e.eik -0e>2.

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 CONTENTS.
t

ARTICLES. V
Pages.
I. Robert Home—(A Centenary Note) : By Sir Evan Cotton,
M.A., C.I.E. 1-4
II. Kedgeree—A Bygone Seaport of the Gangetic Delta By
A. F. M. Abdul Au, F.R.S.L., M.A. 5411
III. An Early Account of “Meckley” : By A. Swinton 12-16
IV. A Forgotton Family of Royal Poets : The Sura Kings of
Bhulua: By Dinesh Chandra Bhattacharjee, M.A. ... 17-22
V. "Calcutta in 1813”: By Sir Evan Cotton, M.A., C.I.E. ... 23-31
VI. Original Records about the Santhal Insurrection of 1855:
By Kali Kinkar Dutta, M'.A., P.R.S. 32-37
. VU. Early Relation qf the Company with Assam : By Basanta
• Kua^r Basu "... 38-43
VIII. The Black Pagoda: By C. W. Gurner, I.C.S 44-46
IX. Echoes from Chandernagore 47-50
X. Two Books on Fatehgarh: By E. C. 51-60
XI. Editor's Note Book 61-70
XII. The Centenary of the Calcutta Medical. College: By
Lt.-Col. D. CL Crawford, I.M.S. (Retd.) ... 71-77
XIII. * "Hindoo" Stuart ^NSi^r Evan Cotton, M.A., C.I.E. 78-80
XIV. The Indian Journal of William Daniell 81-91
XV. The Wreck of the Falmouth on Saugor Bank, 13th June,
U766: By Major V. C. P. Hodson
XVI. Portraits of Warren Hastings : By Sir -Evan Cotton,
M.A., C.I.E.
wwll. Mir Qasim and .the Revolution of 1760 at Murshidabad:
By Dr. Nandalall Chatterjee, M.A., Ph.D., Lucknow
University
XVIII. Studies" in the Early Government System of the Company
in Bengal—(1765-74): By D. N. Bannerjee, M.A., Dacca
University * ...
XIX. The Sardhana Pictures at Allahabad : By Sir Richard
XX. Calcutta Documents—A Plea for their Preserva
tion: By Jotindra Mohon Datta, M.Sc., B.L.
XXI. Three Eighteenth Century Manuscripts of Historical
Value: By Kali Kinkar Dutta, M.A., P.R.S.
XXII. Editor’s Note Book

Pnsu7
 ILLUSTRATIONS.

To Face Page.
1. Robert mome : By A. Gregory 1
2. General iView of the Esplanade, Calcutta. 1794: By
William Baillie 23
3. Duleep Singh : By George Beechey ... 51
4. Lord Lake and His Staff at Fatehgarh, 1804: By Robert
Home 53
5. William Daniell, R.A.—From a pencil drawing by his
brother-in-law Richard Westall, R.A. 81
6. Warren Hastings : By Lemuel F. Abott 98
7. The Begum Samru: By William Melville 124
8. Rajah Rammohun Roy: By H. P. Briggs, R.A., 1137
9. Rajaram Roy: By John King 1137
BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.
VOL. XLV11I.

ROBERT HOME.
By A. Gregory.
From the Portrait in the Collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
 JEoteri
A CENTENARY NOTE.

fJ^HE centenary of the death of Robert Home, the painter, fell on September
12, 1934. His tomb can be seen in the old Cutcherry Cemetery at
Cawnpore, close to the entrance-gate on the left hand side. It bears the
following inscription on an oval black slab : “Robert Home, died September
42th, 1834, aged 82 years.”
Among t’re British artists who have found their way to India, Home
challenges attention for two reasons. When he came out to Madras in 1790
“without permission” at the mature age of thirty-eight he made India his
home. He spent five years at Madras, nineteen at Calcutta, and twenty .at
Lucknow and Cawnpore: and during the whole of t&at period of forty-four
years, he never quitted the country. Secondly, few artists are so lavishly
represented in India by their works. Calcutta is particularly favoured. No
less than twenty-five of his pictures are displayed in the rooms of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal in Park Street: and there are portraits by him at the Victoria
Memorial Hall, the High Court, the Town Hall and Government House.
Others hang in the Viceroy’s Houses at Delhi, Simla, and Alipore (Belvedere),
and in the Banqueting Hall at Madras. In London also examples of his art
are preserved in His Majesty’s collection at Buckingham Palace, and
elsewhere (1).
. An account of Home’s career was published in Bengal: Past and Present
in 1928 (Vol. XXXV, pp. 1-24) and additional information is contained in the
memoir in Sir William Foster’s British Artists in India (Walpole Society,
Vol. XIX, 1931, pp. 42-49).
The family of Home was intimately associated with the service of the
East India Company. His grandfather, Colonel Charles Hutchinson, was
Governor of St. Helena, and he was the nephew of Sir Eyre Coote whose

(1) The pictures in London are distributed as follows : Buckingham Palace, the Duke of
Wellington; National Portrait gallery, the Duke of Wellington, and William Carey and his
Brahman Pundit; Royal Society, John Hunter, the Eminent anatomist (Home’s brother-ifMaw);
Royal College of Surgeons, John Hunter (both early productions); India office, Lord
Wellesley; Apsley House, the Duke of Wellington’ (two); the East India United Service Club,
Ghazi-ud-din Haidar, (with a crown) and Colonel John Baillie (Resident at Lucknow from
1807 to 1815); the Oriental Club, Lord Wellesley, Ghazi-ud-din Haidar (with a turban). Daulat
Rao Sindia (1780-1827) and Colonel Robert Barnewall of the Bombay Army. Lieut. Col. O. C.
Pulley of 14 Vicarage Gate, W. 2. owns a portrait of Ghazi-ud-din Haidar (with a turban),
which is believed to be the one presented by the Nawab to the Marquess of Hastings in 1817.
2 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

portrait he painted for the Banqueting Hall at Madras (2). Another uncle,
George Hutchinson, commanded the Stafford Indiaman: and one of his
brothers, William Home, obtainedia cadetship on the Bombay establishment
in 1776, and retired in 1802 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Home continued the connexion through his descendants. By his first wife,
Susanna Peterson Delane, whom he married in Dublin on September 8, 1783,
and who died in 1794 (3), he had three sons and a daughter. The daughter
Anne Home married at Calcutta on February 3, 1806, John Walker, of the
Bengal Civil Service, and was left a widow on October 18, ll 808 (4). Their
only child Jean Walker (who died at Mooltan in July 1852) was the wife of
Lieut.-Col. Frederick William Birch of the 41st Bengal Infantry, a great grand­
son of John Zephaniah Holwell, who was murdered By the mutinous sepoys
of his regiment at Sitapur in June 1857 : their son Major Henry Holwell Birch
was one of the garrison of the Lucknow Residency, and was killed in action
at Ali Masjid in 1878. The painter’s eldest son, Major-General Robert Home,
C.B. (1784-1842) entered the Madras Army and died at Kamptee when in
command of the Nagpur Subsidiary Force. John (1787-1860) and Richard
(1789-1862) were officers in the Bengal Army, and both were promoted to the
rank of major-general in 1852. It was they who presented their father’s
private collection of pictures to the Asiatic Society of Bengal on November 5,
H 834 : these ipclude (in addition to numerous examples of Home’s own work)
a Guido Reni, a Morland, Tilly Kettle’s portrait of Warren Hastings, and
two painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, of which one is a portrait of Sir William
Jones. Richard Home married at Lucknow in 1822 the daughter of Colonel
Charles Fraser of the 7th Bengal Cavalry (whose sisters married Charles Grant
and William Chambers, and who was also the father of Simon Fraser B.C.S.,
killed at Delhi in 1857). Their daughter married in 1852 Lieut.-Col. Robert
Warden Fraser (1806-1876) andLwas the mother of Sir Everard Duncan Home
Fraser of the Chinese Consular Service. All the four sons entered the Bengal
Army: Lieut. Duncan Charles Home, V.C. (1828-1857) of the Bengal
Engineers, was one of the heroes of the Kashmir Gate : Colonel Robert
Home, C.I.E. (1834-1896) also of the Bengal Engineers, was Secretary to the
Government of India in the Public Works Department and retired in 1889 :

(2) The picture, which was hung in the Exchange (now the officers' mess in Fort Saint
George) is mentioned by Colonel Mark Wilks, who writes in his Historical Sketches of the
South of India (1810-1817) that “no sepoy who has served under him ever enters the room
without making an obeisance to Coote Behauder.” It was finished in May 1795, a few days
before Home sailed for Calcutta : but by 1812 it had been so badly damaged by the sea-air
that Thomas Hickey was employed to re-paint it, which he did with the help of a portrait of
Coote belonging to Mr. George Cruttenden of Calcutta (the brother-in-law of "Bob” Pott.).
(2^ His second wife, Alicia Ann Paterson, whom he married at Calcutta on September 13,
1795, and who died in August 1817, was a sister of Mrs. Alexander Colvin. She came out
to Bengal in the William Pitt Indiaman in 1790. William Baillie, writing to Ozias Humphery
on October 5, 1795, describes her as “elderly" and says that her father, Deputy Paterson of
London, "was a great friend and patron of Mr. Home’s brother-in-law Sir Robert Mylne
(Surveyor to St. Paul's Cathedral) my relation, in his first setting up in business, and procured
for him the building of Blackfriars Bridge.”
(4) Mrs. Walker died at Cawnpore on November 8, 1829, and is buried beside her father.
 ROBERT HOME. 3

Ensign George Row Home (1837-1856) died young: and General Frederic
Jervis Home, c.s.I. (1839-1919), another /Bengal Engineer, was Inspector-
General of Irrigation at the time of his reti^sment in 1894. In the next
generation also the family was represented in the British Army.
No attempt will be made here to discuss or describe the numerous pictures
by Home which are to be found in India. For such details the reader is
referred to the sources already mentioned. It must suffice to say that one
of his earliest sitters was Mr. Justice Hyde, and that he received Rs. 1,000
for the portrait in November 1795. Hie merits of it can be judged from the
fine engravings which was lately acquired for the Victoria Memorial Hall.
Among others Home painted four Governor-Generals—Lord Cornwallis, Lord
Wellesley, Lord Minto (5) and the Marquess of Hastings (6): many soldiers
of different degrees of fame, such as ‘Sir Arthur Wellesley, Lord Lake, Sir
Edward Paget, Sir William Medows, and Sir George Hewett: the only known
portrait of William Carey of Serampore (who died also in 1834) and another
of Bishop Heber ; three Chief Justices, Sir Robert Chambers, Sir John
Anstruther, and Sir Henry Russell (the last named which was presented to
William Hickey has disappeared): and, finally, numerous portraits of Ghazi-
ud-din Haider, including the large composition, “The^ king of our receiving
tribute” which forms part of the royal collection at Hampton Court and has
been lent by His Majesty to the Victoria Memorial Hall.
So large, indeed, was Home’s output that it comes as a surprise to learn
from Strickland’s Dictionary of Painters (p. 534) that he had only the free
use of one arm. As the result of a severe attack of measles when a young
man the elbow joint of his left aim became affected and his brother-in-law,
Dr. John Hunter, in order to avoid amputation, set it in a bent position
across his chest where it ossified and remained fixed. The artist used, how-
ever, to say that this disability was of great service to him, as it enabled
him to hold his palette for hours in the same position without fatigue.
Home had several addresses in Calcutta where he resided from 11795
until he went to Lucknow in 1814 to take up the post of court painter to
the Nawab Wazir of Oudh. On June 4, 1801, the Calcutta Gazette
announced that "the house at present occupied by Mr. Home in Larkins’
Lane” was to let. In October 1802 Mr. and Mrs. William Fairlie, whose
name is perpetuated by Fairlie Place, sold to the company a house “near
the Esplanade, lately tenanted by Mr. Robert Home and known as the
Commercial House” : it was bounded “on the west by the great road from
the New Square and on the south by the site of the Old Council House”.(7)
The list of Calcutta inhabitants for September 1805 shows that he was then
living in Hastings Street. In 1807 he was in Esplanade Row ; and in January
1808 a panorama of the city of London was exhibited at “Mr. Home’s house
in Chowringhee.”
(5) This is the full-length portrait in Peer’s robes at the Viceroy’s House, Alipore (Bel­
vedere) which has been erroneously attributed to George Chinnery: see the article by Sir
William Foster in Bengal; Past and Present, Vol. XXXIV. p. 104.
(6) See Calcutta Gazette of July 6, 1815, where mention is made of Home’s “admirable
picture at Lucknow” of Lord Hastings (then Lord Moira).
(7) Bengal; Past and Present, Vol. XIV. p. 195.
4 BENGAL ; PAST AND PRESENT.

THE PAINTER OF THE PORTRAIT.

It is tempting to connect die fine portrait of Home which belongs to the

Asiatic Society of Bengal, and which we reproduce from a photograph taken
by Mr. Percy Brown, with the self-portrait which he sent to the second
exhibition of the Calcutta Brush Club in 1832 and which was said by the
Calcutta Gazette to be “an admirable likeness.” But the history of the
picture has been satisfactorily established. It was presented to the Society on
July I, 1835, by the painter, A. Gregory.
Little is known of this artist, who appears to have been of Armenian
extraction: but Sir William Foster has collected such information as the
newspapers of the period provide, and has kindly permitted the use of his
researches.
•Gregory first comes into notice through an advertisement inserted by him
in the Calcutta Gazette of September 2, 1813. In this he states that for five
years he had been a pupil of Robert Home, afterwards continuing his studies
privately for eighteen months: and that he had decided to commence business
for himself as a portrait painter in oils. Specimens of his work were to
be seen at his house Mo. 18 Esplanade Row, and his charges ranged from
six gold moRurs for a head to twenty four gold mohurs for a full-length.
We next hear of him from another advertisement in the Calcutta
Gazette of November 16, 1819. He was then living at No. 55 Cossitollah
(Bentinck Street): and his charges for framed portraits in oils were from six
to twenty five gold mohurs. He offered also to paint miniatures at rates
varying from two to nine gold mohurs, and to give lessons in drawing and
painting at two gold mohurs a month.
The Calcutta Monthly Journal for May 1827 contains an account of a
police court case in which he was involved with a neighbouring barber
whom he was alleged to have assaulted: and from this we leam that he
was then residing in Dhurrumtollah.
On July 1, 1835, as already stated, he presented a portrait by him of
Robert Home to the Asiatic Society of Bengal: and fifteen months later his
death is reported in the Calcutta Courier of September 30, 1836, in the
following terms: “At Calcutta, on September 23rd, A. Gregory, portrait and
minature painter, aged 42 years.”
His portrait of Home reveals talent of a high order, and it would be
interesting to know whether there are other pictures by him in Calcutta.

EVAN COTTON.
 txtt n bggrae pmyml of %

(A PEEP INTO THE PAST).

^MONG the places on the north-western seaboard of the Bay of Bengal

which were, in the days of the early John Company, busy scenes of
trade, commerce, industry and traffic, but now are marshy and malarious
villages, little better than the adjacent pestilential swamp of the Sunderbunds,
stands prominent the name of Kedgeree (sometimes spelt as Khejeri). It
is a pleasure indeed for the historians to dug out from the old records the
lost traces of fame and grendeur of such an interesting place. The other
more or less neighbouring places which were orite notable but now have
shared the same fate as Kedgeree are Cox island, Hidgftlee, Kulpi and
Balaramgarhi.
2. Eager inquirers into the topography of Kedgeree will find from the
Rennell’s Atlas that lower down the dangerous James and Mary Sand at
the junction of the Rasulpur river with the Hughly river (just opposite the
centre of the Sagar island) is situated the old fort of Hidgelee ; seven and
a half mile above this on the right bank of the Hughly river, near its mouth
stands “remote, morose and melancholy” flfie once prosperous and populous
seaport of Kedgeree—the subject matter of the present paper. Strange are
the changes which occur with the lapse of Time I
3. This Kedgeree port which is now utterly neglected and forgotten
and at whose name an ordinary modem geographical student stands
bewildered and perplexed was at one time not only an opulent centre of
commerce and industry but was, according to the testimony of printed papers
and records which are preserved in the Imperial Record Department, a
healthy sanatorium as well. We find in the Hedge's diary(l) that “Kedgeree
was exceedingly pleasant and fruitful, having great store of wild hogs, deer,
wild buffaloes and tigers. It was an amusing and interesting trip in the
18th century to take a boat at the town of Kedgeree and row into the
Rasulpur river and back to the Hughly river noting the busy scenes which
met you on your way”. A striking instance of the healthiness, importance
and fertility of this port in the latter half of the 18th century will be evident
from the following application(2) of an European gentleman, who wished to
acquire a big plot of land and to reside in this place in the year 1782. He

(1) Hedges’ diary, I. 68. 172, 175.

(2) Pub. Dept. O.C. 27 May 1782, no. 19.
6 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

certainly would not have acted in this way, if he considered Kedgeree as

unhealthy and unfit for habitation. Mis application (place and date not given
in the records) runs thus :— *
•
"To the Honourable Warren Hastings
Governor General & Council etc.,
Fort William.
The humble petition of Bartholomew Fordin
Humbly sheweth,

That your petitioner having been advised by many Commanders not only
of his Majesty’s ships, the Honourable Companys, and of private merchants
belonging to this port to settle at Kedgeree in order to supply them with
provisions and after due consideration believing it would be of real use to
them as well as to your petitioner, your petitioner is induced to request that
your Honor will be pleased to grant permission for his residence at that
place and should this application meet your concurrence your petetioner most
humbly solicits that your Honour will be pleased, to grant a piece or pieces
of ground to the number of One hundred Biggahs in order for his making
a garden for raising vegetables and for ground for feeding stock .to serve
the ships. That your petetioner may be allowed to dig a large tank for
serving the ships with water which is much wanted there. That your
petetioner may be allowed to keep marine stores at Kedgeree for supplying
the vessels that lay and touch there and that your petetioner may be
allowed to keep small vessels and boats for the convenience of the ships
and passengers up and down the river.
Your petitioner humbly hopes that you will be pleased to take his
proposals into consideration and ^our Honor’s petitioner as in duty bound
will ever pray

Bartholomew Fordin”

Mr. Walter Hamilton(3) also testifies to the past importance of this place
in the following manner:—
“Kedgeree is much healthier station than Diamond Harbour and ships
of war, unless compelled by the strong reasons, should never go higher up
the Hughly. A naval officer, on the part of the Government resides here
who makes daily reports of the ships that arrive at and sail from Bengal.
During the rainy season ships are sometimes detained here a long time by
the freshes of the Hughly river”.
4. ^The reputation of Kedgeree as a well-known harbour of the '18th
■sentury will be sufficiently clear from the names of. some of the vessels which
touched or took refuge at this place either from the stress of weather or
from enemies in the course of their commercial voyage between England
and Bengal: These are (1) The Lion in 1754 (lost) ; (2) The St. George in

(3) East India Gazetteer by W. Hamilton Vol. II, p. 80.

 KEDGEREE A BYGONE SEAPORT OF THE GANGETIC DELTA. 7

1754 (aground) ; (3) The Ilchester in 1759 ; (4) The Prince George in 1759 ;
(5) The Bombay Castle in 1759 ; (6) thewHardwicke in 1759 (pursued by the
French ships); (7) the Hawke in 176r; (8) the Royal George in 1763;
(9) the Kent in 1765 ; (10) The Cmttendon if! 1766 ; (11) the Morse in 1771 ;
(12) the Triton in 1772 ; (13) the Greenwich in 1772 ; (14) the Speke in
1774 ; (15) the Northumberland in 1775 ; (16) the Goodwill in 1775 ;
(17) the Minerva in 11775 ; (18) the Lioness in 1776 ; (19) the Nancy in 1777 ;
(20) the Resolution in 1778 ; (21) the True Briton in 1780 ; (22) the Ceres
in 1780; (23) The Walpole in 1780; (24) the Fox in 1780; (25) the
Duke of Kingston in 1780 ; (26) The Duke of Portland in 1780 ;
(27) The Bellmont in 1781 ; (28) The Dartmouth in 1781 ; (29) the
Rochford in 1781 ; (30) the Neptune (sprung a leak) in 1781 ; (31) the
Resolution in 1781 (driven by storm) ; (32) the Yarmouth in 1782 ; (33) the
Fortitude in 1782 ; (34) the Warren Hastings in 1783 ; (35) the Barwell in
11784 ; (36) the Norfolk in 1784 ; (37) the Atlas in 1784 ; (38) the Earl Talbot
in 1784 ; (39) the Lord Macartney in 1784 ; (40) the Hastings in 1784 ;
(41) the Earl of Mansfield in 1784 ; etc.
5. The fame of Kedgeree port in the 18th century lay not only on
its healthiness and commerce but also on its being a semaphore station and
a flourishing rice mart. F-rom the letter of Messrs C. Thornhill(4) and J.
Auriol (Attornies to the Agent for supplies) to the Board, tiated Calcutta,
20th August 1781, we find that 3300 bags of rice were kept ready at Kedgeree
in that year for export by the ship Resolution. The gradual expansion of
rice business at this place at last reached such a dimension that it was found
necessary to construct several rice-golas(5) for depositing grain in the year
1782. Records(6) further inform us that in the 18th century Kedgeree was
also a place where the Company’s ships used to be surveyed. But perhaps
the greatest importance of this place at thif period lay in the fact that the
commanders of the ships passing this port were directed(7) “to enter in a
book to be supplied from post-office the names of their ships and any news
that they might bring with them."
6. The question of the establishment of an express dak in this port,
as appears from the records,(8) was first taken up in the year 1797. About
this time a proposal(9) for dak connection between this port and Kukrahati
and a statement of its cost were also seriously discussed. The importance
of postal business at this port grew so much in the year 1798 that in the
next year a brisk correspondence( 10) between the then Postmaster-General
Sir Charles Blunt and other Govt, officials took place to construct a
substantial building at Kedgeree for a post-office. It is a pleasure to find

(4) Pub. Dept. O.C. 24 Aug. 1781, no. 24.

(5) Pub. Dept. O.C. 25 Apr. 1782, no. 13.
(6) Pub. O.C. 13 Nov. 1780 no. 30.
(7) Pub. O.C.28 Aug. 1797, no. 53.
(8) Pub. O.C.28 Aug. 1797, no. 54.
(9) Pub. O.C.30 Jan. 1798, no. 21.
(10) Pub. O.C. 18 July 1799, no. 7; 24 Sept. 1799, no. 14; 10 Dec. 1799, nos. 10-11,
8 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

from the records(l I) that such a po.vtal building was established at this place
in the year 1800 in the shape of amice bungalow and for protection of the
postal servants, especially from the nands of the ships’ crews (12) and pilots,
an advertisement was issued by* the Government dated Fort William (Public
Department), the 18th December 1800, notifying the measures that would
be adopted to punish such persons as may interrupt the servants employed
under the Post Master at Kedgeree. and directing the Marine Board to give
effect to the above advertisement. For the text of this advertisement the
curious scholars are referred to the records (13).- That the post-office
at Kedgeree continued to work satisfactorily will be clear from the fact
that 33 years (14) after the establishment of the aforesaid postal building,
the service of a suitable vessel from 100 to 150 tons was requisitioned at
this place as an additional floating- Post-office. In the year 1835 (15) the
Kedgeree Dak road was repaired' for the convenience of postal communica­
tion. The following extract from a paper dated Fort William (Public Dept.)
the 6th July 1836 no 13, regarding the dak establishment at Kedgeree in
the first half of the 19th century will be read with interest:—“In Bengal
especially the very heavy cost incurred in maintaining the expensive Kedgeree
establishment in a state of efficiency and the consideration, that generally
speaking, the regulation* of external communication is more particularly a
service of the public than a ministry to the wants of Government, in which
respect it differs essentially from the internal agency, afford what we
conceive to be good ground for applying a different principle to sea
postage" (Pub. Dept. Fort William, 6th July 1836, No. 13, para 60).
In the first half of the 19th century Kedgeree was the seat of important
Government officials. In the year 1833 Mr. Horton (16) was the Agent at
Kedgeree and after his retirement Mr. W. Pinckney (17) was its Agent and
Deputy Post Master-General on*a salary of Rs. 500 per month. During this
period it was also a place where , the Europeans who died on shipboard off
the coast were used to be buried as, will be evident from an old English
burial ground which still exists there in a neglected condition.
7. Hie port of Kedgeree was formerly an important anchorage whence
Vessels of any drought did not come up to Calcutta. We get from an extract
from the Calcutta Monthly Journal for May 1798 the following information:—
“On the 16th instant His Majesty’s ship La Virginie arrived at Kedgeree
having the Right Hon’ble the Earl of Momington on board, with the
Hon’ble Mr. Wellesley, his Lordship’s brother and their suite. The Hon’ble
the Company’s yacht having been some days lying at Kedgeree conveyed
his Lordship up to Calcutta on the 17th instant.” Another extract from a

(11) Pub. O.C. 14 Mar. 1800, nos. 115-17.

(12) Pub. O.c.’s 24 April, 1800 no. 8; 30 Dec. 1800, nos. 29-30.
(13) Pub. O.C. 18 Dec. 1800, nos. 31-2. '
(14) Pub. O.C. 3 June, 1833, nos. 37-8,
(15) Mily O.C. 26th, 27th and 28th April, 1835.
(16) Pub. O.C. 8 July 1830, no. 3.
(17) Pub. O.C. no. 4,
 KEDGEREE A BYGONE SEAPORT OF THE GANGETIC DELTA. 9

paper dated 25th Feb. 1829 says that on tlfet date the then Governor-General
sailed from Kedgeree in the ship Enterfmize (Pub. Dept. B. S. 26th Feb.
1829). With the rapid growth of this port* in the 19th century, the necessity
of s, lighthouse at this place for the safety of %hips and vessels was seriously
felt. When the work of constructing this light-house was first taken in hand
is not clear from the-records. But we find from them (18) that on the 25th
February 1832, Marine Board wrote to the Supreme Board from Calcutta for
the survey of the Kedgeree light-house and to arrange for its repairs. From
this it is clear that the Kedgeree light-house was constructed sometime
before the year 1832. In this connection the survey report (19) submitted
by Major John Cheape, Superintending Engineer at Cuttack, to Capt. G.
Young, Secretary to the Military Board, dated Midnapore, 23rd April 1832
is highly interesting. Though after this survey the task of repairing the
light-house fell on Mr. Morton and a advance sum of sicca rupees 1428 was
placed at his disposal yet for some reasons the repairs were kept in abeyance
and the question of a fresh survey (20) of the Kedgeree light-house was
again taken up in the middle of the year !l 833, and consequently the work
of repairing the light-house could not be taken up till the end of the year
1033. Records (21) say that in this year Mr. Morton who was in charge of
the Kedgeree light-house was charged with peculation. 1
8. The month of May of the year 1833 was highly ^disastrous to
Kedgeree port as on the 21st day of that month a furious gale and inundation
which raged on the north-western head of the Bay nearly destroyed this
port altogether. The records (22) of the Imperial Records Department of
the year 1833 contain thrilling accounts of this calamity. The following
extracts from the letters (23) of Mr. W. Dampier, Commissioner of the
Sunderbunds, to Mr. G. Bushby, Secretary to the Board dated the 29th and
30th May 1833 and the 1st and 6th June, 1#33 give us but a partial and
faint idea of it:—
“1 found the whole coast dreadfully devastated and number of carcases
are in a state of putrifaction along the coast. I fear however that in the
interior where we could not penetrate, the damage is greater from all accounts
that we could obtain. It appears that the inundation has extended from
15 to 20 miles inland”. Again we read “it seems to me that the Western
coast has suffered more considerably than the eastern bank of the river
as the whole of the cultivated land appears blasted by the effects of
inundation. The trees are deprived of their ^foliage and the lower part of
the country is still under water.” Another extract says:—“Capt. Harington
and myself have just returned from visiting Kedgeree and we find dreadful

(18) Pub. O.C.’s 8 May 1832, nos. 9-11.

(19) Pub. Dept. O.C. 8 May 1832, no. 11.
(20) Pub. Dept. O.C.’s 7 Aug. 1832 nos. 15-18; 25 June 1833, no. 13.
(21) Pub. Dept. O.C.'s 17 Sep. 1833 nos. 13-14; 24 Sept. 1833, nos. 8-12; 14 Oct. 1833
no. 19.
(22) Pub. O.C.’s 10 June 1833, nos. 34-53; 25 June 1833 nos. 59 & 59D; 29 July 1833,
no. 23; 8 July 1833 nos. 45-9; 15 July 1833 nos. 24-9; 30 Dec. 1833, nos. 46-7.
(23) Pub. O.C.’s 10 June 1833, nos. 34-5 and 38 and 46.
2
10 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

devastation of property and rml;h subsequent want among the people are
hourly and daily coming in fr«n the more distant parts of the country.
About 1500 people have been supplied this morning (29th May 1833) from
the rice left at Kedgeree bjf Mr. Branch Pilot Sinclair and as upwards of
900 men were fed yesterday at the light-house by the officers of the ship
Amherst from the rice supplied by Govt. I calculate that to-day nearly 3000
souls have been entirely dependent on the Govt. It seems to me that on
this side the destruction of the property has been so great as to render it
impossible to withdraw any relief until the agricultural season here consider­
ably advanced.” Again we find “During the greater part of yesterday
(31st May 11833) I was employed in giving out rice and cloth to more than
3000 men, women and children and* most of whom were in a state of nudity.
You will be better able to judge of the state, of those wretched sufferers
when I tell you that after the crowd had dispersed and the distribution of
rice ceased we found a man dead on the ground who had ceased to breathe
whilst waiting for that aid which would have saved his life. Many of the
claimants of relief have come in for more than 20 miles in total destitution
and it is distressing to see the state to which they are reduced”. To alleviate
the suffering of the people of Kedgeree, - Government took all possible sorts
of relief-measures and* started floating depots (24) for the distribution of rice
under experienced officers and the services of ships (25) viz. the Amherst,
the Gascoyne, the Irawaddy and the Earnout carrying rice were requisitioned
to help this noble cause. However this state of things fortunately did not
last long and considerably improved towards the end of the month of June,
as the following extract from the letter (26) of Mr. W. Dampier to Mr. G. A.
Bushby dated Sunderbund’s Commissioner’s Office, 18th June 1833 will
shew:—“I proceeded to Kedgeree with the experiment flat laden with paddy,
mats, hemp, daos, etc. for the use of the inhabitants there. I found on. the
whole the state of the country much improving along the banks of the river
on each side above Diamond Harbour and the inhabitants were busily
employed in repairing and renewing the bunds which had been destroyed
as to secure their paddy fields from any further injury by the high tides”.
However, in spite of this improvement in the condition of the people, the
relief started by the Government continued up to the end of the year. We
also find from the records (27) that for the supply of good water to the
inhabitants, the Government caused four fresh water tanks to be dug in the
town. Among the noble band of European officers who took an active part
to afford relief to the afflicted people of Kedgeree stand conspicuous the
following names:—
(1) Mr. W. Pinckney, Agent at Kedgeree.
(2) Capt. Cowles.
(3) Mr. G. A. Bushby, Secretary to the. Board.

(24) Pub. O.C. 10 June 1833, no. 34.

(25) Pub. O.C. 10 June 1833, no. 35.
(26) Pub. O.C. 25 June 1833 no. 59.
(27) Pub. O.C, 30 Dec. 1833, no. 47.
 KEDGEREE a BYGONE SEAPORT OF THE GANGETIC DELTA. 11

(4) Capt. Harington. I

(5) Mr. W. Dampier, Commissioner oflthe Sunderbunds.
(6) Mr. F. Cardew, Magistrate of Hiogelee.
(7) Messrs Hand, Paterson, Lewis, Fowlfer and Spence of the Pilot
Service.
(8) Mr. J. Donnithome, Magistrate of Hidgelee (successor to Mr. F.
Cardew).
9. The records of the Imperial Record Department are reticent about
this port for some years after the year 1833. But the students who closely go
through the records of the following 25 years will find that Kedgeree somehow
maintained its former reputation during these years inspite of the disaster
of 1833. We find-from the letter (28) of Major W. M. N. Strut, Secretary
to the Military Dept to Major C. Douglas, Brigade Major of the Queen’s
troops, dated the Council Chamber, the 19th December 1843, that in the
year 1843 “fresh provisions were procurable in abundance at Kedgeree”.
A letter (29) from the Commander of the ship Tudor to the Supreme Board
dated. 6th Dec. 1847 also informs us that on that date some contingents of
European troops landed there on their way to Calcutta. We further find
from the papers that in the year 1852 there was an electric communication
working between Calcutta and Kedgeree (vide Mr. W. B. O’Sheughessy’s
report of 1852). Again we see (30) that in the year i!857 Government
advanced 20,000 rupees to Lieut. P. Stewart Superintendent of the Electric
Telegraphs for the construction of an electric telegraph line between Kedgeree
and Madras. These are the clear signs of prosperity of Kedgeree up to the
year 1857. Henceforward this seaport fell into rapid decay and its subsequent
history passes beyond the reach of antique research.

• A. F. M'. Abdul All

(28) Mily O.c; 22 Dec. 1843, no. 55.

(29) Mily O.C. 10 Dec. 1847, no. 194.
(30) Home. Dept. Elec. Tele. cons. 9 Oct. 1857 nos. 4-5 (Printed).
 JVtt forlg JVmmtit of

THE state of Manipur, on the north-east frontier of India, was known in

former times by a variety of names. In Rennell’s Memoir and maps
it is called “Meckley." Later on, in Colonel Michael Symes’ narrative of
his first mission to Ava (1796) and maps of that period, we find the
term “Cassay”, which is a corruption of the Shan and Burmese “Ka-se",
or “Ka-the”. The word “Meckley” would seem in its turn to be a form of
“Mogli”, the name by which the State has long been known in Cachar.
At the fifth meeting of the Indian Historical Records Commission,
which was held at Calcutta in January 1923, an interesting paper on “The
Early History of Manipur” was read by Mr. A. F. M. Abdul Ali( 1). From
it we learn that the earliest trace of relations between the East India
Company and the Higduized Naga Kings of the State is to be found in
a letter of September 19, 1762 from Mr. Harry Verelst, the Chief of the
Chittagong factory, to Mr. H. Vansittart, Governor of Fort William. As
the result of disputes regarding the succession and a consequent Burmese
invasion, Hari Das Gosain the Vakil of Jai Singh, one of the claimants,
had been sent to Chittagong to represent his case to Mr. Verelst: and on
September 14, 1762, a treaty of alliance was signed. “In his anxiety to
secure British assistance for his master”, writes Mr. Abdul Ali, “Hari Das
Gosain gave to Mr. Verelst very particular account of the situation of
the different countries quite down to the southern parts of Pegu.” This
account was not reproduced.
The letter from. Verelst to Vansittart and the articles of alliance were
placed before the Board at Fort William on October 4, 1762 : and it
was decided to "detach six companies of Sepoys, four from hence [Calcutta]
and two to be draughted from Capt. Grant’s Battalion at Chittagong under
the command of Lieutenant Archibald Swinton, with two other officers,
Lieutenant John Stables(2) and Ensign Scotland, to fix a post at Moneypoor
and make themselves acquainted with the strength and disposition of the
Burmahs and the situation of their country.” A detachment left Chittagong
in January 1763 and reached Khaspur . (Cosspore) near Badarpur in April :
but it suffered so much from rain and disease that the remnant was obliged
to fall back upon Jainagar on the left bank of the Barak river, and even-
^^lually to return to Bengal. Swinton was ordered to Dacca where he “contri­
buted greatly by his activity and bravery in recovering the Factory” (which

(1) I. H. R. C. Proceedings, Vol. V., pp. 119-127. See also Bengal: Past and Present,
Vol. XXVI, pp. 133-141, where the paper is reprinted.
(2) Afterwards Member of Council at Fort William from 1782 to 1787.
 AN EARLY ACCOUNT OF MECKLEY. 13

had been attacked by the forces of Mir Kasim) and thereafter “made the
greatest expedition “to join the army Inder Major Thomas Adams, which
he reached in time to take part in the* battle of Udwanala (September 4,
1763). •
Before starting on the Meckley expedition, Swinton had sent a Subadar
and ten sepoys with Hari Das and another Gosain to Meckley and an
account of their experiences is given in Alexander Dalrymple’s Oriental
Repository (1808, Vol. II, Third Number).
It is prefaced by the following note (Introduction p. 3) :
The Account of Meckley from my friend Mr. Orme’s manu­
scripts, although brief, is the most circumstantial I have seen of that
country: a few notes have been added from my Friend Captain
Archibald Swinton, who flatters me with the hopes that He shall
be able to give some further Account from his Papers which are
in Scotland.
I am in possession, from my Friend Major Rennell, of a Map
laid down by the Late Governor Verelst of the Rout from
Cosspore(3) to Meckley and Ava ; but instead of engraving the
Rout by itself, it is my intention in the* next number, which will
complete Volume II, to give a map from Islamabad(4) to Cosspore,
Meckley and Ava, and thence to Negrais and Martavan, including
Aracan etc.(5).
The narrative follows on pp. 477-482. It is headed “Nerhee (sic)
Dass Gossain Fukeer, his Account of Meckley, etc. May 25th and 29th
May 1763. From Mr. Orme's MSS. Vol. 17 p. 4746.” The notes are in
the original: the initials A. S. denote Archibald Swinton, and the initials
A.D. are those of Alexander Dalrymple,
$ $ $ ^ ^ $

He says that he left Noonagore [in Tipperah] in company with Harree

Dass Gossein, Romjany Subadar(5) and ten of our Seapoys, about the 2nd
of September last, and went with him [sic.] to Meckley ; where he arrived
about the 20th of December, and there he has resided ever since, till the
I 7th or 18th of April, when he was dispatched with Letters he has now
brought: He came by the way of Rang Roong, to which place he was
35 days on the way, 17 of which he was obliged to halt at various places:
from Rang Roong he came down in a Boat to camp at Sainagur [Jainagur],
about 70 miles, in 24 Hours.

