Part 53 (1/2)

3. _Ante_, chapter 31, text between [10] and [11]. Some great landholders of the present day pursue the same policy.

4. The story of the murder of Fraser is told very differently in Bosworth-Smith's _Life of Lord Lawrence_, where all the detective credit is given to Lord L., apparently on his own authority. See also an article in the _Quarterly Review_ for April 1883, by Sir H. Yule, and another in _Blackwoods Magazine_ for January 1878.

Miniature medallion portraits of Nawab Shams-ud-din and his servant Karim Khan are given on the frontispiece of Volume II in the original edition.

5. The inglorious second administration of Lord Cornwallis lasted only from 30th of July, 1805, the date on which he relieved the Marquis Wellesley, to the 5th of October of the same year, the date of his death at Ghazipur. 'The Marquis Cornwallis arrived in India, prepared to abandon, as far as might be practicable, all the advantages gained for the British Government by the wisdom, energy, and perseverance of his predecessor; to relax the bands by which the Marquis Wellesley had connected the greater portion of the states of India with the British Government; and to reduce that Government from the position of arbiter of the destinies of India to the rank of one among many equals.' His policy was zealously carried out by Sir George Barlow, who succeeded him, and held office till July, 1807.

That statesman was not ashamed to write that 'the British possessions in the Doab will derive additional security from the contests of the neighbouring states'. (Thornton, _The History of the British Empire in India_, chap. 21.) This fatuous policy produced twelve years of anarchy, which were terminated by the Marquis of Hastings's great war with the Marathas and Pindharis in 1817, so often referred to in this book. Lord Lake addressed the most earnest remonstrances to Sir George Barlow without avail.

6. Amin-ud-din and Zia-ud-din's mother was the Bhao Begam, or wife; Shams-ud-din's the Bhao Khanum, or mistress. [W. H. S.]

7. Sir James Edward, third baronet, who died November 5, 1838. He was paternal uncle of Henry Thomas Colebrooke, F.R.S., the greatest of Anglo-Indian Sanskritists. The fifth baronet, Edward Arthur, was created Baron Colebrooke in 1906.

8. Sir Charles Metcalfe was for a time a.s.sistant Resident at Delhi, and was first appointed to the Residency at the extraordinarily early age of twenty-six. He was then transferred to other posts. In 1824 he returned to the Delhi Residency, superseding Sir David Ochterlony, whose measures had been disapproved by the Government of India. He left the Residency in 1827.

9. The editor once had occasion to deal with a similar case, which resulted in the loss by the offending Raja of his rank and t.i.tle. The orders were pa.s.sed by the Government of Lord Dufferin.

10. Colonel Skinner, who raised the famous troops known as Skinner's Horse, died in 1841, and was buried in the church of St. James at Delhi which he had built. The church still exists. The Colonel erected opposite the church, as a memorial of his friend Fraser, a fine inlaid marble cross, which was destroyed in the Mutiny (General Hervey, _Some Records of Crime_, vol. i, p. 403).

11. According to General Hervey, the provocation was that Mr. Fraser had inquired from the Nawab about his sister by name (op. cit., p.

279).

12. I print this word 'Bulvemar's' as it stands in the original edition, not knowing what it means.

13. The habits of Europeans have now changed, and to most people escorts have become distasteful. High officials now constantly go about unattended, and could be a.s.sa.s.sinated with little difficulty.

Happily crimes of the kind are rare, except on the Afghan frontier, where special precautions are taken.

14. For the 'Baiza Bai' see _ante_, chapter 50 note 4. Hindoo Rao's house became famous in 1857 as the head-quarters of the British force on the Ridge, during the siege of Delhi.

15. Many of the Gujar caste are Muhammadans.

16. That is to say 'load and fire', or 'sharpshooter'.

17. No one but a member of one of the 'outcaste castes', if the 'bull' be allowable, will act as executioner.

18. This sinister incident shows clearly the real feeling of the Muhammadan populace towards the ruling power. That feeling is unchanged, and is not altogether confined to the Muslim populace. See the following remark about the populace of Benares.

