TORONTO-CANADA
THE
Margaret Eaton
Q,nr(C^>nL OF LITERATUR SSION
INDIAN MUTINY
or
1857-8.
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KAYE'S AND MALLESOX'S HISTORY
OF THE
INDIAN MUTINY
OF
1857-8
Edited by COLONEL MALLESON, C.S.I.
IN SIX VOLUMES
VOL. V. By colonel MALLESON, C.S.I.
NE IV IMPRESSION
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
y) PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA
1907
All rights reserved
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Transferred from IV. H. Allen 6-' Co. to Longmans,
Green, fr* Co., February 1896. Re-issued in Silver Library, Angus* 1897. Re-issued in new style, July 1898 ; reprinted October
1898 ; and Februaiy 1907.
I INSCRIBE THIS VOLUME TO THE MEMORY OF
THE LATE
Sir henry MARION DURAND.
K.CS.I.
A MAN WHO COMBINED A RARE GREATNKSS OF SOUL
AND A PEltFECr GENIUS FOR AFFAIRS
WITH SIMPLICITY OF MANNERS, DIRECTNESS OF PURPOSE.
AND A DETESTATION OF ALL THAT IS MEAN AND FALSE.
AS WISE IN COUNSEL
AS HE WAS PROMPT AND DECIDED IN ACTION,
HE MET ALL THE STORMS OF LIFE WITH FORTITUDE,
RENDERING EVER, ALIKE BY HIS ACTION AND HIS EXA:MPLE,
UNSURPASSED SERVICES TO HIS COUNTRY.
AFTER A SERVICE FULL OF HONOUR, EXTENDING OVER
FORTY'-TWO YEARS,
HE DIED IN THE I'EUFORMANCE OF HIS DUTY.
*'HE left a REPUTATION WITHOUT SPOT — THE BEST
INHERITANCE HE COULD BEQUEATH TO HIS CHILDREN."
PREFACE TO THE FIFTH VOLUME.
The present volume concludes the tistory of tlio purely military events of the great Indian uprif?ing of 1857.
The question whether that uprising was simply a military mutiny, or a revolt of which that military mutiny constituted the prominent feature, was debated keenly at the time, and is to this day as warmly contested. In the concluding chapter of this volume I have endeavoured to throw some light on the dispute, by the simple process of tracing effect to its cause. There is not a line in that chapter which will not bear the most searching analysis. The conclusion I have arrived at is that the uprising of 1857 was not primarily caused by the greased cartridges; that it was neither conceived nnr designed by the Sipahis. The mutiny was in reality the offspring of the dis- content roused by the high-handed measures inaugurated, or at least largely developed, by Lord Dalhousie, and brought to a climax by the annexation of Oudh. The greased cartridge was the opportune instrument skilfully used by a band of con- spirators, for the most part men of Oudh, for the purpose of rousing to action the Sipahis, already made disaffected by con secutive breaches of contract and of faith.
Of these acts — of the attempt, as I have termed it, to disregard the silent growth of ages and to force Western ideas upon an Eastern people, and in the course of that attempt to trample upon prejudices and to disregard obligations — the mutiny was the too certain consequence. It is remarkable that the decisive points of this great uprising were at two places, famous in Indian history, in both of which we had, by force or by the moj'al power engendered by the possession of force, disj^laced the former rulers. These places were Dehli and Lakhnao. At the one we were the besiegers, in the other we were besieged.
v'l PEEFACE.
Dehli and Lakhnao constituted, so to speak, the wings of the rebel army. Had the centre, represented by Gwaliar, gone with the wings, it had fared badly with us. But, for the reasons I have specially' referred to in the concluding chapter, the centre remained sound long enough to enable us to concentrate the bulk of om- forces on the two decisive points of the rebel line.
It was after Dehli had fallen and a severe blow had been dealt at Lakhnao that we had to deal with the centre — a centre formidable indeed, but which the loyalty of Sindhia had depi'ived of much of its power and prestige. It is with the contest mth that centre, carried on by Colonel Durand, Sir Hugh Eose, Sir Eobert Napier, Generals Stuart, Roberts, Michel, and Whitlock, Brigadiers Smith, Honner, Parke, Somerset, Colonel Holmes, Becher, and many others, that the military portion of this volume mainly deals ; and I venture to affirm that no part of this hisioiy is more remarkable for the display of capacity and daring by the generals, of courage and en- durance by the men. It is a page of history which every Englishman will read with piide and satisfaction — with pride becaiise the deeds it records were heroic; with satisfaction because many of the actors survive, ready, when they are called upon, to repeat their triumphs in other fields.
But, important and full of interest as are the military rec<n'da of this volume, the political action it relates is certainly not less so. There was not a moment of more consequence to India than that in which Lord Elphinstone had to decide whether he would content himself with saving his own Presidency, or, risking eveiything, would send every available man to the decisive points in the endeavour to save India. Not for a second did that illustrious man hesitate. It has been to me a task of no ordinary pleasure to demonstrate how the daring and generous conduct of the Governor of Bombay vitally affected the interests of England at the most critical period of the struggle.
Nor have I experienced less gratification in rendering justice to the character of Lord Canning, as that character developed itself, when, in the early part of 1858, he stood unshackled at Allahabad. I have entered in the concluding chapter so fully into this point, and into others affecting the judgment passed upon his action in the earlier part of his Indian career, that it is unnecessary to allude to the matter further hero.
PREFACE. vil
Since the first edition of this volume was published I have received numerous letters from gentlemen who were actors iu the several campaigns, and have conversed with many of them. I have enjoyed the oppoi tunity likewise of revisiting India. The result has been that I have been able to render some share of justice to distinguished officers whose deeds were not so fully described as they deserved to be. I may add that I have likewise obtained the fullest information regarding the transactions between the Government of India and the State of Kirwi prior to 1857, and have re-written that portion of the narrative=
Although I have exerted myself to the utmost to ensure accuracy of detail in all the military operations, I am conscious that there are many other gallant deeds the details of which have not reached me, and which are therefore unnoticed. 1 have found it impossible, even in a work so bulky as this, to mention every individual who deserved well of his country. When a small body of men attack and defeat a large number of enemies, every man of the attacking party is necessarily a hero. There maybe degrees of heroism, but it is difficult to distinguish them. Napoleon, feeling this difficulty, announced to his army after one of his great campaigns that it would be sufficient for a soldier to declare that he had belonged to the army which had fought in that campaign, for the world to recognise him as a brave man. That assurance is certainly not less applicable to the soldiers whose gallant deeds are recorded in this volume, and on whom the campaigns of Alalwa, of Central India, of the southern Maratha country, and again of Malwa and Rajpiitana, have fixed the stamp of heroes.
The appendix gives the story of Tantia Topi's career as n lated by Tantia Topi himself.
J cannot conclude without expressing the deep obligations under which I lie to the many gentlemen who have placed their journals and letters, all written at the time, at my disposal. The value of the information I have thus been able t^ obtain is not to be expressed in words. But especially do I desire to acknowledge the benefit I have received irom the services of the gifted friend who read the first edition of this volume in proof-sheets, and whose irank and judicious criticisms greatly contributed to the clearness and accuracy of the military nar- rative.
I may add that there is in the press a sixth volume, which, in addition to an analytical index prepared by my friend.
viii PREFACE.
Mr. Pincott, will contain a reference, taken in the order of the Governorsliii>s, Lieuteuant-Governorsliips, and Chief-Comrais- sionerships to wliicli they severally belonged, to many of the civil districts throughout India. To this volume has been trans- ferred the narrative of the five civil districts, and the chapter regarding the Indian Navy, which originally appeared in this volume. Although I have taken the greatest pains to ascertain the truth regarding the events in several of these stations, I am conscious that much has been left still to be recorded. In but few cases were journals kept; many of the actors are dead; many are old and indifferent. I trust, however, that it will bo found that I have succeeded in unearthing many deeds of daring, in rescuing from oblivion more than one reputation, and generally in adding to the interest of the story of the most stupendous event that has occurred in the reign of Queen Victoria. ^
G. B. Malleson.
27, West CTomvoeU Road,t \st July, 1889.
LIST AND SHOKT DESCRIPTION OF IMPORTANT PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS VOLUME, AND NOT DESCRIBED IN PREVIOUS VOLUMES.
AMJHfeRA, a Native State in Malwd, within an area of 584: square miles.
AsiRGARH is a fortress in the Nimiir district of the Central Provinces, situate on a spur of the Satpiira range. It stands at an elevation of 850 feet, and is a place of great strength. It was once taken by Akbar, and twice by the English, to whom it now belonjfa. It lies 313 miles from Bombay.
AuKANGABAi), a city in the Haidanibdd Stiite, which derives its name from the Emperor Aurangzib, wh(j built here a beantiful mausoleum over the remains of his favourite daughter. It lies 215 miles from Bombay, and 690 from Madras.
Balabet, a town in the Gwdliar State, 40 miles to the north-west of Sagar.
Bandah, chief town of district of same name, now in the Allahabad division, 95 miles south-west of Allahabad, and 190 south-east from Agra.
Banpur, a parganah in the Lalitjiir district, Central Provinces, forming the seat of a chief who rebelled in 1857.
BelgAon, the chief town of the district of the same name in the Southern Maratha country, situate on the northern slopes of the Bellari watershed, 2500 feet above the sea. It is 318 miles from Bombay.
Bhopawar, a ruinous town in the Gwaliar Slate ; Gi miles south-west of TJjje'u, and 330 south-west of Gwal'dr.
BuBHANPUR, an ancient and famous city in the Niniar district of the Central Provinces, was for a long period tlie capital of Khandesii, and the cliief city of the Dakhan under the Mughul emperors. It lies on the noith bank of the Tapti. It was founded by Nasir Khan, of Khandesh, and was called after the renowned Shekh Burhanu'din, of Daulatabad. It is famous for its quaint porcelain. It is two miles from the Lalba^h station of the Great India Peninsula Railway.
Chasderi, a town and fortress in the Gwaliar State, described at page 104.
Charehari, capital of State of same name iu Central India, on the route from Gwaliar to Bandah, 41 miles Bouth-west of the latter.
X SHORT DESCRIPTION OF PLACES.
Dewas, a State in the Central Indian Asrency, with two chiefs, one called Babd Sahib, the other Da^ia Sahib. The territories of the former have an area of 1378 square miles; those of the latter, 6197 square miles; yet the Babd Sahib is the senior of the two.
Dhar, a State in the Central Indian Agency, with an area of 2500 square miles. Its capital is also called Dhdr.
Dhakwak, capital of district of the same name in the Southern Mardthd country, lies 351 miles from Bombay. Is a great cotton centre.
Gobaria', a village in the Gwalidr State, between Nimach and Mandesar.
Haidarabad, described in the text, page 80.
Jabalpub, capital of district and division of the same name in the North- West Provinces. The town is an important centre of trade. It lies 700 miles from Calcutta ; 202 from Allahabad ; 879 fiom Madras, and 674 from Bomb:iy.
.Jalaun, a town in the district of the same name in Jhansi territory. The district has an area of 1460 square miles, and comprises the towns, Kalni, Kiiueh, Jalaun, and Urai (the capital). The chief rivers in the district are the Jamnah, the Betwa, and the Pahiij.
JAMKHAxrf, capital of State of same name in Southern Maratlia country, 70 miles north-cast of Bolgiion ; 68 east of Kolhapiir, and 162 south-east of Puna. The chief maintains a force of 57 horse and 852 foot.
KiRwf, a town, formerly capital of a principality in Buudelkhand, 45 mUes from Bandah.
KoLAPCR, capital of a nati\ e State of the same name between the Retnagiri and Belgaon districts, distant 128 miles south-east from Puna; 64 from Satarah, and 220 from Bombay.
KrLADGi, capital of the district of the same name in the Southern Maratha country, to the north-east of Belgaon. It lies 314 miles from Bombay.
KuNcn, a town in the Jalaun district, 19 miles west of Urai, and 42 miles south-west of Kalpi.
KuRrN'DWAU is the capital of two States of the same name in the Southern Marath^ country, ruled by two branches of the Patwardhan family.
Lalitpur, capital of a district in the Jhansi division, as it now is, of tiie North-West Provinces. The district borders on that of Sdgar.
Maltiion, a town in the Sagar district, 40 miles north of Sagar.
Malwa, the name applied to the western portion of the Central Indian Agency. It is a tableland of uneven stn-face, rising from 1500 to 2000 feet above the level of the sea, bounded on the west by the AravsUi range ; on the south by the Vindhya chain ; on the east by Bundelkhand, and on the north-cast by the valley of the Ganges. It comprises the States of Gwdliar, Indiir, and Dhdr.
MalwX (Western) is the westernmost tract of Mdlwd, and constitutes a subordinate agency of the Central Indian Agency. It comprises the States Jduni, Ratlam, Soldnd, and Sitdmau.
Maxdesar, a town in Sindhid's dominiuns, on a tributary of the Chambal, 80 miles from Ujjen, 120 from Indur, and 328 from Bombav.
SHORT DESCEIPTION OF PLACES. xi
Mehidpur, a town in the Indur State, on tho riglit bank of the Si'prd. north of Ujjen, 432 miles from Bombay. Since 1817, when Sir J. Hislip defeated Mulhar Riio Holkar on the banks of the Sipra, it has boi.n a cantonment for Britioh troops.
MibAj, capital of State of same name in Southern Maratha country. The chief is a first-class SirJar, with a military force of 597 men.
McPHAL, capital of State of same name in Soutliern Maratlia country, south
of the Jamkhandi State. The chief maintains a military force of
700 men. Nagod, town in the Uchahara district, Central Indian Ageucy, on the ilirect
route by Rewah from Sagar to Allaliabad ; is 48 miles from the first;
43 from the secoml, 180 from the third, and 110 from Jab.ilpiir.
Naugund, town in the Dharwar district, 32 miles north-east of Dliarwdr.
The chief lost his possessions in consequence of his conduct in 1857,
related in this volume. Narsixhpue, a district in the Narbadd division of the Central Provinces, witli
an area of 1916 square miles. Its capital, also called Narsinhpiir, is on
tho River Singri, a tributary of the Narbada. It lies GO miles to the
west of Sagar.
PuCH, a village in the Jhdnsi district, on the road from Knlpi to Giinah, 55 miles south-west of the former, and 150 north-east of the latter.
PunA, the ancient Maratha capital, is situate near the confluence of the Muta and Mula, in a plain 2000 feet above the sea. It is 90 miles from Bombay. Adjoining it is the artillery cantonment, Kirki, where Colonel Burr, in 1817, defeated the Peshwa's army.
Rahatgarh, a fortified town in a tract of the same name in the Sagar district, 25 miles to the west Of the town of Sagar.
Raipur, capit:d of the district of the same name in the Central Provinces, 177 miles to the east of Naspiir, by the road from that place to Calcutta.
Rewau, native State in Bundelkhaud, having a capital of the same name. It is bounded to the north by the Bamlali, Allal:ab:id, and Jlnzaiiur districts; to the east by part of the Jlirzapur district and the territories of Chutid Niigpur; on the south by the Chhatisgarh, Jabalpur, and Maiidla districts ; on the west by Mnihir, Nagod, and the Kothi States. It has an area of 13,000 square miles. The position of the town is described in the text.
Sagar, capital of the district of the same name, situated on an elevated position. 1940 feet above the sea, on the north-west borders of a fine lake nearly a mile broad, whence it derives its name (Sagur, A"gJice, the Sea). It lies 90 miles north-west of Jabalpur; 185 miles north of Nagpur; 313 miles south-west of Allahabad; 224 miles north-east of Indur, and G02 from Bombay.
SANGtf, capital of the State of the same name in Southern Miiratlia country, the cliief of which is a Sirdiir of the first class, with a military force of 822 men. It is situate on the River Krislina, to the nortJi-east of Kohlipui
Xli SHOET DESCRIPTION OF PLACES.
Satarah, capital of the district of the same name, lies 56 miles south of Puna, at the junction of the Krishna and the Yeiia. It is 163 miles from Bombay.
Sav.^xur, capital of State of same name in the Dharwar district ; lies 39 miles south by east of Dharwar. The Nawdb is of Afghan descent.
SnAHfiARH, town in Sdgar district, Central Provinces, 40 miles north-east of the town of Sa<;ar.
SiHOK, a town in the Bhopal State, Central India ; situate on the right bank of the Savcn, on the road from Sugar to Asirgarh, 132 miles south-west from the former, and 152 north-cabt from the latter; 22 miles from Bhopal, and 470 from Bombay.
Tal-Bahat, chief town of p:irganah of same name in I>alitpur district, Cenlral Provinces, stands on a hill, 26 miles north of the town of Lalitpur.
Tehri, capital of the Teliri or Urchali estate, to the east of Lalitpur. It is 72 miles north-west of Sagar. The Piajah is looked upon as the bead of the Bundelas.
Ujjen, a very important town — more so formerly than now — on the Sipra, in the Gwdiiar State. The modem town is six miles in circumference, and surrounded by groves and gardens. The old town lies about a mile to the north of the new town. It is 1698 feet above the sea. It is 40 miles from Indur.
I^rcha'h, ancient capital of State of the eame name, also called Tehrf, in Bundelkhand. The State is bounded on the west by the Jhansi and Lalitpur districts ; on the south by the Lalitpiir district and Bijawar ; on the east by Bijawar, Charkbdri, and Garauli. The town is on the Betwa.
CONTENTS OF VOL. Y.
Preface ..... .....
List and short Description of Places mentioned in this Volume
PACK V
BOOK XIII.— BOMBAY, CENTRAL INDIA, AND THE DAKHAN. CHAPTER I.
LORD ELPHINSTONE, MR. SETON-KARR, AND MR. FORJETT.
Definition of the Bombay Presidency ..... Previous Indian Career of Lord Elphinstono .... His Qualifications for Office in troublous Times. Prompt Measures taken by Lord Elphinstoiie on hearing of the Mutiny
at Mirath .........
Despatches all available Troops to Calcutta ....
Noble Response given at the Mauritius and the Cape to his Requisitions Proposes to send a fast Steamer to England . . .
The Policy of " Offensive Defence "
To carry out this Policy Lord Elphinstone forms a Column under General
Woodburn .........
Wooilburn allows himself to be diverted to Aurangibad
State of Aurangabad ........
Woodbiurn disarms the disaffected Troops. ....
Lord Elphinstone continues to urge an Advance on Mau .
Colonel Stuart succeeds to the Command and moves forward
Lord Elphinstone sends Troops into Rajpiitana.
The Southern Maratha Country and Mr. Seton-Karr.
Effect of the Inam Commission on the landowners of the Souther
Maratha Country ........
Effect on the same Class of the abolition of the Right of Adoption Mr. Seton-Karr tries to soothe the Chiefs .....
They learn of the Revolt at Mfrath ......
General Lester and the military condition of the country . Influence of Nana Siihib on the Southern Maratlid Chiefs . Mr. Seton-Karr a])plies for extended powers
1
2 6
3 4 4 5 6
7
8
8
9
9
12
13
13
14 15 17
18 18
r.)
20
XIV
CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
Which he employs most judiciously. ......
General Lester and Air. Seton-Karr foil, by judicious Action, the Plans
of the disaSected at Belgiiou ......
They punish the Ringleaders of a Plot .....
Eeinforceinents arrive, and the Dang* r, for the Time, passes away Review of Mr. Seton-Karr's Mea.~urcs .....
Sketch of previous History of Kolliapur .....
Mutinous Comliiuation of the Native Kegiments at Kolhapiir, Belgaon
and Dhuwiir .........
The Eegiment at Kolhapiir mutiuies .....
Lord Elphinstone sends Colonel Le Grand Jacob to Kolhapur . Before he arrives the Mutiny is bujipresaed ....
Jacobs disarms the Mutineers ......
Bombay — General Shortt .......
IVIr. Forjett ..........
General Shortt, Mr. Forjett, Lord Elphinstone, and the Muharrani Excitement of tlie Sipahis at Bombay on the fifth Night of the Mu
harram ..........
ForJL tt gallops up alone : the sight of him increases their- Fury Forjett, by his Courage and Dailng, completely dominates tlieni His great Services .....
Tlie Sipaliis hatcli a new Conspiracy Which is discovered and bafiled by Forjett Review of Lord Elphinstone's Measures . His Merits never adequately acknowledged
PAOH
21
CHAPTER II.
CEKTEAL INDIA AND DrRAND.
The Fort and Garrison of Asirgarh
Mutinous Disposition of a Portion of the Garrison
The IMutineers are disarmed .......
Stuart's Column reaches Asirgarh and is joined by Durand Who accompanies it to Man as supreme political authority. Considerations which induced Durand to delier the Punishment of Hoi
kar's mutinous Troops .
Condition of the towns in the districts — Mandesar .
A rising in Central India intended ......
Dhar
Suspicious cond.uct of the Dhdr Durbar
Durand moves against Dlidr, beats the Rebels outside
And invests the Fort .
The Rebels evacuate it on the eve of the Day fixed for the Storm
The Rebels plunder Mehidpiir ......
By the Capture of DMr and Amjhera Durand saves the Lines of th NarbaJda. . . . . . . . .
Arrival of the remaining Tioops of the HaMaidbtid Contingent . On pursues the Ri bels, and recovers the Spoils of Mehidpiir Durand readies the Chambal .......
Fatuity of the Rebels in not d sputing the Passage . . .
CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
XV
They move on the Briti^b before MaudL-sai- and are beaten. Diiruiul threatens alike the Rebels at Maadesar and Ni'macb Fierce combat at Gorarid ......
Tlio Blow struck thire by tlie British decides the Campaign Durand returns to Indur, and disarms and causes the disarmiug kar's Troops ........
Interview between Holkar and Durand ....
Great Services rendered by Durand. ....
Officers who distinguished themselves during tlie Campaign
f liol
CHAPTER III.
THE BAGAB AND NARBAdI TERRITORIES, AND NAGPUE.
The Sigar and Narl)a(iii Territories. .....
Sketch of the later History of those Territories ....
Mr. Colvin, Captain Ternan, ami the Sadr Board of Revenue The introduction of the " Chapatis " into the Territories Captain Ternan detects their hidden Meaning ....
His superior officer ridicules Ternan's solution ....
The Government of tlie North-West Provinces and the Rajah of Ddlier The Blindness and Injustice of the Government contrasted with the
Enlightenment of Ternan and the Loyalty of the Rajah Brigadier Sage at Sagar ......
Mutiny at Lalitpur ........
The Rijah of Banpur rebels .......
Major Gaussen's Sipabis mutiny and join that Rajah
Sage moves the Europeans into Sagar Fort, and the 42nd Native Infantry
and tiie 3rd Irregulars mutiny. ......
The loyal 31st Native Infantry fight with the rebel 'i2nd Native Infantry Jabalpur and the 52ud Native Infantry . . . • , The Kamthi column reaches Jabalpur .....
The 52nd Native Infantry mutiny and murder MacGregor.
A Column of Madras Troops marches against the 52nd Native Infantry
And defeats them .........
Death of Colonel Dalyell— the Country still ravaged by Rebels . Ternan and WooUey in Narsinbpur ......
Nagod : mutiny of the 50th Native Infantry ....
Willoughby Osborne and Ee'wah ......
Tact and Judgment displayed by Willoughby Osborne . . These Qualities save Et'wah .......
Nagpur and flir. Plowden .......
Plowden has the Native Levies disarmed .....
The Loyalty of the Madras Army saves the Position . . . Credit due to Mr. Plowden ,
CHAPTER IV.
THE DOMIJ^IONS OF TUE NIZAM.
Haidardbad and the Dominions of the Nizam . i he reigning Nizam and Salar Jans . .
80 80
XVI
CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
Major Catbert Davidson.
