy 
 of the civil power to such a height that their object appeared 
 to be rather to counteract and thwart any suggestion made 
 to them from that quarter, than to avail themselves of it. 
 Here, then, was the second and most pregnant cause of 
 evil. There was no head to this expedition. The different 
 stations had each their military and civil chief, and the 
 army of the Indus resembled a gathering of Highland clans, 
 every leader being infinitely more anxious to draw swords 
 with his neighbour than to promote the general aim against 
 the enemy. While General Nott was fulminating letters 
 against the busy politicals of Candahar, the Resident and 
 General in Upper Sindh were preparing to settle their 
 differences with bullets, as being more expeditious, — and the 
 obstinacy and wrong-headedness of Shelton was about to 
 break out into open opposition to the civil power at Cdbul. 
 It required the magic wand of some military wizard, like 
 the grim old warrior of Miani, to reduce these jarring 
 elements into concord. None such, however, was found, and, 
 amid the confusion, the conquered people began to lift up their 
 heads. The sword of the Marris first showed that the Faring! 
 was not invincible, the Brahiii and Kakar insurrections 
 followed, and the train spread to distant Cabul. The 
 besotted, blind infatuation of our forces there ! to think 
 that Cabul, dripping with the gore of her own children, 
 would hold an alien tenderly in her bosom. Strange that 
 it should never enter the minds of our politicians, that the 
 Shah, — the haughty, cruel, vindictive old despot, who never 
 
REFLBCTIONS. 56 
 
 spoke of himself but as ** Humayiin i ma/' (" Our blessed 
 Self) would hardly brook a band of unsubmissive strangers 
 so near his own throne. The British camp was a ceaseless 
 reproach to him, a thorn in his side, and the stamp of infamy 
 to his subjects. It told him, hour by hour, with every 
 gun that fired, with every flag that waved, that strangers 
 had seated him in his high place, and that so long as that 
 camp remained, his voice could not go forth for life or for 
 death but as they willed. Was it likely that he who could 
 not tolerate an equal in his own brother, would submit 
 to the dictation of a foreign Minister ? From the first 
 I thought this encampment of our forces at Cabul a grievous 
 error, even were it only that it placed us thus perpetually 
 between the Shah and his people. It was wisely said to 
 Shuja ul Mulk, by Jabbar Khan, and it would have been 
 well if our Envoy had noted the words, " If you are to reign, 
 what need of the English ; but if they are to govern, why 
 are you here ?" But besides this, Cabul, as a military 
 position, in our then circumstances, was not to be thought 
 of. Separated from our frontiers by impenetrable defiles, 
 and the wide territory of doubtful allies on the one side, 
 and divided on the other by the difficult country of the 
 warlike Ghilzies, from even the insufficient succour that 
 Candahar might have rendered, it was impossible to conceive 
 a spot better adapted for the consummation of the horrid 
 catastrophe which followed. Often did my old Munshi, who 
 had served under Dost Muhammad and Akram Khkn, say 
 to me, '* Saheb, your people do not know the Cabulis. 
 When peace is most talked of, then be sure an outbreak is 
 preparing. There are swords enough in the bazaar at Cabul 
 to meet all your bayonets." There can be no doubt that 
 
56 KEFLBCTIONS. 
 
 our trtie policy was, after seating the Shkh. in the Bala 
 Hissar, to have left him with his contingent to do as seemed 
 him best, and to have retired upon Candahar. There we 
 should have concentrated our forces, placing a strong garrison 
 in Khelat ; and, fortifying the Bolan and Kojak passes, have 
 placidly bided the course of events. That there would have 
 been commotions at Cabul we cannot doubt ; but it is highly 
 probable that the Shah would have found Afghan adherents 
 enough to maintain his post. With our retirement, the chief 
 cause of bitterness between his subjects and him would have 
 been removed; and, thrown upon his own resources, he 
 would have displayed more vigilance, and would indubitably 
 hdve taken good care that the most dangerous leaders should 
 have quietly disappeared from the stage before they could 
 play the part of rebels. A great authority has said, that 
 rules of international law, which are to be held sacred 
 amongst civilized states, cannot be extended to semi- barba- 
 rous nations. A wise saying, though it smacks somewhat 
 of old Spain, and has a little of the leaven of the Jesuits in it. 
 Even so is it with the rules of Government. The strict 
 justice, the clemency and moderation, which shine so lus- 
 trously in the English crown, would be but useless gauds 
 in.. an Afghan diadem. Be that, however, as it may, it 
 is. at least certain that, whether the Shah could have kept 
 his. seat, or whether he had been hurled from it, would have 
 been, to us, a matter of little moment. Holding Candahar 
 with a powerful force, our influence would have been equally- 
 great, whether Suddozye or Barakzye reigned at Cabul, and 
 to either we might have dictated our own terms. From the 
 territories Tound Candahar we might have, by degrees, raised 
 no -inconsiderable revenue; while the commerce between 
 
REFLECTIONS. 67 
 
 Central Asia and Hindostan would, probably, have united in this 
 the only secure channel. But it was not fated that we should 
 rule in Khorasan — et quern Deus vult perdere prius dementat. 
 
 If, however, our errors in Afghanistan were so marked, 
 and their punishment so signal, our mistakes in Upper Sindh 
 also were as flagrant, though, from the less difficult nature 
 of the country, and its contiguity to our Indian frontier, their 
 effect was less ruinous. Let us examine a little our first 
 transactions with the Amirs of Khyrpore, and develope a few 
 circumstances not to be found in the Blue Book, — and which, 
 for our case, versus the hapless rulers of Sindh, are, perhaps, 
 as well omitted. The Khyrpore Chiefs had no great reason 
 to be favourable to the Shah ; two thousand of their bravest 
 men and many of their nobles had, a few years previous 
 to our expedition, fallen in battle against him — a battle 
 occasioned by his wishing to extort a larger subsidy from 
 them than they had the means of paying. They had no 
 reason to feel attached to the English, and Ranjit Singh 
 was their avowed enemy. This disposition towards the 
 Triple Alliance was not likely to be improved by a demand 
 upon Mir Mubarik, the second Chief of Khyrpore, for a 
 subsidy of seven lacs of rupees, to aid the Shah in his 
 advance upon Cabul. The sole place of any strength in 
 Upper Sindh, (at least in the opinion of the Sindhians,) the 
 Fortress of Bakkar, the eldest Amir, Mir Rustam, was called 
 upon to deliver into our hands.* 
 
 This venerable old man had from the first, even from 
 
 * In the treaty concluded with Khyrpore, a clause had been introduced 
 by the Amirs, with particular reference to this very place, to the effect 
 that "we should not take possession of any of their forts on either aide 
 of the hidus.** Our Agent significantly observed, with relation to this 
 
58 RBFLECTIONS. 
 
 the time that our earliest embassy was sent to Sindh, 
 shown the strongest inclination to be on friendly terms 
 with the British. He now yielded up his strong-hold with 
 alacrity, and, to the utmost of his poor means (for poor 
 indeed he was), he facilitated the advance of our troops. 
 During the progress of our army through his territories, 
 robberies and other outrages were from time to time unques- 
 tionably committed ; but all who know that country are 
 aware that it is infested by bands of fierce Biliichis of the 
 Burdi and Mazari tribes, who yield no obedience to Khyrpore, 
 and among whom, it may be doubted, whether the persons 
 ,of the Amirs themselves would be respected. It has, indeed, 
 been said, by those who know little of the matter, that the 
 Hill tribes acted in some degree under the orders of the 
 Amirs. It was made a leading accusation against Nasir 
 Khan, that he instigated Bibarak Bugti to attack us. Yet, 
 but a few years before, the army of Khyrpore had, in retalia- 
 tion for some outrages, invaded those very hills which the 
 Marris and Bugtis inhabit, and had been utterly discomfited 
 with great loss by those valiant mountaineers. In my own 
 time, a near relative of the Hyderabad minister at Shikarpore 
 was slain by the Burdi robbers ; so that it may fairly be 
 supposed that the Amirs had no more power to prevent 
 the robberies and murders which occurred during the march 
 of our troops, than we have to extinguish the system of 
 Thuggery or Dacoitism in our own provinces. We had, 
 therefore, no ground of complaint against Khyrpore, and 
 
 clause, ** It is curious how cunning people outwit themselves — they 
 make no provision that we shall not garrison Bakkar," — this being 
 situate in the mid-stream, and consequently not on either side of the 
 Indus I ! 
 
REFLECTIONS. 5^ 
 
 especially against Mir Rustam, during our first occupancy 
 of Upper Sindh; on the contrary, we had every reason 
 to be satisfied, and to compliment, as in fact we did, that 
 chief on his zealous co-operation. 
 
 Let us see if he had equal cause to be pleased with our 
 deportment. The first circumstance which occurred was an 
 accident, which to us may appear trivial, but if we consider 
 the ignorance of our character which must have prevailed 
 in a half barbarous court, where we had but just appeared, 
 we shall, perhaps, allow it some weight. Mir Mubarik 
 the chief whom we had treated harshly, fell sick. An 
 English physician was despatched to Khyrpore, visited the 
 sufferer, prescribed for him, and forthwith he died. We 
 see clearly enough that this arose from natural causes ; but 
 is it likely that the natives viewed this strange coincidence 
 without suspicion ? Were the proceedings that followed 
 calculated to allay that suspicion ? Our Agent, who was 
 on the most friendly terms with the Amirs, was removed. 
 His successor signalised his arrival by an act of — to say the 
 least — extraordinary severity. He sent to the Sindhian 
 Kardar, of Rohri, to desire his attendance. The man replied 
 that he was an oflEicer of the Amirs, and if our Agent 
 required aught, he might call upon him. An oflicer was 
 instantly despatched, with a company of sipahis, who brought 
 the unfortunate Mayor of Rohri into the presence of our 
 Envoy. " Place him all day fasting in the sun,*' was the 
 stern mandate. It was obeyed, and the poor wretch had 
 ample cause to repent his temerity. The next step was 
 still more offensive to Mir Rustam. Indeed, it is impos- 
 sible to conceive any single action which would have pro- 
 voked his resentment more. His Vizier was an old man. 
 
60 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 a grey-beard like himself. He was his favourite, and to such 
 an extent did he carry his partiality for him, that on one 
 occasion, when the eldest son of Mir Rustam abused this 
 minister, Mir Rustam said, with the strongest indignation, 
 ** Be not offended, Fateh Muhammad ; these words are 
 not addressed to you, but to me. He who dares to reproach 
 you, reproaches me." To this man, then, a man of the 
 highest rank in Sindh, a chair was denied in the presence 
 of our Agent. The first noble in Sindh was to stand before 
 our functionary, or to place himself on the ground, while 
 in England it has not been thought too much for a Hindii 
 merchant to be seated in the presence of Royalty. This 
 same Fateh Muhammad Ghori was the man deputed to 
 receive our first mission to Sindh, when he might easily 
 have exacted from our oflicers the submissive attitude in 
 which he himself was now made to appear. " Is he, then, 
 the Angel Gabriel }" was his exclamation as he left the 
 room. ** If my rank were nothing, at least he might have 
 treated with some respect a man old enough to be his grand- 
 father." It will surely be admitted that this circumstance 
 alone was suflicient to account for the minister's subsequent 
 hostility to us, but much more of a similar nature ensued. 
 Surrounded as our Agent was by a body of artful Hindii 
 writers and Munshis, is it probable that the slightest occa- 
 sion of humiliating these Musalraan chiefs, of increasing 
 the hostile feeling between the Agent and the Rais of 
 Khyrpore, and of ministering to what it was easy to see 
 was the Agent's design against the unhappy Amirs, would 
 be omitted } Indeed very little care was taken to conceal 
 the animus with which our Agent acted. As soon as he 
 was informed of the feud existing between Mir Rustam and 
 
REFLECTIONS. 61 
 
 Mir Nasir Khan, on the one side, and Mir Ali Morad on the 
 other, "Now," he triumphantly exclaimed, *' I have them on 
 the hip !" From that moment his policy was to foment, by 
 every means in his power, the family dissensions of the Amirs. 
 Mir Ali Morad, who had at first shown anything but a cordial 
 feeling towards us, who entertained large bands of mercena- 
 ries, and was the most able, as he was the most inclined, 
 to throw difficulties in our way, suddenly changed. An 
 unceasing correspondence was carried on between him and 
 Trebania Saha, the chief Munshi of our Agent, a man after- 
 wards convicted of various mal-practices and imprisoned for 
 the most flagrant corruption. It was whispered about that 
 he had not become the partizan of the Diji chief without 
 good reason. Is it requisite to sketch this picture further ? 
 Mir Rustam, who had been the firm friend of the English, 
 became as hostile as he had once been friendly. He was 
 called upon to dismiss his old friend and Vizier ; his own 
 voice with the English authorities could efi*ect nothing, while 
 that of his younger brother, Mir Ali Murad, was all-powerful. 
 He felt a yoke of iron cast upon him, and he had but one 
 wish left, — to tear it away. All the younger branches of the 
 family felt and acted with him, — all save one, who has raised 
 himself on the ruin of his race. The consciousness of having 
 received the English into his country with all the confidence 
 of an unsuspecting mind, no doubt served to increase the 
 indignation of the old Amir. When the first news of our 
 successes at Candahar and Ghizni reached Khyrpore, his 
 courtiers had flattered him with the idea that his services in 
 placing Bakkar in the hands of the British, and in assisting 
 the advance of the army, would be brilliantly rewarded. 
 It was often said that one or both the Deras — Ismael Khan 
 
62 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 or Ghkzi Khan — would be made over to him. How cruel, 
 then, must have been his disappointment when he found 
 himself degraded from his position of Rais, or Chief Amir, 
 and his youngest brother exalted in his room, -—his Vizier 
 first treated in the most contemptuous manner, and then 
 chased from his presence ; and his own grey hairs and 
 venerable age, which ought to have commanded respect, 
 regarded only as proofs of imbecility and incapacity to 
 govern. At first he made many efforts to conciliate the 
 goodwill of the Political Agent ; but in vain. He sent, too, 
 repeated messages to those who were his friends, myself 
 among the number, to entreat our intercession in his behalf. 
 Our representations, however, were of no avail, and at last 
 the unbending spirit which was shown to him had its natural 
 effect ; and there cannot be a doubt that, long before Sir C. 
 Napier appeared upon the stage, the feelings with which 
 the English were regarded at Khyrpore fell little short of 
 detestation.* 
 
 When Captain Kennedy was appointed to the political 
 charge of that place, and constituted the sole medium of 
 communication between our authorities and the Amirs, the 
 animus of the Sindhian chiefs was manifested pretty openly. 
 On the second and third day after the arrival of that officer 
 at Khyrpore, he was fired at, and his labours were near 
 closing so expeditiously as to leave but small subject for 
 
 ♦ It is only just to say that as circumstances then stood, the course 
 adopted by Sir Charles had, perhaps, been rendered imperative by 
 a long train of events over which he had no control, and of the 
 existence of which it is probable he was ignorant. I insert this 
 remark lest I should be thought desirous of detracting from the glory 
 /o( one who, as an Indian General, has no peer. 
 
RKFLECTIONS. 63 
 
 the chroniclers. The Chief Political Officer himself having 
 proceeded to visit the Amirs, accompanied by the General 
 and a formidable escort, more suited to the dignity of a 
 Sovereign Prince than to that of a resident, was also fired 
 upon, and several of his servants wounded. Daring as the act 
 really was, it was at the time much exaggerated. It was said 
 that the General was to have been seated in a chair armed 
 with spikes, and many similar monstrous reports were cir- 
 culated. It happened, however, that a few days after, while 
 the ferment occasioned by these rumoured ■ atrocities was at 
 its height, that I went over to Khyrpore to shoot hogs, and 
 asked General England to be my companion. We went 
 entirely without an escort, passed a day or two very 
 pleasantly in shooting with, and visiting the Amirs, and 
 returned without having experienced the shadow of dis- 
 courtesy. "Is it possible," said my companion, "that this 
 can be the man of whom we have heard such stories ? " 
 
 Such, then, was our management of Upper Sindh before 
 it fell under the charge of Colonel Outram. The seeds of 
 discord had been sown and watered, and the harvest of blood 
 was soon to follow. Yet after all the provocation, the 
 undeserved injuries and insults which had been heaped on 
 the Amirs, it was only the hopelessness of any limit being 
 put to our demands which could drive them into open 
 hostility. The letter to Bibarak appears on the face of 
 it to be a forgery ; the assistance he could have afforded 
 in a war with the English was absolutely nothing. He 
 could not have supplied a hundred horsemen, and no induce- 
 ment would have drawn his tribe further than Shikarpore. 
 But there is not the slightest reason to suppose that he 
 would have assisted the Amirs, who had not long since 
 
64 RBFLBCTIONS. 
 
 attacked him in his native hills, and whose officers had 
 constantly aided us in capturing parties of his followers. 
 
 One word as to the nature of the Amirs' government, 
 and the light in which it was regarded by their subjects. 
 There never was a point on which more extraordinary 
 mis-statements have been made than this, and made by 
 those who had not the shadow of a ground for venturing any 
 statement at all. The authors of these statements have, 
 some of them, never been in the country of which they 
 speak with such intense appearance of profound knowledge : 
 they have never conversed with a single individual of the 
 natives ; they are entirely ignorant of their language and 
 habits. In opposition, therefore, to their opinions, I may 
 fairly place on evidence the testimony of one who was 
 acquainted with the family of the Amirs, with their officers, 
 with the Seyyads and men eminent for piety or learning, 
 with the bankers and principal merchants, who was constantly 
 traversing the country, either on duty or on shooting expedi- 
 tions, and on every such occasion made a point of conversing 
 with the Biliichi and Sindhi cultivators, and their Chiefs ; nay 
 more, was perpetually employed in the construction of public 
 works, and thus was surrounded by artizans and workmen 
 of every class ; and, finally, through holding charge of an 
 extensive jail, came to know somewhat of the very lowest 
 and most depraved classes. Add to this, that I required no 
 interpreter (who might have distorted what was said to me, 
 or coloured it, as he thought would be most pleasing,) but 
 conversed either in Persian or Sindhi for hours daily, with 
 all kinds of persons on every possible subject, and yet I 
 can say with truth, that I never heard anything to the 
 disadvantage of any of the Amirs more than might be 
 
REFLRCTIONS. ^ 
 
 ur^ed against the great majority of English gentlemen. 
 It was said of Mir Mubarik, that he was avEiricious, and 
 led by every impostor who pretended to have the power 
 of transmuting metals ; of Ali Murad, that he was im- 
 perious and extravagant, but a crime has never in my 
 hearing been imputed to any member of the family, with 
 indeed, one exception, as to which it may be fairly said 
 that the punishment of the offence reflected as much credit 
 on the other Amirs as the offence itself did disgrace on 
 the perpetrator. Some fifteen years ago the daughter of 
 a Kazi at Khyrpore, was in the habit of visiting the 
 Biluchi ladies to give them instruction in reading the 
 Kuran, and other similar duties, for they all learn to 
 read, and many of them write, too, in the Persian or 
 Arabic characters. The girl was both young and beautiful, 
 and on visiting the Haram of Muhammad Khan Talpiir was 
 seen by that chief. He found an opportunity of making 
 advances to her, and succeeded in seducing her. The 
 thing was not long hid from the father, who, according to 
 the plain notion of justice which prevails in these countries, 
 went to the house of the offender, and cut him down, leaving 
 him grievously wounded, and as he supposed dead. The 
 chief, however, recovered, and applied to the Amirs to punish 
 the Kazi, but they would in nowise listen to his complaint, 
 told him' he had been rightly punished, and plainly stated 
 that his offence was so heinous that they could no longer 
 hold any communication with him. He withdrew from 
 Khyrpore, and never returned. 
 
 In the administration of justice the Amirs erred on the 
 side of clemency. They were most averse to the shedding 
 of blood. In the case of Rihman and some other desperate 
 
66 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 ruffians, they condemned the criminal to suffer the loss of 
 one of his limbs, but this was almost the limit of their 
 severity. It was, however, only on the frontiers of their 
 territories, in the jungle round Shikarpore, where the merci- 
 less Kalpars and Burdi robbers carried their forays, and in 
 the country about Sabzal Kote, infested by the wild Mazaris, 
 that robberies and murders were of common occurrence. 
 Over these fierce Biluchis of the hills, the Amirs had no 
 control, but their own subjects were peaceful and contented, 
 and their condition might have borne advantageous comparison 
 with that of the people of many of our own provinces. The 
 Amirs were always accessible. Any one, the lowest Hindu, 
 could obtain a hearing. The Hindus were, of course, the 
 most dissatisfied, as they were the least favoured class, but 
 their position was not worse than that of Dissenters in 
 England some fifty years ago ; nor was their discontent for 
 one moment to be compared to that which exists in Ireland 
 at this day. The state of the canals and the rich crops of 
 sugar cane, Jawari, and other grains, and the numberless 
 Persian water-wheels, all showed that the exaction of the 
 revenue was not such as to press heavily on the cultivators. 
 Inam lands, and those taxed at a mere nominal rate, were 
 very common. In public matters, as for example, in their 
 behaviour to Shdh Shuja, Shah Nawaz Khan, and other 
 princely fugitives, the Amirs were liberal and forbearing. 
 They were incapable of such a flagrant breach of hospitality 
 and honour as that committed by the Ruler of the Punjab 
 towards the Shah. The ex-chief of Kheldt was supported 
 for years on their bounty. Towards the English they were 
 frank, generous, and friendly. The medical officers who 
 attended their wives or children, were loaded with presents. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 67 
 
 One of these, to my certain knowledge, cleared upwards of 
 two thousand pounds in a few months. To another, who 
 attended the lady of Mir Nasir Khan for a short time, a 
 sword was given, for the blade of which I offered a hundred 
 guineas, and was refused. Once, when hunting with Mir 
 Rustam's youngest son, I happened to admire a matchlock, 
 embossed with gold, and ornamented with rubies. Nothing 
 was said at the time, but on my return home I found the 
 beautiful piece of art had been left at my house. Of 
 course I returned it immediately, according to the rule 
 which forbids the acceptance of any presents from natives. 
 I thought it right, however, to offer some acknowledgement 
 for the intended kindness, and I therefore sent a horse for 
 which I had just given 600 rupees, for the acceptance of one 
 of the Amirs. The gift — according to the old saying, 
 
 ExOpuv aSupa Supa kovk op-i)aifia, — 
 
 was an ill-omened one, as it proved in the sequel, for the 
 chief to whom I gave it sold it to an officer, who parted 
 with it to Major Mac Murdo, Sir Charles Napier's private 
 secretary, and under him it was killed at the battle of Miani. 
 Having said so much in praise of the Amirs, and of their 
 administration of the country of Upper Sindh, exception 
 will, perhaps, be taken against me, as one who extols a 
 semi-barbarous government, making small account of the 
 blessings which, under the change of rulers, civilization may 
 be supposed to have introduced. Justice, it will be said, is 
 now equally administered. There is security for life and pro- 
 perty ; commerce is protected ; and all danger of foreign 
 invasion is for ever removed. Slavery, too, is aboHshed, 
 and all classes, it will be urged, are brought under the law. 
 But there are not wanting those who deny that these results 
 
 2 F 
 
68 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 have attended our conquest, however naturally they might 
 be expected to follow from our sway. On the contrary, 
 accounts from Sindh tell us of failing crops, of land going 
 out of cultivation, of martial law, of discontent among all 
 classes. Of the revenue which the Amirs raised without 
 an effort, it is said that we are scarce able to draw a tithe 
 from the country. I shall not inquire how far these reports 
 are true, but will, for the sake of argument, admit that the 
 good which was expected did actually result from our occu- 
 pation of Sindh ; even on this supposition were we justified 
 in the line of conduct which led to that occupation ? Would 
 it not have been more honourable, more merciful, to have 
 acted the part of mediator in the family dissensions of the 
 Amirs, rather than foment their jealousies and animosities 
 against each other. Would it not have been more for our 
 glory had the venerable head of Mir Rustam been laid to 
 rest in his own land, in the tomb of his fathers, rather than 
 that he should die as he has died, a prisoner and exile, 
 bitterly execrating the moment when the Faringi first set 
 step in his country ? Posterity will answer this question, 
 and will mete out justice, though, unfortunately, too late 
 for those who have suffered in this unrighteous quarrel. 
 
 But these reflections have led me away from the jottings 
 of my journal. Let us return once more to the burning 
 sands of Sakkar and Shikarpore, and gather a few more 
 dry leaves from the waste. 
 
69 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 STATE OF THINGS IX UPPER SINDH AT THE CLOSE OF 1839 PERSIAN 
 
 PRISONER PRESENTS FOR RANJIT SINGH FEUD BETWEEN THE 
 
 MILITARY AND THE POLITICALS ALLEGED DESECRATION OF TOMBS 
 
 ROUND SAKKAR SHAH NAWAZ KHAN OF KHELAT AMIEL'S BILUCH 
 
 CORPS — alaf khan TEHRIN. 
 
 Six months were sped since our columns had wound, in 
 toilsome march, their long array through Katchi. With what 
 difficulty and want of method that march had been effected, 
 may be judged from the letters which reached those in the 
 rear. " Four days ago," wrote an officer from Naushahra, 
 " a bundle of fragments of letters was brought to me by three 
 pairs of Kasids, who stated that they had been despatched 
 from Shikarpore about the 24th ult., but had been attacked 
 and plundered, and their packets destroyed. They brought 
 me the pieces of some few of the letters, as an evidence of the 
 truth of their story. This country is in a horrid state of 
 disorder and disorganization. Scarcely a day passes without 
 some of our people being attacked, and the Dak sawars have 
 suffered dreadfully. A Dafadar and three horsemen of 
 Captain Anderson's corps were killed between this place and 
 Mahaisar some days ago. A Dafadar of Captain Christie's 
 corps has been murdered between Shoran and this. A number 
 of men have been wounded. Our line of march from Sumri 
 was attacked yesterday morning before daylight, by a party 
 of Biluchis, but the horse artillerymen went at them sword in 
 
70 TROUBLOUS ADVANCE 
 
 hand, and slew six. The whole of my camels, twenty-five in 
 number, were carried off from the grazing ground yesterday, 
 and I have not been able to recover them. We march to-mor- 
 row to Dadar. There seems to be great doubt of our getting 
 anything there, the whole of the supplies having been con- 
 sumed by the columns in our front. We shall only have six 
 or seven days provision with us, and only carriage for that 
 small quantity. However, we must advance. Strain every 
 nerve to push cm all the camels that may come in your way. 
 There is no certainty of our getting anything beyond the 
 pass, or, at least, in comparison with what we require. Send 
 no camels unladen, if you have wherewith to lade them. We 
 shall want grain, grain, grain, to the end of the chapter. 
 Let the escorts be very strong — the infantry of Colonel 
 Dennie's brigade, and the cavalry of the Shah; — both are 
 required to guard the convoys. I have little hope of this 
 ever reaching you, but I must make the trial. Outram is 
 with General Willshire. You have, of course, heard of his 
 sad accident. I hope, however, he will soon be on his legs 
 agEun, for he is truly invaluable. — P.S. Send camels and grain 
 — grain and camels." 
 
 ** The river," wrote another, " came down with great 
 violence last night, and carried away the bridge of boats. 
 Vast quantities of grain, thrown carelessly on the beach, 
 have been destroyed." The embarrassment of the position 
 of him on whom it first devolved to restore order to this 
 chaos may be appreciated from his own account, which 
 was given in these words : — ** There never was an enter- 
 prize of such magnitude conducted with so little foresight 
 and prudence. The country round Shikarpore is in the 
 last stage of disorganization. Every man is anxious to 
 
OF LORD KEANE b ARMY. 71 
 
 cut our throats, and we have a few hundred infantry to 
 protect the vast quantities of stores and treasure, to pro-- 
 vide escorts, and secure the base of our military operations. 
 It is really quite lamentable to see the want of wisdom 
 and common judgment. We have murders and robberies 
 every day. I am levying troops of the country on my own 
 responsibility; thieves to fight thieves, — an irregular corps 
 of Biliichis. I have roused the native authorities to some 
 exertion, — they have called out their ragamuffins. There is 
 nearly a crore (ten millions) of rupees in my treasury — no 
 trifling responsibility, — and I have no clerks, &c. on my 
 establishment." If such was a picture of Upper Sindh in 
 1839, it had not very greatly improved as the year drew 
 towards its close. It is true the letters were now brought 
 whole, and not in fragments, to their destination. Sundry 
 barn-like structures were rising dignified with the name of 
 Residencies. A considerable force lay at Sakkar, and inde- 
 fatigable Parsis were beginning to make their appearance with 
 beer, soda water, hams, and seidlitz powders ; but five miles 
 from camp no one was safe, and no decided steps were taken 
 either to concihate or to intimidate the turbulent tribes 
 between the river and the passes. 
 
 For the first month my duties at Sakkar consisted chiefly in 
 translating and replying to Persian letters. I was the only 
 officer acquainted with the language, and I found, therefore, 
 more than sufficient employment in this duty alone. In this 
 manner, and from conversation with the natives, I learned 
 all that was going on ; but from my chief no disclosures 
 were made to me on any political subject; and I may say 
 that from the time I entered Sindh to the moment that 
 Major Outram assumed charge of the Residency, I had 
 
72 SPIES. 
 
 never access to any document or was otherwise in any 
 manner informed what the views and wishes of Govern- 
 ment were respecting the country. The circular containing 
 heads of information from every political officer throughout 
 our wide empire, was never shown either to myself or to 
 any other assistant, — with one exception. The absurdity 
 of this line of conduct is evident ; for placed, as we after- 
 wards were, at different stations widely distant from each 
 other, we were compelled to act independently, and kept 
 thus in ignorance of what others were doing we might have 
 constantly been thwarting plans which we ought to have 
 promoted. Plots and conspiracies, too, might easily have 
 been formed under our very eyes, while the clue to them 
 was thus insanely withheld. Indeed, there is very little 
 doubt that many agents of intrigue and emissaries were 
 on the alert among us, who escaped undetected. Now and 
 then persons were seized, but in so clumsy a manner that 
 papers were seldom found on them, and the examinations 
 being conducted through Munshis, who were not too anxious 
 to elicit the truth, the inquiries were for the most part baffled. 
 Among the first of the supposed spies whom we apprehended, 
 was a Persian, who was said to be a near relative of the 
 Shah, and to be the bearer of letters to the Khan of Khelat 
 and the Amirs. He was a good-looking, middle-aged, man, 
 with a black beard, descending to the waist, and seemed 
 to take matters very coolly. During his confinement he 
 amused himself with drinking sherbat, and flogging his 
 servants. One little slave, in particular, he continued to 
 lash so long, and with such apparent zest, that we interfered, 
 and told him he must resign this gratifying occupation as 
 long as he remained in our hands. 
 
PARTY FEUDS. 73 
 
 About the middle of September the river began to fall. 
 On the 14th a beautiful boat was despatched to Lahore, as 
 a present for the Maharajah. It was intended for Ranjit 
 Singh, but he being dead, it was forwarded to his successor, 
 Kharak Singh. Lieutenant Sinclair, in whose charge it was 
 placed, was received with much ceremony, and many rich 
 gifts were presented to him in return, of which he was 
 allowed by Government to retain a sword with jewelled 
 scabbard, and a fine charger. My chief was, just at this 
 time, busily employed in getting depositions against military 
 officers for the desecration of Sindhian tombs, which had been 
 swept away to make room for houses. Indeed these departed 
 worthies had most unconscionably selected the best sites for 
 their interment ; and, had every dry bone been respected, 
 the living would have been thrust into holes and corners, 
 pestilent swamps, or ragged hill tops. It was said, however, 
 that the feelings of the natives had been outraged, that 
 scoffs and jeers had accompanied the removal of the tombs. 
 "Your ancestor is on the way to Mecca,'* is said to have 
 been the expression used as the coffin and its mouldering 
 contents was hurled into the river. It is more than 
 probable, however, that the pilgrimage would have been 
 made unheeded but for a fierce feud subsisting between the 
 political coryphaeus and the chief military officer. It cannot 
 be denied that the being from different Presidencies added 
 venom to the dispute. So great was the jealousy between 
 the two nations (to use the term), that when the Residency 
 Guard of Bengalis was relieved by Bombay sipahis, they 
 had several times nearly come to blows. The gigantic Qui 
 Hi would stand scornful and swelling, highly resolved not 
 to count over the chairs, tables, and other supellex of the 
 
74 ' SHAH NAWAZ. 
 
 guard-room, to his successor, while the little peppery Bombay 
 Duck would work himself into superhuman wrath at the 
 indignity. Perhaps the jealousy is not altogether to be 
 deprecated. It would be very difficult as long as it exists 
 for troops from different Presidencies, to combine with a 
 seditious object. 
 
 On the 26th of September, 1839, came a letter from Mir 
 Shah Nawdz Khdn, of Khelat, asking for British protection 
 and as many other advantages as might be supposed to follow 
 in its train. *' Here we have to Shah Shujaize again," 
 thought I, as I addressed the agent's reply to him. It was 
 favourable, and soon brought the Khan to our camp with 
 his brother Fat^h Khdn. They were both very short and 
 mean in their appearance; but there was an expression of 
 sincerity and candour about them quite unmistakeable. Their 
 father had been murdered by Mihrab Khdn. A Kuran was 
 sent to him with an oath of protection, and for this pledge 
 he bartered his blood. I was forthwith employed to draw 
 up a full report of his son's claim to the Khanate, the names, 
 force, and situation of the various tribes, etc., — to aid me 
 in which Shah Nawaz furnished a pile of Persian papers 
 and a week's talk at six hours per diem. The report was 
 finished, and with one magic stroke of the pen my chief 
 made it his own, and magnanimously took its merits or its 
 errors on his own head. Meantime, an agent had arrived from 
 Ali Murdd to claim certain districts on the eastern bank 
 of the Indus, now held by his nephew Nasir Khan. The 
 agent was referred to me to have his deposition taken, and 
 I was surprised to find in Hasan Ali a native of Delhi, and 
 friend and fellow-countryman of our Head Munshi. The 
 coincidence told well in the Mir's favour. Strange that he 
 
THE BILUCH CORPS. 75 
 
 should have made his appearance at Diji just as the Resident 
 of Delhi became the chief political officer in Upper Sindh ! 
 Hasan Ali I found to be a man of good manners, of pleasing 
 address, and of the most penetrating discernment. 
 
 On the 12th of October a body of horse, called the Biliich 
 corps, arrived with their commander. Lieutenant Amiel. On 
 the principle of lucus^ a non lucendo, these men were called 
 the Biluch corps, they being Afghans, Pathans, and Kahiris, 
 without one Biluch among them. Some of them were fine- 
 looking men ; but they were, in general, miserably mounted 
 on raw nags, that looked as if they had fed on sand for the 
 last year. Their pay was insufficient — for forage in the 
 desert places where they were employed was dear and scanty 
 — yet they were to pursue the hill robbers (men who pride 
 themselves on the fleetness of their steeds). Among them 
 I remarked Amiel's A.D.C., Ghulam Husain, a young Afghan, 
 the handsomest youth I have ever beheld. His large gazelle- 
 like eyes, long ringlets, black as night, and soft cheek, just 
 tinged with red, made me exclaim — 
 
 " Or is in truth that squire so gay. 
 Some lady in disguise." 
 
 I began to bethink me that such things had been done here 
 too as well as in the far North. It is well known that one 
 of the best spears who ever chased the wild boar over wide 
 plain and tangled hill had such a page, who followed his bold 
 master over places where many a daring rider held back. 
 Once, when the pace was hottest, our Eastern Marmion 
 cleared a stupendous leap, then paused an instant to see his 
 follower safe. Mounted on a superb black Arab, the boy 
 rode gallantly at the yawning ravine ; but it was too widely 
 taken, and the horse's chest struck the opposite bank, hurling 
 
76 ALAF KHAN. 
 
 the lad with terrific violence over his head. The rush to 
 his succour, and utter forge tfulness of aught else, disclosed 
 the secret, and the fair boy was seen to wait no more by 
 his master's chair, and never again drew bridle by his side. 
 These doubts, however, were soon removed, my Afghan was 
 indeed what his dress and arms shewed him to be — a hand- 
 some stripling, and when I saw his father, Alaf Khan Tehrin, 
 the best and bravest swordsman in Upper Sindh, I no longer 
 wondered at his beauty. Just what the son appeared in 
 youth, such was the father in manhood. Above six feet 
 in height, his figure was one of perfect symmetry ; a pro- 
 fusion of raven curls descended to his shoulders, his eyes 
 were large, black and sparkling, his nose Grecian, and all 
 his features exquisitely chiselled, with teeth of lustrous 
 white. Imagine such a man, dressed in the graceful costume 
 of the Afghans, and with the air of a man who never knew 
 and would never own a master, and you have a faint notion 
 of Alaf Khan Tehrin. 
 
 Alaf Kh^n was one of the first Zamindars who voluntarily 
 came forward to join us. He placed his two sons as horse- 
 men in the Biluch corps, and distinguished himself in every 
 encounter with the depredators, who were ever pouncing 
 upon our stores and camels. 
 
77 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WILD HOGS CROSS THE INDUS THE POLITICAL AGENT LEAVES 
 
 SAKKAR — SHUTUR SAWARS — INSTRUCTIONS ON ASSUMING CHARGE 
 
 OF THE AGENCY THE RIVAL SEYYADS VAKIL OF BHAWALPORE 
 
 CHARGES SOME OF THE FIRST GRENADIER REGIMENT WITH 
 
 ROBBING HIM THEY MUTINY INFLUENCE OF NATIVE OFFICERS 
 
 PANCHAYET — CHIT CHAT. 
 
 Oct. 10th. — This morning there was an unusual stir on 
 the river, boats were hurrying in one particular direction, and 
 constant discharges of match-locks, seemed to announce an 
 engagement close at hand. On inquiring the reason, I found 
 that six hogs had taken the water — three of them were shot 
 in the mid-stream; the other three swam gallantly across, 
 notwithstanding the great breadth and extreme violence of 
 the river, and were soon lost in the jungle on the other side. 
 Tigers have also been known to cross in this manner. These 
 brutes are rare in Sindh, yet not altogether unknown. There 
 is one at Sakkar confined in a cage, and another at the shrine 
 of Lai Shdh Baz, at Sehwdn, both of which were taken when 
 young by Mir Mubarik. It is very surprising that they 
 should be so rare, for the jungle is dense in many places, 
 especially in Burdikah and in the Shikargahs of the Amirs, 
 and their natural prey, deer and wild hogs, as well as cattle, 
 are most plentiful. 
 
 October 20th. The Political Agent left Sakkar this day for 
 
78 A GRAVE INJUNCTION. 
 
 Katchi on a tour of inspection. A body of eighty camel 
 riders, or Shutur Sawars, to use the Persian term, arrived. 
 Each camel carries two men, one armed to the teeth, the 
 other more lightly accoutred, who acts as driver. The camels 
 are all of the Harkarah kind, and will travel from fifty to a 
 hundred miles a day at a great pace. Such a corps, it might 
 be thought, would be invaluable in Sindh for carrying 
 despatches, or pursuing robbers. They turned out, however, 
 of very little use. The cholera carried off the men, and the 
 camels died of neglect and bad treatment. All of them were 
 very reluctant to cross the Indus, and I was obliged to go to 
 a considerable distance in quest of them, and use both threats 
 and entreaties to get them over. Before my chief started he 
 sent for me to give me his instructions, as I was to remain in 
 charge of Sakkar. I expected much sage advice, and the 
 disclosure of his plans to some extent. I was, however, 
 doomed to be disappointed. '* I have sent for you," he said, 
 with a thoughtful and anxious air, ** to beg you will lay the 
 camel dak with care, and use every exertion in order that the 
 produce of the vegetable garden, particularly green peas, may 
 reach me as often as possible ! ! " 
 
 After this weighty disclosure, the money bags of the 
 treasury were counted in my presence, and I was left for the 
 time-being sole lord of a huge range of buildings, sundry 
 dingy looking, half-caste writers, and a small but select band 
 of felons, who were to be employed in gardening or any 
 other useful occupation I could devise for them. Among the 
 dependents on the Agency were two Seyyads, the one with 
 snow-white beard, yet bright eye and firm step, and past his 
 seventieth year, was named Abdurrahman (the Son of the 
 Merciful) and was the owner of the land in which the Agency 
 
VAKIL OF BHAWALPORE. 79 
 
 was built ; the other, a man of middle age, with well dyed 
 beard, but a frame emaciated with excesses, was named 
 Abbas All, and claimed descent from no less a person than 
 Muhammad Masiim, one of the most celebrated nobles of 
 Akbar's Court. 
 