(3) Chittagong.
(4) Not printed in Volume II at the end of the fourth number and not mentioned in the
introduction to that number.
(5) The subadar and sepoys were sent, by my Friend Capt. Archibald Swinton then
Commanding Officer of the Military in that quarter; “in order to confirm, or detect the falsity
of the strange Accounts given of Meckley by Harre Dass Gossein.” A.D.
14 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

Two days before he left Meckley, duplicates of these Letters were

sent the Casspoor Road, escorted ay 20 Matchlock Men. (These have
not come to hand).
Meckley is a Hilly country, Snd is bounded on the North, South and
West, by large tracks of Cookie Mountains, which prevent any intercourse
with the countries beyond them; and on the East by the Burampoota
[Kenduem. MS. note] ; beyond the Hills, to the North lye Asam and Poong,
to the West, Cashar; to the South and East, the Burmah country, which lies
between Meckley and China.
There is no intercourse whatever between Meckley and China. In
former times, some Chinese Commodities used to be brought from the
Burmahs, but at present they have no dealings with them; if they want to
send a letter, they,cross the Berrampooter, put the letter in a Bamboo,
which they hang to the end of another Bamboo, and stick it in the ground,
on the Burma side.
It is said to be a months Journey from Moneypoor to Muxiboo(6),
The Raja of Meckley, having intelligence that there were about 100 French,
and 50 Englishmen, in the service of the Burmahs, who were nevertheless
kept as Prisoners, privately dispatched a Harcar to these people, to inform
them that they ^vould be received in Meckley if they could find means
to make their escape.
The Burrampooter is said to divide, some where to the Northward
of Poong, into two large branches, one of which passes through Assam and
down by the way of Dacca, the other through Poong, into the Burma
country. Besides the Buurampooter there is no large Rivers in Meckley,
they have no other boats but Dingys (7). That Meckley is a very small
country, and the people very poo% That a hundred'Rupees is a very great
sum in that country. That the Rajah of Meckley has no troops of any
kind, not even for his Chaukees, or Attendants, who are furnished by his
zemindars, and these receive no pay,'but their provisions.
That he receives no Revenues and is (as he believes) master of very
little money, but when he wants a, thousand, or two thousand Rupees, he
asks it from his zemindars, who collect and give it him.
That there are, however, some Cookie Zemindars, who give him
some Caposs(8), though not as a settled Revenue: And in like
manner there is a certain Cookie Zemindar, who used to give
him a considerable quantity ofGold yearly; but who not having paid him
for some years, he got the Zemindars to assemble their Rayats, with them
he sent his Brother Jaye Singh, and Harree Dass, likewise our Subadar and
njj^^56apoys: they set out the 18th of March, burnt the Cookie villages,
and returned to Moneypoor the 7th of April.

(6) Called Monchabue or Momchabue by Capt. Baker and Muxabooe by Capt. Alves. A.D.
(7) Small boats like a Pulwar, A. S.‘ These are; I am informed by -my-Friend Major
Rennell of the wherry kind. A.D.
(8) Quy. Cotton. A.D.
 AN EARLY ACCOUNT OF MECKLEY. 15

That however no Gold could belobtained, as none but the Cookies

knew how to find it in the torrents thtjt run from the Hills.
That the Rajah has three elephants, no Houdah, lives in a thatched
House ; there being no other in the country.
That there is cotton, but no silk, in the country; that what little they
use has been got from the Burmah’s (other Accounts say that Meckley
produces above 40 Md. of silk yearly, that they have also a good deal of
Copper and White Metal.)
That their Horses are very small, mostly Tatoos(9) and some few
Tanyans(10).
Concerning Romjany Sudabar, he relates that on the Subadar’s arrival
in Meckley, December 20th, the Raja gave him a Gold Ring, that he has
since given him a Gold Moher, that this is all the Money which he, or the
Seapoys, have received during their residence there, but that they have an
allowance of Provisions, and have had a piece of Gurrahs [cloth] each man.
That the Seapoys had pressed the Subadar very much for their pay,
and that he had given them about 200 rupees of his own, which he had
carried with him.
That the Subadar, one day about the end* of January, sent for the
Naick, who was then sitting with Harree Doss, and on his^iot immediately
coming, the Suabadr went and beat him severely ; at which Hurree Dass
was much displeased; as it was done in his presence; the Subadar however
carried the Naick to his quarters and put him prisoner ; soon after which
the Raja ordered the Subadar to live separate from the Seapoys. A few
days after this a Jentoo Seapoy went to see the Subadar, who promised
to give him some Ghee, but did not do so, and this Seapoy afterwards
at Harree Dass’s house, the Subadar bfbing present, complained of the
disappointment; on which a Fukeer, in company, asked him why he would
take Ghee from a Mussulman, and bid him ask him for Hogs. To this the
Subadar replied, that no doubt he was a very strict Jentoo, who served
and lived with Europeans, who killed cows every day ; then Haree Dass
desired the Subadar not to say any thing which reflected on those whose
salt he eat, and nothing further passed.
That he never heard of this coming to the Rajah’s ears, or that Romjany
had ever said that the English were bringing up Senaputty [? Ajit Singh] ;
but that when the Letters arrived from Banga [on the frontier of Silhet:
in MS], there was a current report that Senaputty was coming up with the
English, at that time Romjany was absent on the Cookie Expedition ; being
asked what station he had there, he replied, that the command of the nine
Seapoys had been given by Harry Dass to the Naick, and that Ron?)8**y

(9) Tatoos are very small Horses from 7Yi to 10 hands high : value from six to twenty
or thirty Rupees : like the worst Highland Shelties. A.S.
(10) Tanyans are like strong Highland Ponies : often pye-bold : from 10 to 12 or 13 hands
high : value from one hundred to five hundred Rupees. A.S.
16 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

was carried along, with the Rajah’4Brother [Jai Singh], in a private capa­
city, having no command whatever.
That he was not a Prisoner, that he had repeatedly requested leave of
the Raja to return to Bengal, which had not been granted.
The above account was not given in the order it now stands, but is
the substance of his answers, to many questions.
Since our arrival at Banga, I am told that Senaputty confirms the most
material parts of the above account, as to the present poverty of the country ;
and their having no intercourse with any other, on account of the Hills
which surround them. He adds that there is about seven days plain country,
between Moneypoor and Burrampooter [Keapow or Keenduem in MS],
after crossing which, about seven days, Jungles and Hills, to the inhabited
borders of the Burmah country. This I have only from report, not having
yet had an opportunity of seeing him.

June 10th, 1763. [A. SWINTON.]

 Jforgoto Jjkmtlg JRogd ftaete
jiura pings nf pijnlnau

gHULUA is the largest pargana in the district of Noakhali and gave the
name to the district down to the year 1868. A romantic and semi-
historical account of the first Hindu king of Bhulua, which originally
comprised the major portion of the whole district, is still current among the
people and a short history of the family was first published by Dr. Wise of
Dacca is his famous article on the Bara-Bhuiyas of Bengal (J.A.S.B. 1874).
It has subsequently found place in a number of later works in Bengali on
local history. Unfortunately, almost all the writers had to rely solely on local
traditional and their accounts are thus mixed up witl^ much that is false and
fanciful. The latest account is from the pen of our learned friend Mr. Bhatta-
sali of the Dacca Museum (Bengal: Past and Present, Vol. XXXV, p. 38-9)
who, we are glad to note, has been able to clear most of the current errors
in the history of the family. It is now possible in light of newer materials
to improve considerably upon the brief sketch of Mr. Bhattasali, where a
few errors have unwittingly crept in and to present a more comprehensive
account of this almost forgotten family. The essential facts of the story
are (i) that a Prince named Biswambhar Sura son of' Adisura of a Kastriya
family of Mithila founded the kingdom of Bhulua and (ii) that the exact
date of the event is given as 1203 A.D. It is universally admitted that the
family was soon absorbed into the Kayastha community of Bengal. Attempts
have recently been made to connect the family with the famous king Adisura
of Bengal and it is put forth for the first time in the District Gazetteer that
probably “they were Kayasthas of West Bengal.” These do not seem to
take into proper account the important fact that a few families claiming
descent from Prince Biswambhar along with a few Brahmin families which
originally migrated with the Prince are even now partly ruled by customs
prevalent only in Mithila and not found in Bengal. This confirms in our
opinion the Maithil origin of the family. The date of the event roughly
coincides with the invasion of Bengal and Magadha by Bakhtiyar Khilji and
that itself lends support to its probability. We have to reject this date, for
only seven generations are found to intervene between Biswambhar and,
Laksmanamanikya, the most famous ruler of the dynasty whose date is
known to be about 1600 A.D.—seven generations to four centuries cannot
be accepted as history. In several districts of Eastern Bengal a new era
called the Parganati San is found used in the dating of older records, the
starting of the era falling variously between 1199-1203 A.D. The origin of
this era is still unknown. Mr. Bhattasalli suggested (Ind. Ant. 1923 pp. 314-20)
3
18 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

that it probably refers to the cor|quest of Bengal by Bakhtiyar. This era,

I have found largely used in the older records of Bhulua dated in the 17th
and 18th centuries A.D. It is our surmise that the mention of this era might
have led the people of Bhulfta to wrongly ascribe it to their local hero
Visvambhar, not knowing that the era was current in other districts specially
Tippera and Dacca. The genealogy points to about 1400 A.D. as the probable
date of Visvambhar the first king of Bhulua. The foundation of this kingdom
is preceded, according to the legends, by the discovery and installation by
that king of a black stone image of a Goddess, Varahi Devi, which at once
became the presiding deity, so to speak, of the entire Pargana and has ever
since been worshipped by the Hindus with uniform devotion. The Goddess
is regarded as a type of the well-known Hindu deity Durga. I shall never
forget the shock that a distinguished old Pandit of Bhulua received from
me when I disclosed to him that the image does not at all belong to the
Hindu pantheon but it is really a well-known' Buddhist Goddess named
Marichi with eight arms and three faces and the five Dhyani Buddhas are
depicted there as an infallible sign of its Buddhistic origin, (cf. Bhattasali:
Iconography p. 272). The worship of Gods of the Buddhist Pantheon by
the later Hindus after the fall of Buddhism is not unknown elsewhere. But
it is certainly strange that Bhulua which once formed an important seat of
Sanskrit learning should let this fiction survive through half a millennium and
that we might say with impunity. For, the Goddess far from disowning Her
alien devotees preferred to become a “living deity” with them, if we are
to believe in the stories current in the Pargana about the remarkable powers
of the Goddess. It is said before any calamity attending the royal family
the image would be found to ‘sweat’ profusely.
Nothing is known about the immediate descendants of Visvambhar.
Possibly the earliest mention of^he kingdom of Bhulua is found in the recently
published Chronicles of Tippera, the Rajamala, from which it is learned that
King Devamanikya (1520-35) of Tippera conquered Bhulua perhaps for the
first time ; for, Bhulua is not included among the extensive conquests of his
predecessor Dhanyamanikya who raided upto Chittagong. (Rajamala
Vol. II p. 35) The first specific mention of a King of Bhulua is also made
in the same work Rajamala; king Amaramanikya (1577-86 A.D.) of Tippera
is stated therein to have conquered Durlabha Roy of Bhulua in the year
1578 A.D. (Ib. Vol. II p. 83,306). We propose to identify this Durlabha
with the grandfather of king Laksmanamanikya whose name is given in all
tables as Rajavallabha. Probably the correct name was Rajadurlabha ; for
in Bengali Mss. the two words Rajadurlabha and Rajavallabha are likely to
be misread as one another. Rajadurlabha was succeeded by his son
^^andharvamanikya who is mentioned in the Rajamala as defeated soon after
1600 A.D. by king Yasomanikya (1600-1620) of Tippera. Mr. Bhattasali’s
finding that he probably came after both Laksmanamanikya and Ananta-
manikya is totally wrong. For, Gandharva is named and eulogised in elegant
verses as the father of King Laksmana in a contemporary work the Kautuka-
ratnakara. This short farcical play in Sanskrit was written by the family
priest of Laksmana. In the prelude after a glowing description of the capital
 FORGOTTEN FAMILY OF ROYAL POETS. 19

of the kingdom, also named Bhulua, the ifather of the poet’s patron is thus
praised :—
“His father was king Gandharvamanikya, who was more handsome than
Cupid, who had his charming fame formed*into a white parasol and who
was the Full Moon (rising) out of the ocean of the Sura family.” In a
subsequent verse the poet describes eloquently the big elephant on
which the king rode to fight his battles. A Ms. of the play exists in
the library of the India Office, London (Eggeling: Catal. p. 1618) and another
has recently been secured for the Dacca University. Among a large number
of copies of land grants preserved in the Tippera Collectorate we were able
to discover a copy of an important copperplate grant of this king Gandharva­
manikya. This happens to be the only copperplate inscription discovered
in the district of Noakhali, though the original can no longer be traced.
The transcript evidently made by an ordinary clerk suffers consequently from
a number of errors. There was a seal attached to the plate but the emblem
does not appear in the copy. On one side of the seal occurs the name of
the donor raid on the other the name apparently of his minister. The entire
inscription is in Sanskrit verse except one sentence in prose in the middle.
The number of lines in the original plate cannot be ascertained from the
copy. The translation of the inscription as far a» we have been able to
restore it is as follows :— •

Translation.

vv. 1-4. Haill By the great king Sri-Gandharvamanikya the wise, who
was a bee in the lotus feet of Srikrisna, who destroyed his enemies by means
of arrows thrown with ease from a bow, who was in his soul devoted to the
two feet of Govinda and who had come d#wn with the (knowledge of) all
arts of a great councillor,—(landed) properties were given, for increasing (the
life) in Heaven of ;his father, to Brahmins viz. the wise Ramachandra,
Ramananda Sarma and the learned Hridayananda, who was celibate.
v. 5. In (villages) Kachihata and Nazirpur .... lands upto the home­
stead of Raghuya (?) &c.
The tax of 5 per cent. (?) of the village full of houses (?) is remitted ;
let it be enjoyed at will even through sons, grandsons &c.
v. 6. At whatever different times any one owns the land, to him belongs
the fruit of that land-grant. Hence the property given by me to the Brahmins
should be maintained by (future) kings.
v. 7. And also, Whoever takes away a Brahmin’s property given by
himself or by others becomes for 60,000 years a worm in dirt.
We are unable to restore the topographical portion of the inscription.
The grant shows that Gandharvamanikya was a Vaisnava by religion and the
gift of a certain measure of land in 2 villages was made by him with the
express purpose of enhancing the merits of his deceased father in favour of
three Brahmins named Ramachandra, Ramananda and Hridayananda. In
the last line there is a figure apparently giving the date of the record, which
20 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

reads 1403. The reading is evidently wrong, the figure for 5 which had, as
is well known to students of epigraphy, a left hand lateral stroke was
apparently misread by the copyist as 4. Referring the correct date 1503 to
the Saka era the date of the racord works out to be' 1581 A.D. The inscrip­
tion proves, therefore, that Gandharva’s father died shortly after his defeat
at the hands of the king of Tippera about the year 1580-81 A.D. Nothing
further is known about Gandharva whose name curiously is omitted in all
previous accounts. The chronicles of Tippera refers to him as Gandharva-
Narayana denying him the title Manikya which attaches to the monarchs of
Tippera, Gandharva was succeeded soon after 1600 A.D. by his son king
Laksmanamanikya by far the most celebrated king of the dynasty about whom
many stories are still current. He is popularly included among the famous
“12 Bhuiyas” of Bengal who struggled for independence against the Mogul
Emperors and as early as 1791 A.D. his name is mentioned as such in
C. W. B. Rouse’s Dissertation concerning the landed property of Bengal.
- But his actual participation in this struggle remains yet to be proved. During
the times of the famous Isa Khan he did not yet come to the throne. While
Islam Khan’s expeditions as narrated in the contemporary work the Bahariatan,
encountered in Bhulua a prince named Anantamanikya who was evidently
his successor. The only struggle in which Laksmanamanikya might have joined
is that between Mansingh and Kedar Roy about 1602-3 A.D. One of his
Sanskrit dramas the Vikhyata-oijaya was meant originally to be staged before a
gathering of princes at Kurukshettra near Delhi. This would presuppose his
sojourn to the Mogul Court at Delhi evidently on a peaceful mission and
it is not unlikely that he may have been won over by Mansingh after the
fall of Kedar Roy in 1603 A.D. Laksmanamanikya had enmity with the
‘boy’ chief Ramachandra of Bakla (Barisal) and that proved his undoing. For,
he was treacherously made a captive and removed to Chandradvipa where
he was subsequently put to death about the year 1611-12 A.D. The story
of this treachery is even now a household word in Bhulua where the incident
has given rise to a pithy line current among the Pandits :—‘3T3T'9 ^srt^rer «5Tf%
(There is no sense in Bakla). - King Laksmana was by tradition of an
exceptionally robust constitution arid the coat of mail which he wore is said
to be still preserved as a relic in' his ruined palace at Kalyanpur, weighing
about a maund. Of his considerable literary achievements we shall speak
below. The exact nature of his-relationship with Anantamanikya, the next
ruler of Bhulua mentioned in the Baharistan, has not been ascertained by any
previous writer. One historian of Noakhali (Babu Pyarimohan Sen) prints a
table showing three brothers Laksmana, Ananta and Udaya. But all these
tables have gone the wrong way iri altogether omitting the name of Gandharva.
Fortunately a correct genealogy' we were able to procure from a direct
descendant of Anantamanikya and the name of Gandharva (misread as fantog)
appears there for the first time. According to this account Gandharva had
a younger brother named Prince Udayamanikya whose son was Ananta­
manikya. He was thus the first cousin and rival to the throne of the great
Laksmana. According to a tradition, which I heard from-.an old Pandit,
cousin Ananta was even, more robust in physique tl Laksmana who
 FORGOTTEN FAMILY OF ROYAL POETS. 21

entertained a feeling of jealousy and suspicion against him. It is said king

Laksmana once contemplated his secret murder and invited him as if out
of affection to a sumptuous dinner all alone in his own presence. In one
of the rooms of the ruined palace at Kalyajipur the poor Prince sat to his
meals before Laksmanamanikya seated with drawn sword in the Royal seat
and even as he was wondering whatever might be the motive of the king
he suddenly grew suspicious and by a desperate leap broke clearly through
a window; he ran with his life to the village of Srirampur, a distance of 112
miles and there took shelter with the scion of the Sura family that still
survives. It appears that Anantamanikya subsequently sought the help of
the Magh ruler of Chittagong and after the tragic fate of Laksmanamanikya
he, .probably with the help of the Maghs, usurped the kingdom of Bhulua
from the immature sons of Laksmana. According to, the Baharistan Ananta­
manikya was defeated by the forces of Islam Khan in 1613 A.D. and fled
to the country of the Maghs. Of the successors of Ananta for about a century
nothing practically is known. Mr. Bhattasali deserves all credit for correcting
a most curious error, due to a misinterpreted misreading, that has vitiated
all the recent works on the subject including the District Gazetteer where
Laksmanamanikya is stated to have been succeeded by his son named Balaram
Roy about the year 1597 A.D. Balaram actually bqjonged to the Sura family
but his date as we have found in a grant by him is only 1167 B.S. (1760 A.D.)
According to two printed tables that have come to our hands Laksmana­
manikya had four sons ; the names are given in the following order—Vijaya
or Jaya, Amara, Dharma or Varma, and Chandra. This is materially con­
firmed by Mss. works in Sanskrit that have recently come to light. Laksmana’s
eldest son was Dhanyamanikya (misread in the tables as Dharma or Varma)
who succeeded to the throne after the overthrow of Ananta and we can
easily imagine that he had friendly relations with the conquering Moguls
who had then established a permanent outpost at Bhulua. Dhanyamanikya
is highly eulogised by two of his younger brothers named Chandramanikya
and Amaramanikya in their respective works in Sanskrit. Mr. Bhattasali was
clearly wrong in identifying this Dhanyamanikya with the celebrated Tippera
king of that name ; for, one of the brothers Amaramanikya has given the
father’s name Laksmana along with the name of the eldest brother who was
then the reigning monarch. Besides, the Chronicles of Tippera do not show
any brothers of Dhanyamanikya by the names of Chandra and Amara and
the Tippera kings never pretended scholarship in Sanskrit. [Manasi for *TTU
1334 B.S.]
Dhanyamanikya of Bhulua died childless about the middle of the il 7th
century and was apparently succeeded by one or more of his three younger
brothers. In one document preserved in the Tippera Collectorate (No. 3844
of copies of Revenue free land grants) dated 1167 B.S., there is reference to
a previous grant by Raja Amaramanikya who must, therefore, have come to
the throne at one time. The last prince of the dynasty is stated to be Rudra
Roy or Rudramanikya, son of the youngest son of Laksmana named Vijaya-
manikya. We came across copies of two land grants by this prince in the
Tippera Collectorate where his full name is given as Rudra-rama-gopala Raya.

fil547
22 Bengal .■ past and present.

This prince was, by well known tradition, from his early life maimed and
invalid and the kingdom was ruled successfully by his queen Rani Sasimukhi
who had uncommon ability and intelligence and her memory is still universally
respected in the Pargana. In the earlier of the two land grants (No. 3913
Ibid.) dated in the Parganati year 517 (1719 A.D.) the name of (Rani) Sasi­
mukhi is associated with that of her husband, proving her participation in
the affairs of the state. She comes of a rich Kayastha family of Jessore and
during her regime, as she was childless, the Pargana was divided into three
shares which passed to the hands of the three aristocratic families of Datta-
para, Maijdi and Khilpara. This was sometime before the year 1728 A.D.
From the other grand dated 534 Parganati Era (1736 A.D.) it appears that the
Prince was still alive in that year (No. 3934 Ibid.). The subsequent history
of the Pargana is beyond the scope of this paper. The direct line of
Laksmanamanikya became extinct with Rudra Roy who died childless. But
it is not generally known even in Bhulua that the family of Laksmana’s
redoubtable cousin Anantamanikya still survives in the district of Tippera.
The great-grandson of Ananta named Pratapamanikya left Bhulua apparently
failing to secure any share of the Pargana and settled in a village about
12 miles from the town of Comilla.

DINESH CHANDRA BHATTACHARYYA.

 BENGAL: BAST AND PRESENT.
VOL. XLV11I.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE ESPLANADE,

 fflalmiin in J013.
(A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT).

fJ^HE following description of Calcutta in 1813 is taken from a forgotten

book with an extremely long title: “Sketches in India, or, observa­
tions descriptive of the scenery etc. in Bengal: written in India in the
years 1811, 12, 13, 14 ; together with Notes on the Cape of Good Hope and
St. Helena, written at those places in February, March and April, 1815”
(London, Printed for Black, Parbury, and Allen. Booksellers to the Hon.
East India Company, Leadenhall Street: 11816).
No clue is given as to the identity of the writer, either on the title-page
or in any part of the book. Sir Jadunath Sarkar, however, informs me that
the copy in his possession bears the stamp of a ^certain Edward Burnfield
(or Barrowfield) and an ink entry “By Wm. Huggins, Esqr.” Upon enquiry
at the British Museum, it has been ascertained from Mr. Leonard R.
Wharton, of the department of Printed Books, that the author of the book
has not been identified, but that there is another book in that Library of a
later date which is distinguished by the same title: “Sketches in India,
treating on subjects connected with the Government of India” : a series
of letters (John Letts, London, 1824). The writer is stated to be “William
Huggins, Indigo Planter” and on thetitle-page the following words are
added: “late an Indigo Planter in the District of Tirhoot.” Details regard­
ing this individual have been supplied by Mr. W. T. Ottewill, Superintendent
of Records at the India Office. The Bengal list of European Inhabitants
for the years 1816 to 1829 contains the following particulars: “No. 27,
William Huggins : Residence, Bachour : Native Country, Ireland : Employ­
ment, Indigo Planter: Year of arrival in India, 1818: Authority for residing
in India, Company’s licence: date of authority 1818.” It appears, further,
from the India Registers that in 1820, W. Huggins was an indigo planter
in Tirhoot ; that in 1835 he was residing at Allahabad ; and that in 1837 he
was of “no occupation.”
The anonymous author of the book published in 1816 gives a full account
of his movements. He started “up the country” from Calcutta in a
“budgerow of 16 oars" on Monday June 24, 1811. He reached Monghyr
on July 24, and Patna three days later. Here he seems to have remained
for seven months, for he left Dinapore on Monday March 2, 1812, and
proceeded by way of Buxar and “Gazypoor" to “Jionpoor” [Jaunpur]. On
March 18 he leaves for Benares, where he makes a further stay, for he
arrived at, Chunar on August 15, at Mirzapore on August 17, and at Allahabad
on September 1, 1812. Continuing his journey past Currah Manickpore and
24 BENGAL PAST AND PRESENT.

Kanouge (September 15) he reached “Futtyghur” on October 3, and entered

Rohilcund on October 8. ' -
After a short stay at Bareilly, he proceeded by “the route of Owlah
and Allygunge” to Anupshahr where he arrived on the morning of
October 24. “This town was not long since the boundary of the British
dominions in India.” Three days later, on October 27, he reached Meerut,
"the seat of the second division of the field army and perhaps the largest,
gayest, and pleasantest of the upper stations in Bengal.” Here he was edi
introduced to the Begum Sumroo : and draws an unfavourable picture of
her appearance and character. He remained at Meerut for two months and
then made his way, through Mozuffemagur and Deobun, to Saharanpore
where he arrived on February 4, 1813, and stayed three months. On May 2,
accompanied by a friend, he visited Hurdwar, and climbed the Chand Pahar,
or Mountain of the Moon, on May 6, at Sun rise,. “Further”, he writes, “few
Europeans ever think of proceeding” : but he and his friend determined
to penetrate into “the Goorkah Valley”. On May 14 they entered it at “the
pass of Cosserong, about forty coss from Hurdwar”, which they knew to
be unguarded. Their objective was Dehra which they reached on May 17.
Here they received a visit from the Governor, who eluded all their enquiries,
leaving Dehra (which contained nothing beyond an extensive bazar, two
Hindoo temple, and a fine tank) on May 20, they made an excursion to
“the second range of the Tibet hills”, witnessing a sati on May 27. Three
days later they re-entered the Company’s territory through the Timley pass
and encamped at Badshah Mahal, “where are the ruins of one of Shah
Jehan’s hunting seats.”
Another stay was made at Saharanpore, broken by a visit in August
1813 to the cantonment of Kurijaul and the battlefield of Panipat, and a
second expedition at the end of March 1814 to Hurdwar in order to see
the fair. “During the greater part of this fair, which lasted nearly three
years, an Anabaptist missionary (Mr. Chamberlain) in the service of her
highness the Begum Sumroo, attended, and from a Hindostanee translation of
the scriptures, read daily a considerable portion” to a congregation of Hindus,
which increased in ten days to about ten thousand persons.
On June 1, 1814, he left Saharanpore after a total stay of rather more them
a year, and entered Imperial Delhi on June 8. His letters to the Resident,
Mr. Charles Theophilees (afterwards Lord) Metcalfe (who held the office
from 1811 to 1819), procured him . every attention, and obtained for him an
audience of the Padishah Akbar the Second on June 12. Their palankeens
and umbrella-bearers were not permitted to proceed beyond the gates of the
palace, and they were obliged to remove their shoes before admission to
the Presence.
A detailed account of the sights of Delhi is given and we are then
informed that he took his departure on June 15 for Agra. On June 21 he
reached Bindrabund, “the residence, and resort of innumerable Faquirs,”
and arrived at Agra on June 23. The Taj Mahal and the ruined tomb of
the Emperor Akbar at Secundra are duly described and praised. The next
 CALCUTTA IN 1913. 25

stage in the journey was Lucknow which was entered on July 8, 1814. Here
he was introduced to the Resident, Major John Baillie (1772-1833), the name-
father of the famous Baillie Guard in the Residency compound and subse­
quently a Director of the East India Compaify from 1823 to 1833. “It was
about ten o’clock on the night of the 11th July, when I was stepping into
my palanquin to proceed from Lucknow to Jianpoor [Jaunpur], that an
express reached the Residency, requiring Major Baillie’s immediate attendance
at Court, the Nuwaub being seriously indisposed.” Nawab Saadat Ali was,
however, dead before the Resident could arrive at the Palace : and his eldest
son, Ghazi-ud-din Hyder, was placed that same evening on the musnud.
No further account of the writer’s travels is given, beyond the statement
that on November 26, 1814, he embarked for England in the private licensed
ship Lady Campbell, burthen about six hundred tons. The ship anchored
in Table Bay on February 10, 1815, called at St. Helena on March 22,
resumed her voyage on April 30, crossed the line on May 11, and, after an
absence of five years and ten weeks landed the traveller at Lymington on
June 21, 11815.
In spite of this precision in the matter of dates, not the smallest indication
is given from start to finish of the object of the journey through Upper India,
or (as already stated) of the writer’s identity. But he was clearly % man of
means and of established position. We learn from a footnot* on page 160
that a “particular friend" of his was Claud Russell (writer 1797-1817) who
was at the time one of the judges of the court of appeal and circuit at
Benares and who died in that city on May 5, 1817. He was the son of
Claud Russell, a member of the Madras Council who married a natural
daughter of Lord Pigot, and died in 1820.

EVAN COTTON.

“JETTING aside the pleasure one naturally feels at the termination of a

long voyage and on arriving at the ultimate point of destination, the
stranger to Calcutta will have little to admire till his
Rilehr6 Approach By arrival at Fultah. From the entrance to the Hooghly
to the latter place, none of those objects which
usually indicate the proximity of a flourishing metropolis are to be found.
No public edifices, no gay villas, no crowded wharfs are to be seen. The
shores on either side are inhospitable and dreary: and, excepting a few
insignificant miserable villages, not a house is to be seen. At Fultah, however,
a few hours may be very agreeably spent at a tavern kept by Messrs.
Higginson and Baldwin (I), where the passenger will meet with good
accomodation, and be able to, recruit his spirits after a fatiguing trip.

(1) The farm and tavern at Fultah which is forty miles below Calcutta were advertised
for private sale by “Mr. Higginson of No. 16 Chowringhee Road” in the Calcutta Gazette
in 1815. But the fame, of this “well-known and long-established concern" survived: as
Witness the reference to “the white tavern of Fultah, where the Calcutta Von vioant eats
mango-fish—the whitebait of Calcutta “in Capt. F. J. Bellew’s Memoirs of a Griffin (London
1843, Vol. 1, p. 101) Bellew retired from- the Bengal Army in 1832.
4
26 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

‘'The near approach to Calcutta, however, amply compensates for past

disappointment, and he whose eye has been wearied with gazing on
, uncultivated and barren shores, is equally surprised
en eac . and delighted at the luxuriancy of the scene—as he
approaches this famed city. Gardens tastefully laid out, and houses more
resembling the palaces of princes than the abodes of private gentlemen,
certainly contribute to give the stranger a most favourable idea of the
metropolis of the British empire in the East. (2)
“Here the windings of the river greatly tend to increase the delight
which the appearance of a populous town is everywhere calculated to excite,
after a voyage of several months’ duration ; and when
CakuttaFlrSt Glimpse of by a sudden turn, the fort (3), the town, the shipping,
burst for the first time on the sight of the enraptured
stranger, the coup d’oeil is magnificent beyond description. The rapidity
of the current causing the boat to glide -on at the rate of perhaps twelve
miles an hour, the quick succession with which new objects of admiration
present themselves, have the effect of realizing those tales of enchantment
with which our early years have been amused ; and if, among this variety,
the attention should be #more particularly arrested by one object, it will
undoubteSIy be by Fort William, of which the regular architecture and com­
manding position are equally conspicuous.
“This fortress completely commands the town. It is a modern work,
and is deservedly considered one of the first fortresses in the world. In
Europe few can be compared with it, and in the other
Fort William.
quarters of the globe, it is assuredly unequalled. It
is capable of containing twenty thousand men ; its defences, indeed, require
ten thousand to man them completely. Provisions, equal to six months’
consumption, are always in store at the fort ; and supposing it possible for
it to be attacked at the shortest notice, by even the most powerful enemy,
it is of all stations in the world, the best calculated to offer a protracted
and effectual resistance”. The above is an extract from a periodical work,
called “The Vakeel” and published a short time since at Calcutta (4). The
author’s descriptions are at once so lively and correct that, falling accidentally
into my hands when on the point of sketching the metropolis, 1 thought
1 could not do better than preface this part of my work by their introduction.

(2) The reference is to Garden Reach, which was then still a thing of beauty. There
is scarcely a house in this lovely reach, "write Sir Charles D’Oyly the artist civilian in 1813,
"that is not in the possession of, or rented by, a lawyer; and we have often heard it proposed
that the designation should be changed to Lawyers' Reach." (Letterpress to “The European
in India”).
(3) It must be borne in mind that in 1813 the Water-Gate (Pani Ghat) of Fort William stood
on the river-bank, and that neither the Strand Road nor the Eden Gardens existed. The
road was begun in 1821, and the gardens are, of course, named after the sisters of
Lord Auckland, who was Governor-General from 1836 to 1842.
(4) Cp. Calcutta Gazette for December 16, 1812: “The Vakeel; the first number of a
new periodical paper, under the above title, will be published on New Year’s Day from the
Telegraph Press, Tank Square Calcutta, to be continued on the 1st and 15th day of each
succeeding month. Edited by Anthony Apposite, Esq,”
 Calcutta in m3. 27

The concourse of knaves of every description (5) who gather round new
comers, follow them through the streets, and infest their places of residence
. „ is, to an indifferent spectator or to one who can foil
e umjo nnies. them at their own apts, highly amusing ; but to the
unfortunate wight, ignorant of the language, unskilled in the wars of Bengalee
Circars (5) and with no friend at hand to advise or direct him, it is far
otherwise. His clothes disappear first—his money goes next—he knows
neither the coins of the country, nor their value—for the worth of two pounds
he is lucky if he obtains one—and so on. Those servants who ply at gauts,
or landing places, are usually of the worst description ; and it is truly to
be lamented that these men, by speaking English, become so useful to the
stranger, unacquainted with a single word of Hindoostanee, that all
confidence is vested in them of which, as may be supposed, they fail not to
take every advantage.
One must not expect to see in Calcutta a city laid out and proportioned
with the regularity usually characteristic of such places in Europe.
Chouringhee, confessedly the most finished part of it,
"Chouringhee”.
is a range of palaces at least a mile in extent, built
with little or no order, some protruding, some receding ; each house three
and four stories high, with its noble portico and «open verandahs^ beautiful
in itself, although the whole forms a collection of buildings objectionable
as to regularity, correctness and just proportions.
This is to be regretted. Had each individual on purchasing ground been
restricted in the order and elevation of his residence, Chouringhee would
have been the noblest street in the world: and we should not, as at present,
see it disfigured by a melange of edifices varying in the nicest discrimination
of architecture.
The government house, erected by Lord Wellesley, at an expense to
the Company of one hundred thousand pounds sterling, is centrieally situate,
near - Chouringhee, and overlooking the Esplanade or
■•Hy°gVel^mWalk“OU8e & Hygeian Walk (» called by Sir William Jones) on
the banks of the Hooghly, the fashionable promenade
of Calcutta. The river and its opposite banks compose a fine prospect. It
is a magnificent though heavy fabric ; but as the palace of the Governor-
General of India, is well adapted to the country and the climate.
The course is the only drive for carriages. Here, in the cool of the
evening, all the beau monde of Calcutta may daily be seen taking the air:
^ and the variety of equipages, dresses and complexions,
c ' from the elegant chariot or landaulet to the covered

(5) These gentry were colloquially known as Rumjohnnies, a corruption of Ramjan, a

common Mahomedan name. There is much about them in Capt. Thomas Williamson’s East
India Vade Mecam (London 1810 : Vol. I, pp. 166-169). The landing place was at Chandpal
Ghat. The writer means ’‘Sircars", agents or house—stewards. The term "circars", another
variant of the Hindustani word sartor, was applied to the northern districts on the Coromandal
coast.
 /
28 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

cart, from the blooming belle just arrived to the tawny skin of the Indian,
present to the stranger a spectacle singularly unique (6).
AH that has been said, or written, concerning the hospitality and kindness
of the residents of Calcutta, fails far, indeed very fax, short of the reality.
A stranger no sooner arrives, properly introduced, than
cutta ospit ity. the house, servants, and even funds of the resident,
are placed at his service. Every thing that may conduce to his health or
amusement is in requisition: and time, which renders novelty familiar, serves
but to unfold the liberal ideas and expanded mind of his entertainer (7).
In Calcutta, no ungracious reserve the offspring of ignorance and pride,
nor boisterous familiarity indicative, of want of breeding or education are to
be met with: a fascinating polish of manner, united with the most refined
and liberal notions, are characteristic of the major part of its society. India
is not the country for public amusements : nor indeed would its climate admit
of such a succession of gaieties as are common in more
The Theatre.
temperate latitudes: but the few its metropolis can
boast of we supported with much spirit. A small neat theatre is constructed (8)
and the efforts of amateurs admirably supply the want of regular performers.
From what I saw, they all appeared above mediocrity, and many were of
acknowledged dramatic ^rcellence.
Moore’s assembly rooms, open in the cold season, are well attended ;
indebted, perhaps, not a little for their popularity to the attractions of a
Moore’s Assembly supper (9). The balls are monthly, and one hundred
Roc>m3- rupees, or about twelve pounds, cover, I believe, the

(6) In the maps of the period "The course” is indicated as occupying the site of the
Race-Course to the west of the Jail- an eysore now happily obliterated by the Victoria
Memorial Hall.
(7) A different note is struck by J. H. Stocquelar, the famous editor of the Englishman,
in his Hand-Book of India (London, 1844: p. 213): “The Indian hospitality, in its olden
phase, has almost totally disappeared.............. The wane of hospitality, which introduced
respectable hotels, made at the same time an opening for boarding and lodging houses—
things unheard of even in Calcutta twenty years ago.” Hotels, were not unknown, however.
William Doughty announced in the Calcutta Gazette as early as 1807 that he had “taken that
well-situated and most extensive house belonging to the estate of General Martine, opposite to
the college, and the south-west corner of Tank Square, where he has spared no expense in
fitting it up for the reception of Families and Gentlemen arriving from Europe and the
upper stations, and also his long rooms for the accommodation of large parties, for which
purpose proper Assistants are engaged.” The house is to be "conducted under the title of the
crown and Anchor Hotel and British Coffee House". In a later advertisement, it is announced
that a Ball to celebrate the opening of the New House will be held on April 3 [1807].
(8) The Theatre of Calcutta from 1813 to 1839 was situated at the corner of Chowringhee
and Theatre Road. The building was destroyed by fire in the early morning of May 31, 1839.
Its place was taken by the Sans Souci TheatTe in Park Street (now St. Zaviers College) which
lasted from 1841 to 1844.
The male characters were taken by amateurs, and the women’s parts by ladies who
received monthly salaries and resided on the premises.
(9) The tavern and assembly rooms of Robert Moore, whom Lady Nugent, the wife of
the Commander-in-Chief. Styles "the Gunter of Calcutta”, were in Dacre’s Lane—a fashion­
able locality at that time. They were the scene of Calcutta’s farewell entertainment to Lord
Minto in 1813.
 CALCUTTA IN 1913. 29

amount of a subscription for the season. At these assemblies the observance

of etiquette is strictly enforced, and seniority of service, the general criterion
of rank in India, is more scrupulously insisted upon than so trifling a subject
may seem to warrant. Splendid entertainment*, on which no expense is spared,
are frequent among individuals ; and the urbanity and good humour which
preside at them serve wholly to dispel any regret which the want of almost
all public amusements would perhaps otherwise excite (10).

