CHAPTER XVII.
THE RULE OF MÍR MURÁD ALÍ KHÁN.
Mír Murád Alí Khán occupied the seat of rulership
Friendship with other
States.
vacated by his brother, on the 16th
of Jamádíssání 1244 A.H. (1828 A.D.)
As Mír Karam Alí Khán had died
without any issue, his treasure and armoury and other
valuables came into the possession of Mír Murád Alí
Khán. This Mír behaved so wisely and justly that all
the Mírs of Khairpur and Mírpur and other Balóch chiefs
remained attached to him by ties of affection. His reign
was a peaceful reign, in which cultivators and traders
lived very happily. At Kábul there was anarchy about
this time and so, in fact, the Mír had become an independent
ruler. His friendship with Fateh Alí Sháh, the king
of Persia, grew to intimacy, so much so that the king was
inclined to give a daughter of his to the Mír in marriage,
but the latter declined the honour gracefully owing to the
long distance and his old age. The friendship with the
Governor of Bombay continued as before and the envoys
used to come and go regularly. Major Pottinger, the
Political Resident of Kachh, paid him a visit and was very
much pleased with the reception given to him.*
Similarly,
envoys from the courts of Rájah Ranjít Sing, the Rájah
of Jesalmer and the Ráo of Kachh and from the Imám of
Mascat and the Sharíf of Meccá commenced visiting
Haidarábád. In his time, Shujául Mulk once more came
to Sind as a refugee and the Mír allotted the town of
Shikárpur with its revenue to him for his temporary maintenance.
Being now independent, the Mír for the first time
A mint established at
Haidarábád.
struck coin in his own name. A mint
was established under the superintendence
of a skilful iron-smith by name
Fateh Muhammad. The work commenced experimentally
and 40 or 50 ashrafis (gold coins) were also struck. The
Mír then ordered that all the gold in the treasury be given
into the mint to be made into mohars. But before that
work was finished, the Mír expired.
The death of Mír Murád Alí Khán occurred on Sunday,
Death of Mír Murád Alí
Khán.
the 6th of Jamádissání 1249 A.H.
(1833 A.D.) He died of pain in the
chest and knees, which kept him
confined to bed for about a fortnight.
Mír Murád Alí Khán died leaving four sons, viz., Mírs
Núr Muhammad Khán, Nasír Khán, Muhammad Khán
and Yár Muhammad Khán †
and two daughters. He was
fortunate enough to see his grand-children also, for
Mír Núr Muhammad Khán had got two sons Mír Shahdád
Khán and Mír Husain Alí Khán, and Mír Nasír Khán
had got two sons Mír Hasan Alí Khán and Mír Abbás
Alí Khán.*
It was in the previous year that the Mír’s Wazír Nawáb
Walí Muhammad Khán Lighárí died “full of years and
honour, having retained the confidence of his masters and
love of people to the last.Ӡ
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE RULE OF MÍR NÚR MUHAMMAD KHÁN.
After Mír Murád Alí Khán’s death the chiefs and
Division of Sind into
sevéral small sub-divisions.
headmen of the Balóches met together
and after some consultation
among themselves divided the territorial
possessions of the late Mír into four parts, one part
becoming the share of each of his four sons. These four
young Mírs then began to rule at the town of Haidarábád.
Similarly on the death of Mír Suhráb Khán of Khairpur,‡
his country was divided among his sons Mírs Rustam Khán and Alí
Murád Khán and their nephews Mír Muhammad Hasan
Khán son of Mír Rustam Khán, Mír Muhammad Khán
son of Mír Ghulám Haidar Khán and Mír Nasír Khán
son of Mír Mubárak Khán.§
In the same way, Mír
Alí Murád Khán son of Mír Thárah Khán of Mírpur,
having died about that time, his part of the country was
divided among his sons, Mírs Sher Muhammad Khán,
Sháh Muhammad Khán and Khán Muhammad Khán. In
this manner the whole of Sind was divided into small
shares each being retained by a young Mír, who considered
himself independent of every other. But Mír Núr
Muhammad Khán, the eldest of the Mírs at Haidarábád,
being a wise and generous nobleman, soon became popular
and came to be acknowledged as the chief ruling prince
of Sind.
About this time a report was received from Sayyed
March of the Mírs against
Shujául. Mulk at Shikárpur
and the departure of the
latter.
Kázim Sháh son of Ághá Ismáíl
Sháh the Názim or Governor of
Shikárpur*
to the effect that
Shujául Mulk, who had been lodged
at Shikárpur by the late Mír, on hearing of his death had
become the sole master of Shikárpur and dismissed him.
After some consultation, the Mírs collected their forces
and started to dispossess the Afghán ex-king of Shikárpur.
At Khairpur†
they were joined by the Mírs of that part,
and they all marched together in the direction of
Shikárpur. At the same time they despatched some
envoys to admonish him to leave the town and go away.
Shujául Mulk knowing well that the day of Balóch
bravery and heroism had gone, flatly refused to depart.
The Mírs proceeded and halted about 6 miles from
Shikárpur. From there, their army, which amounted to
18000 men, attacked the two or three thousand Afgháns
of the place. They were however soon repulsed by the
hardy Afgháns with great loss. Kázim Sháh himself and
Gólah Sháh, belonging to the Khairpur army, were
among the killed. The Balóches without waiting longer
to fight with the enemy, fled back to the Mírs’ camp.
The latter were now obliged to send Ághá Ismáíl Sháh
to sue for peace and settle any terms with Shujául
Mulk on condition that he should leave the country.
Accordingly it was soon arranged that the Afghán prince
should receive 12 laks of Sind rupees (equivalent to
8 laks of British rupees) and depart. The money
was forthwith given and Shujául Mulk left the place
for Ludhiánah. Sayyed Ismáil Sháh was then put
in charge of the administration of the place, and that
officer having appointed his son, Sayyed Zainulábidín
Sháh to act for him as a náib (agent), left for Haidarábád
along with the Mírs, and arrived there in Shawwál 1249
H. A. (1833 A.D.)*
In 1252 A.H. (1836 A.D.)†
information was received
Balóches advance to oppose
the English from passing
through Sind to Kábul.‡
that Shújául Mulk had applied to the
British Government for help against
his own countrymen at Kábul and
the Government had appointed Sir William Macnaghten
to accompany the Afghán prince with an army and reinstal
him on the throne of Kábul.‡
At the same time the Governor General of India, Lord
Auckland, ordered an army to go from Bombay under the
command of General Sir John (afterwards Lord) Keane,
passing through Sind to assist Shújául Mulk. But before
their coming, Colonel Pottinger was deputed from Kachh
to go to the Court of the Mírs and take their formal permission
about it and to request them to arrange in a way
that the army passing through Sind viâ Karáchi, might
not be molested by any natives of the province, and
traders might supply provisions as well as camels, bullocks,
labourers and boatmen, at any rate or wages fixed by the
Mírs. Mír Núr Muhammad Khán was wise enough to
know that under the circumstances of the time, the
Balóches were utterly unable to oppose the English in the
open field, and so he gave his consent. But the other
Mírs, each of whom considered himself an independent
ruler, being instigated by rude Balóches objected and showed
readiness to fight with the English. Colonel Pottinger
was pelted at with stones in the streets of Haidarábád
by the boys of the place, and a force was hurriedly got up
and marched to the bank of the river, where they encamped
in the village of Ábád §.
Bur Mír Núr Muhammad
Khán had already given his permission and Captain
Whitelock had already left for Karáchi. Mír Sher Muhammad
Khán now arrived from Mírpur with 12000 men
and joined the other Mírs. The Balóches running short
of provisions so soon, began to plunder the traders, who
had collected large quantities of provisions for the British
army, which had already been purchased and kept ready
for them. This was all the work of the first night and the
next morning. The Balóches were ready to loot the bazár
of Haidarábád. Mír Núr Muhammad and his brothers,
hearing of these outrages, tried their best to check the
wild Balóches and with great difficulty succeeded in quieting
them, after they had shaved the beards and cut the
ears of a good number of them.
Soon a report was received from Jamádár Alahrakhiah
The fort of Manahrah is
taken and the British force
is landed at Karáchi.
the governor of Karáchi, that ships
bearing British troops had arrived
off Karáchi, that the Sindí gunners
posted in the fort of Manahrah,*
had fired two or three
guns at the ships, that the return bombs were fired from
the ships razing to the ground one side of the fort in
about a quarter of an hour, and that General Keane had
landed his army by force. On hearing this, the Mírs
sent Sayyed Ismáíl Sháh to meet Sir John Keane and to
treat with him for peace through the medium of Major
Pottinger, who had since left Haidarábád and joined the
general. Accordingly, the Sayyed went to Karáchi and
tried his best to bring about peace by giving excuses and
explanation for what had happened. At last the following
treaty was drawn up, viz.:—
(1) That the Mírs must supply provisions and beasts of burden on
reasonable prices and hire.
(2) That as the Sind rupee contained much alloy, being 3 masás
out of 11, and its circulation caused great loss to traders,
the Mírs should strike a rupee weighing 8 masás, containing
no alloy.
(3) That the Mírs should pay an indemnity of 23 laks of pure
rupees to the British Government.
(4) That in future a British force of 3000 men would be posted at
Karáchi.
(5) That a Resident would be appointed to remain at Haidarábád
to superintend the British force and to watch the interests of
the British Government in Sind.
(6) That the Mírs would pay 3 laks of rupees annually to the
British Government as a tribute, and
(7) That the Mírs would readily comply with any reasonable request
that the British Resident might make and that the latter
would in no way interfere with any public or private affairs of
the Mírs. A copy of the above treaty was taken with Sayyed
Ismáil Sháh’s letter to the Mírs, by Captain Whitelock,
assistant to Major Pottinger, the British Resident. The Mírs
accepted the terms and signed the treaty.*
After this Sir John Keane with his whole force started
Passage of British forces
up the river to Kábul.†
for Kábul. The troops were prevented
from going to the east of the
Indus, on their march along the
river. When they arrived at Kótrí, the European Military
officers expressed a desire to visit the town of Haidarábád.
Permission was asked from the Mírs, who were requested
to arrange in such a way that no mischief or hurt be
caused by the people to the officers. The permission was
granted and Sayyed Jiandal Sháh, the Kotwál or Police
Superintendent of the town was ordered to proclaim by
tom-tom that the people should keep aloof from doing
any harm to the Europeans coming to see the town, or
else they would be punished severely. The next day,
after sunrise, all the European officers crossed the river
and came to Haidarábád. It was winter then. They
went about the town visiting places of importance till
4 p.m., when they returned to Kótrí. The next morning,
the British forces started again on their march. Col.
Ledge was sent ahead to inform the Mírs of Khairpur of
their coming. Those Mírs at first showed some opposition,
but subsequently they remained quiet. In a short time
General Keane arrived at Chhiprí, where after some conversation
Mr. Ross Bell was left as a Resident. The
British force which consisted of 2000 men then proceeded
to Khurásán.
After a year and a half Mr. Ross Bell died and the
Changes in the British
Residents at Haidarábád.
Residency of Khairpur too was attached
to Major Pottinger, the Resident
at Haidarábád. After 7 months
that officer fell ill and went home and was succeeded by
his assistant Captain Leckie. But he too did not remain
long and was soon transferred to Bombay, Captain Eastwick
being next appointed as the Resident. This officer
remained until after some days, Major Outram was
nominated to the post and arrived at Haidarábád viâ
Kachh. After a short stay at Haidarábád Major Outram
left his assistant Captain Whitelock to act for him at the
capital of Sind and himself went to see the Residency at
Khairpur and to settle some affairs in connection with
Kalát.
In the month of Zí-Kaad 1254 A.H. (1838 A.D.)
General Keane returns
from Kábul and passes
through Haidarábád to
Bombay.
General Sir John Keane after reinstalling
Shujáulmulk on the throne
of Kábul returned to Bombay, with
Sardár Ghulám Haidar Khán, the son
of Amír Dóst Muhammad Khán, as a hostage. On his
way, he alighted at the Residency bungalow of Major
Outram, which was situated on the bank of the Indus,
near Mír Muhammad Khán’s village. Mír Núr Muhammad
Khán ordered a salute of 19 guns in honour of the
General. That morning the Mírs paid formal visits to
the General, who received them with distinction. In the
afternoon, General Keane, accompanied by 25 other
European officers, returned the visits. They were received
by the Mírs in an open Durbár, which had been held for
the occasion, with all the pomp of an Indian ruler. The
General gave some gold as nazránah to each of the three
Mírs, Núr Muhammad Khán, Nasír Khán and Mír Muhammad
Khán and then took his leave. He next paid a
visit to Mír Sóbdár Khán. About sunset he returned to
the Residency, The next day, the General, with Sardár
Ghulám Haidar Khán and other officers left for Bombay.
In Jamádissání 1255 A.H. (1840 A.D.) Mír Núr
Death of Mír Núr Muhammad
Khán*
Muhammad Khán became ill. He
remained for some time under the
treatment of Native and European
doctors, but in vain. At last early on the morning of
Wednesday, 10th Shawwál, 1255 A.H. (1840 A.D.) †
he
died and was buried by the side of his father.‡
CHAPTER XIX.
THE RULE OF MÍR MUHAMMAD NASÍR KHÁN.
After Mír Núr Muhammad Khán’s death all the Balóch
Dispute between Mírs
Husain Alí Khán and Mír
Shahdád Khán.
chiefs acknowledged Mír Muhammad
Nasír Khán as their head, as he was
a very good man and a person of
literary pursuits and princely habits.
In the very next month a dispute arose between the
late Mír’s sons Mír Husain Alí Khán and Mír Shahdád
Khán, about their father’s legacy. The dispute was about
to pass from words to arms. At the instigation of Ahmad
Khán Lighárí Mír Sóbdár Khán took the side of Mír
Husain Alí Khán, and Mír Nasír Khán espoused the
cause of Mír Shahdád Khán. As there was no probability
of settling the matter otherwise, Mír Nasír Khán sent
Ákhúnd Bachal, one of his chief courtiers, to Colonel
Outram, the Resident, requesting him to interfere as an
umpire and settle the matter between the two brothers.
Accordingly the Colonel came and soon brought about
reconciliation between them and settled the dispute.
In 1257 A.H. (1841 A.D.) Colonel Outram went on
Cholera in Sind.
sick leave to Egypt and his assistant
Captain Mylne acted for him. In
Rabíussání of the next year, 1258 A.H. (1842 A.D.)
cholera broke out at Haidarábád, and from there it spread
throughout the province of Sind. All the Mírs with their
families, except Mírs Husain Alí Khán and Sóbdár Khán
and their sons, who went to live at Aghímání, left Haidarábád
and went to Miánah, where they remained for
3 months. In Jamádissání they came back to the fort of
Haidarábád.
About the close of Shuabán of the same year (September
Sir Charles Napier appointed
as Resident.
1842 A.D.) Sir Charles Napier being
appointed as the Resident of Sind,
left Púnah*
and came to Sind. From
Karáchi he came to Haidarábád by a steamer. On his
arrival, at the Residency the Mírs sent their men to
welcome him. In the afternoon, he came to visit Mír
Nasír Khán. Mír Abbás Alí Khán with a few other nobles
was sent to receive him at a short distance from the fort
and to bring him in. Next he visited Mír Sóbdár Khán
and then returned to the Residency. After three days he
left for Sakhar. At the latter place he saw all the Mírs
of that part. In the month of Ramazan, Captain Mylne,
Assistant Resident went to Bombay and in the next
month Captain Stanley came in his place. On the 18th
of the same month he visited Mír Nasír Khán to get his
sanction to a fresh treaty for which he had been sent by
Sir Charles Napier. The terms of the treaty were (1) that
the coin of Sind should bear the name of the King of England
on one side; (2) that the Mírs should cede to
the British Government Karáchi, Shikárpur, Sabzalkót,
Umarkót and all the land attached to these towns; (3) and
that a slip of land 100 yards in width, along both the
banks of the river be given to the British Government.
The Mír did not agree to the terms of the treaty and
refused to sign it.*
The Captain, therefore immediately
left for Bombay by a steamer.
About that time, Mír Alí Murad Khán of Khairpur,
Disagreement between
Mír Alí Murád Khán and
Mír Rustam Khán and the
flight of the latter.
with the secret help of Sir Charles
Napier, openly declared his enmity
against his eldest brother Mír Rustam
Khán, and put him to flight to seek
shelter, in his old age, in the sandy deserts of Thar. It
would appear that after the division of the late Mír Suhrab
Khán’s country among his children, the other Mírs
entertained a dislike towards Mír Alí Murad Khán and
wanted to molest him. The latter therefore thought
it proper to save himself by attaching himself to Sir
Charles.