 Between the two existed a mortal antipathy, and each, as in 
 turn he visited me, expatiated with much gusto on the vices 
 of the other. One day the elder Seyyad was haranguing me 
 on the usual theme, and had just assured me that Abbas Ali 
 was by birth a slave, and no Seyyad at all, when the latter, 
 who, in fact, had been listening at the tent door, entered. 
 I rashly imagined that my aged friend would be abashed at 
 this contre-temps, but so far from it he welcomed the new 
 comer with a bland and tranquil air, and gravely told him 
 that he had just been praising him to the Saheb. The sudden 
 change was worthy of a Persian. I could not have believed 
 that any other could so placidly have disposed of a diffi- 
 culty. A few days after I received a visit from the Vakil of 
 Bhawalpore, a straightforward worthy personage, who had 
 lately suffered some evil treatment at the hands of our Sipahis. 
 The matter was, indeed, throughout a very serious one. It 
 seems the Vakil was encountered not far from the canton- 
 ment of Shikarpore by some of the 1st Grenadiers in their 
 undress. They stopped and robbed him. He carried his 
 complaint to the officer commanding at Shikarpore, who 
 ordered the regiment to parade that the Vakil might identify 
 the oflFenders. This caused evident dissatisfaction ; but when 
 the Vakil came to the Light Company, the Subedar of which 
 had the title of Bahadur, and wore the Order of Merit, that 
 officer gave the word "Right about face" to his company, and 
 added, " Now look at them." He was immediately put under 
 
80 MUTINY 
 
 arrest and confined, as well as some Sipahis (who had made a 
 disturbance on the parade ground), in the Quarter Guard. 
 The majority of the regiment, however, gathered round them, 
 and declared they would not return to their duty until the 
 prisoners were released ; and the European officers, who went 
 to the mutineers, were beaten and insulted. Matters began 
 to assume a formidable appearance, for the regiment was the 
 only one at the station ; and in the unsettled state of the 
 country, with enemies surrounding the camp, the most serious 
 consequences might have resulted. The firmness, however, 
 of the commanding officer had its eflfect ; the men yielded and 
 returned to their duty, and the Subedar was transferred to 
 Sakkar, where he was tried by Court Martial, and dismissed 
 the service. This mutiny was proof enough — if any proof 
 were wanting — of the powerful influence native officers have 
 over the sipahis. It cannot be doubted that the regiment 
 shewed stronger excitement on this occasion of the arrest of 
 their Subedar Major than they would have done had any of 
 the European officers been disgraced. It is fortunate for 
 us then that such an influence is almost invariably exerted 
 in support of discipline and in favour of our Government. 
 It would be no pleasing task to picture the results which 
 would follow, were any measure of ours to cause general 
 dissatisfaction among the native officers and lead them 
 to combine against us. But it is not probable that aught 
 but the blindest infatuation and obstinacy in disregarding 
 their feelings or prejudices could array them on any side 
 but our own. In the first place they have grown grey in 
 our service, the fathers of many of them occupied the 
 same posts they themselves now enjoy, their pay is liberal 
 in comparison with their wants, and they are the principal 
 
OF A NATIVE REGIMENT. 81 
 
 persons in the thousand camps of Hindustan — crowded as 
 they are with soldiers, camp-followers, and artizans ; they 
 form, in fact, a distinct class, a society by themselves at once 
 powerful and respected. But, suppose the case of a Queen's 
 officer appointed to the post of Commander-in-Chief in India 
 — a man of severe discipline and invincible determination 
 in carrying out his resolves — imperfectly acquainted with 
 the feelings of the natives, and accustomed to the unhesi- 
 tating and prompt obedience of the English soldier; sup- 
 pose that such a man were desirous of working out some 
 great reforms — reforms truly much wanted, in the Bengal 
 army especially — such, for instance, as the reduction to the 
 lowest possible limit of the soldier's baggage, and the 
 employment of the troops in many works necessary indeed 
 in military operations, but which the high caste Bengali 
 considers more suited to the artizan than to those whose 
 trade is war. 
 
 Ov yap ^avavffov t)]V rix^W ^nr^aaro. 
 
 I say that, in such a case, there would be great risk that 
 the fidelity of our native troops might be sapped ; and that 
 the un-European officers might, as in the case above narrated, 
 take the lead in a matter wherein, according to their opinions, 
 the honour of their regiments was concerned. Great, then, 
 should be the caution in attempting changes in that machine 
 with which we have so long ruled our vast territories in the 
 East. It might even be well that the ablest and most dis- 
 tinguished Subedars should be consulted before any sweeping 
 change was commenced. In saying so much enough is said 
 to shew the value I would set on suggestions which have 
 been offered for the abolition of the intermediate grade 
 
82 A GAY LOTHARIO. 
 
 between the native sergeant and his European officer. Such 
 a proposition appears to be below contempt. 
 
 Shortly after our military explosion followed the milder 
 hubbub of a civil row. The tragedy was succeeded by a 
 broad farce. One morning a confused mob of men and 
 women entered the Agency garden, all scuffling, and wrangling 
 at the top of their voices. There were several hundreds of 
 them, evidently not of the highest caste; and, from their 
 infuriated gestures, one would have thought a dozen murders 
 had been committed. I sent my Munshi to discover the cause 
 of the uproar, and the old gentleman had like to have been 
 strangled among them. *' What is it, Munshi }" I asked, as he 
 came waddling back, wiping the perspiration from his fore- 
 head. ** Ah, Saheb, it is your washerman (born of an unclean 
 mother as he is) who has carried off another washerman's 
 wife." The facts of the case, however, turned out to be 
 that my dhobi, who was a tall good-looking fellow, had 
 been making love to a woman, married indeed, but whose 
 husband had gone to some distant place, and who was living 
 with her father-in-law. Baddii, as my man of suds was 
 called, had completely washed out from the fair delinquent's 
 mind all recollection of her former mate, and prevailed on her 
 to take up her abode with him. The father-in-law came to 
 bring her back, but the fair one accused him of having shewn 
 a regard for her somewhat different from paternal affection. 
 The result was, that the friends of both parties and all the 
 washermen in camp, had assembled and come to blows, and 
 my Munshi had interposed just as the golden scales of victory 
 were equally balanced. As the best way of settling the 
 knotty point, I ordered a Panchdyet, or Court of Arbitration, 
 to decide it, composed of the most illustrious washermen 
 
A MUNSHI*S CHIT-CHAT, 83 
 
 present. Their sentence, which, in all such cases, is without 
 appeal, was that Baddii should keep his bride, the other party- 
 paying two hundred rupees for a dinner to the whole caste, 
 and that what was over should go to the lady. 
 
 I had commenced learning Sindhi with the old Seyyad 
 Abdurrahman ; he told me stories in that language, explain- 
 ing what I did not understand in Persian. Sakkar, he SEiid, 
 was, in his own recollection, a very populous place ; it 
 belonged to the Afghans, who used to plunder the opposite 
 bank, then recently conquered by the Talpur Amirs of 
 Khyrpore. Mir Rustam was then a young man of twenty, 
 full of fire and enterprise. He obtained permission from his 
 father, Sohrab, to attack Sakkar, which he did successfully, 
 and gave up the town to be sacked. For three days the 
 plunder continued, and the place never recovered the blow. 
 " Ah,*' said the Seyyad, "the Mir is a different man now ; 
 he has grown so fond of the intoxicating bhang, that what 
 with that and old age he is quite lethargic." Bhang, 
 Jang, and Rang now rule the Khyrpore Durbar.* But his 
 father, Sohrab, was the hero of the family ; none of his sons 
 are equal to him. Saheb, I was present when the Hyderabad 
 chiefs of the second generation threatened him with war. 
 Sohrdb uncovered his head, on which was a terrible scar. 
 " Go," he said to the Hyderabad Envoy, " when your 
 masters can show such marks as this, let them talk of 
 making war on one who has won his territory with the 
 sword, not tamely inherited it from his sires." 
 
 * Alluding to the propensities of the three principal Amirs — Mir 
 Rustam being addicted to the vice of drinking ; All Mordd being all 
 for war; and Mir Mubarik for enjoyment. 
 
 2 G 
 
84 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE DIWALI — SHIKARPORE — JAIT SINGH, THE HINDU SARRAF 
 
 MUHAMMED HUSAIN, THE DAROGAH AZIM KHAN BARAKZYE 
 
 IBRAHIM SHAH JA6AN AND JANIDERAH — AMIEl's DEFEAT LIEUT. 
 
 WALPOLE CLARKE— BUGTI PRISONERS YARU KHAN KOSAH 
 
 SAULA BURDl — FALL OF KHELAT RETURNING COLUMN OF THE ARMY 
 
 FRIGHTFUL SICKNESS — HAWKING PARTIES ARTHUR CONOLLY 
 
 SEYYAD ZAIN AL ABIDAIN — KAMAL KHAN KAHIRI BIJJAR KHAN, 
 
 SALE OF HIS FAMOUS MARE. 
 
 Nov. 5. — The Diwdli happening to fall on this day, the 
 whole river was bright with lamps. The scene was really 
 enchanting, and I remained for a long time in my boat 
 gazing at it. The mosques and ruined tombs, illuminated by 
 myriads of lights, and the broad current sweeping by them in 
 all its sombre majesty — the palm groves and the island 
 fortress of Bakkar in mid-stream, made up a wondrous picture. 
 Ever and anon some votary would offer up his prayers to 
 Lakshmi, the Hindu Fortuna, and launch a tiny raft bearing 
 a cluster of lamps into the waters — then watch it with fixed 
 and anxious gaze. If it floats on till the far distance hides 
 it — thrice happy he, his future will be bright also ; but, if 
 caught in some wild eddy of the stream, it disappears at 
 once, so will the bark of his fortune be engulfed in the 
 whirlpool of adversity. The extreme heat had now abated. 
 
SHIKARPORB. 85 
 
 and I had just begun to adapt myself to the state of things 
 
 at Sakkar« 
 
 My temper changed 
 Into their temper ; which must needs remove 
 The sensible of pain, 
 
 when an order arrived for me to proceed to Shikarpore, to 
 meet the returning Bombay column. I started on the 
 morning of the 11th on horseback, with a mounted Kosah 
 to shew me the way. The road passed through several 
 villages entitled Abad, Nazirabad, Jafiirabad, Simra, etc., and 
 in some places there was much cultivation. Beyond Lakki, 
 however, somewhat more than half way, the jungle became 
 dense, and here more than one deed of blood had been 
 perpetrated by the Btardi robbers, in whose beat it lay. On 
 reaching the Kosah village, I was obliged to visit the Chief, 
 Rahim Khan, and his son, Kadir Bakhsh. Among his 
 relations, one was introduced to me named Jamal Khan, a 
 bold fellow and dexterous swordsman, who some time before, 
 on being reprimanded by the political officer at Shikarpore 
 for coming late on duty, quickly answered, ** Here is my 
 reason," at the same time undoing a bundle which he carried 
 in his hand, and displaying the gory head of a Bil6chi robber. 
 I did not reach Shikarpore till evening, and found the Agency 
 unpromising enough in appearance. It lay just outside the 
 town, and had at least the advantage of a grove of palms, and 
 some slight approaches to verdure about it. But all beyond 
 the dilapidated mud wall which formed its boundary, was 
 a dreary flat, covered with low Jahu jungle. Within the wall 
 was the skeleton of a large house in progress of erection, the 
 tents of some irregular horse, a few miserable huts stocked 
 with Biluchi prisoners, and in the centre, a little upper-roomed 
 
S6 FUNCTIONARIKS 
 
 bungalow, which was to be ray abode. The walls of this 
 miserable place being of mud, it was densely peopled by 
 hordes of ants, of all colors, shapes, and sizes. There was 
 the large black fellow who with his colossal pincers could 
 draw blood at the first nip ; the diminutive red villains who 
 delight to ensconce themselves by dozens in your hair, or in 
 your cap, especially if tinged with any substitute for Macassar 
 procurable in those regions ; the small black, whose desire for 
 mischief surpasses their bulk; and the never- to-be-sufficiently 
 execrated white ants, who, if they had their will, would 
 reduce all created things to impalpable dust. Indeed, ants 
 are fully entitled to take a high, if not the highest rank Among 
 the annoyances of the East, and Sindh in particular. The 
 whole earth swarms with them ; if it be true that the white 
 kind is edible, one is surprised at there ever being a famine 
 in India, for the supply is inexhaustible. I soon found my 
 change from Sakkar was not for the better in point of climate. 
 The air was hot and full of dust, and the nights dreadfully 
 oppressive. However, there was too much to be done and 
 seen too, to allow time for thinking of disagreeables. The day 
 after my arrival was spent in receiving visits from the native 
 authorities of the place and the Munshis and others attached 
 to the Agency, to all of whom it was requisite to say a kind 
 word. Among the first who came was Jait Singh, a wealthy 
 Hindu banker and merchant, who was foremost in courting 
 the English, and who, like many others who supported us 
 in our ill-omened Afghan campaigns, has suffered by the 
 connection. He was then richly dressed, and had all the 
 appearance and air of a man of some consequence, add to 
 which he was good-looking, of most agreeable manners, and 
 extremely intelligent. His partner, Chitru Mai, on the 
 
OF SHIKAlirORE. 87 
 
 other hand, wore the plainest clothes, and was as dry and 
 unpleasant in the little he did say as if he had been all his 
 life calculating interest behind a desk in Lombard -street. 
 Jait Singh shewed no great partiality for the native Governors 
 of Shikarpore. Of these Brijdass, the Khyrpore Vakil 
 pleased me well: a great, jolly, black-bearded Sindhi, who 
 might have played at buffets with the Priest of Copmanhurst. 
 Very different were the representatives of Hyderabad. In 
 Ibrahim Shah I recognised at once his Persian descent. If 
 you were to believe him, the Amirs were his demi-gods — for 
 them he would encounter not men only, but jins, demons, 
 black and white. His family were entirely the creatures of 
 the Amirs. They came to Sindh strangers, poor, and 
 friendless. They were now rich, courted, and filling the 
 highest offices in the state. Ibrahim often told me that his 
 house could bring a hundred horsemen into the field, each 
 man equal to himself ; and certainly he was a cavalier not to 
 be despised. Tall, eminently handsome, and skilled in the 
 use of arms, I have often seen him ride at full speed, 
 whirling a spear of twelve feet or so in length round and 
 round, and then, suddenly catching it, pick up an orange 
 on its point. 
 
 When, however, things came to a crisis, at the fatal field 
 of Miani, but one of all his family accompanied the Chief 
 who had raised them to honour, and that was Zain ul Abidain, 
 an elder brother of Ibrahim, whose name alone deserves 
 mention as that of a true man. 
 
 " Among the faithless, faithful only he !'* 
 
 The other Hyderabad Governor was Takki Shah, brother 
 to Ibrahim, and some years his senior, as courtly in his 
 
88 THE DAROGAII. 
 
 address as the latter, but more reserved. He had the reputa- 
 tion of being somewhat miserly, and so great a bigot in 
 religion, that he never eat with a stranger without first 
 enquiring, in a Pharisaical whisper, if the melted butter had 
 been purchased of one of the true faith. Muhammad Husain, 
 the Darogah, must not be passed over in silence. His office 
 corresponded to that of Police Magistrate in English towns, 
 — an office which rubs off, by degrees, the soft texture of 
 our humane feelings : yet not so with Muhammad Husain, 
 who, I verily believe, was a kind-hearted man, and a man who 
 would keep his word, too, in spite of his title, for Darogah 
 unfortunately means " False," as well as a police functionary. 
 The poor Darogah : he had a most orthodox horror of dogs, 
 partly that they were impure as touching his creed, and partly 
 that his thin muslin trowsers offered small protection against 
 an insidious snap from one of the canine species. It was, 
 therefore, with extreme dread that he visited our Agency in 
 after times, when tenanted by an English lady and her pet 
 dog, a small cur, who entertained a deep longing for a morsel 
 of a true believer's calf. "Az barai khuda mana bakunid," 
 he would say, "For God's sake, keep it off,— what calamity is 
 this that the Madam Sahebah is so fond of!" After the great 
 men came a general rush of underlings. One funny old Munshi 
 in the rear of all, at the conclusion of what I said to them, 
 shaking his head and long beard with vehement satisfaction, 
 bawled out, " Ai shakr shirin," *' O sweet sugar !" I was 
 much struck with Azim Kh^n Barakzye, a kinsman of Dost 
 Muhammed, who had entered our service as a Risaldar in 
 Amiel's horse. His bearing was noble, and altogether he 
 might well have been placed next to Alaf Khan Tehrin, as a 
 useful soldier. 
 
amiel's defeat. 89 
 
 Events of interest were now at hand. On the 19th 
 of November we were informed of the defeat of Amiel's 
 Biliichi horse, with the loss of twenty-five men killed. He 
 was posted at Shdhpore, the first station beyond the desert, 
 on the road to the Marri and Bugti hills, and which had been 
 the residence of the Jakrani robbers until our troops occupied 
 it. From this position he had several times intercepted small 
 parties of plunderers. One day the alarm was given that 
 camels were carried off; Amiel mounted with some eighty 
 men, of whom ten were Puna horse, on whom he could rely. 
 After pursuing the flying robbers for some time, he suddenly 
 came upon an ambuscade of some hundred Biluchis of the 
 Dumki and Jakrani tribes, commanded by the famous Bijjar 
 Khan. His men at once turned bridle and rode for dear life. 
 The enemy hotly chased them, and slew more than a fourth 
 of their number. One of Amiel's native A.D.C.'s caught his 
 bridle, and turned his horse round ; the ten Piina horsemen 
 kept close to him, and this small party retired with less pre- 
 cipitation, and in better order than the rest. **Who was 
 that on the white horse ? " said Bijjar, after the skirmish was 
 over. On being told it was the Faring! ofl[icer, he observed, 
 *' Well for him that I knew it not, or his grey horse should 
 not have saved him, fleet as it was." The next day after the 
 news of this disaster, Lieut. Walpole Clarke arrived in Shikar- 
 pore, with 130 horse ; and four days later came two Risalahs 
 of Bengal Irregular Cavalry. Clarke was a perfect soldier 
 — neither he nor his men had one particle of superfluous 
 baggage ; their wants were easily satisfied, and after a day's 
 halt they passed on, too eager for service to allow anything 
 to delay them. On Clarke's way up from Lower Sindh one 
 of the best horses of the Risalah was stolen during the night's 
 
90 
 
 YARU. 
 
 halt, at a place where habitation or sign of man was not to 
 be seen. In the morning when the loss was discovered, Clarke, 
 with a party of his men, took up the track, and carried it for 
 several miles, until he came to a brook; here it seemed to 
 end, but, going up the stream some distance, he again hit 
 upon it, and followed it, until, after riding more than fifteen 
 miles, they arrived at a village. He at once sent word to the 
 villagers that, unless the horse was forthcoming in half an 
 hour, he should attack the place. He had not, however, to 
 wait so long, for it was immediately restored, and he rejoined 
 the main body of the Risalah, all of whom were not a little 
 pleased with the expertness of their leader as a tracker, and 
 the happy result of his skill. 
 
 On the 21st, four Bugti robbers, whom we held in con- 
 finement, escaped. After the Kosahs had searched for them 
 in vain, I applied to Mir Rustam's Vakil, who succeeded in 
 capturing them, when they had almost reached the hills. Poor 
 wretches ! I pitied them, ferocious as they were, for theirs was 
 the ferocity of ignorance and misery. The only person who 
 could act as interpreter for them was Ydrii Khan Kosah, who 
 had been himself a notorious robber, but, with the rest of his 
 clan, entered our service. He was upwards of six feet high, 
 very broad and muscular, and his vast chest and limbs were 
 covered with shaggy black hair. When in the presence of 
 the Sahebs he endeavoured to look as meek as possible, and 
 to bring his naturally deep growling voice to something more 
 like the accents, fiepSircav avdpdoTravj an attempt which strongly 
 resembled the whisper of a bear. Like Bully Bottom in 
 the "Midsummer Night's Dream," he was resolved to *'roar 
 you as gently as any sucking dove." It was said that 
 he had more than once seized an enemy in his terrific hug. 
 
ished by Jame.-, MaHdt-n H. 1 .eadmhall Street. V^ii^^ t-WIdnaid S.l,la.c^9^o^r^nh.l 
 
 BUlsTG, AUGUST 2r«? 1833. 
 
SAULA BURDI. 91 
 
 and strangled him, preferring this plan of despatching his 
 foes to the more orthodox one of the sword. His reputation 
 had been so high, as a leader, that in the plundering 
 expeditions in which he had engaged, he is said to have 
 received a sixth of the whole spoil, inasmuch as in the 
 trackless waste of Katchi, he could guide his party by the 
 bright twinkling of the stars alone. Now, however, all this 
 was forgotten, and Yarn waited daily at the Agency, looking 
 as grimly innocent as possible. Though, however, he himself 
 no longer plundered the country, he aided but little in the 
 apprehension of those who did. 
 
 Among those Biliichis, who made the jungle round Shikar- 
 pore terrible to the traveller, was one in particular, of whom 
 some atrocity or other was almost daily reported. This 
 worthy was a Burdi, named Din Muhammad, or, as he was 
 commonly called, Dinii, a man whb was completely the Jack 
 Sheppard of Upper Sindh. His brother Saula had been even 
 more celebrated, but fortune, tired of hearing his name so 
 often, suddenly cut short his career. Just before I arrived at 
 Shikarpore, information was brought to the Agency that Saula, 
 after one of his rides, had halted in a certain village distant 
 some ten or fifteen miles. A body of irregular horse were 
 immediately ordered to mount, and by a rapid march they 
 succeeded in coming upon him before he could reach his 
 mare. Once on her he would have laughed at their efforts, 
 but now seeing escape impossible, he drew his sword, and 
 fought in the most desperate manner. After a fierce struggle 
 his sword arm was disabled, and himself overpowered and 
 brought into camp. It is impossible to conceive a more 
 truculent-looking savage than he appeared. A mass of ebon 
 hair half concealed his face; his forehead was " villainous 
 
92 SAULA BURDI. 
 
 low;" while from beneath his shaggy eyebrows his dark 
 eyes gleamed with the ferocity of a wild beast. Numbers 
 of people flocked to behold him, many of whom had suffered 
 from his depredations, while some had lost their relatives 
 either by his sword or those of his gang. At first he had 
 no idea that he should be put to death. He thought he 
 should be allowed to ransom himself. " I will give you," 
 said he to the political officer, " five camels to set me free." 
 No answer being returned, he increased his off'ers. *' I will 
 give you ten camels — twenty. I will give you the Biliichi 
 girl I carried off in my last foray." Still no reply ! The 
 wretch began now to be alarmed. They brought a rope and 
 put it round his neck ; the crowd were fighting among 
 themselves as to who should be his executioner. ** He killed 
 my father," said one. " Give me the rope," said another, "he 
 slew my brother." As the cord touched his neck, he shrunk 
 together, and, with faltering voice, exclaimed, " Ah Sain, 
 iyen na kar," (O Sir! do not so). The tree on which he 
 expiated a life of blood was called " Saula's-tree," as long 
 as I remained in Sindh, and in all probability will retain the 
 name for many a year. It was in revenge for this execution 
 that Dinu plied his former trade with redoubled activity. 
 At least ten murders were ascribed to him within a few 
 months after his brother's death. All attempts to take him 
 were vain, and after much fruitless endeavour, we at last 
 heard that from some cause or other he had betaken himself 
 to the Mazaris, a tribe who border on the frontiers of the 
 Multan province. 
 
 On the 23rd of November we received the news of the fall 
 of Khelat. The death of Mihrab Khan, the capture of his 
 fort, and the slaughter of his bravest followers, fell like a 
 
FALL OF KHELAT. 93 
 
 thunderbolt on the turbulent inhabitants of the provinces 
 of Upper Sindh. The ministers of the Amirs came to 
 congratulate us on the success, but their faces were pale with 
 terror, and they vainly attempted to simulate unconcern. 
 How far the Khan deserved his fate has been questioned by 
 some. It can hardly be doubted that he encouraged the 
 Hill tribes to attack us during our passage through Katchi 
 and the Bolan. I myself translated for Government several 
 letters purporting to come from him to Nasir Khan, of 
 Hyderabad. In them it did not require the keen nostril of a 
 Dr. Gates to scent out a plot against us. The language 
 was clear enough, but as to the authenticity of the letters 
 I am at a loss. They bore, if I remember right, his seal, 
 with the well-known motto, " Gul i Gulshan i Mahmud 
 Mihrab," " Rose of the Rose Garden of Mahmud Mihrdb.** 
 Deserved or not, his fate operated for the time as a powerful 
 sedative to the plunderings which were so rife before it 
 occurred. 
 
 On the 25th, part of the returning Bombay column reached 
 Shikarpore. There was little of the elation, however, of 
 men returning from a successful campaign, about them. 
 Death, in fact, was busy in their ranks. That dreadful 
 scourge, the cholera, had made its appearance among them 
 at Bdgh. Dr. Forbes was the first victim, an officer much 
 esteemed. From that moment the malady spread with 
 frightful rapidity. In four marches they reached Janiderah. 
 It was then no longer possible to bury those who died. The 
 jungle, the road, was strewn with corpses. 
 
 On the 26th, the 4th Dragoons and the Horse Artillery 
 marched into Shikdrpore. I went out a little way to meet 
 them. There was a gloom around all. The Political Agent 
 
94 CHOLERA 
 
 passed me in his pdlki. The men were hurrying at their 
 top speed. A cloud of Irregular Horse cleared the way. 
 The Great Man was sick also. I dined at the mess of the 
 4th Dragoons with Sir Keith Jackson. There was a con- 
 straint about every one. Ogle, of their regiment, was dying; 
 he was much liked, a fine soldier in the prime of life, of 
 colossal frame and strength — the day before nothing the 
 matter with him — now dying. I rode a little way into the 
 town and about the camp. Many Europeans were lying on 
 the ground intoxicated. In front of the Agency they were 
 digging a large pit, another outside the wall. I stopped 
 and looked in. Four days after I saw the two spots again. 
 The pits were filled up and a number of bushes were fixed 
 into the fresh levelled earth. Among them I disturbed 
 a jackal, who had scratched up something. It was a head — 
 the lips were wide apart, and I could see a beautiful set of 
 fine white teeth. The poor fellow to whom they had belonged 
 had been evidently quite a youth. Indeed, the pits were 
 well filled. They had thrown thirteen of the dragoons into 
 one, and at least as many of the artillery-men into the other. 
 It was a fearful night. We were packed so close together 
 in the Agency compound, that one could hear sounds plainly 
 indicative of what was going on. At least two hundred men 
 died that night. The next morning I was ordered to start 
 for Katchi, along the very route of the disease. I had very 
 unpleasant symptoms of the fashionable disorder. The little 
 doctor, who looked as pale as a ghost, gave me such a dose 
 of laudanum as almost stupified me. At dawn my riding 
 camel was brought ; I mounted, and was glad to find that 
 I should have a companion for the first two marches. Away 
 we went; my companion was labouring under a malady 
 
IN GENERAL WILLSHIRk's FORCE. 95 
 
 which I have often seen in persons who travel an intricate 
 country for the first or second time. He imagined he could 
 take a short cut; the consequence of which infatuation on 
 his part was, as usually happens, that we lost our road 
 altogether. The sun was up, and roasting us for our folly 
 long before we got into Janiderah. As we passed along 
 we saw dead bodies lying about; I noticed one man, a 
 Portuguese, very neatly dressed in cloth trousers and jacket, 
 with his hat on, lying on his face. I could not believe 
 he was dead. I went, therefore, up to him, and dis- 
 mounted, to raise him up. As I stooped I saw there was 
 a pool of blood under him. He was stiff and stark, and 
 a cloud of flies got up from about him. My servants told 
 me they buried five bodies, that the jackals had exhumed. 
 The march was anything but pleasant, and the night-halt 
 in a spot where hundreds had died the day before, without 
 a chance of medical aid if attacked, decidedly impaired the 
 appetite. The next day I went into Rojdn, where the 
 same scenes were renewed. Here I received information 
 that General Willshire, whom I had been ordered to meet 
 if he advanced by Barshori, was no longer intending to 
 come that way, and, as my services were therefore not 
 required, 1 very gladly returned to Shikarpore. 
 
 December 17th. The Artillery and Pioneers from Khelat 
 arrived in Shikarpore. Their camp was full of spoil and all 
 sorts of valuables were sold. I did not, however, succeed 
 in obtaining any curiosities. 
 
 On the 21st I went with Ibrahim Shah on a hawking 
 expedition. The hawks were of a small kind ; they killed 
 a few partridges, but the country was too much covered 
 with underwood to allow of riding hard, so that the birds 
 
9C PETTY PILFKIilNGS. 
 
 had all the fun to themselves. This did not prevent the 
 Darogah careering wildly about without reference to any 
 particular object, uttering, at the same time, loud shouts, 
 as if the sport were of a very animated kind indeed. At 
 first I was rather excited by his outcries, fancying that 
 some new and nobler game was in sight ; but, presently 
 recollecting that it is the usage of the Persians to vapour 
 on such occasions, I remained placid. 
 
 About this time an instance occurred of the manner in 
 which Government sometimes suffers in detail from the 
 negligence of those entrusted with public works. The 
 instance is but a trifling one, and for that very reason I 
 mention it, for, as to more serious things, there is fiovs e-rrl 
 yXoxrcr^ fi4yas. I had received an order to make up a great 
 number of treasure chests. A strong wood was required 
 for the purpose, and wood in general — but such as I 
 required in particular — was difficult to be procured in Upper 
 Sindh. 
 
 As I rode through the city one day I saw a considerable 
 quantity of timber lying in an obscure street. On examin- 
 ing it I found it was shisham, a wood of the most valuable 
 kind, being not liable to the attacks of the white ants. I 
 inquired to whom it belonged. "To the Munshi at Kan- 
 dahar," was the answer. I had scarce reached my house 
 when sundry persons came and informed me that it was 
 timber purchased by Government for the bridge across the 
 Indus. In truth, it had found its way to the site it then 
 occupied in a very mysterious manner. It is needless to 
 add that it was forthwith brought back to the Agency 
 compound, whence it made its exit, on the backs of camels, 
 in the shape of well filled treasure chests. A similar and 
 
HONESTY OF A SINDHI. 97 
 
 yet more glaring case occurred a short time after, and 
 which deserves to be recorded for the credit of the Sindhi 
 character. One of those officers who formed the precursors 
 of the Afghan expedition dehvered seven thousand rupees 
 to a Seyyad of Katchi, to procure supplies, or for some 
 other purpose connected with the advance of the army. So 
 numerous and vast were our disbursements then, that this 
 sum was entirely overlooked. The officer who gave it 
 passed on with the troops, and left no memorandum to those 
 who succeeded him. Days, weeks, months glided away, 
 the whole transaction was forgotten. 
 
 One morning a political from Shikarpore halted in the 
 vicinity of this Seyyad's village, and was much surprised at 
 his appearance with some well-stufFed money bags. "These," 
 said he, "are the Sarkar's," and then related the circum- 
 stance of his receiving them, and of his having been unable 
 to apply them in the way intended. 
 
 The weather was now very agreeable at Shikarpore — some 
 rain fell, and it was cool enough to allow of one's riding 
 about, or walking in the day time. Officers (and now and 
 then a lady) were continually passing through the place, on 
 their way to the stations above the passes — of course nearly 
 all of them lived at the Agency for the time they halted. 
 Travellers' bungalows were as yet unknown, and we were 
 too happy to see new faces. It cannot be disguised, however, 
 that as there was no table allowance from Government, hospi- 
 tality and economy were incompatible. The Political Agent 
 himself set a noble example in this respect; every one who 
 came was welcome — his own staff, consisting of twelve or 
 fifteen assistants, were always expected to dine with him 
 when at the same station ; and in these expenses alone went 
 
 H 
 
98 ARTHUR CONOLLY. 
 
 nearly half his pay, large as it was. Fourteen thousand 
 bottles of beer, which annually poured forth their foaming 
 contents at his board, were alone a considerable item, and 
 to this is to be added wine, soda water, and a vast variety 
 of other potables, to say nothing of edibles, of grain-fed 
 sheep, etc. One regarded this vast consumption with perfect 
 sang-froid, knowing that a monthly stream of 4,000 rupees 
 found its way into the coffers of the host. In the case, 
 however, of an assistant, whose pay did not exceed an eighth 
 of that sum, yet who received all comers, albeit in less 
 magnificent style, a grain of compunction mingled with the 
 cheer. Foremost among these patterns of liberality, was 
 
 Lieut. W ', of Tatta, to whom, among many others, 
 
 I, too, owed a hospitable reception. I believe that he was 
 never without guests ; and, sometimes after a cloud of small 
 birds would come a gigantic cormorant of a Commander-in- 
 Chief, with a tail nearly as long as that of Irish Dan. The 
 part of host is, too, so agreeable, that it very soon becomes 
 a habit ; one is discontented with a solitary table and a spare 
 repast. Such, however, was the system, whether bad or good, 
 and to it I owe some of the most agreeable acquaintances 
 I ever made — nay, even friendships, which still last. 
 
 On the 3rd of January, 1840, Captain Arthur ConoUy 
 came to me, and stopped ten days ; too short a time, for 
 never have I met a man to whom my heart warmed so 
 rapidly. He seemed so completely disinterested, so noble- 
 minded, so fearless of earthly ills, and yet so full of that 
 fear which maketh a man wise. Our meeting began oddly. 
 The Darogah had just come to me to say that there was 
 a Russ — a spy — in the town. I did not much believe in 
 spies, thought it all nonsense, but was asking some questions 
 
ARTHUR CONOLLY. 99 
 
 for form's sake, when a strange Saheb was announced. The 
 name of ConoUy was enough to put the Darogah and his 
 Russophobia out of my head. However, seeing him look 
 surprised, and guessing how matters stood, I explained the 
 case to him. He had, in fact, mistaken ConoUy' s Greek 
 servant for a Russian, and included the master in the same 
 category. ConoUy was travelling in a style which would 
 have gladdened the heart of our great Sindh hero; it was 
 impossible that any imputation of superfluous baggage could 
 be laid upon him. A small tent, in which a man could not 
 stand upright, and which a portly fellow might .have used for 
 a cloak in wet weather, with a pair of portmanteaus, made 
 up the whole of his kit. How he escaped being frozen when 
 above the passes I know not. He gave me a most interest- 
 ing account of his travels out fi'om England. 
 
 At Vienna he saw much of Prince Metternich, who pre- 
 sented him with a beautiful telescope. He had been ordered 
 to meet the Persian Ambassador there, Husain Khan, and 
 tell bim that he would not be received in England. From 
 thence he went to Constantinople, where he had an offer 
 from the Envoy of Khiva to take him on to Kokun. He 
 wished to accept this offer, and made a reference on the 
 subject, which was not approved. Thence he proceeded 
 through Armenia to Baghdad, and by the Persian Gulf to 
 Bombay; en route he had some narrow escapes of his Hfe. 
 On one occasion, in the Tigris, some Arabs demanded 
 tobacco ; he had none to give them ; they then waded up to 
 their middles into the water to fire at him. He was obliged 
 to have the boat kept in mid-stream, and for a considerable 
 distance they pursued him, but fortunately in vain. While 
 ConoUy stopped with me, we discussed much the position 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 THE KAHIRIS. 
 
 of affairs above the passes ; his chief object was the liberation 
 of the Russian captives in Khiva. To this he intended to 
 devote himself, but destiny had reserved their release for 
 another hand, and decreed that he who burned to free others 
 should himself suffer the most terrible of imprisonments, to 
 terminate only in death. I imparted to him my earnest wish 
 to push on to the advanced posts, and to be sent either to 
 Cabul or Herat, and I said that nothing would please me 
 more than to be allowed to join him. He promised that 
 if he could effect this he would, and he afterwards applied 
 to the Envoy at Cabul accordingly, but the answer was, that 
 I was too distant for it to be possible for me to join him in 
 time. We parted sincere friends ; he gave me the volumes 
 of his travels, and up to the battle of Bamian I constantly 
 heard from him. 
 
 On the 9th of December I had a visit from Zain ul Abidain 
 Shah (literally the Ornament of the Two Worlds), the elder 
 brother of Takki Shah. Thin, sallow, and very ugly, he 
 had more the look of a Persian than of a noble of Sindh. 
 His flattery to me was overdone. While speaking of the 
 murder of his relation by Dinu, he lost his temper, and 
 abused the Khyrpore Vizir, Fateh Muhammad Khan Gori, 
 as though he abetted the robber in his misdeeds. He 
 used the word kuramsdk pretty freely, and several other 
 Persian terms of abuse, in speaking of the Vizir. This 
 day the small-pox broke out among the prisoners, and very 
 soon carried off four of the Bugtis. A few days after I was 
 visited by Kamal Khan, the chief of the Kahiris. This 
 tribe are Sheikhs, and formerly inhabited Phulaji and its 
 vicinity. Here they were subject to a constant attack from 
 the Dumkis, under Bijjar Kh^n, assisted by the Marris. After 
 
THE KAHI|II,S/,. ; lOi 
 
 a brave defence they were dispossessed of their lands, and 
 driven to the neighbourhood of Shikarpore. They went to 
 Khelat and Hyderabad to seek assistance in vain. Having 
 come forward on our appearance in the country, to assist us 
 as far as in them lay, we took them by the hand, and a promise 
 was made to them that they should be reinstated in the 
 districts from which they had been expelled. In Amiel's 
 horse there was a considerable number of these men, and 
 among them two in whom he placed great reliance. These 
 were Itibar Khan and Abdullah Khan. The former was a 
 stout, red-faced man, with a truculent look. Numberless 
 pistols stuck in his waist, his thick black beard, and blood-red 
 scarf and turband, gave him a bandit air. His actions, too, did 
 not belie his looks. He dismounted with as much sang-froid 
 to cut the throat of a dying enemy, as an Englishman would 
 to pick up his glove. On one occasion when out with Amiel 
 a Marri Bilvich was brought to the ground by a shot. Before 
 Amiel could interfere, Itibar had decapitated the prostrate 
 man ; then, holding up the head by the long hair, he coolly 
 said — " I knew him very well, it is Faiz Ullah— we were 
 firm friends once.*' The other Kahiri, Abdullah Khan, was 
 a very handsome young man, with long dark brown ringlets 
 curling to his shoulders, and hazel eyes. He had been an 
 associate of all the most daring robbers, knew their haunts, 
 and, with Itibar, aided us as a guide into the fastnesses of the 
 Marri and Bugti Hills. They themselves told me that after 
 the battle of Nafushk they went over the field and cut the 
 throats of all the Marris they could find. They said, that on 
 a rough calculation, they did this benevolent office for one 
 hundred and thirty-three Biluchis of that tribe. They gloried 
 in the deed, and Itibdr, in fact, became quite graphic when he 
 
.'^(JSt'/ \ THE KAHIRIS. 
 
 spoke of his finding an old enemy among the wounded — a 
 man with whom he had long been at deadly feud. This was 
 Haibat Khan, a celebrated Marri chief, who, after fighting 
 most desperately, had fallen by the fire of our guns. With eyes 
 sparkling with ferocious triumph, Itibar approached the dying 
 warrior : *' Haibat Khan," he said, " do you know me ? The 
 last time we met was in the gate of Phulaji, when your foot 
 was on the body of my brother ; you did to him then what I 
 am about to do to you." Apart from such savage acts as 
 these, however, Itibar and Abdullah were doubtless of immense 
 assistance to us. Indeed the time had now come when our 
 operations against the Hill Biluchis, were crowned with the 
 most complete success. The force under Major Billamore 
 had penetrated into the Biigti Hills, had captured the Chief 
 Bibarak, defeated his tribe in more than one fierce engage- 
 ment, and put an end to their famous boast, which was in the 
 mouths of all the natives, " God cannot hurt Bibarak in 
 Deyrah." Our troops had also visited Kahan, the stronghold 
 of the Marris, who, whether taken by surprise, as is most 
 likely, or for some other reason, did not oppose us : but 
 above all these successes, the fall of Khelat, and death of 
 Mihrab Khan, had struck terror into the Hill Tribes. Bijjar 
 and his robber horde, pressed by our detachments of cavalry, 
 (who besides being ever on his track, devoured the scanty 
 forage of the districts he frequented), at last made up his 
 mind to submit. By means of the Seyyad of Shahpore, he 
 communicated his intentions to Lieutenant Postans*. The 
 
 * This officer has been charged with deceiving the Biluchf Chief, 
 as though he had given him a safe conduct, which was subsequently 
 disregarded. The charge is utterly groundless. The paper given to 
 Bijjar was in Persian, a language in which I have myself conversed with 
 
BILUCHI PRISONERS. 103 
 
 sole condition of his surrender was, that his life should be 
 spared. 
 
 On the 20th of January the renowned Bijjar Khan and 
 forty-eight chiefs of the Damkis and Jakranis together, with 
 Bibarak Bugti, were in our hands. Now was the time to 
 have crushed for ever the freebooters of the desert — to have 
 healed the plague-spot of Sindh. The two specifics, clemency 
 and rigour, were in our hands. It sufficed to administer 
 either well to have effected our object, but our political 
 apothecary made a sad bungle of the case, — he mixed the two 
 medicines so clumsily as to negative each. Here were a body 
 of the most famous marauders of that region — men whose 
 names inspired as much fear in their country as ever did that 
 of Robin Hood or Rob Roy in our own merry land. Without 
 them it was impossible that for years to come the banditti 
 who yet remained free could offer any effectual resistance 
 to our measures for the pacification of the country; but 
 could we do more than remove them from the ranks of our 
 antagonists — could we conciliate them and induce them to 
 act with us, the whole matter would be at once settled. 
 I believe that a Sikh governor would have hung up the 
 whole party without further ceremony. I am quite sure that 
 many of our European heroes, such as our friend Carlyle 
 delighteth to worship, would have done the same — Wallen- 
 stein or Cromwell, for example. I am equally certain that 
 
 him. It only vouched for his life ; so that there could have been no 
 mistake on his part. That a different report may have been circulated 
 among the natives, always eager to propagate stories to our discredit, is 
 possible, nay, likely enough. The Harris seem to have heard such a 
 report, and to have alluded to it in their communications with Major 
 Brown, who commanded at Kalian. 
 
