Part 30 (1/2)
* Districts ceded by Oude to the British Government by the treaty of 1801.
Etawa, Korah, Kurra - - - - - 55,48,577 11 9 Rehur and others - - - - - 5,33,374 0 6 Furruckabad - - - - - - 4,50,001 0 6 Khyreegurh, and Kunchunpore - - - 2,10,001 0 0 Azimgurh, Mounal, and Benjun - - - 6,95,624 7 6 Goruckpore - - - 5,09,853 8 0 Botwul - - - - 40,001 0 0 5,49,854 8 0 Allahabad and others- - - - - 9,34,963 1 3 Bareilly, Moradabad, Bijnore, Budown, Pilibheet, and Shahjehanpore - - 43,13,457 11 3 Nawabgunge, Rehlee, &c. - - - - 1,19,242 12 0 Mohowl and others, with exception of Jaulluk Arwu - - - - - 1,68,378 4 0 __________________ Total - - 1,35,23,474 8 3
Deduct
Nawabgunge - - - 1,19,242 12 0 Khyreegurh - - - 2,10,001 0 0 3,29,243 12 0 __________________ Total - - 1,31,94,230 12 3
Add
Handeea or Kewae - - - - - 1,52,905 0 0 __________________ Total - - 1,33,47,135 12 3
Present Revenues of the Territories we hold from Oude under the treaty of 1801, according to the Revised Statistical Return of the Districts of the North-West Provinces for 1846-47, prepared in 1848, A.D.
_________________ |Land Revenue | Abkaree |Stamp for | Total for ______ | 1846-47. | for | 1846-47. | 1846-47.
| | 1846-47. | | __________________ _|_____________|__________|__________|____________ | | | | Rohilcund .. .. .. | 64,44,341 | 2,47,854 | 2,04,576 | 68,96,771 Allahabad, including| | | | Handeea _alias_ | 21,29,551 | 1,41,409 | 61,802 | 23,32,762 Kewae | | | | Furruckabad .. .. | 13,57,544 | 88,061 | 49,698 | 14,95,303 Mynpooree .. .. .. | 12,33,901 | 24,822 | 20,484 | 12,79,207 Etawa .. .. .. .. | 12,80,596 | 19,647 | 10,355 | 13,10,598 Goruckpore.. .. .. | 20,80,296 | 2,10,045 | 96,549 | 23,86,890 Azimgurh, including | | | | Mahoul .. .. .. | 14,89,887 | 81,257 | 53,925 | 16,25,069 Cawnpore .. .. .. | 21,51,155 | 1,26,155 | 57,406 | 23,34,700 Futtehpore.. .. .. | 14,25,431 | 60,370 | 21,063 | 15,06,864 |_____________|__________|__________|____________ Total .. .. |1,95,92,686 | 9,99,620 | 5,75,858 | 2,11,68,164 ____________________|_____________|__________|__________|____________
** The lands are the same with the exception of Khyreegurh, Nawabgunge ceded since, and Handeea received; but the names are altered.
Khyreegurh and Kunchunpore were re-ceded to the Oude sovereign in the treaty of the 11th of May, 1816, with the Turae lands, taken from Nepaul, between Khyreegurh and Goruckpore, in liquidation of the loan of one crore of rupees. In the same treaty, Handeea (_alias_ Kewae) was ceded by Oude to the British Government, in lieu of Nawabgunge, which was made over to the Oude sovereign by the British Government.
Handeea, or Kewae, now in the Allahabad district, yielded land revenue, for 1846-47, rupees one lac, fifty-two thousand, and nine hundred and five.
The British Government retained the power to station the British troops in such parts of the Oude territories as might appear to it most expedient; and the Oude sovereign bound himself to dismiss all his troops, save four battalions of infantry, one battalion of Nujeebs and Mewaties, two thousand hors.e.m.e.n, and three hundred golundages, or artillerymen, with such numbers of armed peons as might be deemed necessary for the purpose of collecting the revenue, and a few hors.e.m.e.n and nujeebs to attend the persons of the amils. It is declared that the territories ceded, being in lieu of all former subsidies and of all expenses on account of the Honourable Company's defensive establishments with his Excellency the sovereign of Oude, no demand whatever shall be made upon his territory on account of expenses which the Honourable Company may incur by a.s.sembling forces to repel the attack, or menaced attack, of a foreign enemy; on account of the detachment attached to his person; on account of troops which may be occasionally furnished for suppressing rebellions or disorders in his territories; on account of any future charge of military stations; or on account of failures in the resources of the ceded districts, arising from unfavourable seasons, the calamities of war, or any other cause whatever.