At the close of Zíkaad 1258 A.H. (1842 A.D.) Colonel
Disagreement between
Mír Sóbdár Khán and the
other Mírs of Haidarábád.
Outram, the former Resident arrived
at Haidarábád, but he did not alight
from the steamer. The Mírs sent
presents to him. The Colonel accepted the presents of
Mír Sóbdár Khán, but rejected those of Mír Nasir Khán
and other Mírs. The latter, therefore, got grieved at this
and understood that Mír Sóbdár Khán was behaving in
the same way as Mír Alí Murád Khán was doing at
Khairpur under the guidance of Sir Charles Napier and
they feared that Mír Sóbdár Khán wanted to cause them
similar harm. This heightened the enmity between the
two Mírs.
About the close of Zilhajj of the same year, Mír Nasír
Disagreement between
the Mírs and Sir Charles
Napier.
Khán and Mír Muhammad Hasan,
the nephew and the son of Mír Rustam
Khán, came to Haidarábád from
Kóhírah, asking help from Mír Muhammad Nasír Khán
for Mír Rustam Khán. On the 2nd of Muharram
1259 A.H. (1843 A.D.) Mír Rustam Khán himself, with
his other sons and brothers arrived. All the Mírs, except
Mír Sóbdár Khán and Mír Shahdád Khán went out to
receive him and brought him into the fort of Haidarábád.*
Shortly after this Mírzá Khusróbeg, Yúsif Khizmatgár
and Ghulám Alí Nizámání were sent as envoys to Sir
Charles Napier, whose camp was near Sehwán then.
They delivered the message of the Mírs, stating that they
were ready to accept the terms of the last treaty, but
their wish was that at first Mír Rustam Khán should get
back his right, through the intercession of the General.
During the conversation that ensued with Sir Charles,
Mírzá Khusróbeg was bold enough to tell him in strong
terms that the Mírs of Haidarábád had been much grieved
to hear of the treatment of Mír Rustam Khán, and that
the Balóches had taken the matter so much to heart that
if the English people should come to Haidarábád, they
would draw swords at them. “And the fighting of the
Balóches,” said he, “is not a trivial thing. You should be
sure that Sind is not a cold pudding that you would eat so
easily.” These words coming from an envoy, exasperated
the General beyond measure. He refused to have any
more conversation with the envoys. “I am also for war,”
said Sir Charles, “let us see how the swords of the
Balóches resist the volleys of muskets and guns.” He
said the next day he would send Colonel Outram by a
steamer to Haidarábád to hear from the Mírs direct what
they had to say.
On the 6th of Muharram, Colonel Outram, Lieutenant
Brown and a few other officers with about 150 soldiers
arrived at Naoábád, where the British camp and Residency
were. The next day Colonel Outram and the other officers
came to visit the Mírs. They were received at the bungalow
of Mír Nasír Khán. After a long discussion, the Mírs
promised to sign the treaty after the 10th of Muharram
was over. The officers then went back to their camp in
the evening. On the 12th, Colonel Outram and Lieutenant
Brown again went to Mír Nasír Khán to have the
treaty signed and sealed, as promised. Mír Nasír Khán
said that his seal was with Muhammad Khán son of
Lukmán Talpur, and that of Mír Shahdád Khán was with
his Mukhtiárkár Muhammad Khán Lighárí, and the next
day they would take the seals from their confidential
attendants and fix them to the document of treaty. The
officers therefore went back to return the next day.
During the following night Ghulám Muhammad and
Yakhtiar Khán Laghárís induced Mír Nasír Khán to
change his views in regard to the English. Mírs Ghulám
Sháh Sháhwáni and Khán Muhammad Mánikáni, who
were the chief advisers of the Mír, advised him to declare
war against the English General, while Ákhund Bachal
and Nawáb Muhammad Khán Talpur, entreated the Mír
to keep peace with the English and give up any idea of
war. But as fate would have it, Mír Nasír Khán was
inclined to fight with the English and to refuse to sign
the treaty.
The next day Colonel Outram*
sent the document in
question with a confidential subordinate of his to the Mír.
Ghulám Muhammad Lighárí snatched the same from his
hands and tore it to pieces. The man went back disappointed
to the Colonel.
It may be noted here that during this discussion Mír
Shahdád Khán wisely stood aloof from giving any opinion
or taking any side. While Mírs Sóbdár Khán and Mír
Muhammad Khán displayed duplicity by joining the
Balóches on one side and the English on the other.†
At last on 14th of the same month, in the afternoon,
The Balóshes attack the
English camp and residency
at Haidarábád.*
Mír Muhammad Nasír Khán and
Mír Husain Alí Khán came out of
the fort in order to attack the English
camp and Residency. They encamped in a garden about
2 miles from Haidarábád. About 8000 Balóches, some
on wretched horses, others with useless arms, gathered
about the place, and beating the drum of war marched
towards the river. When they arrived near the English
camp, Captain Harding was directed to fire a volley at them.
The result was that the Balóches withdrew to a long distance,
halting under bábul trees, standing in clusters there.
Nawáb Ahmad Khán Lighárí now sent a messenger to
Mír Shahdád Khán telling him that he with his brothers
and kinsmen was going to fight with the English and
asking him to come and join the main body. While Mír
Shahdád was wavering on the point, Mír Ján Muhammad
Khán’s message arrived that he and the Nawáb were on
their way to the river and that Mír Shahdád Khán must
join them, in the name of family honour and the word of
God. Mír Shahdád Khán, therefore, was obliged to get
ready and taking a few cannons with him started for the
riverside.
Meanwhile Colonel Outram and other European officers
seeing that it was no longer safe to stop in the residency,
picked up the necessary and valuable things with them
and moved to the two steamers lying along the bank.
Immediately the Balóches poured in on the empty camp,
plundering the place, setting fire to the old tents and
houses and taking away a large heap of bread and other
articles which had been left behind as unnecessary. While
they were thus busy, balls fired from the guns in the
steamers began to shower upon them. Mashhadí a
Persian cook of Mír Nasír Khán was directed to fire a
cannon. The balls fell on the steamer and nearly destroyed
them. A little before sunset the two steamers were at
last seen moving away up the stream, to the north, in the
direction of Sehwán, where General Napier’s camp was.
Then the Balóches returned to their homes, and Mír
Shahdád went and joined Mír Nasír Khán who was then
in Kháthri. The next morning the two Mírs with their
forces came to Miání†
and encamped there.
A little before noon information was received that the
The battle of Miání and
the defeat of the Mírs of
Haidarábád.*
English army had left Halah on the
previous night and were moving forward.
In the evening a report came
that they had arrived at Muta-allawí (Matiárí), and were to
leave that place the next morning, and that they were about
5000 men and had 12 guns with them. On getting this
news Mír Nasír Khán sent word to Ghulám Muhammad and
Yakhtiár Lighárís and Ghulám Sháh and Jan Muhammad
Tálpurs, who were the leaders of the Balóch forces, to
get ready and to send a reconnoitring party to advance
and check them. But the zeal of the Balóches began
to slacken and they openly refused to advance. Mír Nasír
Khán repented very much at having depended on such
fickle people and having acted according to their inclination.
“These Balóches,” said he, “have done to me, what
the Kúfís did to Imám Husain.” That whole night was
spent in conversation and close consultation as to what
to do to avert the impending calamity. When the sun
rose the next morning, Mír Nasír Khán prepared for
battle and adjusted his arms on his person. His example
was followed by Mír Shahdád Khán, Mír Husain Alí
Khán, Mír Rustam Khán and other chiefs. Taking 17000
men and 11 guns with them the Mírs advanced to the
old Phuleli, where they arrayed the army to meet the
English. Soon some spies informed them that the
English army was in sight, and forthwith the Balóch
gunners began to throw bombs in the direction of the
enemy. Just about that time three English officers on
fleet horses were seen reconnoitring close to the Balóch
army and going back to join their main force. The
English now began to respond with their guns, and soon
a general fight ensued, which did not last long; for the
Balóches were put to flight and they did not rest till they
had reached the town of Haidarábád. This battle took
place on Friday the 17th of Muharram 1259 A.H.
(1843 A.D). In the afternoon, about the time of Friday
prayers, Mír Husain Alí Khán was the first to return to
the fort, and about an hour after, Mír Nasír Khán, Mír
Shahdád Khán, together with the Mírs of Khairpúr also
arrived.
General Napier, after securing the booty left behind by
Surrender of the Mírs,
and secession of Mír Sóbdár
Khán.
the Balóches encamped at the very
place, where the camp of the Balóches
had stood. Fearing lest some Balóches
should have concealed themselves in the hunting-grounds
of Miání close by, a search was made, but no sign
of the Balóches was found there.
During the night, that followed, Mír Sóbdár Khán sent
some trays of sweetmeats and other presents to General
Napier, through Munshí Áwatrái, who had held out hopes
to that Mír of reaping the same advantage from the
friendship with the English, as Mír Alí Murád Khán of
Khairpur had done.*
As the night was dark and the
watchman of the English camp could not be made to
distinguish between a friend and a foe from among the
Balóches, the Munshí returned disappointed. That night
there was all confusion in the town of Haidarábád. It
was expected that the next day the English troops would
come and plunder the place. So the people began to
migrate with all the valuables and necessary articles they
could carry with them. The same was the case with the
occupants of the fort. The next morning, Mír Sóbdár
Khán openly sent Munshí Áwatrái†
and Músá Armaní
(Armenian) to the English General expressing a desire to
have an interview with him. The General’s reply was
that, before anything else could be done Mírs Nasír Khán,
Shahdád Khán and Husain Alí Khán should surrender to
him or else he would besiege the fort and raze it to the
ground by cannonade and would not be responsible for
what worse might happen thereby. Mír Sóbdár Khán
sent the two men to deliver the General’s message to Mír
Nasír Khán. The latter had no alternative. Taking both
of his nephews with him he rode to the English camp,
accompanied by 7 or 8 men. When this party drew
near the camp, Colonel Outram came out of the tents
and after exchanging salutations took the three Mírs into
his own tent. After a few minutes, General Napier and
Colonel Pattle entered the same tent. The Mírs opened
the belts of their swords and placed the weapons before
the General, who received them and again tied the same
with his own hands on the waists of the Mírs. He them
told them that he was sending his report to the Governor
General, Lord Ellenborough, at Calcutta, and would act
according to the orders received from him. “Till then,”
he said, “the Mírs might remain in their camp on the bank
of the Indus.” As Mír Husain Alí Khán was very young,
the General, following the suggestion of Colonel Outram,
permitted him to return to the fort. The next day
(19th of the month) Sir Charles Napier moved his army
to his camp at Naóábád. The two Mírs were lodged in
the garden, now called Mír Muhammad Khan’s garden, and
a guard of 1st Brandesbury regiment under Lieut. Johnson,
was sent over them. Lieut. Brown, the General’s
Secretary, was asked to look after the comfort and wants
of the Mírs.
On the 21st of the same month, Captain Pelly intimated
The Mírs are made prisoners
and the fort of
Haidarábád is taken.
to the Mírs that some officers would
go into the fort during the day and
raise the British flag on the tower.
About 2 p.m., Colonel Pattle with a party of 12th Bombay
Infantry and 9th Bengal Cavalry and two guns entered
the fort. At the same time a cavalcade of Jacob’s Horse
came to the town to keep peace there, and Lieut. Mollison
went to the Kótwálí and removed the officers of the Mírs
and took charge of it.
Colonel Pattle first came to the bungalow of Mír
Sóbdár Khán in the fort and then went to the tower and
unfurled the British flag. Next he wanted to have the
keys of the fort and treasures. The gates had already
been secured by a guard and communication stopped.
In about three days all the treasures, open or buried, were
taken possession of by Colonel Macpherson and two other
officers, who were deputed to do that duty. Of all the
Mírs, Mír Nasír Khán’s valuables were the most that fell
into the hands of the English, for unlike the other Mírs,
he had had no opportunity of removing any part of his
property.
On the 26th of the month Captain Brown took away
Mír Mír Muhammad Khán on an elephant to the English
camp to join the other Mírs. And on the 1st of the next
month (Saffar) Mír Sóbdár Khán also was taken away in
a palankin, from the fort, in which only the young Mírs
were now left behind. On the 3rd of the month Major
Wright, of the 12th Bombay Infantry was appointed to
relieve Colonel Pattle and remain in charge of the fort.
On this very date, in the evening, a comet appeared in
the heavens. Its head was to the west and its tail to the
east. It remained for about a month and then gradually
disappeared. The people considered it very unlucky and
attributed the loss of Sind out of the hands of the Mírs, to
its inauspicious influence.
On the 22nd of Saffar 1259 A.H. (1843 A.D.) Sir
Battle of Dabbah and the
defeat of Mir Sher Muhammad
Khán.*
Charles Napier prepared to march
against Mír Sher Muhammad Khán
of Mírpur. Heavy showers of rain
prevented him from leaving the place, that day. The
next day, he started and met the Mír’s forces at the
village of Dabbah about 4 miles to the east of Haidarábád.
Here, a severe battle took place, which ended in the defeat
of Mír Sher Muhammad. Hósh Muhammad Habashí
(Abyssinian)†
who was one of the chief followers of Mír
Sóbdár Khán and was a brave soldier, was killed in this
battle. Mír Sher Muhammad Khán fled to Mírpur, being
pursued by General Napier. Arriving at Mírpur, the Mír
hurriedly carried some necessary baggage with him and
left for the Púnjab, to take refuge with Shersing, the
Sikh ruler. His first halt was near Sehwán, where he put
a ditch round the camp on three sides, leaving the westside,
along which the river flowed. He appointed his brother
Mír Sháh Muhammad Khán to watch the baggage left
behind the camp. Colonel Wright, who was then at Sehwán,
made an attack on Mír Sher Muhammad. The three
or four hundred Balóches, under Mír Sháh Muhammad
Khán were put to flight and Mír Sháh Muhammad himself
was taken prisoner. Colonel Wright immediately sent him
to Haidarábád. All the Mírs, who had been captured,
were now removed from the English camp to a steamer,
which was pushed off to about the middle of the stream
and there anchored. It remained there till, after the
battle of Dabbah, the whole country from Umarkót to
Haidarábád came into the complete possession of the
English conquerors and their posts were established
everywhere. Then the Mírs were again landed in the
camp.
A court-martial was then held to decide the fate of
Three men hanged by a
court-martial.
three men, who had been charged with
murder. One of them, Muhammad
son of Dittah, was alleged to have
killed a Pársí and the two others were Balóches, who had
murdered Captain Ennis. The burden of these murders
was laid by Sir Charles on the head of Mír Shahdád
Khán. The first prisoner was hanged by the neck near
the fort-gate, and the last two, below the fort-hill.*
CHAPTER XX.
MÍRS AS PRISONERS.
On the 9th of Rabíulawwal orders were received from
State prisoners sent to
Bombay and thence to
Poona.
the Governor-General to the effect
that the State prisoners be sent to
Bombay. The Mírs were accordingly
informed and asked to prepare and give a list of the
followers whom they wished to accompany them. They
were also asked to arrange for the removal of their
families from the fort to any place outside. Within two
days all the harams or derahs of the Mírs were taken away
by the Mírs’ men to the Tandah of Yúsif, on the western
bank of the Phulelí. Three days after that, i.e., on the
evening of 14th, Captain Brown with 20 soldiers of the
9th Bengal Cavalry took away the young Mírs, Hasan
Alí Khán and Abbás Alí Khán, the sons of Mír Nasír
Khán. Soon after that, Mírs Fateh Alí Khán and
Muhammad Alí Khán, the sons of Mír Sóbdár Khán were
also taken away to the English camp as prisoners. And
the next morning they with their elderly relatives Mírs
Nasir Khán, Mír Muhammad Khán, Sóbdar Khán and
Shahdéd Khán were sent to Bombay by a steamer.*
On 23rd Rabíulawwal 1259 A.H. (April 1843 A.D.)
Mír Husain Alí Khán son of Mír Núr Muhammad Khán
and Mírs Muhammad Khán and Yár Muhammad Khán
sons of Mír Murád Alí Khán, who had been left behind,
were also taken away under the orders of Sir Charles
Napier, who had now become the Governor of Bombay,
by Captain Brown with 10 men of the 9th Bengal Cavalry,
from the fort to the river and thence by a steamer to the
mouth of the Indus and thence to Bengal, where they
arrived on the 2nd of Rabíussání. All the Mírs were
lodged in a bungalow on the Malabár Hill. Captain
Gordon was put in charge of them. They were visited
by the Governor of Bombay. As the monsoon had commenced,
on the 2nd of Jamádilawwal of the same year,
the Mírs were taken to the village of Sasúr, about 24 miles
off Púnah (Poona.) After some 5 months, Mír Sháh
Muhammad Khán was also brought and joined the other
Mírs, at this place.