The Supreme Court of Judicature is the only European court of judicature

in Bengal (II): and thither all who reside within the precincts of the Mahratta
The Supreme Court & ditch, repair for the decision of their suits. This ditch,
the Mahratta Ditch. which formerly surrounded the whole city of Calcutta,
but of which at present few traces remain (12), served at one time as a
defence against the incursions of the people whose name it bears ; when the
Company, restricted to their factory, little dreamed of being one days masters
of an empire.
The Asiatic Museum (13) is worth the attentions of a stranger. Though
but in its infancy, I remarked its fine collection of shells with infinite satisfac-
„ tion ; and the various marine and mineral productions
The Asiatic Museum. i .. . , . i • r
with which it is replete must afford information to
every lover and inquirer into natural history. .

The town hall of Calcutta is a handsome building of the Doric order:

and together with the marble statue of Lord Cornwallis on its basement story,
reflects credit on the city (14). The expense attending
The Town Hall.
the erection of these edifices consists for the most part
in the iron and ornaments it is necessary to have from Europe. The cost of
these, by the time they are landed in. Indi^ is prodigious and, after all, they
are not infrequently so damaged on arrival as to be in a great degree useless.

(10) The picture is scarcely complete. In 1805 Isaac Roberdean a young civilian (whose
impressions of life in Calcutta and Bengal may be found in Volume XXIX of Bengal i Past
and Present, at pp. 110-141) mentions the Chevalier de 1’ Etang's riding school,” many billiard
tables, both public and private” a tennis court, and cricket, hunting, and racing. “This last,"
however, “was disapproved of by Government and is in consequence dwindling to nothing.”
(11) The writer forgets the Sudder Dewanny Adalut, which sat at Bhowanipore in the
building now used as a military station hospital. The judges of this Court were Company's
servants.
(12) In an article published in Bengal: Past and Present in 1922 (Vol, XXIV, pp. 158-161)
Mr. Thomas Emerson, then Chairman of the Calcutta Improvement Trust, showed that the
last remains of the Mahratta Ditch had been found in the north of Calcutta.
(13) This was the museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which was transferred to
the existing "Indian Museum" (Jadu Garh) in Chowringhee by an Act of 1866. ,
(14) An inscription on either side of the southern Fasa-de of the Town Hall testifies that
during the administration of Lord Wellesley this edifice was designed, and completed under
the Government of Lord Minto in the year of Christ 1813”, the architect being “John Garstin,
colonel of engineers.” The statue of Cornwallis by Bacon now stands in the eastern loggia
of the Victoria Memorial Hall : Westmacott’s statue of Warren Hastings which has been
placed in the western loggia, formerly stood in the south portico of the Town Hall, but it
was not completed until 1830.
30 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

Quarries of free-stone are very rare in India: most of the houses are
therefore built of brick and chunammed over, either to imitate free-stone, or
the finest marble, according to the composition of the
The use of Chunami.
chunam.t The most beautiful in its appearance is
made at Madras, of shells, and gives the houses of that Presidency the very
look of marble (15).
The auctions form a desirable lounge for the busy and idle of Calcutta (16).
Speculators and spendthrifts—those anxious for good bargains and those
desirous of no bargains at all—crowd equally to these
The Auction Rooms.
strange receptacles of the useless or indifferent
merchandize of our English markets.
To a mere spectator it would seem strange that even the daily expenses
of one or two thousand catalogues could be paid by their profits, exposed,
as the same articles frequently of life during the rest of the year, will profusely
lavish his treasures in festivity at this season.
At Rajah Raj Kissen’s (17), an opulent and respectable Hindoo, the room
was supported by twelve pillars of the Corinthian order, round which were
entwined fine silk and wreaths of flowers: in the middle was spread a carpet
for the European part of the company, and on each side were ranged in
rows and_ seated on pillaws the most respectable Indian guests. A set of
nautch-girls, cqpsists sometimes of four, are, to the tenth or twentieth gaze
of an admiring crowd. But when it is considered that these auctions are
strongly countenanced by a great majority and that a profit of eight or nine
per cent accrues to the auctioneer on the sale of every trifling article, we
shall be no longer surprised at the vigour with which they are supported or
that some of the largest fortunes which have of late been made in India have
taken their rise, and been rapidly accumulated, from wielding the hammer.
During my residence in thi* city I frequently visited the nautches or
dances, a favourite and almost the only amusement with the more wealthy
Indian inhabitants. At the festival of Doorgah Poojah
Doorgah Poojah Festi they greatly prevail (18), and the frugal Hindoo who
vities.
barely allows himself the necessaries and sometimes
(15) Lord Curzon relates (British Government in India, Vol. I, p. 98) that he found that
the art of chanam had so entirely decayed that only in Madras and Jaipur could any workmen
be discovered who still practised. He employed the best artifices from both places and set
them to work upon the pillars in the Marble Hall at Government House which had excited
the admiration of Lord Valentia in 1809 and of Maria Graham in 1810 (who compared them
to "Parian marble"), but the result was unsatisfactory and he ordered enamel paint to be
applied to the pillars. “No one in my day detected the difference."
(16) Among the leading auctioneers of the time were Williams and Hohler. Tulloh and
Company, and Gould and Campbell (formerly Lawde and Goulds before the death of George
Urquhart Lawtie in 1807). "Europe goods” figure largely in the advertisements: also the
"investments” brought out by the officers of the Indiamen arriving at Calcutta.
(17) Rajah Raj Kissen was the son of the famous Maharajah Nubkissen (Naba Krishna),
Deb, founder of the Sovabazar family, who was Lord Clive’s deioan. He was the father of
three distinguished sons: Rajah Bahadur Kali Krishna (whose statue stands in Beadon Square)
Maharajah Kamal Krishna (whose son Rajah Binaya Krishna Deb wrote the Early Hisiory of
Calcutta) and Maharajah Bahadur Sir Narendra Krishna (1822-1903).
(18) See the extract from the Calcutta Gazette of October 20, 1814 (reproduced in B. P,
 CALCUTTA IN 1913. 31

less, at the pleasure of the entertainer, attended by two or three men playing
on violins and guitars. Four or five sets, which relieve each other alternately,
are required for the evening’s entertainment. These girls sing Hindoostanee
and Persian songs, and dance to slow and measured tunes. Their chief forte
lies in attitudes. A beautiful girl and very superior singer, Neekhee, with
the graceful dancer Ushoorun, were the attractions at my friend the
Rajah’s (19). Much as I had heard about them, they equalled, if not sur­
passed, my expectations. The lovely Neekhee more especially interested me.
She was about fourteen years of age, and possessed a form and face moulded
by the graces ; her black eyes, full and piercing, reflected the pleasurable
sensations of her heart ; her mouth, around which a smile was ever playing,
enclosed teeth, regular, perfect, and white as ivory: her voice was feeble,
but inexpressibly sweet ; and although, generally speaking, I do not consider
the nautches of Calcutta, either for the beauty of the women or the excellence
of the singing, as at all comparable to those of the upper provinces, still, in
this instance, I must own myself much gratified, and confess that the twelve
hundred rupees (one hundred and fifty pounds) and two pair of shawls of the
same value—the price of Neekhee’s attendance for three nights—were only
commensurate with her singular accomplishments.
In taking leave of Calcutta, I cannot but remark that it must* forcibly
strike all who enter it as the metropolis of a great and flourishing empire.
Its streets, spacious and elegant, thronged daily by a
Praise ^>ail*n8r W°r<^ countless multitude. Its river, swarming with every
description of vessel, from the superior English and
American merchantman to the Arab of the Red Sea and the uncouth pro-a of
the Maldives. The refined inventions of luxury presented hourly to the sight,
and the temptations which the various elegances of life, concentred in the
European and Indian bazars, commonly solicit declare it at once the dwelling
of a rich and thriving community, the mart of commerce, and a head in
every day worthy the grandeur and importance of our Eastern possessions.

and P. Vol. XLIV, pp. 184-185) in which a detailed description is given of the Durga Puja
entertainments of that year.
(19) The author must be describing the festivities of the year 1813. According to the
Calcutta Gazette of October 20, 1814 (already quoted). “Nikhee the Billington of the east
warbled her lovely ditties" in the latter year “at the hospitable mansion of Rajah Kishun
Chand R'oy and his brothers” of the Nadia Raj family: and the “affecting strains” (sic)
of Ushoorun were heard at the house of Baboo Neel Mony Mullick of Chorebagan, the father
of Rajah Rajendra Mullick. The attraction at Rajah Rajkissen’s entertainment was provided
by “an accomplished set of jugglers, just arrived from Lucknow."
 ©rtgmal ^tmxbs hxbmt l\\t jiatriJpd
<3xxmxxttixm of 1055*.

THEr Santhal Insurrection of 1855 had its origin in the economic grievances
of the Santhals inhabiting the tracts now included within the district
of Santhal Paraganas, due to the oppressions and frauds committed on those
simple-minded people by. the merchants and money-lenders then flocking
thither on the one side from the districts of Burdwan and Birbhum and on
the other from Arrah, Chuprah, etc. The Santhal inhabitants of the place
also attributed their hardships to the evil practices of the naib suzawals or
darogas ; and they directed their attacks against the agents of the Company
as well as against the non-Santhals. One daroga of the Company named
Mahesh Dutt, stationed *at the Dighee Thana (laterly transferred to Borio)
was brutally njurdered with several followers by the Santhals near Panckethia,
a bazar in the Rajmahal subdivision of the district of Santhal Paraganas ;
another named Partabnarain of Kuruhrea Thana (near Mahagama) met a
similar fate ; and the whole district from Bhagalpur to Suri presented for
sometime a scene of plunder and rapine causing immense loss and great
distress for the common people.
This episode in the history of Bengal and Behar has been so long referred
to very briefly by writers like# Marshman(l), Wheeler (2), Hunter (3), Lee-
Warner (4), Sir H. Verney Lovett (5), and Buckland (6). Recently certain
important original records have been discovered by me and utilised for a
detailed and critical study of the subject.
The records are too long to be quoted here in extenso. I am giving
here only a short extract from each one of them, which will give some idea
about their importance.
These records may be noted under six heads :—(1) Documents in English
preserved in the record-room of the Divisional Commissioner at Bhagalpur.
These documents consist of (a) letters from the Commissioner of Bhagalpur,
(b) letters to the Commissioner, (c) grants of rewards etc. to those who helped
the Government in suppressing the insurrection. The following is an extract

* A paper read at the Seventh Oriental Conference at Baroda is printed here with
permission.
(1) History of India, Part 11, Capter XL, p, 720.
(2) A short History of India, p. 624.
(3) Oar Indian Empire, 3rd edition, pp 97-98. Annals of Rural Bengal, pp. 230-255.
(4) Life of Lord Dalhousie, Vol. II, pp. 60-65.
(5) Cambridge History of India, Vol. VI, p. 35.
(6) Bengal under the Lieutenant Governors, Vol. I, pp, II—16,
 THE SANTHAL INSURRECTION. 33

of a letter from the Commissioner of Bhagalpur to the Secretary to the Govern­

ment of Bengal, dated 9th July, 1855:—“On the 4th instant the Offg.
Magistrate of Bhagalpur received a report from the Daroga (otherwise called
the Sagawal or Naib Sagawal) of Thannah Dighee (the situation of the Thannah
has been recently removed to Burrio in the centre of the Hills about 20 miles
due west from Rajemahal) to the effect that a large body of Santals had
assembled to the south and expressed their determination to sieze the country.
The report seemed so strange and unlikely that at first little credit was
attached to it, but being lepeated the next day, the offg. Magistrate Mr. H. E.
Richardson and Mr. Pantet, Superintendent of the Damin Koh, lost no time
in proceeding to Rajmehal where they reached on the evening of the 6th inst.
No further news of the disturbance reached this place till yesterday
afternoon, when two reports were received ; one (dated 7th July) from the
Thannah Mohurrier of Burrio, and the other (dated 5 A.M. of 8th July) from
the post office overseer at the same place stating that the Thannadar, a
Mahajan, two Barkandazes and some chowkidars (9 persons in all) had been
killed by the insurgents ; the intelligence was brought by a Burhmin daroga
who had escaped wounded and two of the Daroga’s own servants who were
eyewitnesses of what had happened.
From more detailed reports subsequently received it appears* that the
Santals had collected from Beerbhum, Bancoora, Chotanagpwr and Hazari-
bagh to the number of 6 or 7,000 for the purpose (it was rumoured) of avenging
the punishment inflicted on their comrades concerned in the last year’s
Dacoities. These Dacoities were committed on the Bengalee Mahajans who
had oppressed them, and they complained that their comrades had been
punished while nothing had been done to punish the Mahajans whose exac­
tions had compelled them to take the law into their own hands. Be this as
it may there was no doubt that the Santals had assembled in very large
numbers ; commenced raising taxes, and declared their determination to take
possession of the country and set up a Government of their own. The first
demand they are said to have made of the Daroga was to compel every
Bengalee in the place to pay a tax of five rupees ; the next was that he
should deliver up every Bengalee into their hands. On his refusing to do
so they first bound him and his companions and then knocked them on the
head.
As I said before the news of the outrage reached me yesterday afternoon
and I immediately requested the officer commanding the Hill Rangers (7) to
despatch a force to Rajemahal for the purpose of quelling the disturbance ;
the insurgents having given out that they intended to attack that place.
From information received this morning 1 have every reason to believe
that the insurgents are moving in this direction as well as in that of Rajmahal
having plundered several villagers between Burrio and Colgong ; and that
they are in fact within 20 miles of the latter place. I have therefore changed
my former application and asked Major Burroughs in arranging for a detach-

(7) Major F. W. Burroughs, vide letters to Burroughs from the Commissioner of Bhagalpur,
dated 8th and 9th July, 1855.
34 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

ment being sent to Rajemahal, to be careful to reserve a force sufficient for

the defence of this station if necessary.
I have also issued orders to the Hill Sirdars, to the Zamindars of the
adjacent Pergannahs and the neighbouring Daxogas for aid in suppressing the
insurrection. I have obtained the loan of a hundred muskets from Major
Burroughs with the view of arming the town Police. This latter step is the
more necessary as it has been given out by the Santhal prisoners in Jail
(under sentence of transportation) that the station will be attacked and the
inhabitants have in consequence been afraid with panic.
As there is some fear of the Dawk between this place and Rajemahal
being stopped I shall send a duplicate of this via. Patna”.
(2) History of the Santhal Hool of 1855 hy late Babu Digambar
Chakxavarty of Pa\ur in the district of Santhal Parganas, written towards the
end of the I9th century. The author has critically discussed the causes of
the insurrection. In one paragraph he writes:—"In this way the produce
of the lands was always drained off, the poor people always remaining
steeped in hopelessly heavy debts and no better than the slaves of their
creditors throughout their life”.
(3) Manuscript No. 2096 preserved in the Ratan Library at Suri, Birbhum.
It is a oontemporary Bengali ballad describing the activities of the Santhal
insurgents towards Birbhum. From its concluding lines we know that it was
composed in the year 1262 B.S. (1855 A.D.), the very year of the insurrection,
by Ray Krishnadas, an inhabitant of Kulkuri, a village in the Birbhum district.
The author describes the condition of the panic-striken people of Nagore
(once capital of Birbhum), when the Santhals entered there, in the following
way:—. . . The old men and -women with sticks in their hands began
to run away. The grey-bearded Muhammadan fakirs followed suit ; they
exclaimed, “Oh God! how fienae are their arrows ; oh Satyapir 1 save us in
this calamity’. . . . Then the Santhals with cheerful hearts entered the palace
and cut off the heads of about 40 or 50 men”
(4) A contemporary Bengali manuscript in prose being the autobiography
of a gentleman, belonging to a Maratha family settled at Karun, a village in
the Deoghur subdivision of the district of Santhal Paraganas. We know from
internal evidences in the text that the writer himself took part in suppressing
the insurrection, and he gives a detailed description of the ravages com­
mitted by the Santhal insurgents all round and also within his village.
(5) A Bengali ballad giving many important details about the insurrec­
tion. It was composed during the end of the 19th century by Late Babu
Dhanakrishna Ruj, Bazar Chowdhry of Panckethia in the Rajmahal sub­
division of the district of Santhal Paraganas. A few sentences may be
translated here:—“Different batches of uncivilised Santhals went out plunder­
ing the forests and killing the people.- One batch surrounded the Hiranpur
bazar, cut off a few men, and plundered whatever they could get in cash
or kind. They proceeded towards Pakur, plundered the house of the local
Raja and took away pearls and jewels to their hearts’ content. They even
proceeded to plunder the house of another Raja at Mahespur ; and this news
goon spread everywhere".
 The santhal insurrection. 35

(6) Documents in English, Bengali, Hindi and Persian preserved in the

record room of the Deputy Commissioner of Santhal Paraganas. These include
dispatches, records of cases, etc.
“From Mr. J. Allen, the Commissionej of Chotanagpur, to William
Grey Esquire, Secretary to the Government of Bengal, Fort William, dated
Hazaribagh, 17th December, 1655:—“I do myself the honour to report that
I have made very careful enquiries, both public and private, at Hazaribagh
regarding the statement made by the Santhal prisoner Ranjeet Mangee
(Ranjit Majhi) charging the Ex-Amir, Meer Abbas Ali Khan with being
concerned in the Sonthal rebellion".
2. I have not been able to obtain evidence or information which leads
me to believe or suspect that Meer Abbas Ali Khan has been guilty of any
direct or indirect participation in the Sonthal insurrection.
3. The Ameer like others of his race is passionately fond of the
pleasures of the chase, and maintained, while he resided at Hazareebagh
a large hunting Establishment. He had in his service many professional
hunters of all castes, among whom was the Sonthal Manjee Urjoon who is
mentioned in the statement of the Prisoner Runjeet Manjee as one of the
originators of the Sonthal Disturbances.
4. This Urjoon Manjee has been apprehended by my orders but
unfortunately he effected his escape close to the station of Hazareebagh from
the persons sent by the Principal Assistant Commissioner to bring him in.
I have offered a reward of 50 Rs. for him, and if the police exert themselves
he ought to be reapprehended in a few days.
5. The hunting parties of the Ameer were conducted on a large scale
according to the custom of his country, a thousand or sometimes as many
as 2,000 Jungle beaters were collected together on those occasions, a very
large portion of these were Sonthals from #the Ramgurh and Khurruckdeah
hills who are almost all skillful hunters.
6. Urjoon Manjee, as a servant of the Ameer, was a person of some
consequence among the Ramgurh Sonthals, his family reside in the Pulgunge
Division Pergunnah Khurruckdeah, and through them he had some influence
also with the Khurruckdeah Sonthals, for this reason he was employed by the
Ameer to assemble the Sonthal beaters ■ for his hunting expeditions. These
Sonthals came not only from the Ramgurh and Khurruckdeah Pergunnahs,
but sometimes on grand occasions from the neighbourhood of Deogarh and
from the villages of the Bhagalpur and Beerbhoom Districts which are conti­
guous to the boundaries of the South West Frontier Jurisdiction.
7. About the middle of April last (the j 1 th and 12th I think are the dates)
the Ameer had a grand hunting party at Nurkundie (not Burokoondie as stated
by Ranjit Manjee). There were I understand about 1500 beaters engaged on
this occasion about two-thirds of whom were probably Sonthals. This
evidently is the Shikar party referred to by the Prisoner Runjeet Manjee, for
I find that the Ameer had no other large shooting party in the month of April
or about that time. The Hazaribagh Cutcherry being closed for the Churruck
Poujah holidays the Ameer invited Mr. W. C. Spencer the officiating Principal
Assistant and Dr. Kelly the civil Assistant Surgeon to join his party and. both
36 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

these Gentlemen were with the Ameer from the beginning to the end of the
shooting excursion.
8. If the Ameer had any treasonable intentions had he assembled those
Sonthals with the view of instigating them to rebellion, it is not probable that
these two Gentlemen would have been invited to his Camp, and had any
communication of this kind been made to those Sonthals, it is likely that
either Mr. Spencer or Dr. Kelly or some of their servants would have heard
something about the matter.
9. Urjoon Manjee does not bear a good character, he is a violent man
and addicted to drink. In February last the Ameer discovered that this Sonthal
and one of his Scindian servants had been oppressing the Ryots of some of
the villages which he used to frequent for shooting purposes and he sent them
both to the Principal Assistant Commissioner at Hazareebaugh requesting that
they might be punished ; on the 24th of March last Urjoon Manjee and Metho
were sentenced by the Principal Assistant Commissioner to 15 days imprison­
ment, and to a fine of 25 Rs. each or a further imprisonment of 115 days with
labour which was commutable to a fine of 10 Rupees. Against this order the
Defendants appealed to the Deputy Commissioner but their appeal was
rejected, and they were released from Jail at the expiration of their sentence
on the 2*!th of April 185 £.
10. At tlfe time therefore of the Nurkundee shooting party Urjoon Manjee
was a Prisoner in the Hazareebagh Jail. Under these circumstances it is in
my opinion highly improbable that the Ameer should have taken these pro­
ceedings against his Sonthal servant and thus excited his animosity, had he
made or intended to make use of him as an instrument in any insurrectionary
movement.
11. I ought not to omit to mention that at these hunting parties the
Defendants and servants of the Maharajah of Ramgurh were always present,
and generally the Ameer entrusted the payment of the Sonthal beaters to them.
If a conspiracy on a large scale was being hatched at any of these shooting
parties the Ramgurh Rajah’s people must have been cognisant of it and they
are not likely to have concealed it from their Master. The Ramgurh Rajah
has always shown himself to be a loyal and well conducted chief and I am
satisfied that he would not in any way have connived at a plot of this kind,
12. Amongst the witnesses that I have examined at Hazareebagh, was
a Sonthal named Purthee, a nephew of Urjoon Manjee ; he was brought to
me and I took his evidence before he had time to communicate with any one ;
he is a simple country lad of about 19 or 20 years of age, and spoke out
frankly as the Sonthals generally do when kindly spoken to and when they
have nothing to fear or to conceal, he stated that in August and September
1854 about 10 Sonthals from a distant part of the country came to Urjoon’s
house in Mouza Durmiah Pergunnuh Jugaseer, the names of five of them were
Sedhoo Manjee, Kanoo Manjee, Sonah Manjee, Sormah Manjee, and Urjoon
Manjee ; the names of the five other he did not know. The strangers com­
plained, that they had been obliged to abscond from their homes on account
of the tyranny and oppression of the Mahajans, who under the pretence of
 THE SANTHAL INSURRECTION. 37

having lent them money had plundered all their property. Urjoon Manjee
offered to get his Master, Meer Abbas Ali Khan to interest himself in their
favour, and he went or pretended to go to Hazareebagh to see the Ameer on
the subject leaving the Sonthals at his house, «he remained absent for 3 days,
and on his return home told the stranger that he had brought a letter from
the Ameer ordering their property to be given up to them.
14. This is the only fact I have been able to elicit which tends in any
way to connect the Ameer with those who have been in rebellion, but I am
bound to observe, that I have very little dependence upon anything that Urjoon
Manjee may have told these stranger Sonthals, for it is much more likely that
he falsely stated that he brought an order from the Ameer than that the Ameer
should have given an order to persons whom he had never seen and over
whom he had no influence or control.
15. Urjoon Manjee formerly resided at Chumeer Koh (or Churneer Koh)
in Pergunnuh Khurruckdeah, his two brothers (Kieroo Manjee and Intee Manjee)
and other members of his family are the inhabitants of that village, he is said
to be distantly connected with Kanoo, Seedhoo, and Bhyrow the leaders of
the Sonthal insurrection ; he is just the sort of man with whom evil disposed
persons would be likely to communicate if they wished to excite the Insur­
rection, he is a determined and reckless man, he is tiot wanting in intelligence
and has some influence with the Hazareebaugh Sonthals. *
16. After a careful enquiry I have arrived at the conclusion, that Meer
Abbas Ali Khan has not had anything to do with this insurrection...................
117. I think it not improbable that Urjoon Manjee may have listened to
the overtures of the Bhaugulpur and Beerbhoom rebels and that he may have
made use of the Ameer’s name to encourage them but it does not appear
that he has been absent from his house and the neighbourhood since the
insurrection commenced or has taken any active part in the Bhaugulpore and
Beerbhoom disturbances”.

KALI KINKAR DATTA.

 (Earlg of i\\t (Orrmpang
unify
(From the records of the Imperial Record Dept.)
THE E. I. CO*S COMMERCIAL SPIRIT IN THE I8TH CENTURY-
HISTORY OF KAMRUP.

^T no period of the Commercial history of the E. I. Coy. had their love

of trading enterprize been manifested in so great degree as it had been
in the 18th century. This spirit of commerce, once fairly roused began to
develop itself. Flushed with their Commercial success in Bengal, the British
now turned their attention to extend their Commercial intercourse with the
ancient land of Pragjyotishpur (1), which is known in our modern atlases as
Kamrup, »a picturesque e!hd romantic district of Assam. This Pragjyotishpur
was a land where in the bygone days, the arts of magic, sorcery and witch­
craft used to be extensively practised by the Tantriks as will be evident from
the following extract from a well-known journal (2) (now defunct):—“Who has
not in Bengal heard of the powers of fascination often practised by young
Kamrup witches in years gone by on unwary travellers and made them forget
their homes, wives and children for these witches of Pragjyotishpur? Who
has not heard of wonderful tales of black arts practised by Kamrup men”?
Even in the middle of the 17*h century when the Emperor Aurangzeb’s
design of conquering Assam was frustrated by the Assamese, the belief was
universal in Bengal that the discomfiture of the Mughal troops was, to a great
extent, due to the efficacy of the magical power of the Pragjyotishpur witches.
It is therefore believed that a short history of the East India Company’s early
relations with this strange land which have been collected from the records
of the Imperial archives is sure to prove interesting to the students of the
early history of Bengal.

INITIATION OF BRITISH TRADE IN KAMRUP.

Though from the records it is not clear who was the pioneer merchant
to introduce the British trade in Kamrup, yet a careful reader of the records
will find that sometime during the time of Robert Qive, the British trade
penetrated the hilly and wooded tracts of Kamrup.

(1) “Pragjyotishpur" means “the land of Eastern astrology."

(2) National Magazine, September 1897, page 329. Tantriks axe the followers of Tantra,
which is in Sanscrit literature, one of the, religious text-books of the numerous sects of Sakfa*,
i.e. worshippers of the Sakti or active divine energy personified in some female deity, esp.
in one of the many forms of Parvati, wife of Siva.
 EARLY RELATIONS OF THE COMPANY WITH ASSAM. 39

This will be evident from the fact (3) that two years after the Battle of
Plassey, i.e., in 1759, the East India Company sent Mr. Paul Richards Pearkes
to Kamrup “to collect some outstanding concerns (4) belonging to them”.
Since then the Company neve* relaxed their*efforts to explore all sorts of
avenues to promote their comnrercial relationship with Kamrup and the other
districts of Assam on a more solid and permanent basis. Records (5) inform
us that in the year 1771 The Imperial Board of Calcutta wrote a letter to the
Committee of Commerce dated Fort William, the 9th December 1771
directing them to enquire whefcier the vend of the Company’s staples could
not be increased by sending proper persons to explore the interior of Kamrup
and the other districts of Assam. Two years (6) afterwards the same Board
wrote separately two letters to the Collectors of Cooch Behar and Rangpur
on the 21st June, 1773 inviting suggestions for promoting the sales of British
staples in the different places ir Assam. We further find that in spite of the
discouraging report (7) of Mr. Herbert Harris, Collector of Rangpore, to the
President and Council of Revenue dated the 27th August, 1773, regarding
the commercial success of the Company in Assam, Mr. T. Wood (8), was
engaged some years afterwards by the British Government to survey different
districts in Assam in view to promote the Company’s trade in that country.
That the repeated attempts of tie Company to exteritel commercial intercourse
with Kamrup and with other places in Assam were crowned with success in
the long run will be evident from the following letter (9) which the then

(3) Pub. Progs Vol. 1759, p. 782

(4) A good idea of the prices of -'arious mercantile commodities of Assam and adjoining
countries in the 18th century when tne EL I. Co. were tryng to establish their commercial
relations can be obtained from a copper plate deed of grant of 1661 safc (1759 A.D.):—
(1) Rice, 2-1/5 annas per maund. *
(2) Milk, 2i annas per maund.
(3) Grain, 4 annas per maundL
(4) Salt & oil, 4% annas per maund.
(5) Gut, 1annas per maund.
(6) Black pepper, Rs. 20/- per maund.
(7) Betel leaf, 40 bundles for oi anna.
(8) Earthen pots or Waists, 645 per rupee.
. (9) Areca nuts, 5120 per rupee.
(10) Silk, Rs. 5/- per seer.
(11) Iron, Rs. 5/- per maund.
(12) Cotton and wood oil. Re. 1-8 per maund.
(13) Wax and elephant tusks, Fs. 20/- per maund.
(14) Camphor, Rs. 80/- per maund.
In other similar records of the sens period the price of rice is quoted at 4 annas per
maund; gtlr Rs. 2j per maund; pulse and ghee, 10 annas and oil Rs. 3i per maund; goats
Re. I/- each; cow, 2 rupees each; buffalo 5 Rs. each; ducks 1 anna each; pigeons, 1 pice
each; dhuties 5 annas and gamchas 5 pice each. The price of salt appears to have ranged
from 5 to 10 rupee per maund and be el leaf at an anna for 20 bundles of 20 leaves each.
(5) Pub. O. C. 9 Dec. 1771, no. L
(6) Pub. O. C. II June 1773, no. 10.
(7) Pub. O. C. 13 September 1773 no. 3.
(8) Pub. O. C. 1 Nov. 1793 no. 37; O. C. 30 Jan. 1795, no. 5.
(9) Pol. O. C. 3 Oct, 1794 no. 20.

f
40 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

Governor-General wrote to Surgu Deo, the Raja of Assam on the 27th

September, 1794, complaining of the ill-treatment which the merchants from
Bengal trading in Assam, suffered in the hands of the Assamese :•—
“Whereas repeated representations have been made to me by the
merchants trading in Assam of the great loss they sustain from being unable
to procure payment for the goods and merchandize they have occasionally
sold to some of your subjects as well as pecuniary losses and of the injuries
and oppression they otherwise suffer without having the means of obtaining
redress, I think it necessary to write to you upon the subject and make it my
request that as it is unquestionably for the benefit of the two countries that
the system of commercial intercourse be maintained which cannot be expected
if acts of injustice towards the merchants are left unredressed, you will pay
such attention to the representations they may make to you as they may
appear to merit and afford them such assistance in the recovery of their dues
as justice requires”.

EAST INDIA COMPANY’S FIRST MILITARY INTERCOURSE

WITH KAMRUP.
• •
The fust**Military relations of the East India Company with Kamrup
appears to have commenced from the year 1791. We find from the records (10)
that in that year on account of a practical dispute between the Raja of Assam
Surgu Deo, -and the Raja of Kamrup, Bishen Narayn, the latter requested
military help from the British Government. The British Government did not
like to meddle in this internecine family quarrel and refused to help Raja
Bishen Narayn as will be clear from the following resolution (11) passed by
the Board in the Revenue Department on the 29th July, 1791 :—
“Ordered that the Board of Revenue be directed to cause the Raja of
Darrang and Kamrup to be informed that the British Government do not
think proper to interfere in the disputes between him and his relation, the
Raja of Assam and consequently cannot assist him with troops in the recovery
of his rajja (kingdom).” However from a close scrutiny of the records (12)
we find that subsequently Bishen Narayn defeated Surgu Deo without the
British aid. On this Surgu Deo about the year 1795 solicited military help
from the British which was given. A British force under Captain Welsh*
arrived at Kamrup and Captain Welsh in concert with Raja Surgu Deo and
other native Rajas of the neighbourhood, after considering the pros and cons
of the case, established Bishen Narayn in his kingdom extending from the
Manash river at the Landahar Chokey to the Great River (the Brahmaputra),
“he (Bishen Narayn) having agreed to pay 80,000 rupees per annum to the

(10) Pub. Progs Vol. 3 Oct. 1794 O.C. no. 19 (Resolution of the Board).
(11) Ibid.
(12) Pol. O. C. 3 Oct., 1794, no. 19.
* Sir James Johnstone compiled from the records in the Foreign and Political Department
of the Government of India a detailed narrative of the expedition of Capt. Welsh to Assam
in 1793 A.D. and of the causes which led to it.
 EARLY RELATIONS OF THE COMPANY WITH ASSAM. 41

British Government”. This intervention on the part of the British Government

in the Assam politics seems tc be the first military intercourse of the East
India Company with Kamrup.
It appears, however, from :he records (13) *that after the aforesaid settle­
ment when Capt. Welsh returned to Bengal, Surji Deo, King of Assam, finding
himself free from British influence dispossessed Raja Bishen Narayn plundering
his dominion and annexed it with Assam. On this Bishen Narayn personally
came down to Calcutta on the 23rd August, 1794 to lay his case before the
British Government and on that very date wrote a letter to the Governor-
General (which was delivered to him the next day) soliciting British aid and
requesting him to annex his kingdom with that, of the Company and to treat
him as a vassal king on his paying a tribute of rupees 1,35,000 annually to
the British Government. The English translation of the aforesaid letter which
is reproduced below describes tne whole situation very clearly:—
“My hereditary Zamindari of Kamrup extends from the Manash river to
Colyaber and being contiguous to Assam, there is constant dispute between
it and Assam. Three years ago I obtained possession of my territory and
was employed in bringing it into a state of population. The Assam Raja
being defeated by us he solicited and obtained a force from the Company.
We cannot act at variance with the Company, therefore when Capt. Welsh
arrived'with his troops at Gauhetty I went first to meet him an^j remained in
attendance on him ; of the other two Rajas and myself, Raja Kishen Narayn
refused to attend Capt. Welsh, who however afterwards caused him to come
from Bhutan assembled together, caused the attendance of the Raja of Assam
and the Canungo of Rangamatta and making an investigation of all circum­
stances, he in concert with the Assam raja established me in my Zamindari
from the Manash river at the Cartdahar Chokey to the Great River, I entering
into engagements for the payment of 80,000 rupees per annum revenue ; and
he divided the country of Darrang, Chootea and Charduwar equally between
Hangsha Narayn and Raja Kishen Narayn taking engagements from them for
the payment of rupees 55,000 per annum revenue. Encouraged by this con­
duct on the part of the Compary I employed myself with confidence in the
cultivation and population of iry country and began to form a settlement
internally, when on the month of Cheyt, the Governor-General’s order arrived
for the removal of troops from Assam. On hearing this, the Raja again dis­
possessed me and the Barra Fok,an of Assam coming to Gauhatty in Kamrup,
took possession of it and plundered and laid waste the country. My territory
of Kamrup, originally belonged 6o Bengal where its revenue was paid. Since
however, the Assam raja unjustly annexed it to his country. I am therefore
hopeful that you will order my Zamindari to the extent of Colyaber to be
annexed to your country and me to be restored to my raj. I will pay 1,35,000
rupees naalbandee (or tribute) annually. I am the Company’s well-wisher and
shall not in any manner be deficient towards them”.
A careful perusal of the records (14) informs us that after the writing of
the aforesaid letter, Raja Bishen Narayn remained in Calcutta up to the end
(13) Pol. O. C. 3 Oct. 1794, no. ic ”
(14) Pol. O.Cs. 3 October 1794 not. 18-19,
6
42 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

of the month of September and on the 1st October, 1794 had a direct talk
with the Governor-General regarding the complaints which he preferred
against Raja Surgu Deo in his letter. The substance (15) of this talk which is
reproduced below in the fornf of a dialogue in the language of records will
amply repay perusal:—

(After the usual compliments)

Governor-General—"1 desire you to inform me what was the original
cause of the Raja of Assam’s dispute with the Mohamarias (16) that
occasioned him to solicit military aid from the Company’s
Government”.
Raja Bishen NaTayan—"Mohamaria was the name of a place, the
inhabitants of which were called Mohamarias who were excited to
rebellion in consequence of Surgu Deo’s having murdered their Guru
(or priest)”.
Governor-General—“How is .it that Surgu Deo being the Lord of the
Country and those people entirely under the authority, they had in
their power to make head against him so successfully as they had
done?”
Raja—“Surgu Deo is a man of the most savage disposition ; that the
cruelties he exercised upon his subjects etc., by maiming and
murdering them for the smallest fault, had turned their hearts against
him and urged them to rebel”.
Governor-General—“Does Surgu Deo still retain his authority over the
Country of Assam?"
Raja—“His authority is merely nominal but that the Burra Fokjan, the
Chotta Fokfm and others of the Ministry maintain a degree of control
over it”.
Governor-General—“Whether or not since Capt. Welsh had quitted the
Country (Assam), the Burra Fo\an etc. had exercised any degree of
authority or constraint over Surgo Deo".
Raja—“Surji Deo stood alone and unsupported and that the Fokans etc.
exercised their authority without any regard to him whatever".
Governor-General—"What are the site and boundaries of your own
Kingdom of Kamrup”?
Raja—“The Kingdom is situated between two rivers, the Brahmaputra
running through the centre. It formerly constituted a part of the

(15) Pol. O. C. 3 October 1794, no. 18.