104 BILUCHI PRISONERS. 
 
 Outram, or another I could name, would have made Bijjdr 
 and Bibarak the firm friends of the English Government, 
 and would have so won their confidence as to govern through 
 them the wild bands who called them chief. What was the 
 plan adopted ? Not one of all these — nay, a very pretty 
 device, quite simple and effectual in its way — to bait the 
 bear well and then slip the chain — that was the plan. In 
 fact, the whole party, with the exception of Bijjar and 
 Bibarak, were put in ii'ons, dragged about like common 
 malefactors — insulted, goaded, driven to fury, made our 
 irreconcileable enemies, and then let loose to wreak their 
 vengeance on us. The thing is so monstrous in its folly, 
 that it will scarce be credited ; yet it is true, — plain, sad 
 earnest. Take one specimen of the means employed to 
 make those robbers into honest men. Among them, most 
 notorious for his sanguinary deeds and desperate courage, 
 for the merciless hand and eye that knew not pity, was Jani 
 the son of Kambar. He was the foremost of the Jakrani 
 tribe, who, originally Jakkra Sindhis, had raised themselves 
 by their daring acts to the rank of Biluchis. I had heard 
 so much of him, that after Bijjar he was the first man I 
 looked for when the chiefs surrendered. There could not 
 be a doubt of the man, it was quite easy to select him from 
 the crowd. Many were there of loftier stature, and more 
 powerful frame, but not one in whom the desperado was so 
 clearly marked ; his large bold flashing eye and impatient 
 gestures told you it was no counsel of his that brought him 
 there. His tribe followed Bijjar, and acknowledged him as 
 superior even to their own chiefs, Darya Khan and Turk Ali. 
 In compliance with their wishes, Jani had put himself into 
 the hands of the Faringi, but he did not attempt to disguise 
 
JANI. 105 
 
 his hate. His sword was still crimsoned with blood up to 
 the very hilt, and several notches in the centre of the blade 
 with human hair adhering to them, shewed the manner in 
 which it had been used; he did not seek to conceal this, 
 but showed it at once with a laugh, at the same time relating 
 the history of the stains. 
 
 A day or two before the horse of a trooper belonging to a 
 squadron of cavalry, who were in pursuit of Jani, had died 
 in the desert. Four men were sent to bring away the saddle 
 and accoutrements. Jani, whose black mare was famous for 
 its speed, came upon them with a small band of Biluchis. 
 Our troopers fled; three were cut down in their flight; the 
 fourth escaped, but a huge slash in the hinder quarter of his 
 horse attested the imminence of the rider's peril. Well, this 
 fierce, bold Jani — what was to be done with him ? His hands 
 were red with the blood of our men. It was at first decided 
 that he should be a prisoner for life. I received an order to 
 put him in irons, and send him to work on the roads with 
 the felons who were confined at Shikarpore. I sent for him, 
 and told him his sentence. It was well for those who stood 
 near that his sword had been taken from him. He made a 
 desperate efl^ort to rush forward, and I think I should have 
 come in for an unpleasant knock or two (quite undeserved, 
 for the sentence was none of mine), but three or four men 
 threw themselves upon him. He was carried off" struggling 
 with the fury of a wild beast, and the irons were put on. 
 Every day Jani was marched out to labour, and every day 
 came the Havaldar to me with a complaint that labour he 
 would not. Instead of working, one of his fellow-prisoners 
 — such was the terror of his name — carried a piece of cloth, 
 on which, as soon as the others began their daily task, Jdni 
 
106 JANI. 
 
 seated himself with all the dignity of an inspector. I sent 
 for the recusant and expostulated with him (all the time, in 
 my heart, admiring the man's audacity) ; I told him that 
 if he persisted in refusing to work there was no chance of 
 a mitigation of his sentence. ** Hang me,** was his answer, 
 " kill me in any way you like, but never will I put hand of 
 mine to your drudgery.** A very puzzling answer, — I was 
 as much at a nonplus as Mr. Bumble, when Oliver Twist 
 told him through the keyhole that he was not afraid. There 
 is no doing anything in the way of severity with a man who 
 is not afraid. A diflferent course must be adopted, — a course 
 I would have gladly followed. It was, indeed, at last 
 adopted, but too late. 
 
 After a long imprisonment a letter came to me, on the 
 back of which was scrawled, " Release Jani, and let him 
 go where he likes ;'* words easily written, and for every letter 
 of which went the life of a man. His fetters were taken 
 off, he was admonished, and was free, and in three days he 
 murdered a Dafadar and eight of our horsemen. Such were 
 the first fruits of his penitence. But his own end was at hand, 
 — an end worthy of his life. He had always been notorious 
 for intrigues ; he had a liaison with the wife of Biluch Khan, 
 the Lehri chief. During one of his visits to the fair culprit, 
 the husband received intelligence of his dishonour. Jani 
 was armed — to attack him was a business of danger; the 
 affair was quietly managed. The doors of the house were 
 fastened and the roof taken off. A shower of stones from 
 above soon changed the slumber of the guilty pair into the 
 long sleep of death. But the way in which Jani was treated 
 by us did not pain me so much as the measures enforced 
 against the others — his fellow captives. He was a merciless, 
 
SALE OF THE PRISONERS* ARMS. 107 
 
 ruthless ruffian, and received but the reward of his crimes; 
 but Bijjar's family were a different order of beings. Cruel, 
 perhaps, they were, and indifferent to blood ; their creed, 
 the social — or rather the unsocial — condition in which they 
 were bom, had made them so ; but they had in them the 
 seeds of better things. There was much that was noble in 
 Bijjar himself, in Mundti Khan, his brother, in Vazir Khan 
 his son, and others of his family. Had they been wisely 
 handled I am certain they would not have deceived us ; but 
 to manacle such men as these, to sell their arms and horses, 
 and then to release them, was downright insanity. All that 
 was in my power, to give time for the reconsideration of 
 these most impolitic measures, was done. The order for 
 manacling these prisoners was delayed, and a reference made 
 to the authority from whom the order emanated ; but a more 
 peremptory injunction left me no alternative. Formerly 
 service had been offered to Bijjar, with three thousand rupees 
 a month for his pay. The case was now altered indeed. 
 " Saheb,'* he said to me one day, " kismat i man chunin 
 ast," •* It is my destiny.'* Bibarak was not so patient. He 
 was ordered to write to his son Islam Khan to come in ; but 
 he altogether refused, and vented his indignation in loud 
 complaints. He was a strange old man, that Bibarak; I 
 delighted to talk with him when an opportunity offered, and 
 was amused by his curious replies. He was the youngest 
 old man I have ever seen, — surely some fairy hand had given 
 him a draught of the elixir of life; he did not look above 
 forty — ^his hair was very long, of a dark brown, and his hazel 
 eyes were bright as diamonds. 
 
 On the 8th of February the arms and horses of the Dumki 
 and Jakrani prisoners were sold. With the exception of 
 
108 THE STEKD 
 
 Bijjar and Darya Khan, they had brought very inferior steeds 
 into Shikarpore; they were in fact, the majority at least, 
 mounted on ragged-looking galloways, very fleet and hardy, 
 but too small and weak to render their riders an equal match 
 for our horsemen. Their arms consisted of some shabby 
 matchlocks, shields, or rather targets of the rhinoceros' hide, 
 and broad and trenchant swords. At the sword, indeed, the 
 Biluchis are no mean proficients; it is well known that a 
 common feat among them is to cut a sheep in two at one 
 blow. The mares of Bijjar Khan and the Jakrani leader 
 were large, bony, and powerful animals ; that of the former 
 was sold for 210 rupees, and that of the latter for 400. 
 Bijjar's seemed very quiet, and was sent to Bombay for a 
 brood mare; but the other was one of the most fiery, 
 unmanageable creatures I ever beheld ; it was first purchased 
 by an officer, who admired it much, but never could prevail 
 on himself to make actual experiment of its qualities as 
 a roadster. For some days it was brought, exercised with 
 the cavesson, taken back to the stable, soothed, humoured — 
 all in vain. Spite of all this, there was an unpleasant 
 snorting, arched crest, and fiery air about it, which said 
 very plainly, "I am a wild horse for a wild rider — if you 
 care for your neck it were wise not to try me." At last 
 Alaf Khan Tehrin, who liked a charger with plenty of the 
 devil in him, said he would buy it. The bargain was soon 
 concluded, and Darya Khan's mare once more felt a rider 
 on her back. It was not, however, without a struggle and 
 a little ingenuity that he mounted. He took her into a 
 narrow path between two walls, where she could not get 
 away, and then leaped on her back. He had not time, 
 however, to boast much of his success ; soon as she felt the 
 
OF DARYA KUAN. 109 
 
 weight, up she went straight into the air, then lashed out 
 furiously with her hind legs, and after two or three terrific 
 plunges, fairly hurled the strong man over her head. Bruised 
 as he was, he was up again in a moment, and once more 
 mounted ; and this time, thinking perhaps she had tested his 
 mettle sufficiently, she was quiet enough. Indeed she was 
 a noble animal, and Alaf Khan used to exult in her mad 
 caprices, often saying to me — " When I mount that mare 
 I feel I have the pride of the Jakranis under me." Upon 
 Darya Khan's restoration to liberty, however, he was com- 
 pelled to restore her, and the purchase-money was refunded 
 to him by Government. 
 
no 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BATTLE OP SARTAF, AND DEATH OF WALPOLE CLARKE — AMIEL's 
 
 VAIN PURSUIT OF THE KALPARS MUHAMMAD SHERIF, THE NAIB 
 
 OF KATCHI MISMANAGEMENT OF THAT PROVINCE — THE SINDHI 
 
 ALPHABET DUBIOUS EPISTLES. 
 
 People in England have a pleasant idea of May ; the very 
 word conjures up visions of bright green fields, and children 
 picking cowslips and hawthorns with their white and red 
 flowers, smelling all wooingly. My mind, alas! had been 
 quite disabused of these fantasies long enough. It wanted 
 not the creaking pankah; pulled by a respectable old gentle- 
 man in a white turband and brown face ; nor the darkened 
 room and ceaseless revolutions of the Thermantidote, to 
 admonish me that my May was quite a different thing from 
 the laughing, blithesome May of Old England. I was 
 meekly exuding in a temperature of 96^, when a tall young 
 oflicer walked in and shook my hand. "Well, Clarke/* 
 I said, *' what can bring you out in this villainous weather, 
 which is enough to melt one's head, even if it were made 
 of cast iron and faced with granite ? ** " Oh," he said, 
 *' I am ordered into the Marri Hills, to escort a convoy. 
 I do not feel at all well — in fact I have had fever for the last 
 three days — nor is it my turn for duty; but I shall say 
 nothing about that." He asked for guides — I gave them, 
 and we parted. A few days afterwards, I was lying ill with 
 
SARTAF. Ill 
 
 fever, shivering beneath a pile of blankets, when my curtains 
 were drawn — "Bad news! Clarke is killed, and the whole 
 of his detachment cut up — not a man of them has escaped I *' 
 So indeed it was — the brave heart that beat so high was 
 now cold in death. Long afterwards I obtained an account 
 of this fatal aiFair, from Abdullah and others who had 
 been present. Clarke had, they said, told some Biluchis 
 that he was going to Kahan, and that, if Dodah Marri 
 wished to encounter him, he might. The message was a 
 rash one, if really sent, but I doubt the accuracy of my 
 informant, as to this point, knowing well that Clarke was 
 
 and not given to vaunt in words. Be that, however, as it 
 may, the Marris waylaid our detachment on their return 
 from Kahan, encumbered, as usual, with a long line of camels. 
 Clarke saw the hills in rear, and in front covered with 
 armed men. He sate down to his last meal; eat with the 
 same composure as he would have done with no enemy in 
 sight, and then rose up to die. He drew up his men on 
 a steep ascent, at a place called Sartaf (probably equivalent 
 to Sir-i-ab, Water- spring), from which he several times 
 repelled the fierce onslaughts of the Biluchis ; but at last a 
 body of them came down in his rear from a still higher 
 eminence. After a gallant struggle he was thrown on the 
 ground and his throat gashed with a knife of the sort that 
 all Biluchis wear in their girdles for such gentle deeds as 
 these, or for the more common-place business of their meals. 
 Of the force under his command — about 160 men — only 
 the irregular horse — between thirty and forty in number — 
 escaped, and six or seven sipdhis, most of whom were 
 wounded. Months after a Sindhi brought me my poor 
 
112 A BOOTLKSS RIDE. 
 
 friend's keys, and some other trifles from his baggage, and his 
 trousers covered with blood were found in the cleft of a rock. 
 This was the first severe loss we suffered coupled with defeat, 
 since our array crossed the Indus ; the eflFect was great, and 
 the Marris were elated with success, and thenceforth no 
 detachment could enter the hills without danger. The 
 sipahis, when ordered on service in that direction evidently 
 considered they were about to take the shortest road to the 
 country of Yama (Death). Going to Takka, as they called 
 the hills, was with them equivalent to is KSpoucas, and they 
 forthwith deposited their savings with some friend, or in the 
 treasury, for transmission to their families. About the same 
 time with Sartaf happened another untoward event. Amiel 
 received intelligence of an intended foray by the Kalpar 
 Bugtis, a tribe inhabiting the hills to the east of the Marri 
 country, and notorious robbers. He determined to pursue 
 them, and, with about eighty horse, commanded by himself 
 and Lieutenant Vardon, and with Yarii Kosah as guide, he 
 started, as evening fell, for the place where the marauders 
 were said to be encamped with their booty. They rode all 
 night ; day dawned and shewed them — not the enemy, but 
 an interminable expanse of sandy desert. Nor does day 
 advance there with the tardy steps with which in more 
 fortunate climes it moves gradually on. At once it bursts 
 red, fierce, intolerable, over the waste. The eye grows 
 dizzy, and the ear sings with heat. None but the robber 
 of the desert can endure the fiery trial. He, bom amid 
 these arid solitudes, is brought up from his childhood to 
 bear fatigue and thirst. The Biliichis, of all men, can 
 longest endure the want of water. On their most distant 
 forays they drink but once, and never during the heat of 
 
SUFFERINGS OF AMIEl's MEN. 113 
 
 the day.* They undergo, in fact, a discipline of the most 
 rigorous kind, and those who would cope with them must 
 undergo it too. But no European can ever hope so to 
 change his nature as to match them in hardihood. With 
 the crown of the head bare, and a long roll of cotton cloth 
 twisted loosely round his temples, on a wooden saddle of 
 excruciating hardness, and mounted on a small, lean, ill- 
 favoured, but indomitable, mare, whose pace, except when 
 put out, is a villainous short rough trot, — the Biliichi rides 
 on, and on fifty, sixty, nay, seventy miles without a halt. 
 On one occasion, when a small party, going to join Sir J. 
 Keane's force, had lost half their number between Shikarpore 
 and Barshori, in consequence of the Biliichi guide taking 
 them an enormous distance at once, the latter was asked 
 why he had not shown the unfortunates a place to rest, 
 there being several on the road. ** How could I tell ?'* 
 was the answer ; " my horse and myself are quite fresh ; 
 I thought they liked it." But revenons d nos moutons, and 
 to Amiel's horsemen, who, as the sun rose, lost all power of 
 proceeding. Cries for water were heard on all sides. Some 
 lost their way or were left behind, where they perished 
 miserably. The object of the expedition was forgotten ; the 
 only thought was to get back in safety. There cannot be 
 a doubt that the whole detachment was now at the mercy 
 of the guide, Yani. Had he ridden off or kept them an 
 hour or two longer in the desert, every man would have 
 succumbed. But Yaru, though, perhaps, he had no mind to 
 
 * They are, howe.ver, mucb addicted to the use of Bhang, a decoction 
 of hemp, which is a powerful stimulant, and which, strange to say, 
 unlike opium or ardent liquors, leaves scarcely any perceptible lassitude 
 when its eflfect is spent. 
 
114 SUFFERINGS OF AMIEL's MEN. 
 
 betray his former friends, the Bugtis, was not disposed to 
 lose the pay he received monthly from our Government. He 
 conducted Amiel to a muddy pool, known only to the free- 
 booters of the desert, and this supply of water enabled the 
 detachment to regain the place whence they had started. At 
 the sight of the water, which was black, dirty, and of an 
 offensive smell, the whole body — horses and men — rushed 
 headlong into it, throwing themselves down in it, and fighting 
 with one another for the precious draught. Thus ended the 
 attempt, and a few days after three horses and their riders 
 were found dead, stiff, and stark, in the desert, but a few 
 miles from the Shikarpore border — sad memorials of the 
 failure. Others who had dropped from their saddles were 
 sought for, and brought in delirious. As usual in such 
 cases, all voices were loud against poor Yaru. He was sent 
 into Shikcirpore a prisoner. His execution was demanded. 
 I was commissioned to take the depositions against him ; 
 and I was glad that the duty devolved upon me, for I felt 
 no bias against him. Do we not expect too much when 
 we call upon those who enter our service to betray their 
 brethren to a cruel death or to bonds ? On the evidence 
 being taken nothing was elicited to show that Yaru had 
 intentionally led our men out of their way. He understood 
 scarce a word that was said to him. He was not the person 
 who had given intelligence of the marauders. It is very 
 probable that he could not have found them, had he used 
 his best exertions. He himself said that the order to turn 
 back was given before the party had got two thirds of the 
 distance to where it was likely the robbers were. Yaru, 
 in short, was acquitted, and afterwards did good service. 
 The hot season of 1840 had now fully set in, and a great 
 
POSITION OF AFFAIRS IN 18 40 115 
 
 change had come over our position beyond the Indus. The 
 preceding year closed with the complete success of our Cabul 
 expedition. The Shah was seated on the throne of his 
 ancestors ; the Chiefs of Candahar, and their more formidable 
 brother, Dost Muhammad, had fled ; Mihrab Khan, of Khelat, 
 had expiated his hostility to us with his blood ; and lastly, the 
 Chiefs of the marauding Biluchis had surrendered at discretion, 
 and were now our prisoners. We had conquered a vast 
 country ; the more difficult task remained to keep it. Yet 
 with prudence we might — yes, might easily — have held it. 
 But every step was now a downward one. We ascended the 
 political ladder only to show how nimbly we could come 
 down it. In the first place, we withdrew our army too soon ; 
 leave on private aiFairs was freely given to all in the regiments 
 that remained who applied for it. The Afghans and Biluchis 
 began to count our scanty numbers ; they were ashamed to 
 be kept down by a handful of men. Then came the disaster 
 at Sartaf — detachments, it was proved, were not able to cope 
 with the Hill tribes, when that under Clarke had been so 
 utterly destroyed ; regiments were required, but where were 
 they to be found in Sindh, unless we chose to abandon our 
 depots, Sakkar and Shikarpore. In the meantime, our political 
 chief was enjoying the cool breezes of Simla, many hundred 
 miles distant from the scene of war, whence, nevertheless, 
 he, like a second Jove from snow-capt Olympus, swayed the 
 counsels of our inferior world. The assistant who was left in 
 charge of the agency was compelled to refer all matters of 
 any moment to his absent superior, and it was weeks before 
 the answer arrived : add to this, that he was quite ignorant 
 of the language, and obliged to trust for his information to a 
 designing and venal Munshi. It is true he was an able 
 
 2 I 
 
116 MUHAMMAD SHERIF. 
 
 officer, and possessed excellent natural abilities, but his 
 whole conduct was framed on the principle of non-conciliation, 
 and then no man who swallows from one to two dozen bottles 
 of beer per diem can always scrutinize with sufficient exact- 
 ness the infinitesimal limits of the expedient and inexpedient. 
 
 Under such circumstances, it required no '* Angel's ken" 
 to see that disasters were at hand. Loveday left at Khelat 
 with thirty sipahis, began to write for succours ; Kahan was 
 now beleaguered. I commenced a series of letters to the 
 Secretariat at Bombay, in which I pointed out, as far as I was 
 able, our mistakes and the remedies. Among the most 
 flagrant of our errors, was the nomination of a most notorious 
 traitor and renegade to be Governor of the province of 
 Katchi. 
 
 The English rule is a model of justice. There is no 
 prosopolepsy in it ; no respect of persons. All men are 
 equal, and have equal rights. There ought to be no dis- 
 qualification for office ; let no one think such maxims mere 
 sound — let them be exemplified ; pick out a bright glaring 
 example, — one that shall catch the eye. The Englisli have 
 conquered a new province — the province of Katchi — nomi- 
 nally for the Shah, but if the truth must out, really for 
 themselves. However, let that pass, they have a new 
 country, and they want a Governor ; — so, to exemplify our 
 maxim above, and shew that no man's claim for promotion 
 will be disregarded ; they choose a man whose claims are 
 not only least, but have a clear well-defined negative sign 
 against them. Did any one inquire who Muhammad Sherif 
 was, when he was appointed Governor of Katchi ? If so. 
 Truth answered, "He was Governor of the districts of 
 Harrand and Dajel for Mihrab Khan of Khelat, and sold 
 
MUHAMMAD SHERIF. 117 
 
 them to Ranjit Singh. He is a man not more feared than 
 hated, has no objection to any master, as he will betray- 
 all alike; is indifferent to salary, as he will squeeze the 
 uttermost penny from those he governs, whether his pay 
 be large or small; claims descent from the Prophet, and 
 may well have his claim allowed, for, like Muhammad, he 
 has wrought one miracle, and only one — made men trust 
 him." Such was the man who, by some monstrous infatu- 
 ation, was selected for our Viceroy in Katchi. He was 
 not troubled with the presence of any European officer to 
 control his operations ; he was left to himself to weave the 
 web of his machinations at his own convenience, and he 
 soon laid the foundation of that extensive rebellion, which 
 ended in the expulsion of Shah Nawaz from Khelat; the 
 death of Loveday, and the pillage of Katchi. He had 
 taken an early opportunity of paying his respects at the 
 Agency, where I met him. In appearance he was handsome, 
 of a tall majestic figure, and with a magnificent black beard ; 
 but he seldom looked one in the face, and when he did there 
 was a very unpleasant sinister expression in his eye. His 
 words, however, were plausible, and he soon obtained great 
 influence at head quarters. An unceasing correspondence 
 was carried on between him and the principal Munshi 
 Trebania Saha. It was quite evident they rowed in the same 
 boat, and in the sequel in the same craft together they both 
 sank. I do not know whether it was at the recommendation 
 of this worthy or not, but one of our first measures on taking 
 Katchi was to seize all Jagir lands, granted by preceding 
 governments for services formerly rendered. It happened 
 that the year was one of great scarcity ; it may be imagined, 
 therefore, how such a proceeding was relished. Among those 
 
118 DISCONTENT IN KATCHI. 
 
 whose lands were thus seized were Kamal Khan Iltazye, the 
 brother-in-law of Shah Nawaz ; Rahim Khan Mengal, whose 
 father, Wali Muhammad, was killed at the storming of 
 Khelat ; ^sa Khan Mengal, Ata Khan, and other chiefs of the 
 greatest power and influence among the Brahuis. Some of 
 them passed through Shikarpore to petition at Sakkar for a 
 restoration of their rights. I was aware of their coming and 
 their objects, and wrote as strong a letter as I could urging 
 their claims. They were, however, kept waiting many days 
 before they could obtain an audience, and at last dismissed 
 uncourteously with a refusal. I have not the least doubt that 
 Muhammad Sherif was at the bottom of this, and that he 
 hoped in this manner to form a league of the aggrieved chiefs 
 against us. If such was his aim, it was fully realized, for the 
 very men who returned to the hills sullen and dejected at the 
 refusal of their applications for the lands they lately possessed 
 were soon at the head of a body of several thousand insur- 
 gents. But our policy was not satisfied with only kindling 
 an insurrection, it was necessary to provide fuel for the fire. 
 The revenue in these trans-Indine provinces is usually taken 
 in kind ; vast magazines of grain were accordingly collected 
 by Muhammad Sherif, and stored up at Gandava, Kotru, and 
 Dadar, places conveniently situated for the advancing Brahui 
 insurgents, and totally indefensible, being either altogether 
 without garrison, or, as in the case of Dadar, protected only 
 by detachments. But while such things were going on, what 
 were the political agents about? I can only say that my own 
 position was a most painful one. It was that of watching a 
 game of chess ill played — one saw the bad moves and the 
 good, but had no voice. Our duties, too, were so onerous 
 and heterogeneous that we had not time to do more than write 
 
SINDHI fiPISTLES. 119 
 
 an occasional remonstrance to our Chief. The supervision 
 of a large Treasury, a crowded Gaol, and a Post-office, 
 through which hundreds of letters and parcels were for- 
 warded daily, was quite enough to stop one from being over 
 meditative. An elaborate report of all the villages in Upper 
 Sindh, with the names of the owners, and amount of revenue 
 collected — a Price Current of every article sold in the Shikar- 
 pore market — and a Vocabulary of the Sindhi language, 
 comprising four or five thousand words, every one of which 
 was discussed by several Munshis, were part of my own 
 works of supererogation. In preparing the Vocabulary, I, of 
 course, had to learn the character, which has this pecu- 
 liarity, that only initial vowels (with a very few exceptions,) 
 are written : consequently, there is the greatest difficulty 
 in decyphering writings, for only the consonants appear, 
 and you must insert the vowels as you think will best 
 suit the sense. Thus, the word Pirin, " beloved,*' is written 
 exactly like pare, "beyond," for only the p and the r are 
 represented. The consequence of such an elliptical mode 
 of writing is, that even the natives make egregious blunders 
 in extracting the pith of the queer little epistles with which 
 their correspondents favour them. A merchant, for instance, 
 is said to have received a letter from a friend in Rajpiitana, 
 whither his son had gone. Not being very quick at making 
 out handwriting, he asked an acquaintance to help him ; who 
 interpreted it in such a manner as to make it an announcement 
 of his son's death. The poor father threw dust on his head, 
 howled piteously, and collected a crowd about him, "Alas! he 
 cried, he was my only son ! " One of the bystanders, much 
 moved by his distress, asked to see the letter. " Pshaw," 
 said he after looking at it, " There is nothing about death 
 
1*20 SINDHl EnSTLKS. 
 
 here — your son has taken a wife — he is happily married." 
 Now, said the father, I am worse off than ever, for I know 
 not whether to laugh or cry. 
 
 They tell, too, of a man who paid one of these scriheSy 
 a non scribendo, to write a letter for him. When it reached its 
 destination, no one could make out a word of it, except the 
 name of the person who sent it. In process of time it was 
 returned, and he who sent it, took it in a rage to the 
 penman, and told him it was returned as unreadable. " Like 
 enough," quoth the other, "I cannot read it myself: you paid 
 me to write, not to read." This savours, no doubt, of Joe 
 Miller ; if any one thinks so, let him believe that that which 
 might fairly be reckoned as one of Joe's offspring, in lands 
 where people do sometimes write intelligibly, is an undoubted 
 child of truth in Shikarpore. 
 
 As, however, it was of the greatest importance that 
 we should know what the rates of exchange really were 
 each day in the native market, I was resolved to overcome 
 the difficulty of reading letters, and worked incessantly until 
 I could defy our native accountant to impose upon me. One 
 fruit of this was, that while the Company lost 10 per cent 
 by the bills drawn at Candahar, they gained 1 per cent, by 
 those drawn at Shikarpore ; a gain which in the course of the 
 year amounted to many thousand rupees. 
 
121 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE PIR OF SIRHIND — AN OLD WOMAN'S STORY — A TROUBLESOME 
 
 GUEST — REVOLT IN SHAL — REFLECTIONS THEREON ABDULLAH 
 
 KAHIRI'S REPORT — A BUILDING EXCURSION IN THE DESERT. 
 
 Op what use are Saints ? Dead, perhaps they are not of 
 much avail, but Saints in the East are living as well as dead, 
 and those who are still incorporate, are of use. 
 
 Suppose that a merchant is about to travel into a distant 
 and dangerous country, and that he has a daughter whom he 
 dares not take with him, and fears to leave behind. He 
 forthwith seeks out some Pir, or Holy Man, to whose wives 
 he entrusts his child, and may then set forth on his journey 
 free from care, knowing that none will dare to violate the 
 seclusion of the sacred Haram. So, too, with treasure — 
 deposit it with a Pir, and it will remain safe and untouched. 
 Thus your Eastern Saints are in these days what Delphi 
 and Olympia were to the Greeks — what monasteries and 
 abbeys were to our forefathers : bankers who pay no interest 
 it is true, but do not absorb and ingurgitate your principal. 
 One morning a beautiful Persian book was brought to me, 
 and the bearer said the Pir of Sirhind had sent it, and wished 
 to make my acquaintance : I returned my salutation, and he 
 visited me. Fida Mahi Uddin, for such was his name, was 
 descended from Abu Bakr, one of the four friends of the 
 
122 THE FAVOURITE TREE. 
 
 Prophet. There was a dignity in his manner, devoid of all 
 affectation, which would have become His Holiness the Pope 
 himself. He had resided in Hindustan, spoke well of our 
 rule, but without flattery, and conversed most agreeably on 
 the manners and history of the Sindhians and Afghans. It 
 is gross bigotry to suppose that these leaders of the Moslem 
 faith, are not often sincere, well-meaning, men according to 
 their light, which, dim as it is, is sometimes better used than 
 the brighter beams which are shed on us. 
 
 One of these Pirs, celebrated for his strict adherence to the 
 faith, visited the Amirs of Hyderabad but a few years before 
 our invasion. Something was done in his presence which is 
 forbidden in the Kuran. He immediately quitted the room, 
 hastily packed up his things, and was soon en route for 
 his own country. The Amirs sent messages, presents — all in 
 vain. ** Tell your masters,*' was his reply, *' that I would 
 never enter their house again, though they would purchase 
 my return with all the wealth they possess." 
 
 A few minutes after the Pir left me, came an old woman, 
 uttering doleful cries, tearing her hair, and invoking all the 
 Prophets and Saints to see justice done to her. I felt much 
 scandalized on finding my own name mixed up in her vocifera- 
 tions in a manner which appeared to be not that of laudation. 
 Truly thought I, " it is as well the Holy Man is gone, or he 
 would have been greatly edified. What can I have done to vex 
 the old lady ? I never remember to have seen her ill-omened 
 visage before in my life." Any one who has been accustomed 
 to hear complaints in India, will know how difficult it is to 
 get the complainant to state what is really the matter. In 
 other regions the desirable thing is, that the guilty party 
 should make a clean breast — here, the desire for the sufferer 
 
A BIBULOUS EUROPEAN. 123 
 
 himself to narrate his wrongs, is quite as obstinately opposed. 
 At length I learned that a carpenter in my employ had cut 
 down a tree belonging to the aged dame. She vowed that it 
 was a tree of trees, that it was as dear to her as her eyes — 
 that it was her shelter by day, and that she slept under it at 
 night — that she had clasped it in her arms to save it from 
 being felled. I waxed much in wrath with the carpenter, 
 sent for him, and rebuked him very sternly. The man 
 laughed, and merely said, ** Come and see it.'* I gave the 
 old woman money, and in the evening went to inspect her 
 favourite, which turned out to be a dry log, in which life 
 had long been extinct, and which had been only valuable 
 as a lever by which to extract money from the Faringi. 
 " Well," said I, ** let her keep the money, she deserves it for 
 acting so well." But a troublesome old Sindhi woman was, 
 indeed, a mild annoyance, compared with the plague that 
 some of our own underlings were to us. Commend me to 
 a drunken European clerk if you want to have your temper 
 tried. For example — A brother Political wrote to me that 
 
 a Mr. would pass through Shikarpore on such a 
 
 day to join his office, and that I was to furnish him with 
 lodging, and anything he required for his journey. On the 
 said person's arriving he waited on me, and I was quite 
 pre-possessed by his appearance. He seemed to possess 
 manners and address superior to his present situation. I sent 
 for his things, allotted him a tent, and introduced him to a 
 Risalahdar, who commanded a body of horse, encamped close 
 by, and some of whose men were to escort the new comer on 
 his journey the next morning. 
 
 In the night there was a very tolerable amount of noise — 
 people were constantly hurrying about. I sent two or three 
 
124 INTENSE HEAT. 
 
 times to ask if there was aught the matter. At daylight the 
 Risalahdar came with a grave face and said that the Saheb 
 who had arrived the night before, was a man of unpleasant 
 habits. On going to his tent he had spent some hours in 
 drinking, after which he sallied forth with a drawn sword, 
 and amused himself with chasing the servants about, until 
 some of the horsemen, on his falling over the tent-ropes, 
 managed to get the sword out of his hand. I wrote an 
 account of the night's divertissement, and sent it with the 
 whimsical gentleman himself to his master. My friend 
 thought he should be able to reform him, but after a month's 
 trial, sent him back in despair, and the end of it was, that 
 he was transmitted to Sakkar, bound hand and foot, after he 
 had bitten the native Treasurer through the arm, on which 
 occasion the gravity of that functionary quite forsook him, 
 and he roared in a very dismal and moving manner. 
 
 The burning heat of July had now arrived. I slept with 
 a pankah swinging over me, within a few inches of my nose, 
 and if ever the drowsy god weighed down the eye-lids of the 
 man who pulled this pankah, causing its stoppage, I awoke. 
 One night, being thus roused from a short, fitful sleep, I 
 got up and tumbled over a native servant, who lay on the 
 ground near me. '* Is there — is there any air," I said 
 desperately. " If there is," said he, "I haven't got it." I 
 rushed into the garden to see if I could breathe there. Of 
 two English officers who were stopping with me, one was 
 sitting up to his chin among the green corn, by way of 
 cooling himself — the other was pacing up and down under 
 some trees. None of us closed our eyes for the rest of the 
 night. The atmosphere was so thick, one fancied it might 
 have been cut with a knife, and longed to cut and hack it too. 
 
TROTTBLES IN SHAL. 12l> 
 
 out of mere spite. A regiment, which was ordered to march 
 to Shikarpore, from a distance of little more than twenty 
 miles, was utterly disorganised in the two nights it was en 
 route. Some men threw themselves into the canals, others 
 went mad, and numbers were stricken down with fever. It 
 was in such a time that our impolitic treatment of the 
 Brahuis and Hill Biliichis bore fruit. 
 
 On the 24th of June, Sealkote was attacked by the 
 Kakars, who were, however, repulsed with the loss of sixty 
 men. A party of twenty sipahis, under a Havaldar, and 
 escorting Ghulaim Husain, Lieut. Loveday's Munshi, were 
 attacked at Miistung, and cut off to a man. Letters reached 
 me from Khelat from Lieut. Loveday, and the brothers 
 Shah Nawaz and Fateh Khan, representing that the tribes 
 were up in arms against them, under the Chiefs whose lands 
 we had seized — that they feared treachery among their own 
 party, and that unless succour was despatched, Khelat would, 
 probably, soon be in the hands of the enemy. I must own 
 I was much grieved, but little surprised, at this intelligence. 
 From the moment the 31st Regiment, which had been left 
 to garrison Khelat, was — by whose authority I know not — 
 re-called from it, it was quite clear that Shah Nawaz would 
 be unable to make head against the disaffection which was 
 rapidly augmenting. From the first, however, I thought we 
 did right in setting up Shah Nawaz, and I think so still, 
 in spite of the abuse that has been heaped on this measure. 
 
 After the storm of Kheldt and the death of Mihrab, would 
 it not have been a bold experiment to have set his son on the 
 throne ? In Persia it may have answered to flay an unjust 
 judge, and make a prie-Dieu chair for his successor with the 
 skin, but I am not quite sure whether, in general, sons are 
 
126 THE KHELAT QUESTION. 
 
 rendered more loyal and stedfast by shooting their fathers. 
 All princes do not imitate the virtuous Mary in the childish 
 glee with which she ran through the palace from which her 
 father, our second James, had been ousted. Nasir Kh^n, it 
 might reasonably have been expected, would have remembered 
 rather the sword which made him an orphan, than the hand 
 from which he received a diadem. Let no one believe that 
 though, when after several bloody conflicts, we abandoned the 
 country, Nasir showed a smiling countenance to us, he really 
 ceased to look on us as enemies. But our mistake with regard 
 to Shdh Nawaz was not in placing him on the throne, but in 
 denying him support when there. Or if it be said that such 
 aid would have involved us in too much expense ; that, unless 
 Nawaz could maintain himself by his own efltbrts, the hearts 
 of his people were not with him, — then at least we should 
 have given him a fair trial by himself, and not interfered with 
 his rule by detaching from him the province of Katchi and 
 stationing an Agent and a small body of sipahis at his capital. 
 This inflicted on him the odium of our alliance without its 
 substantial advantages. But we did worse than this, as has 
 been before shewn, we raised up enemies against Shah 
 Nawaz, even in his own family, by confiscating the lands of 
 his brother-in-law, Kamal Khan Iltazye. In point of heirship 
 the claim of Nawaz was quite equal with that of Nasir to the 
 throne of Khelat. Their fathers had been litigants for it, as 
 the sons now were, and the father of Nawaz had been cruelly 
 and traitorously murdered by Mihrab. Nawaz was approved 
 by Shah Shuja, who was the Lord Paramount, and had always 
 been recognized by the Amirs of Sindh, insomuch that he 
 was supported by them in exile and treated as a prince. Be 
 that, however, as it may, the British Government had made 
 
THE KHELAT QUESTION. 127 
 
 Nawaz, Khan of Khelat, and I maintain that it was the height 
 or depth (phrase it how you will) of turpitude to abandon 
 him in his distress. There is no one thing which has more 
 sapped our power in the East than the belief which is daily 
 gaining strength, that the English are not staunch friends — 
 that a valiant enemy will win from them more than a submis- 
 sive ally. Lord EUenborough saw this, and, I am persuaded, 
 did more for us by rewarding Bhawal Khan in the manner he 
 did than twenty bloody victories would effect. 
 
 Our empire in India is to be maintained in the same way 
 as it was first acquired, in the way in which Rome contrived 
 to sway the world, by making powerful those who support us, 
 and carrying them through all opposition. But with the 
 exception of Bhawal Khan, where are those who were a few 
 years ago our allies ? Where is the Shah ? — where Nawaz 
 Khan? — where Mirs Rustam and Sobdar? — where are the 
 chiefs who, in Afghanistan, drew their swords in our cause 
 against their own tribe ? All slain or exiled, and in their 
 places sit those who opposed us from the first. In truth 
 it is no very gratifying reflection. Even a Musalman might 
 say " I would rather be the Faringl's pig than his friend.'*^ 
 Poor Loveday wrote to me that he was sure he and his party 
 would be cut off, but that he was resolved rather to die than 
 leave his post. I wrote to the Agent at Sakkar, and begged 
 that a regiment might be sent up the Gandava Pass without 
 delay. He replied that no one had any authority to move 
 troops without a reference to our Chief at Simla. I offered 
 to take the responsibility on my own head if he would support 
 my application to the Brigadier in command. To this no- 
 answer was returned ; and occasion — which was now offering 
 to us her fore-lock — glided away, and we strove in vaia 
 
128 ABDULLAH KAHIRI. 
 
 afterwards to catch the close-shorn backhead which she 
 presented to us in her flight. About this time Abdullah 
 Kahiri, our guide in the Hill expeditions, paid me a visit. He 
 had news of the beleaguered Kahan. " The Marris/' said he, 
 " are fortifying the road by Lehri and Nafushk." " Are they 
 in strength?" I asked. "So strong," said he, "that they 
 will beat back five hundred of your men. If you send a 
 thousand, you may succeed; but even then it will not be 
 without fighting." He named the chiefs he heard were 
 assembled to prevent our relieving Kahan. I immediately 
 took Abdullah before another political officer, and made 
 him repeat all he had said. I could not find a person 
 who would give any credence to the information. Every 
 one laughed at the idea of the Marris fighting a whole 
 regiment. 
 
 On the 24th of July we had heavy rain with thunder and 
 lightning, which cooled the air a little. 
 
 In the beginning of August I went into Sakkar. I found 
 Brigadier S. dying, at the Agency, of water on the brain. 
 A blister had reduced the oppression somewhat. He was 
 supported up in his bed. " When I am better," he said, 
 *• 1 do not know whether I shall go to Simla or to Carrachi; 
 which, doctor, do you think will suit me best ? " " Perhaps 
 Carrachi," said the doctor. When we left the room the 
 doctor said, •' He will be dead before to-morrow morning." 
 And so it was. The next evening I attended his funeral. 
 It was a sad, sad sight. There were several graves of officers 
 near the spot where he was to be laid. The jackals had 
 made great holes in their burrowing to get to the bodies. 
 The firing party, by some strange mistake, fired away from, 
 instead of over, the coffin. The service was read by an 
 
ADVANCE OF CLIBBORN's FORCE. 129 
 
 officer in an indistinct, hurried tone, and that noble chapter 
 of the 1st Corinthians awakened no response in the hearts 
 of those who stood by. *' Let me die," thought I, " in my 
 own land, and not among the heathen, who know not the 
 hope of Christ." 
 
 On the 12th of August I returned to Shikarpore. 
 Clibborn's force — consisting of the 1st Grenadiers, two 
 hundred and fifty Horse, the Light Company of the 2nd 
 Grenadiers, and some artillery — passed through en route for 
 Kahan. It had been proposed to send two companies of 
 Europeans with him, and a whole wing of the 2nd Grenadiers. 
 *' You had better take them," I said, as we stood on the steps 
 of the Agency ; "I am sure you will have hard fighting." 
 ** I shan't want them," he said; "the Biluchis will never 
 stand." I wrote an official application, offering to go with 
 the force, and received for answer — that I was wanted 
 where I was. My mind misgave me when I saw the way 
 in which the enemy were underrated, and when I beheld 
 the great string of camels the troops had with them. 
 Among the officers was an Irishman of gigantic stature, 
 six feet five inches high, and of Herculean proportions. 
 His temper was not absolutely one of silk. He wanted 
 some camels, and I sent the Darogah, or Mayor of Shikar- 
 pore, to him to inquire after and supply his wants. The 
 little Persian came back shaking in every limb. "Wah! 
 Saheb," he said, ** you have sent me to an Afrit, — a monster, 
 and no man. I entreat you, Saheb, get the camels yourself 
 for him, and let me be clear of this raging lion." 
 