Up to this time the Mírs were entertained at the
The Mírs are taken to
Calcutta and Hazáríbágh.
Government expense. But now each
of them was given a monthly allowance
to maintain himself. In
Muharram 1260 A.H. (1844 A. D.) orders were received to
send the Mírs to Calcutta. Mír Rustam Khán, who was
considered unfit for such a journey owing to his weakness
and old age, was allowed to stay at Poona, with his son
Mir Alahbakhsh and his nephew Mír Nasír Khán. The
rest of the Mírs were taken to Bombay first and thence
by a steamer to Calcutta, where they arrived on 4th
Rabíussání 1260 A.H. (1844 A.D.) Captain Gordon had
come with the Mírs as Superintendent in charge, and he
continued in that post hereto. The Mírs after being
introduced to the Governor-General at Government House
were lodged in a bungalow outside the town.
In the next month the Mírs were given the choice of
going to live at Hazáríbágh or of remaining at Calcutta.
Mírs Husain Alí Khán, Muhammad Khán, Hasan Alí
Khán, Sháh Muhammad Khán and Yár Muhammad Khán
preferred going to Hazáríbágh. Accordingly on 24th Jamádissání,
they started by steamer to Murshidábád, thence
to Azímábád (Pátná) and thence to Hazáríbágh, where
they arrived in Rajjib. Here they remained for 8 years,
some of them constantly going to Calcutta to visit the
other Mírs and coming back.
In 1262 A.H. (1846 A.D.) Mír Muhammad Nasír Khán
Death of some Mírs and
the return of others to
Haidarábád.
died at Calcutta.*
In 1263 A.H.
(1847 A.D.) Mír Shahdád Khán, who,
as noted above, had been charged by
Sir Charles Napier with setting fire to the English camp
at Haidarábád and with murdering Captain Ennis, and
for that reason, had been kept separate from the other
Mírs at Súrat, was after much enquiry declared not guilty
by Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General and brought to
Calcutta to live with the other Mírs. In the same year
Mír Fateh Alí Khán son of Mír Sóbdár Khán died at
Calcuttá.
In 1270 A.H. (1854 A.D.) at the representation of the
Governor-General (Lord Dalhousie), the Court of the
Directors of the East India Company permitted the Mírs
to return to Sind if they liked to do so. Accordingly some
of them prepared to return. In Rabíulawwal 1272 A.H.
(November 1855 A.D.) Mír Muhammad Khán was the
first to arrive in Haidarábád viâ Dehlí and the Panjab.
His brother Mír Yár Muhammad Khán who had been left
at Alahábád with their harams, left that place in Rabíussání
1273 A.H. (December 1856 A.D.) by the same route
and reached Haidarábád in Rajjib of the same year. On
the 7th of the same month, 4th March 1857 A.D., Mír
Abbás Alí Khán died at Calcutta. On the 7th of Muharram
1274 A.H. (28th August 1857 A.D.) Mír Shahdád
Khán breathed his last. In the same year the coffins of
all the Mírs, who had died there were brought to Haidarábád
and their bodies buried in the Talpurs’ burial-ground
to the north of the town. In Shuabán 1275 A.H. (March
1859 A.D.) Mír Husain Alí Khán returned to Haidarábád.
The Commissioner in Sind gave a piece of land to the
Mírs, along the bank of the river near Gidú Bandar to fix
their residence there. Soon a pretty village grew up
about the place, where the surviving Mírs with their
children and followers have since lived.
In 1259 A.H. (1843 A.D.) when Sind was conquered by
The first Commissioners
in Sind.
the English, Sir Charles Napier, who
was the conqueror of Sind, was put
in political charge of Sind as a Governor.
In 1262 A.H. (1847 A.D.) General Napier was
sent with an army against Múlráj, who had revolted at
Multán, and Sind was annexed to the Bombay Presidency,
Mr. Pringle being appointed as the Commissioner of Sind.
Next came Mr. Frere*
as the Commissioner of Sind (in
December 1850). He became very popular. It was in
his time and at his suggestion, that the Mírs were
permitted to return to their native place. Mr. Frere
became Governor of Bombay and left Sind in 1859 when
he was succeeded by Mr. Inverarity.†
APPENDIX I.
(A.) EXTRACTS FROM THE BLUE BOOK OF THE
PARLIAMENT.
‘THE SIND CORRESPONDENCE.’
1. On 10th Rajjib 1224—21st August 1809—a treaty
Treaty between the British
Government and Mír
Ghulam Alí Khán and his
2 brothers.*
was made by the British Government
with Mírs Ghulám Alí Khán, Karam
Alí Khán and Murád Alí Khán.
The articles of the treaty were as
follows:—
| “(1) |
There shall be eternal friendship between the British
Government and that of Sinde. |
| (2) |
Enmity shall never appear between the two States. |
| (3) |
The mutual despatch of the vakeels of both the Governments
shall always continue. |
| (4) |
The Government of Sinde will not allow the establishment
of the tribe of the French in Sinde.” |
2. In the Blue Book one treaty is mentioned between
Treaty between the British
Government and Mírs
Karam Alí Khán and Murad
Alí Khán.†
the British Government and Mírs
Karam Alí Khán and Murád Alí
Khán, through Ághá Ismáil Sháh on
9th November 1820. In addition
to the assurances of friendship between the two Governments,
the following two articles are given, viz.:—
| “(3) |
The Amirs of Sinde engage not to permit any European or
American to settle in their dominions. If any of the
subjects of either of the two States should establish their
residence in the dominions of the other and should conduct
themselves in an orderly and peaceful manner in the territory
to which they may emigrate, they will be allowed to remain
in that situation; but if such fugitives shall be guilty of
any disturbance or commotion it will be incumbent on the
local authority to take the offenders into custody and
punish or compel them to quit the country. |
| (4) |
The Amirs of Sinde engage to restrain the depredations of the
Khoosas and all other tribes and individuals within their
limits and to prevent the occurrence of any inroad into
the British dominions.” |
3. On 20th April 1832 (18th Zikaad 1247 A.H.) a
Treaty between the East
India Company and Mír
Murad Alí Khán.*
treaty was concluded between the
East India Company and Mír Murád
Alí Khán, through Lieut.-Colonel
Pottinger. The following were some of the important
articles:—
| “(2) |
That the two contracting powers bind themselves never to
look with the eye of covetousness on the possessions of
each other. |
| (3) |
That the British Government has requested a passage for the
merchants and traders of Hindustan by the river and
roads of Sinde, by which they may transport either goods
and merchandize from one country to another, and the
said Government of Hyderabad hereby acquiesces in the
same request on the 3 following conditions—that no person
shall bring any description of military stores by the above
river and roads; that no armed vessels or boats shall come
by the said river, and that no English merchants shall be
allowed to settle in Sinde but shall come as occasion requires,
and having stopped to transact their business, shall
return to India. |
| (4) |
When merchants shall determine on visiting Sinde they shall
obtain a passport to do so from the British Government,
and due intimation of the granting of such passport shall
be made to the said Government of Hyderabad by the
Resident in Cutch, or other officer of the said British
Government. |
| (5) |
That the said Government is to promulgate a tariff or table
of duties leviable on each kind of goods as the case may
be . . . .”— |
This treaty was modified by another concluded in 1834, by which a
toll was fixed on each boat of 19 Tatta rupees per Tatta Kharrar,
of which 8 rupees were to be received by the Government of
Hyderabad and Khairpur and 11 by other States on the banks
of the Indus, viz:—H.H. Bahawal Khan, Maharajah Ranjitsing
and the East India Company. The size of the boat was fixed
to be 30 Tatta Kharrars for the sake of levying toll.
4. The following treaty was concluded between the
Treaty between the East
India Company and Mírs
Núr Muhammad Khán and
Nasír Khán.*
East India Company through
Colonel H. Pottinger and Mírs Núr
Muhammad Khán and Nasír Khán
on 30th April 1838:—
| “(1) |
In consideration of the long friendship, which has subsisted
between the British Government and the Amírs of Sinde,
the Governor-General in Council engages to use his good
offices to adjust the present differences, which are understood
to subsist between the Amirs of Sind and Maharajah
Ranjitsing, so that peace and friendship may be established
between the two States. |
| (2) |
In order to secure and improve the relations of amity and
peace which have so long subsisted between the Sinde State
and the British, a minister shall reside at the court of
Hyderabad and that the Amírs of Sinde shall also be at
liberty to depute a vakeel to reside at the court of the
British Government; and that the British Minister shall
be empowered to change his ordinary place of residence as
may, from time to time, seem expedient and be attended
by such an escort as may be deemed suitable by his Government. |
|
As the Amírs had large arrears of tribute to pay Sháh Shujául
Mulk, they were required by the Governor-General to pay
30 laks to the king at once. The Government Secretary
wrote the following to the Resident in Sind:—“Beyond
the payment of this sum, you will consider facilities heartily
and actively given to the British force on its advance, as
the first means, by which the principal Ameers may redeem
any portion of the favour, which they have forfeited. But
they will understand at the same time that such has been
the character of their measures as to render it absolutely
necessary that military posts be occupied in their country
for the safe maintenance of communication between the
army and the sea, and for the easy return of the British
force to the Presidency of Bombay.” |
The treaty of 23 Articles
between the British Government
and Mírs Núr Muhammad
Khán and Nasir Khan.†
5. The following is the treaty of
23 articles, the most important of
which are given here.
| “(2) |
The Governor-General of India has commanded that a British
force shall be kept in Sinde and stationed at the city of
Tattá, where a cantonment will be formed. The strength
of this force is to depend on the pleasure of the Governor-General
of India, but will not exceed 5000 men. |
| (3) |
Meer Noor Mahomed Khán, Meer Nuseer Mahomed Khan
and Meer Mahomed Khan bind themselves to pay annually
the sum of 3 laks of rupees in part of the expense
of the force, from the presence of which their respective
territories will derive such vast advantages. |
| (5) |
The British Government pledges itself neither to interfere in
any degree, small or great, in the internal management, or
affairs of the several possessions of the Ameers, nor to think
of introducing in any shape its regulations or adawlats. |
| (7) |
The British Government agrees to protect Sinde from all
foreign aggressions. |
| (9) |
Should any Ameer attack or injure the possession of another
Ameer, or those of his dependents, the Resident in Sinde
will, on being applied to by both sides act as mediator
between them. |
| (11) |
Their Highnesses the Ameers agree to form no new treaties,
or enter into any engagements with Foreign States, without
the knowledge of the British Government, but their Highnesses
will of course carry on friendly correspondence, as
usual, with all their neighbours. |
| (14) |
The Ameers agree to either build or allow the British
Government to build an enclosure and store-house at
Karáchi as a depôt for stores. |
| (15) |
Should any British merchants or others bring goods by the
way of Karáchi Bunder, the duties of Sinde Government
will be paid on them agreeable to the custom of the
country. |
| (16) |
… As the thorough-fare (on the Indus) will now be
increased a hundred-fold, the contracting Governments
agree to abolish the tolls on the river from the sea to
Ferozepore. |
| (19) |
Should the British Government at any time require and
apply for the aid of the army of Sinde, their Highnesses
the Ameers agree to furnish it according to their means,
and in any such case the troops, thus applied for are not to
exceed 3000 men, are not to proceed beyond the frontier
of Sinde, and are to be paid for by the British Government. |
| (21) |
A separate treaty has been made between the British
Government and Meer Rustam Khán of Khyrpur,
5th February 1839 A.D. = 20th Zikad 1254 A.H.” |
6. Lieutenant Eastwick to the Resident in Sind.
Wavering of the Mírs
before signing the last
treaty.*
Sind Residency, January 26th, 1839
—. . . . (on 22nd) about 1 o’clock
Captain Outram, Lieutenant Leckie
and myself started for the fort. We were received by
Meer Noor Mahomed, Meer Nusseer Khan and Meer Meer
Mahomed in a private apartment in which Meer Shadad,
Mirza Khoosrow, Nawab Mahomed Khan and Munshi
Choitram were present after a profusion of civilities
evidently forced, Meer Noor Mahomed produced a box
from which he took out all the treaties that had been
entered into between the British and Hyderabad Governments,
showing them to me only one, he asked “what is to
become of all these. Here is another annoyance. Since
the day Sinde has been connected with the English, there
has always been something new. Government is never
satisfied; we are anxious for your friendship, but we cannot
be continually persecuted. We have given a road to
your troops through our territories and now you wish to
remain. This the Baluchis will never suffer. But still
we might even arrange this matter were we certain that
we should not be harassed with other demands. There is
the payment to the king; why can we obtain no answer on
this point? Four months have now elapsed since this
question was first discussed. Is this a proof of friendship?
We have failed in nothing; we have furnished camels,
boats, grain; we have distressed ourselves to supply your
wants. We will send our ambassador to the Governor-General
to represent these things; you must state them to
Colonel Pottinger” . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(on 23rd) intelligence was brought that a night attack
was meditated… we therefore made the best disposition
of our small force, conveyed the baggage (except tents) and
servants on board the boats and waited the result. All the
people and baggage were embarked on board the boats and
sent forward; the gentlemen of the Residency followed in
the steamer.
7. The Resident in Sind to the Secretary with the
Sayyad Ismáil Sháh and
his sons.*
Governor-General. February 16th
1839— …. The only persons in
whom the Ameers seem to put confidence
just now are Syad Ismail Shah and his family and
I believe they have really exerted themselves to prevent
a rupture. They have all visited India frequently and are
much better acquainted with our power and policy than
any other people in Sinde. The advice they have lately
given no doubt chiefly proceeds from self advantage, but
it might be desirable to retain them in our own interest,
which from their avaricious habits could be effectually
done by granting to them a small pension for the lives of
Syad Ismail Shah (who is now 80 years of age) and his
three sons, Tukkee Shah, Sadik Shah and Zynool Abdeen
Shah.*
8. The Governor-General of India to the Secret Committee,
Dealings of the British
Goverument with the
Ameers; the possession of
Bakhar and Karachi and the
march of the British troops
along the Indus.†
13th March 1839—(…) The
Division of the Bengal Army, under
the command of Major-General Sir
Willoughby Cotton reached the Indus
within a week after the force of
Shah Shuja-ul Mulk. Permission had then been afforded
for the construction of bridges of boats over the two
channels of the river between which are situated the
island and fort of Bukkur. With the Ameers of Khyrpur,
to whom the fortress belongs, I have directed a
treaty to be formed receiving them formally under the
protection of the British Government and stipulating for
the possession of Bukkur, whenever it might be required,
during the continuance of defensive operations. This
ready and amicable acquisition of so useful a position may
be expected to have produced an excellent effect in all
the neighbouring countries, for the fort is one of much
celebrity. Intelligence had reached me in March 1838 of
letters having been written by the two principal Ameers,
Meer Noor Mahomed Khan and Meer Nusseer Mahomed
Khan to the Shah of Persia professing deference to his
power and encouraging his advance; and even at that
early period I caused it to be notified to the Ameers that
these proceedings could not be tolerated. This warning
was not taken and down to the latest period, advances
have been continued by the principal Ameers to the Shah
of Persia. . . . From all proceedings of this character, one
of the Ameers, Meer Sobdar Khan, has held himself free
and it was to him, as a friendly ruler at Hyderabad, that
I originally looked on the supposition of a change in the
Government being forced upon me. When Colonel
Pottinger proceeded to Hyderabad in the course of
September last, he found that the feelings of the principal
Ameers had been shown to be to the last degree ungrateful
and hostile. . . . Colonel Pottinger himself had been
insulted and his person exposed to some danger, by the
throwing of stones and other missives by the populace of
Hyderabad acting on the clandestine instigation or
permission of the chiefs. . . . A recommendation was
subsequently received from Colonel Pottinger that the
British Government should accept a tract of country near
Tatta, instead of any money contributions for the expense
of the British troops to be stationed in Sinde. . . . While
this correspondence was in progress the Bombay division
under the command of Sir John Keane had landed at the
Hujamro mouth of the Indus in the early days of
December. No resistance was ventured to his disembarkation,
but from the date of his arrival every artifice
was resorted to to thwart and impede his movements. . . .