(16) Mohamariaa were the inhabitants 'of the District' known as Muttuck in Luchimpnr
which was bounded on the north and west by the Brahmaputra river, on the south by the
Boree Dihing and on the east by a line extending from the Dihing to a point nearly opposite
the mouth of the Kondil Nullah. Mohamarias are supposed by some to have been a rude
tribe who settled before the Ahomi invasion on the upper Debroo, in the district of Moram.
The whole tribe embraced Hinduism but rejected the popular worship of Siva and professed
themselves Sectaries of the Vishna-Vishnu Caste. Their prosecution by the Ahom Kings
led them to rebel against those Kings, (Vide Pol. Progs 6 October 1839, no. 89 and the
Hgrfh'Ea»t Frontier of Bengal by Alexander Mackenzie, 1884).
 early relations of The company with assam. 43

Mughal Empire and not many years since had fallen under the
control of the Assam Raja”.
Governor-General—“How long it might be since that time”?
Raja—“I cannot exactly specify the time but that it might be ascertained
from the Canongo records”.
Governor-General—“Whether the present Raja of Assam, his father or
his grandfather had subjected the district.”
Raja—“It was the grandfather of Surgu Deo, the present Raja of
Assam".
Governor-General—“Under whose immediate authority Kamrup is at
present”?
Raja—“While Capt. Welsh remained in Assam it was in his own
possession, but that since that time, Surgu Deo had appointed the
Burra Fohfln to the charge of it. I have quitted my country with
Capt. Welsh to seek refuge under the Company's Government. My
object is to be considered like the Raja of Cooch Bihar as a dependant
on the English Government and to pay my revenues to them. I am
a distant relation of that Raja’s”.
Governor-General—“Whether or not the whole of the representations he
had to make was comprised in the paper lie had delivered in".
Raja—("Yes it is and I hope that in like maimer as others enjoyed
security and quiet under the protection of the English Government,
I also who had fled to Calcutta for refuge may experience the same ;
be established in my country of Kamrup and allowed to pay the
revenue of it to the British Government”.
What action the British Govt, took immediately after this conversation
is not clear from the records. But it appears that they did not act up
according to the desire of Raja Bishen Narayn as we find that Kamrup
was not incorporated with the East India Company’s dominion before the
year 1838.

BASANTA KUMAR .BASU,

Imperial Record Dept.
JT is not often that we have occasion to refer to the activities of our sister
society the Asiatic Society of Bengal, but it is worth while recording one
good deed which is now forgotten. This was the preservation in 1838 of
the Black Pagoda at Konarak the outstanding monument of Orissa temple
architecture. The Raja of Khurda had obtained permission from the
Collector to remove a few stones for repair of the temple at Puri and
proceeded to interpret his permission by disintegrating the building for the
purpose. His object in particular appears to have been to obtain possession
of the stone, described as Novigrihur i.e. the “Navagraha” architrave subse­
quently c»it into two parts for removal to Calcutta in 1892. See p. 463 Ganguly’s
Orissa and Her Remains. The attention of the Government of India was
drawn to the matter by the Asiatic Society in a letter from John Prinsep
dated 18th August il 838 with the result that prompt steps were taken to check
the vandalism which would no doubt otherwise have ended in the gradual
destruction of the monument. It is worth while reproducing John Prinsep 'a
letter and the report of the Magistrate of Puri.

C. W. GURNER.

To
T. Maddock, Esqure.,
Offg, Secretary to Govt, in the Judl. Department.

Sir,
At the last meeting of the Asiatic Society a letter was read from a Member
descriptive of the injury lately committed on the Kanarak temple or black
Pagoda by the Rajah of Khurda, who, it was stated, in virtue of a permission
obtained from Mr. P. Wilkinson, the late Commissioner of Cuttack to supply
himself with some building stones from the debris of the temple had not been
checked by the authorities since.
The Rajahs on a misconception of this permission commenced the dis­
mantlement of the entire edifice removing the principal statues to his own
residence, and throwing down such massive fragments as he is unable to
remove, and if allowed to proceed in the same manner, there is every prospect
 THE BLACK PAGODA. 45

of this ancient monument (so long the principal land mark on the Coast) being
entirely demolished.—
Under these circumstances the society has thought it a duty to represent
the matter to Government, and respectfully *to hope that the Hon’ble the
President in Council will interfere to prevent the further progress of destruc­
tion by an Order on the subject to the local Civil Authority.—
Should it be impossible to restore some of the longer fragments (parti­
cularly the beautifully carved gateway represented in the late Mr. Stirling’s
statistical account of Cuttack) the Society would further request permission to
transfer some few of them as specimens of the sculpture to their Museum,
by means of any pilot vessel which may be able to bring them away, but
the principal object of the Society’s wish, is that further injury may be
prevented.
I have, &ca.,
Signed J. Prinsep,
Secy., Asiatic Society.
As: So : Museum,
18th August, 1838.

(True Copy)
T. H. Maddock,
Offg. Secy, to the Govt, of India.

(Copy)
(No. 166)
_ •
To
H. Ricketts, Esquire,
Commissioner for the 19th Dn., Cuttack.

Sir,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 2,7% of
the 20th September, 1838.
2nd. The Black Pagodah or the Temple at Kunaruck belongs to Govern­
ment though the Rajah of Khoordah and the Zeemindars whose lands it
stands once attempted to claim it as private property. The Thanah Darogah
had orders to prevent the removal of the Materials and the Zeemindars were
directed to give information if any party attempted to remove them.
3rd. In January 1837 the Rajah of Khoordah requested permission to
remove some of the Stones both black and white (Mugnee it Sahan) for the
purpose of repairing the Temple of Juggernath. The Collector acceeded to
his request and instructed the Darogah and Zeemindars to that effect. The
white stones of which the body of the Temple was constructed are lying in
abundance about the Temple ; and some few black stones with which the
46 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

Door ways only were constructed, were also lying on the ground opposite the
South doorway. That doorway had years ago been dismantled.
4th. The Rajah either not finding as many black Stones as he required
on the ground ; or else coveting the_ Novegrihur, the nine figures carved on
one immense Stone that formed the top of the Singhdoor (the one represented
in Mr. Stirlings work) proceeded to dislodge the Novigrihur by removing the
stones that formed a sort of ledge immediately below it, and then rolled the
Novigrihur to the ground—this he effected without breaking it—the smaller
stones he has removed -to Pooree where they are now being cut for the
•purpose of repairing .the interior of the Juggernath Temple. The Rajahs inten­
tion was to cut a Slab containing the Novigrihur .from the large Stone and to
remove it ;to Juggernath, but from the want of tools his workmen were unable
to accomplish this.
 ffitfjoes front

SOME GLEANINGS FROM OLD REGISTERS.

TN the Editor’s Note-Book of Vol. XL, Part II (Oct.-Dec. 1930, p. 158),

and again in Vol. XLVI, Part II (Oct.-Dec. 1933, pp. 135-136), - there
are references to John Brereton Birch, grandson of
n rereton ire . Holwell, a much-married Police Magistrate, and
Sheriff of Calcutta in 1812. It is, perhaps, not generally known (writes
Mr. A. Lehuraux) that he died in Chandernagore at the age of 67, on
December 17, 1829. The following is a copy of the entry in the Register
of Deaths:
No. 60. Deces de John Brereton Birch, L’an mil huit cent vingt
neuf Le 18e jour de Decembre a neu£ hemes du rgatin sont
comparu devant nous, Auguste Marie Chappatte, Lieutenant de
Police, charge de l’Etat Civil a Chandernagore, les ^Sieurs Thomas
de Solminihac age de quarante-cinq ans et Auguste Francois Heron,
age de vingt-neuf ans, l'un et 1’autre indigotiers, demeurant en cette
ville, le premier Rue de Paris et le second Rue Neuve ; lesquels
nous ont declare qu’hier, dix sept, a huit heures et demi (sic.) du
soir, JOHN BRERETON BIRCH Magistral de la Police de Calcutta,
age de soixante-sept ans, ne dans le Comte de Kent en Angleterre
est decede a CHANDERNAGOR dans la maison de la Dame Veuve
Heron ; ce dont nous nous sommes assures. Lecture faite du present
Acte de Deces les declarans ont signe avec nous.

Sd. A. F. Heron. Sd. Thos Solminihac.

Sd. A. Chappatte.

It will be observed that no mention is made of Birch’s Indian wife

‘‘Princess Hadji Karbarhi.”
Mr. Lehuraux adds : The witness in the above extract “Thos Solminihac’’
(Thos: Lazar de Solminihac) was a son of Etienne Andre de Solminihac,
Captain of the Brig VEsperance and chief at Balassor: and, like Heron,
describes himself as an indigo-planter ("indigotier".). He married Caroline
Hartley, daughter of Bartholomew Hartley, Surgeon on the Bengal
establishment, and Elizabeth Lane: and another daughter, Louisa Hartley
became the wife of Joaquin Piron, son of General Jean Henri Piron, an
Alsatian soldier of fortune in the service of the Nizam, who was second in
command to Raymond at Hyderabad, and after the disbandment of the
French contingent in December 1798, retired to Chandernagore, where he
48 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

died on October 22, in 1807(1). A relative of Thomas Solminihac, Henri de

Solminihac, who commanded the 135th Regiment of French infantry, had a
brilliant citation during the War.
*******
BARTHOLOMEW HARTLEY (Crawford, B. 260) was appointed an
assistant surgeon on the Bengal establishment in May 1781 and was
Xh H rtl promoted to be surgeon in 1783. He was undoubtedly
a prominent figure in the Calcutta Society of his day,
for, being then one of the Presidency Surgeons, he lent his name in 1784
as the leading promoter of a lottery in aid of the building fund of St. John’s
Church. There were three thousand tickets at ten gold mohurs apiece, and
three hundred and thirty-five prizes varying in amount from a lakh to five
hundred sicca rupees. In addition to these prizes the holder of the first
ticket drawn was to receive Rs. 10,000, and the holder of the last, Rs. 20,000.
The drawing commenced on Friday August 6, 1784, at the Old Court House
(which stood on the site now occupied by St. Andrew’s Kirk) and lasted
for ten days : the proceedings of each day opening with a breakfast given
by Dr. Hartley(2). Ultimately, the Chinch building fund benefited by nearly
37,000 Company’s rupees.
From December 179? to the end of 1802 Hartley was senior surgeon at
Bencoolen (Fort Marlborough), and he died at Serampore on March 13, 1803.
According to William Hickey(3) his wife, whom he married at Calcutta on
October 4, 1789, and who died at Chandernagore on August 20, 1836, at the
age of 70, was the daughter by a Hindustani lady of “a gentleman at the
head of the Company’s Civil Service”(4). On her voyage to Bengal from
England (where she had been sent for her education) in 1786 on the Ganges,
she became involved in an intrigue with Joseph Gamault, the second officer,
who succeded to the command flpon the death in Calcutta on December 2,
1786 of Captain James Williamson(5). After another liaison with Mr. Jacob
Rider (of whom something will be said presently), she married Hartley “a
strange rattling Irishman but with a certain degree of spirit and proud of

(1) Piron was a pronounced Jacobin : and when he succeeded to the command of the
Nizam's troops on the death of Raymond in March 1798, hoisted the tricolour and embroidered
the lapels and epaulettes of his sepoys with the words “Liberty et Constitution.” His
monument in the Church of the Sacred Heart at Chandernagore is inscribed : "Ci git Jean
Henri Piron, officier franjois, General Commandant le corps frangois au service du Soubah du
Decan : ne a Huningue le 25 Mars 1763 : mort au Jardin de 1’Amitie le 22 Octobre 1807, ag£
de 44 ans, 6 mois, 26 jours.” The “Jardin de l’Amitie" which was the French Governor’s
garden house, was at Ghiretty (see B. P. P. vol. XL, p. 153).
(2) There is no warrant for identifying Bartholomew Hartley with the Mr. Hartly (without
the e) of Sophia Goldbome’s novel "Hartly House”. The name in this case is a fictitious one.
(3) Unpublished portion of the Memoirs.
(4) Probably Thomas Lane: arrived at Calcutta in 1756, Chief at Patna in 1773. As his
daughter lived to be 70, she must have been born in 1766.
(5) See Baptisms in Calcutta (B. P. P. Vol. XXX, p. 83):
May 10, 1787. James, son of Joseph Gamault, Esq. commander of the Ganges
Indiaman.
The mother, according to Hickey, wap Elizabeth Lane,
 ECHOES FROM CHANDERNAGORE 49

the antiquity of his family which was undoubtedly a good one”. He insisted
upon taking her to the Calcutta Assemblies at the Theatre in Lyons Range ;
but this was not to the liking of the ladies of the Settlement. Hickey gives
a long account of an unedifying scene in November il 792, which ended in
the withdrawal of Mrs. Hartley. The incident resulted in the abolition of
the “subscription” Assemblies.
Besides the two daughters named by Mr. Lehuraux, the Hartleys had a
son, Bartholomew, who erected the monument to his mother in the cemetery
at Chandemagore. Another tomb in the same burial-ground bears the
inscription: “Ici repose Louisa Cecilia Hartley | epouse de M. Barthelemy
Hartley | decedee a Chandemagore le 29 mai 1839 | agee de 35 ans 10 mois
et 4 jours.”
Jacob Rider, Lord Metcalfe’s god-father, enters into the history of the
Birch family by reason of the fact that his daughter
Halwen^k ^am^y anC* Frances Jane was married on February 22, 1787, to
Richard Comyns Birch, of the Civil Service, who was
appointed British judge and Superintendent of Chandemagore in 1793(6).
Birch died on April 28, 1807 at the age of 44, and is buried in Barrackpore
old cemetery. He was the brother of John Brereton Birch and father of
Lieut. Gen. Sir Richard James Holwell Birch (1803—•! 875), military ^secretary
to the Government of India during the Mutiny, and of Lieutfc Col. Francis
William Birch (1804—1857) of the 41st B.I., who married Miss Jean Walker,
the grand-daughter of Robert Home the painter at Lucknow on July 7, 1825,
and was killed by mutineers at Sitapur ; their son Major Henry Holwell
Birch (18374878) was one of the garrison of the Lucknow Residency and
was killed in action at AH Masjid twenty-one years later. The connection
with John Zephaniah Holwell came through his daughter Sarah Holwell
who married William Birch and was the mfather of J. B. and R. C. Birch.
The remaining brother John Zephaniah Mill Birch, lieutenant in the 2nd
Bengal European Battalion, was killed at the battle of Bitaura on October 26,
1794, and is commemorated on the Rohilla monument in St. John’s
Churchyard. A sister Marianne was married on November 15, 1780 to
Henry Churchill, naval storekeeper at Calcutta and Sheriff in 1806: one of
their daughters married in 1823 Major-General Sir Jeremiah Bryant (1783-
1845) of the Bengal Army, who was elected a Director of the Company in
1841, and their last surviving daughter died on January 11, 11928.
Of Jacob Rider, Hickey has much to say. He came out to Bengal as
a writer in 1763, and became Paymaster to the Army: but quarrelled with
Clive who shipped him back to England. Here he
jaco i er. was reinstated in the service, and we find him
returning to Bengal as a factor in 1769 on board the Plassey with Hickey.
In 1775 he was back in London once more, “with an ample fortune and

(6) Ten years later, on March 17, 1803 Birch was appointed to be "Commissioner for
carrying into effect the Restitution to be made to the French and Batavian Republics in the
Provinces of Bengal Behar and Orissa under the Definitive Treaty of Peace" : but on September
13 a proclamation was issued announcing the renewal of the war with the French Republic.
The next French Chef de Service, M. Dayot, did not hold office until 1816.
7
50 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

residing in Upper Harley Street." In 1784 he was in Bengal again as

Commercial Chief at Luckipore, and in the following year he blossomed into
brief greatness as a partner in the Bengal Bank with Major Metcalfe and
Mr. Benjamin Mee (uncle of Lord Palmerston the Prime Minister). The
Bank collapsed after Metcalfe’s departure for England, and in January 1786
Lord Cornwallis instituted proceedings against Rider and a number of other
civil servants who had been at various times members of the Board of Trade,
charging them with serious defalcations. Rider escaped through influence
with the Court of Directors, and made his way to Europe in 1789. In 1793
he obtained a “letter of licence” and returned to Calcutta. We find him
entered in the East India Register of 1808 as Collector of Customs at BenaTes:
and on August 25, 1809, he died at Ghazipur at the age of 63 (7), having
married off two more daughters: Sally on July 5, 1808, to Francis James
Thomas Johnston of the Civil Service, brother of Sir Alexander Johnston
Chief Justice of Ceylon: and Cecilia on May 17, 1809, to Capt. H. Howorth
of the 6th Bengal Cavalry.
Rider had by this time become quite an institution, and Lieut. John
Pester who dined with him at Ghazipore on November 14, 1806, describes
him in his "War and Sport in India” as "one of the most eccentric characters
I had ever met with." "The dinner was an event in itself, "for the old man
had seldom been known to give a dinner but he kept an excellent cellar
and a very convivial evening was spent by the young men who were his
guests and who made the most of their opportunity.” Among other oddities
Rider kept in a room “as a rare show” the bier upon which Lord Cornwallis
was carried to his grave.

(7) In Blunt’s "Christian Tombs and Monuments in the United Provinces” (p. 199) the
inscription runs : “In memory of John Rider Esquire who died regretted on the 25th day of
August 1809 aged 63 years.” This is an error. John Rider who was a brother of Jacob, died
in August 1801 "in the great desert of Arabia” (see Asiatic Annual Register).
Fatehgarh and the Mutiny : by Lt.-Colonel F. R. Cozens, 10th battalion
7th Rajput Regiment (The Lucknow Regiment), and C. L. Wallace,
M.C., I.C.S., Collector and Magistrate of Farrukhabad (1933, Newul
Kishore Press, Lucknow).
Fatehgarh Camp, 1777-1857 : by C. L. Wallace, M.C., I.C.S. (1934, Newul
Kishore Press, Lucknow).

These two boohs are a model of all that a local history should be.
Every scrap of information has been collected, and a most interesting picture
of bygone India is presented. Both authors Eire eminendy qualified for the
task which they have undertaken. The famous Lucknow Regiment, of which
Colonel Cosens is commandant (1), is now the training battalion <jf the 7th
Rajput Regiment with permanent headquarters at Fatehgarh: and Mr. Wallace
has been magistrate of the district since 1930. *

EARLY DAYS.
The name Fatehgarh (Fort Victory) was applied in the first instance to
a mud fort with ten bastions and a moat which was erected on the bank of
the Ganges in 1720 by Mahomed Khan the Bangash Nawab of Farrukhabad
who founded that city in !l 714. There is nc* village of that name: but when
in 1777 a cantonment-was formed to accommodate a brigade of troops in
the service of the Nawab Wazir of Oudh under the officers of the Company,
it was naturally employed as a convenient designation. The first commandant
of this new or temporary brigade was the celebrated Colonel Thomas
Goddard, and the formal transfer of the Nawab’s troops to the Company’s
service was effected in September 1777. Goddard was succeeded in October
by Col. Matthew Leslie who had started his career in 1745 as “second
surgeon’s mate of our garrison in our island of Cape Breton in North America,
had received a commission as ensign in H. M. 48th Foot, and in 1768 was
transferred to the Bengal Army with the rank of lieut.-colonel. Many
interesting detEiils have been obtained from his reports to the Commander-in-
Chief at Calcutta.

(1) The faithful remnants of the 13th, 48th, and 71st Bengal Infantry who served throughout
the siege of the Residency, were formed in 1861 into the Lucknow Regiment and placed under
the command of Colonel (afterwards General) Henry Palmer of the 48th B. I. who successfully
evacuated the Machlie Bhawan. The tattered Queen’s and regimental colours of the 13th,
which were in the Residency during the siege, now hang in the Officers’ Mess of the 10th/7th
Rajput Regiment: they were rescued, says Col. Cozens (p. 27) after seventy-three years of
oblivion from a private residence in Cawnpore.
52 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

The brigade was composed in 1779 of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments
of Cavalry under Major William Hessman (who was killed in a duel at Kanauj
by Col. Gilbert Ironside on November 4, 1779, when on his way to take up
his appointment): three companies of artillery under Major Patrick (“Tiger”)
Duff: and nine battalions of infantry, the 22nd to the 30th, under Major Arthur
Forbes Auchmuty. The secretary was Captain John Cockerell, (1753-1798)
brother of Sir Charles Cockerell of the Bengal Civil Service and founder of
the Calcutta firm of Cockerell Traill and Co., and of Samuel Pepys Cockerell,
the architect to the East India Company: and the brigade-major was Lieut,
(after Lieut.-Colonel) Robert Frith (died 1800), the father of Colonel Warren
Hastings Leslie Frith (1787-1854), and grandfather of the wife of Sir Archdale
Wilson, baronet of Delhi. One of the earliest figures to make an appearance
in the pages of “Fatehgarh Camp” is the mysterious Captain (afterwards
Major) Charles Marsack (1735-1820) of whom mention has already been made
in Bengal: Past and Present (Vol. XXXIV, p. 140) and whose family associa­
tions some further details are given in our Editor’s Note Book.
Marsack was engaged during the cold weather of 1776 in raising a cavalry
regiment near Farrukhabad city and picked a violent quarrel with an oddly-
named brother officer, Primrose Thompson. After a long correspondence,
Thompson apologized aijd Marsack was censured. In 1779 Marsack left India
and in the following year bought from the first Earl Cadogan the estate of
Caversham Park near Reading, where he lived in great state until his death
on November 15, 1820, at the age of 84. How did he acquire what was
evidently a substantial fortune ? • We get a hint of the reason from an incident
in 1787, when Lieut.-Col. Christian Knudsen (d. 1792 at Chunar) a highly
unpopular officer of Danish extraction, was commanding at Fatehgarh. It
was discovered that Knudsen was making a “corner” in grain on his own
account and keeping the troops ^short of it, although supplies were abundant.
In other words, every officer was a trader in disguise.

THE BATTLE OF BITAURA.

Colonel Charles Morgan (1742-1819) was in command in 1794, the year of
the battle of Bitaura—commemorated by the Rohilla monument in St. John’s
Churchyard at Calcutta and also by another pillar on the field, which can be
seen from the train as it proceeds from Bareilly towards Rampur. The
Fatehgarh Brigade was heavily engaged in this action which is vividly
described in a letter dated "Camp Rampore 26th October 1794" and con­
tributed to the Calcutta Gazette by the Colonel of the 2nd European Regiment
who afterwards became Lieut.-General Sir John Macdonald, K.C.B. and died
on May 29, 11824, at Calcutta where his grave may be seen in the South Park
Street Cemetery. Another account will be found in the “Travels in India”
of Thomas Twining of the Bengal Civil Service, who was in Fatehgarh at the
time. The strange incident connected with the name of Captain Richard
Ramsay, a Fatehgarh officer, is well known (2).

(2) See Bengal: Past and Present, Vol. XLVI. pp. 58-59. Mr. Wallace’s account is on
pp. 32-34 of “Fatehgarh Camp.”
BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.
VOL. XLVlll.

LORD LAKE AND HIS STAFF AT FATEHGARH, 1804.

By Robert Home.
From the Picture in the Victoria Memorial Hall at Calcutta.
 TWO BOOKS ON FATEHGARH. 53

Morgan’s successor in lire command was Colonel William Popham (1740-

1821), the hero of the storm of Gwalior in 1780. While on furlough from 1787
to 1790, he sat in the Mouse of Commons as member for Mllborae Port; and
on October 3, 1795, he and sixty-eight othef officers at Fatehgarh sent an
address of congratulation to Warren Hastings on his acquittal, fire "mutiny”
of the officers of the Bengal Army, which gave Sir John Shore so much trouble,
took place in 17% during the period of command of Major-General Robert
Stuart, tbe “Kidnapped Colonel” who was ransomed from the Sikhs by die
Begum Sumru and whose portrait is among the Sardhana pictures at
Government House, Allahabad.

LORD LAKE AT FATEHGARH.

The frontispiece to “Fatehgarh Camp" is provided by a reproduction of

Robert Home’s large equestrian portrait of Lord Lake and his staff at Fateh-
garb in 1804, which hung for many years in the Calcutta Town Hall and Is
now at the Victoria Memorial Hall. Mr. Wallace observes that tbe painter
bad evidently not seen the locality: for Lord Lake has just reached the top
of a steep —and non-existent—hill which is surmounted by a palrp tree.
•
The incident commemorated arose in connexion with die relief of the
Fort which had been invested by marauding Pathans and Marathas. JaswaBt
Rao Holkar was encamped at Nawabganj, sixteen miles from Famikhabad
city, when the 8th Royal Irish Dragoons and Clements Brown's b»ttery of
Bengal Horse Artillery took him by surprise. His camp was destroyed, his
ammunition was blown up, and his troops after suffering heavy losses fled
in all directions. He himself escaped to Mainpuri and, closely pursued had
to push on towards Lahore. The dragooqp and the guns had covered 252
miles in 13 successive days: and the last 54 miles was completed in 30 hours.
On November 19, 1804, after the infantry bad arrived three royal salutes were
fired on the parade ground: and the flying column marched to Bewar.
This was the second siege of the Fort. The first was in 1751 when the
Marathas occupied Fatehgarh and Ahmad Khan the Bangash Nawab beat off
the assaults of the combined forces of the Wazir of Oudh, the Marathas and
the Jats. The third was in 1857 when the Fort was gallantly defended for
nine days by the British, although there were only two guns and a scarcity
of ammunition.
Several regiments were raised at Fatehgarh from 1803 to 1858. Of these
the 1st Royal Battalion of the 9th Jats (the old 43rd Bengal Infantry, “Kyne
ka dahina pultan”, so called after its first Colonel, Francis Kyan), Gardner a
Horse (1809), the 9th Gurkha Rifles (which started in 1818 as the Fatehgarh
levy and then became the 63rd and eventually the 9th B. L) and the Ifth
King Edward’s Own Cavalry (the 8th Irregular Cavalry of 1842) alone survive.
Eight others disappeared after the cataclysm of 1857. It is interesting to note
that die 2nd Bengal Cavalry was stationed at Fatehgarh, with short exceptions,
for nearly twenty years.
$4 BENGAL ; PAST AND PtmSENt,

"FARRUKHABAD RUPEES.”
Fatehgarh rapidly grew in importance. It bdeaiPe in 1802 one of the
mint towns of the East India Company and "Farrukhabad rupees”, bearing
the name of the Emperor Shah Alam and dated in the 45th year of his reign,
were coined here until 1824—and subsequently, until 1835, at Calcutta. No
vestige of the building remains: but another institution, the Customs House,
is represented by a gate-lodge. This was set up in 1803, a year later than
the Mint, and was known as the "Permit Ghur.” The last Collector of
Customs was John Kinloch (a Bengal writer of the year 1798} who held the
office from 1820 to 1835. One of his predecessors, William Rennell, who died
at Fatehgarh on July 25, 1819 at the age of 39 and is buried in the Fort
cemetery, was a son of Major James Rennell, the great geographer. The
first was Mordaunt Ricketts (1811-1813) who was afterwards Resident at
Lucknow from 1822 to 1829. Farrukhabad city was in those days a busy
centre of trade, but by 1840 it had been supplanted by Cawnpore.
Mr. Wallace records that John Deane, whom we have already mentioned as
the husband of "A. D.” had a garden nearly opposite the Customs House,
which was once famous for its fruit. Upon his death at Arrah in 1818, the
Govemmqpt granted the property which included a village, to his colleague
Sir James Edward ColeBrooke and Henry Newnham the Secretary of the
Board of Commissioners. In 1829 the owner was the Bangash Nawab
Sarbuland Khan, who eloped with Harriet Birch.

THE GUN CARRIAGE FACTORY.

Other institutions at Fatehgarh were the Gun Carriage Factory and the
Clothing Factory, The former \%a» transferred from Allahabad in 1815, and
the first Gun Carriage Agent was Major Clements Brown, the “Father of
the Bengal Horse Artillery”, who remained until 1824, and died at Benares
in 1838 at the age of 72, after completing fifty-four years of uninterrupted
service in the Bengal Army. In 1821 he received an odd appointment in
addition to his own, that of agent "for the sale of the Hon’ble Company's
wines at Futtyghur.” His successor as Gun Carriage Agent was Major Robert
Bell Fulton, the father of Captain G. W. W. Fulton of the Bengal Engineers
who was proclaimed by the garrison of the Residency in 1857 to be "The
Defender of Lucknow." He was transferred from the Gun Factory to the
Clothing Factory and died at Fatehgarh on May 11, 1836. The Clothing
Factory was set up in 1813 ; it was housed in a building which is now covered
by the club tennis courts. In 1853 the appointment of Agent was given to
Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Thomas Tudor Tucker of the 8th Light Cavalry, who
was killed four years later in the defence of the Fort. His predecessor General
Auchmuty Tucker, C.B. (1845-1853) died at Leamington as recently as 1891
at the age of 88. Mrs. Augusta Beefiar records in her Reminiscences that
Tudor Tucker was married from her house at Simla "on the bazar side of
the Hill" on June 5, 1851 to Mrs. Humphreys, widow of Capt. Alexander
Humphreys or Humfrays (1806-1846) and daughter of James Sutherland,
 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.
VOL. XLV11I.

MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH (1837—1893)

Resided at Fategarh from 1851 to 1854.
From a Portrait Painted by George Beecbey in 1852.
 TWO BOOKS ON FATEHGARH. 55

Principal of Hooghly College. She was murdered with her three children at
Cawnpore a fortnight after her husband was killed.
The Fatehgarh soda water factory must jiot be forgotten. Mr. Wallace
tells the story (pp. il 18-119). Up to 1830 soda water was imported from
Europe and was expensive: and since beer was the principal drink from
1820 to 1830, there was no great demand for it. But, when brandy sup­
planted beer, it came into request: and in 1835 a large soda water concern
was started in Fatehgarh town and soon supplied the whole country around.
The manager, John Coulson Pyle (1807-1846), had been a manufacturer of
crude saltpetre and agent in that connexion for Dr. Julius Jeffreys (1800-1877)
who was civil surgeon from 1825 to 1831, and was carrying on the business
as a side line. If the Government of India have any gratitude, they should
put up a memorial to Dr. Jeffreys, for he is said to have been the first to
suggest Simla as a hill-station.
In May 1857 the garrison of Fatehgarh had shrunk to a single sepoy
regiment, the 10th Bengal Infantry, which was known colloquially as Duffel
ka Pultan, from the fact that its first commandant (1764) was Captain Vernon
Duffield. The names of several distinguished officers were on the rolls, such
as Major-General Sir John Coke (1806-1897) who raised the 1st Punjab Infantry
(Coke’s Rifles) in 1849, and General Sir Charles Reid (1819-1901) who com­
manded the Sirmoor Battalion during the Mutiny and was {he hero of the
“Sammy House” at Delhi : but they were absent on other duty. Not one
of the officers at Fatehgarh survived. Nevertheless, the regiment remained
staunch until the 41st B. I. (Doobye ka dahina Pultan, raised at Fatehgarh
in 1803 and first commanded by Major Peter Dubois) arrived from. Sitapur
after murdering their colonel (F. W. Birch) and Mr. Christian, the Commis­
sioner. They then joined in the siege of the Fort, and the massacres that
followed, and eventually found their way to Cawnpore.

MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH.

Maharaja Duleep Singh resided at Fatehgarh from 1851 to 11854. Nine
houses were purchased for his accommodation by his guardian, Dr. (after­
wards Sir) John Login: of these five vanished in the Mutiny and were never
rebuilt, two were pulled down in 1925, and the site of one of the remaining
houses is now occupied by the present officers’ Mess. They were situated
in what was known as “The Park.” The largest of the buildings went by
the name of Martin's House. From 1795 to 1807, when it was bought by
one Martin, an indigo planter, it was used as a General Hospital for Europeans
and Indians. Martin fell upon evil days in 1825, and the property passed to
Seth Lachmi Chand, a local banker, it then became the home of a succession
of Collectors and Judges. The most famous of these was Frederick John
Shore (died at Calcutta in 1837), the eccentric son of Lord Teignmouth who
was the last of the judge-magistrates (1831-1833) and the first district and
sessions judge (1833-1835). Mr. Wallace has come across numerous letters of
his in the records which “reveal him to have been an official of sound com­
mon sense and in ideas startlingly modern.” He is remembered, however,
56 - BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

chiefly by his oddities which led to the issue of a Government order prohibiting
the Company's servants from wearing Mussulman costume. Acording to
Capt. Mundy, one of Lord Combermere’s aides-de-camp, who met him in
il827 at Dehra Dun, he was a remarkably tall and handsome man with a long
beard, and “distinguished as the scourge of all the brigands and wild beasts
which infest his province.”
After Maharaja Duleep Singh yent to Europe in 1854, the house was
rented by the Judges: the last of whom was R. B. Thornhill who was killed
at Cawnpore with his wife (a grand-daughter of Mrs. Siddons) and other
fugitives from Fatehgarh. When the station was re-occupied, the house was
found in ruins and the site which was cleared in 1859, has remained bare
ever since. But Mr. Wallace has found a contemporary plan and gives an
interesting description of the building. We also get a glimpse of the
Maharajah, who was always escorted in his morning rides by a detachment
of two officers and twenty two men of the Governor-General’s bodyguard in
scarlet and a troop of Skinner’s Horse in their famous yellow jackets.
While Maharaja Duleep Singh was at Fatehgarh, his portrait was painted
in 1852 by George Beechey: and a reproduction of the picture will be found
opposite page 320 of “The Private letters of the Marquess of Dalhousie,”
a volume published in 1^10 under the editorship of the late Mr. J. G. A.
Baird. (3)
Lord Dalhousie had come to Fatehgarh in December 1851 to visit the
Maharaja who is (he says in a letter of December 27) “becoming more and
more European every day.” In a later letter, written from Government House
on March 12, 1853, he mentions that the Maharaja “was baptised publicly but
unostentatiously in his own house on the 8th in the presence of his own *
servants and of the principle residents of Futtehghur." The ceremony,
Mr. Wallace tells us, was performed by Mr. Jay, the chaplain. Writing
again from Calcutta on April 8, 1854, Lord Dalhousie says: “Another arrival
has been Maharajah Duleep Singh, on his way to England: he is living in
the Government House at Barrackpore and came to visit me: he is at an
awkward age and has a dark callow down all over his face, but his manners
are nice and gentlemanlike, and he now speaks English exceedingly well.”
The Maharaja, as is well known, re-entered the Sikh community in 11886,
and died in Paris in 1893 at the age of 56.
Sir William Gomm, the commander-in-chief, followed Lord Dalhousie in
February 1854, and during his stay the Adjutant-General, Colonel Armine
Mountain, died and was buried in the Fort Cemetery.
When Maharaja Duleep Singh left for England several members of his
household remained at Fatehgarh, such as Mr. Guise the tutor and his wife
and Sergeant Elliot, the keeper of the Toshakhana, and his family. They
were all killled at Cawnpore in 1857. The Logins, who accompanied the
Maharaja to England, lived in a house which was pulled down in 1925 to
make way for the Officers' Mess. It was bought in 1850 from Thomas

(3) See frontispiece to this review.

t
 TWO BOOKS ON FATEGARH. 57

Churcher, an indigo-planter. Of Churchers’ four sons, Henry was killed at

Delhi in 1857 with the Berresford family when defending the Bank House in
Chandni Chowk: Thomas was killed at Manpur Katri in June of the same
year when escaping from Fatehgarh: David, who was one of the very few
survivors of that party and who died at Fatehgarh on February 18, 1908: and
Edward John Churcher who died on November 25, 1916 at the age of 84 and
who received a special pension of £100 a year in 1908. The father and
mother were held prisoners for a time by the Rajah of Otnerghur and were
ultimately ransomed for Rs. 5000.
Among the other Fatehgarh survivors were Mrs. Madeline Sturt, a
daughter of Major Louis Derridon of Scindia’s service and widow of Richard
Rocke Sturt (B. C. S. from 11827 until his death at Monghyr in 1854), who
died at Agra on August 19, 1859 at the age of 51 ; Mr. Gavin S. Jones, an
Engineer of the G. I. P. Railway, who was staying with his brother Mr, J. M.
Jones an indigo-planter: and Mr. W. G. Probyn the officiating magistrate
(died 1911), a brother of general Sir Dighton Probyn V. C. (1333—1924), and
his family. Mr. Gavin Jones’ brother was murdered with his wife and child:
but, as already stated, Mr. Jones himself escaped and narrated his adventures
jn a book published in 1859 which appeared originally in Blackwords’
Magazine (4): #

"BONNY” BYRNE
Mr. E. J. Churcher also related his experiences, which included the
re-capture and administration of Etah, in a volume of reminiscences which
he published in 1909 and which he dedicated to his sons, Major D. W.
Churcher of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and Captain B. T. Churcher, late of
the Queen’s Regiment. One of the stories which he tells is intimately
concerned with Fatehgarh : it is that of "Bonnfe’’ Byrne : and certain details
are given which are not to be found in Mr. Wallace’s book. The story
begins with the arrival at Fatehgarh of the widow of a certain Major De F.,
who can be identified with John de Fountain. This officer who died at
Mussoorie in 1843 and was the son of a senior merchant in the St. Helena
Service, married Mrs. Adolphina Bell, as his second wife at Calcutta in 1836.
This lady brought with her to Fatehgarh a daughter who was in her teens.
They attracted the attention of the Nawab of Farrukhabad and the intimacy
became so marked that the authorities sent the young lady to the famous
Calcutta military orphanage at Kidderpore House. Here at one of the
entertainments she met a young ensign of the name of R. S. Byrne (the
second son of Wale Byrne the ‘‘Anglo-Indian’’ leader), and married him.
As luck would have it, Byrne was posted to the '10th Bengal infantry which
was stationed at Fatehgarh. The Nawab renewed his relations with
Mrs. Byrne and the result was calamitous. Two months later the Mutiny

(4) Mr. T. Gavin Jones of Cawnpore, the President of the Upper India Chamber of
Commerce, has presented a copy of his father's book, “The Story of my escape to Fatehgarh,"
to the Officers’ Mess of the I0th/7th Rajput Regiment. Neither the British Museum nor the
India Office Library possess a copy.
8
58 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

broke out: and while Byrne joined in the defence of the Fort (and was
killed later on at Cawnpore on June 12) his wife and her mother found- refuge
in the Nawab’s palace.
The jealousy of the BegTim was aroused, and it is said that she satisfied
it by arranging for the terrible parade ground massacre in which twenty two
women and children perished. After the re-occupation (says Mr. Churcher)
the magistrate Mr. John Power applied for permission to hang Mrs. De F.
and her daughter, but this was refused by Lord Canning. Our last glimpse
of "Bonny” Byrne is obtained from the Dairy of Sir William Howard Russell
who records that the Kotwal of Cawnpore in 1858, “a big English, or rather
Anglo-Indian official," was married to a Mrs. Byrne, "whose life was saved
by the Nawab of Farrukhabad."

FATEHGARH FAMILIES.