 On the 14th I received a letter from Loveday, giving the 
 news of the fall of Khelat, after a smart resistance. ** With a 
 couple of hundred sipahis," he said, "the Khdn and his brother 
 
130 HABIB KA GOTE. 
 
 would have baffled all attacks, but they were betrayed by 
 their own party." Shah Nawaz had shewn great courage, 
 and had killed one of the assailants with his own hand. 
 
 I now received orders to set out for Dadar, and to erect 
 at each station on the road a house for travellers, at the 
 same time seeing that the wells were cleared out, so that on 
 the advance of troops their halting places might be at least 
 provided with a supply of water. A few days were allowed 
 to the workmen who were to attend me that they might 
 make their arrangements, and meantime I paid a visit to 
 Habib Ka Gote, the residence of the Pir of Sirhind. I found 
 him living in a very comfortable house, with a garden which, 
 for Sindh, was quite charming. He gave me a most delicious 
 dinner on silver platters. I particularly admired the long 
 Peshawar rice, a grain of which is three times the size 
 of the ordinary kind, and which is so highly esteemed that 
 Ranjit took part of the tribute of Peshawar in it, and used to 
 make presents of it. After dinner a man with a clear sweet 
 voice read the combat of Sohrab and Rustam in the Shah- 
 namah, with much spirit. Afterwards we walked in the 
 garden, and I returned to Shikarpore about midnight. It 
 was very dark, and as we passed under the gate, my forehead 
 encountered some woodwork, which laid me flat on the back 
 of the camel, but luckily I did not fall, and still more luckily 
 I had on an English jockey cap, thickly padded with cotton, 
 which saved me from a fractured skull. Next day I was 
 asked by Ibrahim Shah, the Hyderabad minister, to a nach 
 in what is called the Cazis garden. The Sindhian dancing 
 girls are inferior to those I have seen in India. One whose 
 name was "Moonbeam," (Mahtab) was rather pretty; but, 
 on the whole, there was no great risk of being fascinated. 
 
JANIDERAH. 131 
 
 On the 29th of August I left Shikarpore at midnight, and 
 by five next morning reached a place called Janiderah, about 
 twenty-four miles distant, where is a small half-ruined fort. 
 Round it extends a vast plain, which for miles at this season 
 of the year is clothed with a gigantic grain, the Jawari, or 
 Holcus sorgum. In no part of the world does this grain grow 
 to such a gigantic height as here. Riding on a camel 
 I found that it was still several feet above my head; and, in 
 many places, it must have measured twenty feet from the 
 ground. A tract of six or eight miles so covered, forms 
 a fine lurking place for robbers, of which before many days 
 I had good proof. Janiderah boasts of one solitary tree, 
 a tree of tall stature, that seems to draw itself up in a very 
 dignified and Dombey-like manner, in contempt of the 
 puny things around. Innumerable birds take refuge in this 
 solitary tree. I fired into it at hap-hazard, and killed with 
 two shots eighty-four sparrows. This place is sometimes 
 visited with a furious tornado, or simdm, from the desert. 
 The commander of Irregular Horse stationed at it told me 
 that on one occasion he was two days without food, — the 
 wind blowing the roofs of the houses in the fort away, and 
 the air being so full of dust that it was impossible to cook 
 anything. At one time. Canals from the Indus came up 
 beyond Janiderah far into the desert. Then cultivation 
 was carried on to a much greater extent, and many villages 
 existed the very names of which are forgotten, while round 
 the fort itself was a small town, in place of which is now 
 a burial ground, populous with tombs. I set men to work 
 to build a house for travellers, and next day went on eleven 
 miles to Khangarh, where is a fort which, when Lord Keane's 
 force passed up to Afghanistdn, contained two hundred people, 
 
 2 K 
 
1,32 DESTRUCTION OE KHANGARH. 
 
 chiefly of the Kosah tribe. Some of them were said to have 
 plundered our baggage, though the other Sindhis declare these 
 Kosahs were innocent, and that the ill-deed was done by the 
 Jakranis. Whatever the truth may be, it is at least certain 
 that the Fifth B.N.I, attacked the place. They had artillery 
 with them, but the guns were too light, and, moreover, 
 not very well served ; for it is said the first shot missed 
 the fort altogether, and that the defenders uttered a shout 
 of derision. Meantime, those inside were not idle — a ball 
 from a matchlock killed the Subedar Major of the attacking 
 regiment, and some of the men were killed and wounded. 
 Two young officers of the corps, who had never seen a shot 
 fired before, now rushed on gallantly to the gate of the fort, 
 and endeavoured to pull away the timber with which it was 
 blocked up. One of them was wounded ; the attempt, 
 however, succeeded, and an entrance was effected. A great 
 number of the Biliichis were bayoneted — as many it has 
 been said as one hundred and thirty — and the rest were sent 
 prisoners to Shikarpore, where they were afterwards released. 
 If the Kosahs were really guilty of the marauding imputed 
 to them, they were terribly punished ; for the place was 
 utterly ruined, and remains, doubtless to this day, in ghastly 
 keeping with the waste around. 
 
 After setting my gentlemen of the brick and mortar 
 department to work, I prepared to start once more, not 
 exactly for "fresh fields, and pastures new" — but rather 
 for ** fresh deserts, pastures none or few." As we rode along 
 a few antelopes appeared in the distance. These were the 
 only deer I ever saw to the West of the Indus. India, as is 
 well known, swarms with them. At Rajkote it was my 
 favourite amusement in my morning ride from camp, to 
 
ANTELOPE. 133 
 
 gallop after them, when the frightened animals continually 
 crossed and re-crossed before the horse. Had they gone 
 straight away they would soon have been lost to sight, but 
 owing to this trick of theirs, I have often nearly overtaken 
 them. The place, however, I was now in, did not favour any 
 supererogatory exercise, so I suffered the timid creatures to 
 steal off unscared. 
 
134 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BATTLE OF NAFUSHK — RETREAT OF CLIBBORN S FORCE PROCEED TO 
 
 BAGH — CRITICAL STATE OF THE COUNTRY LEHRI BURNING OF 
 
 GANDAVA — RETURN TO SHIKARPORE. 
 
 My route was now to Dddar, but I was compelled to return 
 to Janiderah, in order to get to my destination. Scarce had 
 my tent been pitched, when my Munshi came to me with a 
 face like that of him who ** drew Priam's curtain in the dead 
 of night/' " Saheb," said he, " there are marvellous reports 
 abroad here, 'tis said the sound of cannon was heard all 
 yesterday ; that Clibbom Saheb has fought a battle with the 
 Marris in the Hills ; that the star of the Company was dim ; 
 that the Biluchi villages are full of ears cut off from dead 
 Faringis." ** Munshi," I said, " what dirt have they made 
 you eat, that you believe such stuff as this : how could 
 cannon in the Marri Hills be heard at this place, which is 
 a hundred miles off? and how could any one get the news 
 to-day, of a battle fought yesterday at such a distance ? they 
 have been laughing at your beard." So saying I dismissed 
 my Munshi, and, with him, all thoughts of the battle ; and 
 went out to see how my ' deversorium,' or traveller's bun- 
 galow, was progressing. 
 
 "Hasten, slowly," is the motto of all Sindhis. I found 
 in the day 1 had been absent not one single thing had been 
 
SINDHI MECHANICS. 135 
 
 done. The head maistri, or builder, had discovered in the 
 morning that some of the workmen had deserted with 
 their advance of pay ; whereupon he had abused those who 
 remained, when a terrific altercation ensued, which was 
 protracted to an interminable length from the circumstance 
 of the belligerent parties having their thoughts divided 
 between their pipes and the matter in dispute. A day's 
 work lost (as my friends probably reflected) does the workman 
 who loses it no great harm, when his monthly pay comes in 
 all the same. Consequently, my Sindhis, after going through 
 the whole mental process which precedes action, had some- 
 how fallen short of action itself. Spite of their resentment 
 against the head builder, they had probably decided that the 
 TeAos — the erection of the building for which they were 
 receiving pay was a good one; then came the choice of 
 means which, indeed, did not admit of a very extensive or 
 embarrassing disquisition, seeing that the only materials 
 procurable lay before them. They had, therefore, in all 
 likelihood proceeded to volition ; but this is a very nice and 
 critical stage. If any one doubts it, let him turn to the 
 Nicomachean Ethics, chapter 3. Here, therefore, I found my 
 friends balancing in their minds, like children on a see- saw, 
 as to whether they should begin or not, and I forthwith 
 decided to remain a day or two to give them the benefit of 
 my encouragement and superintendence. I soon got them to 
 work, and though I was rather scandalised at the excessive 
 caution with which one would lift a piece of wood of ten 
 pounds weight, and the extraordinary interval of time which 
 intervened before another, who had withdrawn on justifiable 
 grounds, made his re-appearance, still, the building had begun, 
 and every one knows that it is the first step that counts. 
 
136 NAFUSHK. 
 
 Having halted for these reasons, I had soon cause to be 
 glad that I had been delayed ; for, next day, intelligence of 
 the defeat of our troops at Nafushk reached me from 
 quarters that there was no gainsaying. I transmitted my 
 bad news to Shikarpore, and received, in return, directions 
 to write to Major Clibborn, and advise him to halt at 
 Lehri or Phulaji, near the foot of the hills, until he could 
 be reinforced or relieved. His force, however, he thought, 
 was in no condition to stop. They had lost three of the four 
 guns they had had with them, and their camels — four hundred 
 in number, — with all the baggage and treasure. Tentless, dis- 
 spirited, a third of them wounded, their object was to get 
 back to Shikarpore as fast as possible. On the other hand, 
 the exhibition of a force which — a few days previously, had 
 marched up, full of confidence and martial ardour, to relieve 
 their beleaguered comrades in Kahan — now returning with 
 every token of discomfiture, was not one calculated to impress 
 those we governed in Upper Sindh with a strong idea of the 
 prosperous state of our affairs. On this ground the political 
 authorities thought it would be wise in Major Clibborn to 
 conceal his defeat as much as possible, and halt until the 
 troops he commanded were brought into some order, more 
 especially as this retreat would leave the wide space between 
 Lehri and Shikarpore open to the inroads of the plundering 
 Biluchis. 
 
 I was not, however, suffered to remain long in doubt as 
 to the course which, whether preferable or not, would be the 
 one adopted. Stragglers began to arrive at Janiderah — 
 wayworn, and with that sullen, dejected look, which charac- 
 terises defeat. Soon after came the main body, in plight, 
 alas ! how different from the gallant trim in which they had 
 
NAFU^HK. 137 
 
 advanced. One tent was left, in which we sat down to 
 mess. A third of the officers had fallen ; several of those 
 who survived were wounded. The discourse was, as may 
 be supposed, of the late action. The story of it was a simple 
 one. — They had left Lehri without any expectation of being 
 opposed. For the first three or four marches no enemy was 
 seen ; then a few Biluchis showed themselves. The road 
 through the hills was most difficult, the camels began to 
 straggle — some died ; their loads, as usual, were crammed 
 upon the others already sinking with their own burdens. 
 Then came confusion ; the enemy appeared in greater 
 numbers and began to harass our men and impede the line 
 of march. Several skirmishes took place, in one of which 
 the officer who commanded the Puna Horse gallantly main- 
 tained a combat, sword in hand, with two powerful Biluchis, 
 and slew them both. Still the enemy grew bolder, and 
 some baggage was carried off. The sun's heat, even then 
 — the end of August — was so great, that several men died 
 of coup de soleil ; — among them the gigantic officer of 
 Grenadiers who had so terrified the poor Darogah at 
 Shikarpore. The charge of bringing up the rear-guard 
 had fallen to him. So craggy was the road that the last 
 gun was not up at the halting-place till three p.m. That 
 day's work killed the strong man. The feeble survived, 
 while he whose arm — like that of Front de Bceuf — could have 
 stricken down a bull, was, in an instant — dead, without 
 a sign to shew where death had smitten him. The next 
 march brought the troops to a steep and roadless hill. The 
 road, in fact, had been broken up. On the summit of the 
 hill were seen the enemy in force. Beyond, at the distance 
 of a few miles, was Kahan. To halt was impossible, where 
 
138 NAFUSHK. 
 
 no water was to be obtained ; to retreat, with the object of 
 the expedition almost within grasp, was not to be thought 
 of. A party prepared to force their way up the hill; the 
 guns and howitzers were to clear the top for them. But 
 the shells fell short, and as soon as the storming party — of 
 whom forty were dismounted troopers — began to ascend, 
 a sharp fire of match-locks opened upon them. Every one 
 knows that, in such positions, the match-lock is more deadly 
 than the musket ; its range is longer, and those who use it 
 take, in general, better aim than our sipahis. The sipahis 
 fell fast. The officer who led was badly wounded ; still 
 he pressed on. He and one private were the only men who 
 got almost to the top ; for, when the detachment were little 
 more than half way up, down rushed the Marris ; — with the 
 fury of a mountain torrent they swept all before them. 
 Every officer of the storming party was killed but one. He 
 it was who, a few days before, had slain two of the enemy 
 in single combat. It was now his turn to bleed. He was 
 cut down, and his life only saved by his native A.D.C., who 
 parried the next blow and shot the assailant, at the same 
 
 time assisting L to regain his feet. His danger, 
 
 however, was not over. A huge Biluch pursued him, 
 desperately wounded as he was, down to where the regiment 
 had formed square, at the foot of the hill. His strength was 
 but sufficient to carry him to one of the guns, close to 
 which he fell, senseless. One of the gunners, thinking him 
 dead, stood on his body as he fired the gun. Of the storm- 
 ing party not twenty were left, and the victorious Biliichis 
 — with a large stone in one hand and a sword in the 
 other — charged up to the muzzle of the guns. They 
 hurled the stones in the faces of our men, who declared 
 
NAFUSHK. 139 
 
 that this mode of attack was more formidable than it is 
 possible to express. One most distinguished chief of the 
 Marris actually thrust his shield against the mouth of a 
 gun as it was about to be fired, and was blown away from 
 it. Others seized the muskets of the sipahis and threw 
 themselves on the bayonets. They fought like madmen, 
 or wild beasts, and so great was the peril of our troops 
 that Major Clibborn himself wrote that "nothing but a 
 fortunate discharge of grape saved the regiment, at the 
 last moment, from complete destruction.*' When the enemy 
 retired, the only thought left was how to retreat with as 
 much speed as possible. But the men were dying of thirst. 
 The guides stated that water might be got in the vicinity. 
 It is but too probable that in saying this they told a 
 deliberate falsehood, — with what object it is difficult to con- 
 jecture, for they themselves would have been put to the 
 sword had they fallen into the hands of the enemy. A 
 party, however, was sent in quest of the spring, were 
 attacked by the Biliichis, and almost all, except the guides, 
 cut off. Itibar Khan, one of the guides, had mounted 
 himself on a white horse, belonging to Major Clibborn, and 
 on this he escaped. He had, however, according to his own 
 account, availed himself of the lull that had taken place after 
 the first attack, before he was sent with the water party, 
 to go round and cut the throats of the Biluchis lying on the 
 ground, and among them that of Haibat Khan, a chief of 
 note with whom he was at feud. The clothes, too, of the 
 poor dying wretches were on fire, and burned like tinder, 
 adding to their tortures. After Major Clibborn found that 
 the party he had sent for water did not return, he ordered 
 a retreat to the previous day's halting-place., On the way 
 
140 XAFUSHK. 
 
 there, and for days after, down to Lehri, our troops were 
 pursued, stragglers killed, and the remaining baggage cap- 
 tured. Nor even at Janiderah were they quite free from 
 annoyance. As we sat at mess a sipahi came rushing in 
 with his hand cut off. He had, that instant, been wounded. 
 Two or three mounted Bihichis had come upon him, as he 
 had gone a few hundred yards from camp. He fled, and, 
 as he held up his arm to save his head, one of his pursuers 
 cut the hand clean in two. There was not the slightest jag 
 or unevenness — a tolerable proof of the sharpness of the 
 sword. The poor fellow seemed in great agony, and we 
 all rushed out to see what had become of the Biliichis. 
 Several men mounted and rode along the edge of the Jawari, 
 which extended round us, but soon came back without 
 having seen the robbers. Man is a laughing animal; in 
 spite of the late disaster we had a hearty laugh at the 
 doctor of the regiment, who, when some of the artillery- 
 men were killed at Nafushk, gallantly assisted in serving 
 one of the guns. He rammed down the charge with great 
 vigour, but, for the life of him, could not get the rammer 
 out again. Time was precious — the Biliichis were making 
 another charge and were almost up to the gun. The doctor's 
 efforts became superhuman — still the rammer was immove- 
 able. •' Wriggle it about man," roared the officer, who was 
 just going to fire. " I can't stir it." " Then mind yourself; " 
 and the doctor had scarce time to tumble on one side when 
 bang went the rammer and all close to him. 
 
 Next morning Clibborn's force left Janiderah for Shikarpore. 
 Some of the camp followers (not the sipahis, it is to be hoped) 
 encountered a huge supply of beer on its way to the thirsty 
 souls at Phulaji and other grilling stations near the desert. 
 
NAFUSHK. 141 
 
 Acting on the reverse of Sidney's principle, and, doubtless, 
 observing *' My need is greater than thine," they quaffed off 
 every bottle with most Christian relish and thankfulness. It 
 was lucky I had no beer with me, or perchance my liquids 
 would have gone in the same way. So ended our attempts 
 to relieve Kahan. A Court of Inquiry was held upon 
 Major Clibborn, and pronounced rather unfavourably of the 
 judgment he displayed. They were called upon to re-con- 
 sider their opinion, yet adhered to it and consequently fell 
 
 all of them, somewhat unjustly, in my opinion, into mais 
 
 laissons cela. I shall only say it was lucky no Political accom- 
 panied the force. Poor devil ! what Atlantean shoulders 
 he would have required to bear the weight of infamy that 
 would have been hurled upon him! Brigade-Major A. 
 would have curled up his nose to an extent of scorn, 
 painful even to himself, as he exclaimed, " It is all those 
 damned Politicals." Adjutant B. would have caught up 
 the cry, and every corner of the camp would have echoed 
 with one unmelodious but harmonizing growl of ** damned 
 Politicals." Good truth! for my own part I should have 
 been reminded of a certain squire, who, if any pious indi- 
 vidual of his parish fell sick, or became unfortunate, or met 
 with any accident whatsoever, had a general remark for the 
 occasion, ** It is all that damned religion." 
 
 Before leaving Janiderah, I had a visit from Rahman, the 
 robber, who now wore a gay lungi or scarf, and was, pro 
 tern., an honest man in our service. Seeing that he had his 
 famous black mare with him, I asked him to lend it to 
 me for a day or two. He looked anything but pleased, but 
 assented, and the next time I rode out I mounted the mare. 
 She was a most powerful creature, and no doubt equal to 
 
142 NATIVE CHARGERS. 
 
 immense distances, but her paces were rough, and she had 
 an unpleasant trick of stopping as if she were listening, 
 with her head on one side; there was no moving her till 
 she had satisfied her curiosity. Rahman was evidently very 
 anxious to get her back, and would not hear of selling her, 
 so I let him have her, and he went off with all expedition. 
 Afterwards I learned that the next day had been fixed on 
 by him and other Burdi robbers for a foray upon another 
 tribe, which they executed, and carried off many head of 
 cattle. No wonder the rogue was so anxious for his steed. 
 Horses that have been ridden by natives are seldom agree- 
 able to Europeans. They spoil their mouths and their paces, 
 and teach them to show ofi^ by bounding and curvetting 
 — a sort of display which looks well, but is the reverse of 
 comfortable to the rider, unless he has been used to the 
 hard wooden saddles of the native horsemen. On one occa- 
 sion I had been much edified by the excessive springs and 
 plunges which a handsome young Afghan cavaHer was making 
 his steed exhibit. I thought I should like to try the same 
 amusement — so mounted, stuck in my spurs, and held in the 
 animal's head in approved fashion. After one or two bounds, 
 I began to find my seat was not of rose-leaves or velvet, and 
 wished to stop, but my steed liked the fun better than I did, 
 and jumped the higher the more I would have it desist. A 
 very thin pair of sleeping drawers was all that intervened 
 between my flesh and the hardest piece of wood that, I 
 believe, was ever fashioned by man for the convenience, 
 or rather excruciating inconvenience, of his fellow. " Plague 
 take thee,'* thought I, as I at last succeeded in dismounting, 
 *' a rider should indeed be one of metal to sit in thy saddle." 
 J As I was starting for Rojan, a letter reached me from 
 
ROJAN. 143 
 
 Vardon, a cavalry officer in charge of Bagh, to the effect 
 that the Brahuis were descending the Gandava Pass in great 
 force ; that, in fact, they had several thousand horse, and 
 a vast rabble of footmen. At Rojan, which by a very slight 
 twist of the Persian name, might be rendered "departing 
 life,'* I halted a day to clear out the well. Such water 
 as that well then held might have moved the springs of 
 Harrowgate, or the stagnant pools of Tower Ditch, to bitter 
 envy. On pumping it up, which we did with a Persian 
 wheel, the effluvia defied approach. Possibly the carcases 
 of several animals which we extracted from it, may have 
 imparted to it that peculiar perfume which baffled the most 
 subtle endeavours to make it accessible. Yet, after four-and- 
 twenty hours drawing, it had almost lost its bad smell, and 
 the rich green which formed its previous tint. I had some 
 talk with the chief of the Jamalis who resides at Rojan. 
 He told me his tribe had been dreadfully cut up by the 
 Kalpar Bugtis in a night attack, and he himself had been 
 wounded in many places. The next night I crossed the 
 desert, which was quite hard and level, and, but for our 
 guides, required the compass as much as the ** waste of 
 waters." About five miles from Rojan is the tomb of 
 a Seyyad, this is the only landmark in a long ride of 
 more than thirty miles. When we were about half way 
 across we saw sparks flying, a sign that matchlocks were 
 not far off. My Jamali guides rode on to reconnoitre, 
 but presently returned, saying it was a couple of Afghan 
 travellers. When we got up to them we found they had 
 made their camels sit down, and were resting their match- 
 locks over them. They said that several Biluchi robbers 
 were close upon them, when our approach saved them 
 
144 BARSHORI. 
 
 from their attack, and they asked leave to join my party, 
 to which I assented. Before morning we reached Barshori, 
 the most miserable of villages. Its name signifies " on the 
 salt water," and it is an eponymic, for salt the water is. 
 Yet this hole boasts of a chief, whose motto should be 
 ** Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." On 
 inquiry for the wells I was shown some miserable pits in 
 which there was a foot or so of water. To dig lower 
 would carry one through the strata in which the water 
 rests, and the supply would be lost altogether. I gave 
 orders for the erection of a bungalow, and sat looking as 
 dignified as possible under a shed, with the true Sindh 
 head-dress on — a jockey cap surmounted with a cover of 
 thickly padded cotton, and a muslin turband some twenty 
 yards in length twisted round it. Spite of which I felt as if 
 my head was in a chafing dish, and the perspiration streamed 
 piteously and unintermittingly from every pore. Next day 
 I found the water was eminently calculated to supply the 
 want of a travelling medicine chest. A more protracted 
 experiment of its medicinal qualities would perhaps have pre- 
 vented me from prosecuting my journey. I therefore left 
 some workmen to carry on the matter of building, and quitted 
 this agreeable place, in which the delay of an hour seems 
 protracted to infinite ages. Yet even these desolate regions 
 might be clothed with verdure, by canalling from the Indus. 
 In former years, indeed, two grand canals did exist, the 
 Mirwah, belonging to Hyderabad, and the Muradwah, the 
 property of the Amirs of Khyrpore. By degrees they fell 
 out of repair, and the disturbed state of the country pre- 
 vented their restoration. Before starting I sent off a letter 
 to my chief with an account of these canals, the direction 
 
ROUTE TO BAGH. 145 
 
 in which they had passed, and suggestions as to their 
 repair. The Biluchis who were to take my letter asked 
 for money to buy bhang, for said they, "We cannot face 
 the desert without some stimulus to keep up our hearts." 
 I gave them the cash. '* Now," they said, " we shall go 
 singing all the way." After quitting Barshori, I rode twelve 
 miles through the desert to Mirpore. I passed nothing on 
 the way but a couple of human skulls and some villages in 
 ruins. Old Mirpore is a very large village, but for the 
 most part in ruins. It possesses a grove of fine trees, 
 under which I pitched my tent. On awaking, after a 
 feverish night, I was told that a body of horsemen were 
 approaching. Some said it was the Brahiiis, and if it had 
 been I could have made but a poor resistance with four 
 sipahis and the like number of horsemen. It turned out, 
 however, to be the Cazi of Bagh with eighty men, despatched 
 by Vardon, bringing a pressing invitation to advance with all 
 the troops I could muster, as the Brahuis were but a few 
 march es from Bagh, under several chiefs of rank. I could 
 not help smiling as I looked round on my troops, in all nine 
 men. The Cazi, too, seemed to wear a very blank aspect, 
 at sight of the reinforcement, for he came with the idea 
 that I had at least a hundred men with me. In truth, 
 my chief, who never travelled without an escort of some 
 hundred horse, and the wing of an infantry regiment, had 
 chosen to consider me quite safe with a corporal's party, 
 though I had some thousand rupees with me to pay the 
 workmen. I forthwith sent off information of the advance 
 of the Brahiiis to Sakkar and Larkhanah, and rode on 
 with the Cazi towards Bagh. We halted an hour at a 
 village called Cdsim ka Joke, which, as poor Codrington, of 
 
 L 
 
146 BAGH. 
 
 the Shah's Contingent, said, might have been a very good 
 joke to Casim, but was no joke to him, for supplies were 
 scarce. Casim Khan, the Zamindar and owner of the village, 
 came to pay his respects — a fine-looking man with a mag- 
 nificent black beard. With him came Muhammad Khan 
 Abra, a good-tempered farmer-looking man, to whom I 
 entrusted my tent for the present. 
 
 At two in the morning I reached Bagh, by which time, 
 of the eighty horsemen who came to me at Mirpore, only 
 the Cazi was left; all the rest, on various pretences, 
 having made off. When we were close to the gate of the 
 town, it occurred to the Cazi that we might have a bullet 
 sent at us, arriving at such an unseasonable hour, and the 
 rather as the garrison were on the look out for the Brahuis. 
 He entreated me, therefore, to halt out of gun-shot until it 
 was light, and his teeth chattered with fear as we rode up. 
 Sure enough directly I began to knock at the gate, and 
 shout for admittance, two or three gun barrels made their 
 appearance in line with my head, and I was requested to 
 move ten paces from the door, unless I wished to be made 
 acquainted with their contents. Heads popped out from 
 above the gate, and back again with marvellous celerity, and 
 it was some time before I could prevail on them to lay aside 
 this foolery, and let me in. As soon as I was admitted, I 
 rode to the house where Vardon was, awoke him, and dis- 
 cussed the state of affairs. He informed me that he had 
 ninety horsemen with him. Irregulars, and most of them raw 
 recruits ; that he had several times sent to Dadar, where we 
 had five hundred men and several guns, for assistance, but 
 that they had only sent him one man — an artillery man — to 
 show him how to manage some two or three old rusty cannon 
 
BAGU. 147 
 
 that were in Bagh. One of them he made trial of himself, 
 and aimed at a ruin before the city, about two hundred yards 
 off. He managed to miss it — and the gun turned over a 
 regular somerset, and fell off the wall, under which it still 
 lay. He said it would be impossible to hold the town, in 
 which were several thousand inhabitants, all hostile to us, or — 
 at the best — indifferent to our cause, against the young Khdn 
 of Khelat, who was descending by the Bolan; and Kamal 
 Khan, who, with three or four thousand men, had already 
 come down by the Gandava Pass. The wall of the city was 
 not ten feet high in many places, and it was necessary to go 
 outside to get water — add to which, Muhammad Sherif, the 
 Governor of Katchi, who resided in the city, was notoriously 
 in league with the Brahiiis. On hearing this agreeable 
 intelligence, I proposed that we should send for the chief 
 men who were in the town, and hear what they had to 
 say. Accordingly, we summoned a council, and the leading 
 men, of whom Ghulam Nabbi Mughairi, and Haidar Khan 
 Abra, were the principal, said very plainly that if we had 
 troops to garrison the place, it was well; otherwise they 
 must make terms with the young Khan, as their lands would 
 be laid waste, and their own lives would be in jeopardy, if 
 we could not protect them. These men, there is no doubt, 
 were well disposed towards us, but they saw our weakness, 
 and knew the villainy of Muhammad Sherif. who would 
 have opened the gates to the Brahuis, and welcomed them 
 as friends. 
 
 Of the animus of the inhabitants, proof had been given 
 some few days before. A Havaldar, or serjeant of a native 
 regiment, had arrived with his party. As he was walking 
 through the streets, some one stepped up behind him and 
 
 l2 
 
148 BAG II. 
 
 cut off his head, which was found lying several yards from 
 his body. So little was the Brahiii irruption expected, that 
 I received orders to dig a well at Gandava, at the very time 
 that Kamal Khan's army occupied it. As we had consider- 
 able stores of grain at Bagh, it was a great object to save 
 the town. It was agreed, therefore, that I should leave my 
 few sipahis with Vardon, and ride to Phulaji, the nearest post 
 from which aid could be drawn, and endeavour to procure 
 some reinforcements; and, whether I succeeded or failed, 
 return to Bagh within two days. Tired as I was, having 
 been up all night, I mounted a riding camel and set off for 
 Phulaji. Eighteen miles of desert brought me to Chachar. 
 This village is situated on the Lehri river, and is surrounded 
 by vast crops of Jawari, which extend for miles. Thence I 
 proceeded to Wazirah, the village of the famous Bijjar Khan 
 Diimki — rendered illustrious subsequently by Sir C. Napier's 
 pursuit of him — then a captive at Sakkar. Four miles 
 more brought me to Khea — a fort in which the family of 
 Bijjar resided, and which is the stronghold of the Dumkis. 
 I believe it was well for me that my name was in good 
 odour with the Biluchis. Here was I — mounted, as it 
 chanced, on the very camel which had been taken from 
 Bijjar when he surrendered — alone and worn out with 
 fatigue, arriving, in the middle of the night, in the strong- 
 hold of his clan. Wazir Khan, Bijjar's son, and his brother 
 Mubarik Khan, came out to me, and with them a dozen 
 or two of their Biliichi followers. They recognised the 
 camel in a moment, calling it by its name, and knew me 
 very well, as I had, more than once, feasted them when 
 they passed through Shikarpore. Forthwith they sent for 
 a sheep and pipes, and down we sat to a very good meal. 
 
ROUTE TO LEHRI. 149 
 
 The sheep here are called Dumbahs, and were regular Daniel 
 Lamberts* in their way — fat as possible, with prodigious 
 tails. We talked of the battle of Nafushk, and they gave 
 me to understand that all the BilCichis from that quarter 
 had gone up to assist the Marris and had taken part in 
 the battle. I asked how many men had been killed. The 
 answer was — Two hundred of your men, and eighty Biliichis. 
 
 After a rest of an hour or so I started again, and Mubarik 
 Khan rode with me through six miles of jungle to Phiilaji. 
 This is a rather pretty village, not far from the foot of the 
 Marri and Bugti hills. It belonged formerly to the Kahiris, 
 but Bijjar Khan expelled them. On our arrival the Kahiris 
 were among the first who entered our service, and, in 
 recompense, received back Phulaji, and other neighbouring 
 districts. 
 
 During my long ride from Bagh to Phulaji I had had 
 full time to weigh well the state of affairs and consider what 
 was to be done. Matters stood thus. The authorities at 
 Sakkar were in supreme ignorance as yet (for they had not 
 received my letters) of the storm that was so near at hand. 
 The Brahuis were descending on Katchi in two great 
 columns. That under Kamal Khan Iltazye, numbering 
 from three to four thousand men, had already reached and 
 plundered Gandava ; while the column under Nasir Khan of 
 from five to six thousand strong, was still many marches from 
 Dadar. In three marches Kamal Khan could have entered 
 Bagh. There was no garrison to oppose him there — only 
 a few irregular horse ; and the governor, Muhammad Sherif, 
 was in league with the Brahuis. By occupying Bagh, Kamal 
 Khin would have gained possession of its magazines of corn, 
 would have placed Dadar between two fires, and opened a 
 
loO PHULAJI. 
 
 communication with the people of Kajjak, and with the 
 Marri and Bugti Bil6chis. It is not too much to say that, 
 in this case, Dadar would have fallen, and our detachments 
 there have been cut off ; for, if they had some difficulty in 
 repelling the attack of Nasir Khan, would they have resisted 
 him strengthened by several thousand men, and the guns 
 (such as they were) that would have been captured at Bagh. 
 It appeared to me, therefore, that the best thing I could 
 do would be to draw as strong a force as possible to Bagh, 
 and, leaving the infantry there, to march with all the cavalry 
 that could be collected, on the Brahui camp at Gandava. 
 It was true I had no instructions from my chief; but. were 
 I to wait for orders, before any could arrive Bagh would 
 be plundered. I could count on the assistance of the chief 
 Zamindars — such as Haider Khan Abra, Imam Baksh Rind, 
 Ghulam Nabbi Mughairi, Ahmed Khan Maghzi — who would 
 not only furnish several hundred horse but would keep me 
 informed of every movement of the enemy. There was the 
 best guarantee for their fidelity — their lands, and the crops 
 on them, were safe at present, but would be utterly destroyed 
 if several thousand Brahui horse were to come pouring over 
 the country. We could have mustered, of one kind or 
 other, a thousand sabres — a force sufficient to drive Kamal 
 Khan into the hills, when we might have enabled the Dadar 
 troops to have acted on the offensive, instead of suffering 
 the loss of their stores, which were burned before their 
 eyes. Soon after I reached Phiilaji two hundred infantry 
 and the like number of cavalry, came in en route for Lehri. 
 From them I learned that the wing of a regiment with two 
 guns and some cavalry, was to move on immediately to 
 Dadar, but not by way of Bagh, as nothing was known of 
 
151 
 
 the danger that threatened that place. I determined to ride 
 on to Lehri, and persuade the commanding officer to march 
 by Bagh. Once there, I knew we should have time enough 
 to execute any plans against the Brahuis at Gandava long 
 before aid would be required at Dadar ; for, in point of fact, 
 no less than eighteen days elapsed before Nasir Khan attacked 
 the latter place. Before proceeding to Lehri I paid a visit 
 to Bijjar Khan and Bibarak, who had been brought to 
 Phulaji with a view to their speedy release, though they 
 were still guarded. They were very glad to see me, and 
 we had a long talk over all that had been doing lately. 
 Bibarak seemed very impatient of his continued confinement, 
 and, in plain language, cursed the day that he had sur- 
 rendered. Bijjar, a chief of far more refined address, merely 
 said, "Ah Saheb! would it had been my destiny to have 
 surrendered to your brother ; he would have treated us dif- 
 ferently; he would have made us friends of the English 
 Sarkar." 
 
 Among the infantry officers was a relation of my own. 
 In discussing various matters, we chanced to mention the 
 fort of Kajjak. " You will have a sharp fight, there," I said, 
 *' Pooh !" said he, ** what can these fellows do against our 
 artillery ? they will never show fight at all." " They will," I 
 said, "take my word for it :" and so we parted. Two months 
 had not expired before this very youth was killed, gallantly 
 leading the attack on Kajjak — an attack which, though thrice 
 renewed, was as often repulsed. On reaching Lehri, I found 
 there the troops which had been so long besieged in Kahan, 
 and was much interested with the accounts they gave me 
 of the treatment they had experienced from the Marris. That 
 noble-hearted tribe had not only suffered our garrison to 
 
152 THE MARRIS. 
 
 retire unmolested, but had added kindness to mercy. When 
 one of the sipahis fell exhausted, the Marri guide placed him 
 on his own pony, and so brought him down ! The Chief 
 Dodah had sent to the commanding officer this memorable 
 message : " Tell the Saheb, that all the men the Marris 
 have slain, were slain in fair fight ; for the murder of camp 
 followers, wounded men, and prisoners, let the Biigtis answer. 
 Our hands have never been red with the blood of unresisting 
 men/' In the catalogue of brave and chivalrous men, he 
 is no fair chronicler who would not assign a place with the 
 highest to the Marris. Even their women share the courage 
 of this warrior tribe. They aid in carrying off the wounded 
 men ; and in desperate conflicts, where the tribe has been 
 sore pressed, have even been known to join in the m^lte with 
 effect. As is usual amongst Biluchis, a man takes but one 
 wife, and their faithfulness is proverbial. In former days, 
 when the Afghans ruled in Shikarpore, one of their governors 
 made repeated attempts to seduce the wife of a Marri Bili'ich 
 who had taken service under him. At last, finding bribes 
 were rejected, he sent the husband out of the way, and 
 presented himself alone at the house, with the intention of 
 carrying things with a high hand. Evening came, and the 
 Governor was nowhere to be found. Search was made for 
 him ; and at last, one of his confidential servants, who had 
 an inkling of his master's penchant, went to this very house. 
 He knocked, all was silent — at last he forced the door, and 
 found the Governor gagged, and bound hand and foot, and 
 so soundly belaboured that he could scarce stand without 
 assistance. It was never precisely stated how this occurred ; 
 but somehow it was whispered about, that the lady had been 
 too much for her admirer single-handed, and after beating 
 
RETURN TO BAGH. 153 
 
 him well, had tied him with other cords than those of love, 
 and gone off to join her husband, who returned no more to 
 Shikarpore. 
 
 On stating matters to the senior military officer, he at 
 once saw the reasonableness of my proposition, and agreed 
 to march on Bagh. We started that very night, and reached 
 Chachar at half-past two in the morning. Here we halted 
 and I had the honour of sleeping in a Jawari field, with 
 the blue sky for my curtains (they let in the musquitoes 
 cruelly), and my cloak for a bed. I awoke stiif with the 
 cold, and went into a tent to get a towel for my ablutions. 
 " Towel, my dear fellow," said the occupant, " with a great 
 deal of pleasure, here, boy, bring a towel.'* My friend's 
 servant, like Caleb Balderstone, jealous for his master's 
 honor, feigned to search diligently. " Well, boy, what 
 are you about, why don't you bring the towel .^" " Saheb, 
 there is only one, and you have got it yourself." Next 
 morning we reached Bagh, and as I had ridden one hundred 
 and twenty miles in the last thirty-six hours, I was rather 
 glad of a rest. I found that our arrival was opportune, as 
 the Brahiiis had spread from Gandava all over the south 
 of Katchi, and parties of their horse had been seen within 
 a few miles of Bagh. Muhammad Sherif, whose manner had 
 been most unpleasant when I had entered alone two days 
 before, now overwhelmed us with politeness. I had not long 
 breakfasted, when a huge cloud of dust was seen in the 
 distance. Our horsemen galloped off to see what it was, and 
 the guns were quickly hauled up on a slight eminence, where 
 stood a tower, and where our infantry (350 men) were posted. 
 It turned out to be nothing but a false alarm, and all the 
 damage done was, that Alaf Khan's youngest son got a fall 
 
154 BAGH. 
 
 which dislocated his arm. He was quite a boy, and his arm 
 was as white and not much more muscular than a girl's, but he 
 bore his hurt bravely. I now suggested my scheme of making 
 a rush at Gandava before the news of our arrival at Bagh 
 could reach the Brahms. My proposal seemed to be approved 
 of by all, and I wrote off letters to Amiel and other officers 
 commanding cavalry in the vicinity, who might have joined 
 us in four-and-twenty hours. In the meantime we intended 
 to keep the gates of the town closed, so as to prevent 
 any couriers from being sent to the enemy. Our scheme, 
 however, whether good or bad, was not destined to be 
 carried out. I had scarce made these arrangements when 
 a despatch from my chief arrived, informing me that I must 
 join him at Sakkar immediately. Nothing was left me but 
 to obey, and I was soon once more en route to Shikarpore. 
 I had at least the satisfaction of knowing that I had saved 
 Bagh, which, in another day or two, would have shared the 
 fate of Kandah and Gandava, and have been plundered and, 
 perhaps, as those places were, reduced to ashes. 
 
155 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SHAHPORE TURK ALI, AMIEL's HENCHMAN VISIT TO THE RAIS 
 
 UL ULEMA SKIRMISHES AT KANDAH AND BAGH ATTACK OF 
 
 DADAR MURDER OF LIEUTENANT LOVEDAY DEATH OF MIR NUR 
 
 MUHAMMAD DEFEAT OF NASIR KHAN AT GANDAVAH BRAHUI 
 
 PRISONERS — SHOOTING IN A SHIKARGAH. 
 