The Honourable Company guarantees to him and to his heirs and successors, the possession of the territories which remain to him after the above cessions, together with the exercise of his and their authority within the said dominions; and the sovereign of Oude engages to establish, in his reserved dominions, such a system of administration, to be carried into effect by his own officers, as shall be conducive to the prosperity of his subjects, and calculated to secure the lives and property of the inhabitants; and to advise with, and act in conformity to the counsel of, the officers of the British Government.
In the time of Asuf-od Dowlah, who died on the 21st September, 1797, the military force of Oude amounted to eighty thousand men of all arms, and in the direct pay of Government. Saadut Allee Khan, his brother and successor, on the conclusion of the above treaty, and the transfer of half his territory, reduced the number to thirty thousand.
Relying entirely upon the efficiency of British troops to defend him against external and internal enemies, and to suppress rebellion and disorder, he laboured a.s.siduously to reduce his expenditure within the income arising from the reserved half of his dominions. He resumed almost all the rent-free lands which had been granted with a lavish hand by his predecessor, and paid off and discharged all superfluous civil and military establishments, and, by his prudence and economy, he so reduced his expenditure within the income, that on his death on the 12th of July, 1814, he left fourteen millions sterling, or fourteen crores of rupees, in a treasury which he found empty when he entered upon the government in 1797. In this sum were included the confiscations of the estates of some favourites of his predecessors, Asuf-od Dowlah and Wuzeer Allee, who had grown rich upon bribery and frauds of all kinds. He never confiscated the estates of any good and faithful servants, who left lawful heirs to their property.
He had been freely aided by British troops, according to the stipulations of the treaty of 1801; but the British Government had been made sensible, on several occasions, of the difficulty of fulfilling its engagements with the sovereign with a due regard to the rights and interests of his subjects. Saadnt Allee Khan was a man of great general ability, had mixed much in the society of British officers in different parts of India, had been well trained to habits of business, understood thoroughly the character, inst.i.tutions, and requirements of his people, and, above all, was a sound judge of the relative merits and capacities of the men from whom he had to select his officers, and a vigilant supervisor of their actions. This discernment and discrimination of character, and vigilant supervision, served him through life; and the men who served him ably and honestly always felt confident in his protection and support. He had a thorough knowledge of the rights and duties of his officers and subjects, and a strong will to secure the one and enforce the other.
To do so he knew that he must, with a strong hand, keep down the large landed aristocracy, who were then, as they are now, very p.r.o.ne to grasp at the possessions of their weaker neighbours, either by force or in collusion with local authorities. In attempting this with the aid of British troops, some acts of oppression were, no doubt, committed; and, as the sympathies of British officers were more with the landed aristocracy, while his were more with the humbler cla.s.ses of landholders and cultivators who required to be protected from them, frequent misunderstandings arose, acts of just severity were made to appear to be acts of wanton oppression, and such as were really oppressive were exaggerated into unheard-of atrocities.
Our relations with the state of Oude, from the treaty of 1801 to the death of Saadut Allee, were conducted by able men; but they had a very difficult task to perform in conducting them to the satisfaction of both parties to that treaty; and when the Government devolved upon less able and well-disposed sovereigns, ministers, and public officers, our Government and its representative became less and less willing to comply with their requisitions for the aid of British troops in the collection of the revenue, and the suppression of rebellion and disorder. Our Government demanded, that the British Resident should be fully informed of the cause which led to the resistance complained of to legitimate authority; and be fully satisfied of the justice and necessity of such aid before he afforded it; and the sovereigns of Oude admitted the justice of this demand on the part of the paramount power. But the Resident could never hear fully and fairly both sides of the question, and the officers commanding the troops were seldom disposed to do so; and neither was competent to pa.s.s a sound judgment upon the justice and necessity of complying with the requisitions made for the aid of the British troops.