Another strange story is associated with Harriet Birch. Her father

Stephen Birch had served under George Thomas, the Irish Raja of Hansi,
and Perron, and had .settled down at Fatehgarh in 1810 ; with a monthly
pension of Rs. 300 from the East India Company. Two of his daughters
married Bengal Army officers of the name of Baldock and Reid. Harriet,
the third, eloped in 1832 with Sarbuland Khan, a brother of Tafazzul Husain
who succeeded his cousin in 1846 as ninth and last Nawab of Farrukhabad
and after the episode with “Bonny” Byrne was exiled for life and died at
Mecca. She was Sarbuland's second and junior wife and took the name of
Nur Jahan Begum. The records (says Mr. Wallace) contain a number of
letters from her. A small pension of Rs. 20 a month was given to her, and
she lived on in purdah until January 4, 1892. At the time of her death she
was 81 years of age.
We read of other ladies—Mussamat Ashuran or Nau Ratan, the wife of
Sir Edward Colebrooke, and Mussamat Khairan the wife of Col. Samuel
Palmer commanding at Fatehgarh in 1808, who was the eldest son of
General William Palmer. Celebrooke and John Deane, the husband of Ann
Deane (who wrotes “A Tour Through the Upper Provinces") were Joint
Commissioners for the ceded Povinces with headquarters at Fatehgarh: and
it is noticeable that Mrs. Deane makes no mention in her book of her
husband’s colleague. Colebrooke’s methods of life were certainly unconven­
tional ; and his transfer to Delhi as Resident was followed by his dismissal
from the Civil Service in 1830. Both Bibi Colebrooke and Bibi Palmer owned
bungalows : and so did Mussamat Amina Khanum, the wife of Doctor James
Johnston who was civil surgeon from 1816 to 1824 and died at Edinburgh
in 1837. Another Mahomedan lady, Matesin Bibi, the wife of John Clark,
a trader who became a Deputy Collector in 1824, established a claim to
remembrance by building in 1830 a mosque, after the model of the Kasba
at Mecca, in the corner pf her compound.
 TWO BOOKS ON FATEGARH. 5$

NAWAB HAKIM MEHNDI KHAN.

The Indian Military Hospital was from 1832 to 1837 the palace of the
famous Nawab Hakim Mehndi Ali Khan, several times Wazir of Oudh, who
resided there during his frequent periods of exile from Lucknow and acquired
considerable property. Both Mrs. Fanny Parks and Captain Mundy have
left descriptions of this remarkable man. He died on Christmas Day, 1837,
and is buried in the mausoleum at Golaganj in Lucknow which was erected
by his nephew and successor Munawwar-ud-Dowlah, a well-known character
at Fatehgarh where he was known as “The General." The house escaped
injury in 1857.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS.
Various distinguished visitors honoured Fatehgarh with their presence
from time to time. Thomas Daniell the artist and his nephew William
arrived in January 1789, and started on the 13th on their tour to Agra and
Delhi and eventually to garhwal, with a party composed of Colonel Horton
Briscoe, General John Camac, and others. Then came Viscount Valentia
in 1803,- and the Marquess of Hastings (Lord Moira) during the hot weather
of .1815. The Governor-General’s camp was pitched on the parade ground
near the present Victoria Memorial: but the Lat Sahib himself lived in the
house of Mr. Donnithorne the Collector. He stayed for more than five
months, and many Levees were held. The young Nawab of Farrukhabad
and Nazir-ud-din Haidar, the ten-year old son of the Nawab Wazir of Oudh
were entertained at breakfast, entertainments were given by them in
return, and the birthdays of King George on June 4 and of the Prince Regent
on August 12 were suitably celebrated. •
The next visitor was Lord Combermere, the Commander-in-Chief, who
arrived in December 1827: and reviewed the 3rd Irregular Horse who were
“dressed in Mussalman costume". Major E. C. Archer, the father of
Mrs. Fanny Parks, was a member of Lord Combermeres’ staff: and he tells
us that Farrukhabad was noted for Kashmir shawls, puttoo cloths, precious
stones and excellent vegetables. His daughter followed him in 1835 and came
again in 1838: her impressions are recorded in “The Wanderings of a
Pilgrim”. Miss Emily Eden passed through the station with her brother
Lord Auckland in 1838. She was struck in the uniforms of an escort of
irregular cavalry which joined the camp. The British officers as well as
the sowars were green velvet tunics without collars and red satin trousers
tucked into white leather boots: and all of them had long beards. The
Governor-General and his party halted for four days—from January 10 to 13.
He was accompanied by a crowd of eleven thousand persons, and hundreds
of elephants, camels and equipages of all kinds. The monthly cost was
Rs. 70,000: and in addition three or four hundred rupees were paid daily to
cultivators as compensation for damage done to their fields. Nowadays, a
hundred years later, the Viceroy flies from Delhi to Calcutta in a few hours,
and the cost is inconsiderable.
60 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

The last visitor mentioned by Mr. Wallace is Lord Canning who held a
durbar in 1858. In the same year Sir Colin Campbell’s column encamped on
the parade ground after the# battle of the Kali Nadi.

LORD ROBERTS' V. C.
A small monument was erected in 1928 near the road at a distance of
13 miles 3 furlongs from Fatehgarh by Mr. J. F. Sale, who was then District
Magistrate. It bears the following inscription : “Near this spot in the battle
of the Kali Nadi on January.^2nd, 1858, Lieut. F. Roberts of the Bengal'
Artillery, afterwards Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, K. G., won the Victoria
Cross,” Actually (says Mr. Wallace) the Spot must have been some four
miles nearer Fatehgarh, but difficulties in connexion with the acquisition of
the plot of land prevented a more accurate location. During the battle
Roberts captured a standard of the Oudh Irregular Horse, and the 9th Lancers
took the colours of the 10th Oudh Irregular Infantry. Both were presented
(the former by Roberts and the latter by Hope Grant) to Sir Colin Campbell:
but their subsequent history has not been traced.
 %\\t dxbitavz ^mk

'Y^/’ARREN HASTINGS sailed from Calcutta in the Berrington Indiaman on

February I, 1785, and landed at Plymouth on June 13. His wife had
preceded him by a year. They settled at Beaumont
England1*in *1786 ^ *” Lodge, old Windsor, and when they came to London,
they stayed in apartments in St. James’s Place. In
1789 Hastings sold Beaumont Lodge to an Anglo-Indian friend of his, Henry
Griffith (1754-1833) who had been Salt Agent for the Twenty-four Parganas.
Griffiths rebuilt the house and resided there until he removed to Bath. The
place is now famous as a Jesuit public school. While Hastings was living
at Beaumont Lodge, he was visited by Sophie Von La Roche (1731—11807), a
German lady of some literary pretensions, who spent three months in London
during the summer of 1786. From the English translation of her* diary, which
was published last year by Jonathan Cape, we Team that Hastings showed
her the pictures which had been painted for him in India “of cities, and
districts, forts, temples and palaces”. These, we may take it, were the
work of William Hodges, R.A., who accompanied the Governor-General in
his memorable journey to Benares in 1781 and shared in the flight to Chunar.
Eight of the fifteen illustrations in Hodges’ Travels in India (1793) we, in fact,
stated to be reproduced from pictures “in the collection of Warren Hastings,
Esqr.” When Hastings sold his house at the comer of Park Lane to Lord
Rosebery in 1797 and retired to Daylesford, he sent eleven paintings of
scenes in India by “the late ingenious artist Hodges" to be sold at Christie’s
and was much disappointed when they fetched only 125. Others he kept
at Daylesford and they are apparently still there. A writer in the Times
of December 8, 1932, says that the staircases are “hung with large paintings
of Indian cities, forts, and river landscapes, the best of them being by Hodges.”

MRS. HASTINGS was persuaded to talk about what her visitor calls “her
stay in Benares”, she never went there, of course. Hastings left her at
Monghyr, with “Bibby Motte”, Mrs. Sulivan, and
At‘Patna in 1781.
Captain Sands in attendance: and a little later she
moved to Patna and stayed in the house of Ewan Law, the chief of the English
Factory, whose brother Edward, the future Lord Ellenborough, was one of
Hastings’ counsel at the impeachment. Apart from this inaccuracy, the
story is told “as well a9 she did herself."
When for twenty long days, Mr. Hastings was in the greatest
danger and defending himself against Cheyt Singh with all possible
strategy and fearlessness, attempting meanwhile to spur on the
62 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

loyal Indians, she was in Benares [sic] without news of

him ; yet had wisdom and courage enough to appear cheerful,
entertain and pretend she was having the best news, though all she
knew was that a numbed of decapitated bodies were floating down
the Ganges and that such might be the fate of her husband and his
friends ; for which reason she spent her nights weeping and praying,
but comforted herself with calm and composure towards England’s
greatest enemies during the day ; and finally a loyal Indian brought
her a tiny note hidden in a pigeon’s feather stuffed up his nose,
bearing good tidings from her husband ; for all previous messengers
had been taken prisoner and killed.
There can be no doubt that Mrs. Hastings succeeded in preventing a
panic at Patna, for a proposal was actually made to evacuate the settlement.
Hastings directed Sands to place the details on record but he kept no copy
and the original has not been traced. His own view was expressed in a letter
which he dictated in his old age to his faithful friend Colonel Sweny Toone :
She proved the personal means of guarding our province from impending
ruin by her own independent fortitude and presence of mind.

JT will be remembered that the Maharajadhiraj Bahadur of Burdwan acquired

in 1928 twenty-one pictures by Thomas and William Daniell at the
Rooknest sale from the collection of Mr. Charles
nest*1*5 St<>ry °f Rtooks” Hampden Turner: and that he most generously pre­
sented a number of them to the Victoria Memorial
Hall. There are many Anglo-Indian association connected with the Rooksnest
estate, which is near Godstone in Surrey. From Dr. Holzman’s Nabobs in
England we learn that it was purchased in 1775 by the celebrated Richard
Becher, who, among other claims to remembrance, wa9 a kinsman of Anne
Becher, the mother of Thackeray. The previous owner was John Cooke,
another Bengal civil servant, had become bankrupt. He was one of the
survivors of the Black Hole tragedy of 1756—the ‘‘Secretary Cooke” of Robert
Orme’s account, and gave evidence before the Parliamentary Committee of
1772. It was an estate of about 340 acres: the house, which stood in its
own grounds, was altered by Beacher at great expense and transformed into
a classical mansion with an ionic portico. Becher was elected a Director of
the East India Company in the same year (1775): but in 1780 he too fell into
serious financial difficulties and was obliged to return to Calcutta, where he
died on November 17, 1782, leaving debts to the amount of £120,000. . He
had conveyed the Rooksnest estate to trustees who sold it to a Colonel Clarke.
Clarke died in 1788 and bequeathed the property to Henry Strachey who
had been Clive’s private secretary in Bengal. In 1817 the estate was pur­
chased by Charles Hampden Turner (1772—1856) who inherited the family
business of canvas and sail making at Limehouse. With Sir John Woolmore
(his brother-in-law) and Sir Robert Wigram, whose fifth son Money Wigram
married his daughter, he founded in 1800 the cable manufacturing firm of
Huddart and Co., subsequently taking into partnership William Cotton who

t
 THE EDITOR’S NOTE BOOK. 63

was Governor of the Bank of England in the same year (1843) that his brother
John Cotton was chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Com­
pany. Turner was the patron not only of Thomas and William Daniell, but
of Ozias Humphry. From him Rooksnest descended in the direct male line
to Mr. C. H. Turner, who sold it in 1928. For some years previous to the
sale the tenant had been Mr. W. J. M. McCaw, M.P., a former head of the
Calcutta firm of Kettlewell Bullen and Co., so that the Anglo-Indian
associations were continued almost to the very last

PJ^HE centenary of the death of William Carey, Serampore missionary and

Professor of Bengali at the College of Fort William, fell on June 10:
and the occasion was suitably celebrated by an
del* o?WuS °Ley. exhaustive biography by the Rev. W. C. Eadic, Pastor
of the Carey Baptist Church in Bow Bazar, which was
published in the Statesman of that day. The article was accompanied by a
number of illustrations: the bust of Carey (who was an enthusiastic gardener)
in the gardens of the Agri-Horticultural Society at Alipore, the portrait by
Robert Home which is now in the National Portrait Gallery, the Sarey Baptist
Church, Serampore College, and the cottage at Paulars Pury, in Northampton­
shire, where Carey was born on August 17, 1761. Carey hdfc many claims to
remembrance but his gift of tongues was perhaps his most astonishing
characteristic. Before his death he had translated, and supervised the printing
of, the whole Bible in Bengali, Oriya, Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, and Assamese,
the New Testament and a considerable portion of the Old Testament in
Punjabi, Pushtu, Kashmiri, Telugu, and Konkani, the New Testament in
Gujarati, Kanarese, Khasi, Nepali, and fourteen other vernaculars, and one
or more of the Gospels in five other vernaculars, including Sindi and Beluchi.
During the course of thirty years he learned practically every one of the
languages of north and mid-India. Not only this : when the famous press
at Serampore was burned down in 1812 and the whole of Carey’s grammars
and dictionaries and many of his manuscripts were destroyed, he set to work
on the very next day to repair them. Joshua Marshman, his colleague, truly
said of him, ‘‘He has not left us any original translation work to do, only
revision of his versions.” This was a wonderful compliment from a man who
had translated the whole Bible into Chinese.

W£ have been reminded that the notes in our last issue (Vol. XLVII,
pp. 129-130) on the family associations of Lady Chesney, who died on
March 24 last in her ninety-seventh year, have by no
The Braddon Family.
means exhausted the subject. Her sister, Amy
Georgina Palmer, married in 1857 the future Sir Edward Braddon (1829-1904)
who after a varied career in India, became Prime Minister of Tasmania and
K. C. M. G. Braddon was the nephew of William Braddon, B.C.S. 1806-1840,
and of Major Richard Braddon of the Bengal Army, who died unmarried at
64 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

Chittagong in 1837: and was the brother of the well-known novelist Mary
Eleanor Braddon (Mrs. Maxwell) whose son Mr. W; B. Maxwell has inherited
her literary skill. There were Braddons also who were connected with the
Calcutta firm of Bagshaw and C<J., which later became known as Braddon
and Co. W. C. Braddon was Sheriff in 11843 and H. E. Braddon filled the
same office in 1857. One of the daughters of Sir Edward Braddon married
F. B. Mulock (B. C. S. 1871-1898) whose two brothers, William and Henry,
were also members of the Indian Civil Service: they were the second cousins
of Mrs. Craik (Dinah Maria Mulock) who wrote "John Halifax Gentleman."

the first municipal election in Calcutta of which there is a complete

record and which was held on December 29, 1849, one of the candidates
for the Fourth or Lower South Division was Thomas
Henry Le Maistre. He withdrew. Apparently he „
the editor or manager of the Englishman, as he informs
the Sheriff that his reasons will be set out fully in the columns of the paper.
We take this extract from Mr. Charles Moore’s book on “The Sheriffs of
Calcutta” (p*. 168). The f^jst Le Maistre in Calcutta was of course Stephen
Caesar Le Maistre, the jovial colleague of Impey, Hyde, and Chambers in
the Supreme Court, who died at his house in Free School Street in 1777.
Another of the same name, John Robert Le Maistre, who was a clerk in the
office of the Magistrate at Shahjahanpur was killed at that place in 1857.
Mr. Wallace, in his book “Fatehgarh Camp” mentions (p. 185) that he married
on May 18, 1839, Mary Fanthome, one of the daughters of Captain Bernard
Fanthome, who'deserves a paragraph to himself. It would seem clear that
Judge Le Maistre left a child or children: but there are no entries relating
to their baptism in the registers of St. John’s Church, Calcutta. Until recently
the family was represented by Mr. E. C. Le Maistre, a deputy magistrate in
the United Provinces.

QAPTAIN BERNARD FANTHOME died at Bareilly on November 25, 1845,

at the age of seventy-four years, and is buried in the Old Cemetery.
Sir Edward Blunt in his “Christian Tombs and Monu-
The Fanthom.es. ments in the United Provinces” gives (p. il 00) a number
of interesting details regarding this French adventurer who after a period of
employment in Bhopal and Jaipur, entered the service of Sindia, and* went
over in 1803 to Lord Lake who gave him a commission as Captain in Colonel
William Linnaeus Gardner’s regiment of Irregular Horse (now the 2nd
Lancers). He retired after the war and settled first at Patna and then at
Bareilly, where he practised medicine and where a market called Faltunganj
still commemorates his name. At' a later date he became physician and
subsequently chief minister to the Nawab of Rampur: but eventually returned
to Bareilly. Some additional details, have been supplied by Mr. J. „A.
 THE EDITOR’S NOTE BOOK. 65

Chapman, the State Librarian at Rampur. Fanthome is said to have had

seven wives and numerous children, of whom some received Christian baptism
and others were brought up as Mussulmans, according to the religion of their
mothers. His last wife was a daughter of Prince Firoz Shah of Delhi by
whdm he had a daughter who married Hinga Sahib the great grandson of
Colonel W. L. Gardner, and a son George Fanthome. By another wife he
had a son John Bernard Fanthome who became head clerk in the office of
the Political Agent at Bhartpur and rendered good service during the Mutiny.
His son Edward married a daughter of George Fanthome, and their son Ramu
Sahib now holds an office in the Daru’I-Insha in the Rampur State. Both
George and John were poets. Mr. Chapman writes: “On page 189 of
Intihhab-i-Yadgar, (a biographical dictionary of poets in two parts, compiled
by Amir Mina'i at the instance of Nawab Muhammad Kalb-i-Ali Khan of
Rampur) there is a notice of Sahib Jarj Fantom followed by five Persian and
two Urdu distichs of his composition: and on page ! 78 there is a shorter
notice of Jani Fantom, followed by an Urdu distich.” Mr. J. F. Fanthome
who was a son of J. B. Fanthome was a deputy magistrate in the United
Provinces and an authority on the history of Agra.

TITHEN writing on “European Place-Names in India” in an early volume of

Bengal: Past and Present (Vol. Ill, p. 10) Col. D. G. Crawford, I.M.S.
was puzzled by Goldinganj, which lies a little to the
leyganjinSanJ Wors- £ag(. Chapra, and Worsleyganj, in the Gaya district.
The former is named* after Edward Golding, senior
(1746-1818), of whom Lieut. John Pester writes in his “War and Sport in
India” (November 17, 1805): “At this place (Chupprah) Mr. Golding made
his fortune: he was Collector here and made his fortune very rapidly. At
the age of two and thirty he left India with a fortune of nearly one hundred
thousand pounds.” He has been completely forgotten. Col. Crawford writes
that when he was stationed at Chapra in 1893, no one appeared ever to have
heard of Golding, and he could get no information on the subject. As a
matter of fact, Golding came out to Bengal as a writer in 1764 and on his
return to Europe in 1779 purchased an extensive estate at Maiden Earley in
Berkshire, near Reading. In ll 789 he served as High Sheriff of the county,
and was#M. P. for Camelford in Cornwall in 1790, Plympton Earl in Devon
in 1802, and Downton in Wiltshire in 1802. During the administration of
Addington (1801-1804) he held the office of a Lord of the Treasury, and
died at the London house of that Statesman who was then Viscount Sidmouth.
While in India—probably about 1775—his portrait was painted by Tilly
Kettle. He was succeeded in the Bengal Civil Service by his son Edward
Golding junior (1797-1803) who was a friend of Pester, and Baillie Golding
(1822-1847) who died in 1876. Three years later the Maiden Erleigh estate
passed out of the possession of the Golding family. Worsleyganj, on the
other hand, is wrongly so spelled. It is named after Waris Ali Khan, one
9
66 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

of the Mayi family of brothers, of whom another, Kamgar Khan, was a

person of some notoriety in South Behar in the second half of the eighteen
century. *

of the most interesting cases cited by Col. Crawford is Ranikhet, the

military cantonment above Naini Tal, which in its present form is
thoroughly Oriental. But in its origin it was simply
Ranikhet and Hmgal- “Annie Kate”, and was named after the daughter of
ganj. °
a former commissioner. Another transformation
from West to East is due to the Survey of India which has changed Henckel-
ganj, a village in the Basirhat subdivision on the borders of the 24 Parganas
and Khulna, into Hingalganj. This is a star on the memory of Tilghman
Henckel, who was magistrate judge and collector of the then district of
Jessore from 1781 to 1789 and whose conduct towards the molungis or salt
manufacturers of the Sunderbunds (says the Calcutta Gazette of April 24,
1788) was “so exemplary and mild” that "to express their gratitude they
made a. representation of his figure or image, which they worship among
themselves.” •

THE, following note is extracted from Colonel D. G. Crawford's History

of the Indian Medical Service (Vol. II, p. 57):—“The Bengal consulta­
tions of June 18, 11790 contain a list of deserters from
Editor eatly Ca*cutta ships who were all ordered to proceed to England on
the first opportunity. Among the names is that of
Charles King Bruce, surgeon, editor of the Mirror. Bruce left England as
surgeon of the Triton on April 5, 11788, He must have been the first member
of the medical profession to act as an editor in India. The Mirror was an
ordinary newspaper, not a medical journal.” Bruce was faithful to his
adopted profession, for he does not figure in Col. Crawford’s Roll of the
I. M. S. But he does not appear to have left Calcutta, for the name of
"Charles Key Bruce, surgeon, Triton, 1788” is to be found in the East
India Kalendar for 1798, and in the East India Register for 1808 there is a
mysterious entry, “Charles Key Bruce, Belle Couchie, 1788.”

A NOTHER Ship’s Surgeon in the Company’s Service was Mungo Park,

the famous African Explorer, who was drowned in the river Niger
towards the end of 1812. He was surgeon’s mate on
Surgeon’s Mate and board the Worcester Indiaman in 1792-1793: and his
African Explorer.
son Mungo who had obtained an appointment on the
Madras Medical Establishment on May 8, 1822, died of cholera at Trichino-
poly on January 20, 1823.
 THE EDITOR’S NOTE BOOK. 67

^JSSAM owes the discovery of the indigenous tea-plant in that province

to another Bruce. A memorial tablet in the church at Tezpore records
that Charles Alexander Bruce (1793—187,1) was the
Tea-^antTn'Assamf ^ ^rst explorer of tea-tracts in Assam and Superinten­
dent of Tea Culture under the Government of India,
until the industry was adopted by private enterprise. His wife Elizabeth
Bruce (1804-1885), whose name appears on a neighbouring tablet, was for
sixty years a resident of Assam. In the course of his journeys Bruce had
noticed that the hill men were in the habit of curing fatigue by boiling the
leaves of a certain plant: and he reported the matter to Lord William
Bentinck who was Governor General of Bengal at the time (1828-1834) and
subsequently Governor-General of India (Nov. 1834—March 1835). A
committee was appointed, and experiments in tea-culture were undertaken.
At first the plants were brought from China, but it was eventually proved
that the indigenous variety, when cultivated, was more productive. In 1839
the plantations were handed over to the Assam Company, and the first
consignment of Indian tea was shipped to London where it realized from
sixteen to thirty-four shillings a pound at auction. Such were the beginnings,
less than a century ago, of an industry which now puts between 600 and 700
million pounds of tea on the market annually. Macaulay evidently thought
little of the discovery for he omitted all mention of Bentinck’s share in it,
when composing his florid inscription for the statue which faces the Calcutta
Town Hall.

THE “PIONEER”, which has forsaken*Allahabad and is now published

at Lucknow, printed in its issue of July 2 an account of the deserted
cantonment of Mariaon, which lay a few miles out-
Cantonment ^ariaon side Lucknow, on the opposite bank of the Gumti
and on the road to Sitapur. It was originally laid out
in 1793 by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan, and, until it was abandoned on June 29,
1857, just before the beginning of the sieze of the Residency, it was a large
and flourishing cantonment, with lines for three regiments of sepoys (the 13th,
48th, and 7,1st), a battery of European horse artillery, and a bullock battery
manned by Indian gunners: while at Mudkipur, some two miles away, were
the quarters of the 7th Light Cavalry. There was a church, and also an
ice-clyb and a book-club, “supplied by Thacker of Calcutta.” In the even­
ings the residents met to “Eat the air” in the “Company Bagh” where a
military band played for an hour at sunset. “There is always a crowd of
buggies, and gentlemen get out of their carriages and go about talking to
the ladies at their carriage doors until seven o’clock, when every one goes
home.” Here also the Resident had his country house which Sir Henry
Lawrence describes as being nearly as large as the Residency in Lucknow
itself. On the night of May 20, Sir Henry was entertaining his staff in the
house and as they were sitting on the verandah after dinner, the firing of the
nine o’clock gun was followed by a burst of musketry and a blaze of burning
66 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

bungalows. Nothing remains of the Mariaon Residency except the

foundations upon which a commemorative obelisk has been placed. The
cemetery is in a sad condition. • “Trees have thrust their branches between
the masonry of the dilapidated tombs, and headstones lurch at a precarious
angle.” Two inscriptions alone are decipherable: these are in memory of
lieutenant F. J. MacDonnell, adjutant of the 2nd Punjab Cavalry, who was
killed at Kursi in March 1858, and of Lieut. H. E. Richards of the 3rd
battalion of the Rifle Brigade, who died at Mariaon in December of the
same year of wounds received i;n the attack on Birwa fort in the Hardoi
district in the previous October.

QN the left hand side of the Lucknow-Sitapur road the shell is still standing
of a spacious building which is known to the neighbouring villagers as
“Beechey Sahib ka bangala.” It was the home of
A Painter's Ghost.
George Beechey, the painter, and he died there on
October 17, 1852. A later tenant was the Rev. H. S. Polehampton who
died during*the siege of the Residency, and whose widow married Sir Henry
Marion Durand. He has* left a most interesting description of Mariaon in
his letters: and "in a reference to the bungalow, says: “I think I told you
long ago that this house is haunted .... and that no one but a Padre can
live in it. They say Mr. Beechey who died here, haunts it.” In those days
its garden was the best in the cantonment: “there are plenty of straw­
berries .... and orange and lemon trees, and quantities of other fruit trees,
vegetables, and flowers.” Beechey had- another house in the Residency
compound. Mr. L. E. R. Rees, in his Narrative of the Siege writes (p. Ill):
The Judicial Commissioner’s = Oflice, an extensive upper-roomed house,
commanded by Captain German of the 13th B.I., and situated between
Anderson’s and the Post Office garrisons .... had in the king’s time been
the residence of the late well-known Mr. George Beechey. Portraits by him
of Sir William Sleeman, a former Resident, and his wife hung on the walls
of the Residency all through the siege and suffered little damage : they were
cut out of the frames just before the evacuation and are now in the posses­
sion of Sir William Sleeman’s grandson.

JN the course of an article on “some epitaphs”, which was published in

the Indian State Railways Magazine in December 1932, Captain Bullock
drew attention to two mysterious references to an
The Albion Society.
“Albion Society” which appears to have been
connected with the First Bengal European Regiment. The first reference will
be found on a handsome cenotaph in the cantonment cemetery at Agra,
inscribed with the names of Lieut. Henry Condy and Privates Richard
Wanding and George Vickers “of the Albion Society, Hon. Comp.’s 1st
Eum. Regt., who fell gloriously at the assault and capture” of the fortress of
Bhurtpore" on January 18, 1826 (not January 1, as stated in the inscription).
 THE EDITOR’S NOTE BOOK. 69

The other is at Bharatpur itself, where there is a monument to the memory

of a colour. Sergeant and twelve men of the First Bengal Europeans who
fell on the same occasion ; it is “erected by the Albion Society of the above
corps." Nothing seems to have been discovered about this Socoiety.
Perhaps it was intended to distinguish the British from the Irish soldiers in
the regiment.

QN August il4, 1902, there died at Mussoorie Captain James Richard Benson
Andrews, of the Bengal Invalid Establishment, at the age of ninety
three. He arrived in India on October 25, 1826, and
IndiaVCnty ^ear m was invalided in 1846. With the exception of three
years’ furlough from February 1835 to February 1838,
he resided continuously in the country until the day of his death—for a period,
that is to say, of seventy three years. • He had no record of active service.

rpHE death is recorded on June 15, 1934, at Quilty, Milltown Malbay, Co.
Clare, in Ireland, of Patrick Scully at the age of one hundred and eleven
years and three months. He was bofn on March 17,
Veteran ^est ^utiny 1824 and we are assured that his age has been
authenticated as far as possible. He served for ten
years in the Company’s 2nd Bengal European Regiment (regimental number
1586) and went through the Mutiny. Later he contracted sunstroke and
received his discharge. The 2nd Bengal Europeans became the 104th
Regiment in Her Majesty’s Service in 1862^ and thereafter the 2nd battalion
of the Royal Munster Tusiliers.

JN an article on “Service Stamps”, which was published in the Statesman

of May 6 last, Captain H. Bullock recalls that the effigy of Lord Metcalfe
. „ may be found on a three shilling Jamaica stamp of
ervice stamps. 19,19. Metcalfe was Governor of Jamaica from 1834
to 1838, and his rule is commemorated by a statue at Kingston which is
represented on the stamp. Charles Sturt, the Australian explorer whose
portrait adorns the penny-halfpenny and the threepenny stamps of the
Commonwealth issue of 1930, was the son of Thomas Napier Lenox Sturt, a
Bengal civilian and the brother of Richard Rocke Sturt, another Bengal
civilian. Lastly, there is the case of Rajah James Brooke of Sarawak, also
the son of a Bengal civilian, and an officer in the Bengal Army, whose like­
ness appears on the first postage stamp issued by that state a year after his
death in 1868.
70 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

JN the course of some recollection of Dave Carson, the famous Anglo-

Indian comedian, whose sallies delighted Calcutta audiences during the
eighties, it was said by a writer in the StaiZ}man that
The Grave of Dave “no man knows where his bones are laid.” - In 1910
Carson.
a list of the monuments in the Lower Circular Road
cemetery by Mr. E. W. Madge of the Imperial Library and Mr. G. O'Connell,
the Superintendent of the Christian Burial Board, was published in Volume V
of Bengal: Past and Present. It contained the following entry (p, 314):
No. 32 (Sudder Walk, North Block, Plot 40, 4th Row, East,
1st grave from south).
18%. David Nunez Cardozo (Dave Carson). The well-known
comedian. C. S. I. (“Comic Star of India”).

F the September issue last year No. 93 we were able to publish some
personal details about Serampore in the early nineteenth century furnished
by Mr. Lorentz Bie of Copenhagen. To the same informant we owe the
following further items also taken from the diary of the factor S. KIERULF
1809—1822, English & DSnish society must by 1815 have been so closely
mingled in the *old Danish settlement that its transfer from one country to
the other can have had little practical effect on its affairs, and there is a
touch of historical pathos in the "perfect illuminations” which signalised this
brief change of sovereignty.
The original diary in Danish has been published in Issues 52 and 54 of
the Periodical PERSONAL HISTORISK TIDSKRIFT 1931 and 11933
respectively J. H. SCHULTZ Copenhagen a journal of personal-historical
research which is excellently turned out and is a model of its kind.

1815
September 25. By the Calcutta Reverend Mr. Henry Shepherd was in the
house of Offo Bie, at this place Mr. Constantine SHERIN married to
Miss Charlotte Frederika WASSMUS, the only daughter of long time ago
deceased Mr. Charles Philip WASSMUS, formerly Surgeon in the English
Companys Service.
November 29. In the evening at 10 o’clock died at this place Mr. James
William EMERSON and buried the next days afternoon.
December 15. Danish Colony Serampore was given back from the English
to the Danes. It had been in English possession since 28 January 1808.
The place was perfectly illiminated.
 Waz (flmtmam of lire (ttafatlta JSSsiitcal
College. ’

rpHE Calcutta Medical College completes one hundred years’ existence in

1935, having been founded just a century ago - from the 1st February
1835 - by G. G. O. No. 28 of the 28th January 11834.
This was not the first attempt to introduce medical education into India.
A General Order of the 15th June 1812, published in the Calcutta Gazette of
the 2nd July 1812, approves of a plan submitted by the Medical Board for
training boys from the Orphan School and Free School, to serve as
compounders and dressers, and ultimately as Apothecaries and Sub-
Assistant Surgeons. These boys, however, were Europeans and Anglo-
Indians, and were to be trained for service in the Army, not for civil duties.
Early in the nineteenth century classes for medical instruction were held
in Calcutta, both at the Sanskrit College and at the Madrasa. This instruction,
however, appears to have been in the Hindu and Yunani systems of medicine,
respectively. Instruction was by lectures only, in the vernacular ; there was
no attempt at dissection, and no practical work.
The first actual medical school was “the Native Medical Institution”,
•S established by G. G. O. of the 21st June 1822 (Calcutta Gazette, 27th June
1822). It was a school for training Indian doctors. But there was no dis­
section, nor apparently any practical work except compounding, and the
training was intended to provide doctors for the Army, not for the civil
population. The Medical College, on the other hand, was intended to educate
doctors, men qualified to practise the medical profession, and educated, as
far as possible, up to the European standards of the time. Also the school
was essentially civil: its diplomates were expected to serve in civil capacities
under Government, or to maintain themselves by private practice. The
school had no connexion with the Army.
The General Order of the 28th January 1835 is too long to quote in full.
The most important provisions are :—
(17 The medical classes at the Sanskrit College and the Madrasa and
the “Native Medical Institution” to be abolished: from 1st
February:
(6) Instruction to be given in the English language:
(7) The age of admission for students to be fourteen to twenty years :
(8) All students admitted to be of good connexions and conduct, and
able to read and write English, and also either Hindustani or
72 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

Bengali: students of any caste or creed possessing these

qualifications to be eligible for admission :
(10) Foundation pupils to be limited to fifty:
(11) and (12) Such pupils *to receive stipends of seven, nine, or twelve
rupees monthly, increasing with length of study:
(14) The course to be not less than four years, or more than six years :
(15) The course of principles and practice of medicine to be those of
European medicine :
(22) to (26) Staff: a European Superintendent,' with an Assistant: the
former to draw staff pay of Rs. 1200 a month, the latter of
Rs. 600, in each case in addition to regimental pay and
allowances of their rank. The staff to devote their whole time
to the duties of their offices, private practice not being
permitted.
(34) In addition to the foundation pupils, others of the requisite
qualifications (paras. 7 and 8) might be admitted as private pupils
without stipend.
Assistant Surgeon M. J. Bramley was appointed Superintendent, and
Assistant Surgeon H. H.« Goodeve Assistant. It was soon found that a staff
of two teachers was quite insufficient to carry on a whole medical course of
instruction. In August !l 836 Bramley’s designation was changed from
Superintendent to Principal, and jGoodeve’s from Assistant to Professor of
Medicine and Anatomy: while a third teacher. Assistant Surgeon W. B. O’
Shaughnessy, was added to the staff as Professor of Materia Medica and
Chemistry.
Bramley died of fever in Calcutta on the 19th January 1837, aged 34.
On his death the office of Principal was abolished, and a non-medical
Secretary appointed—Mr. David Hare. The staff was also increased by the
appointments of Assistant C. C. Egerton as Professor of Surgery and Clinical
Surgery, Surgeon N. Wallich (Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens) as
Professor of Botany, Assistant Surgeon T. Chapman as Lecturer in Clinical
Medicine, and Mr. R. Shaughnessy as Demonstrator of Anatomy. These
officers were to form a Council for the administration of the College.
The title of Principal was in abeyance for nearly twenty years, until in
1856 it was revived, when the title and the office were conferred upon
Surgeon James Mac Rae, the then-Professor of Medicine. Hare held office
for four years—from 1837 to 1841. He was the only non-medical Secretary:
his successors being medical men: F. J. Mouat (1841—1851), E. Goodeve
(1851-11855), and F. N. Mac Namara (1855). In 1856, on the re-appointment
of a Principal, the office of Secretary was abolished.
Chapman never joined. Assistant Surgeon John Mac Cosh acted for
him for a year, after which the Lectureship in Clinical Medicine was
abolished, and the salary saved was devoted to the maintenance of a small
gljnical hospital, to which an out-patient dispensary was attached.
 The centenary of The Calcutta medical college, 73

Further changes were made in the staff by Bengal G. O. of the 3rd

March 1841. H. H. Goodeve was appointed Professor of 'Anatomy and
Midwifery—a combination which seems rather incongruous to a generation
educated under modern ideas of sepsis : Medicine became a separate chair
under J. Jackson, and E. W. W. Raleigh became Professor of Surgery and
Clinical Surgery, in place of Egerton, who had gone on furlough.
Subsequent additions to the number of Chairs have been as follows,
although from time to time there has been some doubling up, for example,
the late Lieut.-Colonel D. D. Cunningham was for several years Professor
both of Physiology and Pathology:
Chemistry : separated from Materia Medica, 1842. Ophthalmic
Surgery: separated from Surgery, 1842. Anatomy and Physiology:
separated from Midwifery, 1845. Medical Jurisprudence: instituted
1850.
Descriptive and Surgical Anatomy: Lectureship from 1837,
Professorship in 1855. ~
Dentistry: instituted May 1861.
Hygiene: instituted August Si864.
Zoology and Comparative Anatomy: separated from.Anatomy,
January 1869. •
Pathology: instituted December 1871. ,
Clinical Surgery: instituted 1912.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Mountford James Bramley, was bom on the 16th April 11803, took the
M. R. C. S. in 1825, and in the same year entered the Army Medical
Department. He served as assistant surgeon in the Rifle Brigade for five
years, resigning on the 11th June 1829, when he received a commission in
the I. M. S. (dated 20th August 1829). He did not live long to hold the
office of Principal of the" Medical College, dying of fever in Calcutta on the
19th January, 1837.
There are two references to Bramley in Emily Eden’s Letters from India.
On December 29, 1836, she wrote: “He is a very delightful person, almost
without comparison the pleasantest man here—more accomplished and more
willing to talk. His wife has a sister—Mrs. Cockerell.” After his death,
she lamented, on January 25, 1837, that “there is no one here who can take
his place at the Hindoo College.”
Henry Ives Hurry Goodeve was born on the 13th May 1807, took the
M; R. C. S. in 1828 and the M. D. at Edinburgh in 1829, and received his
commission as assistant surgeon in the I. M. S. on the 10th April 1831. He
served in a frontier expedition against the Kols in 1832—Chota Nagpur was
then known as the South-West Frontier—but after his appointment as
Assistant to Bramley spent the rest of his service, eighteen years, in the
Medical College, except for the period of three years (February 1845 to
March 1848) when he was on deputation to England in charge of a party of
Bengali students. He. became Surgeon on the list January 1848 and retired
74 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

on the 9th September 1853. When the English College of Surgeons instituted
a grade of Fellows he was one of the original Fellows appointed, in 1844,
and in 1860 he became Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
He died at Cooks Folly, Bristol* on the 17th June 1864. His brother Edward
Goodeve also served in the I. M. S.
H. H. Goodeve was the author of a work which is probably the oldest
medical text-book still in constant use, although the latest edition bears little
resemblance to the original work. In 1844 he published Hints on Children in
India, a small book which could go easily into the waistcoat pocket.
Successive editions were brought out by S. C. Chuckerbutty in 1856, and by
J. Ewart in 1872: the seventh, by E. A. Birch in 1879. It was for long
known as Birch’s Children in India. The fifth edition of Birch, and the
eleventh of Goodeve, was published in 1918, under the editorship of Colonels
G. R. M. Green and V. B. Green-Armytage. Goodeve’s name was
dropped from the title-page long ago, and now Birch’s name has also been
omitted - while the tiny waistcoat pocket manual has grown into a goodsized
octavo volume. Two later editions were published in 1922 and in H929.
William Brooke O’Shaughnessy was bom in October 1803, took the
M. D. Edinburgh in 1829 and entered1 the I. M. S. on the 8th August 1833.
He became Surgeon on “the 5th December 1848, Surgeon-Major on the 1st
February 1859, "retired on the 10th October 1861 and died at Southsea on the
8th January 1889. In 1843 he was elected a Fellow of Royal Society, was
knighted on the 28th October 11856, and changed his name to O’Shaughnessy-
Brooke in 1861. He was the author of a Manual of Chemistry, 1837,
Lectures on Electricity, 1841, Bengal Dispensatory, 1841, Bengal Pharmacopeia,
1844, and Electric Telegraph Manual, 1853. His F. R. S. and his knighthood
'were due to the large share he took in the introduction of the electric telegraph
into India. From 1852 to 1861 *he was Director General of Telegraphs in
India. His first experiments were conducted when he was Professor of
Chemistry at the Medical College.
John Mac Cosh only served for about a year in the Medical College.
He had an adventurous and interesting career. Like Goodeve, he served in
the expedition against the Kols in 1832. During the campaign he contracted
severe jungle fever and was granted sick leave to Tasmania. The Lady
Munro, the vessel in which he sailed, was wrecked on Amsterdam Island on
the night of the 11th October 1833. An account of this wreck is given in
the Calcutta Courier of the 18th, 20th, and 22nd January 1834. .Out of a total
of 96 on board, 75 lives were lost—the captain, his wife and child, twenty
eight passengers, nine European convicts, nine Indian servants, and* twenty
four lascars. The twenty one who escaped were one passenger (Mac Cosh),
the chief officer, one convict, and eighteen lascars. The ship was shortening
sail when she struck, which accounts for the large proportion of lascars
saved. The passengers, who were mostly Army officers and their families,
were asleep in their cabins at the time. The survivors, were taken off the
island a fortnight later by an American schooner, the General Jackson, and
might consdier themselves very fortunate in being rescued so soon. In his
 THE CENTENARY OF THE CALCUTTA MEDICAL COLLEGE. 75

book, Medical Advice to the Indian Stranger, Mac Cosh says that he swam
ashore, almost naked, clothed himself in various garments, which he picked
up on the shore, after sitting on a rock in heavy rain until daylight and lived
on putrid rice, brackish water, and half cqpked sea birds for a fortnight,
suffering all the hardships inseparable from such a state of destitution, yet
never so much as caught'a cold. He does not say where he was when the
ship struck.
After his return to Calcutta Mac Cosh returned to Military Duty and
spent the rest of his service in the Army. We served in the Gwalior war,
and was present at the battle of Maharajpur: in the Punjab war, at
Sadullapur, Chilianwala, and Gujrat: and in the second Burmese war, at
the capture of Rangoon and Bassein. He became surgeon on the 31st
December 1847, retired on the 31st January 1856, and died in London on the
16th January, 1885.