 On the 11th of October I left Bagh and rode forty miles to 
 Tahir Ka Gote, whence, after a few hours' rest, I proceeded 
 to Shahpore, passing through Chatr, a large town of the 
 Kahiris, which, like Phiilaji, had been wrested from them 
 by the Diimkis, and which they received back from us. 
 At Shahpore I found Amiel and another officer, who regretted 
 much that the intended attack on Gandava had been stopped. 
 Amiel told me many anecdotes of his life in the desert. 
 Among the Biluchis in our pay no one was a more remark- 
 able character than Turk Ali, the Jakrani chief. He was 
 a tall, thin old man, with his grey beard dyed red, in honour 
 of the Prophet, who is said to have had a beard of san- 
 guineous hue. Turk Ali valued a man's life somewhat 
 lower even than the small worth it is usually prized at in 
 these uncivilized regions. One day a Hindu shopkeeper was 
 boring Amiel to buy something (by the bye, native itinerant 
 vendors are very appropriately called Borahs), when Amiel 
 said, in joke, " Here, Turk Ali, take this fellow away and 
 make him hold his tongue." Instantly the truculent old 
 
156 THE RAIS UL TJLEMA. 
 
 Biliichi seized on the unfortunate babbler, merely saying, as 
 he dragged him away, at the same time significantly touch- 
 ing the handle of his knife, " I'll soon quiet him." Amiel, 
 in alarm, sprang forward, and, much to the wonderment and 
 dissatisfaction of Turk Ali, released the Hindii from his 
 grasp. As I rode on to Shikarpore I had with me a guard 
 of Jakranis, Turk Ali's men. They did not know that I 
 understood them, and were talking and laughing with one 
 another about the way in which they had plundered Lord 
 Keane's army. "After all," said one of them, "the Faringis 
 are liberal fellows, they buy of you to-day the camels you 
 stole from them yesterday ; what customers can be better 
 than these ? " I found I was again to take charge of 
 Shikarpore : a gladsome place it was after the waterless 
 wilds of Katchi. 
 
 Shortly after my return I paid a visit to the acknowledged 
 chief of the doctors or learned men in those parts. Abdul 
 Khalik would, on no account, have condescended to visit a 
 European, or any but a follower of the Prophet. The moun- 
 tain, therefore, not coming to me, I was determined to sacrifice 
 etiquette and go to the mountain. I found the Rais ul Ulema, 
 a fine looking old man, whose discourse savoured in all things 
 of the true faith. Not one iota would he relax from his 
 uncompromising scorn of infidels. Amongst other things, 
 we discussed the propriety of a Musulman's eating with a 
 Christian. I maintained that it was not only not forbidden, 
 but allowed in the Kuran. "Well," he said, "but you do not 
 keep your own rules ; you are forbidden to eat blood and 
 things strangled. Yet you pay no heed to these precepts. 
 While you break your own law, how can you expect that we 
 should treat you otherwise than as infidels ? " He used the 
 
THK RAIS UL ULEMA. 157 
 
 common argument of Muharamadans, about the non-finality 
 of the Christian dispensation. " Your prophet foretold the 
 advent of another, who should be the seal of prophecy — this 
 was Muhammad." We talked of astronomy. One of the 
 Company observed that there was no such thing as discoveries 
 now — that all things had been discovered already, and were 
 to be found in the Kuran. " Well," I said, " I have read the 
 Kuran, but have not met there with any accurate information 
 as to the magnitude of the planets, for instance, or their 
 distance from the earth." All agreed that I was blinded by 
 the want of faith. *' Had you faith," said they, ** you might 
 learn whatever you wished from the Kuran." 
 
 A man becomes a doctor or learned man by answering 
 satisfactorily the queries of one or more who have already 
 attained that rank. If they cannot pose him, they tie on his 
 turband and seat him by their side. The title of Rais ul Ulema 
 is conferred by general acclamation on some Doctor famous 
 for his bigotry and his subtlety in the law. 
 
 During the time I had been in Katchi a considerable force 
 had been assembling at Sakkar. While the Brahuis were 
 descending on the unprotected plains which skirt the Hala 
 mountains from Gandava to the Bolan, our chief potentates, 
 filled with bitter scorn of their opponents, and no less bitter 
 beer, were planning the approaching campaign ; and were in 
 the same breath debating the fate of the young Khan and the 
 propriety of leading trumps. Regiment after regiment left 
 Sakkar for the scene of action, but still the conclave at 
 Sakkar was frequent and full. At last, when the cobweb of 
 our Government had been well and rudely shaken; when 
 some dozen of the outmost meshes had given way, and gaps 
 and chasms manifold were visible ; the Great Political Spider 
 
158 SKIRMISHES. 
 
 deigned to hear, and, rushing out, brimful of majesty and 
 venom, found the daring flies that made all that sad racket — 
 were gone. 
 
 Meantime the workmen I had left at Barshori had been 
 chased into the desert by the Brahui horse, who, in their 
 turn, being encountered by the irregular cavalry advancing 
 with her Majesty's 40th regiment, were sorely discomfited, 
 with the loss of 130 men and (but, perhaps, that were better 
 omitted) three women. If the fair sex will dress themselves 
 in the nether habiliments of men, and join their husbands 
 in nightly forays, who is to discriminate ? So it chanced at 
 Kandah ; — yet, poor creatures ! the sword did but free them 
 from sterner pangs, want, hunger, and the sight of husbands, 
 brothers, or children, weltering in their blood. About the 
 same time, Vardon, at Bagh, came on another party of 
 marauders, and killed forty of them. He himself slew two 
 with his own hand, though he was anything but a formidable 
 swordsman to look at. He said he was astonished to find 
 it so easy to kill a man. He rode after one poor wretch 
 who was flying on foot, and made a thrust at him. The 
 sword entered his back, and came out at the breast. ** Bis- 
 millah!" ("In the name of God,") shrieked the unfortunate, 
 and fell dead. In cold blood how one shudders at the 
 thought of thus slaying our brother man ! Indeed, it was 
 sad butchery, the whole Brahui war. This tribe made but 
 a poor defence, compared with the Biluchis or Afghans. 
 Even when numbering many thousands, they were repulsed 
 without much difficulty by our post at Dadar. We had 
 two officers and twenty men wounded, and two or three 
 men killed. The Brahiiis, however, plundered the stores, 
 and set the magazines on fire. 
 
DADAR. 159 
 
 As the 40th regiment advanced, Kamal Khan retreated 
 into the hills, setting fire to Gandava. My friend P. had 
 like to have been drowned at this place. He had pitched 
 his tent over night in what seemed to be a nice grassy 
 hollow. Tired with the march, he was soon asleep and 
 dreaming. Fancy whirled him away to merry England, 
 and lopped oiF a score of years from Life's Register. He 
 was once more a child wandering on the sands by the 
 sea shore. He thought the sea rose fast about him ; 
 the more he ran the faster the waves followed; bathing 
 women roared hoarsely to him to mend his speed ! In 
 the agony of his struggles he awoke and found his leg 
 dangling in the water, and a number of sipahis and officers 
 shouting to him, with a chorus of laughter, to swim for 
 his life. The fact was, he had pitched his tent in an old 
 water- course ; heavy rain had fallen in the hills during the 
 night, and a torrent was now sweeping furiously along in 
 the channel, which, a few hours before, had been quite dry. 
 
 As Kamal Khan's men had retired out of harm's way, our 
 troops pushed on for Dadar. Weak in cavalry, and spent 
 with fatigue, they arrived only in time to see the young 
 Khan's army in full retreat. The Brahuis, who numbered 
 about 5,000 men, had resolved to attack our troops as they 
 advanced, hoping that they would be disordered by the 
 march. But this intention was soon abandoned, and a few 
 rounds of shrapnell sent them off^ in double quick time. 
 A large hill lay in their rear, over which they crowded in 
 dense masses, leaving their tents, baggage, etc., on the 
 ground. Then was the time for a charge of cavalry, before 
 the great body of the enemy could succeed in getting to 
 the hilly ground. The horse, however, were halted, as 
 
160 DKATH OF LOVE DAY. 
 
 they had got far in front of the infantry, and it was thought 
 they were not strong enough to ** try conclusions " without 
 the support of the Europeans. This delay proved fatal to 
 poor Loveday. A sad — sad sight presented itself when our 
 troops reached the young Khan's tent. Close by, in a state 
 almost of nudity, fearfully emaciated, but still warm, lay the 
 bleeding remains of the gallant youth. His left leg was 
 heavily chained to a Kajawah, or camel-saddle, his head 
 twisted up under his right shoulder, and a hideous gash on 
 the back of his neck told the rest. A Bengal servant was 
 near, also chained, and weeping bitterly, whose simple 
 narrative gave touching proof of his fidelity. He stated, 
 that on the Khan going to Mustung, Loveday was carried 
 with him ; and, on the chiefs deciding to make terms with 
 the English Government, their prisoner was required to write 
 to Captain Bean, which, after much urging, he at length 
 consented to do. This letter was then forwarded by another 
 European prisoner, who was in the hands of the Brahiiis, 
 and four horsemen. These did not return, but a letter 
 was received from Captain Bean which decided the chiefs 
 in putting Loveday to death and on attacking us. A rich 
 Hindu merchant, however, bribed the chiefs with 2,000 
 rupees to spare Loveday 's life. They then went forward, 
 leaving their prisoner at Mustung. In a few days they 
 returned, their forces dispersed, and the Khan, with one 
 hundred men, went to Khelat, taking Loveday with him. 
 
 Shortly after, the Brahuis resolved on attacking Dadar, and 
 from that time Loveday was insulted and treated with great 
 cruelty. He travelled during the day half naked on a camel, 
 slept on the ground in the open air, was heavily fettered, and 
 fed on food a dog would refuse ; thus he was brought on to 
 
DEATH OF LOVEDAY. 161 
 
 Bibi Nani, where the Khan's force was joined by crowds of 
 Brahuis, who pelted Loveday with stones as he passed, some 
 of which wounded him severely. When the chiefs, after the 
 sack of Dadar, resolved on attacking Major Boscawen's 
 force, Loveday was left with his guards in camp. Presently 
 some horsemen galloped up, calling out that all was lost. 
 The women — who till then had sat praying for victory 
 with Kurans on their heads — shrieked, and ran hither and 
 thither in confusion ; another moment, and a horseman rushed 
 in and dealt the fatal blow which terminated the sufferings 
 of our unfortunate countryman. 
 
 If there is a man breathing who can listen to such a story 
 as this without sympathy, I do not envy him his feelings. 
 Some, truly, there are, who hearken with indifference, nay, 
 even with a sneer, to the calamities which befel our troops, 
 individually and collectively, during this and the following 
 eventful year. Such men have already descended to the 
 level of brutes, and they may, an' it likes them, wrap them- 
 selves up in a belief of the fiendish calumnies which have been 
 invented regarding those who endured unheard-of sufferings 
 in their country's cause. 
 
 Of poor Loveday I shall only say that he was a brave, 
 active, and zealous officer; and, so far from deserving the 
 charge of being cruel to the natives, he erred rather on the 
 side of conciliation. The late Captain Pontardent informed me 
 that he had inquired at Khelat as to the truth of the stories 
 which have been circulated against Loveday, and ascertained 
 them to be quite unfounded. Sh^h Nawaz, and other 
 Brahiiis, gave me the same assurance; and, to sum up the 
 "whole matter in one word, poor Loveday lost his life as 
 Shdh Naw^z lost his throne— solely and wholly from our 
 
162 MIR NUR MUHAMMAD DIES. 
 
 wretched political mismanagement of Katchi. I only regret 
 that I was obliged to leave behind me the numerous letters I 
 received from the ill-fated youth, which would have thrown 
 more light on the subject, and aflforded an account of his 
 successful expedition into Mekran and his gallant defence 
 of Khelat. 
 
 About this time happened the death of Mir Nur Mu- 
 hammad, of Hyderabad, who expired on the 3rd of December. 
 Whatever may have been the Amir's feelings towards us 
 when we first entered the country, he had become sincerely 
 attached to us before he died. The political officers who 
 had been stationed at his Court were men whom none 
 could know without feeling for them at once friendship and 
 respect. The dying Amir sent for our Resident — the gallant 
 Outram — and committed to him his two sons, especially 
 the younger, who stood more in need of protection, and 
 who was, indeed, deservedly the favourite. 
 
 On the 13th, funeral service — the Fatihah as it is called — 
 was performed for the deceased chief at Shikarpore. The 
 Governor asked me to attend the ceremony, which I did. 
 Meantime, Nasir Khan, of Khelat, who had been wandering 
 among the hills, after the Dadar affair, re-appeared in the 
 plain near Gandava, with a considerable force. The Whist 
 Conclave at Sakkar, exasperated, perhaps, at the interruption 
 to their game, determined to give the young Khan'* a rubber," 
 and sent off a messenger, with despatches to the officer com- 
 manding the 25th Regiment N.I. to bring the enemy to 
 account forthwith. From Sakkar to Gandava is 130 miles, 
 which the officer who bore those despatches galloped over, 
 commanded the cavalry in the action that ensued, and brought 
 the news of the victory back to Sakkar in three days — an 
 
BRAIIUI PRISONERS. 163 
 
 astounding feat, and which throws the eighty mile ride 
 of Captain Brown — so eulogized by his grace the Iron Duke 
 — completely into the shade. By the bye, it is not gene- 
 rally known that Lieutenant Pottinger, of the 15th Native 
 Infantry, voluntarily accompanied Captain Brown on that 
 ride, but, not being very graciously received, turned and 
 rode back without halting. The excessive fatigue brought 
 on fever, which cut short the career of that promising young 
 officer. And thus it often fares with volunteers, insomuch 
 that one might be excused for agreeing with the Bengali 
 sipahis who, having come forward to perform a service not 
 much to their taste, and being asked,* " Do you volunteer ? '* 
 replied, ** Yes, Saheb, we volunteer, but we don't go 
 willingly." 
 
 In the conflict at Gandava three hundred Brahuis are said 
 to have been killed, and one hundred and thirty-three were 
 taken prisoners, among whom was a chief of note — Boer 
 Khan and his son Murad, of the Zehri tribe. These prisoners 
 were lodged in the fort of Bakkar, and subsequently allowed 
 to keep up a correspondence with their families and receive 
 presents from them. *'Ah dura Brahuorum ilia," thought 
 I, as I surveyed the rugged and infrangible masses of cheese 
 which were sent by loving sweethearts and loyal wives to 
 their spouses in our stronghold. What but the truest 
 and most undying afi^ection could stimulate any one to 
 consume such indigestible pabula as these ! It was thought 
 absolutely requisite that all the letters sent to the pri- 
 soners should be read, and this became my weekly task. 
 
 * "Turn volunteer ho?" "Han, Saheb, ham balamtir hain lekin 
 khushi se nahin jate." 
 
 M 2 
 
164 SHOOTING 
 
 I may fairly be allowed, after such practice, to give an 
 opinion on Brahui correspondence ; and I may say, with 
 truth, that it is innocent in the extreme. Running through 
 the family tree from grandmother to niece or grandchild, as 
 the case might be, the letters generally stated that each 
 and all of them were well, and, after salutation, were unani- 
 mously of opinion that their supply of cash not being 
 excessive they could do no more than send the accom- 
 panying supplies of cheese, sweetmeat, or dried fruit. 
 
 The Brahuis, at least the royal tribe, say they originally 
 came from Aleppo, and it is quite evident they are a distinct 
 race from the Biluchis and Afghans. They are smaller, more 
 swart and ill-favoured than either of those nations, and are 
 altogether inferior to them both in keenness of intellect and 
 martial prowess. 
 
 The pressure of business not being so great for a few days 
 I had time for a little shooting in some of the Shikargahs, 
 or preserves of the Amirs. Indian sportsmen would have 
 called it tame amusement. I put myself in the hands of the 
 natives, not knowing much of these things, and on reaching 
 the ground was stationed close to v.'here two narrow paths 
 leading out of the wood diverged. On the beaters advancing 
 from the opposite quarter, a large wolf bolted out ; but, as he 
 had not the politeness to give me a hint of his approach, he 
 was gone before I could fire. Next came a fat rascal of a 
 boar, who hud been stuffing himself with sugar-cane. This 
 time I had better luck, and shot him through the head, spite 
 of which he ran some distance before he fell. The natives 
 
 are as arrant flatterers as any of Lord 's gamekeepers. 
 
 The instant you fire there is a chorus of voices " laga, laga," 
 — *• You hit him hard," while, perhaps, the innocuous bullet 
 
IN A SHIKARGAH. 165 
 
 has buried itself in some tall tree or grassy bank. Tigers are 
 seldom found near Shikarpore, though there are plenty in the 
 jungles of Burdika to the north. In this district Captain 
 Hill, of the Engineers, a well-known sportsman and gallant 
 soldier, obtained intelligence of one, and went, with another 
 officer, in pursuit. They had previously agreed to stand 
 up to him manfully — an agreement which was little required 
 on the part of such a renowned tiger-slayer as Hill. How- 
 ever, on getting into very thick cover, they heard a very 
 loud and unpleasant sound of breathing, like a giant wheez- 
 ing. This sound, which told of the " noble quarry " being 
 close at hand, while it communicated a rueful dubiousness 
 to the features of his companion, only made Hill press on 
 the faster. Stooping down, and lifting up the bushes with 
 his gun, he saw a tiger, of the largest size, almost within 
 spring, and showing, by smothered roars and lashing tail, 
 that his blood was] up. " Now, P." said Hill, looking over 
 his shoulder, " you reserve your fire while I give him the 
 first dose." But the caution was unrequired — P. had, 
 indeed, reserved his fire altogether for another day ; he had 
 been for some minutes making the most furious and unheard 
 of struggles to put as much copse as possible between him 
 and the scene of action. Few men would not feel a little 
 dulled by such a desertion in such a moment; but Hill's 
 nerves being of iron, it made no manner of impression upon 
 him. He fired with cool aim, and wounded the beast, who 
 sprang completely over him, and made off into the forest. 
 A few days after Ali Murad succeeded in tracking the 
 wounded monster, and in slaying it after it had killed one of 
 the beaters and wounded several others. 
 
 We occasionally gave our horses a breathing after the foxes. 
 
166 A CONCUSSION. 
 
 which are pretty numerous near Shikarpore, and which we 
 coursed with greyhounds. A distressing accident occurred 
 one day when I was out. The dust is so plentiful that a very 
 few hoofs raise a cloud which would hide a small army. The 
 consequence of this murky state of the atmosphere was, that 
 two officers came together at full speed. As in the old 
 tournaments, where Sir Palomides smote down Sir Dagobert, 
 horse and man ; so here, steeds and their riders rolled over 
 one another on the ground. Both the latter were much 
 hurt, and with one it terminated fatally. He recovered 
 enough to sit at table, but his manner was odd, and a little 
 wine excited him dreadfully. He was soon after ordered 
 to Sakkar, to escort treasure ; on the way he apprehended 
 a poor wood- cutter, and sent him to me, bound hand and 
 foot, with a letter, stating that it was the notorious robber 
 Dimi. Two days after I learned that he had died at Salikar 
 raving mad ; his illness, no doubt, having been produced 
 by the concussion of his fall when coursing. 
 
167 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 STATE OF SINDH AND KHORASAN AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1841 — 
 
 VISIT TO MIR RUSTAM — STORMING OF KAJJAK DISTURBANCES AT 
 
 ROHRI GENERAL VENTURA KITCHEN VISITOR EXTRAORDINARY 
 
 RISING OF THE INDUS — SAMAD KHAN DEATH OF THE POLITICAL 
 
 AGENT VOYAGE DOWN THE RIVER. 
 
 By the campaign of the Indus, the British Empire in the East 
 had advanced over regions of such vast extent, that, to settle 
 them permanently under our rule and unite them firmly with 
 Hindustan, would have taxed the best energies of our ablest 
 statesmen and generals for half a century. Our power which, 
 since the days of Lake, had remained inactive like some huge 
 Colossus, heavy with its own bulk, had suddenly made a stride 
 which planted us in Central Asia. It was a proud thing, 
 whatever the misopolemical Cobden may say, that an English 
 subaltern had power to liberate that band of Russian captives 
 which a Russian army had tried in vain to set free — that our 
 Agents were received and heard, at least with deference, at 
 Herat, Bokhara, Kokan, and Khiva, and that, if our frontiers 
 stopped short of the three great empires — China, Turkey, and 
 Russia, the general voice ascribed it rather to our forbearance 
 than to want of power to extend them thus far. From this 
 triumphant position we fell ; not because to consolidate our 
 newly- conquered territories was a difficult task; not because 
 the turbulent tribes, who would never obey a king of their own 
 race, were still less inclined to serve foreigners ; not because 
 
168 
 
 STATE OF SINDH 
 
 cold and heat joined in the meUe, and dealt our armies many 
 a hard knock, while they spared our tough- skinned and 
 thick-skulled enemies; but because our leading men beyond 
 the Indus were incompetent. 
 
 At the close of 1840, when the defeats we had sustained in 
 the Marri Hills, and the insurrections in Shal and Khelat had 
 shewn us with such intense clearness the lava on which we 
 trod, our leading Politicals were doing their best to scrape 
 away the thin crust which separated us from the fiery mass. 
 The Envoy at Cabul, not satisfied with his position there, 
 a position from which he ought to have retreated, — if not 
 on Candahar, at least on Ghizni, — so long as Shah Shuja 
 reigned, was bent on conquering Herat. An estimate of the 
 force requisite to add this new gem to the Cabul diadem was 
 prepared ; — the only doubt seemed to be whether Lahore or 
 Herat should be taken first. The Envoy, to use a Persian 
 metaphor, though holding a monstrous water melon, which 
 required both his hands, still suffered his mouth to water 
 after another, aye, and another, each one bigger than that 
 which puzzled him so much already. Kind destiny, however, 
 overruled these wild designs, and saved us from a catastrophe 
 more terrible even than that which closed the eventful year 
 of 1841 ; for, had a rupture with the Sikh Darbar ensued, 
 where would the torrent of our disasters have been stayed. 
 
 But nought have I to do with Cabul, or the insane 
 schemes concocted there. My business is with Upper Sindh, 
 where at least an equal amount of folly and mismanagement 
 had been enacted, the same seed had been sown, and — but 
 that aid was nearer at hand, and not kept back by a door and 
 padlock like the Khyber — we should have reaped the same 
 harvest. After exasperating Bibarak, Bijjar, and the other 
 
IN 1841. 169 
 
 Biluchi Chiefs into irreconcileable hostility, we had patched 
 up a hollow peace with them, and let them go. 
 
 It was now thought prudent to wink at the expulsion of 
 Shah Nawaz and the murder of Loveday, and come to terms 
 with the son of our old enemy, Mihrab Khan, of Khelat. 
 This intended measure was imparted to me as a profound 
 secret, though every one could see with half an eye that it 
 was the only course left. As for the Amirs of Upper Sindh, 
 they had but little means of resistance, and by allowing us 
 from the very first free ingress into their country, they did, as 
 it were, throw themselves down in the political wrestle ; it was 
 therefore determined, now they were down, to kick and cufF 
 them to our heart's content, which would be a happy method 
 of getting rid of the ill-humour we felt at the annoyance 
 other more potent antagonists had given us. The Khyrpore 
 Darbar was at this time divided into three factions. 1st, — Mir 
 Rustam's sons (the third, Ali Merdan, excepted) and Nasir 
 Khan, the son and representative of Mir Mubarik, were the 
 first and by far the most numerous and powerful party — the 
 life and soul of which was Fateh Muhammad Khan, the Vizir. 
 2. Mir Ali Murad, youngest brother of Mir Rustam, and his 
 adherents formed the second party, 3. Mir Ali Merdan, 
 the third son of Mir Rustam, supported by Mahabat Khan 
 Marri, Kamal Khan Jhalabani, and other chiefs were the 
 third.* The Political Agent, as has been said, had taken 
 
 * This chief we used to call old Inshallah, because, whenever, he was 
 desired to do anything, he used to shut both his eyes, screwing the 
 lids together with such force as to make one alarmed lest he should 
 blind himself, and vociferate more than a hundred times, "Inshallah! 
 Inshallah!'' If it please God. Unfortunately, however, he never went 
 beyond this pious exclamation in executing our commissions. 
 
170 STATE OF SINDH. 
 
 up the cause of Ali Murad, whose confidential adviser, Shaikh 
 AH Hasan, was on most intimate terms with Trebania Saha, 
 the head Munshi at the Residency, and kept an agent of his 
 own. Imam Baksh, in our camp. 
 
 Mir Rustam was old enough to have been Ali Murad's 
 father, — he was the acknowledged Rais or Chief of the 
 Family, and he it was who had first received our envoys and 
 concluded an alliance with us. Now, I will ask any one 
 who has the smallest soupgon of justice in his composition, 
 whether it was right in us not only to fan the dissension 
 between these members of the same family, but to support 
 the junior and turbulent Amir against the inoflfensive old 
 man whom he ought to have regarded as a parent } The 
 old Chief had two matters most at heart. These were the 
 distribution of his territories among his own children as a 
 precaution against the confusion which would arise after his 
 death, — an event which, from his great age, might shortly be 
 expected; and secondly, the securing to Nasir Khan, his 
 nephew, certain districts claimed by Ali Murad. The first 
 of these objects was the one about which Mir Rustam was 
 most anxious, and the right he claimed — to any Englishman 
 methinks — would appear unquestionable. Our Political Agent, 
 however, who was now about to leave Sakkar, determined to 
 thwart Mir Rustam in both his wishes, and to leave him no 
 hope of their accomplishment. One other subject of dis- 
 cussion remained, — the succession to the place of Rais or 
 principal Chief, for which the eldest son of Mir Rustam and 
 Ali Murad were claimants. Nothing was decided on this 
 point, though a shrewd guess might have been given as to 
 which side would have our support. It is a point with 
 which we had no business whatever to interfere, and I shall 
 
IN 1841. 171 
 
 only say that AH Murdd's claim by descent was bad, as he 
 was not the next brother, nor the heir of Mir Rustam. The 
 proper way of deciding the question was by vote in the General 
 Assembly of the Biluchi Chiefs. 
 
 It was high time, indeed, that the General and the Political 
 Agent should leave Sakkar. Everyone was tired of marvel- 
 ling that they should sit absorbed in interminable speculations 
 at a distance from the scene of action, while daily encounters 
 were taking place with the enemy to the west. Before my 
 Chief departed he summoned me to assume charge at Sakkar, 
 while he deputed an officer to Khyrpore, through whom all 
 communications with the Amirs were to pass. Just as I was 
 leaving Shikarpore, an Afghan who had travelled with Arthur 
 Conolly came to see me. We had some conversation on the 
 state of affairs at Cabiil. He represented discontent as rapidly 
 increasing; and, though himself friendly to us, there were 
 some things which seemed to annoy him in our rule. Among 
 the rest, he said, with great emphasis, " Zan i Afghan chiz mi 
 kunad" — "The wives of the Afghans are no longer true.'* 
 I thought of the old proverb, 
 
 *' No Cabul fair one pines alone. 
 Her love, soon lost, is lightly won." 
 
 The incontinence of his countrywomen seemed to disquiet 
 him vastly. Perhaps, poor fellow, he had his reasons for 
 complaint. 
 
 On reaching Sakkar I found all things in most admired 
 disorder. Four thousand men were in a bustle to be gone ; 
 camels were bellowing, servants bawling and running against 
 one another in all directions with more zeal than advantage. 
 The Agent's retinue was that of a Satrap. Several hundred 
 
172 SAKKAR. 
 
 camels conveyed vast supplies of beer, wine, and stores of all 
 descriptions. The principal tent was an immense double-poled 
 affair, with glass doors, which had belonged to the Begam 
 Samru. Five or six assistant politicals, seven European — and 
 a host of native — clerks, followed the great man; and the 
 resident's escort, a risalah of native lancers, guarded the whole 
 train. Were one to judge of what was taken in the way of 
 stores, by what was left at Sakkar, it might seem unfair; yet, 
 I believe, the accounts were nearly equal. There remained 
 then still in store at the Agency, among other items, twelve 
 hundred dozen of beer, and one hundred and twenty dozen of 
 champagne. 
 
 When this vast array had marched off, and the last 
 particle of dust had unwillingly subsided on the ground, 
 strewed all over with filth, fragments of bottles, straw, and 
 rubbish of all descriptions, I found myself the sole representa- 
 tive of the Agency's former magnificence. At first I sat 
 down in a stately manner, and began to feel quite supreme 
 and Pasha-like ; I was soon, however, recalled to my 
 senses. Enter a mean, sallow- faced man in dirty raiment, 
 who imparted to me his desire of remitting fifty thousand 
 rupees to his good friend Dharam Chand, at Benares. 
 "The money," he said, "is here.*' I was about to waive 
 my hand and command the treasurer into my presence, 
 when I suddenly reflected that the treasurer — with all the 
 race of sub-treasurers — had departed ; that, in fact, I 
 myself was the treasurer. Now, though 50,000 rupees 
 is a mere nothing to receive on your own account, and 
 can be disposed of in a twinkling, it is quite a different 
 thing to receive it, and keep it too, for another party. 
 *• Know," said Gil Bias' accomplice, " when the business 
 
SAKKAR. 173 
 
 is to appropriate the effects of another, my back would 
 sustain the weight of Noah's ark/' This buoyant feeling 
 is quite lost when one is a mere depositary — a sort of 
 animated plate-chest. My feelings, therefore, experienced 
 quite a shock when I found I must go down on my hands 
 and knees and count over fifty great bags of silver. The 
 rupees, too, had contracted a slimy and unpleasant dampness 
 from the greasy fingers of the Hindus, who had counted and 
 recounted them in the bazaar. Scarce had I finished this 
 charming occupation when I was reminded that it was time 
 to sort the letters and parcels. There were a dozen great 
 bundles of these, and every direction was entered in a 
 Register. Luckily, I had assistance here, or my patience 
 must have failed, as did that of the luckless wight of a 
 Kosah who had to carry them, — when, after his horse's back 
 was all but broken, a great bar-looking package was super- 
 added, with infinite notices inscribed upon it in Persian, 
 Sindhi, and English — " To be carried with great care ; " 
 " For the Quartermaster- General," etc., etc. Somewhere 
 about midnight, wearied out and in a state of white heat, 
 I had just forgotten my toils of the day, under the soft 
 fannings of sleep's downy pinion, when I was roused up by 
 a chorus of inhuman voices, shouting " Saheb, Saheb, an 
 express from the bara Saheb (great man) to the Lord 
 Saheb," alias the Governor- General. In this way passed 
 my days and nights, till Nature — tired with doing five men's 
 work — fairly gave up the struggle. 
 
 When my Chief set out for Shal, the Amirs were in hopes 
 some officer would be appointed to Khyrpore in whom they 
 had confidence. In short, they would have been very glad 
 to have seen me or Postans there. Of Captain K they 
 
!74 VISIT TO 
 
 knew nothing, and it was clear his presence was unwelcome ; 
 for more than once a remonstrance was addressed to his tent 
 in the shape of a bullet, which gave its shrill warning in disa- 
 greeable propinquity to the ear for which it was intended. 
 Doubtless this — if the Amirs had any part in it — was almost 
 a casus belli against them ; but, then, are we to forget that 
 the treaty made no provision for stationing an officer at their 
 very doors ; that, even had Mir Rustam addressed a remon- 
 strance to the Governor- General, in all probability it would 
 not have been received ; that, just as in our communications 
 with native chiefs, we forget to observe the rules of etiquette 
 and courtesy adopted at European courts, so ought we to 
 make allowances for their infringements of rules we ourselves 
 disregard. The old Amir had now been worked up to the 
 highest pitch of exasperation. He wished for some one 
 to whom he could impart all his grievances, and he sent me 
 an invitation to come and pass a day or two with him. The 
 marriage of Wali Muhammad, — Nasir Khan's youngest brother 
 was at hand, and he requested I would be present at it. I 
 accordingly obtained leave to visit Khyrpore, where all the 
 chiefs except Ali Murad had assembled. I found the town 
 (if town it may be called) a poor place, in comparison even to 
 Shikarpore ; the houses of the Amirs, and their whole equi- 
 page, were of such a description as shewed that, to deprive 
 the Chiefs — their present owners — of them would us nothing 
 enrich, though it would leave them poor indeed. I pass over 
 the usual festivities of a native marriage, and the Nach given 
 me by Fazal Muhammad Khan, which was only remarkable for 
 the obesity of the host, and the undisguised alarm he mani- 
 fested in ascending a rather slim and dubious ladder which 
 led to an upper room, where we were to witness the fire- 
 
KHYRPORE. 175 
 
 works. Nothing need be recounted of the said fire- works, 
 which, except the rockets, were a failure ; nor of the camel 
 loads of sugar-candy and sherbet which were laid at my 
 feet, and with which my Sindhi groom did so deluge and 
 dilate himself that he lay on his back like one dead — helpless 
 as a turtle. Nor shall I particularly advert to the spangled 
 trousers and vestments of many hues and transparent texture 
 in which I was invited to bedizen myself, and which, being 
 sold by public auction, did, in the shape of whole and half 
 rupees, ensconce themselves in the Company's treasury. Nor 
 is it worth mention how I, to the loudly uttered admiration 
 of my Sindhi hosts, stretched two fat and bloated hogs (one 
 with each barrel) in the sleep of death during a perambulation 
 in one of their Shikargahs ; or how one of the incautious 
 retainers, too powerfully fascinated by the English powder I 
 made use of, so charged and re-charged his matchlock, that, 
 with a report which stunned both him and me, it hurled him 
 backward into the bushes. 
 
 The sole matter worth recording was my interview with 
 Mir Rustam, who, in spite of the black-hearted gibes of a 
 portion of our English press, was a man to be loved, aye, and 
 respected too. Granted that he thought more of the interests 
 of his children and his tribe than of the strangers who had 
 forced themselves into his country, and who had repaid his 
 friendly reception with base and treacherous cruelty, is 
 is he to be blamed for that? He was a man full of the 
 milk of human kindness, gentle, peaceful, merciful, and 
 forbearing over-much. His appearance was most venerable, 
 and there was nothing in his look or deportment which could 
 give colour to the story of his being addicted to the intoxica- 
 ting bhang. He was surrounded by his family, among whom 
 
176 KHYRPORK. 
 
 was Mir Zangi, the brother of Mir Sohrab, a man considerably 
 past eighty. Long and bitter must have been Mir Rustam's 
 sufferings before he could have been roused to the vehement 
 complaints he poured forth to me, ending with the words 
 *' Akhir Biluch hastam," " I have borne much ; but there is 
 a point at which I must remember that I am a Biliich." He 
 received me first in a large room, amid a crowd of followers. 
 Here passed the usual — never-under-three-hours-and-a-half- 
 to-be-quite-brought-to-a-conclusion — list of compliments. I 
 was asked whether I was well — quite well — happy — at my 
 ease — contented — tranquil — ^joyful, etc. etc. The same de- 
 mands were made as to the state of my relatives and friends ; 
 and I then reciprocated, with as much anxiety as I could 
 muster, the same delicate interrogations as to the health of 
 the fifty-and-three jolly, muscular, and black-bearded Biluchis 
 who sat around me. This over, sundry every-day matters 
 were discussed ; and I pleased the assembly well, when the 
 Mir sent for his splendid copy of the Kuran, by reading 
 some of it. By the bye, when one sees each Musulmdn 
 in a crowded room stand up and place the book of his faith 
 reverentially on his head, it contrasts strangely with the way 
 in which our Sacred Scriptures are thrown carelessly about. 
 All mere outward show ! — says Anti-formalist, who wears his 
 hat in church, and talks during divine service louder than 
 the minister. Perhaps so, yet better the form without the 
 substance than neither substance or form. 
 
 After some time the crowd was dismissed, and Mir Rustam 
 then enumerated his wrongs. First, there was the occupation 
 of Bakkar, though the treaty had guaranteed him free posses- 
 sion of the fortresses on either bank of the Indus ; then the 
 treatment of his Vizir, whom he had been compelled by our 
 
STORM OF KAJJAK. 177 
 
 Resident to dismiss, — a dismissal, indeed, which, except in 
 transactions with the British Government, was purely nominal 
 — lastly, there was the preference shewn in everything to Ali 
 Murad. I omit a host of lesser annoyances, such as our cutting 
 down timber without paying for it, and the insolence of the 
 messengers who brought despatches to Khyrpore, all of whom 
 thought it right that they should be well fee'd for their pains. 
 To these complaints I could only answer by offering my sym- 
 path}'-, by a recommendation to forbearance, and the hope that 
 matters would mend. On the way home Fateh Muhammad, the 
 Vizir, rode up with a score or so of horsemen, and endeavoured 
 to speak to me, but the Agent's orders were so express, that I 
 was obliged to decline holding any communication with him. 
 On reaching Sakkar I heard of the disastrous attack upon 
 the fort of Sibi, or Kajjak, in which our troops were three 
 times driven back from the gates — thrown wide open, but 
 defended by brave men, who, in a moment, cut down those 
 who entered. One horse artilleryman, whose arm had been 
 severed, and who was bleeding to death, forgetful of his own 
 sufferings, expended his last strength in shouting to Lieut. 
 Creed, who led the attack, a warning of the enemy's position, 
 •* They are all to the left. Sir— look to the left." My friend 
 and connection. Falconer, of the Grenadiers, received his 
 death -wound while gallantly endeavouring to rally the 
 sipahis. He was pulling them forward by the belts when a 
 shot struck him — he had a moment before broken his sword 
 in killing one of the enemy. Our loss was fifty-three men 
 killed and wounded, and four officers ; of the enemy, forty-five 
 were killed and ninety-three wounded, besides three chiefs 
 killed and three wounded. Why the General with an army 
 of five thousand men, amongst whom were two European 
 
178 DISTURBANCE AT ROHRI. 
 
 regiments, should have detached a native corps to attack a 
 place so well garrisoned as Sibi, remains to be explained. 
 Unfortunately the Light Company of the 2nd Grenadiers 
 which advanced first to the attack, was the very company 
 which had been so cruelly cut up at Nafushk. 
 
 The ill spirit we had excited at Khyrpore now broke out 
 in a violent affray at Rohri, in which blood was spilt. I had 
 gone out for my usual evening pull down the river, when 
 I observed a crowd gathering on the Sakkar side near 
 the Agency. Boats, too, were coming over in unusual 
 numbers from Rohri. As the boat in which I was drew near 
 shore, I could hear voices bawling out my name. 
 
 On landing, I found Major C, on horseback, and several 
 ofiicers with him, highly exasperated at an attack which 
 they said had been made on a party of sipahis, who had 
 gone to Rohri to be present at a fair there. The boats were 
 bringing the sipahis and camp-followers back — some of them 
 wounded, and one sipahi had his arm cut off. C. was for 
 having the guns brought down immediately, and battering 
 the whole town to pieces ; every one shouted vociferously, 
 and it was difficult to understand the cause of such an 
 attack on our men. Presently a boat of the Amirs arrived 
 with the native authorities of Rohri, who claimed to be 
 heard. With much diflficulty I persuaded the senior officer 
 and the officials of Rohri, to walk into a room in the 
 Agency and discuss the matter quietly, — when it appeared 
 that the sipahis had taken a party of Nach girls into one 
 of the mosques, and made them dance there; and that the 
 Biliichis present sent a message, desiring them to retire and 
 not profane their place of worship. An insolent answer was 
 returned, and this led to blows, in which the Sindhis, being 
 
GENERAL VENTURA. 179 
 
 better armed, had the best of it, and chased our men to 
 the boats. I represented to C. that this was a case for the 
 magistrate, and- did not require to be settled with battering 
 guns and musquetry, and at last succeeded in quieting the 
 hubbub. On forwarding the depositions of the witnesses 
 on both sides to Government, it was decided that the 
 sipahis were in the wrong, as they gave the first offence; 
 and thus the affkir ended without the sack of Rohri. 
 
 Among the numerous guests who halted at the Agency 
 about this time was Genieral Ventura, who stayed a few 
 days with me. His beard was dark, flowing, and quite 
 Oriental ; not like the wretched attempts — stunted, tawny, 
 and withered-looking — of which some chins in camp were 
 guilty. Beards, let me tell you, differ as much as opinions. 
 An Afghan was introduced to me at Shikarpore, of middle 
 height, whose beard was so long, that he could tread on it. 
 One side of it had been considerably abbreviated, however, 
 in an encounter with an enemy, who, twisting his hand in 
 this interminable appendage, whisked its owner from his 
 horse and would have slain him, beard and all, but for the 
 interposition of a friendly spear. For a man to touch 
 another's beard is the worst of affronts ; but female peti- 
 tioners infallibly grasp this mark of the ruling sex, and 
 they tell me 'tis mighty pleasant to have soft fingers fumbling 
 at these antennae, as it were, of your compassionate feelings. 
 But all this is a propos de hottes. I found General Ventura 
 perfectly informed on all matters connected with our Afghan 
 campaign and with the condition of the native states border- 
 ing on the Indus. He requested me to remit to him his 
 pay from the Court at Lahore, 4,100 rupees monthly, and 
 he very kindly permitted his Akbar Navis, or Intelligencer, 
 to forward his reports through me. Thus every third day 
 
 N 2 
 
180 DESERTERS. 
 
 or SO, I received a sort of Persian Morning Post. In place 
 of reading that Her Majesty drove out in the pony-phaeton, 
 or that H. R. H. Prince Albert hunted with the stag hounds 
 on such a day, I read that the Maharajah took his morning 
 airing on an elephant, and spent two hours in the Diamond 
 Gardens, with a thousand and one other particulars, — so little 
 can royalty, either in east or west, escape the persevering 
 scrutiny and microscopic vision of its admirers. Now and 
 then, however, came a piece of information of a little more 
 importance than such notices as those above. 
 