Feeling produccnl in the Minds of the Population by the News
the North-West
Mutinous Outbreak at Haidambdd ....
Put down by 5Iaj>)r Davidson .....
Bad Eflfect of the Advent of Adventurers from other Parts
The Loyalty of the Nizam the surest Guarantee of Peace
ilajor Davidson's far-sighted Policy
The Rajah of Shordpiir displays disloyal Symptoms .
Major D.ividson sends Troops to awe him.
The Rajali's Troops attack the British
They are totally defeated
The Rajah commits Suicide .
Credit due to the Nizam and Sdlar Jung .
from
81
82 82 83 84 84 85 85 86 87 87 88
BOOK XIV.— CENTRAL INDIA, KIRWI, GWIliIR, AND THE SOUTHERN MARlTHl COUNTRY.
CHAPTER L
gin HUGH ROSE IN CENTnAL, INDIA.
Sir Robert Hamilton arrives in Calcutta ...... 90
His Plan for restoring Order in Central India is accepted ... 91
He nrrives at Indur and relieves Durand ...... 92
Sir Hugh Rose 92
Sir Hugh Rose takes Command of the Central India Field Force and
Whitlock is appointed to direct the Madras Column ... 93
Composition of Sir Hugh Rose's force ...... 94
The Force rests at Mau pending News from Whitlock ... 95
Sir Hugh and tlie 2nd Brigade then advance on Raiiatgarh . . 95
Siege of Rdhatgarh 96
The Rajah of Banpiir marches to the Relief of the Place ... 97
Sir Hugh beats him, whereupon Rahatgarh is evacuated ... 97
Sir Hugh again beats the Rajah at Barodia ..... 98
Then marches into, and relieves, Sagar ...... 99
Sir Hugh marches against Garhakota !»9
Whence he drives the Rebels ........ 100
Sir Hugh again waits for News of Whitlock 101
Tien pushes on towards Jhansi ....... 101
Combat at tlie Mandanpur Pass ....... 102
Which Sir Hugh carries, thus turning the Rebels' Position and foiciug
them to evacuate very many strong Places. .... 103
Meanwhile Stuart and the 2nd IBrigade march on Ch£nd€ri . . 103
Storming of Ch^nderf ... ..... 105
Reasons why Lord Canning and Sir Colin Campbell ordered Sir Hugh
to abandon, for the time, the March on Jiidnsi .... 106 Sir R. Hamilton takes upon himself the Responsibility of setting aside
their orders ; his reasons and his justiflcation .... 107
The Fort and City of Jhdnsi 109
CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
XVll
of Kao Ssihil) at
Tl.e Siese of JLiinsi . . . . ,
Tautia Topi inarches to relieve Jliansi
fcjir Hu^h resolves to niaiiitaiu the Suge and at the same Time to meet
Tantia iu the open ..... Sir Hugh attacks Tiintiii Topi on the Betwa Gallantry and Conduct of Stuart Complete defeat of Tantia Topi Sir Hugh prepares to storm Jliausi' . The Storming of Jhiins-i ..... The Force rests at Jhansi .... The Councils of the Kiiui, of Tantia Topi, and
Kalpi .......
Sir Hugh and Tantia Topi alil-e maicli on Kiiuch
Preliminaries to tlie Buttle of Kiiuch
Tiie Battle of Kiinch .....
Bfasteily Retreat of the Rebels
Sir Hngli, pushing on towards Kalpi, reaches Gulauli
Difficult country between Gulauli and Kal|.i
Sir Hugh is reinforced by Maxwell on the left Bank
Battle of Gulauli
Kalpi is occupied by the British
Summary of the Campaign ....
of the Janmah
110 111
112 112 114 114 115 115 120
120 121 121 122 124 125 120 127 127 12!» 131
CHAPTER II.
KIBWI. AND BAXDAU.
Composition of General Whitlock's Force.
Wliitlnck reaches Jabalpiir on the Gth of February .
Extreme Caution displayed by Whitlock ....
The Nawab of Bindoh "
Combats of Kabrai and of Bandah .....
Whitlock rests more tlian a Month at Bandah whilst Sir Hugh Rose is clearing tlie AVay to Kalpi .....
Perversity of Fortune with regard to the Bandah Prize The Rtit) of Kirwi ........
Causes of Complaint against the British Government. The Rtio accords a friendly reception to Whitlock Enormous Treasure which tlius devolved upon the British . Reflections on the Transaction . . . . <
138 134 134 135 13G
137 138 138 13!» 140 141 141
CHAPTER III.
SIR HUGH ROSE AT GWALIAB.
Apparently desperate Condition of Tantia Topi and his Associates . 143
Desperate Remedy suggested — probably by the Riini of Jhansi . . 144
The Confederates acct'pt it and march on Gwalitir .... 144 VOL. V. b
XVIU
CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
PAGB
The different Reasons atrecting the Conduct, at this Crisis, of Maharajah
Sindhia and his People . 145
Pindhia marches out to meet Tantia Topi ..... 146
Ilia followers dest rt him and he is completely defeated . . . 147
The Rebels hold and administer Gwaliar ...... 147
Meanwhile Sir Hugh Rose has sent Robertson on the Track of
Tantia 148
And subseqnently Stuart . . . . . . . .149
On 1< arniug of the Capture of Gwaliar by Tantia he resumes Com- mand ........... l.'iO
Hurries in Pursuit. ......... 150
Reaches Morar .......... 151
Attacks the Rebels at that Phice 152
And defeats them . . . . . . . . . .152
Brigadier Smitli engnges the Rebels at Kotah-ld-Sarai . . . 153
Death of the Rani of Jhansi ........ 154
Smith takes up a Position for the Niglit ...... 155
He is joined tl: ere by Sir Hugh Rose ...... 155
The reasons which prompted Sir Hugh to assume the Offensive . . 156
Batlle of Gwaliar 157
Sir Hugh Completes the day by the Capture of the City . . . 159 By the Daring of two Subalterns, Rose and Waller, the Rock Fortress
is won ........... 160
Nnpier pursues the Rel>el;j and catches them at Jaura Alipur . . IfiO
He gains a Victory at Jaura Alipiir. ...... 161
Kecrtpitulation of the Campaign of the Central India Force . . 162
The Force is distributed • . 163
CHAPTER IV.
THE SOV-TIIEKN MAIJATHA COUNTRY AXD LE GRAND JACOB.
Colonel Jacob and Mr. Manson relieve Mr. Seton-Karr of his political
duties in tlie Southern Maratha Country ..... 164
'haracter and Sympatliies of Mr. Manson ..... 164
Reflections on the Change ........ 165
Colonel George Malcolm storms Halguli ...... 166
Despondency and initution of the Chief of Nergiiud on learning that
Manson had replaced Seton-Karr ...... 167
Influencis which work upon him ....... 167
The refusal of the Biilisli Government to allow him to adopt an Heir
weighs especially with him, and ho revolts. .... 168
Manson, on learning of his Revolt, determines to push on to Nargund . 169 (.'iianging his Route, an 1 sleeping in a Village on his Way to join
Malcolm, he is murdered ........ 170
Htighos annihilates the l.'ebcls at KopiiMrug 170
Miilcolm Ijeats the Nargund tioops and takes Nargund . . . 171
The Chief fleea in Disgiiiee but is captured by Frank Souter . . 171
Lc Grand Jacob pacifies the Country ...... 172
CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
XIX
BOOK XV.— THE PACIFICATION OF OUDH AND OF THE NORTH-WEST.— UEPRKSSION OF OUTBREAKS IN THE PAN JAB.
CHAPTER I.
LORD CAXNINT. S OUDH I'UOCLAMATION.
Siimmaiy of its Contents and of the Contents of the explanatory Letter
ncconipanyiu^ it ....... .
Sumuiary of Sir James Outram's Objections to it
Lord Canning's two Ri plies .......
Lord Ellenborough receives tlie Proclamition without any e.Kplauatorv
Letter
Lord Elleiihorough arrives at a CoiiClusion similar to tliat of Sir James
Outram ..........
He writes severe and galling Strictures on the Proclamation And pubh'slies these in England ......
Slight Kft\ct produced on I^ord Canning personally by Lord Ellen
l)orough"s Comments ... ...
He receives support from all Sides — even from Lord Derby Lord Canning's Reply — preliminary .....
He p )ints out the want of shitesinanlike Con:! net evinced by the Ptib
lication of Lord Ellenboruugh's Despatch ....
He vindicates the Proclimation ......
Mr. Robert Montgomery succeeds Sir James Outiam in Oudh
Feelings of the People of Oudh towards their King .
'i'heir Feelings regarding the British Rule ....
Tact and Judgment evinced by Mr. Montgomery .
17:i 175 176
177
178 178 17!>
179 180 181
181 182 18S 184 184 185
CHAPTER IL
THE PACIFICATION OF OUDH.
Position occupied by Sir Hope Grant on the 16th of Mny . He pursues the Rebels .......
Beats them at Nawabganj ......
Position of the rebel parties in Oudh ....
Sir Hope proceeds to relieve Miin Singh ....
Semis Horsford to Snltiinpur ......
Sir Hope joins Horsford and forces the Rebels to evacuate Sultanp The Rebel Leaders in Hohilkhand .....
A Force proeeeds from Pilibhit to drive the Rebels from Nuria Splendid Daring of Sam Browne .....
The Rebels in Eastern Oudh .....
Berkeley captures Dahain, Tiriil, and Biiairpur, and touches Grant's Force. .......
Rowcrolt and the Pearl brisrude
Hope
186 186 187 189 189 189 190 191 192- 19S 195
196 l9(i
&x
CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
ETclcgli beats the Rebels at Mohan
Kavanagh and Dawson occupy Sandela
Tlio river Steamers endeavour to clear the Oudh Bank of the Ganges The Rebels open the Cold-weather Campaign .... Barker. Evelegh, and Seaton give a good Account of them.
Lord Clyde's Plan of Pacification
Hope Grant and Witherall commence Operations Lord Clyde and Grant carry out the Programme
Tlie Bare'li Column does the same
Hope Grant touches Kowcroft and on one side sweeps the Rebels into
Nipal ...
Lord Clyde does the same on the other Side .... Some Disturbances still continue on the Nipal Frontier
But at last Oudh is at Peace
Tlie new Britisli Title superior to the old one ....
PACk
197 l'.>8 198 199 200 200 201 201 203
204 204 205 207 208
CHAPTER III.
THE PUNJAB AND THE NORTH-WEST.
Dehli
Districts to
Tlie Panjab
The alternative Risks one of which Sir John Lawrence was forced to
accept in July 1857. .... Discovery of a plot in the Lower Hazarah The inhabitants of the Districts between Labor and Multan rise But are speedily piit down .... Disturbances at Dera Ishmail Khan and IMultan The Reader traverses the cis-Satlaj States and the
Itawah .......
Disturbances in the lUiwah District. Lance, Gordon, and Aljan suppress them . Brigad er Showeis at Agra ... Agia from September 1857 to June 1858 , Meade's Horse is raised . . ' r '
Sindhia, fleeing from Tantia Topf, reaches Agra Sindhia returns to Gwaiiar ....
Showers cuts off Tantia Topi fiora the nortli .
209
210 211 211 212 213
214 214 215 216 217 218 219 219 219
BOOK. XVL— TANTIA' TOPl AND THE QUEEN'S PROCLAMATION.
CHAPTER L
THE PLRSCIT OF TANTIA TOPf.
Tdntia flees in the Direction of Jaipur 221
Napier's division and Smith's Brigade canton at Gwaiiar, Jhansf, Siprf,
and Giinali 221
Roberts, n.oving from Nasirdbdd, covers Jaipur .... 222
CONTENTS OF VOL. V. xxi
Pack
Ti'mtia, baffled, marches on Tonk, followed by Holmes . . . 223 Taiitia reinforcod by tiic rebels of Tonk, miikes, iifter someChangiB of
Route, for the Country between Ni'mach and Nasiiiibad . . 223
Huberts follows and beats liim at Bhilv.ani ..... 224
Tanlia is again caught on the Bunas ...... 225
Is defeated by Robeits and pursued seventeen Miles. . . . 220
Tiintia flees to the Chamb.il, pursued by Parke .... 22(J
Parke being doc^-ivetl by false News, Tantia crosses the Cbambal and
captures Jhsilm Patau ........ 2J7
Thence l:e endeavoins to march on Indur. ..... 22S
^lichel suv coeds Roberts and takes Command of tlie Columns moving
against Tantia ......... 22D
Tantia evadis Michel near Rajgarh. ...... 2.J0
But Michel follows and defeats him ...... 230
The Story reverts to Napier and Smith ...... 231
Miin Singh revolts against Sindhia and seizes Psiuri .... 1'31
Smith marches against Puuri and has an Interview with Man Singh . 232
He invests the Place ; Napier reinforces him ..... 233
The rebels evncuate the Place ; Robertson sent in Purauit. . . 233 Robertson defeats Ajit Singh at Bijapiir . . . . . .231
The Rainy Soa.^on Campaign in Gwiiliar closes, and the Slory reverts to
Tantia Topi 235
Tdntia. taking Supplies from Ifagarh, is repulsed by the loyal Eiladar
of Chandeii .......... 235
He then marches on Mangrauli followed by Slichel, who attacks and
defeats him .......... 2'JG
Riio Sahib, separating from Tantia, is attacked and beaten by
Michel ". 237
Tiintia rejoins Rao Sahib, and they resolve to cross the Line of the
Narbada .......... 237
jMichel finds out their Designs, follows in Pursuit, pounces upon Tantia
and destroys his left Wing ....... 238
The right Wing with Tantia and Rao Sahib makes good its Escjpeand
crosses the Narbada ........ 239
The crossing of the Line of the Narbada, which twelve Months pre- viously would have been fatal, is even now dangerous. . . 239 The peojile south of the Narbada show no Feeling in Favour of
Tantia 240
Tantia makes for Barodah . . 241
Michel divines his Intentions and marches to baffle him . . . 212
Sutherland crosses the Narbada and cnmes on Tantiii's Track . . 243
Pursues him, brings him to Action and puts him to Flight. . . 243 Tantia, fleeing niglit and day, places the Narbada between himself and
his Pursuers, and pushes towards Barodah .... 244
Parke catches him at Chota Udaipur ...... 245
Parke beats Tantia and cuts him oft' from Barodah .... 246
Tantia flees to the Banswara Jungles where he is surrounded . , 247
He deliberates regarding a Surrender, but resolves to fight on . , 248
Tantia biffles Major Rocke and escapes . . . . . . ?A9
Benson beats him at Zirapiir and Somerset beats him at Barod . .249
The Story reverts to the Proceedings of Napier .... 2o0
xxu
CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
Firuz^hah, baffled in Eoliilkliand aud Oudli, resolves to join Tantia
Topi
He crosses into Sindliia's territory ; Napiur follows him
Napier's accurate Intelligence is baffled by a misleailing Despatch
But he pursues Firuzsliah, outmanoeuvres and crushes him at
Ktiiiod ...........
(Gallantry of Stack ; of Rice ........
Firuzshah joins Tautia ; to whom the Story reverts ....
Taiitia endeavours to escape to the North-west, but is surprised by
Showei-s ...........
He tries to meet Marwiir, but Holmes catches and utterly defeats
him ...........
Tantia gives up tlic Siriiggle and hides in the Jungles of Paron. Honner defeats Rao Sahib at Kushaui ......
The rebel Force breaks up ....... .
Tlie fate of tiie Rebel Leaders is reeorded .....
Napier sees the Importance of gaining Man Singh ....
He sends SIcMde to Sirsimao ........
Meade negotiates witli the confidential Advisers of Man Singh . , Napier directs Meade to put Pressure upon the Dewan of Man Singh by
occupying Sirsimao .........
The Family of Man Singh surrenders to Meade ....
]\Ian Singh surrenders to Meade .......
Selfish Consideralions begin to act on the lower Nature of Man Singh He volunteers to nccompany a British Force aud to aid in the Capture
of his Uncle Ajii Singh ......
He finally makes up his Mind to betray Tantia Topi
For a Consideration, even for the Chance of a Consideration
Man Singh 7>roceeds with a Party sent by Meade, and surprises Tantia
Topi asleep .......
Tantia Topi is tried by Court-martial ; his Defence . Validity of the Defeuce ......
He is sentenced to be hanged, aud is hanged . Will Posterity ratify the Justice of the Sentence? I'arallel Points between Tantia Topi and Hofer Tantia Topfs Jlerits and Demerits as a General The English Commanders in Pursuit of him The light Columns and long Marches Tranquillity returns to Central India . . .
PAGR
250 251 252
253 254 251
255
250 25tj 257 257 257 258 258 259
2G0 2G0 261 2G1
2G2 263 263
263 264 265 265 265 266 266 267 268 268
CHAPTER II.
THE TRIAL OF THE KING OF DEHLI AND THE QVEEN'S PROCLAMATION.
Trial and sentence of the King of Dehli ...... 270
The English Public, requiring a Scape-goat, pronounce the Doom of
tlio East India Company ........ 271
The Queen's Procl.irnati n ....... . 272
The Proclamation is published throughout India .... 276
Its enthusiastic Reception ....,.,. 277
Virtual Co^clu^ioll of the Mutiny 277
CONTENTS OF VOL. V. XXlii
BOOK XVII.— THE CAUSES OF THE MUTINY.
PAGE
Tlie Anxiety displayed, after the Mutiny had been qucUeJ, to discover
its Cause. 278
Sir John Liuvieiice, after an elaborate Argument, can discover no other
Cause but tiie Greasoil Cartridgis ...... 280
Tiie fallacious diameter of this Conclusion ..... 280
The Cause, iu the opinion of the thoughtful Natives of India . . 281 The real Cause of tlie Mutiny — Bad Faith — and the attempt to force
Western Ideas on the I'-astern People ..... 282
Bad Faitii towards the Si pahis illustrated by the Action of Government
on the Batta Queslion ........ 283
The Discipline of the Army is undermined by the Head-quarter Staff in
India 284
llenewiil of Bad Faitli towards the Sipdhis ..... 28.5 The untoward and disastrous Result of tliat Renewal . . , 28G
What Oudh wus to the Sipahis before Annexation .... 28<J Ouilh wns misgoverned according to Western, but not according to
Eastern ideas ... ...... 287
The Manner in which the Annexation of Oudh was regarded by the
Sipahis, illustrated by an Accident ..... . 288
It deals the last Blow to the Confidence of the Sipahi in his foreign
MHster 289
IIow the same Result was arrived at in the Minds of tiie Princes, Chiefs,
and Landowners of India ...... . 289
The System examined of granting a Life Annuity in exchange for a
Kingdom . . ... . . . . . . 289
Causes which increased the bad Effect of the mere Annexation of
Oudh 291
The real authors of the IMutiny — the Maulavf ..... 292 The Conspirators discver the Cartridge and use it as their Instrument
to seduce the Sipahis ........ 292
Examination of the different Modes in which the Provinces which rose
aijainst us, and those which remained loyal, were administered . 293
Lord Canning in 1857 296
Influence upon him of Lord Dalhousie's Prestige and Lord Dalhousic's
Councillors 296
liOid Canning, as he stood unshackled in 1858 ..... 297 The real Greatness of his Character is then shown in all its different
Phases 297
Lord Elphinstone — h's Prescience, his Decision, his high and lofty
Courage 208
His generous Confidence towards his Suboidinates .... 299 His Correspondence evidences his Foresight ..... 300 He is nominated by three successive Secretaries of State to succe; d
Lord Canning in the event of a Vacancy ..... 301 Lord Harris — his Energy, Foresight, Devotion ..... 301 Eligland has no Reason to blush for the Englishmen and English- women of the Mutiny . . ..... 301
XSIV CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
PACK
APPENDIX A.— More dctiulsnboutKirwi 303
APPENDIX B.—Tuiitiii Topi's Story of bis Life .... 304 APPENDIX C— Tri il of llie King of Dehli—
(a) Tlie Judyre Advooatc-Generara sumniiug-up . . . 311 (6) The Letter of the Chief Commissioner of the Paujiib (Sir John
Lawrence^ on the Trial and Sentence .... 350
LISTS OF MAPS.
Map of the Southern Maratha Country ... to face page 14 Slap to ilkistrate the Central Indian Campaign of Sir
Huu'h Rose ....... to face page 162
Map to illustrate the final Campaign in Oudh . . to f.ice page 186
.Map to illustrate the Pursuit of Ti'mtia Topi . . to face page 322
I
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN MUTINY.
BOOK XIII.— BOMBAY, CENTRAL INDIA, AND THE DAKHAN.
[1857.]
CHAPTER I.
LORD ELPniNSTONE, MR. SETON-KARR, AXD MR. FORJETT.
The western, or Bombay, Presidency of India comprises a long, narrow strip of country of varying breadth and ir- regular outline. Including the province of Sindh, May',
the administration of which' is subordinate to it, it presiaeMj*^ occupies the western coast of the peninsula from the mouths of the Indus to the northernmost point of Goa, and from the south of that territory to the borders of Maisiir. It is thus bounded on the west by Baluchistan and tlie Aiabian Sea ; on the .south by Maisur; on the east by the Madras Presidency', Ilaidarabad, Barar, the central provinces, the states forming the central Indian agency, and Iiaji)iitana ; on the north by Bhawalpur, the Panjab, and Baluchistan. The area of the Dritish portions of the Presidency is one popuUtion. hundred and thirty-four thou.-and one hundred and thirty-five square miles, supporting fourteen millions of inhabi- tants ; but, in subordinate political relations to it, there are, or rather there were in 1857, native states comprising
seventy-one thousand three hundred and twenty The native •1 • 1 • -IT £• • 1 T •, , MM stati scon-
square miles with six millions ot inhabitants. Ine taineiinit.
principal of these were Barodah, Kathiwar, Kachh,
Kambhayat, Mahikauta, Eewakanta, Kohlapur, Sawantwari,
and Khairpiir.
VOL. V. B
2 LOED ELPHINSTOXE AND MR. FORJETT. [1857.
la 1857 Lord Elpliinstone was Governor of Bombay. A man
of culture und ability, Lord Elphinstone had enjoyed stone, ^ '"' luuro experience of India than generally falls to tbc
lot of governors unconnected with the civil or military services. He had been Governor of ]\Lidras from 1837 to 181:2 ; and, although the records of the Madras Presidency throughout his incumbency had marked no stirring events within its borders, yet the first Afghan wax*, with its early success and its later collapse, had excited the minds of the n itives throughout the country, and had called for the exercise
of tact and judgment on the part of the rulers, career?^''"^ Tlicse qualities Lord Elphiustone was eminently
qualified to display, and he had displaj'ed them. He was called, however, to deal principally with administrative details. The manner in which he performed these duties gained for him the confidence of the natives. His measures for improving the resources of the country, and for establishing means of communication in all directions, are spoken of to this day.
Lord Elpliinstone revisited India at the time of the first Sikh
war, 1845-0, and marched in company with the in'indta.^^ 14th Light Dragoons, then commanded by the late
Colonel William Havelock, who had been his mili- tary secretary, from Bombay, through central India, to the head-quarters of the British army before Labor. On the trans- fer of Kashmir to Gulab Singh, a proceeding following the treaty of 1846 with the Sikhs, Lord Elphiustone formed one of the party which first visited that famous valle}'. After a residence in it of nearly three months, he set out for Ladakh by the Husora valley, and endeavoured to proceed thence up the Gilgit vallej^ — in those days an utterly unknown country. Forced, perhaps fortunately, by the objections of the authorities, to renounce this expedition. Lord Elphiustone crossed the Hurpo pass to Rondu on the Indus, being the first Englishman by whom that journey had been attempted.