THE FIRST INDIAN STUDENTS.

The first dissection of the human body in the Medical College was
performed on the i] Oth January 1836, the first Indian to handle the knife being
Pandit Madhusudan Gupta, a Hindu of the Vaidya caste, wh<J had been
teacher of medicine in the Sanskrit College. *
In January 1839 the first batch of students appearecF for their final
examination. There were one Christian, James Pote, one Brahman, Badan
Chandra Chaudhuri, five Kayasthas, and four Vaidyas. All, except one
Kayasth from Delhi, were Calcutta men. The two first withdrew from the
Examination ; of the others five passed, and four failed. The successful
candidates—the first Indians to gain a medical qualification—-were, Uma
Charan Sett, Dwarka Nath Gupta, Raj Keshan Deb, Nobin Chandra Mitra,
and Shama Charan Datta. All five were at once appointed sub-assistant
surgeons: the first four were posted to the hospitals at Dacca, Murshidabad,
Patna and Chittagong: and the fifth to the Patna Opium Agency.
In 1840 five more diplomas were awarded. Emily Eden writes on
April 20, 1840:
George [Lord Auckland] went yesterday to give the prizes at
the Medical College. Five of the students received their diplomas to
practise as surgeons .... This makes ten Hindus who have
qualified themselves. The five who went out last year are getting on
wonderfully. The one who was sent to Agra began with five
• patients and now has a hundred daily.
Badan Chandra Chaudhuri, the Brahman student who withdrew from the
first examination, passed in 1841. He was appointed sub-assistant surgeon to
the Imambara hospital at Hughli, when it was opened in 1842, and in Hughli
he spent the rest of his life—sixty five years. He held the post at the hospital
for fifteen years, occasionally acting as civil surgeon. He then retired and
settled as a private practitioner in Hughli, where he died on the 18th August
1907, at the age of ninety seven, leaving a large fortune. In 1845 H. H.
 % BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

Goodeve was deputed to England in charge of four students, sent to complete

their education at University College, London, and to obtain English qualifica­
tions. These were Soorjo Coomar Chuckerbutty, Dwarka Nath Sen, Gopal
Chandra Seal, and Bhola Nath Bose'. The three last took the M. R. C. S.
in 1646, and returned to India in 1847, when they were appointed to the
Uncovenanted Medical Service. G. C. Seal and B. N. Bose served in the
second Sikh, or Punjab, war in il 849. B. N. Bose served for over thirty
years as an Uncovenanted Medical officer in Bengal, where he was for long
Civil Surgeon of Faridpur. When he died, in November 1884, he left his
whole property to charitable purposes. From this bequest are maintained
the Bhola Nath Bose Hospital at- Barrackpore, his birthplace, and a small
out-patient dispensary at Mandalai, in the Hughli district, his wife’s birth­
place. He left his medals to the Medical College.'
S. C. Chuckerbutty, who was younger than the others, took the
M. R. C. S. in 1848, and the M. B. and M. D. London in 1849, after which he
served for a few years as an Uncovenanted Medical officer in Bengal. He
then resigned and returned to England: and when appointments to the
I.M.S. were thrown open to competition, passed second at the first examination
held in January 1855. In 1864 he was appointed Professor of Materia Medica
in the Medical College. He became Surgeon-Major on the 1st July 11873,
went on furlough in that year and died in London on the 29th September
1874.
As already stated, the “Native Medical Institution” was abolished in 1835,
y or, rather, absorbed into the Medical College. In ,1839 it was resuscitated,
in the form of special classes for the training of Indian doctors for the Army.
When vernacular schools were opened at Agra in 1853 and at Lahore in 1860,
the training of Indian doctors for the Army was transferred to them.
A Bengali class, for Indian doctors for civil employment and private
^practice, was sanctioned on the 25th January 11852 and opened in that year.
In 1873 this class was transferred to Sealdah, and developed into the Campbell
Medical School.
By G. G. O. No. 200 of the 25th June 1847 was founded the medical
course for training European and - Anglo-Indian youths, for service in the
military sub-medical department with British troops, to supply the officers then
styled Apothecaries and Assistant Apothecaries. Forty years ago—in 1894—■
these designations were changed to military assistant surgeons. The title of
Indian Medical Department was given to this service after the War of
1914-1918, in recognition of its services in the War.
•
THE MEDICAL COLLEGE HOSPITALS.
A medical course, at least after the first year, requires a hospital for the
clinical instruction of students. At first the students of the Calcutta Medical
■ College attended the ward practice of the General Hospital, but that hospital
is a long way from the College. It has been mentioned that a small hospital,
attached to the College, was opened on the 1st April 1838. The Calcutta
Courier of 6th September 1844 records that Baboo Mutty Lai Seal had made
 THE CENTENARY OF THE CALCUTTA MEDICAL COLLEGE. 77

a gift of a valuable piece of land, beside the Medical College, for a hospital
for the sick poor. On this ground was built the Medical College Hospital.
Its foundation-stone was laid by the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, on
the 3rd September 1848 and early in 1853 tlje hospital (which cost £20,000)
was opened.'. It contained 500 beds in twenty-four weirds. The original
hospital has been gready enlarged in the past eighty years. The most
important additions have been the Eden Hospital for women in 11881, the
Ezra Hospital in 1887, the Shama Charan Laha Eye Hospital in 1891, and the
Prince of Wales Surgical Ward, opened in March 1911, at a cost of over
ten lakhs, of which nearly two and a half lakhs were paid for the site.

D. G. CRAWFORD.
 tort

A DISCOVERY AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

MORl than one article has been written on the subject of the strange-
looking monument in the South Park Street cemetery in Calcutta, which
is built in the form of a Hindu temple and is decorated with sculptured
figures of the incarnation of the Ganges and Prithi Devi, the Goddess of
the Earth. In an article in the Statesman of May 14, 1933 (1) I gave some
account of the career and the character of the remarkable individual whose
tomb it is, and who was universally known for many years before his death
at the age of seventy on March 31, 1828, as “Hindoo” Stuart, but who was
in reality Major General Charles Stuart of the Bengal Army.
Although he was buried with Christian rites by the Rev. J. R. Henderson,
the junior Chaplain of §t. John’s Church (which was then the Cathedral),
his attachment ^to Hinduism had long been the talk of Calcutta. The story
went that he used to walk every morning from his house in Wood Street to
bathe in the Ganges : and it was said that when he went to Europe on furlough
in 1804 he took a collection of images with him.
Like Lady Nugent, the wife of the Commander-in-chief, who met him
near Banda on March 5, 1813, and wrote “Colonel Stuart (called Hindoo
Stuart) joined our party ; quite a character”, I concentrated upon these
peculiarities and was not aware *at the time that he had more solid claims
to remembrance. These were brought to my notice by Rai Bahadur Rama
Prasad Chanda, who has been attending the international Congress of
Ethnological and Anthropological Sciences in London and employed the rest
of his stay in England in examining an extremely interesting collection of
Indian sculpture at the British Museum. This is known as the Bridge
Collection, from the name of its last owner, but it can be associated very
definitely with "Hindoo” Stuart, as the evidence now to be offered will
show.
I leam from the Rai Bahadur that two sale catalogues are preserved
with the collection. The title-page of the earlier in date is in the following
terms: •
A Catalogue
of the
Very Extensive and Valuable
Oriental Museum,

(1) Reproduced, with an illustration of the tomb in Vol. XLVI of Bengal: Past and
Present, pp. 32-33.
 “HINDOO” STUART. 79

comprising MSS., sculpture, bronzes,

articles of
female dress and ornaments, weapons,
and
natural history,
which were formed at great expense by the late
Major-General Charles Stuart of Bengal:
which will be sold by auction
By Mr. Christie
at his Great Room
8 King Street, St. James’s Square
on Friday June the 11th and following day
and on Monday June the 14th, 1830 and following day
at One o'clock precisely.

This catalogue bears the name of J. W. Bridge, to whom it belonged and

who has noted the name of every purchaser and the price paid for each lot.
Reference to this collection is made by Stuart in his will which was
executed at Berhampore on September 9, 11823—the year after he vacated
the command of the Saugor Field Force. The excerpt, for winch I am
indebted to Major Hodson, is as follows: •
•
My Indian statues of stone, alabaster, copper, brass, etc.,
Indian spears, swords, daggers and pictures and other curiosities to
be sent to England insured for Rs. 30,000. I have an extensive
library, numerous Indian pictures, etc., and other articles, all in
London under charge of Mr. John Rodwell, Bookseller, Bond Street,
who receives £20 per annum for the care of them. My Executor
[John Palmer of Messrs. Palmer arid Co.] will dispose of them for
the advantage of my Estate.
The fate of the pictures and the manuscripts remains to be ascertained,
and must await future research. Our business is to follow the fortunes of
the sculpture. That this was bought practically en bloc by Mr. Bridge is
established by the title-page of the second catalogue:

A Catalogue
of the
Valuable and Interesting Museum
of
• Oriental Sculpture
which was formed at great expense
by the late General Charles Stuart of Bengal
and purchased by the late J. Bridge, Esq.
and
which will be sold by auction by
Messrs, Norton Trist Watney and Co.
on the Premises
2
80 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

Wood House, Shepherd’s Bush

on Thursday the 20th day of June 1872
at 12 for 1 o’clock precisely
by order of the Executors.
On the fly leaf of this second catalogue is noted, in pencil:
Sir Wollaston Franks was the only bidder of this sale. Auc­
tioneer objected to sell, but Franks insisted. Eventually the daughters
of J. Bridge gave them to the B. M.
And so the collection found its way to the British Museum and more than a
hundred pieces are on Exhibition:. It is to be hoped that the discovery of
the identity of the original owner will lead to the re-naming of it as the
Stuart-Bridge collection.
The Rai Bahadur is engaged in preparing a monograph in which he will
describe typical sculptures in this and other collections of art in the British
Museum, commenting upon their artistic qualities, religious aspects and
historical associations. Mr. R. L. Hobson, the Keeper of Ceramics and
Ethnography, will contribute an introduction.
Meanwhile, the Journal of the Royal Society of Arth for August 17, 1934
(Vol. LXXXII, no. 4265) contains the text of a paper of “Art in Orissa”,
which was read by the F^ai Bahadur before the Indian Section on Wednesday,
July 25. It is accompanied by a number of illustrations. One of them,
which represents a "dancing Siva from Orissa" is taken from the Stuart-
Bridge collection.

EVAN COTTON.

[Based, by permission, upon an article in the Statesman of September 23, 1934.]

BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.
VOL. XLVIII.

WILLIAM DANIELL, R'.A.,

(1769—1837)
From a pencil drawing by his brother-in-law Richard Westall, R.A., in the
Library of the Royal Academy.
 nf pitlltmtt ^BmxzlL

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

QN December I, 1784 Thomas Daniell obtained permission from the Board

of Directors of the East India Company to proceed to India to practise
his profession of engraver : and nine days later he was granted leave to take
with him his nephew William, then a boy of about fifteen (1). They elected
to go first to the Company’s factory at Canton and embarked on board the
Atlas Indiaman (Capt. Allen Cooper), which left the Downs on April 7,
(1785, and arrived at Whampoa on August 23.
We have no record of the date upon which they reached Bengal, but
they probably made the voyage on a “country ship’’, and they were
certainly in Calcutta on July 17, 1786, for Thomas Daniell informed the ladies
and gentlemen of the settlement on that day of hisf intention to publish a set
of twelve views of Calcutta at the price of twelve gold mohu*s to subscribers.
The series was completed in 1788 and in the autumn of that year they started
on their famous tour in Upper India, of which William Daniell gives a brief
account in a letter written to his mother from Bhagalpur on July 30, 1790 (2).

DISCOVERY OF THE JOURNAL.

In the autumn of 1931 it was brought to the notice of the writer of. these
lines that several volumes of William Daniell’s Indian journal were in the
possession of Mr. Arthur Russell of Swallowfield Park, Reading, who had
discovered them among the papers of his grandfather Sir Henry Russell the
second baronet Resident at Hyderabad from 1811 to 1820 and son of William
Hickey’s patron the Chief Justice of Bengal. They must have been included
in the large collection of finished sketches and drawings which were bought
by Sir Henry after the death of Thomas Daniell in 1840 (3), and which have
been acquired by Messrs. Walker of Old Bond Street. The drawings,

(1) Sir William Foster, British Artists in India (Walpole Society, 1931 : p. 21). Thomas
Daniell was bom in 1749 and died in 1840 : William, was exactly twenty years his junior, and
died in 4837.
(2) A transcript of this letter was found among the papers.of Joseph Farington, R.A., and
was printed in Bengal: Past and Present in 1923 (Vol. XXV, pp. 13—17.)
(3) That they were bought during the lifetime of Thomas Daniell is unlikely. The Literary
Gazette in its obituary notice wrote : “On his original drawings he set so high a store that
he never would part with any of them, although on his return from India they were eagerly
sought for by many persons of rank and wealth.” Six large folio volumes of his drawings
are also preserved in the library of the R'oyal Institute of British Architects in Portland Place.
They were presented by Mr. J. D. Crace.
 82 BENGAL.- PAST AND PRESENT.

together with an album of water colours by William Daniell, were exhibited,

with a view to their sale, in London in February and March 1933, and
reference will be made to them as the Walker collection : but the journal
is still at Swallowfield Park: By the courtesy of Mr. Russel it has been
transcribed : and we propose to print it by instalments.
The first volume covers the period between August 11788 and May 1789
and describes the journey from Calcutta “up the river”—starting on
August 29, 1788, from “our Garden House at Kidderpore”—to Fatehgarh
and thence to Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Muttra (where they met Mahdaji
Scindia), Delhi, Anupshahr, Hurdwar, and Serinugger (Srinagar in Garhwal).
The last entry which is dated May 19, 1789, leaves them at Bisauli in
Rohilkhand on their way back to Fatehgarh. The second volume is missing,
but there is a detailed record of their movements in Sir Henry Russell’s
handwriting, which fills the gap and tells us that they returned on June 1,
1789 to Fatehgarh by way of “Barelly,” “Pillibeat” and Shahjahanpur, and
that on June ll 7 they proceeded by way of “Cannouze”, Bithoar and “old
Cawnpore” to Lucknow where they arrived on June 30. The third volume
contains entries between July 8, 1789—when we find them staying with
Claude Martin at Lucknow and enjoying his hospitality until October 13—and
January 30f 1790, when they were in the middle of their excursion in Behar
and had just visited the Gupteswar caves. The places visited include
Fyzabad and 0«d (Ajudhia), Allahabad, Benares, Jaunpur, Chunar, Bidzegur
(Bijaigarh), Agouree, Shergarh, and Mundeswar.
Another gap follows: but from the dated drawings in the Walker collec­
tion we know that they were at Bhagalpur in May 1790, and from the
Farington Diary we learn that they spent twelve months at that place with
their friend Samuel Davis. The last two volumes are numbered 6 and 7.
The former gives the log of their voyage on the Dutton Indiaman from
Calcutta to Madras : they embarked on board the Hastings pilot sloop “laying
off the Esplanade” on March 10, 1792, and landed at Fort Saint George on
March 29. The latter describes the first part of the tour in South India, which
began with the departure of the artists from Madras on April 10, 11792 and
ended with their arrival at Madura on July 12. In November after visiting
Rameswaram they were back again in Madras and held a lottery for their
paintings (4). Their movements have now to be traced from various sources.
From Madras they set out once more for the South. In February 1793 they
were at Cape Comorin and from Cochin they took ship for Muscat. In the
summer of 1793 they hurried to Bombay with news of the outbreak of war
with France : and after a short stay there sailed for Canton, embarking for
Europe (as the China Factory Records inform us) in the Exeter Indianjan and
landing at Deal on September 7, 1794.
The volumes of William Daniell’s journal are full of interesting personal
allusions and descriptions of scenery: and the entries exhibit an astonishing

(4) A list of these paintings may be found in the Madras Courier of December 27, 1792.
{sif. William Foster has ascertained from the files of the Calcutta Gazette that a lottery for
■150 paintings was held in Calcutta on March 8, 1792 : but no description of these is given.
 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF WILLIAM DANIELL. 63

power of observation on the part of a youth of nineteen and twenty. Few

artists have travelled so extensively in India: and few have left such admirable
and accurate pictures of the places visited by them.
We will now leave William Daniell to sp^ak for himself.
# * $ # ■ # #

FROM CALCUTTA TO BERHAMPORE.

August 29, 1788.—Left our Garden House at Kidderpore and slept on
board the Pinnace.
August 30:—Removed every thing out of the House on Board the Boats.
I went on shore very early and made a few sketches about the Grounds.
About 11 o’clock weighed and sailed to the Chandpaul Ghat where we
Anchored. Mr. Anderson (5) sent us a Camp table for the use of the
Pinnace.
August 31.—A very rainy morning. Mr. Joseph Cooper (6) breakfasted
with us. Uncle and myself finishing the last set of the Calcutta Views (7).
In the afternoon I made a sketch of the New Fort looking towards Garden
House Reach. The Bores very violent (8). Ther [mometer] 83. •
September 1.—Un [cle] as Yesterday. I made a few Sketches of the
Orphan House (9) and a Bungalow or two on the other side «the water from
the Poop of the Pinnace. In the morning I wrote a letter to my Mother.
Un [cle] dined at Mr. Cockerell’s (10), Ther. 82Yi-

(5) There are two Andersons in the list of Europeans residing in Calcutta in 1794 (MS. at
the India Office) : John Anderson, tailor, Cossitollah Street (nine years’ residence) and R.
Anderson, assistant in the Revenue Board, Durrumtollah Street (ten years’ residence).
(6) “Printer and Librarian” came out in the Rodney in 1785.
(7) Cf. Thomas Daniell’s letter to Ozias Humphry, "nearing Patna”, November 7, 1788
(reproduced in Bengal: Past and Present, Vol. XXXV, p. 113): “The Lord be praised, at
length I have completed my 12 Views of Calcutta. The fatigue I have experienced in this
undertaking has almost worn me out. ... By Mr. Begby of the William Pitt Indiaman
I send you the Calcutta Views which you promised to do me the honour of accepting. It will
appear a very poor performance in your land, I fear. You must look upon it as a Bengalee
work. You know, I was obliged to stand Painter, Engraver, Copper Smith, Printer, and
printer’s Devil myself. [It] was a devilish undertaking but I was determined to get through
it at all events." There is a complete set of these Views (1786—1788) at the Victoria Memorial
Hall : it is on exhibition in the Durbar Hall.
(8) See “The Bore rushing up the Hooghly” : Engraving by R. Brandard from a drawing
by W. Daniell : Oriental Annual, 1837, p. 224.
(9) In Plate I of the second series of Oriental Scenery, “Part of the Esplanade, Calcutta,”
the Orphan House can be seen in the centre background on the opposite side of the river
“which is here three-quarters of a mile wide.” A Sepia drawing by William Daniell of “The
Orphan House from the Esplanade" is in the South Kensington Museum: and there are two
sketches in the Walker collection : one is dated September 3, 1788. The Military Orphan
School was located until 1815 in the building at Howrah which has been used as
the Magistrate’s Court House since 1843. It was erected originally about 1767 : but it was
not until 1785 that the school was transferred to “Mr. Levett’s house and garden at Howrah."
(10) Charles Cockerell: came out to Bengal as a writer in 1776 and became Postmaster-
General : founded the well-known Calcutta agency firm of Cockerell Traill and Co. on his
84 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

September 2.—Mr. Anderson breakfasted with us. Un[cle] dined at

Mr. Cockerell's: myself putting our Cabin in a little order. In the evening
Mr. Colebrooke, Franklin, Maclew.. and Mr. Hunt (11) drank Tea with us.
Ther. 85.
•
September 3.—Uncle entirely settled his Business in Calcutta this morning.
About 12 the Bore passed us ; as soon as its strength had abated, we weighed
and sailed to Sulky [Sulkea] where.the wind blowing strong against us and
the tide just turning were obliged to drop the Anchors. At which place we
remained all night. We made a few Sketches as we were under sail.
Ther. 83. - -
September 4.—Before breakfast made a dist [ant] View of Calcutta.
Weighed abt. I o’clock and stretched over to Calcutta, on our second tack
reached Bauloo Koll [Bally Khal] on the opposite shore of Mr. Motte’s Garden
House. We went on shore in the evening. I carried my Gun but
found no Game. Ther. 83. ' -
September 5.—About 1 o’clock A.M. weighed and sailed to Koneagur
[Konnagar] where we dropt Anchor. Weighed again abt. 1 P.M., the tide
against us. A fine breeze carried us fast Serampore but the wind dying
away were obliged to come to an Anchor a little above Gyretti house.
Both busy sketching most part of the day. In the evening we walked on
shore. Ther. 83J4- *
September 6.—Weighed our Anchor abt. 6 o’clock A.M. and tracked
(12) to Chandernagore: sent our Boat ashore for a few articles, which
detained us the whole day. Ther. 83. I made a few sketches of
Chandernagore.
September 7.—Weighed at 6 o’c : passed Chinsurah at 9, Hooghly at
10, and Bandell at 11. Just as we passed the last mentioned place a fine
Breeze sprung up and carried us to the upper end of Terbony [Tribeni] sand,
when suddenly it fell calm and we with difficulty got Tound the Point. The
Eddy and Current in parts were so strong that something belonging to the

return to England in 1794, he sat in the' House of Commons for nearly 30 years : received a
baronetcy in 1809 and died in 1837. Thomas Daniell painted six pictures of Sezincot,
Cockerell's seat in Gloucestershire which were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1818 and
1819. He was the grandson of John Jackson of Clapham, who was the nephew and heir of
Samuel Pepys : and brother of Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1754-1827), who was appointed to
be surveyor to the India House in 1806, and was the father of C. R. Cockerell, R.A. (1788-1863).
Another brother. Colonel John Cockerell (1750-1798) of the Bengal Army was military Secre­
tary to Sir Robert Barker. He purchased Sezincot on his retirement and left it to Charles.
There are references to Chales Cockerell in the Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Klftn.
(11) Robert Hyde Colebrookfi (1762—1808) entered the Bengal Army in 1778: surveyor
to the Bengal detachment under Col. T. D. Pearse in the second Mysore War, 1781—1785 :
subsequently Surveyor-General; published in 1794 a series of twelve views in Mysore: died at
Bhagalpur. Charles Franklin—mariner residing in Calcutta in 1794 “near De Gloss’
Garden.” Andrew M’KleW: assistant in the Translators' office in 1794; later clerk to the
Justices of the Peace. Mr. Hunt—perhaps John Hunt, Shipchandler: came out in 1784,
Another John Hunt (ensign' 1785) died at Cawnpore in 1804.
(12) Tracking-towing from the bank.
 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF WILLIAM DANIELL. 85

Tracking Rope broke and we went adrift a great way, but were brought up
by running the Pinnace’s head near a Bank, We anchored abt. 2 miles on
this side of Nia-Serai Creek: made many sketches in the course of the Day.
Ther. 83. #
September 8.—Passed Nia-serai Creek at 8 o’clock and tracked to
Sook-Sauger. Anchored off Sook-Sauger house. In the evening we took a
walk to Mr. Joseph Baretto’s Garden. Ther. 83. I made a view of the
House (13).
September 9.—Weighed about 5 o’clock ; tracked to a small River
opposite the end of Chogdah sand, where we anchored abt. 4 o’c. and
remained all night: Seibpoor Village near us. The current in parts was so
very rapid that the bank was continually falling in and we were obliged to take
most of the Men from the large Patilla (14) to assist the Pinnace Dandies in
tracking. Saw no views to day worth noting. Ther. 93 : a remarkable hot
Day for the time of the year. Un [cle] washing his sketches: this morning
I took a lesson from my Moonshee the first time.
September 10.—Started about 6 o’c this morning. Passed Harradum
House at 8 o’c., inhabited by Rajah Sumbee Chunder son of the late Rajah
of Nuddea, Cishin Churn (15). About three miles from the House we turned
up a creek opposite Hubbeekpore [Habibpur] village and intended keeping
the passage to the right, but were informed that tffe water was too shallow
for our Pinnace. We therefore kept the left hand side where we found
plenty of water, and anchored at the close of the Day near the entrance of
the Great River (Hoogley), not far from Barripore [Balipur] village. We
were very much entertained with the Variety of fine and Beautiful Scenes that
we passed in the course of the Day. Ther. 91. I shot a few small Birds in
the evening as we were taking our walk.
September 11.—Set off early this morning and crossed the River to
Gooptiparrah, a place remarkable for Monkies: we saw but few of them.

(13) Sooksaugor—Bholanath Chunder in his Travels of a Hindoo (1869: Vol. I, p. 18)

gives the following account of Sooksagur in 1845 : "Fifty years ago (1795) there were many
noble houses in Sooksagur. The Marquis Cornwallis often came thither to, pass the summer
months. . . The Revenue Board was also established here on its removal from Moorshedabad.
The river has encroached upon and washed away the greater part of Sooksagur leaving not
a vestige of its numerous buildings. In the great inundation of 1833 a good-sized pinnace
sailed through the Sooksagur Eazar."
(14) Patilla [Paiela] see Colesworthy Grant, Rural Life in Bengal (1860), p. 6:—“The
Putelee or Katora, or baggage boat of Hindostan, is a very large flat-bottomed, clinker-built,
unwieldy-looking piece of rusticity of probably one thousand maunds, which is about 65 tons
burthen : but occasionally they may be met with double the size." Sketches are given of the
putelee and also of a pinnace.
(15) For the locality see Colesworthy Grant, Rural Life in Bengal (p. 33) : “The Matabanga
which at its entrance is called the Choornee, near the ruins of an old stronghold at Hurradhan,
enters the Hooghly at Seebpore about eight miles above Sooksagur.” Haradham House is
now in ruins. It is shown in Rennell's Bengal Adas (1781 : plate 19), Maharaja Krishna
Chandra of the Nadia Raj family, erected two houses, Haradham and Anandadham, about
a mile from either bank of the river Churni. Of these Haradham was the more imposing.
Raja Shambhu Chandra was the only son of the Maharaja by his junior wife. For further
particulars see Bengal: Past and Present; Vol. XLV, p. 136.
(86 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

The wind and current were so very unfavourable that we got no further than
Sautgatchee where we remained all night. In the evening we walked on
Shore. I took my Musket with me and had very fine Sport: Shot four Doves
but could only get one of them4 Ther. 89. I sketched in on a half length a
View of Harradun House, which my Uncle means to begin dead colouring
to morrow. The banks at Gooptiparrah are very high and very picturesque(16).
September ll 2.—I took my Gun out very early this morning and brought
on board some Game for Dinner. Past Ambooah abt. ]/£ af [ter] 7 o’c.
Culna appeared in sight at 8 o’c. Past Culna at 9 and rowed over to the
other shore. As we were under sail a squall of Wind overtook us and split our
Jib ; a heavy shower of Rain accompanied it at 5 o’c. We put into Mirzapour
Creek where we lay till next morning. Un [cle] and self began to dead
colour the View I sketched in Yesterday. Ther. 84. At Ambooah saw some
very high finished Pagodas that belonged to the Rajah of Burdwan.
September 13.—Sailed to the other side of the River and back again :
entered a creek that led to Summutgur which we passed about 12 o'clock.
At 5 o’c saw the village of Allumpoor (17), off which we brought to for the
night. Had some heavy Squalls and showers of Rain in the course of the
Day ; in one of them our Mizen Top sail Yard was broke. A Paunchwa (18)
under sail was upset by running into Shoal Water. The Creek we came into
today is the most beautiftil we have seen since we left Calcutta. The Banks
particularly wete very picturesque on account of the broken Grounds. Banyan
Trees, old Gauts, etc. Found also plenty of Water for the Pinnace, possibly
owing to the great quantity of Rain that has fell [sic] these two or three
last days. Painted but little today as the Rain obliged us to keep our
Purdahs down. Ther. 83.
September 14.—Entered the Great River (19) at 10 o’c. Tracked to
Meizga (20) and with a fine Wind sailed to Cans-Keally [Kanskhali] which
we reached abt. 8 o’clock. Fastened our Pinnace to the Shore and remained
there the night. Charles (21) and myself went out very early with our
Guns: the touch-hole of my Musket being foul, had but little sport, tho’
plenty of Game presented itself. Cfharles] killed a fine Hare and a Dove
or two. The country that we have seen today was much crowded with
cattle and was not unlike English land. After we had brought to, we took a

(16) An unframed drawing of “Gooptiparrah, near Gocoolgunge, opposite Santipore’’ and

six drawings “near Gopalpore opposite Chogdah" were included in the Russell collection of
sketches which were exhibited (with a view to sale) at Walker's Galleries in London in
Febmary-March 1933.
(17) Marked in Rennell's Atlas (plate 19). •
(18) Paunchway (Pansubri), also found under such forms as ponsy and ponsway - described
by Sir George Grierson (Bihar Peasant Life, p. 43) as a boat with a round bottom, for use in
shallow water : It is like a large dinghy and has a tilted roof of matting, a mast, and four oars.
(19) The Hooghly or Cossimbazar river.
(20) Megga in Rennell’s Atlas (Pate XI).
(21) This is our first introduction to Mr. Charles Rose who is entered in the East India
(Calendar for 1791 as "with Mr. Daniel, Calcutta" turd as having arrived in Bengal on the
Tryall in 1787. In the East India Register for 1798 his place of residence is given as Calcutta.
 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF WILLIAM DANIELL. 87

walk on' Shore, tho’ not without being Armed, as the place was not entirely
free from Tigers. Our two patilla boats reached us abt. 10 o’c, when we
dined. Ther. 88J4- In the evening saw two very considerable Meteors.
September 15.—Sailed with a tolerable fair Wind most part of the Day, and
reached Patollee (22). Saw a Young Alligator as we were under sail. Un [cle]
began a small Portrait of a Moor Girl for Doct [or] Brown (23): myself dead
colouring Harradun House. The wind blew so fresh as to split our old Main
Top sail: run the Pinnace in shore and bent a New One, also a New Jib. In
the evening I fired a Ball once or twice at a Jackall, but was not lucky
enough to hit him. Ther. 84. Had the Hare dressed for Dinner that Charles
shot Yesterday. It turned out a very fine one indeed.
September 116.—Tracked a few miles till 10 o’c, when the Wind being
favourable we sailed to a little on this side Ahgahdeep [Agadwip] : by the
carelessness of the Mangee driven on a sand to Leeward from which we were
not able to clear the Pinnace : were therefore obliged to let go our Anchor
and to come too [sic] for the night: the two Patillas lay on the Windward
shore. Sent the Long Boat for Khaunna [provisions]. Un [cle] washing a
few sketches : myself looking at a set of Calcutta Views for Mr. S. Davis (24).
About 11 o’c saw a Bengal Budgerau half a length astern of us. By the above-
mentioned accident she soon passed us and presently sailed out of sight ;
principally owing to her keeping to windward. Ther. 86.
September 17.—We were from 8 o’c. till near 2 gettinng round the Sand,
when the Wind being favourable hoisted our sail and passed Ahgah Deep
Bazar. Abt. 5 o’c. brought too a little higher up : it rained and blew very
much the whole day. Un[cle] painted a little in the morning on the Harradun
House View ; myself as yesterday. On the Shore opposite to where we
Anchored last night the current was so exceedingly rapid that the Patilla men
Were obliged to assist each other in tracking a few hundred Yards. Ther. 80.

(22) A sketch of ‘‘Pattellee, below Agahdeep and below Calcutta, Sept. 17, 1788” formed
part of the Walker collection.
(23) George Brown : Surgeon of the Atlas Indiaman (Capt. Allen Cooper) in which the
Daniells had sailed from England to Canton in 1785.
(24) Samuel Davis (1760—1819), the famous artist-civilian : a number of sketches by him
(presented^ by his great grandson Sir Leicester Paul Beaufort) are on exhibition at the Victoria
Memorial Hall, together with a set of Daniell’s Twelve Views of Calcutta (the gift of the same
donor). He went out originally to Madras as an engineer cadet and there became aide-de-camp
to Sir Eyre Coote whom he accompanied to Calcutta in 1779. In 1783 he was appointed a
writer and was sent with Samuel Turner on a mission to Tibet but did not proceed beyond
Bhutan. A$ this period (February 1785 to April 1792) he wasstationed at Bhagalpur where
the Daniells stayed for a year with him on their return journey. They had known each other
in London (Farington Diary, Feb. 12 and Aug. 28, 1807). In 1799 when he was Judge and
Magistrate of Benares (with Mount-Stuart Elphinstone as his assistant) he gallantly defended
the narrow stairway of his residence—Nandesur House, against the attack of Wazir Ali, who
had just murdered Mr. Cherry, the Resident. When he resigned the Service in 1806, he was
Accountant-General; and he was subsequently a director of the company from 1810 to 1819.
Numerous descendants of his have served in India: Davises, Rivett, Camacs, Willocks, and
Lockwoods.
3
88 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

September 18.—Started at 5 o’c: past Dewangunge (25) with a strong

breeze abt. 7 o’c : Cutwa, abt. 9 : the remains of Sackry Fort (26) at /i af [ter]
9: Jiddilpore at 11 o’c: and at 12 o’c. brought too at the Point near Goobra,
where the current was so ver^ strong that we were obliged to wait for the
assistance of the Patilla’s men. As the Patillas did not arrive for some hours
after us, Un[cle] took his Hog spear and myself the Gun in search of a little
Game ; returned to the Pinnace abt. 3 with only one Dove. After Dinner
I went into the Jungle abt. Goobra and brought on Board Game enough for
our Table to morrow : got a pretty wet Jacket by my walk. Ther. 77. Altho’
the Thermometer is 2 Degrees above the Summer Heat of England the Natives
of this Country are almost starved to death with cold. The little bits of land­
scape about Dewangunge were delightful, but, it being a very rainy morning,
were prevented from making any sketches. Un[cle] painted a little in the
morning: myself washing a sketch I made of Ahgah-deep Yesterday (27).
September 119.—Mustered most of the Men from both the Patilla Boats and
got the Pinnace round the point much easier than we expected : the wind
against us most part of the Day. Abt. 3 o’c. a Pinnace from Berhampore
passed us. We spoke to her ; she brought too for us and desired our long
Boat might be sent on board her. As my Un[cle] and myself were going we
thought we saw Mr. Ritzoe (28) and were not undeceived in our opinion.
The Pinnace was Mr. Wroughton’s (29) who was in her, as was Mr. W. and
Miss Ritzoe. Mr. R. brought us a Muster of Paper from Mr. Lyon (30). Had
a long Pull back to our own Boat. Abt. 5 o’c. the Wind blew in our favour
and we sailed till 8 o’c., when we lay too for ye night opposite Cossipour
Village. Un[cle] painting all the morning: myself looking at-the Calcutta
Views for Mr. S. Davis. The country that we have seen to Day has been
flat swampy and rather barren. Ther. 78.