At length after the lapse of weeks, Sir John Keane’s
division had been able to move on to Tatta. . . . Colonel
Pottinger had determined to offer to the Ameers a
revised treaty. . . . Transcripts of his instructions to his
assistant Lieutenant Eastwick, with this draft of treaty
to Hyderabad, accompany this address. The reception of
Lieutenant Eastwick by the Ameers was in the highest
degree unsatisfactory. . . . On the 23rd of January
Lieutenant Eastwick with his companions was obliged to
leave Hyderabad and proceed to join Sir John Keane’s
force, which had then reached Jerruck within two marches
of the capital. Communications were cut off, letters
seized, boatmen and other work-people threatened and
every appearance of intended hostility exhibited. At
Jerruck Sir John Keane had to wait a few days
for the arrival of the boats with his stores and
ammunition; and with the prospect of an early assault
upon Hyderabad before him, he judged it prudent to
call for the aid … from the Bengal division, which he
then knew to have reached Bukkur. Before, however, his
orders had reached Sir Willoughby Cotton, that officer
having received authentic intelligence of the imminent
hazard of a rupture in Lower Sind had marched with the
large force of two brigades of infantry, one brigade of
cavalry and a considerable proportion of artillery down the
east bank of the Indus, in the direction of Hyderabad. . . .
A portion of the disciplined troops of Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk
had been also sent down from Shikarpur to
occupy Larkhana… The Ameers sent a deputation
on some date before the 30th January to Colonel Pottinger
assenting to all his demands, when they perceived that he
was resolved and prepared to enforce them. He here
judged it requisite . . . . to secure the payment which
we have desired for Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk by making it
a new condition that 21 laks of rupees should be paid by
the Ameers of Hyderabad on this account; ten laks
immediately and the remainder within some reasonable
time to be specified. This stipulation was also at once
agreed to. . . . Sir John Keane with his force
arrived opposite to Hyderabad on the 3rd or 4th of
February, and the treaties were duly signed and delivered
by the Ameers and the ten laks of rupees made over to
Colonel Pottinger without delay. The orders of Sir John
Keane, announcing the favourable change, reached
Sir Willoughby Cotton on his march southwards and these
troops were immediately moved back, crossed over the
bridge at Bukkur and concentrated at Shikarpur by the
21st of February. Sir John Keane with his division
marched northwards from Hyderabad on the 10th of
February; while the events described had been occurring
at Hyderabad, two regiments of the reserve force for
Sind had proceeded to land at Karachi, Her Majesty’s
regiment being embarked on board the flagship
“Wellesley” in which Sir Frederick Maitland, the Naval
Commander-in-Chief, had obligingly afforded it accommodation.
The landing of the troops being opposed
and a shot fired upon them from a small fort … the
“Wellesley” opened her batteries and in a very short time
the southern or sea face of the fort … was levelled with
the ground. The troops in the meantime landed from
the boats and the garrison of the fort was immediately
apprehended. The Governor of the town at once gave
over military possession of it by capitulation and we have
thus gained the occupancy of a Military post which is
likely to become one of much interest and importance.
I may be permitted to offer my congratulations to you
upon this timely settlement of our relation with Sinde
by which our political and military ascendency in
that province is now finally declared and confirmed.
9. The Resident in Sind (H. Pottinger) to Lieutenant-Colonel
The value of Shikárgáhs
in the days of the Mírs.
Spiller, Commanding at Tatta,
30th March 1839:—“However we
may regret that the Ameers should
devote so large a portion of the very finest parts of their
country to such purposes, we must neither forget the
severity of our forest laws, when England was further
advanced in the scale of civilization than Sind now is.
. . . . We must also bear in mind that the Shikárgáhs
provide the only amusements the Ameers take any
interest in, and of the depth of that interest some notion
will be found when I tell you that the preserves are kept
up at so great an expense, that, it is said, every deer, their
Highnesses shoot in them, costs Rs. 800. Besides this
positive and well-known fact, their Highnesses did not
hesitate to distinctly avow to me that they value their
Shikárgáhs beyond even their families and children, which
shows that we cannot at all estimate their anxiety regarding
them.”
10. The Political Agent (J. Outram) to the Secretary
Death of Mír Núr Muhammad
and his feelings towards
the British Government.
to the Government of India,
6th December 1840:—“I have every
reason to lament the loss of Meer
Noor Mahomed Khan and do so most
sincerely both on public and private grounds. Whatever
that chief’s secret feelings towards the British may
have been, certainly his acts latterly were all most friendly
and I cannot but place faith in almost the last words the
dying chief uttered, solemnly protesting the sincerity of
his friendship for the British Government, not only because
being then perfectly aware that he had but few hours to
live and seeking nothing he could have no motive for
deception, but also because I had myself always found
his Highness most ready to forward our interests and least
ready to welcome reports prejudicial to us, which during
late exciting times were so industriously propagated and
greedily devoured by those more inimical to us.”
11. The Governor-General of India in Council to
Treaty with Mír Sher
Mahomed Khan.
the Secret Committee, 20th August
1841:—“It will be seen (from Major
Outram’s report) that Meer Sher
Mahomed Khan has entered into a treaty, by which he binds
himself to pay 50,000 Company’s rupees as annual tribute
and to submit his territorial disputes with the Ameers of
Hyderabad to the decision of the Political Agent . . . . We
have intimated to Major Outram the high sense we entertained
of his conduct on this occasion and of the friendly
spirit with which his endeavours to reconcile the differences
of Meer Nuseer Khan and Meer Sher Mahomed Khan
had been seconded by Meer Mahomed Khan.
12. The Governor-General to the Secret Committee,
Intrigues of the Mírs
against the British Government.
8th June 1842:—“I am sorry to notice
that Major Outram has detected intrigues
on the part of the Ameers of
Upper and Lower Sinde, which evince clearly that these
chieftains entertained projects of a hostile nature, if any
further disasters to our arms in Afghanistan had afforded
them a favourable opportunity of attempting to throw off
their allegiance to the British Government.”
Sir Charles Napier finding
a pretext to take some chief
towns in Sind.
13. Observations by Sir Charles
Napier upon the occupation of Sinde,
17th October 1842:—
“Several Ameers have broken the treaty. I have maintained
that we want only a fair pretext to coerce the
Ameers and I think the various acts recorded in the return
(of complaints) give abundant reason to take Kurrachee,
Sukkur, Bukkur, Shikarpore and Sabzulkote for our own,
obliging the Ameers to leave a trackway along both banks
of the lndus and stipulate for a supply of wood; but at
the same time, remitting all tribute and arrears of tribute
in favour of those Ameers whose conduct has been
correct, and finally enter into a fresh treaty with one of
these princes alone as chief and answerable for the
others.”
14. 4th November 1842—“(1) the Ameers of Hyderabad
Draft of treaty between
the British Government and
the Mírs of Haidarábád.
are relieved from the payment of all
tribute to the British Government,
which under existing engagements
would become due after the 1st of January 1843. (2) The
only coin legally current in the dominion of the Ameers of
Hyderabad, after the 1st of January 1845, shall be the
Company’s rupee and the rupee hereinafter mentioned.
(3) The British Government will coin for the Ameers of
Hyderabad such number of rupees as they may require
from time to time, such rupees bearing on one side the
effigy of the sovereign of England with such inscription
or device as the British Government may from time to
time adopt and on the reverse such inscription or device
as the Ameers may prefer. (4) … (5) The Ameers in
consideration of the above engagement renounce the
privilege of coining money and will not exercise the same
from the date of the signature of this treaty. (6) With
a view to the necessary provision of wood for the use of
steamers navigating the Indus and the rivers communicating
therewith the British Government shall have the
right to fell wood within one hundred yards of both banks
of the Indus within the territories of the Ameers. (7)
The following places and districts are ceded in perpetuity
to the British Government—Kurrachee and Tatta with
such arrondissement as may be deemed necessary by
Major General Sir Charles Napier … (8) All the rights
and interests of the Ameers or of any one of them in
Sabzulkote and in all the territory intervening between the
present frontier of Bahawalpore and the town of Roree
are ceded in perpetuity to his Highness the Nawab of
Bahawalpore, the ever faithful ally and friend of the
British Government. (9) To the Meer Sobdar Khan, who
has constantly evinced fidelity to his engagements and
attachment to the British, is ceded territory producing
half a lac of annual revenue, such cession being made in
consideration of the loss he will sustain by the transfer of
Kurrachee to the British Government and as a reward for
his good conduct. (10) . . . . (11) . . . . (12) . . . .”
In the draft of a similar treaty with the Ameers of
Khyrpur the first two articles are the following:—“(1)
The pergunnah of Bhoong Bhara and the third part of
the district of Subzulkote and the villages of Gotki,
Maladee, Choonga, Dadoola and Uzeezpur and on the
territories of the Ameers of Khairpore or any of them
intervening between the present dominions of his Highness
the Nawab of Bahawalpore and the town and district of
Roree are ceded in perpetuity to his Highness the Nawab.
(2) The town of Sukkur with such arrondissement as
shall be deemed necessary by Major General Sir Charles
Napier and the island of Bukkur and the adjoining
islets and the town of Roree with such arrondissement
as may be deemed necessary by Major General Sir Charles
Napier are ceded in perpetuity to the British Government.”
15. Sir Charles Napier to the Governor-General, 29th
Mír Rustam Khán’s flight.
December 1842:—“And now, my
Lord, I have to tell you that Mir
Rustam has decamped yesterday morning. I met Ali
Moorad the night before and desired him to say that I
would pay my respects to his Highness the next day, and
the next day I heard of his flight. I can only account
for this in one or two ways—first, that Mir Rustam, who
is a timid man and has all along fancied that I want to
make him prisoner, believed that the time for this step
had arrived, and that his brother and I were about to
execute our conspiracy against him; or second, that Ali
Moorad drove his brother to this step. Mir Rustam has
resigned the turban to his brother Ali Moorad in the most
formal manner, writing his resignation in the Kuran
before all the religious men collected to witness the
resignation at Dejee.”
16. Sir Charles Napier to the Governor-General,
The fort of Imámgarh
blown up by Sir Charles
Napier.
13th January 1843:—“I arrived here
yesterday. . . . . This fortress is
exceedingly strong against any force
without artillery. The walls are 40 feet high; one tower
is 50 and built of burned bricks; it is a square with
eight round towers. . . . Within it is a vast quantity of
powder. There are some bomb-proof chambers. . . . .
When I reflected that the existence of Imámgarh can
only serve to foster confidence in the Ameers of both
Sindes when discontented or rebellious, and will, sooner
or later, force us to another and more perilous march
perhaps, I made up my mind to blow it down. It belongs
to Ali Moorad who consents to its destruction. I
have therefore undermined it. The vast quantity of
powder, which we cannot remove, will be better destroyed.
It is well stored with grain, which I have distributed
as rations.
17. Notes of conference with the Ameers of Sind on
The draft of the last
treaty is signed by the Mírs
after much hesitation
the 8th and 9th and again on the 12th
February 1843.—“After the usual
preliminaries Major Outram produced
the Persian copies of the Draft treaties formerly submitted
to the Ameers by Sir Charles Napier and requested
their Highnesses to apply their seals in his presence, as
previously pledged to do by their vakeels. A long discussion
then ensued regarding Meer Rustam’s affairs,
they insisting that Major Outram had full authority to
in vestigate the case. . . . The Ameers then endeavoured
to induce Major Outram to declare that in the event of
Meer Rustam proving everything he had advanced, his
chiefship and what had been made over from Upper
Sind Ameers to Ali Moorad would be restored. Major
Outram replied that it was not in his power to say what
would be done. . . . The Ameers said Meer Rustam could
and would prove all he had asserted with regard to his
having been confined by Ali Moorad, having, when in
confinement, had his seal forcibly taken from him,
having been induced to fly by Ali Moorad when the
General was coming to Dejeekote, etc., etc. Major
Outram said that this case rested with the General. . . .
After long urging this point the Ameers of Hyderabad
applied their seals to the draft of the new Treaty, as did
Meer Rustam and Meer Mahomed of Khairpore … Major
Outram then proceeded to Meer Sobdar’s Durbar, where
that Ameer and Meer Hoossein Ali sealed the treaty without
demur. On returning home, after leaving the fort, Major
Outram and his companions (Captain Brown and the officers
of Her Majesty’s 22nd Regiment) had to pass through
a dense crowd of Beloochees, who gave unequivocal evidence
of bad feeling in their manner and expressions, but
were kept from giving further vent to their feelings by a
strong escort of horse the Ameers sent under some of their
influential chiefs. After getting clear of the crowd Major
Outram was informed that one of the officers in his
company had been struck with a stone.” . . . .
18. Major Outram to Sir Charles Napier on board the
The attack on the
Residency.
“Planet”, 15 miles above Hyderabad,
6. p. m., 15th February 1843:—“Sir,
my despatches of the last few days
will have led you to expect that my earnest endeavours
to effect an amicable arrangement with the Ameers of
Sinde would fail; and it is with much regret I have now
to report that their Highnesses have commenced hostilities
by attacking my residence this morning, which after four
hours’ most gallant defence by my honorary escort,
commanded by Captain Conway, I was compelled to
evacuate, in consequence of our ammunition running
short… At 9 a. m. this morning, a dense body of cavalry
and infantry (ascertained to have amounted to 8000 men
under Meer Shadad Khan, Meer Mahomed Khan, Nawab
Ahmed Khan Lugharee and many principal chiefs) took
posts on three sides of the Agency compound (the fourth
being defended by the “Planet” steamer about 500 yards
distant) in the gardens and houses, which immediately
commanded the inclosure. A hot fire was opened by the
enemy and continued incessantly for four hours, but all
their attempts to enter the Agency inclosure were
frustrated by Captain Conway’s able distribution of his
small band under the gallant example of Lieutenant
Harding, Captains Green and Wills and Brown… Our
ammunition being limited to 40 rounds per man, the
officers directed their whole attention to reserving their
fire and keeping their men close under cover … consequently
great execution was done with trifling expenditure
of ammunition and with little loss (the enemy losing
upwards of 60 killed and more wounded, among the
latter Meer Mahomed Khan). Our hope of receiving a
reinforcement and a supply of ammunition by the
“Satellite” steamer (hourly expected) being disappointed
on the arrival of that vessel without either, shortly after
the commencement of the attack, it was decided at
12 a. m. to retire to the steamer, while still we had
sufficient ammunition to fight the vessel up the river.
Accordingly I requested Captain Conway to keep the
enemy at bay for one hour, while the property was
removed… After delivering their first loads on board,
however, the camp followers were so terrified at the
enemy’s cross fire … that none could be persuaded to
return, except a few of the officers’ servants, with whose
assistance but little could be removed during the limited
time we could afford; consequently much had to be
abandoned… After the expiration of another hour
(during which the enemy despairing of otherwise effecting
their object, had brought six guns to bear upon us) we
took measures to evacuate the Agency. Captain Conway
called in his posts, and all being united, retired in body,
covered by a few skirmishers, as deliberately as on parade
(carrying off our slain and wounded) which and the fire
from the steam boats deterred the enemy from pressing
on us as they might have done. All being embarked
I then directed Mr. Acting Commander Miller,
Commanding the “Satellite” steamer, to proceed with
his vessel to the wood station, three miles up the river,
on the opposite bank, to secure a sufficiency of fuel for
our purposes ere it should be destroyed by the enemy,
while I remained with the “Planet” to take off the
barge that was moored to the shore. This being a work
of some time, during which a hot fire was opened on the
vessel from three guns, besides small arms. . . . The
“Satellite” was also exposed to three guns in her progress
up to wood station, one of which she dismounted by her
fire. The vessels were followed by large bodies for
about three miles, occasionally opening their guns upon
us to no purpose; since then we have pursued our
voyage up the Indus, about fifteen miles, without
molestation, and purpose to-morrow morning anchoring
off Muttaree, where I expect to find your camp. Our
casualties amount to two men of Her Majesty’s 22nd
Regiment and one camp follower killed; and Mr.
Conductor Kiely, Mr. Carlisle, Agency clerk, two of the
steamer’s crew, four of Her Majesty’s 22nd Regiment,
two camp followers wounded, and four camp followers
missing; total three killed, ten wounded and four missing.—
I have, &c., J. Outram.”
19. Sir Charles Napier to the Governor-General, Miáni,
Sir Charles Napier’s
account of the battle of
Miáui.
6 miles from Hyderabad, February
1843.—“My Lord, the forces under
my command have gained a decisive
victory over the army of the Ameers of Upper and Lower
Sinde. A detailed account of the various circumstances
which led to this action does not belong to the limited
space of a hasty despatch. I therefore begin with the
transactions belonging to the battle. On the 14th
instant the whole body of the Ameers, assembled in full
Durbar, formally affixed their seals to the draft treaty.