 One of the most troublesome duties which devolved on 
 those servants of all work, the Politicals, was the tracing and 
 apprehension of deserters. Now that so large a force was 
 in the field, this duty was increased ad infinitum. Whole 
 detachments of camel men, cooks, butlers, palanquin-bearers, 
 took wing ; nor was it often that they started empty-handed ; 
 they spoiled the Egyptians ere they fled. One day a very 
 handsome youth came to me for service. I was allowed four 
 messengers ; the post of one of these was vacant. Quite 
 pleased to fill it so well, I gave it at once to the applicant. 
 For two days he went on admirably ; on the third he came 
 to resign. I asked the cause. " He was not well ; his 
 brother was dead ; he must go home." In short, he had a 
 dozen reasons in a breath. Handing over his belt, he was 
 gone in such a hurry that I at once suspected something 
 wrong. Still I could not hear that anything was missing, 
 and there were no grounds for detaining the fugitive. For 
 several days his sudden departure remained a mystery; at 
 last came a party of horsemen belonging to one of our 
 irregular corps. The officer asked to speak to me. He 
 inquired if one Ghulam Khan had been at the Agency. The 
 description he gave left no doubt that it was my quondam 
 
CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES. 181 
 
 messenger. ** And why are you in search of him ?" " Saheb, 
 he had charge of our pay ; he has absconded with it." One 
 would have thought that the broad and rapid Indus would 
 have been security against such occurrences. But at every 
 ten miles or so were ferry boats, and there was no exercising 
 a supervision over these places. The men who were sta- 
 tioned to examine the passes took bribes con amove, and not 
 only let the guilty pass unquestioned, but abused their 
 authority by extracting fees from the innocent. India is no 
 less than Persia and Turkey, the Land of Bribes. Corruption 
 proceeds, link by link, in an unbroken chain, from the lowest 
 to the highest, until the European authority is reached ; there 
 it snaps — yet, alas ! not always, as some melancholy cases, 
 even in late years, have proved. Still, who is not astonished 
 at the change that has taken place since the days when Com- 
 missaries, after holding office a year or two, made their 
 appearance in the wealthiest London circles, and astonished 
 their late masters by the superiority of their menage. Nor 
 was it only these examiners of passports on whose reports it 
 was impossible to rely, — among the native officials I fear there 
 was not one whose word could be taken as good evidence. 
 
 A great deal has been said on either side as to the truthful- 
 ness of the natives of India ; perhaps the matter would be 
 fairly stated were we to say that, if personal regard and 
 gratitude interpose, an Indian may be relied on to the utter- 
 most; in all other cases, the chances are against truth being 
 spoken. In this point the Sindhis do not come behind one 
 bit ; they lie with astonishing fervour. The Biliichis, on 
 the contrary, are truthful ; they are too brave and chivalrous 
 to be false. But commend me to a Persian for romancing. 
 
 During our disasters in the Marri Hills we had a Persian 
 prisoner in durance at Sakkar. He was about five feet three 
 
Xd2 THE INUNl)ATION. 
 
 inches high, small of limb, meagre, and altogether a poor 
 wee creature. On hearing what had happened, he begged 
 to speak to one of the political officers. " Here am I," he 
 said, " send me into the Hills, don't tell the Bihichis of my 
 approach, for then they would never stand, but give me a few 
 horsemen, and you shall soon see what this arm can do." 
 The same martial little gentleman, when about to be released, 
 paid each of his late wardours a visit. He addressed me 
 somewhat in the following strain : — " Aga i Jan, lord of my 
 life ! may you live a thousand years ; may the river of your 
 clemency and kindness, which has been flowing around me, 
 be returned to you by Allah expanded to an ocean." Then 
 looking wistfully about the room, he added that he could 
 not depart without some token of my regard, which he 
 should ever wear about his person. Beginning with the most 
 valuable articles, he asked for everything he saw one after 
 another ; bearing my refusals (for I was not to be cozened) 
 most meekly, till at last he made a determined stand for an 
 English powder-flask and shot-belt. This he was resolved to 
 have. He entreated, flattered, whined, all in vain ; then, 
 when at length he found he could not succeed, he burst out 
 into fierce wrath, and began to pour forth such abusive 
 speeches that I was obliged to expedite his departure by a 
 hint to the sipahis, who were in attendance. 
 
 As the hot weather advanced, the Great River, which 
 had for several months retreated from canal and lake into 
 a narrow bed, began to swell. It is impossible to fancy a 
 more frightful waste than Sindh would be but for this grand 
 artery, which, if art would but a little aid her elder sister, 
 might be made to send life and verdure to all the region 
 between Guzerat and the Hala mountains. There are, for 
 example, the traces evident enough of where a large, if not 
 
THE INUNDATION. 183 
 
 the principal stream, once flowed from a little to the East of 
 Allore, between Sindh and Rajputana, out into the gulf of 
 Cutch. Then instead of the Salt Rann, which now forms the 
 barrier of these two countries, there was a rich district clothed 
 with tall crops of grain of all descriptions. It is almost 
 within the memory of man that the last remnant of this mighty- 
 stream was stopped, partly by an earthquake, partly by man's 
 agency. What greater boon could our Government confer on 
 Sindh than the re- opening of this source of fertility? nor 
 have we to expect any enormous outlay in effecting the 
 object. Every year proves with what ease the river shifts 
 its course. The Amirs have, in numberless cases, performed 
 on a small scale what is here required on a large one, and the 
 aggregate of their minor works would surpass this great one. 
 In China there are officers whose sole employment is to super- 
 intend the canals and increase their number and extent. Such 
 supervision of the canalling in Sindh is equally demanded. At 
 the same time, too, that each new vein of fresh water would 
 reclaim another district from the desert, the navigability of the 
 main river would be increased. At present the quantity of 
 w^ter to be discharged is so vast, that in the deep channels 
 no vessel can make head against the tremendous fury of the 
 stream; while, where the banks are low, the river spreads itself 
 out into a vast lake, where a navigable channel hardly exists, 
 or if existing, is not discoverable. If the army of a Persian 
 king could in a month cut so many outlets from the rapid and 
 impetuous Gyndes, as to render it fordable to a man without 
 so much as wetting his knee,* what might not be done in the 
 
 • By the bye, who will believe the childish reason that is given for 
 this work. Is it not more likely that the real object was to give the 
 means of cultivation to a district suffering from drought ? 
 
184 SAMAD KHAN. 
 
 lapse of years by a moderate outlay from the revenue, aided 
 by the labour of the ryots, which — to a reasonable extent — 
 might be required of them without payment. 
 
 In this way I used to dream of what might be, and would be 
 at some future time, done for Sindh, as 1 gazed out on the 
 rising inundation. The Agency was built so close to the 
 river's edge, that one could sit at the window and catch fish. 
 Not that I ever caught any of a very noble kind. The most 
 common were what we used to call cat-fish. They made a queer 
 noise like the screeching of a kitten, and were not very fit for 
 the table. As the holes and creeks near the river were gra- 
 dually filled with water, some unpleasant reptiles that had 
 harboured there found their way into our habitations. Among 
 the lesser fry of scorpions and centipedes, arrived a visitor who 
 alarmed my cook and all his fraternity not a little. Just about 
 dinner time one day there arose a disorderly shouting in my 
 cuisine, which was presently followed up by a request from my 
 head man, Jafir, that I would bring my gun and do battle with 
 a huge snake that had made his appearance there. On reaching 
 the place I found a very large black snake, seven or eight feet 
 long, and as thick as a man's arm, in a flirting sort of attitude 
 among the rafters of the low roof, as it were coquetting with 
 the dinner, just over the place where the servants used to 
 take their meals. I forthwith discharged both barrels into 
 the brute's paunch, which almost cut him in two, and 
 effectually stopped his demands for more. A large rat which 
 he had swallowed for lunch dropped out from his stomach. 
 
 My next visitor to General Ventura was Samad Khan, the 
 Afghan, who accompanied Captain Abbott from Khiva to St. 
 Petersburg, and thence to England. He is the only one of his 
 race who ever visited Europe, and he was then preparing to 
 
SAMAD KHAX. 185 
 
 astonish his brethren with all the marvels he had seen. He was 
 a little dry-looking old man, and without any powerful claims 
 to be considered an Adonis, but he informed me he had gone 
 through sad temptations in England. The Inglis ladies, he 
 said, would cause an angel to forget his high estate — what 
 then could a mere man do. Yet he solemnly assured me he 
 had resisted all the enchantments with which the Houris of 
 the West had assailed him. I asked him what of all he had 
 beheld, he considered most worth seeing. His answer was, 
 *' the Emperor of Russia." Such a "Jawan i rana,'* " so 
 graceful a man," he had never before seen ; he was a true 
 king, the others were nothing. Poor fellow ! after recounting 
 all he had seen in his travels, he came next to the calamity 
 which had befdlen himself meantime. He had left his wife and 
 children at Herat and Yar Muhammad Khan, the Governor, 
 had taken the opportunity to sell them for slaves to the 
 Usbecs. He would never desist, he said, from searching for 
 them till he had found them out. I could not help thinking 
 that Yar Muhammad, having sold the wife and children, 
 would probably throw in the papa into the bargain, cheap. 
 
 As the hot weather reached its height, my health gave way 
 under repeated attacks of fever. I had also suflfered much 
 from the Sindh ulcer in my feet. For six weeks I was unable 
 to walk, and the sore had penetrated quite to the bone. One 
 doctor had rubbed in calomel into my legs, and, whether from 
 that reason or some other, they swelled to a prodigious size. 
 
 The third year of my sojourn in Sindh had now com- 
 menced. Of those who entered the country at the same 
 time as myself, few remained; some were dead, others had 
 gone away on sick leave. An idea may be given of the 
 unhealthiness of the climate, at least to us the first comers 
 
186 CHANGE OF 
 
 (partly from our being compelled to live for a long time in 
 tents), by simply stating the fact that, of the original Political 
 Staff of Sindh and Shal, numbering seventeen officers, ten are 
 dead, four have been obliged, by loss of health, to retire from 
 the service, and but three remain in India. My chief was 
 aware that my health was rapidly giving way, and wrote to 
 me that it was his intention to proceed to England on sick 
 certificate, and advised me to apply for permission to visit 
 Bombay, in which case he would be glad if I would accom- 
 pany him down. Alas! how little do we foresee our fate. 
 Before the letter reached me, the writer of it was dead. In 
 the prime and flower of his age, a model of manly strength 
 and beauty, full of schemes for the future, little did he 
 think that the book of life was for him, at that very moment, 
 closing, and the seal about to be affixed. It was to me a 
 great shock. Who is there that would not be saddened by 
 reading a letter bright with hopes of revisiting dear England, 
 but a few days written, and the writer dead ! Common as 
 such occurrences are in India, we must have resided long 
 before the effect is deadened. The skeleton is not less 
 hideous because it sits at all our feasts. Of my chiefs 
 political career in Sindh I have little laudatory to say ; he 
 was a man of great courage and talents, and could labour 
 indefatigably when he thought the occasion required it. In 
 a great measure, no doubt, he was misled by the natives he 
 had about him, who were opposed to Mir Rustam. Whatever 
 the cause was that induced him to take up the line of policy 
 he did, it led to a sad result ; that is, if it be thought sad 
 that those who once respected the English Government should 
 be brought to hate and despise it, and that a long course 
 of harsh and unjust measures should lead to a sanguinary 
 
RESIDENTS. 187 
 
 war. True, that in the said war glory was won, and our 
 general added new lustre to a name already among the most 
 dazzling in history ; but what then ? will all the glory of 
 Caesar, Wellington, or Napier, weigh against the blood of one 
 uncivilised and ignorant, it may be, yet leal and true-hearted, 
 clansman, slain in the effort to preserve his chief from cap- 
 tivity, and his country from the spoiler — I trow not. 
 
 When Major Outram succeeded to the charge of Upper 
 Sindh, the rancorous sore of distrust and enmity which had 
 so long been studiously kept open, was at once staunched ; 
 the Khyrpore chiefs who would long before have thrown away 
 the scabbard, but for fear of being shortly over-matched, now 
 thought only of renewing their former friendly relations with 
 the English Government. The storm that was brewing was 
 dissipated in a moment, and though the hour of our weakness 
 — the Cabul catastrophe — was at hand, not a lance was raised 
 against us in Sindh, late so hostile to us. The tale is an old 
 one now, and the political resurrectionist is generally as 
 scurvily handled as the more literal disinterrer of the un- 
 savoury defunct, yet truth will never suffer one to be dumb. 
 When a man has seen with his own eyes a wrong inflicted, 
 he becomes a mere gong in the hands of justice, who, to 
 borrow one of Mr. Weller's similes, will be sure to make him 
 tell what's o'clock. I say then, that JVliani shewed very well 
 what the Biluchis could do ; that they could fight bravely and 
 die manfully ; and that it was in their power, when our flag 
 was torn and trampled on at Cabul, to have dealt us a stern 
 blow, which, reeling as we then were, might have stretched us 
 prostrate. That they remained quiet then, ought to have 
 made us forbearing when they were weak and we strong. 
 
 I remained just time enough at Sakkar to see the alteration 
 
188 VOYAGK 
 
 produced in the disposition of the Amirs by the change of 
 residents at their court. A very dangerous attack of illness 
 then compelled me to start at best speed for a new climate. 
 On the 5th of August, 1841, I quitted my charge and sped 
 down the river remis adurgens, and aided by a current which 
 opposes a velocity of seven miles per hour to the upward 
 comer. The river does in fact, as it were, dissuade one from 
 entering these evil regions of Upper Sindh ; it drives you 
 roughly backward when you would ascend to them, and 
 would you depart, it whirls you swiftly away. As my boat 
 passed under Clibborn's house, he came to the window and 
 called out " Good bye ;" " I am only going for a month" 
 I said; *' I shall soon be back." "You will never return," 
 was his answer, and so saying he went in and shut down the 
 window. I never saw him again. The Indus was at its full 
 height, and at places it foamed and boiled like a witch's 
 cauldron — one of your old gigantic Scandinavian witches, not 
 the diminutive Macbeth breed. Just by that which was once 
 Clibborn's house, the river is exceedingly deep, and a whirlpool 
 is formed by the opposition which the remains of an ancient 
 building make to the headlong waters. When the river is low 
 this building can be distinctly seen, and is another proof, and 
 one far more irrefutable than the inscription of Khwaja Khizr, 
 that the stream migrated hither from Allore. A sort of 
 guardian genius was daily seen at this spot in the shape of an 
 enormous alligator. I never caught sight of it myself, but 
 officers have told me that they have often fired at it, and that 
 its length could not have been less than twenty feet. At 
 Calora, a village some thirty miles from Sakkar, I passed the 
 Satellite steamer a-ground. I had suggested to Major 
 Outram that this vessel should be sent to Dera Ismael 
 
TO HYDERABAD. 189 
 
 Khdn, or as far as it could go, on an exploring expedition, 
 to ascertain first how far the river was navigable, and next 
 what chance of trade there was with the Deraj^t. Whether 
 it was ever sent, I know not. 
 
 On the 6th I passed Sehwan, and on the 7th reached a 
 village called Gotam, belonging to a Seyyad. My amusement 
 was the Annals of Tacitus, and a shot ever and anon at the 
 flocks of great unwieldy pelicans, who sate turning and 
 twirling in the eddies of the mid-stream. 
 
 On the 8th I was brought up by a difficulty. We came 
 to a place where the surges were so high, that the Tindal 
 declared it would be destruction to encounter them. The 
 wind was violent and foul, and he begged leave to moor until 
 Allah should send better weather. It chanced that we were 
 close to a small creek, where the waters, tired with the 
 blustering and fuming of the mid -channel, were enjoying a 
 quiet nap. Here we pulled up and prepared for patience and 
 a dinner of rice and curry. Presently the Tindal thought it 
 would be as well for one of the crew to swim across the creek 
 and see how the river looked beyond, whether it was less 
 boisterous there. No sooner said than done, — one of the 
 boatmen jumped in, "accoutred as he was" (he had, in fact, 
 little clothing on that would not be improved by washing), 
 and struck out manfully for the opposite shore. Before the 
 swimmer made his plunge I told him I thought he was too 
 near the main stream, and that there would be danger of his 
 being sucked in. However, he laughed, and took his own 
 way. Before he had got half across the creek, we saw he 
 was being fast driven to its mouth. A few moments more 
 and he was caught in an eddy and taken into the river. His 
 head went under water several times, and, in spite of his skill 
 
190 VOYAGE TO 
 
 (and these people are almost amphibious) it was evident he 
 must soon go down. Seeing this from the boat, I was not a 
 little perturbed, and the more, as being mj^self unable to 
 swim, I could render no assistance ; and, even had I been the 
 best swimmer in the world, I perhaps could not have extricated 
 him from his perilous position. Luckily I had with me a large 
 gourd, fitted with strings, on which the expert natives manage 
 to cross from shore to shore. This I thrust into the Tindal's 
 hand, and giving him a smart push, sent him headlong in to 
 the rescue. A minute before he was standing with a face of 
 stolid apathy, and looking for all the world like one to whom 
 the submersion of the whole human race would have been 
 matter of indifference. But the souse dispelled this lethargy 
 in a moment. It was a perfect cold water cure. A few 
 vigorous strokes sent him to the drowning man's side, and 
 they both managed to get clear out by the help of the gourd. 
 
 Next day, as the wind did not seem inclined to lull, there 
 was nothing for it but to try our fortune and move on. 
 The boat was one of the largest — if not the largest — on 
 the river; yet these freshwater billows threatened to engulf 
 it. The stern of the vessel was much broken ; but, with 
 this damage, we escaped. The carcases of two vessels 
 stranded just beyond the creek, was a warning to us of the 
 fate we had risked. I afterwards found that a boat, in which 
 two officers were coming down to Hyderabad, had been 
 wrecked at the same place. 
 
 To avoid such rude encounters as much as possible, I 
 left the Indus, about twenty miles above Hyderabad, and 
 went down the Phuleli to that place. During the cold 
 weather the Phuleli is nearly dry ; but, in the inundations, 
 it becomes a rapid stream, about a hundred yards in breadth 
 
HYDERABAD. 191 
 
 and eight or ten feet deep. The banks are studded with 
 gardens and villages, and the district through which the river 
 flows is evidently very populous. Where it joins the Indus 
 there is a beautiful Shikargah, then belonging to Mir Nur 
 Muhammad, one of the chief Amirs of Hyderabad. Farther 
 on I passed another Shikargah, the property of Muhammad 
 Khan Tora. It blew a hurricane all night. In the morn- 
 ing, wearied out with our slow progress, I called to a 
 respectably dressed Biliich on the bank, and asked him to 
 lend me his horse to go on to the Agency. He most civilly 
 stopped, and consented to my somewhat cool request. On 
 jumping a-shore my new acquaintance brought me some 
 milk, and we sat down and talked. Twelve rupees a month 
 was, he said, all his pay, and he could hardly support himself 
 and family upon it. By birth he was a Maghzi of Ahmad 
 Khan*s tribe, of whose clan there were about fifteen in 
 Hyderabad. While we were talking Ibrahim Shah came up. 
 I mounted the horse of one of his attendants, and we galloped 
 ten miles — past the fort and city of Hyderabad, to the 
 Agency, which we reached about noon. Here I was intro- 
 duced to Major Outram, and found at once that I should 
 have no less reason to be pleased with the change of 
 residents than were the Amirs. Frank and kind in his 
 demeanour, the new envoy had no secrets from his assistants, 
 or secrets with their subordinates — the munshis. Though it 
 was impossible for any one to equal his own indefatigable 
 labours, he was always ready to acknowledge the exertions of 
 those under him ; and, as his own deeds were illustrious, so 
 he never sought to appropriate the merit of others. 
 
192 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HYDERABAD — VISIT TO THE AMIRS — CHARACTER OF THE AMIRS OF 
 HYDERABAD AND THEIR CHIEF OFFICERS — ROUTE TO CARRACHI — 
 
 VISIT TO THE MAGAR TALAO — REFLECTIONS ON LEAVING SINDH 
 
 DEPARTURE FOR BOMBAY. 
 
 I FOUND that I should soon have an opportunity of making 
 acquaintance with the Hyderabad Court. The Political 
 Agent intended to transact important business with the 
 Amirs on the morrow, and he desired me to attend. Mir Nur 
 Muhammad had bequeathed his territories to his two sons, 
 Shahdad and Hasan Ali, to be equally divided between them. 
 But Shahdad, the elder, a profligate youth, without a single 
 good quality to recommend him, was bent on depriving his 
 brother, as far as in him lay, of his rightful heritage. He 
 was supported by Mirza Bakir and the family of Ismael Shah, 
 in themselves a host, as well as by many powerful Biluch 
 chiefs. On the other hand, the Nawwab Ahmad Khdn 
 Laghari, a brave and veteran soldier, stood by Husain Ali. 
 Major Outram, acting a more noble and very different part 
 from my late chief, was bent on healing the family quarrel, 
 and with this view he intended visiting the Darbar next day. 
 
 We started about five in the morning from the Agency, 
 which is four or five miles from the city of Hyderabad. The 
 agent had borrowed a horse from an officer who was staying 
 with him. It was a vicious brute, and its master, by sparing 
 
HYDERABAD. 193 
 
 the whip, had completely spoilt his steed. We had scarce 
 gone a hundred yards before it began to be unruly, but it 
 soon found there was a new rider in the saddle. A few severe 
 lashes, and the iron grasp of a pair of immoveable legs, 
 distinctly announced that submission would be its wisest 
 course. After one or two despairing kicks, it gave up the 
 hopeless struggle, and the cavalcade moved on. 
 
 When we had ridden a couple of miles we were welcomed 
 by a huge cloud of dust, from which soon became visible 
 some six score of Biluchi horsemen coming out to welcome us. 
 It is a painful piece of politeness this, where dust of one's 
 own making is superabundant. More especially so is it if 
 you happen to be mounted on a fidgetty high-mettled 
 steed, which dislikes a dozen of ragged galloways niggling 
 along within a yard of its tail. I fairly confess that being 
 compelled to wear very wide shoes, from the state my feet 
 and legs were still in, I lost one of these ireSiKa at the very 
 first onset. Endeavouring, however, to look as amiable as 
 possible, and to disguise my loss ; I " nathless so endured," 
 and at last found myself at the alighting place. 
 
 It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. The loss of my 
 shoe in the approach had half prepared me for the first 
 ceremony on entering the Darbar. The Amirs had from the 
 first required our Agents to uncover their feet, a ceremony 
 which with them was tantamount to the removal of the hat in 
 English society. When we had taken our seats ourselves 
 on chairs, the principal Amirs on sofas, and their retainers 
 on the carpet, the object for which we had come was stated. 
 
 It is not for me to describe the stunning hubbub occasioned 
 by a hundred iron-lunged Biluchi chiefs, who forthwith joined 
 in fierce controversy as to the claims of the two young Amirs. 
 
 o 
 
194 HYDERABAD. 
 
 My business was to interpret, and an arduous affair it was. 
 I confess I liked Ahmad Khkn Laghari best, who said little 
 but looked " tenax propositi." Nasir Khan, who was now 
 regarded as the principal Amir, seemed inclined to support 
 Shahdad. At last, however, the remonstrances of the Agent 
 prevailed, and it was agreed that the brothers should ratify a 
 solemn engagement inscribed in Kurans, binding themselves 
 to keep on friendly terms, and submit their territorial disputes 
 to arbitration. I was deputed to bring in the young Husain 
 All, while another officer was sent for Shahdad, and they 
 were made to embrace publicly. 1 was very glad that I had 
 nothing to do with the latter chief, who was as ill-favoured 
 in person as he was odious in disposition, while my proteg4 
 was a beautiful youth, whose clustering black ringlets and 
 large dark lustrous eyes would have made sad havoc in an 
 English ball-room. I found Husain All at the house of his 
 uncle, Mir Sobdar, whose eldest son, Fateh Ali Khan, came 
 with me back to the Darbar. The crowd was so great, that 
 instead of walking we were carried along, and had like to 
 have been crushed in some of the narrow passages. 
 
 After this affair was over, the next topic for discussion was 
 the cession of Shikarpore, in lieu of the subsidy guaranteed 
 to our Government by treaty. The Amirs were all averse 
 to this cession, especially Nasir Khan, who said, " Saheb, 
 it is dishonourable for a chief to surrender lands." This 
 point then was for the time left undecided. 
 
 About eleven o'clock, a.m., we mounted and returned to 
 the Agency, and my chief did me the honor to request that 
 I would draw up a report of the day's proceedings. As 
 there were many Persian documents to compare and translate, 
 I had not finished this till next day, when it was transmitted 
 
THE AGENCY. 195 
 
 to the Governor-General. As a specimen of how work was 
 carried on among us, I may mention that ill as I was, I had 
 risen at three in the morning to go on with my report ; at 
 half- past three I heard a footstep coming into my room. 
 The door opened, and in came Major Outram. He looked 
 surprised to find me at work already, "for," said he, "I came 
 up to wake you, that you might begin writing in good time, 
 but I find you are beforehand with me." 
 
 I stopped ten days at Hyderabad, luxuriating in the cool- 
 ness of the climate compared with that of Sakkar and 
 Katchi ; yet I fancy few who have been only in Lower 
 Sindh think Hyderabad a very enjoyable place. Yet it was 
 delightful to me after the incandescence from which I had 
 just come. So true is it what old Sadi says — that they who 
 are in Purgatory think Paradise, Heaven; while, to those 
 who are beyond, Purgatory appears Paradise. The sea 
 breeze, the last sigh of which dies in reaching Sehwan, is 
 quite perceptible at Hyderabad. The Agency — afterwards, 
 made famous by Outram's celebrated defence of it — certainly 
 seemed but little adapted for a fortress. It was a large paste- 
 board-looking house, built within a hundred yards of the 
 Indus, with a wide open plain to the east, extending as far as 
 Hyderabad, the river to the west, and a garden and grove of 
 tall trees to the south. A small enclosure near the house 
 contained a number of pet deer of all descriptions, from the 
 dwarf Kotah Pachah to the gigantic Sambar. One buck 
 antelope enticed caresses by his beauty, and repaid the proffer 
 with furious thrusts of his horns, which, sharp as poniards, 
 would, if he had made good his charge, have let out life in an 
 instant. As for the city itself, it is both populous and exten- 
 sive in comparison with the other towns of Lower Sindh, 
 
 o 2 
 
196 REVENUE 
 
 though the buildings, with the exception of the fort, are not 
 greatly superior to those seen elsewhere. The houses are built 
 in general of mud, but, for all that, must not be put down as 
 mere hovels. They are thick walled, extensive structures, 
 often several stories high, a kind of Timbuctoo palaces in 
 short. The fort is an irregular pentagon, surrounded by walls 
 of burnt brick, without a ditch or outworks, and, in several 
 parts, shewing neglect and decay. Only the families of the 
 Amirs resided in the fort. In the centre is a vast bastion, 
 which was then supposed to contain the treasures of the 
 Amirs. These, report said, were enormous; but experience 
 has so often shewn such accounts of the riches of Eastern 
 Princes to be fallacious, that it is marvellous in the case of 
 the Amirs so much credit should have been given to the 
 stories of their wealth. When the Talpurs overthrew the 
 Calora dynasty in 1781, they no doubt obtained possession 
 of the treasure of those princes. But, as will be seen in 
 Mr. Elphinstone's Cabul Shah Zemdn, the Afghan king, in 
 1793 and 1794, settled the Southern Provinces of his empire 
 in person. He then compelled the Amirs of Sindh to pay 
 two millions four hundred thousand pounds on account of 
 tribute due by them. If half of this immense sum was really 
 exacted, we see at once in what way the Calora treasures were 
 expended. Since that time, it is true, there had been no 
 great drain on the Sindh exchequer. Twice only had it been 
 drawn upon; once in 1804 by Shdh Shuja, who managed to 
 extort seventeen lacs (one hundred and seventy thousand 
 pounds), and again in 1809 by the same king, who then 
 obtained a smaller sum, but the exact amount is not known. 
 On the other hand the whole revenue of Sindh had not, 
 for years before our invasion, amounted to more than fifty 
 
OF SINDH. 197 
 
 seven lacs, of which the Amirs of Upper Sindh collected 
 twenty, while seven lacs went to Shir Muhammad, the chief 
 of Shirpor. The remaining thirty lacs were divided amongst 
 the five principal Amirs of Hyderabad ; so that the revenue of 
 each did not exceed that of an English nobleman of the 
 second class, while that of all collectively no more than 
 equalled the income of our mighty Crassi — the Dukes of 
 Sutherland and Buccleugh, and Lord Westminster. From 
 this amount, thousands of retainers were to be paid, a 
 princely style maintained, and all expenditure for public 
 works defrayed ; add to which that at least two thirds of 
 the revenue were taken in kind; and it will appear matter 
 of surprise that when the long-coveted hoards were at last 
 divided their actual amount was found to be what it was. 
 Besides, amongst the Talpiirs there had been some very 
 extravagant chiefs. Mir Karam Ali was famed for his munifi- 
 cence, and Nasir Khan, at one time in his life, was very 
 lavish in his expenditure, in consequence of which he had 
 been almost entirely dependent on his brother, Nur Muham- 
 mad, for some years previous to that chiefs death. This 
 fact may account for the countenance he shewed Shahdad 
 during our interview, for otherwise the nature of the uncle 
 had little in common with that of his avaricious and grasping 
 nephew. Neither Nur Muhammad nor Sobddr possessed any 
 wealth. 
 
 The reception the Amirs gave us was not calculated to 
 impress us either with the magnificence of their court, or, in 
 some respects, with the refinement of their courtiers. The 
 approach to the fort was through a long narrow dirty street, 
 crowded with spectators, among whom might be noticed 
 a great number of Sid is or blacks. The darbar or hall of 
 
198 THE AMIRS 
 
 audience was small, without the slightest pretence to splen- 
 dour. But, though the good sense and simple habits of the 
 Amirs led them to avoid display, yet all their apartments were 
 not to be judged of by the paltry reception- rooms in which 
 their interviews with the Resident took place. On one occa- 
 sion Nasir Khan shewed the English party over his private 
 residence. There were several good rooms, and among them 
 one very high and lofty, much better suited for an Audience- 
 chamber than that in use. It was covered with a beautiful 
 Persian carpet, and the walls were hung with portraits of 
 the Shahs of Persia. On the present occasion, however, 
 simplicity was studied to a fault. A common-looking sofa 
 occupied one corner of the room, near a window which was 
 half closed with a simple deal board. There was no order 
 or ceremony in the reception. People came and went, talked 
 or were silent, as it pleased them. On the other hand, the 
 manners and demeanour of some of the Amirs — Nasir Khan, 
 for example — were highly prepossessing. He was a man 
 of enormous bulk, but his face was eminently handsome, and 
 there was a frankness and openness in his address which was 
 quite winning. Altogether his manners reminded one of 
 those of a highly-polished English nobleman. He was a 
 great favourite with the Biliichis, much more so than his elder 
 and deceased brother Niir Muhammad, whom I never saw, 
 but who has been described to me as extremely fond of 
 money, and in appearance quite a contrast to Nasir, with 
 a thin cunning countenance and quick twinkling eyes, expres- 
 sive of suspicion and distrust — altogether a second Louis 
 Onze. His son Shahdad resembled him in style, and was, 
 moreover, a puny, dissipated, debauched-looking youth, about 
 five and twenty. With these two exceptions, the family of 
 
AND THEIR RETAINERS. 199 
 
 the Amirs were much hetter-looking than the like number of 
 Europeans taken at random. Mir Sobdar, who was involved 
 in the common ruin of his family after the battle of Miani, 
 appeared to be a plain, sensible man, of quiet manner and gen- 
 tlemanly address. The son of the eldest of the four Amirs, who 
 first succeeded the Caloras, he had been kept out of his birth- 
 right for some years. He, however, in 1828, escaped from 
 the capital, and was joined by a large body of the Biliichis, 
 till at last he was at the head of an army of fifteen thousand 
 men, with which he compelled the other Amirs to restore 
 to him the territory which had belonged to his father, Fateh 
 Ali. From this quarrel, as from other reasons, he always held 
 aloof from the rest of the family. When Lord Keane landed, 
 there is no doubt the other Amirs would have attacked our 
 forces, but that Sobdar utterly refused to join them. How 
 therefore, his attachment to the British came to be suspected 
 is a question not easily answered. His troops are said to 
 have been present in the field at Miani, but it has never been 
 ascertained whether they really were there, and if so, if the 
 whole were present, or but a detachment ; and, also, how far 
 Sobdar endeavoured to restrain them. 
 
 Some persons are pleased to look upon the Amirs as igno- 
 rant barbarians. There was, however, often more pith in 
 their remarks than we English gave them credit for. Thus, 
 on one occasion of an interview between our Resident and 
 Nur Muhammad, the former was speaking much of the 
 good faith and disinterestedness of his government. Niir 
 Muhammad listened half assentingly, half abstractedly, and 
 then said, as if changing the subject, " You Europeans came 
 to India in the reign of Bahadur Shah, did you not ? " 
 The Resident answered, " No ; the first English factory was 
 
200 THE AMIRS 
 
 established at Surat in the reign of Jehangir ;" and so the 
 remark passed unheeded. On questioning the munshi, 
 however, it appeared that among the Persian MSS. in the 
 possession of the Amirs was a history of Guzerat before it 
 became a province of Akbar's empire. In this there was 
 a very circumstantial relation of the treacherous murder of 
 Bahadur Shah, King of Guzerat, by the Portuguese. Nur 
 Muhammad intended therefore, by his remark a gentle hint, 
 that in all European transactions in the East, this astonishing 
 good faith on which the Resident was enlarging would not be 
 found conspicuous. 
 
 From the first the Amirs of Hyderabad were well aware 
 of the ruin which our entrance into their country foreboded 
 to their family. It is idle hypocrisy now to pretend that 
 our design in entering into treaties with them included the 
 slightest glance at their advantage. In vain they protested — 
 " We want no treaties, no alliance ; spare us the honour of an 
 Ambassador ; or, if an officer must be deputed to our Court, 
 why then, let it be a doctor." Maugre all their dislike we 
 were determined to befriend them. The navigation of the 
 Indus promised golden returns ; interested persons told us of 
 the fertility of the soil ; — " Sindh," said they, " is a magnifi- 
 cent country, but crushed by the iron rule of these Biluchi 
 despots. The soil near Hyderabad is favourable for indigo, 
 tobacco and sugar. At Karachi pearls are found, the fishery 
 for them might be rendered most profitable, but the igno- 
 rance and folly of the Amirs throw obstacles in the way of 
 all improvement. The whole wealth of the country is in 
 their hands, and in the hands of a few favourites. No 
 other class of people dare exhibit any signs of riches. The 
 Biluchis hold every species of traffic in the greatest con- 
 
AND THEIR RETAINERS. 201 
 
 tempt, and consider merchants legitimate objects of plunder. 
 The Hindus, by whom all the trade and commerce of the 
 country is carried on, are a despised and degraded race, and 
 are treated on every occasion with the greatest injustice. 
 Under the present Government there is no sort of market 
 for goods, no safety for the trader, and no hope of an eleva- 
 tion of the system." Such were the calumnies poured forth 
 in the greedy ears of the invaders. Had they all been true, 
 we should not have been justified in seizing the country, 
 unless it can be shewn that we ought to take a man's coat 
 because he does not choose to mend a hole in it. 
 
 In their intercourse with our Resident and his assistants 
 the Amirs were uniformly courteous and aifable. A touch of 
 chivalrous honour in some cases appeared in their deportment 
 Thus, on one occasion, when Nasir Khan had called at the 
 Agency, and not knowing that ladies were living there, 
 entered a room where one of them was sitting — he imme- 
 diately retired with a profound obeisance, mounted his horse, 
 and rode back to Hyderabad. In a short time messengers 
 arrived from him, with a letter asking pardon for his uninten- 
 tional rudeness, and an offering of one hundred gold muhars 
 (one hundred and fifty pounds). He was, in truth, quite 
 shocked at having intruded on a female in the absence of her 
 husband. The same Amir, before the fatal battle of Miani, 
 was resolved not to break with the English Government come 
 •what might. In vain the Biluchi chiefs urged him to take 
 the field. At last they sent a woman's dress to him. This 
 was sufficient. " Since they think," he said, " it is fear that 
 prevents me from raising my standard, they shall see they are 
 mistaken ;" and he immediately left his palace to join the 
 troops. 
 
202 THE AMIRS 
 
 The Talpurs won Sindh by the sword, and as their power 
 was based on the courage of their Bihlchi soldiers, it was 
 natural that they should accord them great privileges. The 
 great chiefs of clans might be said to be almost independent. 
 Shahdad told one of our officers that Jan Khan, a Biluchi chief, 
 had twice attempted to poison him, but that his clan was so 
 powerful that he was quite unable to punish him. Such 
 attempts, however, were rare indeed, as during the sixty years 
 the Talpurs governed Sindh we have no account of any of them 
 having been assassinated. Let any one compare the history 
 of their government with the bloody annals of a single year at 
 Lahore. More crimes will be found registered in the space 
 of twelve months under the Khalsa government than could be 
 reckoned during the whole administration of the Amirs and 
 their fathers. When we reflect on the ease with which 
 European Sovereigns are deposed — on the little attachment 
 their courtiers and armies shew to them, it speaks well for 
 the Amirs that none of their followers deserted them in their 
 hour of need, except the Seyyad family of Ishmael Shah, who 
 were of foreign extraction, being, originally, Persians who 
 settled in Sindh during the reign of the Great Nadir. It will 
 be said, perhaps, that this was merely from interested and 
 selfish motives; that because they feared losing their broad 
 lands, the Biluchis remained firm in their loyalty, and that the 
 dread of forfeiting their privileges united them against the 
 British. In the same manner all loyalty, nay, every feeling of 
 the heart, may be resolved into selfishness. At least, it must 
 be granted that the rights of the Biluchi tribes — that is, of a 
 third of the whole population of Sindh — were respected by 
 the Amirs — that the Biluchis were satisfied with the existing 
 Government. But, of the pure Sindhis — the Jokhyas, Jhats, 
 
AND THKIR RETAINERS. 203 
 
 Kulmatis, etc., how many were there who shewed themselves 
 disaffected ? What, did none of these shew any disposition to 
 join the invader ? — Not one. Surely, then, we ought to pause 
 before we receive as true the stories that have been told of the 
 tyranny and misrule ot the Talpurs. Aye, but the Hindus ; 
 the Hindus, at least, were oppressed, squeezed of their money, 
 despised, almost proscribed. If so, how was it they did not 
 migrate to the neighbouring countries under British rule — 
 to Catch, Guzerat, and Rajputana? How did it happen 
 that when we arrived at Shikarpore and Hyderabad we found 
 Hindu merchants as wealthy, almost as numerous as in the 
 most prosperous towns under our own Government.^ It is 
 a strange case this. The English public sit as judge. On 
 one side, as evidence, are the natives of the country — its 
 history, free from internal strife during the last fifty years 
 — the testimony of all the political officers who have been 
 stationed in Sindh, two only excepted, neither of whom 
 knew anything of the language, and never conversed with 
 the natives but through the medium of artful, venal munshis ; 
 on the other side is the evidence of sundry military men, 
 who, of course, would be naturally inclined to err on the side 
 of conciliation, and could not he in the slightest degree influ- 
 enced hy the paltry half million of prize money, and a few 
 munshis, who, after a long course of lying, performed the 
 part of veracious men for this time only. Yet, away with 
 evidence — let might be right ; is there to be no limit to our 
 vengeance; has England but one word left for those who 
 sue humbly at her feet — for those who were rich, happy, at 
 peace — till England thrust her friendship and her treaties 
 upon them — and is that word, Vae victis ! 
 
 On the 23rd of August I left Hyderabad in the Satellite 
 
304 ROUTE TO 
 
 steamer, and passed down to Tatta in five hours, through 
 a tremendous sea. The pace was not of the slowest, as the 
 current carried us in mid-stream about seven miles an hour, 
 and our own speed was eight or nine. In one place, but 
 luckily not where the river was particularly boisterous, we 
 struck on a sand-bank. The vessel seemed as if it would 
 bury itself. I began to fear that in after ages, when the 
 river had changed its course, a fossil steam -boat would be 
 discovered with skeleton crew, hid some twenty feet below 
 the surface of the soil. At last, however, she stopped 
 descending, but twenty minutes were expended in getting 
 her off. As we drew near Jerrak the woods grew denser, 
 and seemed almost impervious. It was here that at the 
 first landing of our troops three officers of one of the 
 Queen's regiments were burned to death. At the time 
 some were disposed to ascribe their fate to design, but in 
 fact it was pure accident — an accident which, unfortunately, 
 too often occurs in India. A friend of mine was present 
 when an unfortunate beater met his fate in the same way. 
 A large extent of long grass was set on fire to drive out some 
 hog — the flame ran with the rapidity of lightning. The 
 man, who was among the grass at the moment the fire was 
 kindled, ran to a tree and ascended it. The flame encircled 
 him, and, blinded by the volumes of smoke, he lost his hold, 
 fell from the branches, and perished miserably. At Tatta we 
 disembarked, and I prepared to proceed by land to Carachi. 
 Two officers, who were going on sick leave to Bombay, were 
 to be my companions. One of them was so ill that I was in 
 fear he would die on the road. He was so reduced and ema- 
 ciated, that though six feet four inches in height and, when 
 in health, proportionably stout, I could now carry him with 
 
CARACHI. 205 
 
 the greatest ease. He had been stationed at Kotru in Katchi, 
 and the account he gave of the sickness there was fearful. 
 The party of officers on detachment at that place, originally 
 consisted of eleven, and the sipahis numbered about four 
 hundred. Fever broke out among them, and their sufferings 
 were aggravated by the heat, which was absolutely insupport- 
 able — the thermometer reached 130® Fahrenheit, in a tent. 
 Soon five officers, all young men under their twenty-fifth year, 
 were dead ; half the sipahis succumbed ; — the doctor was so 
 terrified at the number of deaths that he became deranged. 
 My friend, a man, as I have said, of extraordinary stature and 
 strength, was seized with the fever, and, as the only chance of 
 saving him, was sent off in a palanquin to Sakkar. Three 
 of the twelve bearers died on the way from coup-de-soleil. 
 