It will be seen, then, that when in 1853 Lord Elphiustone
was called to the post of Governor of Bombay, he His i^aiifi^- brought to that office experience such as few men, post. not trained in the Indian services, could command.
His knowledge of men, his courtesy, his genial bearing, gave effect to that experience. Up to the outbreak of the mutiny in 1857 his conduct as Governor of Bombay was
1857.] LOUD ELPUINSTONE'S EXEK(iY. 3
iiivarialjly markcJ by temper, juilgnient, and discretion. Calm and dignified in manner, ccmrteous to his colleagues and to all with whom ho was brought in contact, he evinced, on every occasion likely to test his action, the possession of a guiding mind, of a will not to be sliiken, a resolution that v.ent direct to its aim. The crisis of 1857 was iust one of those ,., „ „ .
1 . , T T -p, 1 . / ,. Well fitted to
occurrences which Lord Llphinstone was consti- encounter the tiitionally fitted to cope with. Ho at once realised ^ut*"*^*'^® its difficulty and its danger, and rose equal to encounter the one and to neutralise the other. In tlie words of a contemporary writer, generally unfavourable to him, he dis- played " the courage of the soldier wlio knows his enemy." *
'ihe truth of this judgment was proved by the action taken by Lord Elphinstone when tlie news rtached him of the outbreak of the 10th of May at Mirath. Lord 'ton'lwiS; Elphinstone was at Bombay when he heard of that <>" heannR of event. It happened that General Ashburnham, M?r™h,''°^ *' commanding the expeditionary corps on its way to China, was staying with him. So greatly did the importance of the intelligence impress the Governor, so certain did he feel that the Mirath revolt would spread, and that it should be met at once by bringing larijfe reinforcements of Euro-
. . with rpfc-
pean troops without delay into the country, that he renc- lo urged General Ashburnham to proceed immediately AsHbu^mha to Calcutta, and to offer his services, and the services of the China expeditionary force, to the Governor- General.
It was a fortunate circumstance that the war with Persia had just been brought to a successful cunclusion. Fortunate, like- wise, that the disaffec ion had not spread to the native army of Bombay. Lord Elphinstone thus felt himself equal to the most decisive measures. He at once authorised the Commissioner of Sindh, Mr. Frerc^, to transfer the 1st Bomb;iy Fusi- liers from Kanichi to the Panjab. He arranged that the G4th and 78th regiments, then on their way from Persia, should proceed forthwith, without landing at Bom- bay, to Calcutta. Tlie more speedily to carry out regfme'nt^s this object, he caused vessels to be equipped and fromPeisf^ prepared for the reception of these rrgiments, so that on the arrival in the Bombay harbour of the transports
* The Friend of Iiulia.
B 2
4 LORD ELrmXSTONE AND MR. FORJKTT. [1857.
which were conveying them from Biishii- they might be transhipped without h)ss of time. This measure was duly and effectively carried out. The men moved from the one transport into the other, and reached Calcutta in time materially to in- fluence the campaign. But Lord Elphinstone did Ma'irarinii- morc. He despatched on the in^itant to Calcutta a lery in Bora- (jonipany of Madras artillery which happened to be ^^' on tlie spot, taking the duty of the Bombay
artillery, then absent in Persia. He at the same time sent in.structions to the officer commamling at Disa to hold the 83rd regiment and a troop of horse artillery at that station in readi- ness to march on Ajmir, on the sole condition that. He prepares jj^ f\^Q. opinion of the local anthorities, the departure piuiud, '^' of the only European troops in the vicinity of Ahmadabad and Gujrat might be hazarded without the absolute certainty of an outbreak. And, still penetrated by the necessity to concentrate on the scene of the mutiny as many European troops as could be collected, Lord Elphinstone char- tered, on his own responsibility, two steamers belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, the Potiinger and and sends to ^^^ Madras, provided them with all necessary stores,
the .ilaui itius •>■ , ''-^
and the Cape and despatched them, under the command oi Captain lormnforce- (^-^^-^^^^ Jenkins of the _ Indian navy, to the Mauritius and the Cape, with letters to the Gover- nors of those settlements, dwelling upim the importance of the crisis, and begging them to despatch to India any troops they could spare.
I may here state that the result of these applications was
such as might have been anticipated from the cha-
ap^piicat'ion"^ ractcrs of the men to whom tliey were addressed.
to the iiauri- r^-]^^ Governor of the Mauritius, Sir James Higginson,
embarked on board the Poltinger the head-quarters
and as many men of the 33rd as that steamer could carry. Not
content with that, he took an early opportunity to charter and
despatch another transport to convey the remainder of that
reo-iment, a battery of artillery, and as much money as could be
spared from the treasury of the island.
Nor was the Governor of the Cape, Sir George Grey, ani- mated by sentiments less patriotic. It fortunately Cape? ^^^ happened that an unusually large force of British regiments was, at the moment, concentrated at Capo Town. Sir George despatched, without delay, as many of them
1S57.] SIR GEORGE GREY, 5
as lie could spare. The 80 th anil 95tli he sent to Bombay ; the 6th, the 1st battalion 13th, the 2nd battalion GOth, the 73rd, 80th, and 31st to Calcutta. In subsequent vessels he des- patched horses in as large a quantity as he could conveniently procure.
The despatch of Lord Elphinstone to Sir George Grey liad painted the urgency of India's needs in terms so glowing that that able Governor considered himself ^^fiy^'nobiy justified to stretch his powers. He did not hesitate assumed by to direct the commanders of the transports conveying Gi'eyf°'^^^ the China expeditionary army so far to divert from • tlieir course as to call at Singapor for ordeis. The result of this patriotic action was most happy. The intelligence which met these transports at Singapor induced their commanders, in every case, to bear up for Calcutta.
To return to Bombay. So important did it appear to Lord Elphinstone that reinforcements should promptly be sent from England by the overland route — a L' >■'' i^'i^bin- route till then untrodden by British troops — that, ga-ts sending telegrajihic communication being open with Cal- 6,eamer\o cutta, he suggested to the Governor-General the En-iand, propriety of sending to England a special steamer, which he had ready, with despatches, impressing ujjon the Homo Government the urgency of the need. There can be no doubt that the suggestion w;is a wise one. A fast lightly-laden steamer, travelling at her highest speed, would have anticipated the ordii\ary mail steamer by three or four daj's at the least. This, too, at a time Avhcn the most important events depended on prompt and decisive action. But Lord but Lord Canning did not view matters in the same lisrht. <-"a"n'"S He refused to interfere witli the ordinary mail service. The s! earner, tlierefore, was not sent.
Before I pass from the record of the precautionary measures taken in the early days of the revolt, to describe the actual occurrences in the various parts of the preeau°fona% Bombay Presidency, I wish to advert for a moment measures to one material result which followed them. Those wrdwi!*" measures undoubtedly saved Bombay from serious outbreak. They did more. They secured an important base of operations against central India and Eajpiitana, and they preserved the line of communication between those provinces &nd the provinces beyond them and the seaboard. It is diffi-
6 LOED ELPHINSTONE AXD ME. FOEJETT. [1S57.
cTilt to over-rstimate the importance thus gaiued, solely by the exercise of timely foresight.
A rather serious breach of the law at Bharoch in the month
of -May, originating in a dispute between the PavMS
stone nuets''a and the Muliuniuiadans, might have led to im-
?»^^hofiaw poitant consequences but fur the firmness with
which it was met, in the first instance, by the officer
commanding on the spot, and, in the next, by the Governor.
The spirit of Lord Elphinstone's action may be judged from the
fact that, to prevent the spread of tl:e riot, he clespatched a
hundrel and fifty men of the 80th to Siirat— a movement of
troops which left only three hundred and filty European troops
of aft arms in Bombay itself.
The riot at Bharoch was, for a time, the only indication of ill feeling manifested in the western Presidency, poiicy^o™^* and it was entirely unconnected with the great offensive revolt then raging in the north-wcst. LoidElphin- si one, whilst carefully repressing it, did not abate a single effort to carry out the policy which he was convinced was the only sound policy — the policy of ofiensive defence. Almost from the very first he had designed to form, at a con- venient point within the Presidency, a column to secure and liold the great line of road between Bombay and |fne"b*twMn Agra. Not only would the line thus secured foim Bombay and a base for ulterior operations, but a great moral advantage would be gained by its tenure. In the crisis which then aftlicted India, it was not to be ihogght that any portion <f the empire would stand still. The attitude of folded arms was an attitude to invite danger. To clieck the approach of evil, the surcbt mode was to go forth and.byai- r^^j meet it. A column marchin"; toAViirds the
vanciiiff to " ,
meet the evil noith-west would encounter the elements which, outiide/to™ having brewed there disturbance, were eager to prevent it sprcad it, and, encountering, would annihilate them, tithin.^ The presence of such a column, maiching confidently
to the front, would, moreover, go far to check, per- haps even to suppress, any disloyal feelings which might have
been engendered in the minds of the native princes Witbthis \vho>e statcs bordered on this line of communica- coinmii under tion. For thcsc reasoufl, then, at a very early period WTOdburn °^ *^'® Crisis, Lord Elphinstone proposed in council,
and ordered, the formation of a column, under the
1857.] THE POLICY OF OFFENSIVE DEFENCE. 7
command of Major-Gencral Woodburn, io open out communica- tions with central India and the North-West Provinces.
The column formed in consequence, under the command of Major-Geueral Woodburn, was but small in numbers. It consisted only of five troops of th» 14th Light ^f™P°*'"°" Dragoons, the 2r)th Bombay Native Infantry, Captain column. Woolcombf's horse-battery of artillery, and a pontoon train. It set out from Pnna on the 8th of June, under orders to march with all speed to Mau, with tho view to save that place while there was yet time, •^""^■ and to prevent the spread of the insurrection in J' 'march uf Malwd, and along the northern frontier of the Miu. Bombay Presidency.*
The state of alf.iirs at Mau and at Indiir was such as to demand the most piorapt action on the part of General Woodburn. It was inst possible that, making
,. J 1 1 -li 1 i-Tj' Possibilities
iorced marches, he might approach so near to indur before as to baftlc the plans of the discontented. The ?,?""?'
Till • T -I r -1 1- Ti »Voodburn.
dread that he might do so lor a long time paralysed their action. f Circumstances, however, occurred which baffled the hopes expressed by Lord Elphinstoi'.e, when, acting on his own unaided judgment, he pressed upon the military authorities the necessity for General Woodburn to advance.
The city of Aurangabad — once the capital of the kingdom of AhmadnacraT, and, at a later period, the favourite . ., ., residence of the Emperor Aurangzib — occupies a prominent and important position in the north-western corner of the dominions of the Kizara. The coiner of which it was the capital juts like a promontory into British territory. To the east and north- east it touches western Barar and the central provinces; to the south, the west, and the north-west, the northern portions of the Bombay Presidency. Beyond the northernmost part of that Presidency, and wiihin easy distance of Auiangcibad, lies Malwa.
Disiftoction was known to reign in Malwa, and it was of the highest consequence that that disaftection should not spread soutliwaid to Bombay. But at Aurangabad, the capital of tho small promontory I have described, almost touching Malwa on one side and running into Bombay on the other three sides,
* Lord Elphinstone's letter to General Woodburn t Vide Vol. III. page 137.
8 LORD ELPHIXSTOXE AND MR. FOEJETT. [1857.
were quartered the 1st and 3rd Cavalry, the 2nd Infantry, and
a battery of artillery, of the Haidarabad Contingent.
Anningibid. Thcse regiments, commanded by British officers,
were composed chiefly of !Muhammadans, and one
of them — the 1st Cavaliy — had, in the early part of June,
displayed symptoms of disaiFection.
Aurangabiid is distant from Piina a hundred and thirty -eight
miles ; from Ahmaduagar, about midway between the two,
sixty-eight miles. In tlie ordinary cour.-e of events, General
"NVoodburu, armed with positive instructions to pu.>-h on with
all speed to Man, would not have entered the dominions of the
Kiziim. It happened, however, that the authors of
Pi=affection h^q clisaffection I have spoken of as prevailing at
garrison. Aurangdbad proceeded on the 13th of June lo more
open demonstrations, and in consequence General
"Woodbnrn received, not from Lord Elphinstone, instructions to
deviate from the line urged upon him by that nobleman, and
to march upon Aurangabad.
In explanation of the open demonstrations dt Aurangabad, I
may state that a rumour had reached that place that
Rasonsof ^\^q cavalrv regiment sta'ioned there would be
tion. required to join General Woodburn's column and
march with him on Dehli. The mmour was
founded upon truth, for it had been intended that the regiment
in question should join General Woodburn's force. But to the
' minds of soldiers who were not British subjects, who lived
under the rule of the descendant of a viceroy appointed by the
Mughul, the idea of fighting against the King of Dehli was
peculiarly distasteful.* They showed their dislike on the
moment. On tlie 13th of June the men of the 1st Cavalry
openly expressed their dissatis'action, and — it was stated at the
time — swore to murder their officers it inessure to march against
Dehli were put upon them. Fortunately, the commanding
officer, Captain Abbott, was a sensible man. He
coniuctof summoned the native officers to his quarters, and
Captain discusscd the question with them. The native
Auboit. -1 1 T 1 /• 1 •
ofncers declared that, tor their own part, they were ready to obey any lawful order, but they admitted that their men would not fight against the mutineers. Captain Abbott
* The splendid manner in which the Haidarabdd cavalry atoned for this momentary disaffection will be found recorded in subsequent pages.
1857.] DISAFFECTION AT AURANOABiD. 9
then, after communicating with the Ecsidcnt, resolvoil to adopt a conciliatory course. He gave the men assurances that they would not be required to march on iJehli. In this way order was restoied. So little confidence, Bwed.^buV however, in the stability of the compromise was felt '^otconfl- on both sides, that the ofticers proceeded to barricade themselves in their mess-house, whilst the uiutinous cavalry boosted over their moral victoiy in every quarter of the city.
Matters were in this state when, en the morning of the 23rd of June, General "NVoodburn's column entered Auran- gabad, marched at once to the ground occu])ied by eniers^'T"- ihe mutineers, and ordered the men to give up ranpabid and their arms. "With the exception of one troop of the mutiw-eiB.* 1st Cavalry, all obeyed. The general gave the men of that troup six minutes to consider the course they would jmrsue. "When the time elapsed, the men, instead of sub- mitting, put on a bold front and attempted to ride away. In this attempt most of them succeeded. The next morning some three or four, convicted of attempts at assassination, were hanged, and order was restored.
General Woodburn was under the orders of the Commander- in-Chief, Sir Henry Somerset. In tlie opinion of Lord Elphinstone, the danger at Aurangabad had ^ni>^,',Ss"' not been so pre>sing as to necessitate the deviation WooUbam to of the field force from the direct road to Mau. He mIu^ **" '° thought that, in the presence of two dangers, tliat which would result from the mutiny coming down to Bombay fi'om cential India and Malwa was greater even than the disaffection of a portion of the troops of the Nizam. Forced, however, to accept General "Woodburn's action at Aurangabad, lie lost not a moment in urging him to press on towards Mau. " I am pprsuaded," he wrote to that officer on the 22nd of June, " that the local officers greatly exaggerate the danger of a rising in our own jirovinces. I have no fear of anything of the sort ; and, if it should, happen, I trust tliat we should be able to put it down speedily. But I feel confident that it will not happen — at all events, for the present. If you allow the insurrection to come down to our borders without attemjiting to check it, wo bhall almost deserve our fate; but if by a rapid advance you are able to secure Mau you will also, in all probability, eave Mehidpur, Sagar, Hoshangabad," itc. Lord Elphinstono
10 LOED ELPHINSTOXE AND MR. FOKJETT. [1857.
followed up these nolilo words, displaying the tme conception he had formed of the situation, by a letter addressed, the same day, to bir Henry Somerset: "I am very much obliged to you," he wrote, " for the perusal of General Woodburn's letter. I conclude that since it was written he has received his orders to continue his march to Man with all possible expe- dition."
But General "Woodburn did not move forward. In reply to
the h tter I have just quoted, he wrote, on the 25th,
b'^S'e- to Lord Elphinstone, urging the various reasons
lays to ti y ii^s -which, he thought, would necessitate a long stay at
prisoLers. Aurangi'ibad. These reasons might, in the presence
of the greater danger at Mau, be justly teimcd trivial.
They consisted in the possibility of a fresh outbreak after his
departure, and in the necessity of trj'ing some sixty-fonr
prisoners by court-martial.
Lord Elphinstone answered the objections to advance urged
by the general in a very decided manner. " I wish
LordEiihin- yy^^ to remember," he wrote to him on the 27th of
b^ts^his rea. June, " that it was for the object of relieving Mau,
eons and s:iii ^^^^^ jjq^ fy^. i]^q purpose of cha-tising a mutinous
wiwards. regiment at Aurangabad, that the field force was
formed. The latter is an incidental duty, which it
was hoped w^ould not interfere with the main object. I am
perfectly aware that, in these times, circumstances may occur
to divert your force from its original destination, but I do not
think they have yet occurred." He then proceeded in a few
forcible words to urge the folly of w^asting unnecessary time
upon trials,* and the necessity of disarming regiments which
raio-ht show disaffection, instead of delaying a movement of the
first importance from a fear that a revolt might take place after
the departure of the British troops.
This letter, I have said, was despatched to General Woodburn on the 27th of June. On the morning of the 28th su.^^ u'or-"' Lord Elphinstone received a despatch from Calcutta, dered further instructing him to send to Calcutta by sea the wing ^u1??engtV ofthe 12th Lancers then stationed at Buna. This diminution of his available European strength, al- ready extremely small, following immediately upon the departure
* " To allow twenty days for the trial of sixty-four prisoners is out of the question in these times."
1S57.] DIFFICULTIES OF ELnilNSTONE'S FOSITIOX. 11
from tlio Presidency of General Woodburn's force, and accom- panied by reports received from many district officers to the effect that rebellion was only watcliing ils opportunity, so affected Lord Eli)hinstone, that for a moment ho felt inclined to authorise General Woodbnrn to halt at Aurangabad. Indeed, on the spur of the moment he wrote that ofiScer a letter, expressive of his deep regret and disappoint- air a moment ment at having to request him to give up a measure causes Loru which he believed to bo of great importance. But towavcn"^" the night dissii)atcd his anxiety. In the morning he had resolved to daro all, to ri.sk all, for the supreme advantage of saving central India. On the 2yth, then, lie wrote again to General Woodburn, cancelling that portion of his previous letter which had given him amomcnu"^ authority to dtfer tlie projected movement.
But before this letter could reach General Woodburn that officer had bccDnie incapacitated for command by ill-health. The Government promptly replaced him Sii"an.i by Colonel C. S. Stuart, of tlie Bombay Army, then is r. placed commanding the 3rd Kegiment Native Infantr}-. Foiiett."'^ Pending the arrival of that ofiicer, the ccmimand of the field force devolved upon Major Fullett, 25th Regiment Native Infantry.
Major Follett had a grand opportunity before him. He had only to move forw^ard. Unfortunately, he wrote to the Commander-in-Chief a letter in which he dwelt Htrwold"-'" upon the impossibility of leaving Aurangabad in t'urn'soii- the then condition of the Nizam's regiments. More unfortunately still. Major Follett's representations were strongly supported by the head of the arm 3'.
Lord Elphinstone's reason and instincts still told him that the further delay thus proposed was the delay of red tape — the natural ccnseqnence of the absence LonTEi'phi'n- of a clear mind and a firm will. But lie was in stone's posi- a very difficult position. He was not a soldier. And although he would unhesitatingly have regarded the scruples of Major Follett, unsupported by higher autiiority, ho could not treat with contempt the weighty support given to those t-cru]iles by the officer who was Commander-in-Chief of the armies serving in India. Unwillingly, then, and solely in deference to the strong opinion expressed b}' Sir Henry Somer- set, Lord Elphiiistone consented to the delay.
12 LORD ELPHINSTONE AND MK. FORJETT. [1857.
A few days proved liow true had been his judgment. On
the 7th of July, Major Follett convirted himself and
July- the chief who supported him of a hasty and pre-
fJconve?!^'^ mature decision. On the 7th of July that officer
to Lord Ki- Avrote to Lord Elj^hinstone,* declared that it was per-
phmstone 8 fg^.^iy feasible to leave Aurangabad, and announced
his intention to march for Mau on the 10th, leaving
a troop of cavalry and two guns for the protection of the
Aiarangtibad cantonment.
Lord Elphiustone promptly requested Sir Henry Somerset to confirm this change of feeling by cancelling his previous orders. This was, in eifect, carried out.
The force led by Colonel C. S. Stuart of the Bombay army,
who joined it on the 8th, quitted Aurangabad on
Coior.ei tlic 12th, too late to prevent the mutinies at j\lau
to"comma?id and Indur, but not loo late, under the guidance of
the force and (^'oioijel Durand, who ioined it at Asirgarh, to
Bcts out lor ' «/ o '
Asirgarh. restorc British authorit}' in central India. To the
further movements of this column I shall return in
a subsequent chapter. Its march bej'ond the Bombay frontier
was due solely to Lord Elphiustone. f Had he been unfettered,
and had its first commander been a man after his own heart, it
• It is probable that Major Follett" s change of opinion was due to the receipt of a despatch from Colonel Durand addressed to Mr. Plowden, and sent through the ofificer commanding at Aurangabad. This letter contained convincing proofs of the necessity of promptly advancing.
t " I quite agree with you," wrote Lord Elphinstone to Colonel Durand, the 27th of July, " in regretting the delay which took place in the advance of the force. You cannot have written more strongly than I have upon the subject, but there was a strong counter-prejudice on the part of the officers on the spot, ever>' one of whom declared that the departure of the colunm from Aurangabad would be the signal of a general rising. I from the first recommended that the mutinous troops should be disarmed and dismounted. But this was considered inexpedient. It was represented that it was not so much the troops but the whole popijation was against us. Mr. — — , the Deputy Conunissioncr in North Barar, who is reckoned a very good officer, said that there were, I am afraid to say how many, armed Musalmans in his district, who would rise the moment
the column was ordered to move. Colonel , who commands the Madras
cavalry regiment at , said it was utterly impossible to send half his
regiment over to Aurangabad, as the pcoi)le in that neighbourhood would attack the station." It is immensely to the credit of Lord Elphinstone that, in spite of these and many similar reports from district officers, and of the opposition referred to in the text, he should have persevered in urging the forward movement. He was, in fact, one of the few men in high position in India wiio realised how the mutiny should be met.
1857.] CREDIT DUE TO LORD ELPIIIXSTOXE. 13
would have taken place in time to prevent much evil in central India.
But the despatch of Colonel Stuart's culunm to central India was not the only aid proffered by the Bombay Presidency fur the supjiression of the mutiny. I have already alluded to the splendid self-abnegation by which the province of Sindh was denuded for the benefit of the Panjab. Again, the western Presidency was prompt to comply with the indent made upon it by Colonel G. St. P. Lawrence, the Governor-Genei al's agent in linjpiitana.* The greater part of the garrison of Disa, con- sisting of a troop of horse aitillery, one regiment and one sq^uadron of native light cavahy, a detachment (four hundred men) of the 83rd, and a detachment of the 12th Native Infantry, was formed into a movable column, Lord and placed at the disposal of George Lawrence, just piP.'es"!'^"* then nominated Brigadier- General in Eajpiitana. column at Lord Elphiustone was prompt to confirm this ofCoiiii^er arrangement — an arrangement wliich gave General Lawrence. Lawrence a power, exercised with remarkable ability and judgment, to maintain order in a country ruled over by the great Rajput chiefs, f Further, on the 23rd of July, four compinies of the 86th Regiment were sent from Maligaon to join Colonel Stuart's column on its way to Mau. Marching- direct by the Bombay road, they did not join till after that column had arrived at Mdu.