On leaving the Durbar, Major Outram and his companions
were in great peril: a plot had been laid to murder them
all. They were saved by the guards of the Ameers; but
the next day (the 15th) the residence of Major Outram
was attacked by 8000 of the Ameer’s troops, headed by
one or more of the Ameers. I heard of it at Hala, at
which place the fearless and distinguished Major Outram
joined me, with his brave companions in the stern and
extraordinary defence of his residence against so overwhelming
a force, accompanied by six pieces of cannon.
On the 16th I marched to Muttaree. Having ascertained
that the Ameers were in position at Miáni (ten miles
distance) to the number of 22000 men, and well
knowing that a delay for reinforcements would both
strengthen their confidence and add to their numbers,
already seven times that which I commanded, I resolved
to attack them, and we marched at 4 a. m. on the
morning of the 17th. At 8 o’clock the advanced
guard discovered their camp; at 9 we formed in
order of battle, about 2800 men of all arms and
twelve pieces of artillery. We were now within
range of the enemy’s guns, and fifteen pieces of artillery
opened upon us and were answered by our cannon. The
enemy were very strongly posted; woods were on their
flanks which I did not think could be turned. These two
woods were joined by the dry bed of the river Fulaillee,
which had a high bank. The bed of the river was nearly
straight and about 1200 yards in length. Behind this
and in both woods were the enemy posted. In front of
their extreme right, and on the edge of the wood, was a
village. Having made the best examination of their
position, which so short a time permitted, the artillery
was posted on the right of the line, and some skirmishers
of infantry, with the Sinde irregular horse, were sent in
front, to try and make the enemy show his force more
distinctly; we then advanced from the right in echelon
of battalions, refusing the left to save it from the fire of
the village. The 9th Bengal Light Cavalry formed the
reserve in rear of the left wing, and the Poona Horse,
together with four companies of infantry, guarded the
baggage. In this order of battle we advanced as at a
review, across a fine plain, swept by the cannon of the
enemy. The artillery and Her Majesty’s 22nd Regiment
in line formed the leading echelon, the 25th Native
Infantry the second, the 12th Native Infantry the third
and the 1st Grenadier Native Infantry the fourth. The
enemy was 1000 yards from our line, which soon traversed
the intervening space. Our fire of musketry opened at
about 100 yards from the bank, in reply to that of the
enemy, and in a few minutes the engagement became
general along the bank of the river, on which the combatants
fought, for about three hours or more, with
great fury, man to man. Then, my Lord, was seen the
superiority of the musket and bayonet over the sword and
shield and matchlock. The brave Beloochees, first
discharging their matchlocks and pistols, dashed over the
banks with desperate resolution, but down went these
bold and skilful swordsmen under the superior power of
the musket and bayonet. At one time, my Lord, the
courage and numbers of the enemy against the 22nd, the
25th and the 12th Regiment bore heavily in that part of
the battle. There was no time to be lost, and I sent
orders to the cavalry to force the right of the enemy’s
line. This order was very gallantly executed by the
9th Bengal Cavalry and the Sinde Horse, for the struggle
on our right and centre was, at that moment, so fierce
that I could not go to the left. In this charge the
9th Light Cavalry took a standard and several pieces of
artillery, and the Sinde Horse took the enemy’s camp
from which a vast body of their cavalry slowly retired
fighting. Lieutenant Fitzgerald gallantly pursued for
two miles, and, I understand, slew three of the enemy in
a single combat. . . . The artillery made great havoc
among the dense masses of the enemy and dismounted
several of their guns. The whole of the enemy’s artillery,
ammunition, standards and camp, with considerable stores
and some treasure, were taken. Meer Roostam Khan,
Meer Nuseer Khan, and Meer Wullee Mahomed, of
Khyrpore, Meer Nuseer Khan, Meer Shahdad Khan and
Meer Hoosein Ali Khan, all of Hyderabad, came into my
camp and surrendered their swords as prisoners of war.
Their misfortunes are of their own creation, but as they
are great, I returned to them their swords. They await
your Lordship’s orders. Their Highnesses have surrendered
Hyderabad and I shall occupy it to-morrow. It is not
to be supposed that so hard fought an engagement could
be sustained without considerable loss on both sides.
That of the British force is 256 men killed and wounded.
The enemy is generally supposed to have lost 5000.
Major Teesdale, while animating his sepoys, dashed on
horseback over the bank amidst the enemy, and was
instantly shot and sabred, dying like a glorious soldier.
Major Jackson … Captains Meade, Tew, and
Cookson, with Lieutenant Wood, all fell honourably.
Lieutenant-Colonel Pennefather, Major Wyllie, Captains
Tucker and Conway, Lieutenants Harding and Phayre
were all wounded . . . . I ought to have observed
that I had the night before the action detached Major
Outram in the steamers, with 200 sepoys, to set fire to the
wood in which we understood the enemy’s left flank was
posted … However, the enemy had moved about
eight miles to their right during the night.” . . . .
20. Sir Charles Napier to the Governor General,
Sir Charles Napier’s
account of the battle of
Dabbah.
Dubbah, four miles from Hyderabad,
March 24, 1843:—“My Lord, the
forces under my command marched
from Hyderabad this morning at day-break. About half
past 8 o’clock, we discovered and attacked the army under
the personal command of Meer Shere Mahomed, consisting
of 20000 men of all arms, strongly posted behind one of
those large nullahs, by which this country is intersected
in all directions. After a combat of about three hours,
the enemy was wholly defeated with considerable slaughter
and the loss of all his standards and cannon. His position
was nearly a straight line; the nullah was formed by two
deep parallel ditches, one 20 feet, the other 42 feet wide
and 17 deep, which had been for a long distance freshly
scarfed, and a banquette made behind the bank expressly
for the occasion. To ascertain the extent of his line was
extremely difficult, as his left did not appear to be satisfactorily
defined, but he began moving to his right, when
he perceived that the British force outflanked him in that
direction. Believing that his movement had drawn him
from that part of the nullah which had been prepared for
defence, I hoped to attack his right with less difficulty,
and Major Leslie’s troop of Horse Artillery was ordered to
move forward and endeavour to take the nullah; the 9th
Light Cavalry and Poona Horse advancing in line, on the
left of the artillery, who was supported on the right by
Her Majesty’s 22nd Regiment, the latter being, however,
at first considerably retired to admit of the oblique
fire of the Leslie’s troop. The whole of the artillery now
opened upon the enemy’s position and the British line
advanced in echelons from the left, Her Majesty’s 22nd
Regiment leading the attack. The enemy was now
perceived to move from his centre in considerable bodies
to his left, apparently retreating, unable to sustain the
cross fire of the British Artillery; on seeing which Major
Stack, at the head of the 3rd Cavalry, under command of
Captain Delamain, and the Sind Horse, under command
of Captain Jacob, made a brilliant charge upon the
enemy’s left flank, crossing the nullah, and cutting down
the retreating enemy for several miles. While this was
passing on the right, Her Majesty’s 22nd Regiment,
gallantly led by Major Poole who commanded the brigade,
and Captain George, who commanded the corps, attacked
the nullah on the left with great gallantry, and, I regret
to add, with considerable loss. The brave battalion
marched up to the nullah under a heavy fire of matchlocks,
without returning a shot, till within 40 paces of
the intrenchment, and then stormed it like British soldiers.
The intrepid Lieutenant Coote first mounted the rampart,
seized one of the enemy’s standards, and was severely
wounded, while waving it and cheering on his men.
Meanwhile, the Poona Horse under Captain Tait and the
9th Cavalry, under Major Story, turned the enemy’s right
flank, pursuing and cutting down the fugitives for several
miles. Her Majesty’s 22nd Regiment was well supported
by the batteries commanded by Captains Willoughby and
Hutt, which crossed their fire with that of Major Leslie.
Then came the 2nd Brigade, under command of Major
Woodburn, bearing down into action with excellent
coolness. It consisted of the 25th, 21st and 12th Regiment
under the command of Captains Jackson, Stevens
and Fisher, respectively: these regiments were strongly
sustained by the fire of Captain Whitlie’s battery, on the
right of which were the 8th and 1st Regiments, under
Majors Brown and Clibborn: these two corps advanced
with the regularity of a review, up to the intrenchments,
their commanders, with considerable exertion, stopping
their fire, on seeing that a portion of the Sinde Horse and
3rd Cavalry, in charging the enemy, had got in front of
the Brigade. The battle was decided by the troops of
Horse Artillery and Her Majesty’s 22nd Regiment. The
Beloochee infantry and artillery fought well: their cavalry
made no stand; and 5000 disciplined soldiers were not to
be long resisted by a barbarian force, even though that
force were nearly five to one. From the accounts which
have come in, since writing the above, there is reason to
believe that the loss of the enemy has been very great:
about 500 bodies have been counted upon the field of
battle, and it is said that the neighbouring villages are
filled with dead and wounded men. Eleven pieces of
cannon were taken in position on the nullah and seventeen
standards. It gives me great satisfaction to say that
some prisoners have been taken; and though the number
is small, it is still some advance towards a civilised mode of
warfare. . . . We are at present employed in collecting
the wounded Beloochees within our reach, in order to
render them medical assistance. I have deeply to regret
the loss of the brave and excellent Captain Garret of the
9th Light Cavalry and also the fall of Lieutenant Smith
of the Bombay Artillery. . . . Many of the Sindian
people (who are all in great delight at the destruction of
their Beloochee oppressors) have come into camp from
different parts and bring assurance that the Beloochee
force is wholly dispersed and that Meer Shere Mahomed
has fled into the desert, with his family and about forty
followers; but as Imamgarh has been destroyed, the
heat will soon force him to quit his temporary refuge,
where there is no protection from the sun. He will therefore
probably endeavour to reach Multan. I have written
to his Highness Ali Moorad to arrest his progress in that
direction, if possible, and to make him prisoner. Three
Beloochee chiefs fell in the action; one of them was the
great promoter of the war—Hoche Mahomed Seedee, and
I have every reason to believe that not another shot will be
fired in Sind.—I have, &c.—C. J. Napier, Major-General,
Commanding in Sind and Beloochistan.”
21. Sir Charles Napier to Meer Shere Mahomed,
Ághá Khán plundered
and Mír Sher Muhammad
calkd to surrender.
Hyderabad, April 7, 1843.—“Chief, if
you will give back to Aga Khan the
plunder you took from Jerruck, and
come in and make your salaam to me, I will pardon, and
be your friend, and your jagheers shall be respected.
C. J. Napier.” Hyderabad, May, 2, 1843.—“Chief, come
and make your salaam, and you shall receive from the
English Government all you held under the Ameers; and
I will place the sword which you have sent me again
in your hands that you may fight as bravely for my nation
as you did against us when you served the Ameers.
C. J. Napier.” Hyderabad, May, 6, 1843.—“Ameer, you
never disbanded your army, as I desired you to do. You
sent a most insolent letter to me by vakeels. You offered
that if I would capitulate, you would let me quit the
country; I gave your vakeels the only answer such a
letter deserved, namely, that I would answer you with
my cannon. Soon after that, your brother sent to me a
letter, offering to assassinate you; I sent the letter to you.
In my letter, I told you that you were a brave enemy,
that I sent you the proposition of your brother to put you
on your guard. I did not say that you were not an
enemy. If Your Highness cannot read, you should get
trusty people to read for you. Your Highness has broken
treaties; you have made war without the slightest provocation,
and before a fortnight passes you shall be
punished as you deserve. I will hunt you into the
desert and into the mountains; if you wish to save
yourself, you must surrender within five days.—C. N.
Napier.”
22. Meer Nusseer Khan to the Governor of Bombay,
Testimony to Mirza
Khusrobég’s respectability,
and his ill-treatment at the
hands of the English.
April 28, 1843:—“Meerza Khoosroo
Beg, whom former Ameers treated as
their child, was beaten and disgraced.
His house and that of Bushee were
plundered.” Meer Nusseer Khan to the Court of Directors:—“The
late Meer Kurum Ali Khan and Meer Moorad
Ali treated Meerza Khoosroo as a son. He was imprisoned
with us. One day he was taken to the fort and charged
with having misdirected them to the spot, where was the
treasure of the late Meer Kurum Ali Khan, for which
they had him disgraced and flogged until he fainted.
On his recovering, he was tied up for two hours in the
fort, and afterwards brought back to the place where I
was imprisoned.” … Observation by Sir Charles
Napier on the Memorials of the Ameers. Hyderabad,
June 12, 1843. . . . “Meerza Khoosroo Beg was
not beaten, nor was any body else; but being in a
passion, he seized Major McPherson (who had neither
said nor done anything to him) by the throat, and was, of
course, instantly made a prisoner. . . .”
23. Meer Nusseer Khan of Hyderabad to the Court of
Mír Nasír Khán’s account
of the whole affair and his
explanation about his
conduct.
Directors. Sassoor, September 22,
1843.—“I formerly sent you a short
account of my history, which has
probably reached you, and acquainted
you with most of what has befallen me. I write again,
to inform you that in the time of the late Meer Gholám
Alí Khan, Meerza Nusseer was deputed to Calcutta, and
brought back a treaty bearing a seal of the then Governor-General,
which treaty was respected as long as that Ameer
lived. Subsequently, in the time of the late Meer Kurum
Ali Khan and my father Meer Moorad Ali Khan, Meer
Ismail Shah was sent on a mission to Governor Elphinstone,
and concluded with him a treaty which was
observed until the death of the Ameers above mentioned.
In the time of my father, Meer Moorad Ali Khan, Colonel
Alexander Burnes, being desirous to proceed through
Sinde, by the river Indus, on a visit to Runjeet Sing,
arrived at Kurrachee, whence he wrote several letters
requesting permission to advance by that route, but as
this had not been stipulated for in any former treaty, my
father refused to comply, on which I wrote to him
(Sir A. Burnes) and told him to leave the property in
his charge at Kurrachee and to come himself to Hyderabad,
whence he should be allowed to pass up the river; he
came accordingly; but my father told him he could not
be permitted to proceed up the river, and that he had
written to him to that effect at Kurrachee, asking him,
moreover, why he had come to Hyderabad without his
(my father’s) permission. Sir A. Burnes replied that
he had come to Hyderabad as desired by his son Meer
Nusseer Khan, who had written to say he would permit
him to pass up the river. My father was greatly displeased
at this, and asked me why I had consented to what it was
impossible for him to grant. I replied that I wrote to
him for our advantage, and that I should certainly allow
him to proceed up the river; and through my representation
my father acceded to his request. A full account of
this is given in Sir A. Burnes’ Travels, and also in
Government records, so that I am the individual who first
opened the Indus to the English. After this Colonel
Pottinger arrived at Hyderabad and concluded a treaty
which opened the river to the merchants of the neighbouring
countries, and allowed their boats and merchandise to
pass and re-pass duty-free; it was stipulated that this
treaty should bind the contracting parties for ever. A
copy of it, bearing the seal of the then Governor-General,
was given to my father, who made it over to me, and said
he had made it to ensure the stability of my affairs. On
the death of my father, the said Colonel Pottinger sent
for a friendly letter from the Governor-General and gave
it to me; in it there was no mention made of oppressing
us, or our own country. With pure intentions, I applied
for a British Resident to be appointed at Hyderabad, and
on the English army advancing to Cabool, I incurred the
ill-will of the Beloochee tribes and the enmity of the
Afghans, by having, through my friendship for the
English, allowed their army to pass through Sinde; yet
I preferred the friendship of the English to every other
consideration. I have read in books that the Christian
religion commands you to cherish, and not alienate, your
friends,—friendship being a tree which produces good
actions: relying on this I was indifferent about the
displeasure of the Beloochees and the hostility of the
Afghans. My late brother Meer Noor Mahomed Khan
and myself undertook to provide boats, camels, provisions,
wood and every other kind of supplies for the army and
proclaimed to all the Beloochee tribes, that should any of
them be dissatisfied with our alliance with the British and
take to plundering the property of the army they should
incur our displeasure and be severely punished: none of
them dared to disobey our orders. When Sir John
Keane arrived with his army at Jerruck he deputed
Mr. Eastwick with a memorandum stating that he
required 21 laks of rupees; of this sum I was required
immediately to pay 7 laks and the other 14 laks
were to be paid by the late Meer Noor Mahomed
Khan and Meer Meer Mahomed Khan equally. We
were also called upon to pay 3 laks of rupees annually
to the British Government; this was the immediate
result of my faithful services to the English and Sir
J. Keane, having arrived unopposed at Jerruck about
twelve coss from Hyderabad, began, in violation of treaties,
to oppress us and to assume a hostile attitude; as I was
helpless I paid the money, knowing well, however, that it
was taken from me unjustly by order of the Governor-General.