 Our stages to Carachi were Gujar, fourteen miles ; Ghara, 
 fourteen ; Pipri, twelve miles ; and Jemedar ji lanti, thirteen 
 miles. In the third march we passed a large ruined town 
 called Bombhara, and six miles farther we encountered 
 many tombs and scattered villages, which seemed to shew 
 that this part of the Delta had once been more populous than 
 at present. As we entered Carachi we met many pilgrims 
 returning from Hinglaj . This place is famous as a resort of 
 Hindu pilgrims. Durga, the Goddess of Destruction, is 
 worshipped there, and it is the farthest western limit to 
 which Indian polytheism extends. A short time before I 
 quitted Sindh an enterprising officer, Captain Hart, succeeded 
 in reaching the Temple, and has left in the " Journal of the 
 Asiatic Society" an interesting account of his journey. The 
 same route was afterwards attempted by the late Sir William 
 Harris in the disguise of a native. At the second or third 
 stage, however, he was discovered to be a European, and he 
 
206 THE MAGAR TALAO, 
 
 saw such threatening symptoms of hostility among the 
 Mekranis that though an experienced traveller, and one who 
 had dared to enter the territories of the African Moseiikatse 
 and other semihuman barbarians, he nevertheless thought it 
 advisable to try the fleetness of his horse in returning to 
 cantonments. Certainly, the journey which Sir Henry Pottin- 
 ger performed through these regions in 1809, disguised as 
 a Persian horse-dealer, was one of the most extraordinary and 
 adventurous undertakings ever ventured on by man — though 
 the courage, perseverance, and talent, shewn in bringing the 
 attempt to a successful termination, has been comparatively 
 little understood or appreciated. 
 
 One of my first expeditions after reaching Carachi was 
 a visit to the Magar Taldo, as it is called, or Lake of Alligators. 
 This curious place is about eight miles from Carachi, and is 
 well worth inspecting to all who are fond of the monstrous and 
 grotesque. A moderate ride through a sandy and sterile track 
 varied with a few patches of jungle, brings one to a grove 
 of tamarind trees, hid in the bosom of which lie the grisly 
 brood of monsters. Little would one ignorant of the locale 
 suspect that under that green wood in that tiny pool, which 
 an active leaper could half spring across, such hideous 
 denizens are concealed. *' Here is the pool,'* I said to my 
 guide rather contemptuously, "but where are the alligators ?'* 
 At the same time I was stalking on very boldly with head 
 erect, and rather inclined to flout the whole affair, naso adunco. 
 A sudden hoarse roar or bark, however, under my very feet, 
 made me execute a pirouette in the air with extraordinary 
 adroitness, and perhaps with more animation than grace. 
 1 had almost stepped on a young crocodilian imp about three 
 feet long, whose bite, small as he was, would have been the 
 
OR ALLIGATOR POOL. 207 
 
 reverse of pleasant. Presently the genius of the place made 
 his appearance in the shape of a wizard-looking old Fakir, 
 who, on my presenting him with a couple of rupees, produced 
 his wand — in other words, a long pole, and then proceeded to 
 " call up his spirits." On his shouting *' Ao ! Ao ! '* "Come! 
 Come ! ** two or three times, the water suddenly became alive 
 with monsters. At least three score huge alligators, some of 
 them fifteen feet in length, made their appearance, and came 
 thronging to the shore. The whole scene reminded me of 
 fairy tales. The solitary wood, the pool with its strange 
 inmates, the Fakir's lonely hut on the hill side, the Fakir 
 himself, tall, swart, and gaunt, the robber-looking Biluchi by 
 my side, made up a fantastic picture. Strange, too, the con- 
 troul our showman displayed over his "Lions." On his 
 motioning with the pole they stopped (indeed, they had already 
 arrived at a disagreeable propinquity), and, on his calling out 
 *' Baitho," " Sit down," they lay flat on their stomachs, grin- 
 ning horrible obedience with their open and expectant jaws. 
 Some large pieces of flesh were thrown to them, to get which 
 they struggled, writhed, and fought, and tore the flesh into 
 shreds and gobbets. I was amused with the respect the smaller 
 ones shewed to their overgrown seniors. One fellow, about 
 ten feet long, was walking up to the feeding ground from the 
 water, when he caught a glimpse of another much larger just 
 behind him. It was odd to see the frightened look with 
 which he sidled out of the way evidently expecting to lose 
 half a yard of his tail before he could eff'ect his retreat. At 
 a short distance (perhaps half a mile) from the first pool, 
 I was shewn another, in which the water was as warm as 
 one could bear it for complete immersion, yet even here I saw 
 some small alligators. The Fakirs told me these brutes were 
 
20^ CARACHI. 
 
 very numerous in the river about fifteen or twenty miles to the 
 west. The monarch of the place, an enormous alligator, to 
 which the Fakir had given the name of " Mor Saheb," "My 
 Lord Mor," never obeyed the call to come out. As I walked 
 round the pool I was shewn where he lay, with his head 
 above water, immoveable as a log, and for which I should 
 have mistaken him but for his small savage eyes, which 
 glittered so that they seemed to emit sparks. He was, the 
 Fakir said, very fierce and dangerous, and at least twenty 
 feet in length. 
 
 Carachi is by far the most pleasant station in Sindh ; 
 indeed, it would bear honourable comparison with any of 
 the stations on the Bombay side. Yet in no place has the 
 cholera been more fatal. Our European regiments have 
 been almost annihilated there. The fact is, that premonitory 
 symptoms are not attended to, and there are, alas ! too many 
 individuals in each corps whose constitutions are already 
 undermined by drinking, and these succumb at once on the 
 appearance of the disease. The extent to which drinking 
 is carried among European soldiers in India is so fearful that 
 no language can describe it. Surely those in high place 
 should give their days and nights to this great problem — 
 the moral improvement of our noble army. To pass over 
 obvious matters, such as the choice of the most salubrious 
 stations for our English regiments, the building of places of 
 amusement for the men, reading-rooms, schools for fencing 
 and gymnastic exercises, baths, etc., so as to keep them as 
 much out of the sun as possible (and these rooms, by the bye, 
 might be built by the men themselves in the cold season) — not 
 to mention, too, the encouragement of merit by opening three 
 or four commissions in each regiment to deserving privates— 
 
CARACHI. 209 
 
 one must come to the root of the evil: how can men be 
 expected to be religious (and if not religious then not good 
 citizens, then not contented) while they are prevented from 
 marrying? Every man ought to be encouraged to marry 
 (ay, ay, laugh on, Malthusians !) nor would the number 
 of children and women clog the movements of our troops. 
 Let our regiments on service be unincumbered; but, the 
 campaign over — and Indian campaigns are never very long, 
 — why should not the soldier return to a home as the native 
 sipahi does, instead of having none to care for him, and 
 therefore not caring himself whether he lives or dies. ** But," 
 says objection, " the widows and fatherless children, what 
 a burthen to Government; what is one to do with the 
 widows, one cannot pension them all?" True, but is there 
 no demand for female servants ? is there no trade which 
 might be taught — millinery for example — to the wives and 
 daughters of soldiers ? — no employment which could be given 
 them in our missionary schools and public buildings, such as 
 hospitals, travellers' bungalows? In the next place, every 
 officer in charge of a company ought to be compelled to spend 
 some time in questioning the men as to their reading and 
 pursuits, and in suggesting to them useful books for their 
 perusal, in encouraging them to study, and in aiding their 
 progress. These are Utopian ideas, it will be said : — there 
 are to whom all progress appears Utopian. 
 
 Carachi has no pretensions to be called a port; the road- 
 stead is most dangerous, and only small boats can enter the 
 creek which runs up to the town. Even for these there 
 is risk in passing the bar during strong winds. Sindh has, 
 in fact, no harbour. The entrance into the Hajdmri branch 
 of the Indus is extremely difficult and dangerous. The coast 
 is low, and seen with difficulty from a distance. There are 
 
210 CARACHI. 
 
 no objects to guide the mariner, except the North Point of 
 the Richel mouth, which is covered with mangrove jungle, 
 and for which the Catch boatmen steer. The water shoals 
 suddenly from seven or eight fathoms to two. There is 
 a bar at the mouth of the Hajamri, around which heavy 
 breakers are seen on all sides. Were a vessel to strike here 
 it would soon go to pieces, and there would be little chance 
 of escape for the crew. The Hajamri opens like a funnel, 
 and, from a width of several hundred yards, gradually con- 
 tracts to a narrow stream. On each side the land is low. 
 Vikkar, the place of next importance to Carachi on the coast, 
 is a wretched, straggling village, the houses composed of 
 grass and mud. It is, notwithstanding, a place of consider- 
 able trade. Opposite the town the river is perhaps one 
 hundred and fifty yards broad ; the water near the bank is 
 deep, and allows the largest boats to lie close, thereby afford- 
 ing great facilities for the unlading or shipment of cargoes. 
 
 I had, however, but little time to explore at Carachi. I 
 had been directed to assume charge of the political duties 
 there, such as they were, until my health would admit of 
 my returning to Hyderabad or Upper Sindh. But repeated 
 attacks of fever warned me I must seek a further change. 
 On the 14th of September I embarked in the ** Auckland " 
 steamer for Bombay. This vessel had arrived with a number 
 of women and children belonging to the European regiment 
 at Carachi. There was a very high sea, and the steamer 
 rolled so much that it was a service of danger either to board 
 her or to get from her into the boats. The poor women were 
 hoisted out by a sling fastened round the waist, and a youth 
 in the boats caught them by the legs and deposited them as 
 weU as he could. Owing, however, to the tremendous swell, 
 this office was performed in so ludicrous a fashion, that the 
 
DEPARTURE FROM SINDH. 211 
 
 sailors were kept in a continued roar of laughter. Ever and 
 anon, the fair debutante descended with such unexpected 
 velocity as to stretch him who should have received her, 
 sprawling over the thwarts. In short the whole scene is 
 better imagined than described. 
 
 At last we shook off all incumbrances, the gun of departure 
 was fired, and we started for Bombay. And thus I quitted 
 Sindh, after two years and a half of incessant toil and ill- 
 health. My constitution was completely undermined, the 
 spring of life's year had been taken away. Even after several 
 months' sojourn at the Hills, the return of hot weather 
 brought with it a return of fever. At last I was compelled 
 to try the effect of a long cruize at sea; but even that 
 change, though for a time beneficial, could not repair the 
 injury my health had sustained. It was then, after I had 
 embarked, that I suffered the penalty of falUng sick — I was 
 deprived of my appointment. At all other stations where 
 political officers are employed — even in Sindh itself — up to 
 this time it had been a rule that those whom sickness com- 
 pelled to leave their duties for a time should retain their 
 appointments and draw a moiety of their staff allowance. 
 Somewhat may be said, perhaps, against such an indulgence, 
 while arguments are not wanting to prove it expedient as 
 well as just. Let those pass — I was the first to come under 
 the new regime. Commencing with myself, those officers 
 in political employ who fell sick were remanded to their 
 regiments. After two or three years' hard service in a 
 villanous climate — which might have been spent wuth one's 
 regiment in a good one — that an officer should be remanded 
 to his corps, for no other reason than that health had failed 
 him, may be reckoned sharp practice. At least a few words of 
 acknowledgement for the services rendered by him might well 
 
 r 2 
 
212 A FLBA 
 
 have been expected — in old time, a transfer to a more healthy 
 station would not have been too much to have looked for : 
 but simply to read one's name some morning in cold print, 
 "placed at the disposal of H.E. the Commander-in-Chief," i8 
 enough to make the zeal of a Jesuit evaporate. The fact 
 was, a new Pharaoh had arisen who knew not the political 
 Josephs. By the time Lord Ellenborough reached India, 
 our disasters in Cdbul had occurred. The new Governor- 
 General seemed to be impressed with the idea that all political 
 officers, small and great, were in fault. Forthwith he com- 
 menced dealing out upon them the most ferocious and Sam- 
 sonistic blows. The shower unfortunately fell, like Don 
 Quixote's strokes on a certain occasion, upon an innocent 
 race of puppets. What blame in fact was to be attributed 
 to the junior political officers who served under the Envoy, or 
 the Political Agent in Upper Sindh ? These did but move as 
 their leaders pulled the wires. But an insane yell had been 
 raised against the very name of Political. If anything went 
 wrong, venerable imbeciles shook their heads, and exclaimed 
 against " those boy Politicals !" Friend Nestor ! 'prithee in- 
 form us where is 't thy pleasure to demarcate boy from man } 
 What man's appendage was wanting in these "boy Politicals ? " 
 At the doubtful age which separates youth from manhood, 
 those who would claim the bold free name of man, put faith 
 in whiskers, some, some in the tufted chin, and others in the 
 straggling and lean moustache. Look on these visages, 
 wrinkled and hirsute — look on these beards, which to the 
 waist descend, and say, if these be boys, who, then, are 
 men ? In truth it is a merry thought — a very pleasant and 
 unlooked-for jest, to call this time-honoured and all but 
 used up throng, a set of " boy Politicals." 
 
 But, in sober seriousness, why should this cant about 
 
FOR POLITICALS. 213 
 
 Politicals, (and all sweeping abuse, as well as all unqualified 
 praise of a whole body of men is cant) be perpetuated. A 
 regimental officer shews a more than ordinary knowledge 
 of the native character, makes himself au fait with the 
 languages, or evinces talent in other respects, and is selected 
 for the corps diplomatique. The politicals, therefore, are not 
 a distinct body from the military — they are of them ; and to 
 them sooner or later they return. Few are so fortunate as 
 to be nominated to this employ till they have been ten or 
 twelve years in India ; and the higher grades of Resident and 
 Political Agent, can only be obtained after a service of twenty 
 or thirty years; and, therefore, not till men have reached their 
 fortieth year. Thus an officer of my acquaintance, who had 
 served fifteen years, and who had greatly distinguished himself 
 as First Assistant, was told — when the Residency fell vacant — 
 that though his services were appreciated, his extremely 
 junior standing rendered his promotion impossible. The 
 duties of a political officer are far more onerous, and his 
 responsibility is infinitely greater than that of a military 
 man of corresponding rank, except during the few hours 
 when the campaign reaches its crisis of a general action. 
 And if some Politicals have failed, and their false measures 
 have brought down on our heads disgrace and loss, let it 
 be remembered, on the other hand, that from the Indian corps 
 diplomatique have sprung such men as Malcolm, Elphinstone, 
 Monroe, Close, Pottinger, Outram, and Lawrence. 
 
 A passage in Lord EUenborough's letter to the Political 
 Agent in Sindh, dated Allahabad, May 22nd, 1842, is worth 
 noticing, as it affords the key to that Governor- General's 
 dismissal of Outram, Colonel Taylor, and others. " The 
 British officer" says his lordship, "whatever may be his 
 
214 A PLEA 
 
 character when he assumes his office at a small native Court, 
 can hardly be expected, when deprived altogether for a long 
 period of the society of his countrymen, not to acquire some 
 portion of the feelings and prejudices of some of those by 
 whom he is surrounded, and to lose something of that impar- 
 tiality of judgment, and of that firmness in action which 
 are required in a Representative of the Government." There 
 are glimmerings of sense in this remark of his lordship, 
 though, on the whole, it is tolerably illogical for a debater 
 of Lord EUenborough's experience. What does his lordship 
 mean by saying that a British Envoy at a small native Court 
 acquires the feelings and prejudices of those by whom he is 
 surrounded? Is it meant that among the Jh^rijahs, for in- 
 stance, one would, by degrees, find something excusable in 
 curtailing the existence of little Susans and Emmas, some- 
 thing attractive in lulling oneself into idiotcy with Kusumbah, 
 or a high degree of devotion in standing twelve years on 
 one's head, imbedded in sup^ri leaves ? or that, by residing at 
 Hyderabad, while the heart gradually softened to religious 
 mendicants, the judgment would begin to view polygamy and 
 the seclusion of females as, on the whole, not so bad, and 
 applaud the rejection of English saddles, pork, and old Ma- 
 deira ? On the same principle, policemen would, by degrees, 
 extend the itching finger towards their neighbour's pocket, and 
 before long, find '*who deal with pilferers must themselves 
 be thieves." Then, is it only a small native Court that is to 
 be the downfall of the hapless Political, according to the well 
 known idea — "My wound is great because it is so small;" 
 leading to the unfortunate conclusion — " It would be greater 
 were it none at all." And how are we to understand the 
 words Native Court; ergo, not foreign Court unless native 
 
FOK POLITICALS. 215 
 
 is equivalent to foreign. Or, is it only the small Indian Courts 
 that have this wondrous power ? A French court, therefore, or 
 a Russian, cannot affect an Envoy one bit; there we may quite 
 depend on our diplomatists, it being only in certain latitudes 
 that our Envoys suffer this strange metamorphosis? But I 
 forget there is a proviso — " the Envoy must be deprived alto- 
 gether, for a long period, of the society of his countrymen." 
 It is a pity his lordship could not have defined the exact 
 period, or, at least, have given us some idea of what this word 
 ** long*' darkly shadows forth. A long period in man's hfe would 
 be ten years ; a long vacation, on the other hand, is (students 
 sigh over the sad truth) but a few months. I know not how 
 to fix the meaning of this ** long " ; three years is long for 
 some Governments to last, five years too short for others ; 
 a day is long in the fierce heats of Sindh — short on the cool 
 heights of Simla. Nought can I make of you — uncertain, 
 slippery word, stretching, like Indian-rubber, to fit occasion. 
 Suflice it to say that, at least, in Upper Sindh, political officers 
 were never long without European society ; our stations were 
 not at small native Courts, but at large cantonments, such 
 as Sakkar and Shikarpore. Yet, for all that, I fear we were 
 tainted with the atmosphere of the small native Court, though 
 some leagues distant, insomuch that we could not help feeling 
 for men we saw cruelly wronged and foully maligned. The 
 truth is, the very circumstance which his lordship would 
 have us believe renders Indian Politicals unfit to serve their 
 country, is the thing, of all others, that makes them useful to 
 that very end. It is only by a long residence at Indian Courts 
 that men understand what the feelings and the prejudices of 
 the natives of India are, that they learn to make allowances 
 for those prejudices, and avoid unnecessarily shocking those 
 
216 UK FLECTIONS 
 
 feelings, and — mark it well, my Lord Ellenborough — thereby 
 conciliate the regard of the natives of India, and prevent the 
 whole country from rising, en masse, to thrust us out as 
 objects of hatred and disgust. Let the time come when we 
 shall try to ride roughshod over the feelings and prejudices 
 of the hundred millions of men who inhabit our Indian 
 Empire, and the land i^e/xecu rifias iK rod ffrSfiaTOs avrrjs. 
 
 But revenons d, nos moutons, and my own hard fate, for at 
 least it was hard to suffer me to embark in ignorance of the 
 woe impending. I did not know, in fact, for nine months 
 afterwards what had befallen me. Having lived therefore, 
 moderately, yet still nearly up to what I had every right 
 to believe was really my pay, I found, on my return from 
 sea, that I had expended some two thousand rupees of former 
 savings. It is hardly fair, however, to speak of my own tiny 
 grievances, after chronicling the huge ones of the poor Amirs. 
 Of them, however, I have nothing more to say that would 
 throw fresh light on their case, or appear to be a fresh 
 argument in their favour, for this simple reason, that I was 
 not personally present at the wind-up of our alliance with 
 the unfortunate Talpurs, and have not patience to make a 
 catalogue of all the erroneous statements in the Blue Book. 
 I must content myself with having shewn, in some slight 
 degree, that our transactions with Khyrpore were carried on 
 in such a way as to leave no chance of a friendly spirit 
 towards us being entertained by the Upper Sindh Amirs, 
 save only Ali Murad. At the risk of being accused of 
 ** damnable iteration" — eandem semper canens cantilenam usque 
 ad nauseam — I must repeat that, at the very outset of our 
 relations with Khyrpore, a quibble as to the meaning of 
 that article of the treaty which guaranteed to Mir Rustam 
 
ON LEAVING SINDH. 217 
 
 possession of the forts on either side of the Indus, was 
 considered a sufficient pretext for our occupying, and ever 
 after retaining, the Fort of Bakkar. I must repeat, too, that 
 the pretence of buying off Shah Shuja's claims for tribute 
 from the Amirs, by saddling them with a demand for twenty- 
 eight lacs, £280,000, was altogether unworthy of us, seeing 
 that the Shah had long since ceased to be King of Cabul, — 
 that we ourselves would have acknowledged Dost Muhammad 
 had he fallen in with our plans, and that the Dost never 
 pretended to exact tribute from Sindh ; — that it appears, more- 
 over, from the Blue Book, that we allowed the claim upon 
 Mir Mubarik's share of this fine of twenty-eight lacs to lie 
 dormant for three years, until we thought we could con- 
 veniently enforce it, and that in the meantime Mir Mubarik, 
 the supposed debtor, and Shah Shuja, the pretended creditor, 
 were both dead. Let consideration, too, be given to the 
 treatment to which Mir Rustam was subjected from the very 
 first by our Political Agent in the matter of the Kardar of 
 Rohri, and of the Vizir Fateh Muhammad Ghori. Let it be 
 remembered that a coterie of artful and corrupt munshis 
 supported Muhammad Sherif on one side of the Indus, and 
 Ali Murad on the other, and let the truth of their representa- 
 tions, with regard to Mir Rustam and his minister, be tested 
 by the ridiculous statements made in the Blue Book, such, 
 for example, as in No. 281, where Fateh Muhammad is repre- 
 sented as having been a slave of Mir Rustam*s from his boy- 
 hood, he being, in point of fact, one of the best born noblemen 
 in those parts, and having come from Bhavvalpore to Sindh 
 when he was already past middle age. Let it be well remem- 
 bered, too, that, of the munshis employed in transacting 
 business with the Amirs, more than one has been clearly 
 
218 REFLECTIONS 
 
 convicted of treasonable conduct and bribery, and punished 
 accordingly : — that among the papers of one of them, a letter 
 was found, purporting to come from Nasir Khan, of Hydera- 
 bad, and to be addressed to a foreign Court, and that, whereas 
 we were pleased to consider that document as genuine, and 
 to suppose that the munshi had suppressed it for purposes 
 of his own, there is more than equal reason to believe that it 
 was a forged paper, intended to be used against the Amirs, in 
 case of their charging the munshi with attempts to extort 
 money from them. That, subsequently, various similar 
 papers were, through native agency, produced against the 
 Amirs, and expressly repudiated by them ; but, nevertheless, 
 put down by us as genuine, partly on the authority of officers 
 who did not understand the language.* 
 
 That with reference to the alleged letter to Bibarak (not to 
 examine the other cases,) the letter appears primd facie to 
 be a forgery, for three reasons : 1st, because the Amirs, on 
 one occasion, assisted us in recapturing some of Bibarak's 
 tribe who had escaped, thereby shewing they were not on 
 terms with him. 2nd, because the Amirs, a short time before 
 our arrival in Sindh, had suffered a severe defeat in the Bugti 
 Hills, in which one of their principal chiefs lost his arm, and 
 several petty chieftains and a great number of retainers were 
 killed. 3rd. Because the Amirs would have written had they 
 required the aid of the Hill Biluchis, not to Bibarak, but to 
 Bijjar Khan Dumki, as the latter could have influenced 
 
 * One of these officers, on whose authority Sir C. Napier expressly 
 states his reliance, signed a parwanah for a merchant to transport goods 
 through Sindh to Cabul free of toll. A reference came about it from 
 Sir W. Macnaghten, when it turned out that the said officer had no 
 idea of what he had signed. 
 
ON LBAVING SINDH. 219 
 
 Bibarak much more than any direct application from the 
 Amirs, and was, moreover, not only the most powerful Biluch 
 chief in Upper Sindh, but of the same tribe (Rind) as the 
 Talpiirs. Let it be also remembered that all our treaties with 
 the Amirs were made after their warmest remonstrance* 
 against the intended honour ; — that the mere circumstance of 
 marching large bodies of troops through an independent 
 country contrary to the declared wish of its rulers, and 
 cutting down timber, abolishing imposts, garrisoning forts, 
 buying up grain and beasts of burthen therein, would be in 
 Europe considered a most flagrant breach of international law ; 
 and I think enough will be remembered to shew that the Sindh 
 case is one that Justice (sweeten it however much you may,) 
 will find too nauseous to swallow. But what then? — the 
 question is no longer sub judice: all is over now. The prin- 
 cipal Amirs are dead, and their property is all sold and divided. 
 Besides, the English public generally are satisfied ; the Times 
 newspaper is satisfied, and that proves that the public are so 
 — apK€i. Nay, but are the Indian public satisfied ? Do the 
 milUons of Hindustan, do the Musulman chiefs care what 
 the Times thinks ? Are they satisfied } Let any ten intelli- 
 gent native gentlemen be taken from the great towns of 
 Hindustan, and let them answer this question. There is yet 
 room for tardy justice. Look, for instance, at the case of 
 Mir Sobdar. Refer to all the authorities that have ever 
 written on Sindh, and not one syllable will be found to shew 
 that this prince was ever aught but the firm friend of the 
 English. It is useless to compile a large volume of extracts 
 in his favour, but look, for example, at what is said in the 
 Blue Book — on the very eve of the fatal battle of Miani — 
 p. 430. " In most measures, the simple fact of Mir Nasir 
 
220 REFLKCTIONS ON LEAVING SINOH. 
 
 having adopted one line of conduct, is sufficient to cause 
 Mir Sobdar to follow the opposite course, except where the 
 interests of the British Government are at stake, and in favour 
 of which Mir Sobdar invariably declares, whatever may be the 
 design of the other Darbdr." 
 
 Look again at page 526; in Lord EUenborough's letter it 
 is said, " I think Mir Sobdar must have been forced into an 
 apparent junction with the other Chiefs of Hyderabad, and 
 he will leave them as soon as he can." Well, this man, 
 whose life was spent in a series of kind offices to the British, 
 is dead — died our prisoner — his mother, his eldest son, a noble 
 youth, are dead — died broken-hearted. One son remains ; 
 would it not be mercy to restore the young Chief to his 
 country — a Prince who is the only surviving descendant of 
 Fateh Ali Khan, the founder of the Talpur dynasty? Let him 
 be placed in possession of those districts which belonged to 
 his father. By this we shall at once secure the fidelity of the 
 Biliichi tribes, who always looked up to Sobdar as the natural 
 head of their nation. Let the aged and decrepid members of 
 the family return with Sobdar's son, to lay their bones in 
 their own country. What possible cause of alarm is to be 
 found in Mir Muhammad — good easy man, who never had a 
 thought, beyond his shikargah and his amusements ! That 
 grace may be shown to the poor captives, and that the 
 children of the ex- Amirs may have cause to bless that great 
 Company, whose administration alone preserves India to us, 
 is the sincere prayer of an ex-Political. 
 
221 
 
 APPENDIX I, 
 
 RANGE OP THE THERMOMETER IN MAJOR DOWNING'S HOUSE (OPEN) 
 AT ABU, IN THE MONTH OP APRIL, 1840. 
 
 DATE 
 
 Sun- 
 rise. 
 
 Noon. 
 
 3 P.M. 
 
 Sunset REJTABKS. 
 
 16 
 
 72 
 
 76 
 
 79 
 
 77 
 
 Clear sky. Light winds. 
 
 17 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Ditto. Winds higher. 
 
 18 
 
 76 
 
 80 
 
 83 
 
 81 
 
 Ditto. Ditto. 
 
 19 
 
 78 
 
 82 
 
 85 
 
 82 
 
 Ditto. High winds. 
 
 20 
 
 80 
 
 85 
 
 88 
 
 86 
 
 Ditto. Cool, and light winds. 
 
 21 
 
 82 
 
 86 
 
 90 
 
 88 
 
 Ditto. Ditto. 
 
 22 
 
 82 
 
 88 
 
 90 
 
 87 
 
 Ditto. Ditto. 
 
 23 
 
 82 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 24 
 
 80 
 
 86 
 
 88 
 
 86 
 
 
 25 
 
 81 
 
 87 
 
 91 
 
 86 
 
 Ditto. Moderate winds. 
 
 26 
 
 80 
 
 88 
 
 91 
 
 88 
 
 Intermittent. 
 
 27 
 
 79 
 
 87 
 
 89 
 
 84i 
 
 Ditto. High winds, at nightstormy. 
 
 28 
 
 78 
 
 83 
 
 86 
 
 82 
 
 Ditto. High wind. 
 
 29 
 
 74 
 
 82 
 
 83 
 
 79 
 
 Ditto. Wind cool and constant. 
 
 30 
 
 73 
 
 81 
 
 84 
 
 81 
 
 Ditto. Light winds. 
 
 Note. — Forthese Tables and for the view of Ahii, which forms the frontispiece of tbis 
 book. I am indebted to my friend Mr. William Strachey, lute assistant to the 
 Governor-General's Agent in R&jpui&n&. 
 
 Q 
 
222 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 RANGE OP THE THERMOMETER IN MAJOR DOWNING'S HOUSE (OPEN) 
 AT ABU. IN MAY. 1840. 
 
 DATE 
 
 Sun- 
 rise. 
 
 Noon. 
 
 sp.ir. 
 
 Sunset 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1 
 
 76 
 
 83 
 
 84§ 
 
 85 
 
 Violent winds. Clear sky. 
 
 2 
 
 83 
 
 88§ 
 
 91 
 
 87 
 
 High and warm winds. 
 
 3 
 
 89 
 
 89 
 
 92i 
 
 89§ 
 
 Change of moon. Warm winds. 
 
 4 
 
 79 
 
 86 
 
 89 
 
 86 
 
 Wind cool and pleasant from E. 
 
 5 
 
 76 
 
 83 
 
 84i 
 
 82 
 
 Wind becomes damp. 
 
 6 
 
 72 
 
 83 
 
 86 
 
 84 
 
 Cool and smart breezes from E. & S. 
 
 7 
 
 75 
 
 82 
 
 86 
 
 83 
 
 Cool breezes, steady. 
 
 8 
 
 73 
 
 80 
 
 82 
 
 80 
 
 Cool breezes from E. and S., with 
 a little rain. 
 
 9 
 
 72 
 
 81 
 
 84 
 
 83 
 
 Violent wind. Thunder storm at 
 night. 
 
 10 
 
 75 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 
 82 
 
 Smart shower at 5 o'clock. 
 
 11 
 
 74 
 
 87 
 
 89 
 
 86 
 
 Morning still. Breeze about 10 
 o'clock. 
 
 12 
 
 77 
 
 89 
 
 89 
 
 87 
 
 Close morning. Breeze in afternoon. 
 
 13 
 
 80 
 
 90 
 
 91 
 
 88 
 
 Intermittent W. wind. 
 
 14 
 
 81 
 
 89 
 
 90§ 
 
 87 
 
 Ditto Ditto. 
 
 15 
 
 79 
 
 86 
 
 
 78 
 
 Atmosphere cooler. 
 
 16 
 
 75 
 
 84 
 
 85 
 
 82 
 
 
 17 
 
 73 
 
 84 
 
 86 
 
 82 
 
 Pleasant breeze. 
 
 18 
 
 73 
 
 82 
 
 85 
 
 82 
 
 Cool and pleasant breeze. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 223 
 
 RANGE OP THE THERMOMETER IN MAJOR DOWNING'S HOUSE (OPEN 
 AT ABU, IN MAY, 1840 (continued). 
 
 DATE 
 
 Sun- Noon. 
 
 3 P.M. 
 
 Sunset 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 19 
 
 71 
 
 81 
 
 84 
 
 81 
 
 Cool and strong S.W. wind. 
 
 20 
 
 71 
 
 80 
 
 84 
 
 81 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 21 
 
 69 
 
 80 
 
 83 
 
 81 
 
 Ditto. Horizon cloudy to S.W. 
 
 22 
 23 
 
 68 
 
 81* 
 
 84i 
 
 82 
 
 Strong W.S.W. winds. 
 
 69 
 
 81 
 
 84 
 
 81 
 
 W.S.W. wind, intermittent, but 
 strong. 
 
 24 
 
 69 
 
 80 
 
 85 
 
 81 
 
 Ditto, but less violent. 
 
 25 
 
 73 
 
 82 
 
 85i 
 
 82 
 
 Morning calm; towardsnoon W.S.W 
 wind. 
 
 26 
 
 74 
 
 84 
 
 86 
 
 82 
 
 Slight earthquake at night. 
 
 27 
 
 73 
 
 82 
 
 86 
 
 82 
 
 Not much wind. 
 
 28 
 29 
 
 73 
 
 82 
 
 86 
 
 83 
 
 Pleasant S.W. breeze. 
 
 78 
 
 821 
 
 84§ 
 
 82 
 
 
 30 
 
 75 
 
 78 
 
 82^ 
 
 80 
 
 Cold S. wind. 
 
 31 
 
 72 
 
 79 
 
 82§ 
 
 80f 
 
 
224 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 RANGE OF THERMOMETER AT ABU, JUNE. 1840. 
 
 DATE 
 
 Sun 
 rise. 
 
 Noon, 
 
 3 P M. 
 
 Sunset 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1 
 
 73 
 
 79 
 
 82§ 
 
 
 Cold S. wind. Cloudy. 
 
 2 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 83 
 
 
 Ditto, less wind towards evening. 
 
 3 
 
 do. 
 
 84 
 
 86$ 
 
 
 Partial S. wind lulls, and westerly 
 towards evenine;. 
 
 4 
 
 76 
 
 82 
 
 84 
 
 
 Close morning. Thunder at noon. 
 Evening cooler. 
 
 5 
 
 78 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 
 
 Close day. Thunder at noon. 
 
 6 
 
 do. 
 
 86i 
 
 90 
 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 7 
 
 80 
 
 89 
 
 92 
 
 
 Light W. winds. Cloudy for some 
 honrs. 
 
 8 
 
 83 
 
 89 
 
 92i 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 81 
 
 do. 
 
 90 
 
 
 Wind fresher from W.S.W. 
 
 10 
 
 80 
 
 86 
 
 88 
 
 
 Squall and smart shower, after which 
 thermometer sinks 10 deg. at once. 
 
 11 
 
 75 
 
 82 
 
 83i 
 
 
 Calm day, but cool. Squally again 
 at 9 p.m., and rain all night. 
 
 12 
 13 
 
 72 
 
 72 
 
 77 
 77 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Cloudy morning, cool, and through- 
 out the day. 
 
 79 
 
 
 Leave Abu at 5 p.m., and on ar- 
 riving at Sirohi, in the plains, 
 thermometer rises, as noted, to 96, 
 being 17 deg. higher than at Abu. 
 
 14 
 
 i- 
 
 96 
 
 
 
 Mem. — There is usually about 6° Fahrenheit between the temperature 
 of a tent at mid-day and that of an open houfe. For 59 days at Abu, in 
 1840, as shown in this Register, the mean minimum of the thermometer 
 was 76^° ; the mean maximum 86 ; the mean range being 9|'^. This 
 season was unusually hot, and cannot, therefore, be taken as a fair 
 criterion of the climate ; but at all events it is fifteen degrees cooler 
 than the climate of the low country. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
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231 
 
 APPENDIX III. 
 
 Will any one who takes the trouble to peruse the following 
 correspondence, inform us what course Indian Princes are to 
 pursue, who either have, or imagine they have, wrongs to 
 complain of ? We will suppose that it is possible (so much 
 surely will be conceded) that false evidence, or prejudice, or 
 some other one of the innumerable things which pervert 
 Man's judgment, might lead the highest Indian authority to 
 decide harshly with regard to an Indian Prince. Suppose, 
 too, that those who are confessedly the best judges on Indian 
 affairs, videlicet the Court of Directors, should express **with 
 much regret that they could not, consistently with their duty, 
 approve of the general course of proceedings" towards that 
 Indian Prince. Suppose that the officers first deputed to the 
 Court of that Prince, and who had resided there longest, 
 should be unanimous in his favour. Will any one say that 
 there ought not to be some Court of Appeal, in which such a 
 case might be re-considered ? or that it ought to be added 
 to the already over-grown business which is thrust upon 
 
232 APPENDIX. 
 
 Parliamentary committees ? The fact is, the Court of Directors 
 themselves are the proper Court of Appeal, and the less they 
 are controlled the better. 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF THE " TIMES." 
 Sia^ — ^We would hereby beg to represent, for your information and 
 that of the public, that, having been deputed by the Ex-Amirs of Sindh 
 to seek redress in this country for the wrongs of those unfortunate 
 fallen Princes, who, having several times in vain represented their case, 
 and made every effort in India for justice, were at last driven to the 
 extremity of sending us hither, we, on our arrival, addressed Sir 
 Robert Peel, the Board of Control for the affairs of India, and the 
 Court of Directors, from all of whom we received a direct negative 
 reply, without the least inquiry into the details of our case, and are 
 therefore now necessitated to return to India from want of funds to 
 support us in England, but should wish, before our departure, to 
 represent, through the medium of your paper, to the public in general, 
 the Correspondence between us and the authorities, not only here, but 
 in India also, and sincerely trust you will judge the merits or demerits 
 of our case with candour and impartiality. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from the Amirs to the Governor- General of India. 
 Translation from the Persian. 
 
 May the rose garden of the state and of prosperity, the exalted of 
 high degree, the asylum of pomp and splendour, the phoenix of the age, 
 the nawab of great titles. Sir Henry Hardinge, Bahadur, Governor- 
 General of the various provinces of India, whom God preserve, be 
 refreshed with the rain of divine grace. After many compliments let it 
 be impressed upon your Excellency's mind that in consequence of your 
 happy arrival we were in expectation of being gratified with an inter- 
 view with your Excellency, but as some time has expired without that 
 pleasure, we now take the liberty of requesting the favour in question, 
 which will afford us great delight. The oppression which has been 
 exercised towards us, who were in amity with the English Government, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 233 
 
 by Lord Ellenborough and Sir Charles Napier is, we presume, well 
 known to your Excellency. From the length of time during which we 
 have been confined, we have experienced great depression of mind, but 
 we entertain great hopes from the kindness of the English Government. 
 May your Excellency's days be prolonged. 
 The 25th of the month of Shauban, in the year of the Hijira, 1260, 
 corresponding with the 9th of September, 1844. 
 
 THE SEAL OP 
 
 MIR SOBDAU KHAN. 
 
 __ 
 
 THE SEAL OF 
 
 MIR MIK MUHAMMAD 
 
 KHAir. 
 
 THE SEAL OF 
 
 MIR MUHAMMAD NA3IR 
 
 Re-translation of a Persian translation of a Letter from F. Currie, Esq., 
 Secretary to the Governor- General of India, to Capt. M. F. Gordon, 
 Superintendent in charge of the Amirs of Sindh. 
 
 In reply to your letter I am directed to write and say that the 
 Governor-General does not see the necessity of granting the Amirs an 
 interview at Barrackpore. Tt is the purport of this to point out to you 
 the expediency of clearly explaining to the Amirs, that the Governor- 
 General has not a single word to say to those Princes, which might 
 possibly be the means of benefiting or changing their condition. If, 
 however, the Amirs, after having had this properly explained to them, 
 should still be desirous of obtaining an interview, the Governor-General 
 will appoint a day for that purpose. 
 
 From the Amirs to the Governor-General. 
 Translation from the Persian. 
 
 May the rose garden of the state and of prosperity, the exalted of 
 high degree, the asylum of pomp and splendour, the phoenix of the age» 
 
 R 2 
 
234 APPENDIX. 
 
 the Nawab of great titles, Sir Henry Hardinge, Bahadfir, Governor- 
 General of the various provinces of Hindustan, whom God preserve, be 
 refreshed with the rainy clouds of Divine Grace. After many compli- 
 ments, &c., let it be impressed on your Excellency's friendly mind, 
 that with reference to the letter which we took the liberty of transmitting 
 to your Excellency, through Captain Gordon, to which a reply was 
 sent by Mr. Currie, and translated by Captain Gordon's Munshi 
 for our information, we learn that your Excellency has not a single 
 word to say to us, which rnight be the means of either benefiting us, or 
 changing our condition. Although we are aware that your Excellency 
 is well acquainted with every particular of the tyranny and injustice 
 which have been exercised towards each of us, as a return for the 
 friendship we entertained for the English Government ; yet, inasmuch 
 as your Excellency has no power to interfere in our behalf, why should 
 we trouble your Excellency with any further details of our misfortunes, 
 which involve such extraordinary acts of the most despotic oppression ? 
 The only remedy which seems left to us for the attainment of redress 
 is, that two or three of our number should be allowed to proceed to 
 London, in order to lay the whole of our case before Her Majesty the 
 Queen, the Ministers of State, and the rest of the nobles of the 
 kingdom ; therefore, our hope is, that your Excellency being noade 
 acquainted with this our request, may be pleased to comply therewith. 
 Had your Excellency power to interfere in our behalf, you would have 
 gladdened our hearts by restoring us to our rights, without the necessity 
 of our proceeding to England, since your Excellency has been made 
 acquainted with all the particulars of our case, we have every reason to 
 believe you would have rendered us every redress possible. Now that 
 our lives, and property, and honour, are all in the hands of the English, 
 we sincerely trust that your Excellency will not prohibit our proceeding 
 to London. We have been separated from all we held dear. The 
 condition into which we have been thrown, is the recompense of the 
 services we always rendered to the English Government, which we little 
 deserved. We here beg leave to write the fact, that, according to 
 British laws, no one, whether innocent or guilty of the most heinous 
 crime, is punished without a hearing, since he has the right always of 
 stating the merits of his own case in open Court, and when the gentle- 
 men of the Court (the jury) have well weighed and considered the case, 
 it is then known whether the person in question is innocent or guilty. 
 Until we hear the decision of our case in London, we shall consider that 
 we have right on our side ; therefore we solicit your Excellency will 
 grant our request, and when the permission shall be given, we will 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 235 
 
 submit a paper to your Excellency, in which the names of the two or 
 three of our party who will proceed to London shall be written. 
 