But when, under an imbecile and debauched sovereign, like Ghazee-od Deen, and an unscrupulous minister, creatures and favourites began to share so largely in the revenues of the country, this sort of scrutiny on the part of the Resident and officers commanding troops, employed in aid of the King's officers, became exceedingly distasteful; and the minister gradually increased the military force of Oude at his disposal, that he might do without it. During the last few years of Ghazee-od Deen's reign, the Oude forces of all arms amounted to about sixty thousand men. During the first few years of his successor's, Nuseer-od Deen's, reign, these forces were augmented by the ministers for the sake of the profit and patronage they gave them; and in the year 1837, the forces of all arms, paid from the treasury, amounted to more than sixty thousand men. A memorandum given to the British Resident by the minister on the 8th of April 1837, showed the men of all descriptions, belonging to the Oude army, to amount to sixty-seven thousand nine hundred and fifty-six. The artillery, cavalry, and infantry, composing what they call the regular army, amounted to twenty thousand, all badly paid, clothed, armed, accoutred, and disciplined; and for the most part placed under idle, incompetent, and corrupt commanders. The rest were nujeebs employed in the provinces under local officers of the revenue and police, and obliged to provide their own clothes, arms, accoutrements, and ammunition. They were altogether without discipline.
Government, on the 26th November, 1824, informs the Resident, ”that our troops are to be actively and energetically employed in the Oude territory in cases of real internal commotion and disorder.” And again on the 22nd of July, 1825; Government condemns the Resident for his disregard of the orders of the 26th of November, 1824, regarding the employment of British troops in Oude, and states, ”that it is sincerely disposed to maintain the rights of the King of Oude to the fullest extent, as guaranteed to him by the treaty with his father, on the 20th of November, 1801; but observes, that upon the maturest consideration of articles 3rd, 5th, and 6th of that treaty, and of Lord Wellesley's memorandum in 1802, of the final results of discussions between him and Saadut Allee, whilst Government admits that, according to article the 3rd of the treaty, we were bound to defend his Majesty's present territories 'against all foreign and domestic enemies,' and that, in pursuance of the 4th article, the Company's troops are to be employed, without expense to his Majesty, not only 'to repel the attack, or menaced attack, of a foreign enemy,' but also for suppressing rebellion and disorder in his Majesty's territories; and that, in a strict adherence to the 6th article, the King of Oude is ent.i.tled to exercise complete sovereign authority within his own dominions, by a system of administration conducive to the prosperity of his subjects, to be carried into effect by his own officers, with the advice and counsel of the officers of the British Government (in conformity to which his Majesty is expressly engaged to act); yet the Governor-General in council considered it to be indispensable and inherent in the nature of our obligations, under the treaty referred to, that whenever the King of Oude requires the aid of British troops, to quell any disturbance, or to enforce any demand for revenue or otherwise, the British Government is clearly ent.i.tled, as well as morally obliged, to satisfy itself by whatever means it may deem necessary, that the aid of its troops is required in support of right and justice, and not to effectuate injustice and extortion.
”This principle, which has often been declared and acted upon daring successive Governments, must still be firmly a.s.serted, and resolutely adhered to; and the Resident must consider it to be a positive and indispensable obligation of his public duty, to refuse the aid of British troops until he shall have satisfied himself, on good and sufficient grounds (to be reported in each case as soon as practicable, and when the exigency of the case may admit of it, before the troops are actually employed), that they are not to be employed but in support of just and legitimate demands.”
On the 13th of July, 1827, Government, in reply to the Resident's letter of the 30th May idem, expresses ”its surprise that, under the circ.u.mstances therein stated, he should have suffered so long a period to elapse without adopting the most active and decided measures against a subject of Oude, whose conduct is that of a public robber and rebel against the authority of his Government; and whom the King has plainly stated that he is unable to reduce to subjection without the aid of British troops.”
On the 20th of January, 1831, the Governor-General, Lord William Bentinck, held a conference with the King of Oude, and told his Majesty, in presence of his minister, that the state of things in Oude, and maladministration in all departments, were such as to warrant and require the authoritative interference of the British Government for their correction; that he declined to make himself a party to the nomination of the minister, or to have it understood that the measure was a joint resolution of the two governments, so that both should be responsible for its success in effecting reformation; that the act was his Majesty's own, and the responsibility must be his; that his Lords.h.i.+p hoped that a better system would be established by his minister's agency, but if he failed, and the same abuses and misrule continued, the King must be prepared to abide the consequences; that the Governor-General intended to make a strong representation to the authorities in England on the state of misrule prevailing, and to solicit their sanction to the adoption of specific measures, even to the length of a.s.suming the direct administration of the country, if the evils were not corrected in the interim.