In the treaty concluded with Sir Henry
Pottinger, and bearing the seal of the Governor-General,
it was affirmed that our friendship would last to the latest
posterity and that no oppression should be exercised on us,
or on our country; in defiance of this, why were we
required to pay 21 laks of rupees at one time and
the sum of 3 laks annually? If you say that it was
on account of Shah Shooja, I reply that the said Shah had
written on a Koran, which he presented to me, that he
would never act to the detriment of us, or our country.
I answer again, that during Shah Shooja’s sojourn of
several years at Loodiana, nothing was demanded from us
on his account; but, setting this aside, when Shah Shooja,
finding that he was powerful at Cabool, threw off his allegiance
to the English, did he inform me on what account
and for what purpose the tribute was exacted from me?
If you exacted it on your own account, you did so in
breach of the articles of the treaty. You are discriminating
and just; examine and judge for yourself whether
our treatment has been just or unjust. When Sir John
Keane’s army advanced towards Cabool, Colonel Pottinger
framed and concluded with us a treaty of twelve articles,
which he said would be permanent as the wall of Alexander,
and would last for ever. Thank God that, from
the first treaty to the last, I have not infringed even one of
their articles; copies of these treaties must be in the
Government records and a reference to them will satisfy
you whether I state falsehoods or tell the truth. When
Major Outram was appointed Resident in Sinde, I acted
agreeably to his wishes, and as long as he remained at
Hyderabad, everything proceeded satisfactorily, until
he was succeeded by Sir Charles Napier, who after an
interview with me at Hyderabad, proceeded to Sukkur.
Shortly after, the Assistant (Mr. Mylne), who was stationed
at Hyderabad, sent off all the property from the Residency
and prepared to leave. I sent my Moonshee to him and
inquired the reason of his leaving; his reply was that the
Ameers found the presence of a British Resident disagreeable
and that Major Outram was superseded by Sir Charles
Napier. I remarked that, without a Resident, our affairs
would be suspended. Mr. Mylne replied that I should
write and explain this to Sir Charles. When he went
away, no person succeeded. I appointed people to take
care of the Residency, and had the trees, flowers, etc., in
its garden, watered at my own expense, until a soldier
came there to take charge of them. On the 5th Zilkad,
Mr. Stanley arrived at Hyderabad with a treaty from the
General contravening all former treaties, which perfectly
confounded me, and I said to Mr. Stanley that this treaty
meant not more or less than a desire to usurp our country.
On what account does the General wish to inflict upon
me so heavy a loss? He replied “You wrote a letter to
Dewan Sawun Mull of Mooltan, and another to the chief
of the Beebruck tribe, expressing your enmity to the
British Government.” I answered “I did not write a
letter to Sawun Mull to that effect, but I may have
written to him about some timber I required for building,
and even that letter was shown by me to the British
Resident, or his Assistant. I have never sent a letter
without informing the Resident, to whom I also showed
the reply I received. This is agreeable to treaty; and as
regards the chief of the tribe of Beebruck, I have never,
to this time, had the slightest correspondence with him;
who and what is he, and where lies his country with
reference to mine, that I should hold any correspondence
with him?” Mr. Stanley replied that he would give me
a steamer to convey vakeels from me to the General, at
Sukkur, to arrange with him. I accordingly deputed
Akhund Buchal and Syad Saad Ali and sent them by
land to Sukkur, in order to prove to Sir Charles Napier
that my statement to Mr. Stanley was true. After their
departure agreeably to the General’s angry writing, I sent
Meerza Khoosroo Beg and Mahomed Yusoof with full
powers to treat and our seals. They met the General
at Nowshera; but he, not deeming it fit to have our
seals affixed to the treaty at that place, wrote and
delivered to them letters desiring us to bring Meer
Roostam Khan to Hyderabad as Major Outram would
soon be there to settle his (Meer Roostum’s) affairs,
when he would also have our seals affixed to the treaty
and that he (Major Outram) was invested with full
powers on the part of Government to treat with us.
Meer Roostum and the vakeels accordingly came to
Hyderabad, and Major Outram also arriving there on
the 8th of Moharram (8th February) sent me, that very
day, a memorandum relative to the proposed treaty. I
immediately sent Mirza Khoosroo Beg and Mahomed
Khan with my seal to Major Outram; and, in his presence,
they affixed it to the kuboolyatnamah (a document in
which the Ameers agreed to sign the treaty when presented
to them), and returned it. I sent also a message
to Major Outram, that, as I had signed the kuboolyatnamah
without delay, he would kindly contrive so that
the General should return with his army from the place
he was now encamped at. The Major replied, “that this
was the reason he wished me to agree to the kuboolyatnamah,
as of course the treaty would cause some delay;
and as you have now signed the former, I am quite
satisfied. If you will send me a shootur suwar, I will
despatch an officer to the General to inform him that you
have agreed to the treaty, and of the manner in which
affairs are proceeding at Hyderabad, so that the army may
not advance further.” I accordingly sent a camel to the
Major; and about 8 p. m. he sent to my house an officer.
As it was in the first ten days of Moharram, I was
engaged in the offices prescribed by my religion for that
period, when a servant came and informed me that a
gentleman was at my house. I immediately went to him
and learnt from him that he had come for a swifter camel
than the one I had previously sent him, as he said he
must reach the General speedily. I gave him a better
camel and sent with him four or five Beloochees to point
out the road and to escort him. Next day (9th February)
Major Outram visited me and said that he had sent an
officer to the General, whose arrival there would stop the
advance of the army. The 10th was the day of Ashoora
(anniversary of Hoossein’s death) and consequently no
business was transacted, nor had I any intercourse with
Major Outram on that day. On the 11th the camelman,
who accompanied the officer, returned and told us that he
had left him in the General’s camp at Sukkrund, and
that, immediately after the officer arrived there, although
there was no previous preparation for a march, the
General set out with his army, and marched to Kootul
Synda, where he halted. On the evening of the
12th Major Outram came to me, and I mentioned
to him what the camel-rider had told me. The Major
desired me to affix my seal to the treaty which he had
brought with him, and to get ready a camel-rider to
take a letter from him to the General who would halt,
and fall back with the army, on hearing that the treaty was
signed. The seals were immediately affixed to the treaty.
It was stated in that treaty that the fort and territory of
Subzul was disjoined from my dominions. The revenues
of Kurrachee were divided into four shares, three of which
belonged to myself, Meer Mahomed Khan and Meer
Shadad Khan, and were valued at Rs. 25,000 a year, each
share giving a total of Rs. 75,000, which sum was to be
taken in lieu of tribute to that amount; and the port of
Kurrachee made over to the English. Meer Meer
Mahomed Khan, Meer Shadad Khan and myself were
also to make over to Meer Sobdar Khan, for his share
(one-fourth of the revenues of Kurrachee), land valued
at Rs. 50,000 a year. I replied that “it was stipulated
in former treaties that the English would protect the
country of the Ameers; instead of which, you are assigning
it to another; and as regards Kurrachee, as you value
one share of its revenues at Rs. 50,000, how does it happen
that you estimate the other three shares, belonging to
Meer Mahomed Khan, Meer Shadad Khan and myself,
at Rs. 25,000 each; what justice is there in this?”
Helpless, I affixed my seal to the treaty and gave it him
(Major Outram). I afterwards remarked that he might
take the tract of country belonging to Meer Roostum
Khan, which lies between Subzal and Roree, leaving to
him the remainder of his dominions, to which Major
Outram replied that it rested with Sir Charles Napier.
I entreated him vehemently on this subject; and, seizing
the skirt of his garment, implored him not to suffer Meer
Roostum Khan, who was an old man of eighty-five years,
to become a homeless wanderer, but to permit him to
retain the remainder of his dominions if only to prevent
disturbances. The Major again replied that it was not in
his power, but he would mention it to the General. When
the Beloochees threatened to rise in arms, in consequence
of the ejection of Meer Roostum Khan, intelligence
arrived that Sir Charler Napier had imprisoned a Murree
chief, named Hyat Khan, without any apparent cause;
on which some of the Beloochees, who were at Hyderabad,
assembled and took a solemn oath, resolving to attack
Major Outram on his return from the fort to his Residency.
I was informed of their intentions; it was then twilight.
As the Major was a friend who was dear to me as
my own life, I sent, in consequence of the ferment
amongst the Beloochees, Meer Jan Khan, Hajee Ghulam
Mahomed, and ten or twelve other nobles of my court
to accompany him; they after escorting him to the
Residency, returned and told me that they had seen
parties of Beloochees ready for mischief at two or three
places on the road, and had sent them away. On hearing
this I sent to Major Outram a verbal message by
Moonshee Madhajee and also wrote to him informing
him of it, as Major Outram had promised me to write to
the General, to request him not to advance and to send
the letter by one of my camel-riders. He did so that
night. On the 13th I endeavoured to restrain, by
counsel, by force and by reproaches, the Beloochees, and
urged them not to excite disturbances, as I had signed
the treaty and the Major had written to the General to
beg he would not advance, and that this request would
be attended to. I asked them what it would take out of
their pockets my having agreed to the treaty? On the
morning of the 14th the camel-rider, who conveyed the
Major’s letter to the General, returned and brought
intelligence that the General, on receiving Major
Outram’s letter, prepared to advance. My Moonshee
Moolram, in Sir Charles Napier’s camp, sent me a
letter to the same purport as the camel-rider had stated.
On hearing this news, the Beloochees marched out of the
town and encamped on the banks of the Fulaillee, and many
of the chiefs came to me and requested me to join them; I
told them I had signed the treaty, and how then could I
fight? As Sir Charles Napier had proclaimed that if any of
our followers joined Meer Roostum Khan, we should be held
responsible, and considered equally guilty as if we joined
him, I reflected that even if the Beloochees went without me,
the blame would fall upon me, as declared by the General;
I was at a loss how to act; I saw that it was perfectly
hopeless to attempt to fight with the English, and I knew
that the General, notwithstanding I had agreed to the treaty,
was fast approaching; I was averse to the Beloochees
setting out from the town, and to their excitement from
the first, but on reflection I thought it best to join
them on the Fulaillee and to endeavour to allay their
excitement, hoping that my presence would gratify them,
and that they might thereby be induced to desist from
their hostile intentions. With this expectation I went to
the Belooch encampment and stayed there day and night
counselling and advising them until I gained them
over; next morning I intended to depute an experienced
vakeel to the General, to entreat him not to have recourse
to force, but to settle everything in a friendly manner.
I was about to appoint a vakeel when word was brought
to me that the General, with his army, had reached the
village of Dost Mahomed Khidmutgar, and having taken
it, was coming on. He immediately after attacked the
Belooch posts, and I heard the noise of cannon. I had
hardly time to mount before the action became general.
Before the two British Officers rode up to reconnoitre; I
would not allow the Beloochees to fire at them, as I hoped
everything would be arranged without fighting; but I
soon discovered my mistake. Amidst showers of balls, by
the will of God, many of the Beloochees were killed, and
others fled. I remained with 20 horsemen; at length in
amazement at the power of destiny, I returned to Hyderabad,
where before evening a fresh force of 10 or 12,000
Beloochees had assembled, also some of the fugitives; but
as I felt assured that after dispersing them the General
would approve my sincerity, I went to him of my own
accord next morning; I did not even send away my
treasure or family, as I was confident of being recompensed
for my fidelity; and taking off my sword delivered it into
his hands. He kindly returned it to me and buckled it
round my waist, using many consoling expressions,
and tolling me that in 25 days my affairs would be satisfactorily
settled, and that I should be placed in Hyderabad
as formerly; Major Outram was present at the time.
Next morning I rode with the General to the camp and
presented to him the guns which were under the charge
of Moosa (the Armenian or) the Ferungee. The commotion
amongst the Beloochees was occasioned by the
arrival of Meer Roostum at Hyderabad and the seizure of
Hyat Khan, the Murree Chief, and the cause of all the
bloodshed. From the first I was opposed to Meer Roostum
Khan visiting Hyderabad, as I believed it would cause
the disturbance, which the seizure of Hyat Khan heightened;
and his coming there was at the sole desire of the
General. When General Napier was at Khyrpore and
Dejee-ka-Kot, I wrote to him to say that it would be
better if he came to Hyderabad with a few men to gratify
me with a meeting, and spend a few days with me in
shooting game, and that then I should comply with
his demands; but that I was afraid, if he came with
an army, the Beloochees, who were furious on account
of Meer Roostum Khan’s ejection, would excite a commotion
which would bring ruin on themselves and
others. My advice was not attended to. If the General
says he conquered Sinde, I reply that as we were tributaries
and subjects of the English for many years, he can
hardly claim a victory over his own subjects. Truly his
slaughter of the people of Sinde and plundering their
property was at the expense of the Queen of England.
The day after I arrived in camp with Sir C. Napier,
Moonshee Ali Akbar was sent to me with a message that
the General wanted some of my people to be stationed,
with a few of his own men, in Hyderabad, so that the
townspeople might be protected from all injury. As
long as Major Outram remained there, all was tranquil,
but in a few days he left for Bombay. The day after his
departure Moonshee Ali Akbar came with a message from
the General, who wished to go and inspect the fort of
Hyderabad, and required a few trustworthy people along
with him. Accordingly I sent Akhoond Buchal, Bahadur
Khidmatgar and Moonshee Metharam; again Moonshee
Ali Akbar returned and asked for keys of the toshakhana
(a depository wherein valuables are kept) in order to
obtain all the treasure and property. I told him to do as
he pleased, but if he took them according to the catalogue
they would get everything, otherwise others would rush
in and take whatever they could lay their hands upon.
My counsel was not listened to; at last Mr. Fallon and
Col. Pattle and Major Reid and several other officers,
with two regiments of cavalry and infantry, entered the
fort and seized on all the treasures, gold, silver, swords,
matchlocks, knives, daggers, shields, and other property,
such as jewels, and what else belonged to our establishment,
costly fabrics, Korans and books, horses and camels
and mules, saddles of gold and silver, utensils of copper
and silver, everything in fact of the value of a needle;
so complete was the plunder that precious stones were
falling out of the bosoms of the sepoys, and they were
selling gold, jewels and other valuables in the city. The
work of plunder was continued for seven days; the first
day they rushed into the seraglio of the late Meer Kurum
Ali Khan; and the occupants of the seraglio, for fear of
their lives and shame lest they should be exposed to the
gaze of intruders, abandoning their houses fled on foot from
the fort. Afterwards the seraglios of the other Ameers
were entered by the British troops; and their inmates,
who had never before crossed the threshold of the seraglio,
fled on foot from the fort; the sepoys who were at the
gates, on seeing a woman with ornaments on her person,
immediately stripped them off, so that those who would
avoid exposure threw away their jewels, taking with them
only the clothes on their backs. The officers carried off
even our cots and bedding, leaving us nothing but the
ground. I had taken to the seraglio the books and clothes
they (the officers) had given me the day they entered the
fort, all of which were again taken from me the day I
left; also the swords of my sons, Meer Hoosein Ali and
Meer Abbas Ali; depriving us also of our bedding. The
horses and saddles of gold, on which my sons came to me,
were also taken away, notwithstanding my remonstrances to
Captain Brown and Ali Akbar; and at this date they are
without swords. Although my swords and matchlocks
are of iron and of little value, yet, having descended to
me from my ancestors, they are by me prized as my life.