19. This remark was evidently written some time after the author's first visit to Delhi, and probably was written in the year 1839.

20. On the death of asaf-ud-daula, Wazir Ali was, in spite of doubts as to his legitimacy, recognized by Sir John Sh.o.r.e (Lord Teignmouth) as the Nawab Wazir of Oudh, in 1797. On reconsideration, the Governor-General cancelled the recognition of Wazir Ali, and recognized his rival Saadat Ali. Wazir Ali was removed from Lucknow, but injudiciously allowed to reside at Benares. The Marquis Wellesley, then Earl of Mornington, took charge of the office of Governor-General in 1798, and soon resolved that it was expedient to remove Wazir Ali to a greater distance from Lucknow. Mr. Cherry, the Agent to the Governor-General, was accordingly instructed to remove him from Benares to Calcutta. The outbreak alluded to in the text occurred on January 14, 1799, and was the expression of Wazir Ali's resentment at these orders. It is described as follows by Thornton (_History_, chap. xvii): 'A visit which Wazir Ali made, accompanied by his suite, to the British Agent, afforded the means of accomplis.h.i.+ng the meditated revenge. He had engaged himself to breakfast with Mr. Cherry, and the parties met in apparent amity. The usual compliments were exchanged. Wazir Ali then began to expatiate on his wrongs; and having pursued this subject for some time, he suddenly rose with his attendants, and put to death Mr. Cherry and Captain Conway, an English gentleman who happened to be present. The a.s.sa.s.sins then rushed out, and meeting another Englishman named Graham, they added him to the list of their victims. They thence proceeded to the house of Mr. Davis, judge and magistrate, who had just time to remove his family to an upper terrace, which could only be reached by a very narrow staircase. At the top of this staircase, Mr. Davis, armed with a spear, took his post, and so successfully did he defend it, that the a.s.sailants, after several attempts to dislodge him, were compelled to retire without effecting their object. The benefit derived from the resistance of this intrepid man extended beyond his own family: the delay thereby occasioned afforded to the rest of the English inhabitants opportunity of escaping to the place where the troops stationed for the protection of the city were encamped. General Erskine, on learning what had occurred, dispatched a party to the relief of Mr. Davis, and Wazir Ali thereupon retired to his own residence.' Wazir Ali escaped, but was ultimately given up by a chief with whom he had taken refuge, 'on condition that his life should be spared, and that his limbs should not be disgraced by chains'. Some of his accomplices were executed. 'He was confined at Port William, in a sort of iron cage, where he died in May, 1817, aged thirty-six, after an imprisonment of seventeen years and some odd months.' (_Men whom India has Known_, 2nd ed., 1874, art. 'Vizier Ali.') But Beale a.s.serts that after many years' captivity in Calcutta, the prisoner was removed to Vellore, where he died (_Or.

Biogr. Dict._, ed. Keene, 1894, p. 416). It will be observed that the author was mistaken in supposing that 'all the European gentlemen, except Mr. Davis and his family, were included in the ma.s.sacre.'

21. These names stand in the original edition as 'Tyz Mahomed Khan, of Ghujper,' and 'Tyz Alee Khan'. In 1857 the then Nawab of Jhajjar joined the rebels. He was accordingly hanged, and his estate was confiscated. It is now included in the Rohtak District. See Fanshawe's _Settlement Report_ of that District.

22. The disastrous retreat of Colonel Monson before Jeswant Rao Holkar during the rainy season of 1804 is one of the few serious reverses which have interrupted the long series of British victories in India. A considerable force under the command of Colonel Monson, sent out by General Lake at the beginning of May in pursuit of Holkar, was withdrawn too far from its base, and was compelled to retreat through Rajputana, and fall back on Agra. During the retreat the rains broke, and, under pressure caused by the difficulties of the march and incessant attacks of the enemy, the Company's troops became disorganized, and lost their guns and baggage. The shattered remnants of the force straggled into Agra at the end of August. The disgrace of this retreat was speedily avenged by the great victory of Dig.