(25) Dewarrah Gunge.

(26) “Sackey Fort, taken June 17, 1757” by Coote during Clive’s advance to Plassey : so
marked in Rennell’s Atlas.
(27) “Canoes and Patilla Boats near Ahgah-deep” : water-colour drawing by William
Daniell in Walker collection.
(28) G. Ritso: deputy superintendent of buildings, Berhampore. Charlotte Augusta Ritso
was married at Calcutta on May 21, 1791, to James Stark (query: appointed Prothonotary of
the Supreme Court in 1783 : succeeded by William Chambers in 1792).
(29) Charles Wroughton : came out in the Bessborough in 1786 : probably a relative of
George Wroughton. attorney of the Supreme Court, whose grand-daughter married in 1840
Capt. G. W. W. Fulton, Bengal Engineers, the “Defender of Lucknow" in 1857.
(30) Thomas Lyon : architect, died at Berhampore in May 1799. Name-father of Lyon’s
Range in Calcutta. A pottah was granted to him in 1776 for erecting “a range of buildings
for the accommodation of the junior servants of the company (Writers' Buildings): he was
however acting in the name of Richard Barwell. The walls enclosing the Prasidency Jail
on the Maidan (now happily obliterated by the Victoria Memorial Hall) were also put up
by him. On January 10, 1782. Mr. Justice Hyde records in his note-book : “He [Mr. Lyon]
is a house-builder and is said to have made a large fortune and is now going to England.*’
He returned to Bengal on the Britannia in 1785 and in 1788 was appointed “to make a
canal of communication between the turns of the river at Cossimbazar.” He sued the Com­
pany in the Supreme Court in 1795 for the recovery of Sicca Rs. 1,47,700 for sundry works
performed to their order. The Judges (Chamber C. J. and Hyde J., Dunkin J. dissenting)
entered judgment in his favour for Sicca Rs. 25,800 (Seton Karr, Selections, II, 421).
 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF WILLIAM DANIELL. 89

PLASSEY.

September 20.—But little Wind all Day and that against us ; tracked no
farther than Plassey. Un[cle] painting all the morning: myself as Yesterday.
Plassey stands on a very low swampy piece of Ground ; many of the Huts
touch the edge of the water (3.1). I made a Sketch of a Pagoda as we [were]
going on. [Ther.] 76.
September 21.—Past Plassey House (32) abt. 8 o’c: saw laying there
Mr. Maccan’s (33) Pinnace and a Budgerau or two. Mr. Martin (34) was also
arrived, and had been but 7 Days coming from Calcutta in a Dacca Pulwa (35).
I made a sketch of two of the House (36). At 7 o’c. brought too for the night
near Rampoor Village, 7 Miles from Plassey: 2 Budgerows and Mr. M.’s
Boat lay close to us. We drank tea on board one of the Budgerows. Un[cle]
nearly finished the Portrait for Doctr. Brown (37): myself Squaring and in the
evening pasting down some of my Uncle's Drawings. Ther. 81. The Country
round about Plassey very flat indeed.
September 22.—Abt. 5 o’c. this morning the three above-mentioned Boats
passed us. We passed them at noon, as they lay off Major Lucas’s Bungalow
at Daudpoor (38). The Major sent us a polite invitation to Dinner which we

(31) In 1811 “the field of battle no longer existed : the encroachment^ of the river have
obliterated every trace and a few miserable huts literally overhanging its banks are all that
remains of the celebrated Plassey.”—Sketches in India (anon. London 1816, p. 6).
(32) The Nawab’s hunting lodge : from the roof of which Clive watched the dispositions
of the enemy, and where he returned after the battle and seating himself in a chair seemed
absorbed in profound meditation. In 1812 Lady Nugent wrote in her journal: "There is
not the slightest vestige of the rajah’s hunting seat: the mango grove no longer exists.”
But Mrs. Abraham Welland, the wife of a Bengal civilian, saw it in December 1810 : “There
is a building and grove of mango trees which marks the place” of the battle. So too, when
William Hickey travelled by water in 1785 to visit his friend Robert Pott at Afzalbagh, he
“had a very pleasant voyage, stopping to look at Plassey House”. Thomas Twining found
it partly washed away in July 1794.
(33) Turner Macan : writer 1777 : customs master at Calcutta and a prominent Freemason.
(34) Perhaps Thomas Martin : assistant surgeon 1783 (B. 351 in Crawford’s Roll of the
1. M. S.)
(35) Pulwar : See Colesworthy Grant. Rural Life in Bengal (p. 7, where it is illustrated):
“The pulwar is a smaller description of travelling boat, of neater build and less rusticity of
character [than a puielee], sometimes used by a single traveller of humble means, and at
others serves as cook-boat.” Cf. India Gazette August 31, 1782: “To be sold three new
Dacca Pulwars, 60 feet long, with Houses in the middle of each.”
(36) sepia drawing of Plassey House by William Daniell is at the South Kensington
Museum. It was also painted in water colour by James Hunter in 1801 (see reproduction in
B. P. P. Vol. XXIX, p. 73).
(37) See entry, ante, of October, 23.
(38) Richard Lucas: Cadet 1768: Major 1781: Lieut.-Col. 1793: Colonel 1797: Major-
General 1803 : died at Sultanpur (in Oudh) 1804, in consequence of a fall from his horse,
“leaving about 3 lacs of rupees”. Major Hodson suggests that he was indigo planting while
waiting for his promotion to Lieut.-Colonel: he was at the time nominally second in com­
mand of the 3rd Sepoy brigade at “Danapore and Dependencies.”
90 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

- accepted and arrived just as it was put on Table: met there Mr, Martin,
Mr. Laird (39), Mr. Limeric (40) and a Lady (from the Budgerows). Left the
Major abt. 4 o’c. and walked with our Guns to meet the Boats ; the walk was
not of the pleasantest kind as ye were obliged at times to wade thro’ water
up to the middle. The Pinnace brought too abt. 7 o’c. near Camnagore.
Our companions far astern. Ther. 81.
Mem. At the Place where we layed last night perceived that the
River had swelled very much, and in parts had overflowed its Banks.
From Plassey to Daudpoor the country is low and produces a long
sort of Grass that grows near and on the Banks of the River the
Dandies at times get thro’ it with great difficulty. As a Snake was passing
the Pinnace this morning one of the Men struck it with a Bamboo, which so
enraged him that he turn'd and followed the Pinnace some time : and as it
was of a very dangerous kind sent some Men into the Long Boat to attempt
to kill it, but he got away without much hurt. Un[cle] tinting some of his
sketches which I mounted last night ; myself employed on the Harradun house
View.
September 23.—Before 7 o’c.' our Companions passed us and were soon
out of sight. Passed Camnagore abt. 12 o’c. and at 7 PM. brought too in sight
of the high Banks of Rangamutty (41). In the evening the insects were so very
troublesome that we were obliged to sit out upon the Deck and to put out
the candles ; this is the first time they have been so bad since we left Calcutta.
Un[cle] and self as Yesterday. Ther. 87J4 : the shore very much crowded
with Cattle.
September 24.—Past Rangamutty between 8 and 9 o’c. Abt. 4 o’c.
saw two very large Pinnaces astern of us, dist[an]t abt. 3 miles. Were

(39) Dr. James Laird was surgeon on the Sea Horse which brought William Hickey to
Bengal in 1777 : he received a commission as ensign in 1781, which he resigned in 1789 on
appointment to the Bengal medical establishment. He retired in 1801 and died in London
in 1816. His elder brother Dr. John Laird after service at Canton from 1763 to 1769 and at
sea from 1769 to 1775, was in 1777 "already high in the Company's service and eminent in
his profession at Calcutta," (Hickey): he resigned in December 1788 in order to go on
furlough and returned in 1791 when he became head surgeon. He retired in 1802.
(40) The R'ev. Paul Limrick of Trinity College Dublin was on his way to take up the
appointment of “chaplain and mathematical schoolmaster” at Dinapore. In -1794 he was
transferred to Fort William'. William Hickey tells us (Vol. IV, p. 478) that Re sailed for Europe
in March 1809 on board the Calcutta Indiaman, which was lost during the voyage with the
Lady Jane Dundas, the Bengal, and the Jane Duchess of Gordon. A half length #portrait is
preserved in the Vestry of St. John’s' Church, Calcutta. -.
(41) Rangamutty—on the right bank of the Bhagirathi, about 12 miles south of Moor-
shedabad. From its dry and healthy situation on the highest ground in the district, it was
used as a sanitarium for the British troops quartered in the Berhampore cantonments. Col. J.
H. T. Walsh in his History of Moorshedabad District (1902) says that nothing is now left of
the town except a bungalow and a filature which originally belonged to the East India Company
and who purchased in 1835 for £2100 by Mr. Lyall, who probably started the Bengal Silk
Company. The place takes its name from the reddish yellow colour of the bluffs.
 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF WILLIAM DANIELL. 91

informed that one belonged to Mr. Heatley (42), the other to Mr. J. Addison (43)
We had a very pleasant walk in the afternoon on the high Banks of old
Rangamatly (44) and returned to the Pinnace abt. 7 when she brought too
for the night. I brought on board a few'Doves. Before Breakfast we made
a few sketches of Rungamatty House and the Landscape around it which was
exceedingly Picturesque. Un[cle] finished the little Picture for Doct[o]r
B[rown] this morning and began to Dead Colour on a half-length—a view from
one of his Sketches that he made near Gooptiparrah : myself looking at a Set
of Calcutta Views for Davis. Ther. 80 at 4 o’c P.M. Made a very poor
Days work in tracking, the Dandies complaining of their feet being very tender
owing to having walked over Fields of Paddy stubble lately overflown.
September 25.—A fine Breeze in favour of the Pinnaces we saw Yesterday
brought them close to us by 7 o’c. this morning. We continued so till in sight
of Berhampore which was abt. 2 o’c. when at the request of Mr. Addison
we let his Boat pass us. In the afternoon we walked to Mr. Lyon’s where
we drank tea and supped: our arrival was unexpected or we should have
slept there. The Pinnace was brought too near the Cantonments (45). Un[cle]
dead colouring as yesterday: myself washing some of my own sketches.
Ther. 90.

(To be continued)

(42) Patrick Heady: writer 1776: subsequently “of the Company’s secret council”; born
in Rhode Island in 1753, died in London in 1834. His sister Mary married the famous Colonel
James Tod in 1780. Portraits were painted by Zoffany of him, and also of his brother
Suetonius Grant Heatly (magistrate at Dacca : died unmarried in Bengal in 1793) and another
sister Temperance, who marned Capt. William Green R. N. and settled with him at Utica,
N.. Y.
(43) John Addison : writer 1776. Represented General Clavering on the famous occasion
(June 20, 1777) when the Judges decided that Hastings had not vacated the office of Governor-
General. Head Assistant at the Moorshedabad Durbar during the Residency of Sir John
D’Oyly, who vacated the office in July 1784, and quarrelled violently with his successor Robert
Pott in March 1788 (Hickey, III, p. 329). Both were suspended and Pott was never again
employed.
(44) According* to Mr. Beveridge (J. A. S. B. Vol. LXII, Part I, no. 4) this is the site
of the city of Kama Suvama which is mentioned by Hiouen Tsiang, and was founded by
Raja Katjia Sen of Gour. As late as 1845 the ruins could be seen of one of the gates of
the Raja’s palace. It has disappeared in the bed of the Bhagirathi.
(45) Berhampur, originally a piece of waste land to the south of Cossjmbazar, was selected
as the site for a cantonment in October 1757 after the battle of Plassey. The barracks were
commenced in 1765 and completed in two years. At one time Berhampore was a General
Officer’s command but the troops were gradually withdrawn and in 1857 the garrison con­
sisted of the I9th Bengal Infantry, the 11th Irregular Cavalry, and two guns. A British regiment
was brought from Rangoon and remained until 1870. The barracks are extensive and are
used for official purposes and as residential quarters.
 Wx\t pimfe of tin ^dmmth m x
Pmxk, X3tlf fime, 17BB-

the 10th of May, 1765, the Falmouth East Indiaman (499) sailed from
the Downs under the command of her skipper, Captain George
Hepburn. (1) Thirteen months later, with the end of her-protracted voyage
in sight, she stranded on Saugor Bank and became a total loss. An official
enquiry into the cause of her loss was instituted in Calcutta during the follow­
ing month, and information relative thereto, together with a “List of the
Names and Stations of those who escaped the fate of the Ship Falmouth and
got ashore in the Sunderbound," will be found in Bengal O.C. of 28th, 29th
and 30th July, 1766.
Capt. Hepburn’s private journal (“purchased of J. Walker, 19 May,
1860”) is preserved in th« British Museum (Addl. MSS. 23, 679), where it is
catalogued as: • “Journal of Captain George Hepburn, of the Bengal Army
[sic] (2), when shipwrecked on an Island at the mouth of the Ganges,
16 June—21 Aug. 1766. Autograph. Paper. Quarto. 39 pp.”. It must be
borne in mind that this MS., which it is now proposed to investigate super­
ficially, narrates the experiences of only one small party of survivors of the
wreck. Other groups, including many of the soldiers on board, managed to
gain the shore at different points ; but it was only at Calcutta some weeks
later, and after suffering many vicissitudes, that the remnants of the ships’
company and passengers became reunited.
Hepburn, one deduces from his journal, must have been of a quarrel­
some disposition and somewhat eccentric in character. Certain it is that,
whilst the Falmouth was lying off Mauritius in February 1766, his officers,
on receipt of the surgeon’s report on his mental state and with the concur­
rence of the passengers, were constrained to relieve him of his command.
To this he was only restored after the lapse of three months, the ship being
then at sea.
On Friday, 13th June (inauspicious date!), the Falmouth struck, and
three days later, as we learn from the journal, she broke up
at 12 o’clock of the night in three separate parts, before tlfe mizen
mast, & abaft the mainmast. Then the starboard Quarter gave
way which occasioned a woeful loss of above 40 People who were
lodg’d in the Poop and not more than 7 or 8 sav’d.

(1) This was Hepburn’s first voyage in command of a ship. He had been 2nd Mate of the
Essex, 1762-3.
(2) This has now been corrected in the catalogue.
 THE WRECK OF THE FALMOUTH, I3TH JUNE, 1766. 93

The diary, which opens on Monday, II 6th June, is concerned principally

with the sufferings from hunger, thirst, sun and rain of the seventeen
survivors who formed his party. These were, in addition to himself :—
Capt. Hannay. (3)
Ensign Preston. (4)
John Levett free merchant. (5)
Charles Newland late 2nd Mate. (6)
Jno. Lumsdaine late Acting 4th do.
William Ross do. do. 5th do.
Samuel Sargent midshipman.
Thomas Fothringham Gunner.
William Robinson Sailor. (7)
William Littleworth do.
William Owen do.
Allen Macintosh Capt. Hannay’s Servant.
Alexr. McKenzy Mr. Newland’s Servant.
John a black man late Servant to Govr. George Piggot. (8)
John Ham (9) 1 D
Patrick Hepburn (10) } B°yS-

Provisions salved from the wreck consisted merely of sufficient rice to allow
three tablespoonfuls per head for three days, a small quantity of cheese and

(3) Alexander Hannay, of Kirkdale, co. Kirkcudbright. He died at Calcutta, 4 Sept. 1782,
aged 40. Had recently been transferred to the Bengal Est. from H. M. 51st Foot, and was
bringing out to Bengal with him on the Falmouth a company of soldiers for the Company’s
Europeans. Entered the Nawab of Oudh’s service in 1778 and dismissed in 1781.
(4) Thomas Preston. Ensign 15 Aug. 1765. He was a son of Mary Preston, of Lancaster,
d. in India 5 Oct. 1768.
(5) John Levett. Mayor of Calcutta in Jan. 1770; an Alderman of the Mayor’s Court in
Sept. 1771. His gardens at Howrah were purchased by the Military Orphan Society in 1785.
[Bengal: Past & Present, II. 94).
(6) Charles Newland was commander of the Kelsall in Dec. 1768.
(7) William Robinson. See B. : P. P., III. 193, quoting Beveridge’s Bal^arganj (p. 307):
“The first European settler in the Bakarganj district was a Scotsman called William Robinson
who established himself at Madhupur, in the neighbourhood of Baroikaran and Nalchiti, in
1766, and lived there for about thirty years. He described himself in 1794 as having embarked
on board the ship Falmouth in 1765 and as having been cast ashore East of Saugor sands in
June 1766, whence he had come up to Madhupur by boat, and had been engaged in trade there
ever since. His descendants still [1876] reside in the district and his tomb is still to be seen
in Barisal in Mr. Pereira’s compound.” The inscription is not given in the Oriental Obituary.
(8) John, a black man. Elsewhere in the MS. he is described as “Black John a native to
Bengal who spoke the Country Language.” His former master was, of course, George, Baron
Pigot in the Irish Peerage.
(9) John Ham was Commissary to the 2nd Brigade in Mar. 1774, and as such probably
took part in the first Rohilla campaign. He writes from Patna in Feb. 1788, asking for a
license to reside in the province of Bihar for good. In 1791 he is shown as a merchant at
Patna.
(10) Patrick Hepburn was perhaps related to the Commander, but is not mentioned again
in the journal.
94 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

1 lb. of chocolate, the last damaged by salt water. They were obliged
therefore to eke out their meagre rations with
Wilks, a great quantity on the Island, the worst food I ever tasted
their Tails full of mudd & bitter as Gaul the heads only eatable ; as
tough as whipleather.
For drink they had :—
6 Bottles Water, 6 do. Brandy, 6 do. Oil, 3 do. Persico(ll), 1 do.
Beer.
On 21st June Hepburn writes:
great Complaints of thirst ; every one seeking after water. March’d
and countermarch’d. Took a nest of 4 young ratts about 2 or
3 days old from the hollow part of the top of a Tree. Found some
water situated in the same manner ; on the head of another Tree.
All engag’d clambering up to drink (by drawing it to our mouths
with a small Bambo the size of a large reed).
The same day he records :
Maggots & their eggs increasing on the raggs I wore ; that was
principle two Pieces of Baise wrap’d round my waiste (or Body).
Considering how infested the Sunderbans are known to have been by
tiger at this period it is rather surprising that only one death from this cause
should be recorded in his pages. Of minor discomforts due to “muskitto’s”
and wild bees, however, Hepburn has more to say ; and, as his account of
an attack by the latter will give a good idea of his rather unusual style and
quaint orthography, we reproduce it in full.'
At 10 o’clock the black John, in carrying the Saucepans,
jumbl’d them together ; this gave umbrage to some Wasps, & Bees ;
who violently committed Hostility’s. No Terms could passify their
fury. Therefore, was under the necessity of declairing open Warr.
This sudden attack forc’d us to take to our heels and dive like
Spaniels ; fighting up to our chins in Water ; being, close to a
River, & no possibility of escaping these waspish Gentree ; but, by
waiding which, broke our Lines, & Caus’d a general confusion.
Never was such D.......Is, in the world, as some appear'd, by roling
themselves, over head, and ears, in mudd, to be proof against their
pointed darts. In this manner, Our Hog like Irregulars crawl’d to
another river, some little distance off & was more agreeable situated
upon a plentifull Oyster Bank at which time we rayied our Forces
as the Enemy was slack in their motion & tired in pursuing us and
we as well pleas’d with their absence. After feasting on the# Oysters
beat our march in hopes of further encouragement.
On 23rd June, prospects of their speedy return to civilization appeared
rosy, and Hepburn rises in consequence to unexpected heights of dramatic
description.

(11) Persico—a cordial made by macerating the kernels of peaches, apricots, etc., in spirit.
(Shorter OJE.D.)
 THE WRECK OR THE FALMOUTH, 13TH JUNE, 1766. 95

Every one complaining of Weakness Swell’d Leggs particularly about

the joints. Vast uneasiness for want of water having not a drop left.
The Sun very powerfull. At noon, or thereabouts, the joyfull alarm
of a Boat, flew to every Quarter like Lightning. Came scampering
from the Woods ; drouth ; Weakness of Body with swell'd Legs, never
run swifter ; some crying out, where is she. There, pointing toward
her, God be prais’d, now I see her. Then with uplifted hands ;
giving thanks to their Maker ; for so speedy & unexpected Relief.
What a sudden change did I here behold from the deepest of Grief
to the most expressible Greatness of Joy. Such scenes is not to be
painted or express’d otherways, than, by unfortunate circumstances
of the kind. God forbid the worst of Enimies should fall into the
like misfortune. All hands collecting at the Bank side impatiantly,
with the pleasing appearance of the Boat approaching the Shore.
Waving our raggs, thinking, every moment an Hour. At last on the
Bank she Bounces. Every one seizing the Painter ; with huzas of
approbation for our security. Out steps Black John. A general
accostment. Where is the Cattameran, from whence came you.
Answers, People & Cattameran are safe. They have plenty of
Provisions and two Boats to conduct all to an English "residence ;
thats good ; Lets be gone ; The Tide’s turning. Whilst this harangue,
the Blacks of the Boat was up at the shed and Fire place collecting
what little matters they could sneek off with to the Boat secreted
under their Clouts. Presently the Tide changes. Off we go, Farewell,
to green Beds, shed & fire, Our hearty desire.
In spite of the cheerful note on which the above passage ends, their joy,
as events subsequently turned out, proved premature, for the party still had
several more days of hardship to face before reaching Madepore (11 A) on
13th July. Here they were hospitably welcomed by Mr. Smith, the Chief, who
shew’d a Letter from Mr. Cartier Chief of Dacca (12) desiring he
would advance any funds that might be wanted for the unfortunate
people of the late Falmouth.
Three days later the party set off on the last stage of their journey to Calcutta,
and on the same day,
At half past 3 o’clock in the afternoon Mr. Newland had the assurance
to deliver a message of these Words or to the same effect—By desire
of Capt. Hannay to tell you that you have taken advantage of him,
whilst he was sick, by meanly soliciting Mr. Smith’s Steward to
supply you with more provisions than you had a right to..............
About 4 o’clock Ensign Preston came shouting with the following
words or to the same purport. ‘Capt. Hannay desir’d me to tell
you that you have behav'd in a mean dirty manner to him &

(11 A) Madhupur: see note (7). The identity of "Mr. Smith, the Chief" has not been deter­
mined : perhaps Harry Smith, a writer of 1749.
(12) John Cartier (1733—1802). Chief of the Dacca factory, 1761 ; Govr. of Bengal,
1769—72. (D. I. B.)
4
96 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

likewise you have robb’d the Soldiers of all. He will make a

Complaint to the Govr. & Council at Bengali.’
Can it possibly be that Hepburn took this lying down? There is no mention
of that subsequent meeting between gentlemen which one might expect as
the logical sequence of such an accusation.
On Tuesday, 22nd July, nearly six weeks after being cast ashore,
Hepburn and his party entered Calcutta.
NeaT 11 o’clock arriv’d at the old Fort (Calcutta). Gave Major
Grant (13) the names of the People that came with me to report it
to the Governor & Council. Here we met with the millitary officers
that came from the ship in the Longboat. They behav’d very
Civill. Ensign Toon (14) conducted me to his room. Ordered his
Servant to attend & give me a shift of Linnen.

Wednesday 23rd July 1766.

In the morning was favor’d with clean Linnen from Lieut.
Drummond (15) then went to the Governor (Mr. Sumner) (16) to
pay my respects. Afterwards to Mr. Russel (in Council) (17) of
whom I had a little knowledge by a former kindness he did me.
Accidentily met.Capt. Roach (18) he commiserated my misfortunes &
behav’jl very friendly. Near 12 o’clock I receiv'd the following
invitation from an unknown person.
‘Sir, If you are not allready accomodated I request you will
accept of a Room in my house.

I am, Sir, Your most obedt. Servant,

S. BANKS. (19)

(13) Captain John Grant.

(14) Ensign Toon. Better known as Lt.-Col. Sweney Toone (1746—1835), first Com­
mandant of the Governor-General’s Body Guard and Director of the E. I. Company from 1800
to 1830. Second son of William Toone, of Finglas, by Mary, dau. of Owen Sweney. He
probably came ont in the Falmouth. The embarkation rolls for the year 1765 are missing
from the India Office, and the list of survivors (mentioned above) is presumably in India and
has not been consulted.
(15) Ensign Charles Drummond; d. Calcutta on 6 October, 1766.
(16) William Brightwell Sumner. President and Deputy Govr. (Se% Dr. Holzman's The
Nahohs in England.)
(17) Claude Russell (1732—1820). Son of John Russell, of Braidshaw, W.S., by Mary his
third wife, only child of Rev. John Anderson, minister of West Calder, Edinburgh. He was
originally in the Madras C. S. (B. : P. P., f>assim.)
(18) Lieut. Edward R'oach. A Bombay infantry cadet of 1761. He served with the
Bombay detachment in the campaign in Bengal in 1764, under Major Hector Munro, and
was transferred to the Bengal Est. 21 Aug. 1765. In April 1774, when a Captain, was dis­
missed by the Govr. and Council principally on account of a violent quarrel with Lieut. James
Redman, of the Bengal Artillery. The latter also suffered dismissal.
(19) Sutton Bank?, A free merchant and a free mason. Apparently a shipping agent and
contractor,
 The wreck of the Falmouth, isth june, me. 91

P.S. The bearer will show you the way.’

This I show’d to Capt. Roach & accordingly waited on Mr. Baulks
who receiv’d me in a very honest plain manner.
And here we will take leave of our diarist, the concluding ten pages
of the journal being concerned merely with an acrimonious correspondence
between Hepburn and John Lumsdaine on the subject of a sum of money
which the latter claimed to be due to him from the commander. Hepburn
was not given another ship, and details of his subsequent career are not at
present forthcoming. He appears to have married Elizabeth, daughter of
John Swaine, of Leverington, Cambs.; (20) and as he is stated to have had a
numerous family it is possible that descendants are still in existence.

V. C. P. H.

(20) Cf. Burke’s Landed Gentry (1848 edn.), p. 1337, s.o. Swaine of Wisbeach.
 IWtatte jo][ piarmt

THE ABBOTT REPLICAS.

JT is a matter of common knowledge that the Victoria Memorial Hall

possesses two portraits of Warren Hastings by Lemuel Francis Abbott
(1760-1803), a contemporary artist of some repute, who is represented in the
National Portrait Gallery in London by no less than thirteen portraits, including
excellent likenesses of Nelson and Lord Macartney (Governor of Fort Saint
George from 1780 to 1785). Both of them are supposed to be replicas of the
picture which was presented by Hastings in 1797 to his lifelong friend David
Anderson and is still preserved in the family. A number of other replicas are
known to exist.
The question has now been raised : Did Hastings sit to Abbott for a
second portrait? Sir Arther Knapp, who has been examining the diaries of
Hastings at the? British Museum, has'come to the conclusion that he did.
Anderson’s portrait was received by him in Edinburgh at the beginning of
February 1797: he announces its arrival in a letter of February 3. On May
28, 11797, Hastings made the following entry in his diary: “Sat to Mr. Abbot
for two hours and finished Mrs. Hastings-’ picture.” The reference is obviously
to a portrait which was to be given to Mrs. Hastings ; and, as one of the
paintings at the Victoria Memorial Hall, which was bequeathed in 1919 by
Miss Marian Winter, a grand-niece of Mrs. Hastings, and came from Dayles-
ford, the connexion appears to be, established.
The diaries show further (as far as Sir Arthur Knapp has examined them)
that Hastings first sat to Abbott on August 9, 1796. On October 9 of the
same year he writes: “I finished my sittings to Mr. Banks (1) and to
Mr. Abbott.” Nevertheless, on December 15, he-was again sitting to Abbott,
and two days later he was again finishing with him. This was, no doubt, for
Anderson’s portrait. Then, on January 13, 1797, the Anderson portrait having
been sent off to Edinburgh on January 6, he writes of “having settled the

(1) Thomas Banks, R.A. (1735—1805). General Sir Warren Hastings Ander^n (1872—
1930) owned a marble bust of Hastings by Banks which was , formerly at Daylesford : possibly
the one mentioned here: and Miss Winter bequeathed to the Victoria Memorial Hall a
terra-cotta bust ‘‘by an unknown artist,” which may be the sculptor’s model for it. Several
other busts of Hastings were executed by Banks. There is one in bronze at the National
Portrait Gallery (dated 1794) : another in plaster at the India Office : a third on the monument
erected by Mrs. Hastings in Westminster Abbey : a fourth at Westminster School; and a fifth
at the East India United Service Club in London, which was given by Hastings to Samuel
Pepys Cockerell (1754—1827), the architect .and surveyor of the India House. No two are
identical : and the engraving by Gaugain which is taken from a bust, is different again.
 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.
VOL XL V11L

WARREN HASTINGS
By Lemuel F. Abbott :
From the Daylesford Portrait
now at the Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta.
 PORTRAITS OF WARREN HASTINGS. 99

remaining copy for Gosnal [sic] and sent Mr. Abbot £40 on account.” Four
and a half months later we have the entry of May 28, 1797.
“Gosnal” is unintelligible: but the mention of the “remaining copy" and
of a payment on account, seems to suggest *that more than one picture was
painted before the Anderson portrait, or simultaneously with it, in this con­
nexion, we may recall the following communication from Miss Hilda Gregg
(“Sydney C. Grier”) which was published in Bengal : Past and Present at the
beginning of 1933 (Vol. XLV, p. 70): “I find on looking through my note­
books that Abbott received fifteen guineas for the portrait which Hastings
presented to David Anderson : the frame cost £3, and packing and porterage
nine shillings.” A payment of £40 on account would, therefore, represent the
price of more than one portrait.
There can be no doubt that Hastings was satisfied with the likeness which
Abbott had painted of him. “I at length obtained from him,” he wrote to
David Anderson on January 13, 1797, “one which, whether well executed or
not, has appeared to me to bear a stronger resemblance of me than any
I have yet seen.” And replicas have been traced with more or less certainty
which were given to Sir Thomas Plumarv one of Hastings’ counsel at the
impeachment: (the second copy at the Victoria Memorial Hall)r Nathaniel
Brassey Halhed, Sir Elijah Impey, the Auriol family, Hastings’ sister Anne
Woodman, Sir John D’Oyly, and WiJJdam Cowper and Edward Baber, who
had, like Halhed and D’Oyly, served under Hastings in Bengal.
As regards the two last, we have the following letter written by Hastings
to Baber on May 6, 1797 (Notes and Queries for July 27, ll 929):
I am so pleased with the copy which I have [sic] just finished of
my own portrait from an excellent original now in the possession of
your friend Mr. [William] Cowper that I cannot resist the inclination
which I feel to send it to you.

Your affectionate,
WARREN HASTINGS.

Verses to be inscribed on a portrait painted by Mr. Abbot.

The text of the verses is displayed in a frame at the Victoria Memorial
Hall below the two portraits which hang there. They are also printed in
Sir Charles Lawson’s Private Life of Warren Hastings (London, 1905 : p. 247).
It would appear also that one of the Abbott replicas was either painted
for, or presented to, a member of the Baring family—possibly Sir Francis
Baring (2)—for a portrait of Hasings was sold in 1929 by order of the present
Lord Northbrook which was of the Abbott type, although catalogued as
belonging to the school of Hoppner. Its present location is unknown but

(2) Sir Francis Baring (1740—1810) was a director of the East India Company from 1779
to 1810 and Chairman in 1792. His fifth and youngest son George Baring (1781—1854) married
on March 6, 1806, Harriet Rochfort D’Oyly, the younger daughter of Sir John D’Oyly (1754—.
1818), one of Hastings’ most intimate friends.
ioo BENGAL ; PAST ANt> PRESENT.

Sir Arthur Knapp (to whom I am indebted for the foregoing information)
conjectures that it is the painting which was sold a few years ago by a London
dealer to an American purchaser as the work of Gilbert Stuart the American
artist. There is no record that Hastings ever sat to Stuart who left London in
1787 for Dublin and did not return.
Lastly, mention should be made of a portrait which belonged to Sir John
Shore and is now owned by Alice Lady Teignmouth (widow of the third baron
and sister of the late Lord Stamfordham). It is attributed to Abbott but differs
from others by reason of the red waistcoat which Hastings is wearing.

EVAN COTTON.
 <JHtr (fastm mxh i\\t ^tkrrolutitm of 1760
Kt ^urslftfralrait

The deposition of Mir Jafar in 1760 is a drama of supreme interest in

the history of Bengal during the eighteenth century. It was fraught with
momentous consequences so far as the Nawabs of Murshidabad were
concerned ; and it was the prelude to the permanent establishment of the
British power in Hindustan. Mir Qasim, the scheming son-in-law of Mir Jafar,
was the chief actor in this drama, and Mr. Vansittart who wanted a
“reformation of the Nawab’s government was ultimately obliged to acquiesce
in a virtual revolution. *

Before concluding his secret treaty 4ith the Select Committee at Calcutta,
Mir Qasim had made it clear in tly course of his conversations (1) with
Mr. Vansittart that his elevation would be resented by the old Nawab, and
that force should have to be employed to coerce the Nawab, and his coun­
sellors. The Committee in order to placate him, and thus secure- financial
relief for the Company’s affairs had agreed to adopt the measures suggested
by him, (2) because there was no other alternative but to comply with the
wishes of their ally. (3) Mr. Vansittart would certainly not have sent a part
of the Company’s military forces to Murshidabad, if he had not been
definitely instructed to do so by Mir Qasim who was perfectly sure of opposi­
tion from his father-in-law. Mr. Vansittart and Col. Caillaud left Calcutta on
October 2, 1760, along with two companies of Europeans, a company of
artillery, and a battalion of sepoys with the express purpose of keeping
Mir Qasim firm to the agreements he had entered into, and of supporting him
against the Nawab. (4) In order to remove any suspicions that the latter might
entertain, it was represented by him (5) that the troops were to be sent to
reinforce the army at Patna, and that the Governor was going to pay him a
visit, (6) and settle the mutual affairs. Meanwhile Mir Qasim had already
reached Murshidabad, and was busy making preparations for the success of

(1) Beng. Sel. Com., September 16, 1760.

(2) Vansittart's Narrative, Vol. I, p. 107.
(3) Tarikh-i-Muzaffari (All. Univ. MS.), p. 732.
(4) Vansittart's Narrative, Vol. I, p. 108; Beng. Sel. Com., September 27, 1760; Hoi-well’s
India Tracts, p. 59, Siyar (Lucknow Text), p. 693; Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S., Vol. V., p. 347), Abs.
P.L.l. 1759-65, p. 54; Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 27.
(5) Abs. P.L.l. 1759-65, p. 37.
(6) Ibid.
102 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

his scheme. (7) A body of soldiers and retainers (8) was collected by him,
and the discontented factions at the capital were asked to remain prepared
for any eventuality. Mir Jafar unaware of these pressed the Governor more
than once to come immediately,, and offered him a hearty welcome. (9) Mir
Qasim also wrote to him expressing his pleasure on hearing about his
departure (10).
The Governor reached Kasimbazar on October 14 in the evening, and
took up his quarters at Moradbagh. (11) On the next morning at about nine,
the Nawab came on the usual ceremonial visit. After the usual ceremonies
were over, Mr. Vansittart (12) raised the question of the Nawab’s adminis­
trative difficulties, and pointed to the disordered state of his government and
finances. He finally announced his proposal of' appointing. Mir Qasim as
the Nawab’s Deputy, but Mir Jafar showed great uneasiness, and refused to
agree to this suggestion (13). . ' 1
The' Governor in the course of his talks tried to impress him with the
imperative need of reforming the various abuses that had. crept into the
government. In order to convince him'of this, Mr. Vansittart even exaggerated
those evils, as he himself admits wh£i remarkable frankness, "I described every­
thing in the* worst light I could, hoping, that by magnifying his difficulties,
I might bring him more ^psily to cogent to those measures which we have
resolved upon” 04). It must not be ^rgotton that’there was an acute crisis
at Patna due to the Nawab’s negligence in sending his remittances properly.
Something was to be done promptly which might avert the ruin that stared
in the face of the unpaid troops of the Company in Bihar. (15) That was
why he wanted to arrive at some quick settlement with the vacillating Nawab.
The Nawab, however, did not commit himself in any manner, and took his
leave in an uneasy mood (16).
Then followed Mr. Vansittart’s return visit to the Nawab on October 16,
and the conversation was purely informal (17). Formal discussions commenced

(7) Siyar, p. 693.