 May your Excellency's days be prosperous. 
 
 The 26th of the month of Ramzan, in the year of the Hijira 1260 
 corresponding with the 10th of October, 1844. 
 
 THS SEAL OF 
 MIB SOBDAB KHAK. 
 
 THB SEAli OP 
 
 HIB Mia MUHAMMAD 
 
 KHAK. 
 
 THE SEAL OP 
 
 MIR MUHAMMAD KASIB 
 
 Seals of the Amirs. 
 
 Re-translation of a Persian translation of a letter from F. Currie, Esq., 
 Secretary to the Governor- General of India, to Captain M. F. 
 Gordon, Superintendent in charge of the Amirs of Sindh. 
 
 Your letter, dated the 15th inst., with enclosures (letters) from the 
 Amirs to the Governor-General, requesting that two of them might be 
 permitted to proceed to England for the purpose of laying before the 
 Queen in Council a statement of their grievances, has been received. 
 
 I am directed to say, in reply, that the Governor-General in Council 
 cannot comply with the request therein made. 
 
 You are directed to acquaint the Amirs with the following circum- 
 stance which has recently occurred. The Emperor of Delhi has lately 
 sent a personage to communicate certain of his Majesty's affairs to the 
 English Government, but the individual in question, not having been 
 sent with the sanction, or through the channel of the Established 
 Authorities, was not received by the Court of Directors, nor was he 
 allowed to be heard. 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from Sir Robert Peel, in answer to one from the 
 Envoys of the Amirs of Sindh. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel presents his compliments to Akhund Habibulla, 
 Dewan Mahtaram, and Dewan Diaram, and begs leave to acknowledge 
 the receipt of the letter which they have addressed to him, bearing date 
 the 3rd inst. 
 
 In conformity with official usage, Sir Robert Peel has transmitted 
 that communication to the Earl of Ripon, the Minister of the Crown 
 who presides over the Department for the Affairs of India. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from the President of the Board of Control for the 
 affairs of India, in answer to one from the Envoys of the Amirs, 
 and one from the Amirs themselves. 
 
 India Board, April 7tb, 1845. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I am instructed by the Commissioners for the Affairs 
 of India to acknowledge the receipt of the letter which, on the 3rd 
 inst., you addressed to the President of this Board, stating that, as the 
 Vakils of Mir Naslr Khdn, Mir Mir Muhammad Khdn, and Mir 
 Sobddr Khdn, Amirs of Sindh, you transmitted the credentials which 
 you have received from your masters, and solicited an early opportunity 
 of submitting to the President the objects of your mission to this 
 country. 
 
 I am directed to return to you, with the seal unbroken, the packet 
 purporting to contain those credentials ; and to inform you, that any 
 representations connected with the Government of India, which it may 
 be thought right to submit to the authorities in England, ought, in 
 regular course, to proceed through the Court of Directors of the East 
 India Company. 
 
 I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, 
 
 Your most obedient, humble Servant, 
 (Signed) J. EMERSON TENNENT. 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 Copy of a Letter to the Court of Directors from the Envoys of 
 the Amirs. 
 
 To the Honourable the Chairman and Deputy-Chairnaan of the Court 
 of Directors of the East India Company. 
 
 Honorable Sirs, — Wes the undersigned Vakils of their Highnesses 
 Mir Mir Muhammad Nasir Khan, Mir Mir Muhammad Khan, and Mir 
 Sobdar Khdn, of Sindh, beg, through you, to lay before the Honorable 
 the Court of Directors of the East India Company a copy of a letter 
 received last evening from Mr. J. Emerson Tennent, on the part of the 
 Earl of Ripon and her Majesty's Commissioners for the Affairs of India, 
 together with the credentials referred to in the communication, and we 
 humbly pray the Honorable Court to transmit the same, and favour- 
 ably to represent the case of the Amirs of Sindh to Her Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 We have the honor to be. Honorable Sirs, 
 
 Your most obedient and humble Servants, 
 AKHUND HABIBULLA, 
 DEWAN MAHTARAM, 
 DEWAN DIARAM. 
 19, Harley-street, Cavendish-square, 
 April 8th, 1845. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from the Court of Directors in answer to the above. 
 
 East India House, 18th April, 1845. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Your letter to the Court of Directors of the East 
 India Company, presenting your credentials as Vakils of the ex-Amirs 
 of Sindh, and requesting permission to make a representation in their 
 behalf, has been received and laid before the Court of Directors. 
 
 In reply, I am commanded to acquaint you that the Court feel them- 
 selves precluded from receiving any representation on behalf of the 
 ex-Amirs of Sindh except through the Government of India, and I 
 have, therefore, to return to you your credentials. 
 
 I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 Your most obedient humble Servant, 
 
 (Signed) JAMES MELVILL. 
 
 Akhund Habibulla. 
 Dewan Mahtaram. 
 Dewan Diaram. 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 Copy of a Note from the Envoys to the Chairman of the Court of 
 Directors of the East India Company. 
 
 Akhund Habibulla, Dewan Mahtaram, and Dewan Diaram, Vakils 
 from the Amirs of Sindh, present their compliments to the Chairman 
 of the Honorable the Court of Directors of the East India Company, 
 and will esteem it a favour to be informed when it will be convenient 
 to honor them with an interview. 
 
 Answer to the above, received together with the communication from 
 the Court of Directors of the East India Company. 
 
 The Chairman of the East India Company presents his compliments 
 to Akhtind Habibulla, Dewan Mahtaram, and Dewan Diaram. They 
 will perceive from the oflScial answer to their letters to the Directors, 
 that the Chairman is precluded from receiving them, as requested in 
 their note. 
 
 East India House, 18th April, 1845. 
 
 Copy of a Letter to the Earl of Ripon, from the Envoys of the Amirs 
 of Sindh. 
 
 Akhund Habibulla, Dewan Mahtaram, and Dewan Diaram, Vakils 
 of the Amirs of Sindh, have the honor to transmit to the Earl of Ripon, 
 copies of a letter sent by them to the Court of Directors, in accordance 
 with his Lordship's instructions communicated to them by Mr. 
 Emerson Tennent, and of another addressed by them to the Chairman 
 of that Court, and also the reply thereto, signed by Mr. Melvill. 
 
 The Vakils would express their earnest hope that his Lordshi pwill 
 not permit these small points of form, with which, as strangers, they 
 are not conversant, to prevent that full consideration of their case, 
 to which its hardship fairly entitles them. 
 
 19, Harley Street. 30th April, 1845. 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 Copy of the answer to the above, 
 
 India Board, April 30th, 1845. 
 Gentlemen, — I am desired by the Commissioners for the Affairs of 
 India, to acknowledge the receipt of the note which you have this day 
 addressed to the President of the Board, inclosing a copy of the cor- 
 respondence which you have had with the Court of Directors of the 
 East India Company. 
 
 The Board command me to inform you that the letter which was 
 sent to you on the 18th instant, by order of the Court of Directors, 
 received the previous sanction of this Board. 
 
 I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, 
 
 Your obedient humble Servant, 
 (Signed) J. EMERSON TENNENT. 
 
 Copy of a Petition from the Envoys of the Amirs of Sindh, to the 
 House of Commons. 
 
 To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland, in 
 Parliament assembled. 
 
 The humble Petition of Akhund Habibulla, Dewan Mahtarara, 
 and Dewan Diaram, on the part of their Highnesses the Amirs 
 of Sindh, 
 
 Sheweth, — 
 
 That your humble petitioners having come from a distant country, 
 which the Almighty has placed under the sway of the British Govern- 
 ment, and having been deputed to represent the wrongs of the Amirs, 
 entertain the most fervent hope that your Honorable House will inter- 
 cede with her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, to grant the Amirs 
 justice, and shew some regard to the chiefs of an ancient race, who have 
 fallen from the pinnacle of happiness and prosperity to the lowest abyss 
 of misery and distress. 
 
 The Creator of the world has given power to some nations to use 
 it for the benefit of their fellow-creatures ; if this power be abused, and 
 the complaints of the poor and unfortunate are listened to with apathy 
 and indifference, God will come to the assistance of his afflicted ser- 
 vants and deliver them from the affliction they suffer. 
 
240 APPENDIX. 
 
 That your petitioners respectfully represent that the climate of 
 Bengal is not congenial to the health of the Amirs, who, when brought 
 away from Bombay and Puna, remonstrated urgently ; but still they 
 were forcibly taken to Calcutta, and the consequence has been that 
 His Highness Mir Nasir Khan — through imprisonment and through 
 grief — has rendered his soul to his Maker, and the rest of the Amirs 
 are constantly indisposed, and, if compelled to remain, will lose their 
 lives. They therefore earnestly pray your Honorable House to cause 
 them to be removed from Calcutta either to Bombay or Pdna, where 
 they have experienced the climate and found it congenial to their 
 health. 
 
 That the ladies and families of their Highnesses may be permitted 
 to join them, and that, in order to give them confidence, Mir Abb4s Ali, 
 Mir Muhammad Ali, or any of the younger Amirs may be sent to escort 
 them, and, as they have never endured the fatigues of a sea voyage, 
 that a steamer may be placed at their disposal to convey them to the 
 Asiirs, or, if they choose to travel by land, that they may enjoy all the 
 privacy, comforts, and protection due to their rank and helpless situa- 
 tion. The misery of these bereaved ladies is manifest from the 
 following petition confided by them to our hands, which, we trust, 
 some friend of the unfortunate will make known to Queen Victoria. 
 
 May the shadow of Queen Victoria increase, the pure and the mag- 
 nificent as Balkis (the Queen of Sheba). 
 
 It is about two years since Sir Charles Napier came to Hyderabdd, in 
 Sindh, with an army and artillery, and plundered our habitations of all our 
 money, ornaments, jewels, and of every thing of value, and at the same 
 time he took from us our husbands the Amirs, and our children, and 
 sent them to Hind6st4n as captives. Now as to us helpless women, who 
 are devoid of power, and were, when Sir Charles Napier arrived, seated 
 in our houses, — what manner of custom is this, that he should enter our 
 dwellings and plunder us of our valuables, leaving us not suflScient for 
 our support ? And two years have elapsed since he tore us from our 
 houses and native city, and compelled us to dwell in huts like the desti- 
 tute, allowing us not enough for our support, so that in one week we 
 consume what he gives. God knows the hardships we suffer for our 
 food and raiment ; and through our separation from the Amirs we 
 endure such distress and despair that life is distasteful to us. That one 
 should die, when God wills it, is no calamity, but we endure with each 
 successive day the torment of a new death, wherefore we cherish the hope 
 
APPENDIX. 241 
 
 that you yourself being a Queen, as we were once, and being able to 
 sympathize with us, will take compassion on us, and cause restoration 
 of those things of which Sir Charles Napier has robbed us ; and since 
 our hearts are lacerated by grief at being separated from the Amirs 
 and our sons, by which, indeed, we are brought to the brink of despair, 
 you will remove this cause of distress, otherwise we should reckon it 
 the greatest boon to put an end to our existence. May your days be 
 lengthened. 
 
 Written on the 27th of the month of Shawal, 1260 of the Hijira, at 
 Hyderabad in Sindh. 
 
 Signature of the Begum of Mir Karam Ali Khan. 
 Signature of the Begum of Mir Muhammad Nasir Khan. 
 Signature of the Begum of Mir Nur Muhammad Khan. 
 Signature of the Begum of Mir Mir Muhammad Khan. 
 Signature of the Begum of Mir Sobdar Khan. 
 
 Your petitioners further pray, — 
 
 That as the allowances granted to the Amirs are quite insufficient for 
 their support, and the support of their faithful servants who have fol- 
 lowed them into exile, these should be increased according to their rank 
 and station ; and that proper dwellings should be assigned to the Amirs 
 -and their families in accordance with the customs of their country. 
 
 That the jewels and private property seized and taken away from the 
 Amirs and their wives be restored to them, and that Sir Charles Napier 
 be commanded to restore the private papers, and lists of articles, 
 in order that their Highnesses may recover their property according 
 to those papers. 
 
 That all the Amirs imprisoned at Puna, Surat, Hazaribagh, and 
 Calcutta, may be allowed to live together, and not be kept under such 
 strict restraint. 
 
 That the ladies of the late Mir Karam Ali Kh4n had some jaghirs, 
 of which Sir Charles Napier has deprived them, that as many Biluchi 
 chiefs have received back their jaghirs, these revered ladies, the heads 
 of the Talpdr family, may have their ancient possessions restored to 
 them, together with their jewels and private property. 
 
 That a suitable residence may be provided for these unhappy widows 
 
 (their former residences being in the hands of Sir Charles Napier) ; and 
 
 that they may be permitted to stay in Sindh, and not be compelled to pass 
 
 their few remaining years in a strange land, afar from their own country. 
 
 And your petitioners will ever pray. 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 Copy of a Petition. 
 
 To Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queea of Great Britain 
 
 and Ireland. 
 May it please your Most Gracious Majesty, 
 
 We, Akhund Habibulla, Dewan Mahtaram, and Dewan Diaram, the 
 accredited envoys of their Highnesses the deposed princes of Sindh, 
 beg to represent to your Most Gracious Majesty in Council, that the 
 Almighty having made sovereign princes the greatest of his creatures, 
 and given them the thrones of the earth, has placed in their hands the 
 reins of government, and made them directors of the aflfairs of men, to 
 the end that they should protect the creatures of God, and not suffer one 
 man to oppress another. Having been subjected to the most unparalleled 
 oppression and injustice by the servants of the British Government, 
 we have come from a far country to this city for the purpose of obtaining 
 redress for the wrongs we have received. 
 
 We beg to state, for the information of the enlightened throne, that 
 from the year 1809 to 1839, the various treaties entered into by the 
 servants of the East India Company with the Court of Sindh, have been 
 successively violated by them, and harder conditions imposed on their 
 Highnesses, to which, from necessity, they were obliged to submit, 
 and in no instance can it be shown that our liege princes have ever 
 swerved from duly observing their compacts. 
 
 Sir Charles Napier having arrived in Sindh sent a new treaty to our 
 princes from Sakkar, which is in our possession. We humbly solicit 
 your Majesty in Council will deign to cast a glance at the treaties in 
 question, in order to ascertain which of the parties have really violated 
 those compacts. 
 
 With reference to what has been advanced by Sir Charles Napier, 
 that he had obtained certain letters bearing the seal of the prince Mir 
 Muhammad Nasir Khan, written to one of the leaders of the Bugtis 
 Bibarak (Biluch Mountains), and Dewan Sawan Mall, the Governor 
 of Mtiltan, in consequence of which he declared himself justified in the 
 excesses which he committed, we beg respectfully to observe that one 
 of our number, Dewan Mahtaram, was the very individual sent by 
 Muhammad Nasir Khan to Sir Charles Napier, at Rohri, to enquire into 
 the truth of this pretended seizure of letters, to whom Sir Charles 
 Napier positively said, " I know nothing about the letters ; perhaps the 
 Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, may know something about 
 them ; like yourself I am a Vakil (deputy or delegate) of the Governor- 
 General, and whatever instructions he chooses to send I must obey." 
 After this, when our liege princes saw Major Outram, the political 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 agent at Hyderabad, they asked to be shown the letters and seals which 
 Sir Charles Napier said he had obtained. Major Outram, in reply, 
 said he knew nothing about them, and referred the matter to Sir Charles 
 Napier. Some time after this, when the princes were imprisoned at 
 Sastir, they spoke of these alleged letters and seals to Captain Gordon, 
 who said he was well aware they were with the Governor-General. 
 After their arrival at Calcutta they again asked Captain Gordon for the 
 letters and seals, which he had said were with the Governor-General, 
 and they urgently impressed upon him their desire that the truth or 
 falsehood of the supposititious letters which so implicated them should 
 be proved. '• I will make the necessary enquiry respecting them, 
 and inform your Highnesses of the same," was his reply. Two days 
 afterwards, however, he came and said that Lord Ellenborough had sent 
 them to the authorities in England. Shortly after this Lord Ellen- 
 borough was recalled, and his successor, Sir Henry Hardinge, arrived at 
 Calcutta. 
 
 To his Excellency the Princes addressed a letter, soliciting him to 
 take their case into consideration, to which he briefly replied, that 
 it was out of his power to do anything for them. Thus, being refused 
 redress in every shape in India, our princes have been driven to the 
 necessity of deputing us to this country. Now that Lord Ellenborough 
 is at present in England may we be allowed to entertain the hope that 
 a reference will be made to him for proofs of the truth of the alleged 
 letters and seals, in order that the fidelity of our princes may be tested, 
 and the extraordinary oppression committed upon us by Sir Charles 
 Napier, may be clearly seen. We have written to the Earl of Ripon, 
 President of the Board of Control, and to the Court of Directors, but 
 they refuse to listen to anything we have to say ; our resource, there- 
 fore, is in the mercy of the throne, and we most humbly solicit that 
 your Most Gracious Majesty in Council will deign to hear our prayer, 
 and grant that an inquiry with a view to forward us redress may be 
 instituted in our case. 
 
 With prayers for your Most Gracious Majesty's long reign and 
 happiness we beg to subscribe ourselves. 
 
 May it please your Most Gracious Majesty, 
 
 Your most humble and faithful Servants, 
 
 AKHUND HABIBULLA, 
 DEWAN MAHTARAM. 
 
 DEWAN DIARAM. 
 
 London, 19, Harley- street, 
 30th March, 1845. 
 
244 
 
 APPENDIX IV. 
 
 We, Akhtind HabibuUa, Dewan Mahtaram, and Dewan Diaram, 
 the accredited envoys of the Amirs of Sindh, solemnly declare 
 that we have never, on any occasion, acquiesced in the truth of the 
 charges against our masters the Amirs. We believe, and we afiSrm 
 it in the most solemn manner, that the letter said to have been 
 written to Bfbarak Bugti, by Mir Muhammad Nasir Khkn, was a 
 forgery. We believe, before God, that the Amirs are wholly innocent 
 of the charges brought against them. 
 
 Signatures of 
 
 AKHUND HABIBULLA. 
 DEWAN MAHTARAM, 
 DEWAN DIARAM. 
 19, Harley Street, 
 
 Ibth August, 1845. 
 
245 
 
 APPENDIX V. 
 
 Translation of a Statement of the Case of the Amirs of Sindh, drawn 
 up by Dewan Mahtdrdm, under the express orders and direction of 
 the Amirs, 
 
 First, Lord Minto, in the month of August, 1809, made a treaty with 
 the Government of Sindh ; and, after him, Governor William Cavendish 
 Bentinck concluded two treaties ; one in the year 1832, the other in 
 1834, through the agency of Sir Henry Pottinger. In these it was 
 stated that the friendly feelings of the English Government towards 
 that of Sindh would remain unaltered from generation to generation 
 till the Day of Resurrection, and that the English Government would 
 never covet one foot of the territory belonging to the Amirs of Sindh. 
 
 After this, Sir Henry Pottinger arrived in Sindh as Envoy from the 
 Governor -General, and requested a free passage for traders and trading 
 vessels through Sindh, and up and down the river Indus. The Rulers of 
 Sindh, instigated by the desire of cultivating the friendship of the 
 British Government, which had been promised to them in perpetuity, 
 assented to the above request, and permitted merchants inhabiting 
 the dominions of the British Government to carry on their traflSc ia 
 and through Sindh, without molestation or annoyance. Once more, 
 Sir Henry Pottinger made his appearance in Sindh, and represented to 
 the Amirs that the English troops would march through Sindh towards 
 Cabul and Afghanistan. The Amirs consented that the forces of the 
 English Government, with all their baggage, &c., should be landed in 
 Sindh. Thereupon the Amirs were required to give orders to their 
 superintendents to supply boats, camels, timber, and other necessaries 
 for the English army. Although no mention of such requirements was 
 to be found in the treaty, yet the Amirs, with a view to the increase and 
 permanence of that friendship which had been promised to them by the 
 English Government in perpetuity, provided the boats, camels, grain, 
 timber, and all other necessaries of which the English army stood in 
 need for their expedition to Khorasan. The Biluch tribes, however, 
 were in nowise pleased with the conduct of the Amirs in supplying the 
 
246 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 English army with necessaries; and, moreover, the Amirs, on the 
 same account, exposed themselves to the resentment and hostility of the 
 Afghan nation. Notwithstanding, with the view to the perpetual 
 friendship of the British Government aforesaid, the Amirs issued their 
 commands to the Biluch tribes to abstain from all opposition to the 
 English forces, and denounced punishment to all who should in any 
 way impede or harass English troops. In accordance with which 
 command the Biluch clans remained perfectly quiet, and gave no 
 molestation to the English army. 
 
 Upon the arrival of Sir John Keane at Jharak, which is twelve cos 
 distant from Hyderabad, he, in violation of the treaty, forwarded to the 
 Amirs, by the hands of Captain Eastwick, a memorandum of complaints, 
 in which it was stated that three of the Amirs should henceforward 
 pay three lacs of rupees annually to the British Government towards 
 defraying the expenses of the English troops to be stationed in Sindh, 
 and that they should, moreover, pay twenty-one lacs for the immediate 
 expenses of the English army, otherwise war would be declared against 
 them by the British Government. Though such demands were calcu- 
 lated to cause much distress to the Amirs, and were both unjust and 
 wholly inconsistent with the friendship aforesaid promised by the 
 English Government ; yet as no choice was left for them, the Amirs 
 yielded to the above requisition, and paid the sums unfairly demanded 
 of them by Lord Auckland. The same sums were paid by the Amirs 
 from their own private treasures. Moreover, when Sir John Keane 
 had departed for Cabul, the Amirs, as Lieutenant Postans and other 
 oflScers can well testify, opened the roads for the passage of supplies, 
 and permitted the English steamers to ascend and descend the Indus with 
 stores and troops without hindrance. And had the Amfrs not aided the 
 English Government in the said manner, it cannot be doubted that 
 the Cabul expedition would have been greatly hindered, and its success 
 rendered altogether doubtful. It was with a hope of being suitably 
 rewarded by the English Government that the Amfrs performed these 
 services, not under the idea that they were to be plunged into the 
 calamities into which they have been cast. 
 
 But to resume, after the departure of Sir John Keane, Sir Henry 
 Pottinger brought another treaty on the 11th of March, 1839, with the 
 seal and signature of Lord Auckland. Therein, as in the previous 
 copies, it was stated that this treaty also would be firm as the boundaries 
 of Alexander, and that it would remain in force, generation after gene- 
 ration, to all eternity. Meantime, Sir Henry Pottinger departed for 
 China, and Major Outram became the Resident in Sindh. The Amirs 
 
APPENDIX. 247 
 
 submitted to be guided in all matters by the advice of the new Resident. 
 After some time Major Outram departed to Biliichistan, and Mr. Leckie 
 became his deputy at the Court of Hyderabad. The latter officer was 
 informed by Mir Muhammad Nasir Khan that he, the Amir, desired to 
 send an Envoy to the Court of London to state certain grievances. 
 Mr. Leckie replied through Munshi Madhu. a servant of the English 
 Government, that the Envoy of the Amir intended, perhaps, to bring 
 forward complaints against the Company, in which case the Company 
 would be rendered hostile to the Amir. In this way the Amir was 
 compelled to lay aside his intention of sending an Envoy to London. 
 Shortly afterwards Mr. Leckie fell sick and went to Carachi, arid Mr. 
 Mylne took his place at Hyderabad. 
 
 After this, in the year 1842, Sir Charles Napier first arrived at 
 Carachi, and was detained there sometime by sickness, after which 
 he visited Hyderabad. The Amirs prepared all things requisite for 
 receiving him with honour ; they despatched a palanquin ornamented 
 with gold for his conveyance, and dromedaries equipped with gold and 
 silver furniture for the officers who attended him, and sent Mir Abbas 
 Ali Khan and others from among the principal nobles to meet him. 
 Attended by this state and pomp, Sir Charles had an interview with 
 the Amirs, and returned to camp, and the next morning embarked 
 in a steamer and departed to Sakkar. 
 
 After some time Captain Stanley arrived at Hyderabad from Sakkar, 
 bearing another treaty and a letter from Sir Charles Napier. The 
 Amirs, on beholding a new treaty, and Sir Charles Napier's letter, were 
 filled with astonishment, and twice despatched vakils to Sir Charles to 
 inquire what was meant by the infliction of this new treaty, which was 
 full of article^ pregnant with loss and ruin to the Amirs and the country 
 they governed. Sir Charles replied that he knew nothing of the matter 
 — that he did but obey the orders of Lord Ellenborough. " I," said he, 
 " am but a vakil like yourselves, and dependent on others for my instruc- 
 tions.'' After this, Sir Charles Napier, with troops and cannon, marched 
 against Khyrpore, and in time of peace ignominiously expelled Mir Rus- 
 tam Khan from his hereditary dominions, insomuch that he, during rain 
 and severe weather, was driven out, with his wives and little ones, into the 
 desert. Meantime, Major Outram arrived at Sakkar from Bombay, and 
 joined Sir Charles at the Fort of Dfjf. Upon this Sir Charles advanced 
 upon the Fort of Imam Garb, which was the residence of Mir Wu- 
 hammad Khan, the nephew of Mir Rustam, and destroyed it, plundering 
 it of its magazines of grain, etc. From this Sir Charles advanced, 
 stage by stage, upon Hyderabad. The Amirs, hearing of his approach, 
 
 s 
 
248 APPENDIX. 
 
 sent to him, stating that they had, against their wishes and by reason 
 of his menaces, consented to the new treaty, and inquiring wherefore 
 he advanced with an army and cannon against Hyderabad, The Vakils 
 whom the Amirs despatched with these remonstrances were Mirza 
 Khusru Beg and Yusuf Khidmatgar, and they reached Sir Charles 
 Napier's camp at Naushahra, which is between Khyrpore and Hyder- 
 abad. On their arrival they handed over to Sir Charles the seals of the 
 Amirs which they had brought for the confirmation of the new treaty. 
 Sir diaries, instead of allowing the seals to be affixed, delivered a letter 
 to the Vakils, and ordered them to return with it to the Amirs and 
 provide for the execution of the injunctions contained in the said letter. 
 The letter was to the effect that the Amirs should send for Mfr Rustam 
 to Hyderabad, and that Major Outram would proceed to Hyderabad 
 and settle the affairs of Mir Rustam Khan, and see that the seals of the 
 Amirs were affixed to the treaty. The letter went on to say that though 
 Sir Charles had fully intended to advance with all haste on Hyderabad, 
 yet, for the present, he would suspend his march, and that unless Mir 
 Rustam met Major Outram as directed, he would be treated as an 
 enemy. Accordingly, Mir Rustam and the two Vakils, and Major 
 Outram, met at Hyderabad on the 8th of February, 1842. As soon 
 as Major Outram arrived, he sent to the Amirs, desiring that they would 
 ratify the treaty which, as no choice was left them, they, notwithstand- 
 ing its injustice, consented to do, and sent their seals accordingly. 
 The next day, the 9th of February, Major Outram had a meeting with 
 the Amirs, who informed him that the Biluchis were much excited by 
 hearing of the continued advance of Sir Charles Napier, and reminded 
 him that they had the day before sent their seals to ratify the treaty. 
 The Amirs further requested Major Outram to appoint some officer to 
 go to Sir Charles and entreat that he would halt and suspend his march 
 on Hyderabad. To this request Major Outram assented, and at eight 
 o'clock the same evening sent an officer to Mir Nasir Khan, who was 
 immediately despatched by the Amir to Sir Charles, on a swift camel. 
 The said officer reached the English camp, and, on the 12th of February, 
 the camel-rider who took him brought back to the Amirs a letter from 
 Munshi Mtila Ram, who was, by their orders, present in Sir Charles' 
 camp, stating that the instant the English officer reached Sir Charles 
 he broke up his camp and continued his march on Hyderabad. The 
 Amirs sent to acquaint Major Outram with this intelligence. The latter 
 officer, on the same day, the 12th of the aforesaid month, at two o'clock, 
 came to the Amirs and required them to set their seals to the treaty, 
 and stated, that on their complying, he would give them a letter from 
 
APPENDIX. 249 
 
 himself, which they might forward by one of their own officers to Sir 
 Charles, who would, on the receipt of it, retire towards Upper Sindh. 
 The Amirs were compelled to assent to this requisition, and signed and 
 sealed the treaty. At the same time Mir Nasir Khan said to Major 
 Outram that it was hard to drive out Mir Rustam in this his old age ; that 
 Sir Charles Napier had taken Mir Rustam's best land, viz., that from 
 Rohri to Sabzalkote, and that he ought to give back to him the rest ; 
 that, moreover. Sir Charles had written to say that a settlement of Mir 
 Rustam's affairs should be effected when Major Outram reached 
 Hyderabad. To this Major Outram returned a flat refusal, declaring 
 that no arrangements could be entered into with Mir Rustam. At the 
 same time a retainer of Haiat Khan Marri arrived in the Fort of 
 Hyderabad and made known the fact that Sir Charles Napier had 
 seized Haiat Khan, as he was coming to Hyderabad, and made him 
 prisoner. The Biliichis hearing of the cruel treatment of Mir Rustam 
 and the seizure of Haiat Khan, and seeing that all hopes of coming 
 to terms with Sir Charles Napier were at an end, determined to 
 fall upon Major Ontram, as soon as he should leave the Fort. The 
 Amirs getting information of this intended attack on Major Outram, 
 commanded the Biluchis to abandon their design, and conducted 
 Major Outram in safety to his camp, under the protection of several 
 of their principal Chiefs. The Major then forwarded to the Amirs 
 the letter he had promised, which was to stop the General from ad- 
 vancing. The said letter was forthwith transmitted by the Amirs to the 
 General, and the messenger who conveyed it returned with the intelli- 
 gence that as soon as Sir Charles received it, he instantly broke up his 
 camp, and moved on with all expedition towards Hyderabad. The 
 Amirs, on receiving this news, forwarded a letter of their own to 
 the General, inquiring why he continued advancing on Hyderabad, 
 notwithstanding their compliance with all the vexatious demands which 
 had been made upon them ? The Amirs further demanded to leara 
 whether violence were intended, as in that case they would abandon the 
 city, and take up their abode in the desert, and from thence despatch 
 a Vakil to' London to obtain redress. To these representations Sir 
 Charles Napier returned no answer. Meantime, a body of Biluchis, 
 whose numbers did not amount to more than five thousand (5,000), 
 being convinced by the rapid advance of the English General and his 
 seizure of Haiat Marri, that in spite of the Amirs' acceptance of the dis- 
 advantageous treaty forced upon them, Sir Charles would not retire, 
 but really intended the ruin of the Amirs and their Biluchi Chiefs, 
 assembled outside the city of Hyderabad, and said, — Let Napier slay us, 
 
250 APPENDIX. 
 
 and after that let him plunder our houses, which shall not be accessible 
 to the spoiler but over our bodies. On this, Mir Nasir Khan, believing 
 the violence of the Biluchis would end in their destruction, sent a 
 message to Major Outram by Madhd, the munshi, to the effect that be 
 (the Amir) would go and soothe the Biluchis, and that he entreated 
 Major Outram to leave the Agency and embark in the steamer, lest, 
 while the Amir was gone to speak with the Biluchis, who were bent on 
 attacking Napier, another party should fall on the Agency, which would 
 bring disgrace on the Amirs. A letter also to the same eflFect as the 
 verbal message was sent by the munshi to Major Outram. Accord- 
 ingly, on the morning of the 15th, Nasir Khan induced the Biluchis to 
 abandon their intention of marching against Sir Charles Napier, and 
 purposed to send another Vakil next day to Sir Charles, and to 
 endeavour, by every concession, to avert the impending attack. 
 
 At noon, however, on the 15th, a body of Biluchis made an attack 
 on Major Outram's camp, and Mir Muhammad Khan, who was in the 
 Fort of Hyderabad, was apprised of it, and immediately sent oflf Dildwar 
 Khidmatgar to call off the Biluchis, and prevent them from caiTying 
 out their violent intentions. The said Dilawar hastened to place him- 
 self between the Agency and the advancing body of BiKichis, and as he 
 passed near the Agency, the guard of sipahis, who were with Major 
 Outram, fired a volley upon his party and killed one of them. Dilawar, 
 however, placed himself between the Agency and the Bil6chis, and 
 endeavoured to make them desist — but in vain ; both parties began to 
 fire on each other, and two Bil6chis and one of the Resident's guard 
 were killed. After a short action, Major Outram and those who were 
 with him retired from the Agency and embarked in the steamer, and the 
 Biluchis made two European soldiers prisoners, — one of whom they 
 took to Mir Nasfr Khan, and the other to Mir Muhammad Khan, who 
 gave the prisoners meat and drink, and set them at liberty; Mir 
 Muhammad sending his prisoner on a fast camel to Jharak, where be 
 was released, after having been ferried across the river to Jharak in a 
 boat. After this, Mir Nasir Khan was on the point of despatching 
 another Vakil to the English camp, when, meantime, Sir Charles Napier 
 fell in with and attacked the Biluchis, and the sound of the cannonade 
 reached the ears of all. The engagement lasted until many Biluchis 
 being slain, the others fled. Mir Nasir Khan, deeply distressed at this 
 calamitous event, which had taken place without his wish, entered the 
 Fort of |Hyderabad, and there a force of twelve thousand Biluchis, 
 chiefly from the vicinity of Hyderabad, assembled. Mir Nasir Khan 
 forbade them to fight, and dismissed them. On the 18tb, Mir Nasir 
 
APPENDIX. 251 
 
 Khan, of his free will, rode into Sir Charles Napier's camp, unbuckled 
 his sword, and surrendered it to the General. The General, with his 
 own hand, returned the sword, and put it on the Amir again, and said 
 some words of encouragement to the effect that in twenty-five days the 
 Amirs' affairs should be settled to their satisfaction, and that they should 
 retain their country as at the first. This interview took place, and 
 these words were said, in the presence of Major Outram. Next morning 
 Sir C. Napier advanced and took up his position at the Residency, and 
 set a guard over the Amir. After two days, Major Outram departed to 
 Bombay ; the day after his departure, Muoshi Ali Akbar brought a 
 message to the Amirs from the General that he wished to inspect the 
 Fort, and that the Amirs should send some of their men with him. 
 Accordingly Mir Nasir Khan sent Akhund Bachal and Diwan Mahtar^m 
 and Bahadur Khidmatg4r to attend the General ; Sir C. Napier then, 
 with Colonel Patten and other officers, entered the Fort with two regi- 
 ments of cavalry and infantry, and two guns. After this, Saheb, 
 
 accompanied by other officers and sipahis, went to the ladies' apartments 
 of the deceased Mir Karam Ali Khan and took Mfrza Khusrau Beg by 
 the throat and ill-treated him, and ordered him to deliver all the valua- 
 bles that were in the apartments of the ladies of Mir Karam Ali to the 
 amount of fifteen lacs (150,000/.) The ladies of Mir Karam Ali, on 
 
 beholding this spectacle, sent a message to Saheb to beg he would 
 
 provide them with palanquins, and allow them to take three changes of 
 
 dress and quit the city. Saheb refused, and forced his way with 
 
 Munshi Ali Akbar into the ladies' apartments, and plundered them of 
 all the female ornaments and vessels of gold and silver, dresses, &c., 
 that they contained, and tore off the ornaments that the ladies wore on 
 their legs and feet. The unhappy ladies, overwhelmed with shame and 
 terror, fled from the city, and reached Kahtar, which is five cos from 
 
 Hyderabad on foot. And Saheb, and Saheb, and 
 
 Saheb entered the ladies' apartments of the Amir Mir Nur Muhammad 
 Khan, and plundered them in like manner, so that the ladies were simi- 
 larly compelled to fly from their home, and travel on foot to Kahtar. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1843, Mir Mir Muhammad Kh^n was 
 brought from the Fort and kept a prisoner in the British camp, while 
 another private suite of apartments belonging to his ladies was broken 
 into and plundered. The ladies of Mir Sobdar were next deprived 
 
 of all they possessed, and fled on foot to Hosri. Saheb 
 
 demanded of Fateh Ali Khan, the son of Mir Sobddr, two costly 
 armlets, which were accordingly given. One of the females of Mir 
 Sobd4r's household had tied a few rupees in her girdle. In her flight 
 
 T 
 
252 APPENDIX. 
 
 some of these dropped out, when she was immediately seized, her 
 girdle cut, and the rupees taken away. Each female was then taken 
 aside, and the ornaments from her arms and legs, ears and nose, 
 removed. Access to the Fort was now forbidden, and the ladies of the 
 late Mir Nur Muhammad Khan, and of Mir Nasir Khan, who were still 
 in the Fort, were kept almost entirely without water for two days. 
 Mir Husain Ali Kh^n, and Mir Abbas Ali Khan, the sons of Mir 
 
 Nasir Khan, who were prisoners in the Fort, sent a person to 
 
 Saheb for water, and received for answer that it was Sir Charles 
 Napier's order that if any one wanted water, he or she must come 
 and drink it in the bungalow of the officer commanding the guard. At 
 last, after the greatest difficulty, one skin of water was obtained for 
 five hundred persons, composing the household of the ladies of the 
 Amirs above-said, so that each could but moisten her throat, with- 
 out removing the anguish of her thirst. Shortly after, Saheb, 
 
 and Saheb, with a party of sipdhis, came to the doors where 
 
 the said ladies were, and broke them open with axes, and demanded 
 all the ornaments of those ladies, who were accordingly obliged to 
 strip themselves of everything in the shape of ornament. The next 
 
 day Saheb entered the room and removed all the rest of the eflfects- 
 
 One female, who tried to make her escape, happened to have on a pair of 
 silk trousers; she was stopped by the sipihis at the door of the Fort and 
 stripped of her clothes. The lady, the widow of the deceased Mir Nur 
 Muhammad Khan, had given a few clothes to a female attendant to sell, 
 that she might buy food for the said lady. Munshf Muhammad Husain, 
 
 the munshi of Saheb, seized the woman, beat her, and took away 
 
 the clothes. Afterwards, two women were brought and placed at the 
 gate of the fort, who searched every female who passed out. In a word, 
 every particle of property that belonged to the Amirs was taken — they 
 were plundered of all 1 Mir Sobdar Khan was then brought out and 
 placed a prisoner in the English camp, and two swords, that had been 
 the first day given to the sons of Nasir Khan, were taken from them. 
 The house of Mirza Khusrau Beg was then plundered, and himself car- 
 ried prisoner to the camp, whence he was again taken to the Fort, and 
 there beaten with such severity that he remained insensible for a long 
 time. When he recovered his senses he was bound and carried back 
 to damp and there confined. 
 
 After a short time the Amirs were conveyed to Bombay, and thence 
 to Sasiir, where they were imprisoned ten months. After that they 
 were taken to Calcutta. Then Lord Ellenborough thought fit to con- 
 fine them in Haz^ri Bagh, which is uninhabited. The Amirs wrote to 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 253 
 
 Lord Ellenborough and complained of this removal, on which Lord 
 Ellenborough flew into a rage, and separated the son of Mir Nasir and 
 Husain Ali, the son of Mir Nur Muhammad Kh^n, and two brothers of 
 Mir Nasir and Shah Muhammad, the son of Mir Shah Muhammad 
 Khan, from the other Amirs, putting them in Hazari Bagh, while he 
 intended to thrust the elder Amirs into another desolate place. In the 
 mean time he was dismissed from being Governor of Hindustan and 
 set off for London. 
 
 After this the unfortunate Amir Mir Nasir Khan, broken down by 
 grief, and overcome by this new calamity — the having his darling son 
 torn from him — spent his days and nights in tears till death released 
 him from his sufferings. After the dismissal of Lord Ellenborough, 
 Sir Henry Hardinge became Governor-General. To him the Amirs 
 addressed a letter petitioning for redress, and the favour of an inter- 
 view. In reply to their letter, the Secretary (Mr. Currie) wrote to 
 Captain Gordon, in charge of the Amirs, stating that the Governor- 
 General had no word of encouragement for the Amirs, but if, after fully 
 understanding this to be the case, the Amirs were still desirous of an 
 interview, the Governor- General would appoint a day for it. The 
 meeting accordingly took place on the 30th day of September, 1844, 
 at Barrackpore, whereat Sir Henry Hardinge openly averred that he was 
 aware an injustice had been done to the Amirs, but that he had no 
 poorer to assist them. The Amirs then twice wrote to Sir H. Hardinge 
 stating that if it was not in his power to redress their wrongs, they 
 entreated he would, at least, suffer them to send some of their number 
 to the Queen. To this, the Governor-General returned a refusal 
 through Mr. Secretary Currie; whereupon having no other resource, 
 the Amirs raised a loan, and sent Vakils to England. These Vakils 
 have sought an audience in vain from Lord Ripon, the Vizir of Hin- 
 dustan, from the Court of Directors, and from the Queen ; and have 
 now been compelled, by want of funds, to return to India, — where they 
 will never cease to send up their prayers to Heaven for justice, in the 
 hope that God will grant what man refuses. 
 
 Written on the 2nd of August, on Saturday, by Diwan Mahtaram. 
 
 SrKPHJSN AUSTIN, PRINTKK, HBUTFOBD. 
 
ERRATUM. 
 In page 186, line 16, /or " Dirai " read " Dinii. 
 
8, Leadenhall Street. 
 
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 A Guide to Latin for Beginners. 
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 INITIA GRAECA, 
 
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