AVhilst Lord Elphinstone was thns actively employing a policy of aggressive defence alike to keep the evil from his own borders and to crush it in the provinces toms^f™^" beyond them, the spirit which had worked so much ^"'uf 'p*''® mischief in the north-west suddenly raised its head siaency. on his very liearth. The first symptoms of mutiny in the Bombay Presidency broke out shortlj^ afier the march of the columns whose movements I have just recorded.
The southern Maratha country comprises the territory between Satarah and the Madras Presidency to the Ti,g so„t!:em north and south, and between the Nizam's dominions Marathii and the western ghats to the east and west. It has '
an area of fourteen thousand square miles and a population of about three millions, for the most part of jjure j^g^^^j Maratlia blood. Within this country are the two
* Vol. m. page 170. t Vide pages 171 to 174, Vol. HI.
It LORD ELPHIXSTONE AND MR. FORJETT. [1857.
coUectorates, Belgaon and Dharwar, the native state Kolliapiir, anil numerous small semi-independent states, each
a;iJ native • ,-, i • • i i ^ •
sutes. With an annual revenue rising up to, but m no case
exceeding, fifty thousand pounds. In 1857 the principal of these Avere Sangli, Miraj, Savaniir, Kunuidwar, Jamkhandi, Nargiiud, and Miuihol.
Of this iin])ortant country the Collector and j\[agistrate of Belgaon, i\Ir. George Berkeley Seton-lvarr, had MrTaeJrge political charge. Mr. Seton-Karr possessed reniark- ^f lio'^y able natural abilities, and these had been develojied by an education Avhich had continued up to the date of which I am writing. He was a firm advocate for the rights of nativ^e princes, for continuing to them the power to adopt, for interfering as little as possible with their customs which, however little understood by Europeans, were harmless in themselves, and which were hallowed by the practice of ages. He was one of those men who, whilst possessed of a firm and decided character, yet preferred to try to their fullest extent the arts of persuasion before having recourse to intimi- dation or violence. The internal condition of the southern Maratha countiy when Mr. Seton-Karr assumed charge of it in May 1856, diuon^ofthe' j'^^^ twelve luouths prior to the revolt, was one of wmthera brooding discontent. The annexation by the couQtry. Government of India of Barar and of Oudh had been in the one case followed, in the other preceded, by an Act known as Act XI. of 1852, under the operation of which an Inam Commission was empowered to call Commlf^on. Upon all landed proprietors to produce the title-deeds of their estates. A new tribunal had, under this Act, been invested with arbitrary jurisdiction over this vast mass of pro})erty. The holders of estates, cxreless and improvi- dent, unacquainted with law, and accustomed to consider that thirty years' possession conferred an irrefragable title, liad failed in many instances to preserve the most valid muniments of their estates. In some cases, indeed, no muniments had ever existed. Chiefs who, in the anarchy which prevailed in India subsequent to the death of Aurangzib, had won their estates by the sword, had not been careful to fence them in with a paper barrier — in that age utterly valueless — but they had transmitted to their descendants the arms and the retainers who had constituted their right to possession, and with whose
I
1857.] THE INXm COMMISSION. 15
aid they had learned to consider lueio titles superfluous, as withoiit it they were contemptible. In other cases, men who had acquired land in the ojeneral scramble The manner which preceded the downfall of the Teshwd's |.o„Tmi=sion'" Government, had transmitted tlieir acquisitions airect.d many to their children, fortified by no better titles than and'iand-''^* entries in the village account-books. To both these owners, classes the Inaui Commission had been a com- mission simply of confiscation. In the southern Manitha country the titles of thirty-five thousand estates, large and small, had been called for by the new tribunal. In twenty-one thousand cases that tribunal had pronounced sentences of con- fiscation. Thousands of other landowners, still unevicted, looked on in dismay, tremblingly awaiting the sentence which was to add their wail of distress and resentment to that of their impoverished neighbours.* Can it be wondered at, then, that Mr. Seton-Karr, when he assumed charge under these circumstances in May 1856, found the native Juteal'^' landowners of the Southern Maratha country in a state of moody discontent, which was prevented from bursting into open disaflfection only by a sense of the utter hopelessness of success ?
But another cause increased, even intensified, the discontent, and, by its connection with the religious feelings of all classes, added greatly to the danger of the situa- adoption,'" tion. Of all the rights devolving upon a Hindu landowner, the right to adopt is at once the most cherished and
• la wi'iting thus of the feelings of the actual landowners, I am far from desiring to say a single word against the inquiries instituted by the Imim Commission. I wish to record only the discontent of the men who actually possessed the land when the inquiry was ordered. I admit not only that the Government was perfectly justified in ordering that inquiry, but that it was demanded by thousands who had been violently and, in some cases, fraudulently dispossessed of their hereditary acres during the period antecedent to the fall of the Peshwa. The Inam Commission rendered substantial justice to these men. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that forty years had elapsed since the dominions of the Peshwa had been brought under British sway, and that during those years, and, in many cases, during many antecedent years, the landowners who felt aggrieved by the action of the Inam Commission had enjoyed anl transmitted to their children the estates which their fathers had gained. The long possession gave them in their eyes a better right than any which could be urged by the descendants of the men who had been dispossessed. No wonder, then, from their point of view, the Inam Commission was an instrument of tyranny.
IG LOED ELPHINSTOXE AND MR. FORJETT. [1S57.
the most sacred. It is an observance enjoined upon Liin by his religion. Should he fail to beget a child, he is bound to provide for himself an heir by adoption. On the child so adopted he bestows all the care and the affection ordinarily lavished on the offspring of love. Taught by his rite nf cessary religion to bclieve tbat his own happiness in the fortiie other world depends upon the transmission to the
adopted son of the inheritance of his fathers, he is ever careful to instil into his mind that he actually is of the family, and will be, after his death, the representative of its traditions and its honours. The idea that he might die heirless is to the Hindu landowner not blessed with offspring an ever- present canker-worm. It is sufficient to make him moody, de- spairing, miserable. The prohibition to find for himself such an heir might even make him reckless.
But the Anglo-Indian Government had, in many instances, Tiie policy pronounccd such a prohibition. The policy of ofi.oraDai- absorption adopted by Lord Dalhousie had shown °"*"^ no resj^ect for the principle of adoption. Under
its action large states had been absorbed, and the power to adopt had been denied to lesser landowners. This exercisl'^of refusal had been extended to the landowners of the this rite to soutliem Mardtha countiy — amongst others, to the tila chiJefs.' " important chief of Nargiind. The prohibition pro- duced consternation. The effeminate early training of the Hindu uj)per classes often rendered it absolutely necessary to employ the rite of adoption to prevent the extinction of a family. The custom had been hallowed by time. The pro- hibition of it by a paramount power, alien in race and faith, could be attributed only to greed for the land. When, then, the prohibition was extended, and the landowners saw family after family disappear, a great fear fell upon them. They felt, one and all, that their turn would come ; that their names, too, wcmld perish ; that none would succeed to com- EfTect pro- memoratc their deeds and the deeds of their ancestors,
dui.ed by this , , . , i i i , •
refusal. and to appease their manes by yearly celebrations.
In the common de^^pair old feuds were laid aside, hereditary enmity was forgotten. A common dread produced a common sympathy, and the indignation or alarm of each was supported and increased by the sense that it was shared by all. For the moment, indeed, the aggrieved landowners had no thought to combine against the British Government. But
1857.] DISCONTEXT OF THE LANDUOLDERS. 17
fhongh' tranquillity "prevailctl, it was not the tranqnillity wliidi is based upon contontmont. The landowners were tranquil simply because successful revolt seemed impossible. The British authority seemed too firmly fixed to bo easily shaken. But, were it to be shaken, it was always possible, considering the intense and widespread discontent of the landowners, thnt their hopeless apathy might become the audacity of despair.
Such was the state of the southern Muratha country when, in May, 1856, Mr. Seton-Karr assumed charge of it. But a few weeks elapsed l)efoi-e his experienced gouthefn"'* mind had mastered the causes of the discontent JWarathii which he found everywhere prevailing. It was May^^Tsse. difficult, even for a man wlio condemned the policy of the Government and who symjiathised with the native landowners, to alia}' it. He found, in fact, that in almost every instance the landowners had been grievously wronged. The influential chief of Nargund had been denied the rights of adoption in terms which — owing to the faultiness of the trans- lation of the original English — added insult to injury. Other landowners of ancient lineage, and possessing weight in the counhy, wore found by Mr, Seton-Karr e>tranged from their loyalty by the causes to which I have adverted — the Inam Commission and the withholding of the right of adoption — and plunged in moody mistrust of the Government. It was not in the power of i\lr. Seton-Karr to carry out the only act which would have restored confidence — to ^^- ^^^o^- moderate the action of the Inam Commission and powers, in re- to restore the right of adoption. Nor, conciliatory ^ect^^iiie and sympathising as Jie was, was he moie able to restricted; reconcile the native chiefs and landowners to the new order which had to them all the effects of a revolution. But all that an earnest and high-minded man could do he did. He visited every landowner. Their aifw^JJff individual characters he carefully studied. To fluenceto their complaints he listened with patience. He met discontemed. them generally with such explanations of the policy of the Government as might remove misapprehension as to its general intention ; whilst in cases of individual hardship — which he Avas powerless to remedy — he confidence'of endeavoured to soothe the sense of hardness and "^® '""'** injustice by kindly expressions of sympathy. In this way he wou their confidence. He made the landowners
VOL. v. " C
28 LORD ELFHIXSTOXE AND MR. FOEJETT. [1857.
feel that in the liighest official in the province they had a real friend. More it was impossible for him to effect. Eegard for the individual in no way obliterated resentment at the action of the Government. A sense of deep injury still continued to rankle in each breast.
Such was the state of affairs when, on the 21st of May, 1857,
the news of the mutiny at ^Iirath and Dehli reached
EiTertpro- Belffaon. The effect of this news, and of the worse
uUC^fl ID tll6 ^ •
Maratha tidings which continued to follow, upon the peoples
the"e?oU^at ^^ *^^ southcm Marutha country, was electric. The
Mirath. Muhammadans were at once aroused to an intense
pitch of excitement. The Hindus, on the oiher
hand, were far more reticent, and for some time concealed their
inner feelinj:s by an impassive exterior. British authority
seemed so firmly rooted in the countiy that they nesitated to
believe that it could be suddenly destroyed.
Mr. Seton-Karr w-as fully alive to the dangers of the crisis. The force at Belgaon consisted of one regiment of Mr^rn-'"* native infantry, the 29 ih, a weak battery of Euro- Karr-sdis- pean artillery, and the depot of the 64th Foot, inadequate.^ composed of about thirty men fit for duty, guarding upwards of four hundred women and children be- longing to that regiment. Exclusive of the artilleiy, not more than a hundred Europf^ans fit to carrj'- arms coiald be mustered in the place ; whilst between Belgaon and Puna and Sholapur there were more than two thousand native, and only a hundred and twenty European, sokliers. The defences of Belgaon con- sisted of a fort nearly a mile in circumference, the ramparts of which, unrepaired for years, presented breaches in several places. Ill a militaiy point of view the place was, in fact, un- tenable, but it had, nevertheless, to be regarded as the sole refuge for the European non-combatants, consisting of some fi.ve hundred including children. Belgaon was the i^Mer. head-quarters of the southern division of the army,
and Major-General Lester had arrived there on the 11th of May to assume that command. Mr. Seton-Karr at once placed himself in cOiiimunication with that officer, and, under Lis direction, such improvements as in so brief a time were practicable were made to the defences.
Anomi'sary During the week or two following, the unusual arrives from exaltation of the Muhammadans alone gave evi- wml" " dence of the effect produced by the bad news from
IS57.] INFLUENCE OF NAnI sIhIB, 10
the noi*tli--\vest. But in the early part of June Mr. Soton- Karr discovered that an emissary from that part of India had arrived some days before, and that ho had been in daily coinmunicatiou with the Muhammadan leaders. Prompt to act in the presence of real danger, as he was slow to nse violence Avhen the end could be accomplished by peaceable means, Mr. Seton-Karr caused this intruder to be arrested, arrested and confined. lie did not act one minute too soon. The Sipalus, many of them natives of Oudli, had for some days previous displayed an unaccustomed insolence. It had become hourly more and more evident that they sym- pathised witii the action of their brethren in the north, and that they would grasp at an opportunity to follow their example. In the ])roportion in which their insolence displayed itself did the peril of Mr. Setun-Karr's position increase. It was still further augmented by the action of Nana Sahib at Kanhpur towards the end of June. To understand this it is requisite only to remember that Nana Sahib claimed Relationship to be, and in the eyes or nis countrymen actually the s<iuihern was, the adopted heir of the last of the Peshwas ; citefs to and that some of the most important estates in the Nanit sahib. southern Maratha countiy — tlie estates of Sangli, of Jamlchandi, of IMiraj, and of Kiirandwar — were held by branches of the great Patwardhan family, the most illustrious of the dependants of the Peshwa. The fact that Nana Sahib was married to the first cousin of the chief of Sangli; that his most ac:ive lieutenant was that chiefs uncle; and that the chief himself, on the verge of his majority, had evinced a taste for low and intriguing associates, did not certainly lessen the danger of the position.
There were other chiefs whose discontent was hardly less formidable. Prominent amongst these w^ere the Desai of Nij)ani, a small fortress built on the tentoftiie' model of Bharatpiir, forty-five miles from Belgaon — If^f^ni"^ a chieftain who had lost a large portion of his estates under the operation of the Imim Commission, who was known to be disaffected, and whose disaffection would cut off communications with Bombay ; the Desaf of Jamboti — a chieftain whose family, settled for many generations ofj^^ijotj amongst the forests Avhich stretL'h onwards from the Ghats, had come to be regarded as the natural lords of the wild population of the jungles, and who, in his own person,
c 2
20 LORD ELPHINSTOXE AND MR. FORJETT. [1857
had been reduceii to penury "by the action of the same arbitrary tribunal. The temper of this chieftain had been soured by his misfur tunes. He had little to lose, everything to gain, by rebellion. It was in his power to draw after him a large portion of the jungle population, and by their means to sever the communications of the British with the sea. Kot less dangerous was the adopted son of the late Desai of Kittur. • , The retainers of this family, twenty-four years
^' previousl}', had crowned a rash insurrection by a gallant defence of their fort, only twenty-six miles from i3el"-aon, in the biege of which a political agent of that day had fallen. The last representative of the race was thea living as a pensioner upon the bounty of his father-in-law, commanding in his fallen state the sympathies of the whole Lingayat population. He, too, had nothing to lose, every- thing to hope, from rebellion. His father-in-law the Desai of Wantmuri, though a cautious and prudent man, Waumfiri. <3id not possess the strength of character to resist extraordinary pressure placed upon him by his co- religionists. Add to these the chief of Nargiind, connected with some of the most powerful families in the also of the southern Maratha country, and known to be Nargiind, thoroughly disaffected; add, moreover, Ihat the population, naturally turbulent and warlike, had retained the arms which had all but gained empire for the Marathas ; and the reader maj^ gather some idea S!n?^'^' «f tlie position which, difficult in May, became dangerous in the early part of June, and threatening as every day witnessed a closer appioach to the advent of July. For long Mr. Seton-Karr met the increasing danger from the resources suggested to him by his long experience, Mr. Seton- j^d by his thorough acquaintance witli native for"xtendea character. But as time went on, each post, biinging powers and y^\\i it intelligence of further outbreaks in the biiity. provinces of the north-west, that gentleman deemed
it at last his duty to bring the situation of the provinces under the eyes of the Government of Bombay. Ho did this on the 20th of June. Cognisant, however, of the great difficulties which Lord Elphinstone had to encounter, of the unselfish foresight which had induced that heroic man to denude his own Presidency that he might cruhli rebellion upon
1857.] SETON-KAER'S EXTENDED POWERS. 21
its borders, Mr. Seton-Karr did not ask for aid, material or other, lie merely asked that his own powers might be ex- tended. IIo asked, in fact, that the entire responsiljility of meeting and encountering the crisis might bo cast on him alone. It was a noble request ; especially noble at tliat crisis ; especially noble considering the resources at ^^'^^ f<'a"e8t his disposal — a native regiment in a state of veiled with, rebellion, a weak battery of artillery, about a hundred Europeans — to meet the rebellion which might occur at any moment. The request was complied with.
Free now to act, Mr. Seton-Karr developed his plan. The nse of force was out of the question. The only possible policy was conciliation. In carrying this out Mr. Seton- Karr enjoyed advantages which would have been h? gradiiaiiy
. *^ » . . Unfolds his
denied to numy men. During the year immediately piaM preceding the mutiny ho had carefully cultivated friendly relations with the chiefs. Over the minds of many he had acquired an extraordinary ascendancy. This ascendancy he now tested — and in the moht cases with the happiest results, \'aluablo information was placed at his disposal ; the inter- communication of the disaffected was prevented ; a vigilant watch upon their movements was secured. In this way, and by a show of confidence towards all, by impressing upon each chief the idea that his neighbour was ?hecuiifi-°^ loyal, and by the exj)ression of a confidence, really denceofthe felt, that the scare would soon pass away, leaving the British complete master of the situation, Mr. Seton-Karr succeeded in staving off the fatal day and in averting the dreaded explosion.
Difficulties, however, continued to increase. On the 31st of July the 27ih Native Infantry mutinied at Kolhapur, plundered the treasury, and, after murdering such Kuiwpu*! officers as fell in their way, set off for the Ghats. Kolhapur is sixty-five miles from Belgaon. Communications between the 27th Eegiment and the 29th at the latter jilace had been frequent. At Dharwar, w-f.hTespect forty-two miles from Belgaon in a direction opposite toBeigiion to that of Kolhapur, the 28th. Eegiment had been for some time on the very verge of revolt. Mr. Seton-Karr was thus occupying a position between one station where the garrison had just mutinied, and another the garrison of which was on the verge of mutiny — the troops at the central point
22 LOED ELPHINSTONE AND ME. FOEJETT. [1857.
"beino" also infected. It happened, IioweTcr, that the native
officer of the 29th — the regiment stationed at Belgaon — who was
the secret leader of the disaffected, one Thaknr Singh, was known
to Mr. Seton-KaiT. That gentleman at once, and
August. before the news of the mutiny at Kolhapur was
Mr. Seion- generally known at Belgaon, entered into communi-
Generai** cation regarding this native officer with General
Lesier adopt Lester. To arrest him might have precipitated a
veming'the^' Calamity. It was move easy to devise a pretext to
spread of removo him hononrahly from the station. Such a
BeigdoB, pretext "was soon found. Two companies of the
29th, that of Thakur Singh being one of them, were
ordered on command to Badami, a small town some ninety
miles distant, near the south-western frontier of the Nizam's
dominions. The two companies set out on the morning of the
2nd August, still ignorant of the mutiny at Kolhapiir. When
the tidings of that mutiny reached the sipahis left behind at
Belgaon they were too disconcerted bj'- the absence
IL^o'ed of their leader to act on the moment. The opportune
seizure and the condign punishment of an emissary
from Jamkhandi who had come to incite them to an immediate
outbreak, awed them into still longer inaction.
The danger, however, was by no means removed. Con- currently with the events I have just related, Mr. thrMuh^-**^ Seton-Karr discovered a plot of the Muhammadan madan p.pu- population of Belgdon. He soon found that this Bei'gLn conspiracy had its ramifications at Kohlapur, at Haidarabad, and at Puna, and that its outbreak was to be signalled by the seizure of Belgaon itself. The arrest of one of the chief conspirators at Buna seemed likely to pre- cipitate the outbreak. Mr. Seton-Karr, therefore, no soonei- received information of this event, than he secured i-biffledby the local leaders at Belgaon, all of whom he had Karr. '"^* Carefully watched. The evidence regarding some of these proved defective, and they were discharged. But the principal conspirator was convicted on the clearest evidence, and ho was blown from a gun in company Avith the cmiRsarj'^ from Jamkhandi just spoken of.
Three days before this execution — the 10th of August— a small detachment of European troops arrived to reassure the authorities at Belgaon. Another detachment went on to pro- duce^ a similar good effect in Dharwar. General Lester at
1857.] SUCCESS OF JIR. SETON-KAER'S ADMINISTRATION. 23
onco proceeded to repress the rising mutinous spirit of the 21)tli Native Infantry. Five men of that regiment were tried, one of tliem was condemned to death, ^.j'nforce!''' '"'^ the remainder "sverc transported for life. Taking tmnts advantage of the good cficct j^roduced by these General proceedings, AJr. Seton-Karr bciian the Avork of 'esierto
T -1 T • -IT- ' 1 n ■«-. -1 suppress the
aisarnnng the district, including the towns of Bel- iii-iee:ing in gaon and Shahpiir. On the 24th of August a further }';^'ivlv"r!"'' reinforcement arrived in the shape of a detach- ment of the 86t.h Foot. Its presence, combined with other pre- ciutionary measures he had taken, enabled Mr. Seton-Karr to steer his state bark through the great Muhammadan festival of the Muharram * without disturbance — and, for a time, the Europeans in the southern Maratha country felt that they could breathe freely.
Air. Seton-Karr had thus succeeded, by a combination of firmness and tact, the result of good judgment directing intimate acquaintance with the native Review of character, in guiding the territories committed to ti^e success if his charge through the most dangerous crisis of the Karr'smea- mutiny. Considering the previous discontent of the reason'^of thTt chiefs and landowners, the fact that he was supported success, by no force, that he had only his own energies upon which to rely, this result will ever be quoted as a marvellous instance of skilful management of men. It is not too much to say that a single false step would have produced the most fatal consequences. Not only would it have involved the southern Maratha country in revolt, but it would have kindled a flame which would have spread throughout the dominions of the Nizam. Had Mr. Seton-Karr diveiged, but for one day, from the line of vigilant forbearance which he had laid down as his policy ; had he hurried the ill-disposed into ojien in- surrection by any unguarded wore! of susj^icion or slight; or had he encouraged their designs by supineness, a great calamity would have been inevitable. Unhappily, sub- sequent events proved only too truly the truth of The truth of
,1 ■ , . \^T-[ • M . . 1 the argument
tins assertion. \\ hen in an evil moment, to be prov.d by related hereafter, the charge of political affairs was ^"^-equeut
~ A even 1 8.
removed from the hands of Mr. Seton-Karr to those
♦ The "Muharram" is the name of the first JIuhainmadan month, held sacred on account of the death of Ilnsain, son of Alt, who was killed by Yazid, near Kxi/d, in the pashalic of Baghdad.