Besides that, the late Meer Kurum Ali Khan and Meer
Moorad Ali Khan treated Meerza Khoosroo as a son; he
was imprisoned with us; one day he was taken to the
fort and charged with having misdirected them to the spot
where was the treasure of the late Meer Kurum Ali Khan,
for which they had him disgraced and flogged, until he
fainted; on his recovery, he was tied up for two hours
in the fort and afterwards brought back to the place
where I was imprisoned. Besides this, when Meer Shere
Mahomed was about to fight Sir C. Napier’s army, although
he was my bitter enemy (as is well-known to Major Outram,
Captains Leckie, Whitelock and Mylne), who never
let slip an opportunity of destroying my property and
injuring me, yet was I removed from my spacious abode in
camp, on board the confined accommodation of a steamer;
9 days after I was taken back and imprisoned in my former
abode. When I was being conveyed on board the steamer,
I asked Captain Brown to detain my two sons and my
cousin Meer Mahomed Khan, and to take me with him
to battle, as I knew that on seeing me, all the troops
with Meer Shere Mahomed would abandon him and
come over to me; and the said Meer would either be
obliged to fly or to surrender himself or to permit me to
to go and fight with him; but my suggestions were not
attended to. In former times I was in the habit of
sending an experienced person on board every stemear
passing up and down the river, to procure for them fuel
and other necessaries, and was equally careful of the
convenience of travellers by land, remunerating them in
full for whatever was stolen from them and could not be
recovered. In the time of Meer Noor Mahomed these
losses were shared between us, but after his death I
employed servants on board the steamers, and if British
officers or those in their service lost property of any kind
in Sinde, one part of it was paid for by Meer Meer Mahomed
Khan and the remainder by me, to our great
detriment; which however, we considered again, in consequence
of our friendship with the English. Besides the
above, I have performed many other services to the English,
in the hope that it would lead to my advantage, instead
of conducting me to a prison. It will be notorious all
over these countries that this is the reward of a person
who has served the British faithfully through life. I
formerly sent you a brief account of my circumstances,
which I write a second time more in detail, that you may
know all that has passed. I have read that Christianity
is opposed to oppression of every kind; but from the time
the British first arrived in India to the present date no
such tyranny was ever practised as on us. Had a shot
been fired from the walls of Hyderabad, the British army
might have lawfully plundered it; but, after promising
security, and making peace, to console us with a promise
to restore us to power and afterwards to plunder the
treasury, and to disgrace the rulers of the country, is not
allowed by any law of the country, is not allowed by
any law; and I have heard from experienced persons
that it is not the custom of the English to punish a
man before he is proved guilty, not to degrade him on
the hearsay evidence of others. I therefore hope that
you will first investigate my case, and then determine by
the laws of Christianity, whether or not, we are suffering
from injustice. I look to you for justice and to be sent
back, with my former honour and dignity, to my country,
where I pledge myself to be bound by the kindness of the
English, as long as I live, to serve and obey them; and
this will exalt the renown of the English all over the
world. Restore me, therefore, to my plundered country.”
24. Sir Charles Napier to the Governor-General, Hyderabad,
Sir Charles Napier’s
explanation and defence.
July, 3rd, 1843:— . . . .
“Another charge against me I find to
be that my ‘continued march upon Hyderabad, in
spite of the advice of Major Outram, was that which
forced the Ameers to war.’ I certainly did reject
Major Outram’s advice, because I soon saw that he
was grossly deceived by the Ameers. I had several proofs
of this, one or two of which I now feel it right to state to
your Lordship:—1. Major Outram, being at Hyderabad,
sent me two or three despatches by express on the 12th to
assure me that the Ameers had not any armed men except
their usual personal attendants, and that these were not
more numerous than Indian priuces of their rank would
move with in time of profound peace. At that moment
the army of the Ameers was assembled at Meeanee, only
6 miles from Hyderabad, and were preparing their
position! At the moment he was writing these despatches
to me, his house was surrounded by 8000 Beloochees
(who had 8 pieces of cannon) preparing for their attack
on him, on the 15th of February. 2. Major Outram
wrote to ask me to go to Hyderabad alone to meet the
Ameers. 3. He proposed my sending my troops to
Meerpore. Had 1 allowed myself to be guided by Major
Outram, my own throat and his, and the throats of all
with us, would probably have been cut, and the army left
without a leader at Meerpore, 40 miles from the river,
which formed our line of communication by steamers
with Sukkur and Bombay, and with the friendly territory
of H. H. Ali Moorad, which extended south as far as Nowshera;
when thus isolated, the army would have been attacked
by 60,000 men, pushed back upon the Desert, and
there have miserably perished. As Major Outram had
lived many years at the court of Hyderabad and every one
spoke of his “great local knowledge of the Ameers and
of this country,” while I was a perfect stranger to both,
I might well have been excused, had I allowed myself to
have been guided by Major Outram; and his advice was
pressed upon me with all the zeal inspired by honesty of
purpose, added to an ardent disposition. But my spies
brought intelligence that 30000 men were in my front;
some said 40000. I concluded that these spies exaggerated
numbers, but it was clear to my mind that the
Beloochees were above 20000 men, and in sufficient
numbers to make them believe that their victory would
be certain. Therefore I argued that Major Outram’s
report was wrong, that he was deceived and ignorant
of what was passing about him. His proposal to march
the troops to Meerpore made me think that he understood
very little of war; I therefore paid no attention to his
suggestions. I put all my sick and treasure on board a
steamer and resolved to attack the enemy. If we were
beaten, we had plenty of provisions, and with our
backs to the river (for retreat would have been
disastrous) and the steamers, I could have entrenched
myself till reinforcements arrived. I had full confidence
in the troops and little feared an undisciplined multitude;
but still the game was not an easy one, and I have shown
that, had I taken Outram’s advice, as I was reproached
for not having done, a second Cabool massacre would
probably have taken place. One would have imagined
that the attack on the Residency would have, at least,
opened Outram’s eyes to the treachery of the characters
he had to deal with. Not a bit; he joined me on the 16th
at Muttaree and still wanted me to delay my attack for a
day! Yet, six hours delay would have added 24,000 men
to the forces of the Ameers at Meeanee. It is true that I
had no positive information of this at the moment; but I
was sure of it from the letter I found on the Murree Chief
Hyat Khan, whom I had seized. In this letter the
Ameers pressed the Murrees to join on the 9th. Now, I
knew that these barbarians would not leave their villages
while the feast of the Moharram lasted. It was to finish
on the 11th; therefore I guessed how fast they would
gather after that day, and I sesolved not to lose an hour.
If my conduct be attacked in the House of Commons, I
think the foregoing statement will be a sufficient defence.
I am not conscious of having erred in rejecting Major
Outram’s advice. Outram’s answer will be “there
would not have been war.” The Ameers answered this
on the 15th; but suppose not; was I to place the army
at their mercy to spare or destroy, as they pleased?
Their mercy! I have it in proof that about the time
Major Outram kept assuring me of their pacific feelings
and disposition towards us, they had sent orders along
both banks of the Indus to their people “to kill every
Englishman, woman and child they could lay their hands
upon.” We should have received the tender mercies of the
Afghans in the Tezeen Pass. The mercy which Outram
would have received himself, but for my forebodings and
sending him the light company of the 22nd Regiment.”
Evidence in fovour of
Sir Charles Napier’s line
of conduct.
25. Evidence given by Peer
Budroodeen, confidential servant of
the ex-Ameer Sobdar Khan of
Hyderabad:—
“Q.—On what date did the army of the Ameers leave
Hyderabad?
A.—On the 6th of February 1843, the troop under the command
of Gholam Mahomed Komriewalla and Mir Khan Mahomed
Talpoor (Khananie) went out and encamped in the Babool
Jungle near Meer Futteh Ali Kebah. The two chiefs then
returned to Hyderabad and told Meer Nusseer Khan to get
all in readiness for battle. Afterwards the force collected
there, and chiefs as they arrived remained there. On the
evening of the 14th February 1843, Meer Nusseer Khan
moved out and joined their force. In the morning, an order
was issued to plunder Major Outram’s dwelling.
Q.—Who commanded this party?
A.—Meer Shadad commanded the party and by him was given
the order to plunder the agency; and Meer Nusseer Khan of
Khyrpore, Meer Jehan Mahomed, Meer Khan Mahomed,
Gholam Mahomed Komriewalla, a Nizamanee chief, whose
name I forget, Ahmed Khan Lugharee, Meerza Bakur, and
other inferior chiefs accompanied him.
Q.—When Major Outram quitted the agency, what did the troops
(Sinde) do?
A.—They plundered all the property left and burnt all the buildings.
They then joined Meer Nusseer Khan at the garden and Meer
Shadad Khan and the aforenamed chiefs said “we have
gained a victory; Major Outram has fled, and we have plundered
his property. Our party have behaved most bravely.”
Meer Shadad sent a man to give the news of his victory to
Meer Sobdar Khan in the fort, and to inform him that
Major Outram had fled. Meer Sobdar, on hearing this,
answered “you have done ill. If with 8000 men you have
been unable to destroy 100 men, what will you be able to do
in front of the General’s army?” On the evening of the
15th of February Meer Nusseer Khan moved from his garden
and took up a position at Noonar, half a coss from it; and
on the evening of the 16th he reached Meeanee; next
morning the battle took place.
Q.—Was Meer Sobdar in the battle (of Meeanee) and what Ameers
were there?
A.—Meers Sobdar and Mahomed Khan were not in the battle.
Except these two, all Ameers of Upper and Lower Sinde
were there. . . . .
Q.—Did Meer Sobdar Khan send information to the General that
troops were collecting at Hyderabad?
A.—On the night of the day on which the General reached
Sukkurund (10th February) Meer Sobdar called me and said
‘Take two days’ food and drink and proceed by the jungle to
the General’s camp; and tell him, if he comes quickly, it is
well; but if he delays, the force here will very greatly increase.’
Jamadar Coura said ‘Budroodeen is a great man.
If he goes it will be well-known, and you will get a bad
name; it will be better if some one else is sent.’ I afterwards
heard that orders were given to Syad Abbas Ali Shah
and a Cazee to proceed to the General’s camp and to beg of
him to come on quickly. . . . .
Q.—When did the Ameers commence collecting troops?
A.—When Meerza Khoosroo returned from the General they
commenced doing so. Meerza Khoosroo wrote from Nowshera
to the Ameers: ‘The General is bent upon war, so
get ready’ When the Meerza returned to Hyderabad, the
order for collecting troops was given. . . . E. J. Brown.”
26. The Governor-General in Council to the Secret
Monthly allowances for
the ex-Amírs at Poona
and of their ladies at
Haidarabad.
Committee, August, 14, 1843:—
. . . . “We transmit for your
consideration certain memorials
which the ex-Ameers have addressed
to us from Sinde; but we consider it unnecessary to
make any observations upon them. Sir C. Napier’s
indignant refutation of the calumnious charges brought
against himself and the gallant troops whom he commands
will be sufficient to satisfy you that the Ameers are
without truth. The ladies of the Zenana in Sinde have
consented to receive a monthly allowance of Rs. 4,500
for their maintenance and we have temporarily fixed the
allowance of the ex-Ameers at Sassoor at Rs. 15,000
per mensem, subject to future revision.”
(B) EXTRACTS FROM DR. JAMES BURNEŚ
“VISIT TO THE COURT OF SIND (1839.)”
27. Meer Mourad Ali Khan is about 55 years of age,
Character of Mír Murád
Alí Khán.
of low stature and stout habit of
body. His complexion is rather fair
and his countenance is the index of
a sullen and gloomy mind. He is cold and repulsive in
his manners, seldom relaxes into a smile and never
condescends to familiar conversation. His personal
attachments are confined to the circle of his family. . . .
Inconsistent as it may appear, this tyrant is at heart a
poor hypochondriac, constantly haunted by the fear of
death, and the phantoms of his own gloomy imagination.
. . . . I have myself known him pass several sleepless
nights from a horror of the consequences of bodily
derangement of the most trivial description. The
prevailing feature of Meer Mourad Ali’s character is
avarice; and he is ever too ready to sacrifice, for its
gratification, his own dignity, and the interests of his
people. Seldom making promises, he even more rarely
fulfils them; and altogether his character may be summed
up as that of a selfish and gloomy despot, an Asiatic
Tiberius or Philip the Second, ruling a kingdom by the
energies of his mind, with none of the better feelings of
the human heart.
28. The character of Meer Kurum Ali Khan forms
Character of Mír Karam
Alí Khán.
a perfect contrast to that of his brother.
He is a man of approved personal
bravery, and as far as the
etiquette of the Court permits, is cheerful, condescending
and even affable. Fond of dress and display, he courts
popular applause, which Mourad Ali affects to despise;
and till lately he was generous to profusion. Even yet
he is liberal, although he now shows a disposition to
follow the general policy of the Sinde Court, and to hoard
money. I found the public voice at Hyderabad decidedly
in his favour, as a prince who was kind to his subjects
and attendants, and who was strict in the performance of
his promises. In person he is below the middle size,
with a pleasing countenance and engaging manners…
Meer Karmali is possessed of slender talents, though his
education has been good; and he is of so indecisive and
easy a disposition that he has accustomed himself through
life to regulate his conduct chiefly by the advice and
wishes of others.
29. Meer Mourad Ali’s eldest son Meer Noor Mahomed
Character of Mír Núr
Muhammad Khán.
Khan is about 30 years of age, and
may be considered as nearly the counterpart
of his father, with all the bad and
but few of the strong parts of his character. He was
very unpopular; and I never heard of any virtue he possessed,
except a selfish attachment to his parent. Accumulation
of wealth is the apparent object of his life.
This chief is the only one of the family who is illiterate.
30. Meer Mahomed Nusseer Khan is the second son
Character of Mír Muhammad
Nasír Khán.
of Meer Mourad Ali, and is by far
the most engaging and popular of
the reigning family in Sinde. He is
25 years of age, of handsome figure, though rather corpulent,
with much dignity of manners, and a noble expression
of countenance, undisfigured by the least resemblance
to his father or brother. The dissimilarity, fortunately,
is as complete in character as in personal appearance.
Meer Nusseer Khan is as generous as they are sordid, and
has lavished the treasures which were allotted him with
profuse liberality. . . . . . Meer Nusseer Khan
has ever expressed a favourable feeling towards the
British Government. He has been unremitting in his
civilities to our native agent at Hyderabad; and during
my residence there he was even more attentive to me
than the others. He is the darling of the soldiery, from
excelling in all manly exercises, and the most likely of
the younger branches of the family to attain that preeminence
which some one or other will probably in the
end acquire. He does not appear a very determined or
aspiring character.
31. Meer Sobdar Khan is the son of Meer Futteh Ali
Mír Sóbdár Khán wd. Mír
Fateh Alí Khán.
Khan, the chief to whom the Talpoor
family owes its greatness; and he
was born in 1801, a few hours before
the death of his father, who had only time to entreat the
kindness of his brother to his infant before he expired.
For many years Meer Sobdar was the adopted child of
Meer Kurum Ali; but being subject to epilepsy, and
having one day fallen down in the durbar, Mourad Ali
Khan contemptuously asked his brother what he expected
to make of such an unfortunate wretch; and since then,
until very lately, he has lived in obscurity on a paltry
pension of 25,000 rupees per annum. The personal
appearance of Meer Sobdar Khan is favourable. He is
about the middle size and rather inclined to corpulency.
In his manners he is formal . . . . Great pains were,
I understand, taken with his education; and although he
is, no doubt, a man of weak mind, and most likely the
tool only of a party, he is not deficient in literary taste
and attainments, if a knowledge of Persian books and
poetry can be dignified by such an appellation.
32. The Nawab, Wullee Mahomed Khan Lagharee is
Nawáb Walí Muhammad
Khán Lughárí.
by the Ameers themselves termed
the Vazier of Sinde, and next to the
principal members of the Talpur
family, must be considered the most important personage
under their government. Being himself the head of a
powerful Beloochee tribe, which contributed in the field to
the elevation of the present rulers, he has ever since been
their faithful and able servant, and seems to enjoy not
only the entire confidence of his masters, but, what is rare
indeed in a despotic government, the esteem and respect
of the people. He is the adviser of the Ameers in the
management of the internal affairs of the State; and by
his adroitness and mild demeanour, has it often in his
power, and seldom loses an opportunity, to avert or
mitigate the effects of those shocks of tyranny and
oppression which emanate from their durbar. A sincere
regard for the interest of his masters has taught this old
and respectable individual the necessity of maintaining a
friendly intercourse with the British Government, and it
is to his advice I owe not only my visit to Sinde, but the
wish of the Ameers to detain me. . . . . . In 1832,
the Vazier Wullee Mahomed Khan Lagharee dropped
into the grave full of years and honour, having retained
the confidence of his masters and the love of the people to
the last. To give an idea of the wealth of a Beloochee
Chief of the highest rank, it may be added that the whole
annual revenue of the possessions transmitted to his heir
did not exceed £3,000 sterling. His death left the arena
open to his suttle adversary, Meer Ismail Shah, who,
aided by his sons, still pursues an active career of ambition,
sharing, with Mirza Khoosroo Beg, the chief influence
at Court.*
33. Meer Ismail Shah is the adviser of the government
Mír (or Ághá) Ismáíl
Sháh and his sons.
in his foreign, as Nawab Wullee
Mahomed Khan is in its domestic
policy. He is second only to the
latter in the estimation of the Ameers, who in addition
to their religious reverence for him as a descendant of the
Prophet, entertain an exaggerated idea of his judgment
and experience. He is the son of a Persian who emigrated
about 50 years ago into Sinde, where he was
attached to the last Caloras as a State-physician and
afterwards siding with the Talpoors, received employment
in their service. Ismail Shah is well-known as the
ambassador to Bombay in 1820, when it was expected
war would be declared between the governments. . . .