24 LORD ELPHIXSTONE ^VXD MR. FORJETT. [1857.
of an officer distasteful, from liis previous connection with the Inaiu Commission, to the chiefs and hmdowners, one month did not elapse Lefuro the rebellion, no longer controlled by good management, began its cuurse with murder. All honour, then, to the wise and far-seeing officer who kept it within bounds when its outburst would have been far more dangerous.*
Before returning to Bombay, I must ask the reader to accompany me for a brief period to Kolhapur. The " '^" * state of this name, ruled over by the descemlants of Sivaji, had up to the year 1842 snffiiied from continuous dis- order and misrule. To such an extent had the evil proceeded, that in the year I have mentioned the British u<toi7.^'°'^^ Government was forced to interfere and to nominate a minister to introduce order and good goveixm mt. The eflfurts made in that direction by this enlightened nan, a Brahman named Daji Krishna Pandit, to deprive the corrupt partv in the state of their illicit gaius, provoked a rebellion. This rebellion having been suppressed, the British Government assumed the direct administration of the state during the minority of the Eajah. Within this period, which did not expire till 18(32, the forts of every description were dismantled, and the system of hereditary garrison was abolished ; the native
♦ The Goverument of BomLay was not insensible to Mr. Seton-Karr's great merits. On the lith of September, 1857, he was informed that " the Right Honourable the Governor in Council considers that in a conjunction of great anxiety and danger j'ou have displayed a calmness, an energy, and a foresight which" entitle jou to the thanks and commendations of Government." Again, " the judicious arrangements made by you have amply secured the future tranquillity of the southern Maratha country." These and other commenda- tions were repeated and confirmed by Lord Elphinstone in letters under his own hand, in which he alludes to " the marked ability and success " with which Mr. Seton-Karr had performed his duties. In his published minute on dis- tinguished serv'ices rendered during the mutiny. Lord Elphinstone placed Mr. Seton-Karr's name third on the list of those who had deserved well of their country. The honour was the more marked, because, as Lord Canning observed, every recommendation from Lord Elphinstone carried double weight from the fact, that out of the many who had rendered important services in western India he selected only a few names for mention. Yet, strange as it may appear, when bo many were decorated, Mr. Seton-Karr received neither honours nor reward. He returned to England towards the end of 18G0, his proud nature suffering from the unmerited slight which had been cast upon him. In less than two years he died, conscious that he had performed a great service which his coxmtry had failed to recognise.
1857.] MUTINY AT KOLHAPtJR. 25
military force was disbanded, and a local corps, officered by three English officers, was substituted for it. I'hese measures, especially those for the disarmament of thediswatent their forts and the disbandraent of their native force, °^^^f
, ,.. PI • TIT people.
thougli in View ot the many previous rebellions absolutely necessary, had been regarded with great disfavour by the higher orders in Kolhapur, and had tended not a little to the unpoi)ularity of the paramount power.
Stic-h Avas the state of affairs in the province when the mutiny broke out at Mirath. Hopes and wi.^hes similar to those which I have described as actuating the jur;uh° Muhammadan population of the Belgaon district, at ?-"'b!i^'^^ once took possession of the minds of their neighbours in Kolhapur. To a people accustomed to revolt, living on the miniuries of plunder and corruption, and hating orderly govern- ment, ttie occasion seemed singularly fixvourable. The town of Kolhapur is distant only sixty-five miles from Belgaon. It was garrisoned by one native regiment, the 27th, and by the looal corps raised on the disbandment of K^Iwpdn^ the native force. There were no European troops nearer than Belgaon, and it was impossible to spare any from that place. Satarah was eighty-one miles to the north, and Piina, whence European aid was alone possible, seventy-one miles further. The political superintendent of Kolhapur was Colonel Manghan. Major Eolland commanded the 27th Native Infantry, Captain Schneider the local corps.
I have already stated* that communications between the 27th Native Infantry at Kolhapur, the 29th at Belgaon, and the 28th at Dharwar, liad been frequent rfgime"u°ar during the months of June and July. Supported, as the various they were, secretly, by discontented chiefs, almost TOnmmnkate' openly by the disaffected Muhammadan populations, these three regiments had the game in their own hands. Con- certed and simultaneous action was only necessary to their success. Happily on this, as on so many occasions at this eventful period, the conspirators failed in this J'lt**"® ^'°' essential particular. It would seem that they pum. reckoned without the telegraph. Instead of deciding to rise on a settled date, they arranged that the example should be set by Kolhapur, and followed at once by Belgaon and
• Pages 21-2.
26 LORD ELPHINSTONE AND MR. FORJETT. [1857.
Dtarwar. The 27tli Native Infantry accordingly rose on tlie 31st of July at Kulhapiir. Bi;t for the telegraph the regiment at Belgaon would have received by express intelligence of the movement, and have followed the example. But the telegraph forestalled their express. And Mr. Seton-Karr, using his priority of news with judgment, averted^ as we have seen, the calamity from that place.
But the mutiny at Kolhapur was a realitj^ During the night of the 31st of July the 27th rose in arms and KoUiSpifr! detailed parties to attack their officers' bungalows. The native adjutant, a Jew, and a Hindu hawaldar ran to give warning only just in time to permit the ladies to escape from their houses before the Sipahis came up and poured volleys into them. Some of the officers nobly endeavoured to bring back the rebels to their duty, but their efforts were vain. The tieasury and the bazaar were plundered, and riot reigned supreme. Three officers who had escaped into the country were shot and thrown into the river. The lemainder took refuge in the Eesidency, about a mile from the cantonment, but near the lines of the Kolhapur local regiment, whi-ch happily re- mained loyal.*
The news of this disaster reached Bombay by telegraph.
Lord Elphinstonc acted with promptitude and
^^eTes'""" fl^cision. It happened that Colonel G. Le Grand
patches Le Jacob, a man of the old heroic type, ready in
toToiWpfir. council, prompt and decisive in action, had but just
Characu-rof returned to Bombay from a command in the Persian
jacob!*"'^ campaign. He was about to start for Puna under
the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, when the
telegram from Kolhapur was placed in the hands of the Governor.
Lord Elphinstone at once sent for Jacob ; told him
6iven°tohim. all that had occurred at Kolhapur ; that he would
receive orders from the Commander-in-Chief to take
command of the troops in that quarter. He added that ho was
well aware that there were no troops to be depended upon,
except perhaps the local regiments ; but that he would receive
special powers, and was to do the best he could.*
♦ Western India before and during the Mutinies, by Major-Gcneral Sir George Le Grand Jacob, K.C.S.I., C.B.
t The final orders to Colonel Jacob were not issued till the following day, as Lord Elphinstone wished, before their issue, to receive a reply to a telegram he had sent to Kolhapur. As no reply came, the orders were at once issued.
1857.] JACOB SENT TO QUELL THE MUTINY. 27
Colonel Jacob set out at once, saw the Commander-in-Chief at Puna, pushed on then to Satarah, and found there a troop of horse artillery and dragoons. The out!*^*'** rainy season was at its height, the track between Satarah an I Kolhapur was composed of the black soil in which, during the monsoon, horses not unfrequently sank up to their girtlis, and wheels to their axles; there were several rivers and streams unbridgeil and unfordable. Still, of difflcuiaes time was everything. Colonel Jacob then pushed on two guns with double allowance of men and horses, and riding forward himself with a few men of the Southern iMaratha Horse, a loyal and cap;iblo regiment, reached Kolhapiir on the 14th of August, just before midnight.
How, meanwhile, had matters been progressing in Kolhapur? There, according to all probabilities, there would have been little to check the victorious prooiress of rr\'^.''?^,
1 111 mi 1 il- Ti 1 ^ Jvi^lmpur.
the rebels! 1 hanks to their delays and to the Themuti- prompt action of Colonel Maughan, it had happened m"nwhiie otherwise. The Sii^ahis, greedy of plunder, went iipcn checked first to jnllage the treasury and sack the station. MaughalK' Then, and then only, did they make their way to the town, fully expecting to find its gates open. But Colonel Maughan had closed those -gates. The Sipahis, not caring to attempt to force them, took up a lather formidable positinn outside, close to the gates, in a small outwork where the Kajah's hoises and menagerie were kept. Here they maintained their position all night, repulsing Colonel Maughan in an attempt made by him to dislodge them.
It would seem that from this time the greater part of the regiment returned to its allegiance. This movement was probably hastened by the knowledge, brought fo^tueirduty; to the Sipahis by some of their still recalcitrant comrades, that the passes to the coast had been occujiied by Etiropeans landed on the coast by the splendid exertions of the Indian Navy. This is certain, that the recalcitrant Sipahis were checked in this way; that the greater number betook
' They M-ere," writes Sir G. Le G. Jacob, " brief and satisfactory. ' I am aware,' said Lord Elphinstone, 'that in a crisis like this, a person on the spot ought to be the best judge of any action that might be at once necessary ; to wait for orders may allow events to become too strong to master. I have confidence in your judgment ; do your best to meet the present emergency, and rely on my full support.'" — Western India, by Sir G. Le Jacob.
28 LOED ELPHINSTONE AND MR. FOEJETT. [1857.
themselves to the jungles ; whilst the minority, about forty in
number, returning to Kolhapur, reoocupied the outwork close to
the town. But the garrison of the towT\ had in the meantime
been reinforced. Lieutenant Kerr, of the Southern Maratha
Horse, had marched a detachment of that regiment from
Satarah — a distance of eighty-one miles — without a halt. The
rebels were at once attacked, on the 10th of August, in their
outwork, some of their own comrades joining in the
Salter are attack. They made a desperate defence— but, a
attacked and gccret entrance to the outwork having been pointed
'^'""^ out to Lieutenant Kerr, that gallant officer dashed
in, followed by horsemen whom he had caused to dismount, and
fought his way to the interior of the building. At the same
time. Lieutenant Innes, with a party of the 27th, took the
rebels in the rear. These two attacks decided the aftair ; but so
despeiate had been the defence, that of the forty rebels three
only escaped wounds or death.*
AVhen, then. Colonel Le G. Jacob reached Kolhapur, he found that the mutiny had been quelled. Some forty of the most rebellious men of the 27th Native Infantry had been killed in fair fight; a larger number was in the jungles; but still the great bulk of the regiment was doing its duty, and there was no evidence against any man of it.
Three days after his arrival, Colonel Jacob was reinforced by
the two horse-ariillery guns he had sent on from
TO^^e^todk- Satarah, and about a hundred men of the 2nd
arm the 27th Europeans from the coast — the same who had bo
inilntry. Opportunely occnpied the passes. With so small a
force at his disposal, he felt it would be impossible
to act against the insurgents unless he should decide, before
acting, to disarm the regiment whose conduct had been so
suspicious. On the one hand was the danger of his being
attacked before his force should gather further strength, or of
the mutineers marching away with their ai ms ; on tlie other,
the chance of the men who were still loyal, those of the local
corps especially, yielding to the temptation to join their
countrymen. It was a balance of risks and probabilities.
Many jiiQn would have preferred to wait. But Jacob was, as I
have said, a man of the old heroic type, and, feeling the
* Jacob's Wtdern India. Lieutenant Rerr received the Victoria Cross for his conduct on this occasion.
1S57.I JABOB DISAR5IS THE MUTINEERS. 29
importance of etrikinf; tho first blow, he determined to disarm the men of the 27th Native Infantry.
He disarmed them on the morning of the 18th of August. Under his orders were twenty-five European gunners, with two guns and two howitzers; ninety men of theu^*^'^'"^ the 2nd Europeans ; one hundred and eighty men of the Southern Maratha Horse ; and three hundi'ed and fifty men of the local corps. These were drawn up in a manner to command any movement tending to resistance on the part of tho rehels.
But they made no resistance. They piled their arms in silence. The investigation which follo\\'ed brought to light many hidden springs of the movement. It had Remarks on been intended, it was discovered, to delay the Ulepr.^^*'' mutiny till the 10th of August; but the action of action of the the Jew native adjutant on the 31st of July, in tiM"ritre^and sending away his family, aroused suspicion, and offi'-ers. prompted a sudden and ill-matured rising. This (tremature movement ruined the plot. Acting hurriedly and without concert with their brethren at Belgaon and Dharwar, the mutineers acted without plan or settled purpose. It required, then, only euergy to baffle them, and that energy was conspicuous in the conduct, of all the European oflBcers con- cerned, in the conduct alike of Lord Elphinstone at Bombay, of Maughan, of Kerr, of Inues, in defence and attack, and of Colonel Jacob in striking the decisive blow.
I ask the reader to return with me now to Bombay. Until the approach of the great Muhammadan festival of the Muharram there had been no apprehensions of Bombay. an outbreak in that city. The Superintendent of Police, Mr. Forjett, a gentleman who, born and bred in India, knew the natives thoroughly, had deemed it sufficient, when the news of the massacre of Kiinhpiir reached Bombaj', to obtain permission to incorporate into firce'tilere. the police a body of fifty mounted Europeans. He reasoned justly that, as the Muliammadan population of the city exceeded a hundred and fifty thousand, it would be folly to trust implicitly to the fiJelity of the native police.
It may be fitting to describe here the officers to whom wms entrusted the direction of the civil and military forces, upon whose conduct depended the safety of the importont town of Bombay at this critical juncture.
30 LOKD ELPHINSTONE AND MR. FORJETT. [1857.
Tlie commander of the military forces was Brigadier-General Shortt of the Bombay army. General Sliortt was Shorit an officer ofcapacity and intelligence. He thoroughly
understood the native soldier. He was quick to decide on an emergency and prompt to carry his decision into execution. In a Avord, he was an officer thoroughly to be depended upon in danger, a tower of strength to the Govern- ment in the crisis which was then impending.
The Superintendent of Police, Mr. C. Forjett, was * one of
„ T^ . ., the most remarkable men brought to the front by
the events of 1857. I have already htated that he
was born and bred in India. Wlien the mutiny broke out, he
was in the very prime of manhood. He was so
quireiMnr^' thoroughly acquainted with all the dialects of all
the languages of western and southern India, that it
was easy for him to pass himself off as a native upon the most
astute of natives. Mr. Forjett gave an extraordinary proof of
this talent immediately prior to his nomination to
Sdgmtur'^ the office of Superintendent of Police. He had
gained so great a reputation for ability, tact, and
judgment in the performance of his duties in the southern
Maratha countr}', that in 1855 Lord Elphinstone
Lordliiphli^ Sent for him to offer him the chief superintendence
fctoiie wheu of the police in Bombay. Mr. Forjett came to the
office of Su- Presidency, saw Lord Elphinstone, and received the
'^f p"ff"'^''"*' offer. He at once expressed his willingness to
accept it, but requested that Lord El[)hiustone
would defer the nomination for a fortnight, so as to give him
time to find out for himself the true character of the men he
had been summoned to command. The request was at once
granted. Mi\ Forjett then disguised himself as a na'ive and
went to places haunted by the police, passing himself off as the
son of a subahdar in search of a girl whom he loved. He so
completely deceived the natives that men of the highest casto
invited him to eat with them. He found out the
sir. ForjetfB character, the secret longings, of the natives, who,
on'u!e"pI(iice. in a few days would be his instruments. Nor did
he neglect the European police. His experience
with some of them was remarkable. Of those whom he tested
♦ I am happy to add that the imperfect tense is used only historically. Mr. Forjett still lives in the vigour of healthy life.
1857.] ME. FORJETT. 31.
not one refused the bribe he offered. At the end of the fort- night he presented himself to Lord Elphinstone, and took up the office. I leave the reader to imagine the con- sternation of his native subordinates when they theoffi^*'* learned who it was whom they had now to serve.
But quickness, cleverness at disguise, reailiness of resource, represented but a small part of Mr. Forjett's qualities. Small in person, endowed, according to Hisoth^rre- all appearance, with no great strength, he united the qualities; cool courage of a practised warrior to remarkable powers of endurance. The couroge was not merely the physical courage which despises danger; it was that, and much more. It was a courage set into action by a tiui "oura^ge ; brain cool and clear — so cool and so clear that there never was a crisis which could blind it, never a danger which it was unable to parry. I venture to describe it as the highest form of intellectual courage.
I have spoken of his powers of endurance. These were often tested in the southern Maratlui country prior to 1855. If to ride a hundred miles a day, on dis- endur'aiKe "^ mounting to partake of a rude meal of the natural products of the countr}^ and then to lie on the ground, with a bundle of grass for a pillow., in the morning to wash in the stream or in the water drawn from the well, and pursue a similar journey in a similar manner, if to do this day after day be a test of endurance, then Mr. character. Forjett may claim to be a passed master in the art. If, to the qualities I have recorded, I add an uj^r ght mind, a lofty sense of honour, a devotion to dut}^, I present to the reader an accurate portrait of the Superintendent of Police of Bombay.
During the two years which had elapsed between his assumption of that otfice and the outbreak of the mutiny, Mr. Forjett had gained the complete Lonmphin- confidence and esteem of Lord Eli^hinstone. Those st'ne'sen- who knew that high-minded nobleman are awaie dence°° ' that he never bestowed his trust until he had assured himself by experience that the recipient was full}' worthy of it.
There being thus two men so capable and in all respects so well qualified at the head of the departments regulating order, it would seem that the repressal of disturbance in Bombay would be easy. But there were two causes which
32 LORD ELPHINSTOXE AND MR. FORJETT. [1857.
militated against sucli a conclusion. The first was the great
disparity between the numbers of European and
Difference of native troops. Whilst there were three native regi-
twwnGf- ments, the 10th and 11th Native Infantry and the
"nd'^fr""^^* Marine Battalion, of the former there were but four
Forjett.' hundred men. The other cause affected the concert
between the heads of the two departments. General
Shortt believed in the loyalty of his Sipahis but mistrusted the
native police. Mr. Forjett was confident that he could do what
he would with the police, but mistrusted the Sipahis. To use
his own words, Mr. Forjett regarded the Sipahis as " the only
source of danger."
The festival of the Muharram was a festival of a character
the most dangerous of all. It was a religious
Th^Muiiar- festival, lasting many days, the excitement of which
ram f-^stivai increased with each day. Lord Elphinstone had
at Bombay, confided to General Shortt the arrangements for
preventing disturbance during the whole of the time it lasted.
Granted one premiss — that the Sipahis were absolutely loyal —
those arrangements were perfect. Mr. Forjett, when informed
of them, declined, without pledging himself to the
General contrary, to admit this premiss, and he informed
rangements. Lord Elphinstone of his doubts. Lord Elphinstone
replied that he was sorry he had not known of his
objections before, but that it was now too late to alter them.
I may here state that the arrangements made by General
Shortt involved the division into very small bodies of the
European force under the orders of Mr. Forjett. The reply
made by that gentleman to Lord Elphinstone's remark just
referred to is eminently characteristic. He intimated that he
should, at all events, be obliged to disobey the orders
terview^wuh of Government with respect to the police arrange-
LordKipbiu- mcnts, bccauso it was necessary for him to have
them in hand in the event of a Sipjihi outbreak. " It
is a very risky thing," replied Lord Elphinstone,* " to disobey
orders, but I am sure you will do nothing rash." Mr. Forjett
construed this tacit permission in the sense in which it was
doubtless intended.
• " llajjpy was it for Bombay, happy for western India, and happy probably for India itself," wrote Mr. Forjett, reviewing at a later period these events, ♦'that one so noble and clear-headed as Lord Elphinstone was Governor of Bombay during the period of the mutiny."
1857.]
THE MUHAKRAM.
33
The Inst night but one of th? Mu- harram.
A Christ i.m lirumnier iii- gr.lis the Hindus. The police take him into custody.
Five (lays of the festival passed witlioiit disorder. The next niglit -would see its conclusion. On the eve of tliat night an incident, accidental in its cause, almost produced an outbreak. A Cliristian drummer belonging to the 10th Regiment Native Infantry, whilst in a state of intoxication, insulted the carriers of a Hindu divinity Avhich was being carried in procession by some townspeople, and knocked over the divinity. Two policemen, who witnessed the outrage, took the drummer into custody. It happened that the Sipahis of the native regiments were possessed by an inner conviction that their loyalty was doubted by Forjett, and they replied to the feeling they thus imputed to him with one of hatred to himself and his sub- ordinates. When, then, the men of the lOth heard that one of their comrades, all<eit a Christian, caught in the act of ottering an insult to a Hindu divinity, had been taken into custody by the police, some twenty of them turned out, broke .
into the lock-up, rescued the drummer, assaulted tai<e tiie''p;ut the policemen, and marched them off as prisoners to of thedrum- their lines. The European constable of the section at once proceeded with four native policemen to the lines, and demanded the liberation of their comrades. The demand Avas not only refused, but the new-comers were assaulted by the Sipahis, and, after a conflict in which two of the assailants were left for dead, and others were Avounded, they were forced to retire. The excite- ment in the Sipahi lines, increasing every moment, received a further impetus from this retirement, and the Sipahis began to turn out in such numbers that a messenger was sent at full speed to ]\Ir. Forjett,^ Forjett is with the information that the native regiments had ^™' ^°^- broken out.
This was the one danger which Mr. Forjett had all along dreaded, and against which he had taken eveiy precaution possible xmder the circumstances, already noted, of his limited sphere of action. He had, that is to say, disobeyed orders, and massed his European policemen. On receiving the news that the Sipahis had broken out, Mr. Forjett ordered the European police to follow liim as soon as possible, and galloped down to their lines at so great a speed as to outstrip all his attendants. He found the
VOL. V D
The police
try to rescue their com- rades, but fail.
Forjett ar- rives alone.
34 LOED ELPIIIXSTOXE AND ME. FOEJETT. [1857.
Sipahis iu a state of tumult, endeavouring to force their way
out of the lines, their European officers, with drawn swoids,
keeping them back. The sight of Mr. Forjett
Fury of the inflamed the Sipah s still more. They called out
»eerng"htm. loudly that this was the man who had wished them
all to be killed, while the European officers, seeing
how the presence of Mr. Forjett excited their men, begged him
in earnest language to go away. The fate of
The European Bombay at that moment hung upon the conduct, at
I'.fm'i'o retfre. this Critical conjuncture, of Mr. Forjett. Such are
Asiatics, that had that gentleman obej-ed the calls
of the officers, the Sipahis would have burst the bonds of
discipline and dashed forward to pursue him. lie was there,
alone, seated on his horse, calmly daring them. His knowledge
of natives made him feel that so long as he should remain there,
facino" and defying them, they would not move, but that a
retrograde movement on his part would be the signal for a real
outbreak. In reply, then, to the shouts of the officers and men
of the native regiments, Mr. Forjett called out to the
, fQj.jjjgj.^ « If your men are bent on mischief, the
sooner it is over the better," and remained facing them. Two
minutes later his assistant, Mr. Edington, galloped up, followed
very shortly by fifty-five European policemen — the men he had
kept massed in case of a disturbance. Then Mr. Forjett acted.
Forming up and halting his men, he called oitt,
and cmshps u Throw Open the gates ; 1 am ready for the Sipahis."
muUny.^" ° Again was displayed that complete acquaintance
with the Asiatic character which was one of the
secrets of Mr. Forjett's power. The excitement of the Sipahis
subsided as if by magic and they fell back within thtir lines.
Kever had a nobler deed been more nobly done !
The tide now turned. The evil-disposed amongst the Sipahis
. — and that many were evil-disposed subsequent
V"^ ^timTks revelations fully proved — were completely cowed.
u> .Mr. For- Nevertheless, Mr. Forjett relaxed not one of his
Iver.^'''^^'^ exertions. The Muharram was not yet a thing of
the past, and it was clear that an accident might
yet kindle the mine. One night still remained, and Mr. Forjett,
far from relaxing his precautions, bent himself to increase
them. He so posted his police that the smallest movement
upon the j art of the Sipahis would at once become known to the
main body of his Europeans, forty-tight in number, located at
1857.] A NEW CONSPIRACY. 35
a decisive point. His precautions were not only successful, they were the cause of 6ucce.'?s. To borrow the language, subsequently revealed, of the baffled conspirators, "it was the vigilance maintained that prevented the outbreak." The vigilance was the vigilance of the police personally directed by Mr. Forjett.*
I have already stated that, thanks to the precautions taken and to Mr. Forjett's energetic action, the festival of the Muharram had passed off quietly. The discontented men amongst the Sipahis still, however, cherished the hope that another opportunity more favourable to the execution of their projects would soon arise. The Hindu festival of the Duali, occurring towards the end of October, seemed to them to oflfer such an opportunity. During this festival the Hindus of the iipper and wealthier classes are TheSipShis
iini- 11- e Hatch a new
accustomed to collect all their wealth m one room ot conspiracy,* their dwelling, and, assembling, to worsliip it. The discontented Sipahis resolved, in many a secret council, to break out during the Diialf, to pill-ige Bombay, killing all who should oppose them, and then to uiarch out of the island. Had this
* Mr. Forjett's great services were not left unacknowledged. On the 19tb of June, 1858, Lord Elpliinstone thus "recorded his sense of their value: — " The Right Honourable the Governor in Council cannot too highly praise the devoted zeal of this excellent public servant, upon whom such grave responsi- bilities were imposed during last vear." Referring to ilr. Forjett's ■' very valuable sers'ices" in the detection of the plot in Bombay in 1857, the same high authority thus wrote : — " His duties demanded great courage, great acute- ness, and gi^cat judgment, all of which qualities were conspicuously displayed by Mr. Forjett at that trying period."