Meer Ismail Shah is a man of respectable appearance and
good address, about 50 years of age, has the silly vanity
to pretend ignorance of the common language of Sinde,
and never speaks or allows himself to be addressed in any
other language than Persian. . . . He is no doubt
thoroughly skilled in the system of intrigue and chicanery
so requisite in an Asiatic cabinet. He has several sons
holding important situations under the government, one
of whom was lately at Bombay as vakeel, and another is
the representative of the Ameers at Shikarpoor. He
himself receives a monthly salary of eleven hundred
rupees as physician, which is the best paid appointment
at Hyderabad, but his prescriptions are little attended to
by the Ameers.†
34. Next in importance to these officers are a few
Mírza Khusró Beg.
courtiers who exert a personal influence,
from being constantly in private
attendance on the Ameers or as leaders of Beloochee tribes.
The first of this class worthy of notice is Mirza Khoosroo
Beg, a Georgian slave, who was purchased about eighteen
years ago by Meer Kurm Ali Khan,‡
and whom his
master now treats as an adopted child. He is not a
favourite of Meer Mourad Ali Khan, and possesses little
political consequence, though he was envoy at Bombay in
1823. He is a man of quiet retiring character, and is
known in Sinde as the author of Persian verses, the merit
of which he is willing to yield to Meer Kurm Ali Khan,
who has considerable vanity as a poet. I requested His
Highness one day to favour me with a couplet of his own
composition to engrave on a sword, and I observed that
he immediately called Mirza Khoosroo Beg to him, and
after some whispering, produced the following verse as
his own:—“I am sharper than wisdom from the mouth
of Plato; I am more blood-spilling than the eye-brow of
a beautiful mistress.”
35. The Jharejahs are the aristocracy of the country
The Járejah Rajputs
of Kachh.
and are all more or less connected
with the family of the Rao. They
trace their descent from Lacca
Goraro, a prince who reigned in Sinde a thousand years
ago, four of whose sons, Moor, Oner, Phool and Munyabhaee,
emigrated into Cutch on account of some family
dissensions. The two last had no issue. The posterity of
Moor ended in the third generation at Lacca Phoolanee,
whose name is still known and celebrated throughout
this province. From Oner descended the present Jam of
Nuwanugur. One of his descendants four hundred years
ago had four sons, Khenyar, Rhayebjee, Sayebjee, and
Aleyajee. From the first of these the Rao is lineally
descended; and all the present Jharejahs, with a few
exceptions, who claim still higher birth, derive their
origin from the other three . . . . the Jharejahs of
Cutch trace the custom (infanticide) to Jarrah, one of
the posterity of Oner, abovementioned, from whom they
derive their name, and who first set the example by
putting to death seven of his daughters some hundred
years ago. His descendants, it is to be feared, have not
confined this practice to females only.
36. The royal family of Cutch have never objected to
The Kalhorah invasion
of Kachh, and their matrimonial
connection with the
royal family
form matrimonial alliances with
Mahommedans, when the match
was suitable, or when a political
object was to be gained. Rao Gore
gave one of his female relations in marriage to Meean
Suru fraz Khan, a prince of the house of Calora in Sinde;
and more lately, Kasser Bhye, the sister of Rao Bharmuljee,
was united to the Nawab of Joonaghur. . . . . Two
of the invasions of Cutch were headed by Gholam Shah
Calora in person and two of them by his son Meean
Surufraz Khan. The former wished to compel the
Rao to give him his sister in marriage; but after a treaty
had been entered into, in which this stipulation stood as
an article, it was evaded, and Gholam Shah was glad, on
his second invasion, to content himself with the daughter
of the chief of Khanker, whose family stood next in
pretensions to the throne. . . . . . On quitting
Cutch, Gholam Shah left a garrison of 5000 men at
Luckput Bunder, which was then a petty town.
He also proceeded to build an embankment to prevent
the waters of the Indus from falling into the sea
through the eastern branch of the river which passes
close to Luckput; and by this unjustifiable act he
converted a fertile plain, which yielded from rice cultivation
a revenue of eight lacs of cories annually to the Bhooj
durbar, into a dreary salt-marsh. When Gholam Shah
died, his son Surufraz Khan re-called his troops from
Luckput, but as before stated, he twice after this entered
Cutch with a considerable force, and devastated a great
part of the country before he quitted it.
(C) EXTRACTS FROM LIEUT.-COL. OUTRAM’S
COMMENTARY ON “THE CONQUEST OF SIND.”
37. Nearly a month before the battle of Meeanee
Lieut.-Col. Outram’s
views about the conquest of
Sind and his own defence.
I not only clearly foresaw the
said events that were to follow,
but I declared to Sir Charles Napier
my conviction, “that every life which might hereafter
be lost in consequence would be a murder.”
Admiring him as a gallant soldier, and giving him credit
for his professed anxiety to maintain peace, I could not
disguise my regret at his persisting in what I deemed
unjustifiable proceedings, and my sorrow that his should
be the hands to work results so disastrous—disastrous,
I mean, not in a military, but in a political and moral
sense. . . . .————Even had the wretched captives
been guilty of all the atrocities charged upon them, but
of which I knew them to be innocent, their treatment
was, I considered, unnecessarily harsh and contrasted
strangely with that of the family of Tippoo Sultan on
the fall of Seringapatam. . . . ——— … I was
employed amicably to control, not to subvert, the Ameers
and did so for three years. Sir Charles Napier had
ostensibly the same duty to perform for his Government;
in less than as many months he picked a quarrel with
them and commenced hostilities; drove them from their
habitations; hunted them until compelled to resist;
hurled them from their thrones; sacked their capital; and
seized their country! … —— … Little did he
(Sir Charles Napier) know of Ali Morad’s character, if he
believed that prince would wait till his brother’s death,
when he had himself shown him how it might be earlier
obtained. He flattered himself that, by detaching Ali
Morad from the other Ameers, he had diminished the
chance of bloodshed! Grievous and fatal delusion! while he
thus fancied he was treading the highway of an honourable
and peaceful diplomacy, he had been beguiled into the
tortuous paths which ultimately led to the bloody fields
of Meeanee and Dubba! … ——— … Not a
single act of the Ameers, from the commencement of his
adroit and firm policy, gave him the slightest grounds
for suspecting that the Ameers could have been guilty of
such foul treachery. Men who had, from an overwhelming
sense of their utter helplessness, submitted to all our
aggressions, were little likely to invoke destructions on
themselves by the assassination of the English General.
. . . . —— . . . . The Ameers did not delay to
sign the draft treaty; they signed it on the 12th, and subsequently
I made known to him that they had done so, still
it availed them nought—it did not relieve them at once,
or at all, from the presence of the troops, but they were
“confident of victory,” and “wanted to fight.” The
refusal of aid or refuge to the fugitives of Khyrpoor until
compelled by Sir Charles Napier to admit them: their
vakeels deputed to accept the treaty long before the
British army entered their territory, thereby obviating
the necessity for its coming in contact with the stiff
Beloochees, and depriving the British General of any plea
for war: their repeated protestations against the advance
of the British troops when they were ready to comply
with all our demands: their repeated warnings that the
approach of the British army to the capital would force
the Beloochees to hostilities: their formal acceptance of
the treaty by deputy, when first tendered to them on the
8th February, and their solemn ratification of the same
in person on the day promised (12th February), while it
was still in the power of Sir Charles Napier to avoid
collision,—all prove how eager the Ameers were for
battle—how confident of victory!! the forbearance of
the British General—his aversion to war—are rendered
equally apparent by his steady prosecution of the very
measures he had been assured would cause all the
Beloochees of the nation to assemble in opposition—his
continued advance against the capital, to protect which
they had congregated—his disregard of the Ameers’ compliance
with the treaty—of the warnings of the consequence
of advancing further when they had done so—and of the
Ameers’ solemn protestations! The reader will judge
whether the acts and words of Sir Charles Napier, or those
of the Ameers of Sinde were most consistent…——…
The punishment which had been inflicted on the Ameers in
the battle of Meeanee, and the lesson it read to them of
the hopelessness of any attempt of resistance, was quite
adequate for the emergency, even had any guilt attached
to them; and they, at least the majority of the Ameers,
were guiltless of aught save culpable forbearance. Had
we remained satisfied with our success, and restored the
Ameers to their thrones, we should now be holding Sinde
in as peaceable subjection as any other province in India;
and with little, if any, expense. Nay, more—our forbearing
to enhance, by spoliation, the guilt of our repeated
acts of injustice, might have been accepted by the world
as magnanimity! Such a course I recommeded Sir Charles
Napier to adopt; and I had little doubt that, by his
representations, such was the course which the Governor
General would have been inclined to adopt. … Had
the Ameers not been induced, by Sir Charles Napier’s
assurances, to expect a far different fate from that which
has overtaken them, they would not have surrendered.
They would, like all Asiatics of their creed, rank and
character, rather have buried themselves and their wives
beneath the ruins of their fortress …——… I have,
I trust, already satisfied the reader that no intention of
massacering myself or my escort ever entered the minds
of the Ameers. The General’s advance compelled the
Beloochees to march out in defence of the capital; a
necessary military preliminary was to expel me from their
rear; and, as the evidence adduced by Sir C. Napier against
the Ameers proves, my expulsion was all that they desired.
“If they fight, kill them: but if they run away, never
mind” were the bloodthirsty instructions issued by those
who “in dark council” had resolved to “massacre” my
escort and myself! Farther, not the most frivolous
evidence is sought to be adduced to prove that Meer Sobdar
sanctioned the measure, or was even privy to its
adoption. … ——… No mention is made of the
arrest of the young Hoossein Ali. The deed was too dark
to be recorded—it must have originated in Sir C. Napier’s
fixed resolution to make no exception—but to involve in
one common ruin, the aged Roostum, the youthful
Hoossein Ali, the peace-loving Meer Mahommed, the
urbane though intriguing Meer Nusseer, and the old and
faithful ally of the British Government, the bed-ridden
Sobdar, and his youthful sons, for whom marriage preparations
were actually in progress in the hall of their
fathers, when Sir C. Napier advanced towards the capital
in hostile array. The Talpoor dynasty of Sinde was to be
exterminated, root and branch—never was a vow more
religiously fulfilled—nor does any allusion to Hoossein
appear in the parliamentary papers, beyond the insertion
of his petition. To that petition no reply is given.
. . . . —— . . . . None of the prize agents reply
to these complaints, and Major MPherson makes no
mention of the assault on him by Meerza Khoosroo,
a venerable old man, most highly respected by all the
Ameers, as having been the confidential friend of their
grandfather the late Meer Kuram Ali. . . . No
wonder! Would not the Duke of Wellington feel, and
perhaps give vent to, indignation, were similar occurrences
to be transacted before his eyes in Windsor Castle?
The Ameer’s faithful followers have feelings as well as
the most faithful of Her Majesty’s servants. . . . .
—— … Shere Mahomed sought not to molest us;
but assuredly he would have fought, if attacked by us,
as gallantly as he did fight when subsequently assailed.
His strength my reader has just seen; his own valour,
and the devotion of his warriors, are imperishably recorded
in the bloody records of Dubba. . . . But even assuming
that the slaughter of Shere Mahomed and his army
was practicable, was it necessary, desirable, or justifiable?
Surely, enough of blood had already been shed! The
Meerpur chief had done nothing in violation either of
treaty or international law. The sense of self-preservation
had compelled him to collect troops; and had a right
appeal to him been made, the same powerful feeling
would have caused him to disband them. . . . Those
Amirs who, not personally in the battle, were told to
fear nothing, were captives and despoiled; what reason
had Shere Mahomed to imagine that Sir C. Napier’s
promises made to himself would be more scrupulously
regarded? … —— … Ridiculously alive to
reports of treachery and contemplated massacres, he
(Sir C. Napier) was made the tool of Ali Morad’s artful
agents, who, trembling for the stability of their master’s
power, while a chance of the Ameer’s restoration existed,
sought to exasperate the General against them to the last
degree. . . . The battle of Dubba followed, and I
defy any impartial man to deny that it was the result of
our conduct to the other Ameers after our first victory,—
not of any sincerity on the part of Meer Shere Mahommed.
It issued in further slaughter, and in the seizure of Shere
Mahomed’s town and territory. . . . . —— …
The Ameers of Sinde were, as men, singularly free from
the vices which prevail in Mahommedan communities;
more intellectual than their compeers in other eastern
countries,—temperate, and strongly averse to bloodshed,
—affectionate, kind, and gentle almost to effiminacy. As
sovereigns they were mild and little oppressive in their
sway, and ruled with an unity of design.
APPENDIX II.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF A FEW IMPORTANT PERSONS
MENTIONED IN THE BOOK.
(1)
Shekh Baháuddín Zakariyyá.* He was the son of Shekh Abú Muhammad bin Shekh
Ibráhím bin Shekh Abdulláh bin Shekh Shahábuddín bin
Shekh Zakariyyá bin Shekh Núruddín bin Shekh Sirájuddín
bin Shekh Wajduddín bin Shekh Masúd bin Shekh
Raziuddín bin Kásim bin Jaafar bin Abí Bakr. Thus he
is descended from Abú Bakr, the first khalíf or successor
of the Prophet Muhammad. He was one of the most
learned and pious men of his time and was a disciple of
Shekh Shahábuddín Suhrwardí. With the permission of
his spiritual guide he came to Multan and became a
permanent resident of the place. He was considered to
be a Shekh-ul-Islám and a large number of people flocked
to him and became his disciples. He is well-known for
several pious and religious deeds and superhuman habits.
He died in 360 A.H. (970 A.D.) and was buried in the
fort of Multan and his tomb is still visited annually by
people from Sind and the Punjab.
Shekh Baháuddín Zakaryyá was succeeded by his son
Shekh Sadruddín, who continued as a spiritual guide in
his father’s place for 18 years. He was succeeded by his
son Shekh Ruknuddín, who occupied his father’s place
for 52 years and then on his death was succeeded by his
son Shekh Ismáíl, who was killed and was succeeded by
his son Sadruddín II. The latter, too, was murdered after
acting as Shekh-ul-Islám of Multan, and was succeeded
by his son Ruknuddín II, who again was succeeded by his
son Shekh Yúsuf. In 847 A.H. (1443 A.D.) Shekh Yúsuf
was elected as a ruler of Multan, but after 2 years he was
killed, being succeeded by Shekh Shahrulláh, who again
was succeeded by his son Shekh Baháuddín. Several
descendants of this family migrated to different parts of
Sind and became permanent residents of those places.
(2)
Kalandar Lál Shahbáz.* His name was Shekh Usmán Marwandí. He is one of
the four contemporary saints called “The Four Friends,”
the other three being Shekh Baháuddín Zakariyyá, Makhdúm
Jahánian (Sayyed Jalál Bukhárí), and Shekh Faríd
Shakarganj. In 662 A.H. (1263 A.D.), when he came to
Multan, Sultán Muhammad the son of Sultán Ghayásuddín,
the Emperor of Dehlí, who was very fond of poets
and pious men, used to visit him very much. Shekh
Baháuddín and Shekh Faríd as well as the celebrated poets
Amír Khushró and Amír Hasán of Dehlí, pressed him to
become a permanent resident of the place, but he did not
comply with their request and went to Sháh Shams Bú
Alí Kalandar. This saint told him that there had been
already some three hundred Kalandars in Hindustán, that
there was no place for him there and that he had better
go to Sind. Following this hint Shekh Usmán Marwandí
came to Siwistán (Sehwán) and determined to settle there.
The piece of ground which he occupied and where his
tomb now stands was the residing place of public women.
It is said that during the very first night of the Shekh’s
stay at the place the men who had come to visit the
women could not perpetrate the immoral deeds for which
they had come. Early in the morning they came to the
Shekh and repented for their past life and promised to
lead a moral life for the future. As he was a man of
great learning and piety he soon became well-known
throughout Sind and neighbouring countries. He lived a
single and austere life and died in 673 A.H. (1274 A.D.)
and was buried there. An annual fair is held at Sehwán,
which continues for 2 or 3 days, and is visited by a large
number of people.
He was the son of Niamatulláh and is a descendant of
Abá Bakr Siddík, the first khalíf or successor of the
Prophet and hence he is called Siddíkí. It is said that at
the age of seven he heard the cry for prayer and repeated
the Kalmah in reply. At the age of fourteen he is said
to have acquired a vast amount of spiritual knowledge,
communicated to him spiritually by Alí, the fourth khalíf.
He visited Tattá, where his knowledge about the interpretation
of the Koran was tested by many learned men of
the place and all were surprised with his erudition. He
died on Thursday the 7th of Zíkaad 992 A.H. (1584 A.D.).
He is buried in the town of Háláh. His place was occupied
by his eldest son Makhdúm Jalál, who was again succeeded
by his son Muhammad Zamán.