All classes combined to testify to the great services rendered on this occasion by Mr. Forjett. Couched in vaiying phraseology, every letter received from the members of the European community indicates that, in the opinion of the several writers, it was the vigilance of Mr. Forjett which saved Bombay.
I may add here that, for his services in the mutiny, the European and native communities in Bombay presented Mr. Forjett with addresses, and, with the sanction of the Government, with testimonials and pm-ses to the value of three thousand eight hundred and fifty poimds. It was still more gratifying to hun that, after he had left the service and quitted India, the native cotton merchants sent him a handsome address and a pm-se of fifteen hundred pounds, '• in token of strong gratitude for one whose almost despotic powers and zealous energy had so quelled the explosive forces of native society, that they seem to have become permanently subdued." In addition, and likewise after he left India, the shareholders of a company, mainly composed of natives, presented Mr. Forjett with shares, which they subsequently sold on his accoimt, for thirteen thousand five himdred and eighty pounds
V 2
36 LORD ELPHINSTONE AND MR. FORJETT. [I{y57.
plan been carried ont, it is nearly certain that the contagion would have spread all over the Presidency, and have even reached Madras.
But again had the mutineers to reckon with Mr. Forjett That gentleman was informed by a detective that suspicious meetings were being held by disaifected Sipahis at the house of one Ganga Parshad. Attempts to introduce a con- whichisdis- fidential agent of the police into those meetings covered by having been baffled by the precautions of the orjet, gip^iiis^ ;^Xr. Forjett had Ganga Parshad conveyed to the police-office during the night, and obtained from him a complete revelation. Fertile in disguises, Mr. Forjett subse- quently became an eye-witness — by means of holes made in the wall which separated the chamber where the conspirators assembled from tlie ante-room — of the proceedings of the Sipahis, a listener to their conversation. More than that, aware of the feeling prevailing amongst the officers regarcl- byhim"to ing himsclf, he induced Major Barrow, the officer ^iw*"^^^* commanding the Marine battalion, to accompany him, on four different occasions, to the meetings.* The information there obtained was duly reported to General Shortt by Major Barrow, and to Lord Elphinstone, through his private secretary, by Mr. Forjett. Courts-martial mean^'tbe "wcro in due couvse convened. Tlie proceedings conspiracy is resulted in sentences of death being passed and tbe'bud!" executed on two, of transportation for life on six, native soldiers of various ranks. But the projected mutiny was nipped in the bud.
"With the story of the measures taken for the safety of
Bombay closes the general sketch of events in the
Recapituia- westcm Presidency up to the close of 1857. "We
tion of events have sccn how, displaying at once a rare foresight
cm aj. ^^^ ^ remarkable self-reliance. Lord Elphinstone
had denuded his own Presidency of European troops in order
to crush the mutiny beyond its borders. No man in higli
position recognised more truly, and applied more conscientiously,
* " Major Barrows astonishment when he saw some of his own men in Gangii Parshad's house was remarkable. He exclaimed, ' My God, my own men ! Is it possible ? ' And his memorable words to me at the court-martial were : ' It is well I was present and saw and heard them myself, but for which I should have been here, not as a witness for the prosecution, but as one for the defence ; luch teas my confidence in these men.' " — Forjett's Our Itml Danrjcr in India.
1857.] PLANS OF LORD ELPHINSTONE. 37
the maxim that the art of war consists in concentrating the greatest number of troops on the decisive point of the action. Now, the decisive point of the action in the earl}' days of the revolt of 1857, was not in Bombay. To s^u'^-sfPrl"" Lord Elphiustone it was clear that Dehli could only thought, be reached from Bengal, and that it was just possible ^rdecu^on!' he might save central India and Kajpiitaua. AVhilst, then, he sent every available European soldier to Calcutta, he formed, from the small remnant which was left, a number in reality not sufficient for his own needs — one column which should march on Mau, another which should restore order in Eajputami. Feeling that amidst the many dangers which threatened him the most fatal was that which would come from without, he sent to meet and to crush it before it should penetrate within. His defence of Bombay was an aggressive defence. It was a policy requiring rare ^'^ plan of cuurage, immense confidence in his own judgment, defence^* and great resolution. In carrying it out he exposed himself to the danger, only one degree less, of a rising within the Presielency. How nearly that was occurring I have shown in these pages. The southern Maratha country was saved, in 1857, partly by the prudence and the judgment .. displayed by Mr. G. B. Seton-Karr, aided by the icarr. energy of General Lester, partly by the bungling General and want of concert of the conspirators. How ^^^^'^' Bombay was saved I have just told. The reader will have seen that the danger was real, the peril imminent, that but for the unlimited confidence placed by Lord Elphinstone in « v ^ t Mr. Forjett — a man of his own selection — it might have culminated in disaster. That he dared that risk to avert a greater danger is one of the many proofs of Lord Elphin stone's capacity. Sufficient credit has never been given to him for his noble, his far-seeing, his self-denying policy. In the presence of the massacres of Kanhpur and of Jhansi, of the defence of Lakhnao, and of the siege of Dehli, the attitude of Lord Elphinstone, less sensational though not less The attitude heroic, has been overlooked. Had there been an phl^g^ne'" uprising attended with slaughter in Bombay, the has never yet story of its repression and the deeds of valour duemeed'of attending that repression would have circulated praise, throughout the world. Instead of that, we see only calm judgment and self-reliance meeting one danger and defying
38 LORD ELPHINSTONE AND MR. FORJETT. [1857.
another, carefully selecting tlie most experienced instruments, and by their aid preventing a calamity so threatening that, if it had been met by men less tried and less worthy of confidence, it must have culminated in disaster. It is an attitude which gains from being contemplated, which impresses the student of history, in an ever-increasing degree, with admiration of the noble character of the man whose calm trust in himself made possible the success of the policy ho alone inaugurated.
1S57.1 CENTRAL INDIA AND DUE AND. 39
CHAPTER II.
CENinAL INDIA AND DURAND.
AsIrgarh is a very famous fortress in the Niniar district of the Central Provinces, lying two hundred and ninety miles to the north-east of Bombay, one hundred and "^""^ ' fifty miles from Maligaon, and ninety-nine miles to the south -oast of Man. It is built on an isolated hill, detached from the Satpiira range dividing the valley of the Taptf from that of the Narbada. It has a history which has sent its name through the length and breadth of India. Alike in the times of the Hindu, of the Muhammadan, and of the British overlordship, it has been con- sidered a place worth fighting for. After many changes of masters, it surrendered, on the 9th of April, 1819, after a vigorous resistance, to a British force commanded by Brigadier- General Doveton, and it has, ever- since, remained in the occupation of a British garrison.
In 1857 that garrison consisted of a wing of the 6th Eegiment Gwaliar Contingent, lent by the Bengal Presidency to replace the liith Bombay Native Infantry, ordered AsSarh.''^ on service to Persia, but which never embarked for that country. The commanding officer of the garrison was Colonel Le Mesnrier, and the Fort Adjutant was Lieutenant John Gordon of the 19th Bombay Native Infantry.
The hill on the summit of which Asirgarh is perched rises abruptly to about five hundred feet above the jungle. Below it is a town of no real importance, inhabited fbe^fon."**^ by villagers mainly engaged in tending their flocks.
The men who formed the garrison of Asirgarh belonged to a contingent which speedily asserted its right to a prominent place amongst the mutineers. The events "^^^ ™^° °^ at Nimach and at Gwaliar speedily convinced the pent evince European residents at Asirgarh that their guardians ^vmp*o"« wate not to be trusted. Even before this discovery
40 CENTRAL INDIA AND DURAND. [1857.
had been made, the fort adjutant, distrusting their demeanour,
had enlisted some ninety men frum the villagers of the town,
and ha<l charged them with the task of watching the behaviour
of the Slpahis. These men are known as Gordon's Volunteers.
On the null of June the Eumpeans of the garrison heard of
the mutinies at Nimach and Nasinibud. From that
nadnewx (]{iy almost every post brought them distre.'-sful
'^^w^ul tidings. Every precaution was taken by Li(Mi tenant
Gordon. To relieve the fort, by fair means, of a
portion of its real enemies, one company of the regiment was
detached to I'lurhaiiinir, twelve miles distant. The
who»H)done anxictics of the ladies of the garrison were lessened
BuXnpir" al)out thc samc time by the intelligence, verified by
a personal visit made by Ijieutenant Gordon, that
Captain Keatinge,* the jjolitical agent for that i)art of the
country, had fortified a position fourteen miles distant from
Asirgarh.
From this time till the end of July good and bad news
succeeded each other with great rapidity. At times the
Europeans were in great danger. The company
''''T." f«ent to lUirhanpiir mutinied, marched on Asirgarh,
and was only prevented from entering it by the
hawaldar-major of the regiment, whoso loyalty had been
appt'aleil to, not in vain, by Lieutenant Gordon.
The following morning the four remaining companies obeyed, .-^ not without murmuring, the order given to them to
mall <i<T »re niarch out and encamp below the fort, their places diMnnci. ^vitliin being taken by (Jordon's Volunteers. The next day a party of I'liil infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Birch. 8uri)rised and disarmed the rmrhunpiir mutineers, and carried their arms into Asirgarh. A few houi-s later that place was reinforced by two comi)anies of the I'Jth Native Infuitry under Captain IJlair. The disarming of the (Jwiiliar men out- side the fort — a work performed admirably and without blo<.»«l- shed l>5' i'aptain Blair and Lieutenant Gordon— completed the neccssiiry measures to ensure the hafety of the fortress j>onding the arrival of (^olonel Stuart's column.
Tluit column, the earlier niovomcnts of which
Arrtral of
Amrai oi i....~ V, , ' - --
sturt't I liavo recorded in the ])rece<ling chapter, quitted
ofiC^i^ Aurangiibad for Asirgarh on the 12th of July.
• Now MajorOenenl Kntiage, V.C.
1857] DUEAND AERIVES AT MAU. 41
Marching rapidly, it reached Burhanpiir on the 21st and Asirgarh on the 22nd idem. Here it was joined by Colonel Durand, who had reached Asirgarh some days previously.
In another part of this history * I have shown how Dui*and, after the catastrophe of Man, had fallen back on Sihor ; how, staying there only one day, he had set f,u^™d? °^ out for Hoshangabad on the southern bank of the proccedinKs Xarbadii in the hope of being able to communicate Lddr."^'"* there with General Woodbuni ; ho\v, learning at Hoshangabad of the safety of Mau he heard also of the attempts made to change -the direction of Woodburn's force from the line of the Xarbada to Kagpiir; how, not content with simply protesting against such a line of conduct, he had set off for Aurangabad with the intention of enforcing his arguments there, and, if necessary, of pressing on to Bombay ; how, on his road, he received the gratifying intelligence that Woodburn's column, now commanded by Stuart, was advancing towards Asirgarh ; how he had at once hurried to that place. Ho had the gratification of meeting that force on the 22nd of July. From the moment of his joining it, he He assumes assumed his position as the Governor-General's re- luiVofthr^" presentalive, and became likewise, in everything but column. in name, the real leader of the column.
The column pushed on for Man on the 24th with all practi- cable expedition. On the 28th it was joined by the 3rd Kegiment Cavalry, Ilaidanibud Contingent, jg ojne^u, under the command of Captain S. Orr. On the 31st tbesrj it ascended the Simrol pass, halted on its summit to ^fa™y"' allow the artillery to close up, and the following H«i.i.irabiia morning marched into Mau. The weather for the °' °^*°'" time of the year, the height of the monsoon, had been exceptionally fine ; no rain had fallen to hinder the march of the guns over the sticky black soil. On the night of the 1st of August, however, the weather changed. Heavy rains set iu and continued throughout August and September. But Durand was now at Mau, within thirteen and a ri^c*.'! Jiiu. half miles of the capital whence the mutinous conduct of Holkar's troops had forced him to retire just one month before. He had returned t<:) vindicate British authority, to puni>h tho guilty, to give an example which should not be forgotten.
• Vol. III. pages 161-2.
42 CENTRAL INDIA AND DUKAND. [ISJ/'.
Even "befort. he had marcliecl into j\Iau, whilst he was yet
halted on the top of the Sinirol pass, Durand had
niar^h^on'" Tcceived a message from the ludur Durbar. Maha-
indiirand rajah Holkar and his minister sent to inform him
ka?rtroops, tliat thcy were still in a state of alarm as to the
conduct of their own troops, and to inquire whether
aid could not be aftorded to them. Durand replied that he was
ready, if the Maharajah wished it, to march with
d^^ii^es^*"^ the entire force into Indiir instead of into Mau.
Apparently, this was not the end desired by the
Durbar, for the messengers at once withdrew their requisition.
In deciding to march on Mau instead of Indur, Durand was
mainly influenced by considerations regarding the
DuraxiT^^^ state of the surrounding districts which will be
marched on presently adverted to. At the moment, indeed,
ofon^Tr. there was another consideration which he had to
take into account. He had with him no European
infantry.* Four companies of the 8Gth were indeed marching
np by the Bombay road, and would join in a few days. But it
was desirable, after the events which had occurred, that the
Indur rabble should see in the British force the white faces of
the unvanquished foot soldiers of England. Durand marched
then on Mau.
The four companies of the 86th having joined a few days
later, the propriety of marching on Indur to punish
He is joined Holkar's guilty troops and the townspeople who
panira'seth! had abetted the revolt again became a question for
Durand's consideration. It was a very difficult
question. That Holkar's troops had attacked the Residency on
the first of July was a fact admitted by ever}' one. But Holk^ir
had asserted that this act had been committed
Circum- without liis Sanction or authority. Durand himself
w'hTch* "^^s never satisfied of this : to the last he regarded
induced Holkar as a trimmer, a watcher of the atmosphere :
de^er'aii pro- but officers who had occupied the Mau fort in July,
ce«<i'ng8'rt''> notably Captain Hungerftjrd, had been penetrated
Holkar. with the conviction that Holkar was innocent, and,
in his letters to Durand, Lord Elphinstone, the
Governor of Bombay, had insisted on the same view. Under
* The force consisted of five troops 14th Light Dragoons, 3rd Cavalry ITaidarabdd Contingent, one horse battery of European artillery, the 25th Bombay Native Infantry, and a pontoon train.
1857.] REASONS WHICH INFLUENCED DUEAXD. 43
these circumstances Durand, duly weighing the difficulties presented by the case, deemed it advisable to defer all action, so far as Holkar was personally concerned, until he should ])ecome acquainted with the views of the Governor-General regarding him. He accordingly made a complete reference on the subject to Lord Canning.
Holkar, on his part, was naturally anxious to delay Durand's action as long as he could. He knew that, in his heart, Durand had thoroughly mistrusted him. re^onsfor And, although it was well known that, in the ^njuct* excited state of native feeling throughout the country, he coiald not depend on the conduct of his own troops, and would have been glad to see them coerced by the British, yet, when he thought of the possible results of such action, he inclined to prefer the uncertainty of his actual condition. Could he, he felt, but stave off the critical moment for a few mouths, Durand would be relieved by Sir Kobert Hamilton, and Sir Eobert Hamilton, an old and much-regarded friend, would, he felt confident, accept explanations regardiuf the events of the 1st of July which Dui-and would utterly contemn.
The question of disarming Holkar's revolted troops, whilst the personal case regarding Holkar was still pending, opened out difficulties of another de- ij^sons^iiy scription. The force at the disposal of Durand mines to de-'^" was small, and, though sufficient to dispose of the per/f^M*'*'^ revolted troops of Indur, could these be encountered movement en masse, it was scarcely large enough to attack its kS'rtr(Sps" several component parts in detail, holding the bulk in check whilst portion after portion should be destroyed. It must always be remembered, writing of this period, that the revolt had at that time nowhere received a serious check. The force before Dehli was almost as much besieged as besiegino-. The English garrison of the Lakhnao Residency was supposed to be at its last gasp ; Havelock had made no impression upon Oudh ; Bihar was surging with mutineers. The disaffected in central India might, then, well be excused if, regarding all these points, they were not only hopeful, but contident, that resolute resistance on their part would serve the cause which they now regarded as the common cause of their co-religionists throughout India. Under these circumstances, it Avas to be apprehended that Holkar's troops, the three arms of which,
4:4 CENTRAL INDIA AND DURAND. [1857.
each superior in numbers to tlie entire British force, were located iu separate cantonments, might evince a strong, dis- inclination to be disarmed; and that, morally supported as they were by a large party in the city of Indiir, and, as I shall presently show, by a strongly aggressive party in the districts lying between Indur and Nimach, they might offer a resistance certain to entail great loss on the attacking party, and to cripple its future movements. This will be clear to the reader when, recalling the composition of the force at the disposal of Durand,* extremely weak in infantry, he reflects that a rainy season of unusual force was at its height, that the roads could be traversed by guns only with the greatest difficulty, that the bridges in man}' places had been carried away, and that any military operation against the several cantonments occupied by Holkar's troops would have to be carried out on a swampy plain, on which, at that season of the year, it would be im- possible for the three arms to work together.
But there were other reasons which impressed Durand with the necessity of dealing in the first instance with those rebels in the districts, of whose aggiessive tendencies I have just spoken.
Mandesar is a large and important town on a tributary of the
river Chambal, about a hundred and twenty miles
from Indiir. In the month of July this place had been occupied by some of Sindhia's revolted truoj^s, and these had been joined, and were being constantly further strengthened,
by Afghan, Mekrani, and Mewati levies. In August becomesa ^he insurrection at Mandesar threatened not only guirection, to embrace all western Malwa, but Nimach as well.
Impressed with a confidence in themselves, justified only by the prolonged immunity which had been allowed them, the rebels at this place began, in the month of August, to
•display an aggressive temper far more dangerous than fu^naturet"* the sullen disaffection ot the compromised troops
of Holkar. The more active and daring of the mutineers of Holkar's army had proceeded to Gwaliar after the insurrection of the 1st of July ; the less energetic mass remained, 8ullen, dangerous, watching events, but to a certain extent paralysed, though not controlled, by the English party in power at Holkar's court. The progress of the Mandesar
♦ Vide page 42, note.
1857.] THE REBEL FORCES AT MANDESAR. 45
insurrection was, however, so rapid, that to ujihold British siipremacy in ^ajpiitana and Malwa, and to maintain the line of the Narbada, it became ab- and requiring solutely necessary to check its growth with the prompt^at- ntmost promptitude. In the presence of this new tent'on- danger, the disarming of Holkar's troops became, in every sense, a matter of secondary importance. An attempt to subdue the lesser evil might have augmented the greater, whilst a decisive blow struck at the greater could not fail to affect fatally the lesser.
Action in any shape was impossible so long as the heavy rains continued. But when, in the beginning of October, the monsoon passed away, and the country Theminsaa began to dry up, the Mandesar rebels began to give t"{)^omif°' proof of the possession of the aggressive nature with acUon. which I have credited them.
The leader of the Mandesar insurgents was Firuzshah, a Shahzada or prince connected with the imperial „
r« T\ 1 1 » T • T • o 1 Composition
family of Uehh. Jt was estimated in oeptember of tiie Mande-
that some fifteen thousand men, with sixteen or g'^ents^'^'^'
eighteen guns, had rallied round his standard, and
this estimate was subsequently found to have been below the
actual number. To meet these, Durand, after
deducting the sick and wounded, and a sufiScient fecuv" fMie.
number of men to guard Man, could not bring into
the field more than fifteen hundred men * and nine guns.
Under these circumstances it was perhaps fortunate that the aggressive movement was made by the rebels. Durand ex- pected it. Towards the very end of September he had intercepted letters from Haidarabad from ['"'^"'l^at Nagiir. from Siirat, from Ujjcn, from Gwaliiir, and central India from Mandesar, all telling the same tale. The '^^^^^^^ tale was to the effect that, after the conclusion of voit. the Dasahra festival,! a general rising would take l^lace in Malwa, and that influential personages were coming
* Thus composed: Artillery, one hundred and seventy; Dragoons, two hundred ; 8Gth, two hundred and thirty ; 25th Bombay Native Infantry, three hundred and fifty ; 3rd Nizam's Cavalry, three hundred and fifty.
t A festival of ten days' duration, nine of which are spent in worship and religious ceremonies. The tenth day is the birthday of Ganga (the Ganges). \Mioever bathes in the Ganges on that day is purified from ten sorts of sins. The festival occurs in September or October, the date varying with each year.
4.6 CENTKAL INDIA AND DURAND. [1857.
from Nagpiir and Haidarabad for the purpose of giving life and
strength to the insurrection. The close of the Dasahra
corresponded with the setting in of the dry season. The
result corresponded with the information Durand
attemp/t" ^^^ thus obtained. Early in October the Shahzada's
cut off Du- troops, who had previously occupied Dhar and
Bombayl" Amjhera, advanced to the Bombay road and
threatened to internipt Duraud's communications
with Bombay, to command the line of the Narbada along the
Bombay frontier, and to attack Nimach. They sent also a
pressing invitation to Holkar's troops to join them.
Everything depended upon the rapidity with which Durand
would be able to strike a blow at this enemy.
The vital im- failing it, it was quite possible that Nana Sahib,
rapid action, who at that time w.as hovering in the vicinity of
Kalpi, might transfer the whole of his troops to
central India, and that the Manitha war-cry might raise the
entire country Ibrmerly acknowledging the supremacy of the
Peshwa. Seeing the necessity, Durand struck.
Dnrand^^ On the 12th of October he detached one body of
DLar. Haidarabad cavalry to defend Mandlesar on the
Narbada, threatened by the rebels, and another to
the village of Gujri to intercept them on their way. On the
14th he sent three companies of the 25th Native Infantry and
some dragoons to support this last-named party, and on the 19th,
with all the men who could be spared from the garrison of
Mau, he marched for Dhar.
Anand Eao Puar, a lad of thirteen years, had succeeded to the
chiefship of Dhar on the death of his brother, cut oflf
"haJ'unnle- ^^y cholera on the 2ord of May 1857.* His minister,
diateiyprc- Edmchandar Bapuji, a sbrewd and intelligent man,
evenu^r^ who, from his thorough knowledge of the English
1S57. ar.d from his large acquaintance with British officers,
was supposed to be devoted to British interests, began,
almost immediately after his assumption of office, to pursue a
line of policy the very rever.-e of that which had
ijisioyaity of been hoped from him. In direct opposition to the
Kumcbaudar -,• -^ iiii./-i Ii-tt
liupuji. policy pursued by the Grovernmcnt of India ever
since the settlement of Malwa, to prevent the
* The formal recognition by the British Government only reached the young chief on the 28th of September, but he was acknowledged and treated as Rajah from the date stated.
1857.] dhIr. 47
employment of mercenary troops in native states, this man
began to enlist large numbers of Arabs, Afghans, and Mekram's.
As soon as tho news of the Indur rising of the
l.^t of July reached Dhar, a party of these mercenaries, mcrci-iurfes,
four hundred in number, joined with the mercenaries
of the Riijah of Anijhera, and plundered the stations of Bhopuur
and Sirdarpui', burning the liospitals over the heads
of the sick and wounded. Eetiiruing to Dhiir with ^yiwm after
I'll iT .11 11 their plunder
their plunder, they were met and honourably of British received by Bhi'ni Eao Bhunsla, the young Eajah's ''.eeives'wuii uncle, and three of the guns which they had huuour. captured were placed in the Eajah's palace. On the 31st of August they were in possession of the fort of Dhar, with or withunt the consent of the Durbar was not certainly known. But on the 15th of October Captain Hut- Captain Hutchinson, the political agent, repurted nmTthr' that there was .strong reason to believe that tho ompiidtj^ of Eajah's mother and uncle and the raembeis of the famu^''a,ui Durbar were tlie instigators of the rebellion of the oi th« Durbar. Dliiir troops, that the conduct of the Durbar was suspicious, that its agent had purposely deceived him regarding the negotiations entered into by its members with the mutinous mercenaries and the number of men they had enlisted, and that it had received with attention and civility emissaries from ]\Iandesar, the centre of the JMuharamadan rising. It was tliis intelligence which decided Durand to m"Ise°'\he*' dismiss the Dhar agent in attendance on him, Avith Durbar's a message to the Durbar that its members would warning" * be held strictly responsible for all that had happened or that might happen,* and to despatch all his available troops to attack Dhar.
On the 22nd of October the British force arrived before Dhar. Tlie Arab and Mekrani levies who garrisoned that furt gave a signal instance of the confidence en- '''''<^ Driusu gendered by the long compulsory inaction of the bXrei'b!i'r° British by quitting the protection of their lines of defence and coming to attack them in the open. Planting three brass guns on a hill south of the fort, they extended from that point along its eastern face in skirmishing order, and advanced boldly against the Bxdtish.
* Durand repeated this wamiug to the Eajah in person diuiug the siege of the fort.
48 CENTRAL INDIA AND DURAND. [1857.
But their confidence soon vanisherl. The 25th Bombay _. . Native Infantry, a splendid regiment, often to be mentioned, and always with honour, in these pages, led by their most capable commandant. Major Ecjbertson, charged the three guns, captured them, and turned <.fihe2Mh the guns on the rebels. Almost simultaneously, iuntiT ^°' the four companies of the 86th and the sappers, flanked by Woollcombe's (Bombay) and Hungerford's (Bengal) batteries, advanced against the centre, whilst the cavalry threatened both flanks, the dragoons, under tri.^""''''" Captain Gall, the left, the Nizam's cavalry, under Major Orr, the right. Baffled in their advance by the action of the 25th, and the play of the British guns on their centre, the enem}' made a rapid movement to Gall and Orr their left, and attempted to turn the British right, donaid. But the dragoons, led by Gall, and the Nizam's
cavalry, led by Orr and Macdonald, Deputy Quarter- master-General of the force, charged them so vigorously that they retired into the fort, leaving forty bodies are^bmen. 0^ their companions on the field. On the Biitish side three dragoons and one native trooper were wounded, a janiadar and a native trooper were killed.
The fort was now invested, but the British force had to wait for the siege guns, expected on the 24th. They iilv^ted. arrived on the evening of that day ; the next morning they were placed in position. The fort of Dliar is entirely detached from the town of the ^ - same name. Its southern angle rests on the suburbs,
Descrirtion fi^Q voad ninuing between. It is situated on an of Dhar! eminence of thirty feet above the surrounding plain, and is built of red granite, in an oblons: shape, con- forming i:self to the hill on which it stands. The walls are abont thirty feet in height, and have at intervals fourteen circular and two square towei'S.
On the 25th a sandbag battery, two thousand yards south of the fort, armed with one 8-inch howitzer and one if DWr'"' 8-inch mortar, began to shell the fort. Under cover of this fire the infantry pushed on to a low ridge, alx)ut two hundred and fifty yards from the soul hem angle of the fort, forming a natural parallel, and took possession of it. On this the breaching battery was at once constructed. Simul- taneously, fctrong cavalry aud infantry pickets were thrown out
1857.] REBELS ESCAPE. 49
on the noitli ami cast faces of the fort, security on the west face being assured liy an extensive tank or lake wbicli could not be forded. Uurand avus in hopes that the rebels, seeing them- selves thus surrounded, woukl spontaneously surrender. But althougli, during the six daj's the siege lasted, they made many efforts to obtain aid from outside, acting and writing in the name of the Durbar, under whose orders they The rebels professed to be defending the fort, they waited until, terms, on the night of the 29th, the breach had been made so large that its practicability was only a question of a day or two, ere they sent a white flag to inquire the terms which would be granted. " An unconditional surrender," was the reply, upon which the firing The reply, continued.
At sunset on the 31st the breach was reported practicable, and that night a storming party was detailed to i-i,g breach assault the place. Never was a task easier. The practicable breach was easily ascended. Almost immediately afterwards firing was heard on the plain. "Whilst dragoons and irregulars were desimtched in that direction,
- the fort
the storming party entered the fort. It was evacuated. empty.*
In fact the rebels, foreseeing the assault, had quitted the fort by the main gate between 9 and 11 o'clock, and escaped in the direction of the north-west. The firing heard on the plain at the moment the breach was entered was only a skirmish with the rear-guard of the retreating enemy and an out- lying picket of the 3rd Nizam's cavalry. The main rebels! *^ body had passed by them and the dragoonsj wholly unobserved, and were -svell away before the alarm could be of any avail. Pur.Miit, though it could scarcely accom- plish much, was attempted. It resulted, however, useleTs. only in the capture of a few wretched stragglers.
Durand ordered the fort of Dhur to be demolished, the State to be attached, pending the final orders of Government, and charges to be prepared against the leaders and instigators of
* Sindliiti and Dhar. Calcutta Review. Lowe's Central India. Private papers.
t It had unfortunately happened that the Em-opean pickets, which had heeu there for some days, and which knew the ground well, had been changed that very day. The trooper, sent by the jiimadar of the native picket to give the alarm, fell with his horse on the way, and was disabled. — Lowe.
VOL. V. £
50 CENTRAL INDIA AND DUKAXD. [1857.
the rebellion.* The force then continuerl its march through
western Malwa towards Mandesar, in pursuit
Dnrand demolishes the of iy^q rebels. Thesc latter, however, had
furt and marches , i . i • • ,
towards iiandisar. Dv no means renounced their aggressive ten- dencies. On the 8th of November they attacked the cantonment of ^lehidpiir, garrisoned by a native contingent of the three arms, officered by English officers. The rebels Major Timmius, who commanded the contingent, Mehidpiir, imprudently permitted the rebels, without offering- opposition, to take up a strong position close round his guns and infantry. The men of the contingent, on their side, displayed mingled cowardice and treachery, the majority eventually going over to the rebels. Half a troop fh^swl^on" of the cavalry behaved, however, extremely well, and, after making a gallant but ineffective charge, in which their leader, Captain Mills, was shot dead, and their native officer severely wounded, escorted the remainder of the European officers to Uurand's camp, where they arrived on the 9th.
Two other affairs, which occurred during the pursuit of the
rebels to Mandesar, deserve here to be recorded.
ti'^^\'°b°d' ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ capture and destruction of the furt
saved. of Amjhera by a small party of Haidarabad cavalry
and infantry under Lieutenant Hutchinson. There
Avas, indeed, no opposition ; but the fact of the occupation was
satisfactory, as it proved that Durand's rapid action had saved
the line of the Narbada, and had maintained that barrier between
the blazing north and the smouldering south.
The other action was one in which Major Orr and the Haidarabad Contingent was prominently engaged.
I have alread}' stated* how one regiment of the Haidarabad
Contingent had joined Brigadier Stuart's force on
r.einfurce- • jts march from Aurangabad. The remaining cavalry
brouehtby of the Contingent and a large force of its infantry
.^wd^conUn- ^^^ artillery had, about the same time, been formed
gent. at Eldabad, one of the chief outlets of the Dakhan,
on the high road to central India. Hero they
remained until the monsoon had ceased and the roads had
* Ultimately, owing to circumstances npon which it is unnecessary for me to enter here, they all escaped punishment. To the young Eajah himself merciful consideration was shown, and he was restored to his title and position.
t Vide p. 41.
1857] CRR DEFEATS THE PLUNDERERS OF MEHIDrUII. 51
bej^un to dry up. They then marched with all speed into Miihva, and coercing on their way the refractory zaniindars of Piplia* and Kaghugarh, reached Durand's force before Dhar. Upon the news reaching camp of the successful action of the rebels at Mehidpur, Major Orr, ^^^th a small force, ... consisting of tliree hundred and thirty-seven sabres pursues tiie drawn from the 1st, 3rd, and 4th regiments Nizam's *!r,!!'i"rl'!l cavalry, was sent to lollow on their track. The second morning after he had left camp, Orr, having marched some sixty miles, arrived before Mehidpiir. There he learned tliat the rebels had left the place the same morning, carr3'ing with them all the guns, stores, and ammunition u]m)u which they could lay hand. Orr stopped to water and feed his horses, and whilst thus halting had the gratificatinn to receive Mrs. 'I'immins, the wife of the commandant already mentioned, who had been unable to eflTect her escapef with her husband. Having despatched that lady under a sufficient escort to rejoin her husband, Orr followed the rebels, and, after a pursuit of twelve miles, came up with their rear-guard, about four hundred and fiftv men with two guns, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, at the village of Eawal. They were themuj." prepared to receive him. They had taken up a very formidable position, especially calculated to resist cavalry, their right resting on the village, and their front covered by a muddy nullah or rivulet. Occupying this po^Vtyu""^ position, they hoped efFectually to cover the retreat of their main body, conveying their stores, their ammunition, and the spoils of Mehidpur. But they had not counted on the gallant spirit of their enemy. Orr, andsuccss-^ and his officers, Abbott, Johnstone, Clark, Murray, fu"yas-~aiis and Samwell, led their men ibrward, crossed the nullah, charged the guns, and then fought hand to hand with the enemy. The contest was desperate and continued till the sun went down. Then the rebels gave way, and all their guns, eight in number, and stores fell into the and carries it, hands of the victors. The nature of the engagement iys°s"^ "" may be gathered from the fact that the British lost
* Called also, and more correctly, " Hath Ka Piplia," a town in the Diwas State, twenty-eight miles east from Indilr. Raghugarh lies two short marches distant from it.
t This lady had heen concealed by a faithful tailor, who frustrated all the efforts of the rebels to discover her hiding-place.
E 2
52 CENTRAL INDIA AND DUKAND. [1857.
neorly a liundred men killed and -vvonnded. Amongst the latter ■was Lieutenant Samwell, shot through the abdomen. The rebels lost a hundred and seventy five killed, and some seventy taken prisoners.
^Vhen the despatch containing the account of this affair
reached Durand, he handed it over to Major Gall to
Satisfaction read to the 14th Dragoons and 86th Foot. By these
Dra'wifsat lucn it was heard with more than satisfaction, for it
Orr's suaess. dissipated any doubt which might have been caused
by the escape of the garrison of Dhar.
Durand now pushed on as fast as the baggage carts and the
roads would permit him, and on the 19th of Novem-
^"^""^ , ber reached Hernia on the banks of the river
Chambai. Chambal. The crossing of this river, unopposed as
it was, presented no inconsiderable difficulties. Its
banks are rugged and almost perpendicular, its stream is deep and
rapid, and its bed is broken by enormous boulders of
of tbe fi^ver. basalt. The baggage of the force was carried almost
entirely on carts drawn by bullocks, a few camels
only having been obtainable, and to convey these carts and the
artillery guns across a river presenting the difficulties I have
described would, under no circumstances, have been an easy
task. That the rebels, hitherto so aggressive, should have
neglected the opportimity thus offered to them adds
f.joiishiy another to the many proofs in which this history
defended^' abounds, that, bravo as they were in fight, they
understood little of the art of war. As it was,
nearly two days were spent in effecting the passage, nor
was this possible until the sappers had cut a road down
the bank for the artillery and carts, and another up the
opposite bank.*
* " I never saw a more animated and beautiful picture in my life than when our brigade crossed this river. The steep, verdant, shrubby banks, covered with our varied forces, elephants, camels, horses, and bullocks ; the deep flowing clear river, reaching on and on to the f;\r cast, to the soft deep-blue tufted horizon : the babble and yelling of men, the lowing of the cattle, the grunting screams of the camels, and the trumpeting of the wary, heavily-laden elephant ; the rattle of our artillery down the bank, through the river, and up the opposite side ; the splashing and plunging of our cavalry through the stream — neighing and eager tor the preen encamping ground before them ; and everybody so busy and jovial, streaming up from the deep water to their respective grounds ; and all this in the face, almost, of an enemy, formed a tableau vivant never to be forgotten." — Lowe's Campaign in Central India.
1857.] DURAND DEFEATS THE REBELS. 53
The column halted the afternoon of the 20th on the cast bank of the Chanibal, and, marching early the following niornino;, encamped four miles south of Mandesar, Durand
" -*■ flpproacucs
in a pot«ition covered to the front hy some rising Jiandesir.
ground, flanked on the left by a little village and
gardens, beyond Avhich again -were seveial lai"ge topes, some
cultivated ground, and another village surrounded by gardens
and trees. On the right of ihe 13ritish position were hills
and villages, and between these and the rising ground in
front alread}' referred to was an extensive plateau,
covered here and there with acres of uncut corn. Aggressive
Bej'ond it, again, the ci'y of Mandesar.* A recon- therebeb.
naissance having indicated that all was quiet
in front, the camp was pitched and the men Avent to their
breakfasts.
But the rebels were again in an aggressive humour. Rumours had been industriously spread in their ranks that the British force had been repulsed from Dhar, and, in sheer desperation, was now meditating an attack on Mandesar. The leaders knew better, but they used all their efforts to give currency to the story. Consequently, about mid-day on the 22nd, the rebels, confident that they had before them only J^^^ ^ a dispirited and beaten column, sallied forth from Bntuhfurce, Mandesar, and, marching gaily, took possession of a village surrounded by trees and gardens beyond the extreme left of the British line, and, making that villa;ie their extreme right, occupied, with two considerable masses, the plateau con- necting it with Mandesar.
The men in the British camp were at their breakfasts when the news of the rebel movement reached them. Instantly they fell in, and the line formed; the «hicn turns dragoons on the extreme right, the Nizam's horse on cene them, the extreme left, Hungerford's and "Woollcombe's batteries forming the right-centre, the bullock battery of the Haidarabad the left centre, the 8Gth and 2oth Bombay Native Infantry the centre, and the Haidarabad infantry with the Madras Sappers on the left of the Haidarabad guns, opposite the village occupied by the rebels. The British guns at once opened fire; and Woollcombe's guns, pointed hj Lieutenant Strutt, to be again mentioned in these pages, firing verj'
• Lowe
54 CENTRAL INDIA AND DURAND. [1857.
true,* the rebels wavered. An advance of the Ilaidarahad troops converted their wavering into flight. The them^"** civalry then pursued and cut up a number of them. The remainder escaped into the city. The next day, the 22nd, Durand crossed to the right bank of the Mandesar river, and encamped to the west of the Durand inter- town within two thousand yards of the suburbs, fweenthe His objcct was to gain a position whence he could Mandesar threaten Mandesar with one hand, and the rebel force rebels. which had occupied Niiuacli,t and which, he had
leai'ned from spies, was now hastening to the aid of their comrades, on the other. A cavalry reconnait-sance showed the Nimach rebels to be in considerable force in the village of Goraria on the high road to that place.
In that direction, then, Durand moved on the 2-iih. After a march of three miles, he espied the rebels about a mile distant, their right resting on the village, their centre on a long hill, and their left well covered by fields of uncut grain, with broken ground and nullahs in their front, full of water and mud.
The British guns, opening on the rebels, soon overcame the
fire of their five field-pieces, and forced their line to
Attacks the f.^w "back. I'hey clung, however, with great per-
Gorarii. tinacity to the village of Goraria, and on this,
retiring from the centre and left, they fell back very
slowly. "Whilst the British were endeavouring to drive them
from this position, a strong party sallied from Mandesar and
attacked their rear. The Nizam's horse and the dragoons met
the assailants boldlj", and, after a sharp contest, drove them
back with loss. In front, however, the British could make
no impression on the village. The brigadier detailed the 86th
and 25th Bombay Native Infantry to carry it with the
bayonet, but the fire from it was so fierce that he
Desperate countermanded the order, preferring to reduce it
with his guns. When night fell the rebels still
* "Lieutenant Strati's shooting was very trae. All the while this firing was going on at the village, a fine fclkw, dressed in white, with a green flag, coolly walked out from the cover, and sauntered leisurely along the whole lino of our guns, while round shot and shell were whizzing about him in awful proximity. lie occasionally stooped down, but never attempted to run ; he then quietly retraced his steps, when a shot from Lijutenant Strutt struck him just before he regained the village." — Lowe's Centra] India.
t Vol. IV. page 400.
1857.] DECISIVE DEFEAT OF THE REBELS. 55
occupied Gnrariii. Tlio British loss had been considerable, amounting to upwards of sixty officers and men killed and wounded.
At 10 o'clock next morning the 18-pounders and the 24- pounder howitzer were brought to within two hundred and fifty yards of the village, and the 2,"?,''''''* firing commenced. The plaoe was shelled till it carried. became a mere wreck ; everything tbat could be burned in it Avas consumed. Still the rebels held on. At last, about mid-day, some two hundred and twenty came out and surrendered. Those that remained were Eohilahs, and they stuck to the last brick in the place. About 4 o'clock the Brigadier directed that the firing should cease : t'.ie SGth and 25th Bombay Native Infantry then stormed the battered ruins.
The stern defence of the Eohilahs did service to their cause. AVhilst the British force was dealing with them the Sliahzada and his two thousand R^,*(f.;'"s''aUoV/thIf Afghans and Mekranis evacuated I^Iandesar s'hutiziidatoescai.e. and retreated on Nangarli. The cavalry, worn out by four days of unremitting exertion, was unable to pursue them.
Pursuit, however, was scarcely necessary. The blow struck at Goraria was a blow from wiiich there was no rallying. The Afghans and Mekranis, as panic-stricken as they had been bold, fled through the country, avoiding The blow towns and villages, and endeavouring to seek refuge Gurarsa'is in the jungles. One party of them, more daring iiedsive. than their fellows, suddenly appeared at Partabgarh, The loyal chief of that state, summoning his Thakurs, attacked them, killed eighty of them, and drove the rest into flight. The others seemed, above all, anxious to place the Chambal between tliemselves and their conqueror.
The objects which Durand had in his mind when he set out from Mau on the 14th of October had now been accomplished. With a force extremely weak in The objects of infantry, he had crushed the rebellion on the plateau achieved, of ]\Ialwa, thus saving the line of the Xarbaiia, and cutting off the disaffected troops of Holkar from the supports on which they had rested. The campaign, brief as it was, bad proved decisive, and had vindicated to the letter the prescience of Durand when, resisting every temptation to act otherwise, he resolved to allow Holkar's troops to rest quiet until he should
56 CENTEAL IXDIA AND DUKAND. [1857.
have disposed of the Dhar rebels and the mutineers of Mandesar and Ni'mach.
He ■Nvas now at liberty to turn his arms against Holkar's
troops. This he did. Leaving the Haidarabad
Durand contingent under Major Orr at Mandesar, and con-
un iiidiir, stituting Major Keatinge political agent for Western
Malwa, he returned by Mehidpiir and Ujjon, and
reached the vicinity of Indiir on the 14th of December, fully
prepared to encounter the troops of the Maharajah should they
otfer opposition to his entrance into the city. But the spirit
which had prompted the treacherous attack on the 1st of July
quailed before the sight of a British force returning from victor}'
over traitors. The Indiir troops, held in check during Durand's
campaign by the Mau garrison, had been utterly disheartened by
the defeat of their sympathisers at Mandesar, and were as humble
as some few weeks previously they had been boastful and defiant.
Near the ground on which Durand encamped on the 14th of
December he met and disarmed Holkar's regular
Holkar's cavalry, and placed the men under the care of the
cavairv Sikh cavalry of the lata Bhopal Contingent. He sent
likewise to Holkar's chief minister a letter, in which
he insisted that the remainder of the troops should be piomptly
disarmed. Should this demand not be complied Avith immediately,
he expressed his firm resolution to disarm them himself.
The reply came that afternoon. The agent who brought it
expressed the intention of the Durbar to disarm the
Hoikarto infantry at once, and the request that whilst the
fn'fauiry''^ Operation was being carried into eflfect Durand would
halt at a point one mile from the cavalry lines.
Durand complied, and Holkar's infantry, sixteen hundred in
number, were quietly disarmed that same evening.
After the disarming had been completed, Durand, accom-
.panied by a large body of the officers of the Mau
[i"[^",_ ^'"''^ column, called upon the Maharajah in his palace in
the city of Indiir. It was the first time since the
month of June that Durand had seen Holkar. Regarding him
in his own mind as an acces.sory to the attack made upon the
Eesidency on the Ist of July, Durand had sent a report of all
the circum-stances of the case to Lord Canning, and, i^cnding a
reply, had declined to renew personal relations with a prince who
might possibly be adjudged by the supreme British authority
in India to be a rebel. But when, after the Malwa campaign,
1857.] DURAND VISITS HOLKAR. 57
Holkar had acquiesced in the disarming of his cavalry and infantry, and his minister had promised that a suitable punishment should be meted out to the promptedby guilty, Durand, on the eve of being relieved by Sir courtesy. Kobert Hamilton, felt that the circumstances were not such as to -warrant the omission of the ordinary courtesy required to be displayed on such an occasion. Holkar himself was anxious for the visit, and that it should be conducted with a ceremony and an ostentatious display of friendly intercourse such as would produce an impression on his people. Durand acceded. The visit went off well. Holkar was in b-tween good spirits, expressed himself delighted at the {{"[^"r*"'' disarming of his troops, and a hope that the act would be regarded by the British Government as a proof of his loyalty. Durand quietly, but firmly, impressed upon him that something further was yet required — the punishment of the guilty, whether soldiers or citizens — and stated his confident belief that the British Government and the British people would expect that this remaining duty would be properly carried out. Holkar gave an assurance that a Commission, which he had previously appointed, would make full inquiries into the matter. The interview then terminated. The next day Durand was relieved by Sir Eobert Hamilton.
He had completed a noble task. His personal character had been the mainstay of British authority in central India. Had Durand not been there, the result had "character not been accomplished. This little sentence conveys "^ated bis to the reader more clearly than a multitude of words the vast value of liis services. He was the representative of political power, and, virtually, the general ; the brain and the hand, in a most important part of J^pafuy'. India. He foresaw everything, and he provided for everything. He foresaw even — his own despatches and memoirs written at the time sh(jw it most clearly — all that was to happn in the few months that were to follow ; how the pacification of the North- W est Provinces would increase the pressure west of the Jamnah ; the action of Nana Sahib and his nephews ; the incursion of Tantia Topi. He saw equally clearly . *
the line that should be, and that was, followed. " If '^ °^^^^ affairs at Indiir are successfully arranged," he wrote on the 12th of December, " I shall lose no time in marching the bulk of the Mau column to Sihor with the view of concentratino- Sir H.
58 CENTRAL INDIA AND DUKAND. [i857.
Eose's command, and enabling him to relieve Sagar, clear Bnndelkhand, and advance on Jhansi and Gwaliar." In these lines Dnrand foreshadowed the course which he Avould himself have pursued, and which Sir Hugh Eose did pursue. But it is his actual achievements which call for special commendation. In spite of his earnest entreaties, in spite of the bis great pressure exercised by Lord Elphinstone, Woodburn menu^ had in June chosen to waste most precious moments at Aurangabiid. Had that general not delayed at that Capua, it is more than piobable that the insurrection of the 1st of July would never have been attempted at Indiir. But mark the conduct of Durand after that misfortune had happened. He hastens to meet Woodburn's column, now commanded by another officer; he meets it, quickens its move- ments, and brings it to Mau. He finds western ]n spite of Malwa in a state of aggressive insurrection, and the city nnd Only line which had remained a barrier between the headSness Central Provinces and Bombay — the line of the of others, Xarbada — sorely threatened. Of all the political ofiScers in central India he alone understands the enormous importance of that line. He finds Mr. Plowden from Nagpiir, !Major Erskine from the Sagar and Narbada territorie--, urging measures which would have lost it. Though pressed by many considerations to disarm Holkar's troops, he, receiving from no quarter a word of encouragement or supj^ort, risks everything to save that important line. Then what do we see? With a weak column of five hundred Europeans of all arms and eight hundred natives,* he sets out from Mau, and in five weeks takes a strong fort, fights several cavalry combats, gains three actions in the open field, takes more than in^nr***^'^'' forty gims, crushes the Mandesar insurrection, saves months all the line of the Narbada, and, marching back to been lost. Indiir, causcs the disarming of the disaffected troops of Holkar. In four months he more than counter- acts the evil eflTected by an army of conspirators.
It was, I repeat, a noble work, nobly performed, and, like
many noble works, lelt unrewarded. No man has
** ?ot w^^ been more calumniated than its author. No one
datedby more bravely fought the battle of life in face of
poraries!™ Calumny. 1 may add that of no man that ever
• Reinforced at Dhdr by the Haidardbad troops.
1857.] OFFICEES UNDER DUEANa 59
lived will the career bear more acute and critical examination, Should the life of Henry Marion Durand be written with the fearlessness the occasion demands, * his countrymen will lealiso alike the worth of the man who, at a most critical period, secured a line the loss of which would have produced incalcu- lable evils. They will learn, too, something of the ^, nature of the smaller beings who aided in the attempt also rivals, to calumniate, to insult, and to depreciate him. beiy^^'blra. They will learn that it is not always the truly great man who occupies the most conspicuous position in the eyes of his contemporaries !
Many officers distinguished themselves in this campaign. One of these, who for his daring, his gallantrj'', and his brain power was especially noticed by Colonel iJurand, requires mention here. " Much of the success in quelling this in- surrection," Avrote Durand to Lord Canning at the end of November 1857, " is due to the judicious daring, the g^^ thorough gallantry with which, whenever oppor- men who tunity offered, Major Gall, his officers and men, ^<;|^'cd un.ier sought close conflict Avith the enemy — a bold one, who often fought most desperately. I feel it a duty to Major Gall and H.M.'s liih. Light Dragoons, men and officers, thus especially to beg your Loi dship's influence in favour of officers and men who have merited, by conspicuous valour, everj^thing that Her Majesty's Government may be pleased to confer. They deserve most highly." Durand also noticed with marked commendation the splendid services of Major Orr, Captain Abbott, and the officers and men of the Ilaidarabad Contingent and of the 25th Eegiinent Bombay Native Infantry. This regiment boasted a commanding officer. Major, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel, Eobertson, than whom no one rendered better service to the State. Captain AVoollcombe, Lieutenants Strutt and Christie, of the Bombay Artillery, the last-named of whom was shot by a bullet in the region of the heart, f also greatly distinguished themselves. But there were many others in the same category. The list is too long.
* This was written in 1879. The life has subsequently been -mritten by his son.
t Captain Christie recovered from the wound, took part in the subsequent campaign, and was killed by a tiger some years afterwards.
( CO )
CHAPTER III.
TOE SAGAR AND NAUDADA TEREITOEIES, AND NAGPUR.
The territories known as the Sagar and Narbada territories formed an extensive tract, bounded on the north bj* TheSdgar ^ \]^q British districts of Bandah, Allahabad, and te^rritorks!*^" Mirzapur ; on the south by Nagpiir and the do- minions of the Nizam ; on the west by Gwaliar and Bhopal. "Within these boundaries is comprehended the state of Eewah, whose Eajah recognised the overlordship of the British. The other native feudatories, the feudatories of Koti, Maihi'r, Uchahara, and Sohawal, held their lands under grants irom the East India Company. Within the limits of those lands, however, they exercised a ruling authority, subject to the interference, when necessary, of the paramount power. The larger portion of the Sagar and Narbada territories were directly British. This portion comprised the districts of Sagar, Jabalpur, Ho- shangabad, Sioni, Damoh, Narsinhpiir, Betul, Jhansi, Chanderi, Nagod, and Mandlah.
When, in 1843, the Gwaliar Durbar commenced those hostilities against the British w^hich culminated in the battle of Maharajpur, the chiefs and people of tlie Sagar and Narbada territories, then ruled by Mr. Eraser, C.B., as Agent fa'tfr'^hi°tory^ to the Govcmor-Gcneral, broke out into open re- of those bellion. This rebellion was due partly to the territories. ^^^^^ dislike felt by the people to the civil courts, and more particularly to the mode in which they were admin- istered, and partly to the propaganda of the Gwaliar Durbar. When, however, the pride of that Durbar had been lowered by the battle of Maharajpur, peace was restored to the Sagar and Narbada territories. Lord Ellenborough, who, throughout bis Indian career, always displayed a marked detestation of proved
J857.] CHANGES IN THEIR ADMINISTRATION. 61
abuses, inaugurated the newly gained peace by making a clean sweep of the British officials serving in the territories, and by sending one of the ablest officers in the Indian services, the late Colonel Sleeman, to administer them on a new basis. Colonel Sleeman succeeded in pacifying the chiefs and in con- tenting the people. When, after a rule of two of three years, he was promoted to be Resident at Lakhnao, he lianded over the territories to his successor, Mr. Bushby, in perfect order. Mr. Bxishby's administration for five or six years was characterised by ability and good judgment ; but when, at the close of that period, he was promoted to the Residency of Haidarahad, the Sagar and Narbada territories were joined to the North- West Provinces, then ruled by Mr. Colvin, 3Iajor Erskine * receiving the appointment of Commissioner of Jabaipiir, and becoming Mr, Colvin's representative in the territories. Subordinate to Major Erskine were, amongst others, Captain Skene, Commissioner of Jhansi, and Captain Ternan, Deputy Commissioner of Karsinhpur.
With their transfer to the North-AVest Pi-ovinces, the Sagar and Narbada territories came under the Sadr Board of Revenue. In accordance with its traditions, tliat under u!e venerable Board at once proposed changes in the ruieofthe administration so startling that, if carried out, they oi^eveuue, would inevitably have caused a violent rebellion. Before finally deciding in favour of the proposed changes, Mr. Colvin had the good sense to ask the opinion of the officer who had seived*longest in the ter- pos'fs revoiu- ritories, a man of remarkable sense and strength "..nary of character, Captain A. H. Ternan. Captain Ternan replied by pointing out the inapplicability of the rules of the Sadr Board of Revenue to the needs of the province, and the certain consequence which would follow any attempt to enforce them. Mr. Colvin, struck On Captain by Captain Teruan's rei^resentations, withdrew re*i!i-eseifta- nearly the whole of the proposed changes. It is to be ^j*^'" ™"''y "* regretted that he did not withdraw the whole, for the nKdified. few that he allowed, relating chiefly to the sub- division of properties, roused a very bad feeling, and led to many agrarian outrages.
Such was the state of the territoiies in 1855. The temper of
♦ Afterwards Earl of KeUie.
62 THE SlGAR AND XARBADA TERRITORIES. [1857.
the people, kindled by tlie cause I have mentioned, had not ^v holly
subsided into its normal conditions of con-
Sufflcient remains to tentment. The Outbreak in the North-West
sour the temper of the _^ . , , . „ .
people. rrovmces came inopportunely to inflame it
Gtill more.
The small station of Narsinhpiir on the Singri, sixty miles to
the west of Sagar, was garrisoned at the outbreak
Captain of t]je mutiny by four companies of the 28th Madras
reman at..^.^„''>' i t r /~t
Xarsinbpur. iSative intautiy, under the command oi Captain Woolley, an excellent officer. The Deputy Com- missioner of the district, Captain Ternan, to whose calm and cool judgment I have already referred, had his headquarters also at Narsinhpiir. The district of which this town was the capital was largely inhabited by petty chiefs, who had gone into rebellion in 1813, and who had never submitted willingly to British jurisdiction. So early as December 185G there were not wanting indications that some great event was looming before the eyes of these men, but no European could venture an opinion as to the form that event would take. It happened, however, that one evening, in January 1857, Captain Ternan was sitting outside his tent, smoking a cigar, when the Kotwal * of the village came running to him, bearing in his hand some small chapatis or cakes of unleavened bread. On ix'rience of" reaching Ternan, the Kotwal, out of breath and pant- ihe charatis jjjor stated that the cakes were the remnant of a large
in circulation. ^ ,•, ^ ■, -, • t i i • • i
quantity he had received that morning, with instructions to leave them witb' the watchmen of every village to be kept till called for; that he had so distributed them in the neighbouring villages, and that those which he held in his hand constituted the surplus. " What," he asked Ternan, " was he to do with them ? "
Ternan, naturally shrcvd, and that natural shrewdness
sharpened by the experience of the rebellion
divhles ibe °^ ^ 842-43, at once divined the truth. In those small
mystery, unlcavcncd cakcs he saw the fiery cross sent through
the land to unsettle the minds of the great mass of
the people ; that, distributed broadcast as the Kotwal had
.nnd reports distributed them in his district, they would indicate a
Lis views to suddcu danger that might come at any moment
Krekine. upon the people, threatening their caste and
* A Kotwal is generally a chief officer of police.
1S57.] TERNAX AND ERSKIXE. C3
undermining their religion. Ho at once embodieil tliese ideas in a report, which he transmitted forthwith to his official superioi-, Major Erskine.
Major Erskine was an officer who had written a book entitled " Forms and Tables for the Use of tlie Bengal Native Infantry." That book was a reflex of his zvlklno mind. His mind was a mind " of forms and tables." His mental vision commanded the line of strict and formal routine. Out of that line he saw nothing, he was incapable of seeing anything. When, therefore, lie received Ternau's report and read the conclusions drawn by that officer re- garding the unleavened cakes, he ridiculed them ; deJInis he considered the idea far-fetclied, absurd, impossible. 'I'smaus He wrote back to Ternan to that eflfect, adding that it was simply a case of "a dyer's vat having gone wrong," and that the owner of the vat was propitiating the gods by the distribution of cakes.
Subsequent events made it abundantly evident that Erskine was wrong and Ternan was right. Distributed broadly over the North- West Provinces and in preJci^nce Oudh, in the earlier months of 1857, these cakes !f J"*.''^'",'' were the harbingers of the coming storm. It is certain now that they originated in the brain of the Oudli conspirators, of the men made conspirators by the annexation of their coiintry, and they were sent to every village for the ver}^ object divined by Ternan— the object of unsettling men's minds of preparing them for the unforeseen, of making them impres- sionable, easy to receive the ideas the conspirators wished to promulgate.
I may record here a decision of the Government promulgated in the same district a year or two piior to 1867, and of the remarkable consequence it produced after the mutiny liad broken out, as illustrative of the influence which an able and conscien tious English officer can almost always bring to bear upon native chiefs. One of the most influential chieftains in the territories under Captain Ternan's supervision was the Eajah of Dilheri, the feudal lord of all the Gond clans, of Diihm'' This chief had ever been loyal. For his fidelity and good conduct in the trying times of 1842-43, the Govern- ment had presented him with a gold medal. Like many of the Gond tribe, he had been somewhat too profuse in his expenditure and had incurred debts ; but, by exercising a strict economy,
64: THE SAGAK AND XAKBADI TERRITORIES. [1857.
he Lad paid off those debts. Such was liis condition in 1855,
shortly after the Sagar and Xaibada territories had
fhediMea- ^**^6n brought Under the government of the Xorth-
Bureofthe Wcst Provinces, It had been a principle of that
Revenue, government, since the time when it was administered
by Mr. Thomason, to discourage large landowners.
One morning in that year Captain Ternan received instructions,
emanating from Agra, desiring liim to inform the Eajah of
Dilheri that, inasmuch as he was unfit to hold the title of
Eajah and had proved himself incapable of managing his estates
he was deprived of both; that his title was
privwi of hu abolished, and that his property would be distributed
title and amoug his tenants, he receiving a percentage from
the rents! "When this decision was most unwillingly
announced to the Eajah by Captain Ternan, the old man drew
his medal from the belt ia which it was habitually
He feels the carried, and requested the Engli-sh officer to return it
bitterly; to those who had bestowed it, as they were now about
to disgrace him before his clan and before the whole
district. ^Vith great difficulty Ternan pacified him. It
was geneially expected that he would break out
but, despite into rebellion. He might well have done so,
moMtra^nces, f^^r cvcry member of the clan felt in.>!ulted in his
tbedeci^ person. Ternan, fearing an outbreak, pressed
In. ^' on the Government the mistake they had committed
and urged them to rectify it. But the Government
would not listen. The order was carried out. Ternan did all
in his power to save the family from ruin; but even he could
do little.
Before the mutiny broke out in May 1857, the old man had
died ; his son, too, had died. The next heir took
When the the title — for, however the Government might order,
mutiny thc representative of the family was always Eajah
hir^an^on ^o the people. Then came the mutiny of May 1857.
and his The Xarsinhpiir district felt its shock. Muhammadans
clansmen fr^in across the border invaded the district and
pillaged the villages. The outlook became every
day more gloomy. " Save yourselves while there is yet time,"
said the loyal olficials to Teman. But Ternan stayed. One
morning, however, early in June, his house was surrounded by
a considerable body of armed men, with lighted matchlocks.
Ternan saw at a glance that they all belonged to the Dilheri
1857.] BRIGADIER SAGE AT sAgAR. G5
cliin. IIo <at once summoned tlie chief and asked hiin what had brought him and his cL'xnsmen in such numbers and in so warlike a garb. The chief replied that he would answer if he and the other chiefs wore allowed a private audience with their interlocutor Ternan admitted tht-m into his drawing-room. The chief replied : " You behaved kindly to us and fought our battle when the title and estate were confiscated, and you were abused for so doing. Now we hear disturbances are rife, and we come to oflfer you our services. Wo will stick by you as you stuck by us. What do j'ou wish us to do ? " Ternan thanked them, accepted their offer, assured p^viccs to them they should be no losers by their conduct, and Tirnjn, and promised to do his utmost to see justice done them, loyli""^ The members of the clan remained lo}'al throughout under every the trying events of 1857-58, resisted the urgent fortuue." solicitations made to them to join the rebels, and, what was of equal importance, they induced other clans to join them in rendering most valuable service to the British cause,
I turn now to the part of the territories the chief centres in which were more purely military stations.
There were three military stations in the Sagar and Narbada territories — the stations of 'Sagar, Jabalpur, and .
Hoshangabad. Sagar was garri.^oiied by the 31st theSdgirand and 42nd Bengal Native InfVintry, the 3rd Eegiment farbaUii
o . . '^ " territories.
Irregular Cavalry , and sixty-eight European gunners; Jabalpur by the 52nd Bengal Native Infantry, and Hoshangabad by the 28th Madras Native Infantry. The commandant of the Sagar district force was Brigadier Sage, who had his head- l^uarters at Sagar.
Neither the news of the mutiny at Mirath nor the tidings of the nearer and more horrible events of Jhansi,* affected, according to all aiipearance, the demeanour of the Brigadier native troops at Sagar. indeed, so conspicuous was Sagar. their good conduct, that, early in June, Brigadier Sage, not trusting them, j-et unwilling to openly display an opposite feeling, did not hesitate to send a detachment, consisting of five hundred infantry, a hundred and twenty-five cavalry, and two O-poundert--, against a Eajah who had rebelled, pro- mising them a reward of six thousand rupees for the capture
♦ Vol. m. page 126. VOL. V. r
66 THE SAGAR AND NAKBADI TEEEITOEIES. [1857.
of the said Eajah, dead or alive. A few days latei', however, the brigadier had reason to feel that the policy of concealing distrust was not likely to answer better in Siigar than in the places where it had been already tried and failed. The station of Sagar was laid out in a manner which rendered it difficult for a commander with only sixty-eight European soldiers at his disposal, to exercise a general supervision over every part of
it. At one end of it were the forf, the magazine, at Siigar! '°° ^^^^ the battering train. At the other end, distant
from it three miles and a quarter, was a commanding position known as the artillery hill. Both these points could not be retained. The artillery hill, though in many respects important as a position, wanted water and storing-room for provisions. There was no question, then, in the brigadier's mind, as to the position which should be abandoned. Yet he laboured under this great difficulty, that the Sipahis guarded the fort and the treasury, and they took care to let it be surmised that they would yield neither the one nor the other. In a word, the fetation seemed to be at their mercy.
Affairs were in this position when, on the 13th of June,
Brigadier Sage received an application for assistance Lil'iitpur! ill guns from Lalitpur, a station in the Jhansi territory,
though bordering upon that of Sagar, garrisoned by three hundred men of the Gth Inftxutiy of the Gwaliar Con- tingent. The brigadier promptly despatched two 9-pounders, escorted by one company of the 31st Native Infantry, one of the 42nd, and seventy-five troopers of the 3rd Irregulars. The detachment never reached Lalitpur. The very evening before it left Sagar, the three companies of the Gwaliar regiment at that station had broken out into mutiny, had plundered the treasury, and had driven the European officers* to flee for protection to the Kajah of Banpur, who, under the pretence of being a friend, had been for some days in the vicinity of Lalitpur, exciting the Sipahis to mutiny.
For a moment I follow the action of this Eajah. Finding
that the rebel Sipahis had taken possession of the ofBi'^Ur Lalitpur treasury, and were marching off" with its rebeia. Contents, he attacked them, and was repulsed.
* Cajitain Sale, commanding ; Lieutenant Irwin, second in command, his wife and two children ; Dr. O'Brien, and Lieutenant Gordon, Deputy Com- missioner of Chande'ri. They were made over to the Eajah of Shdhgarh, hy whom they were kindly treated. Ultimately they were all released.
1857.] MUTINY AT MALTHON. 67
Thus baffled, he sent ofif Lis European guests to tlio fort of Tebri, there to be confined, and then marched in haste to meet the detachment coming from Sagar, with the view of inducing the Sipiihis composing it to join him.
Major Gaus>en, commanding that detachment, had reached Malthon, forty miles from Sugar, when he heard of the mutiny at Lalitpur and of the movement of the ^'ajor Banpiir Eajab. He at once halted and wrote for re- a dmchment inforcements. Sage replied promptl}' by sending from sigar four hundred infantry and one hundred cavalry. .Aikuhon. The night previous to the day on which those men were ordered to set out, great commotion reigned in Sagar, and it seemed as though mutiny might break out at any moment. The danger passed, however. Brigadier Sage, though urged by many of those about him to put an end to the terrible suspense by striking a blow with the few Europeans under his orders, remained impassive. He had resolved to act only when the Sipahis should commit themselves unmistakably to revolt.
The detachment marched the following morning, the 19th of June, and joined Major Gaussen on the 23rd. Gaussen then marched wiih his whole force against ^vou!^° the fort of Balabet, held by the rebels, stormed it,* and took sixteen of thegai-rison prisoners. The Sipahi stormers promised these men their lives, and two days later, on the return of the detachment to Malthon, they insisted on their I'elease. Major Gaussen being powerless to refuse the demand, the}' released the prisoners, and made them over to the Banpiir Eajah. No sooner had this act been accomplished than that Eajah entered the Briti.-h camp, and openly offered the Sipahis a monthly pay of twelve rupees if they would leave their officers and go over to him with their arms and ammunition ! The Sipahis agreed, dismissed theii" officers, and joined the Eajah.
The information brought by the returning officers to Sagar decided Sage to act promptly. He saw that, if he were to wait till the rebel Eajah should march on ^IFIoia Sagar, he and his sixty-eight men would bo sur- decisive rounded and lost. Accordingly he at once, and in the most judicious manner, began his operations. He first moved the contents of the treasury into the fort ; to the same
• In blowing open the gate, Ensign Spens of the 31st was accidentallj killed. Lieutenant WUloughby of the artillerj was wounded.
F 2
08 THE SlGAR AND NAEBADi. TEREITORIES. [1857.
place lie next conveyed the contents of the expense magazine and the artillery magazine ; and, last of all, he removed thither the women, the children, and the baggage of the European artillery. As soon as this had been accomplished, he took a guard of Europeans and relieved the Sipahi guard at the fort gate. Thus, by a few decisive strokes, the oue following the other with lapidity, Sage gained a place of refuge, secured the contents of the magazine, and saved the treasure.
The second day after, the morning of the 30th of June, whilst the ordinary grand guard-mounting was progressing, He reasons Sage marched the Europeans and sixty cavalry, who native ^ remained loyal, into the fort. He then sent for all officers. the native officers, and, frankly telling them the
reason of his action, added that they had suffered nets of mutiny to take place without opposing them, and had forfeited their character ; that there was yet one method open to them of regaining it, and that was to have the The 3rd leading mutineers seized and delivered up to justice.
Irregulars 'pho native officcrs of the three regiments, appa- Nuiiveia- rcntly very much affected, promised everything. out'Into'^^^ '^^^ next morning, however, the 3rd Irregulars mutiny: the and the 42nd Native Infantry broke into open infLnry"^ mutiny and plundered the bazaars and the bunga- remains lows of the officcrs. The 31st held aloof, .professing "^'^ ■ loyalty ; and on the 7th of July, one of their men having killed a trooper who had fired at him, a desperate fight ensued between the two native infantry regi- ments. The 31st, being unable to make much impression on the 42nd, who had two guns, sent into the fort to implore as- sistance. Sage despatched to their aid the sixty loyal troopers. A good deal of fighting then ensued, but, in the midst of it, forty of the 31st deserted to the 42nd. Still the bet^epn th-? bulk of the loj'al regiment persevered, and, when loyal and dis- evening fell, they sent again to the fort to imi^lore
loyal Sipdhis. . » .' -^ ^ » v i a1 * -i. a
assistance in guns, oage rephed that it was too
late to send them that night, but in the morning he would bring
them victory. The disclosure of this message to
Final victory the two belligerent parties fixed the 31st in their
of the loyal , , , o i_ ..,,.
Batives. loyal resolves, whilst it so aispiritea tncir opponents
that during the night they fled, pursued for some
miles by the loyal Sipahis and troopers, who captured one of
the guns. When the victors returned, it was ascertained that
1S57.] JABALl'UR. CO
whilst tlio entire 31st, tlie forty above alluded to excepted, had remained loyal, fifty of the 42nd had followed their example, and the sixty loyal troopers had been joined by at least an equal number of the same temper from out-stations.
The brigadier now devoted himself to strengthening the mud fort. He had supjdies and medical st ires for six months, and a sufficiency of guns and ammunition. siglr"on! The able-bodied men of the Christian community were gradually drilled, and, as they numbered nearly sixty. Sage soon had at his disposal a force of a hundred and twenty- three fighting men. The number was not at all too large, for the duties were heavy ; there were a hundred and ninety women and children to be guarded, and occasionally parties of Bundela rebels, into whose hands the surrounding country had fallen, made known their presence by a siidden volley. They invari- ably, however, disappeared in the jungles on the first appearance of pursuit.
The districts — in close vicinity to each other — of Jabalpur, of Siigar, of Chanderi, of Jhausf, and of Jalaun, continued, from this time until the arrival of the relieving force under Sir Hugh Rose, to be over-run by rebels, u^^h^^^h^'^ Sipahi and other. These harried the country, cap- natives. tured forts, plundered villages, for a long time with impunity. Before I narrate the manner in which they were ultimately dealt with, it will, I think, be advisable to clear the ground