(8) Muzaffar-namah (AIM. Univ. MS.), p. 304.
(9) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, PP. 27-28.
(10) Ibid., p. 2. 8
(11) Vansittart, Vol. I, p. 110, Siyar, p. 694
(12) Siyar, p. 694.
(13) Mr.- Vansittart botb in his Narrative I, (p. 109) and in his Letter to the Select Committee,
dated Kasimbazar, October 15, 1760, suggests that during this first interview the Nawab
was not unwilling to consider his suggestion. Ghulam Husain (Siyar, p. 694), however, gives
a different account. According to him, the Nawab refused “absolutely to give his consent
to the regulation which the other (Mr. Vansittart) proposed.’’ It seems, therefore, that the
Nawab must have given some formal or evasive reply to please his honoured guest, which the
latter might have understood to mean a virtual acquiescence in his proposal. The Nawab
would certainly not have expressed his clear willingness to accept Mir Qasim, as his deputy.
(14) Vansittart’s Letter to the Select Committee, October 15, 1760.
(15) Mr. Amyatt’s Letter to the Governor from Patna, October 4, 1760; and Tarikh-i-
Muzaffari, (Alld. Univ. MS., p. 733).
(16) Siyar p. 694.
(17) Vansittart, I, 115.
 MIR QASIM AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1760. 103

in a conference between the Nawab and the Governor on October 18 at

Moradbagh. It was on this occasion that the latter raised the real points at
issue. The Nawab was definitely told that he must agree to some method of
reforming his administration. Besides, the Governor handed to the Nawab
three letters wherein the former had discussed the various abuses of the
Nawab’s government, and had emphasized the need of a speedy reformation.
These letters (18) referred mainly to the following abuses:—
(i) The English forces at Patna were kept without their pay ;
(it) The Nawab's own troops were openly disaffected for want of their
pay ;
(ff'r) The troops at Murshidabad had threatened the life and safety of
the Nawab again for want of their pay ;
(id) The Nawab’s ministers and advisers were selfish, and tyrannical,
and were oppressing the people ;
(v) Owing to maladministration, there was an acute scarcity of
provisions ;
(vi) The “Sikkahs” issued at Calcutta were not being allowed by the
officers of the Government to^iass current without payment of
a “battah” ; »
(oii) The war with the Shahzadalwcould not l?e brought to a successful
conclusion owing to the lack of proper co-operation on the part
of the Nawab and his government.
It is clear from the enumeration of the above complaints that the Governor
had a strong case, and that he was right when he suggested, (19) “. . . . it
is proper that you appoint some capable person from among your children,
in the place and dignity of your said son, who may take charge of all these
affairs, regulate the business of the country, and remove all these difficulties
that your Excellency, freed from sill the troubles, and fatigues of these transac-
- tions, may remain without care and uneasiness . . . .” In short, the Governor
advised the old Nawab to drive out his evil counsellors, and in their place
appoint a more capable and reliable person. The Nawab was unwilling to
come to an immediate decision, and wanted to gain time. He was possibly
annoyed by the abruptness with which those complaints had been made, (20)
and did not like to be dictated to in this manner by a person to whom he was
not bound by any personal tie of gratitude or friendship. He expostulated
on the ground of his old age, and grief, and asked for permission to consult
his advisers. (2if Mr. Vansittart would not allow him to go back to his evil
counsellors, and requested him to consult some of his trustworthy relations.
The sole purpose of the Governor was to persuade the Nawab to send for

(18) Vansittart, I, pp. 125-34. English translations of these letters are given in the
Narrative.
(19) Translation of the Third Letter presented to Mir Jafar, October 18, 1760.
(20) A letter from certain gentlemen of the Council at Bengal to the Honourable the Secret
Committee, p. 4.
(21) Vansittart I, p. 116; and his letter to the Proprietors of East India Stock, p. 26.
5
104 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

his son-in-law spontaneously. Eventually, Mir Jafar named several of his

relations on whose advice he could rely—of these Mir Qasim was one.
Mr. Vansittart induced the Nawab to accept the latter as his deputy, but
in spite of all persuasion on his^part, the Nawab showed such unwillingness
to seek the assistance of his son-in-law that the Governor was convinced
of the necessity of using some sort of force. He, however, sent for
Mir Qasim, but the Nawab felt so tired, and impatient that he could wait
no longer, and left for. his place.(22) Obviously, the Nawab wanted to avoid
an interview with his son-in-law, and thus departed before the latter could
arrive.

It was now a difficult situation for Mr. Vansittart. He had expected that
the Nawab would gladly abide by his instructions, and that there would
not be any serious necessity for coercing him. His calculations had gone
wrong, and he now found that his hopes of a peaceful reformation (23) were
going to be shattered.' It was certainly an anxious hour for him. He had
to choose -between cancelling his agreement with Mir Qasim, and employing
force to intimidate the Nawab. Shortly after the departure of the Nawab,
Mir Qasim came to see Mr. Vansittart, and was informed of all that had
passed in tlje conference. He wefe extremely disappointed that matters had
taken such a tum(24) and feared that the Governor might in the end refuse
to offend the Nawab.* His aplrehensions were hardly groundless.
Mr. Vansittart wtes under the horns o^b dilemma, and was visibly wavering.
Mir Qasim needed all his astuteness and diplomacy to compel his friend
and patron to stand by him at all costs.(25) He could not evidently see all
his dreams frustrated by the scruples of Mr. Vansittart. He immediately
adopted the suggestion of his best friend, Ali Ibrahim Khan, who had
advised him to work upon the fears of the Governor) in these words(26),
“Tell Mr. Vansittart whatever is the matter, and whatever you have to say,
if he does not consent, then without going home again, send for your troops
and money hither, and taking your departure from this very spot, maTch
towards Birbhum, and canton yourself there, act as one revolted, and live
by plunder and rapine. As most of the troops are attached to you, and the
Emperor and Kamgar Khan shall favourize your views undoubtedly, it is
probable that even in this manner.your scheme may chance to succeed”.(27)
During the long discussion with Mr. Vansittart, Mir Qasim emphatically
asserted that he could not retrace his steps,(28) arid thus make himself a
victim to his father-in-law’s wrath. (29) This declaration had the desired

(22) Vansittart, I, p. 117. •

(23) First Report, 1772, p. 162. (Sumner’s Evidence).
(24) Siyar, p. 694.
(25) Chahar Gulzar Shujai, Elliot, VIII, p. 214.
(26) Siyar, p. 694 and, The Tarikh-i-Muzaffari, Alld. Univ. MS., p. 734.
(27) Siyar, Raymond’s Translation, Calcutta Reprint II, pp. 382-3.
(28) Tarikh-i-Muzaffari, Alld. Univ. MS., p. 73 and Siyar, p. 694.
(29) Kalyan Singh too corroborates the account of the Siyar. ‘‘He said that if the agree­
ment proposed was nor kept, it would mean his death". J.B.O.R.S., V., p. 349 (Khulasat).
 MIR QASIM AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1760. 105

effect, (30) Mr. Vansittart realised that there was no option but to overcome
the Nawab's obstinacy by a show of force. He decided to give one more
day to the Nawab for coming to a decision, and resolved to employ force
in the last extremity. (31) The conference came to 'an end, and Mir Qasim
went back reassured and satisfied. His tact and diplomacy had stood him
in good stead, and he had the satisfaction of feeling that he had been success­
ful in forcing the hands of the Governor.
Throughout the next day, nothing was heard from the Nawab who
maintained an attitude of strange silence and apathy. All that Mr. Vansittart
could know was that the Nawab was closely surrounded by his old
ministers. (32) Mir Qasim, in the meantime, assembled all his retainers, and
men, and kept them in readiness. He held anxious consultations with his
friends and advisers, and offered his prayers for the success of his venture.(33)
When he heard nothing from the Nawab, Mr. Vansittart resolved that
Col. Caillaud should cross the river with two companies of military, and
six companies of sepoys, and surround the Nawab's palace before day­
break. (34) It was further decided that Mir Qasim should join Col. Caillaud
-with all his men. Early in the morning on October 20, the combined forces
of Col. Caillaud and Mir Qasim surround^ the palace at Murshidabad, and
marched into the outer courtyard.(35) |The Nawab and his men were taken
by surprise. The small force kept tolguard the Nawab’s palace got panic-
stricken, and made no resistance at^Ql. They may have been bribed, and
won over by Mir Qasim.(36) The Nawab was now completely cut off from
the rest of the capital, as no one could come in, or come out of the palace.
Mr. Vansittart anxiously wanted to avoid any bloodshed, and he merely
wanted to drive out the former advisers of the Nawab. He wrote to the
Nawab saying, (37) “I have sent Col. Caillaud with forces to wait upon you.
When the said Colonel arrives, he will expel those bad counsellors, and
place your affairs in a proper state, I will shortly follow”. The Nawab still
refused to yield.(38) Messages were sent to him, and all to no purpose.
At last, however, the Nawab had to give way. He sent word in the after­
noon, after wavering for hours, that he would abdicate in favour of Mis Qasim
on condition his life and honour were guaranteed. (39) Mr. Vansittart

(30) Siyar, p. 694.

(31) Vansittart, I, p. 118.
(32) Ibid.
(33) Siyar, p. 694.
(34) Vansittart, I, p. 119.
(35) “A narrative of what happened in Bengal in the year 1760” and Beng. Sel. Com.
October 84, 1760.
(36) Siyar, p. 695.
(37) Translation of a Letter from the Governor to the Nawab, dated October 19 at night,
and sent by the hands of Col. Caillaud.
(38) Vansittart, I, p. 120.
(39) Vansittart, I, pp. 120-21. Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S., V., p. 349). According to the latter,
“On the motion of the English, Mir Qasim, sent word to Nawab Meer Muhammad Jafar Khan
who was inside his mahal at the time, that he should either pay up the soldiers, or should
make over his rich mutasaddis to him so that he may realise from them at the point of bayonet
106 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

accepted this offer, and Mir Qasim was accordingly proclaimed Nawab.
The old Nawab was quietly escorted to Calcutta to live under the protection
of the Company. Thus terminated the bloodless revolution that brought
Mir Qasim from comparative obscurity to the masnad of Murshidabad.
On a close examination of this revolution, the following points emerge :
(i) Mir Qasim conceived the whole scheme, and planned the steps taken
to make it a success ;
(it) He knew from the beginning that he would never be accepted by
the Nawab as his successor even though Miran was dead. He therefore
purchased the assistance of the Select Committee at Calcutta by promising
assignments to relieve the Company’s financial difficulties ;
(iii) He was bent upon subverting the government of the old Nawab
with, or without the support of the English. Even if Mr. Vansittart had
refused to espouse his cause, Mir Qasim would have joined the rebellious
zemindars of Bihar in order to win the favour of the Shahzadah ;
(iv) Mr. Vansittart had taken up the cause of Mir Qasim on the erroneous
assumption that the latter’s elevation was the only practicable solution of
the Compaey's difficulties. (40) lent his ears to Mr. Holwell who was
an avowed(41) patron of Mir Qasim, ftmd thu9 failed to grasp the problem in
all its aspects. He had dfeveral alteratives before him :
(a) he could try to arrive at some understanding with the Nawab in
the matter of the assignments';
(b) he could reform the Nawab’s government by securing the nomina­
tion of Raj Ballabh as the guardian of Mir Saidu, the grandson
of the Nawab ;
(c) he could open negotiations with the Shahzadah to bring about
peace ;
(d) he could try to secure subahdari of Bengal for the Company
itself ; or
(e) he could support the cause of Mir Qasim.
He adopted the worst alternative, and betrayed hastiness and shortsighted­
ness in doing so. He did not even care to sound the views of the Nawab
before concluding a secret treaty with Mir Qasim, nor did he take the whole
council in his confidence. His action could by no means remedy the evils
it was meant to remove, or adjust the relations between the company and the
Nawab on a satisfactory basis. He took a step from whidh there was no

the revenue misappropriated by them, and pay up the salary of the soldiers and ffie dues of
the English. This discussion went on till the afternoon, when Nawab Meer Muhammad Jafar
Khan sent one of his confidential servants to say that he was ready to leave the kingdom to
him..................." This corroborates Mr. Vansittart’s version. The account given by Ghulam
Husain in the Siyar is inaccurate. The latter wrongly suggests that Mr. Vansittart grew dis­
gusted with the obstinacy of Mir Jafar, and seated Mir Qasim on the Masnad without awaiting
the Nawab’s final reply.
(40) A letter to the Proprietors of the East-India Stock, p. 8. (From Mr. Vansittart).
(41) Holwell's ’’India Tracts,’’ p. 87.
 MIR QASIM AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1760. 107

going back till his protege was placed in charge of the affairs at Murshidabad.
He did not foresee the Nawab’s natural disinclination to throw himself under
the mercy of his treacherous son-in-law ; and
(o) There can, however, be no doubt about the fact that Mr. Vansittart
was sincerely desirous of effecting a reformation rather than a revolution,
and that he was the last person to be swayed by any sordid motives. It was
the unexpected obduracy, and subsequent nervousness shown by Mir Jafar
that brought Mir Qasim on the masnad. Mr. Vansittart had hoped he would
be able merely to substitute Mir Qasim in place of the former ministers of
the Nawab. The real mistake which he committed was to have entertained
an exaggerated notice of Mir Qasim’s ability and importance. The history
of Bengal during the next three years was the unfortunate sequel to his
mistaken though well-intentioned policy. \/
Mir Qasim ascended(42) the Masnad on October 20, 1760, the tenth of
the Rabi-ul-Awwal in the year of the Hijrah 1.174, amidst great pomp and
eclat, and took great pains to impress on the wondering populace of
Murshidabad that the deposition of the old Nawab was right and just. His
accession was proclaimed all over the city, and people eagerly flocked to the
gates of the palace to have a view of th^joyous festivities that were going
on inside. No efforts were spared tcf make the day memorable in the
chequered history of Murshidabad. Friends an^i admirers, nobles and
merchants, officials and zemindars, indict, persons of any importance inthe
city crowded upon the new Nawab with their presents to offer their respects,
and felicitations. Mr. Vansittart, offered his congratulations (43) on behalf
of the Company, and retired to Moradbagh leaving Major Yorke and a
detachment of troops for the security of the Nawab.(44) This precaution
was needless, as there occurred not the slightest disturbance in the city(45),
and the day passed in merry-making, and the illuminations at night were as
brilliant as on the previous day which had been the last day of the greatest
festival in Bengal, the Durga Puja.
All the oriental grandeur and brilliance could hardly have concealed
from the intelligentsia in Bengal the glaring treachery and cupidity of the
new Nawab, and people were soon to have a bitter experience of the new
regime, and its heartless oppression. (46) So far as Mir Qasim was con­
cerned, he laboured under no delusions, and was hardly dazzled by the
splendid ovations he had received. He knew very well the extremely
arduous nature of the responsibilities and powers so long coveted, and now
secured, by hit*.

(42) V%nsittart, Narrative, I, p. 143. Siyar (Lucknow Text), p. 695. Tarikh-i-Muzaffari

(Alld. Univ. MS.), p. 735. Muzaffar-namah (Alld. Univ. MS.), p. 304. Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S.,
V, p. 349).
(43) It is interesting to note that Mr. Vansiltart’s Darbar charges amounted to Arcot
Rs. 10,922/8/- (vide Beng. Pub. Cons. Nov. 25, 1760).
(44) Letter from Mr. Vansittart to the Select Committee, dated November 3, 1760. (Beng.
Sel. Com. Nov. 6, 1760).
(45) Vansittart, Narrative, I, p. 122.
(46) Muzaffar-namah (Alld. Univ. MS.), p. 304.
108 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

The Nawab’s chief care after his accession was to regulate (47) the
finances. He found to his utter amazement the treasury practically exhausted
y the late Nawab, and there was not even one lakh in ready cash, (48),
nd not more than a few lakhs in gold and silver plate. Such a state of
affairs would have benumbed fhe most optimistic of hearts, ^but Mir Qasim
was not the man to be disheartened. He needed money to pay his forces,
and those of the Company ; and, if he failed to secure it from the treasury,
he could at any rate force those .people to pay who could afford to do so.
Cynical as it may appear, the Nawab had recourse to this policy
systematically, and ruthlessly. There was no other way !open to a man who
had cheerfully undertaken jto repay the arrears that had been accumulating
since the commencement ■of the last regime, and to satisfy the demands of
the Company.
The" Nawab started with the convenient assumption that the old adminis­
tration had been thoroughly corrupt. All responsible officers of the
preceding government were ordered to submit accounts, (49) so that they
might be compelled to disgorge what they had embezzled with’ impunity.
He appointed reliable men to audit the accounts. Among others, Ali
Ibrahim Khan, his most intima^ friend, was to look after the military
accounts. *He was to be assisted iby Sita Ram (50) whom Ghulam Husain
describes as a man of a#bad character, though a complete master of all the
intricacies of revenue accounts. (51)\jhe inevitable consequence of such a
policy was that innumerable embezzlements were reported by the zealous
auditors and supervisors. The persons reported against were doomed, and
helpless against the Nawab’s wrath. Every one was taken to task, and no
consideration was shown to anybody. The punishment for alleged mis­
appropriation was cruel. Wholesale confiscations of property were made,
and many nobles and wealthy people became virtual paupers. A zemindar
had escaped to Calcutta with all his movable property, and Mir Qasim wrote
to the governor requesting him to send him back: (52) On the pretence of
securing damages for the losses due to embezzlement of government funds,
the Nawab ruined innumerable families. (53) His greed knew no bounds.
He did not hesitate to punish the relatives and dependents of Ali Vardi
Khan, (54) nor did he spare even the ladies of the palace, and the women
of the town (55). They had to restore to the government their hoarded wealth,

(47) “Reflections on the Present Commotions in Bengal,’1 p. 8.

(48) Vansittart’s Letter to the Select Committee, Oct. 24, 1750. (VWe Beng. Sel Com.
Oct. 26, 1760).
(49) Siyar, p. 696. Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S. V), pp. 351-2. •
(50) Tarikh-i-Muzaffari (Alld. Univ. MS.), p. 771.
(51) Siyar, p. 696.
(52) Abs. P.L.R. 1759-65, p. 2.
(53) Muzaffar-namah (Alld. Uni. MS.), pp. 305-6.
(54) Khulasat (J.B.O.R'.S. V, p. 352). Muzaffar-namah (Alld. Univ. MS.) p. 3305 etc.)
(According to the author of Muzaffar-namah, even petty officials of Ali Vardi Khan such as
Amanullah, and Mir Maqsud Ali were victims of extortion.)
(55) Siyar, p. 697.
 MIR QASIM AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1760. ' 109

and even ornaments, because the loyal spies had found fault with them.
There was hardly a rich man left in the’ country who wholly escaped the
notice of the informers appointed by the Nawab. Their wealth.was regarded
a sufficient proof of their guilt. Thus, in the cgurse of a short time, the Nawab
amassed, by organised’ cruelty and terror, in cash and jewellery a vast treasure
which he utilised in paying his own troops, and those of the Company.
Mr. Vansittart, it appears, was not told how exactly money was being procured
from the alleged defaulters. He was given to understand (56) that only the
principal officers and ‘mutasaddis’ of the late administration were being com­
pelled to give up what they had misappropriated. The governor, unaware
of the terrorism going on, wrote to the select Committee, “the Nawab applies
with great diligence to the regulation of his affairs, and behaves so as to gain
the affection of the people” (57).
The Nawab next turned his attention to other means of raising funds
without which the ordinary work of government could not be carried on.
He borrowed a large sum from the Seths with the help of Mr. Vansittart (58).
Having thus secured sufficient resources to meet at least partially the demands
of the troops, and other creditors, Mir Qasim embarked on a policy of an
all-round retrenchment. He banished alL^cruples from his mind, and cut
down all expenditure in so drastic a mE«ner that he extorted the admiration
of the governor (59). He commenced ^with a severe retrenchment of his
personal expenses, and this showed hfc earnestness in a waj» that could not
be mistaken. It was a unique thing in that age indeed for a Nawab to curtail
expenditure on the various ceremonials, and luxuries of the palace (60). Mir
Qasim was, however, bent upon making his government solvent, and so he
shrank from no economies howsoever undignified or petty they might be.
For instance, the managerie department of the palace was abolished (61), and
the animals were actually sold to zemindars. The Nawab did not hesitate
even to appropriate to himself the gold and silver decorations of the royal (62)
Imambara amounting to several lakhs in value, and stopped (63) all the
expenses incurred in connection with ‘Tazias’ even though he was a Shiya.
Not content with these savings, he had the meanness to suggest a reduction
in the allowances of Mir Jafar whose voluntary abdication alone had brought
him on the masnad. Mr. Vansittart had requested him to grant Rs. 25,000
monthly (64) for the expenses of the ex-Nawab, but Mir Qasim wrote in reply
that a sum of Rs. 2,000 per month would be sufficient (65). Pressed by the

(56) Vansittart, Narrative, I, pp. 137-9.

(57) Vansittart’s Letter to the Select Committee, Oct. 24, 1760. (Vide Beng. Sel. Com.
26 Oct. 17«).
(58) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 2.
(59) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. II.
(60) Khulasat, J.B.O.R.S., V. p. 351.
(61) Siyar, p. 697.
(62) Riyaz us Salatin, (A.S.B. Text, p. 381).
(63) Muzaffar-Namah (Alld. Univ, MS.), p. 305.
(64) Abs. P.L.I., 1759-65, p. 7.
(65) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 3.
 110 BENGAL; PAST AND PRESENT.

governor, he agreed to raise the sum to Rs. 10,000 (66) but absolutely refused
to make it Rs. 15,000 inspite of all representation (67).
Mir Qasirfi soon found himself in a position to send remittances for the
payment of the troops (68). The arrears, however, could’ not be paid all at
a time, but the Nawab sent instalments (69) regularly as he did not like to
commit the mistake of his predecessor. When Mr. Vansittart complained (70)
that the amount due to the Company was not being paid quickly, Mir Qasim
decided to sell (71) a quantity of precious jewels which he had lately confis­
cated from various people, and handed them over to Mr. Batson, chief of the
Kasimbazar factory (72). They were sent to Calcutta, and sold (73) at auction.
Thus, before long, the Nawab paid up the arrears due to the Company, and
paid a substantial donation of five lakhs to help the Company in their war
with the French (74). Above all, he did not forget his obligation to the
members of the Select Committee, and subsequently paid them too the
promised presents (75). Besides paying the dues of the Company, the Nawab
fulfilled his agreement with the Company (76).
Thus—
(i) He gave the Company Tparwanahs' for the districts of Burdwan,
Midnapur, find Chittagong (77).
(ii) The balance of .ten lakhs Ipayable to the Company’s troops was
paid (78). , ^ *
(iii) He granted a ‘parwanah’ for half (79) of the Chunam production at
Sylhet.
(iv) The ‘sarrafs* and merchants were forbidden to charge any discount
on the Calcutta ‘sikkahs’ and the Nawab allowed the latter to bear the
Murshidabad stamp (80). A notification was issued to the effect that any
person who demanded ‘battah’ on the Calcutta ‘sikkahs’ was to be sent to
the Nawab, and punishment would be meted out to him (81).
Mir Qasim did not evince either caution, or wisdom, in the first appoint­
ments made by him. His choice fell mostly on unworthy favourites whose

(66) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 11.

(67) Trans. P.L.I., 1762, No. 9, p. 6.
(68) Siyar, p. 697, Beng. Sel. Com., 25th Dec. 1760. Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S., V), p. 350 etc.
(69) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, pp. 3, 4. Trans. P.L.l. 1761, No. 83 p.l.
(70) Vansittart Narrative, 1, p. 140. Abs. P.L.I., 1759-65, p. 9.
(71) P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 3. Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S. V), p. 351. Siyar, p. 697.
(72) Abs. P.L.I., 1759-65, p. 11. .
(73) Trans. P.L.L, 1761, No. 168, p. 56.
(74) Vansittart Narrative, I, p. 123.
(75) First Report, 1772, p. 164. Second Report of the Sel. Com., p. 20 and T’fiird Report,
1773, p. 311. The total sum paid as presents amounted to a little more than £200,000.
(76) Vansittart Narrative, I, p. 101 and Beng. Sel. Com., 6th Nov. 1760.
(77) Letter from Mr. Vansittart to the Select Com., Nov. 3, 1760. (Beng. Sel. Com., 6th
Nov. 1760).
(78) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 40 and Beng. Pub. Cons., 17th Nov. 1760.
(79) Vans. Narrative, I, p. 122.
(80) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 4. Abs. P.L.L, 1759-65, p. 9.
(81) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 3. \
 MIR QASIM AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1760. 1U

sole aim was to make the most of the opportunities that they now obtained
for making money. The Nawab probably meant to gather round him a group
of persons whose interests would be bound up with those of his regime.
He favoured several of his relations with sonorous titles, and appointments,
although they hardly deserved any (82). Some of his friends were appointed
as comptrollers, and supervisors in the several offices, and the sole reason of
their elevation was the Nawab's deep-rooted distrust of the former officials.
He even went to the length of inviting old and retired Muta3addis of Alivardi
Khan’s time (83) to accept office once again in the treasury so that they might
be used as a check on the officers of Mir Jafar. One of the avowed objects
of Mr. Vansittart in bringing about a reformation of the late Nawab’s govern­
ment had been to remove (84) the principal evil counsellors of Mir Jafar such
as Kanna Ram, Munni Lai, and Chunilal, but Mir Qasim cid not like either
to dismiss or punish them before utilising their services in detecting the late
embezzlements. With his usual cunning and diplomacy, he conferred on them
honours and appointments. Mr. Vansittart was not aware of the underlying
motives of the Nawab, and so he naturally protested against this (85). The
Nawab replied with characteristic tact that it would be imprudent to dismiss
them immediately (86). It is needless to mention that, not long afterwards
they were arrested, and their property^^as confiscated (87). They were
subsequently executed (88). "
*

The following is a list of the principal officials appointed* by the Nawab

immediately after his accession:—
1. Ali Ibrahim Khan (89) Chief Auditor of Military accounts.
2. Sita Ram (90) Chief Auditor of Civil accounts.
3. Gurgin Khan (91) Darogah of artillery.

(82) A detailed account is given by Ghulam Husain, Siyar, p. 696.

(83) Khulasat, p. 350 (J.B.O.R.S. V.)
(84) Vansittart Narrative, I, p. 119.
(85) Abs. P.L.I., 1759-65, p. 10.
(86) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 4.
(87) Siyar, p. 697 and Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S. V.), p. 352.
(88) Muzaffar-Namah (Alld. Univ. MS.), p. 304.
(89) He was the most faithful friend of Mir Qasim. Ghulam Husain has given a high
opinion in regard to his ability and meritwho, to all his innate delicacy in matters
of honour and fidelity, joins the incomparable talent of unravelling the most hidden mysteries
of administration, and of discovering intuitively the decisive knot of the most intricate accounts
.... (Siyar II, p. 3?8), Raymond's Translation, CalcuUa Reprint.
(90) *'.... A man of a bad character, and who was universally known for a mischievous
wicked minliter. . . . (Siyar II, p. 389), Raymond’s Translation, Calcutta Reprint.
(91) He was brother to Khwajah Petruse who had acted as an intermediary between the
Nawab and the Select Committee. The author of the Siyar is extremely prejudiced against
him (p. 696). His hatred may have been due to racial and religious animosity. Gurgin Khan
had been a merchant at Hooghly, and subsequently became a favourite of the Nawab, and
thus incurred the jealousy of others. (The Khulasat J.B.O.R.S., p. 351). Gentil who had
served under him, has left in his Memoirs an account of his fidelity and subsequent murder
(pp. 217-234). Vide also an article on Gurgin Khan by M. J. Seth (Indian Historical Records
Commission Proceedings, Vol. X., pp. 110-16).
6
112 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

4. Shah Masnad Ali (92) Paymaster of the forces.

5. Mahammad Zahir Husain Khan (93) Paymaster of the forces.
6. Mahammad Naqi Khan Tabrezi (94) Faujdar of Birbhum.
7. Syed Turab Ali Khan (95) Naib of Murshidabad.
8. Mirza Shamsuddin (96) Confidential Agent at Patna.
9. Mir Munshi (97) Auditor of Accounts.
Once secure on the masnad, Mir Qasim turned his attention to the task
of bringing rebellious zemindars under control. This was the most pressing
problem after the re-organization of finances. Since the time of Mir Jafar,
some of the zemindars of Bihar and Bengal had been disaffected towards the
Nawab, and had joined the Shahzadah (98). Their attitude became a source
of alarm and danger, as revenues were withheld by them (99). All this had
been due to the weakness of Mir Jafar’s government, but Mir Qasim deter­
mined to control the dangerous power of such zemindars, and establish his
own authority over the whole province. Among the zemindars, the Raja of
Birbhum was the most dangerous. He was the most powerful landholder,
and his estate was close to Murshidabad. The Raja had been a source of
perpetual alarm to Mir Jafar (100) because he had threatened to attack the
capital more than once. On the £ve of Mir Jafar’s deposition, the Raja was
reported to have threatened Mursrfcdabad (101). After the revolution, Asad
Zaman Khan, the Raja, wrote to the governor protesting (102) against the
deposition of tjie late Nawab, and made it an excuse of defying the new
Nawab. Mir Qasim received information (103) about the threatened hostility
of the Raja, and decided to take necessary steps against him. Mr. Vansittart
also instructed the Nawab to punish the Raja (104). t The principal reason of
the latter’s hostile attitude was the Nawab’s demand of a special contribution
in addition to the usual revenue (105). Asad Zaman Khan was not going to
obey the orders of the new Nawab who, he believed, had no right to the
masnad. It was, however, no easy task to punish him. He had a small

(92) “. . . . A man of the scum of the people, totally void of brains. . . (Siyar, II, p. 390}
Raymond's Translation, Calcutta Reprint.
(93) Khulasat, p. 351 (J.B.O.R.S., y.).
(94) Ibid.
(95) Trans. P.L.I., 1761, No. 117, p. 18.
(96) His sole qualification was that he was a good humourist. He was given the Com­
mission “of conciliating to his government the minds of the principal persons of Patna."
(Siyar, Raymond’s Translation, Calcutta Reprint, II, p. 390, and Khulasat, J.B.O.R.S., V.,
p. 351). He subsequently became the Nawab’s Wakil" (Trans. P.L.R., W63. No. 37, p. 32)
(97) Siyar, p. 696.
(98) Beng. Sel. Com., Nov. 19, 1760. •
(99) “A letter from certain gentlemen of the Council at Bengal,” p. 9.
(100) Beng. Sel. Com., July 28, 1760. The Raja complained against Mir Qasim too and
declared his fidelity to the Shahzadah. (Vide Beng. Sel. Com., Sept. II, 1760).
(101) Beng. Sel. Com., Nov. 10, 1760.
(102) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 1.
(103) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 3.
(104) Abs. P.L.I., 1759-65, p. 7.
(105) Siyar, p. 698 and Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S., V.), p. 352.
 MIR QASIM AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1760. 113

army of his own, and it was estimated that his combined forces and cavalry
and infantry amounted to twelve or thirteen hundred (106). An armed expedi­
tion was therefore necessary to coerce the Raja, and the Nawab lost no time
in organising one (107). .
The Nawab’s own military resources were extremely limited and his
troops had not been fully paid. It was dangerous to march discontented
troops against a rebellious zemindar (108). He had to seek the aid of a detach­
ment of the Company’s forces. Mr. Vansittart informed the Nawab that
Major Yorke was at his disposal, and could be employed against the Rajas
of Birbhum and Bishanpur (109). Early in January, 1761, the Nawab sent an
expedition against the Raja of Birbhum (110). His troops were commanded
by Muhammad Khan and Gurgin Khan (Ml) who were instructed to destroy
the forces of the Raja before the arrival of Major Yorke (112). Their campaign
proved hardly glorious in the beginning, as the Nawab’s troops were new
recruits generally worthless and lacking in experience. Asad Zaman Khan
took the field with his army and offered a stout resistance (113). He had
recourse to guerilla tactics, and harassed the Nawab’s forces from different
sides (114). It seemed that the Raja was going to gain a decisive victory over
the rabble army of the Nawab. That was^uowever, not to be. Major Yorke
was soon able to turn the scale against tne Raja (115). The final blow (116)
was dealt by a small force stationed in Burdwan undftr Major White (M7) who
attacked the Raja in his rear and crealfed a panic in his army* (I 18).
Mir Qasim must have been deeply mortified on discovering the worthless­
ness of his troops who were, by themselves, no match for the armed followers
of even a zemindar! (The incapacity of his own officers and men left a deep
impression in his mind. He realised that his whole military organisation
needed a thorough overhauling without which his position was insecure. The
revolt of the Raja of Birbhum was an object-lesson to him in the early days
of his power. The helplessness of the Nawab was clearly demonstrated.
However, the troubles in Birbhum and other places soon ceased. .Asad Zaman
Khan repented of his conduct, and submitted to the Nawab (119). His sub­
mission was accepted on payment (120) of a huge indemnity from which the

(106) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 19.

(107) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 3.
(108) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65. -p 19.
(109) Abs. P.L.I., 1759-65. p. 8 and p. 10.
(110) Abs. P.L.R*, 1759-65, p. 4.
(111) Tarikh-i-Muzaffari, p. 773. Siyar, p. 698.
(112) Siyar, p. 698.
(113) Tarikh-i-Muzaffari (Alld. Univ. MS.), p. 773.
(114) Siyar, p. 699. Muzaffar-namah fully corroborates the account of the Siyar.
(115) Abs. P.L.R., 1759-65, p. 4.
(116) Ibid., p. 37.
(117) He had been ordered by the Council to join Major Yorke. (Vide Letter from the
Council to the Court, Jan. 16, 1761).
(118)Abs. P.L.I., 1759-65, p. 11. Beng. Sel. Com., Jan. 5, 1761.
(119) Trans. P.L.I., 1761. No. 91. pp. 5-6.
(120) Khulasat (J.B.O.R.S., V., p. 352).

I
114 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

Nawab had to pay the Company’s Sepoys handsomely for their victory against
the Raja of Birbhum (121).
Mir Qasim soon managed to bring some order out of chaos in the affairs
of the Government, and secrfrely established himself on the masnad of
Murshidabad. It is apparent that he closely followed the instructions given (122)
by Mr. Vansittart at the time of the latter’s departure from Murshidabad,
and the opening of his administration seemed to justify the hopes of his
supporters.
5
NANDALAL CHATTERJI.

(121) Aba. P.L.I., 1759-65, p. 11.

(122) Beng. Sel. Com., Nov. 6, 1760. Mr. Vansittart while departing from Murshidabad had
delivered an address to the Nawab, which contained the following instructions:—
(l) The affairs of the Government should be very carefully and prudently handled.
(ii) The Nawab should not entrust large powers to the subordinates, and m«st attend to
the business of the state, in person.
(iii) One of the reasons of Mir Jafar’s overthrow was his jealousy towards the English; so
the Nawab must not be jealous of his friends, the English.
(iv) If the Nawab’ had any grievance against the English, he should not give vent to his
indignation publicly, but ought to refer it to the Governor.
(v) Economy should be practised in every branch of the Government.
(vi) The Nawab must endeavour to punish the wrong-doers, and dispense right and free
justice.

I
 knbizz in % fimrlg (§mmnmmtai I>g0tot
of ttje (Eampmtg m ^BorcgaL
(1765-74)
i.

SOME PRINCIPLES.

(i)

rpHE object of this article and of the other articles that will follow it, is to
describe how the East India Company gradually built up its political
institutions in Bengal chiefly from after the grant of the Drwtoi in 1765 ; how,
secondly, on the constitutional and the administrative side, it slowly but surely
consolidated its position as the supreme political authority in the province ;
thirdly, the part which the British Parliament played in that connexion ;
fourthly, how the Nawab of Bengal became by degrees a mere stipend-
enjoying figure-head, and, finally, the principles according to which the early
governmental system of the Company in the province was worked. The
articles will be mainly based upon manuscript records preserved in the Imperial
Record Office, Calcutta, and contemporary Parliamentary papers.
In this first article I propose to confine myself only to the statement of the
principles in accordance with which the system of government the Company
erected in Bengal—I might also say, in India—in the early days of its rule,
was operated, and which I discovered in examining some of the manuscript
documents in the said Record Office.

(ii>
•
One of the fundamental principles underlying the early administrative
system of the Company in Bengal as also in other parts of India, was the
principle of the complete subordination of the Military to the Civil Authorities
in the country, necessarily involving civil control and supervision over military
policy. As will-be shown below, again and again the Court of Directors of
the Company insisted, in its letters addressed to the President and Council in
Bengal, on the strictest conformity to this principle, on the part of the

t
116 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

Company's servants in the province. For instance, in its General Letter (1)
to the President and Council in Bengal, dated the 1st June, 1764, the Court
stated: .
“We need only remind you that all our officers and others in the Military
Department are, as they ought, and were always intended to be according to
the Constitution of the Company, subordinate to and under the direction of
the Civil Power of the President and Council, and we direct that this
Fundamental Right be accordingly kept up and maintained in a proper
manner”.
Again, in a General Letter, (2) dated the 24th December, 1765, the Court
wrote to the President and Council in Bengal:
“We remark with pleasure that you were unanimous in your Opinion for
putting Major Champion under the Command of the Chief of Midnapore, the
Supreme Power being invested in our President and Council, they are to
delegate their authority to whom they think fit ; they are the proper Judges
-who (Sic) they are to trust with it, and if they think fit to put a Military Officer,
be his Rank what it will, under the Orders of a Civil Servant, the Military
Officer must jaay the same Regard tojhe Orders of Such Civil Servant, as he
would to those of the Governor and Cbuncil”.
This instruction was in essence repeated by the Court of Directors in its
letter (3) of the 17th of May, 1766, addressed to the Right Hon’ble Lord
Clive :—
“We have not at present time to enter into the thorough examination of
what your Lordship proposes respecting the establishing of Rank and
Precedence between our Civil and Military Servants. In our Letter of the
24th of December, we determined that the President and Council might
delegate their authority to any Civil Servant they pleased, and every Military
Officer, be his Rank what it might, should pay the same obedience to the
orders of such Civil Servant, as to those of the President and Council. It is
not meant however that Such Civil Servant is to controul the Military Officer
in the execution of Military operations, which is his proper Department."
Fourthly, while dealing with the questions of the continuance, constitution
and powers of the Select Committee in Bengal, the Court reemphasized the
principle of the subordination of the Military to the Civil Authorities in the
province in its General Letter (4) of January 12th, 1768, to the President &
Council in Bengal. It declared that military operations should *be conducted
under the orders of the Select Committee, but that the supreme military power
“is vested in the Board (5) at large conformable to the usual practice.’* “We

(1) Para. 40.

(2) Para. 74.
(3) Para. 10.
(4) Paras. 10-11.
(5) t.e., the President & Council.
 GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM OF THE COMPANY IN BENGAL. 117

have already”, it continued, “in our Letter of the 24th December 1765,
Paragraph 74, expressed our sentiments on the nature cf your Powers over
the Military, not only that it is supreme, but that you may delegate your
authority to any Civil Servant you please, ^nd that the highest officer in our
Army must obey that Civil Servant in the same maimer he is bound to obey
the orders of the President and Council ; and upon any Doubt oi Disobedience,
or indeed for whatever Cause may appear sufficient to the Majority of the
Council, they may dismiss any officer, be his Rank what if will, without
assigning such officer any other Reason but your own Pleasure, (6) reserving
the Justification of your Conduct to us, from whom you derive your authority,
and to whom alone you are accountable.” Moreover, the Court made it
definitely clear in another letter (7) of the same year that nothing could offend
it more highly than that its Civil Servants should any way countenance or
spirit up the refractory and mutinous behaviour on the part of the military.
Finally, when dealing with the question of the military establishment for
Bengal, in 1768, the Court reiterated (8) that not only the military officers
should obey their superior officers according to ‘the Rules and Discipline of
War’, but that they should also be “entirely subject to the orders of the
Governor and Council at each Presidency who are the Company’s Legal
Representatives as likewise to such orders as they may receive* from any of
the Company’s Civil Servants at their several subordinate settlements to whom
the Governor and Council shall think fit to delegate such authority.” It was
also laid down (9) by the Court that, as these officers were entirely subject to the
authority of the Company’s Civil Representatives, the Governor and Council
might, upon the misbehaviour of any officer, take away, whenever they would
so think fit, his commission ’without bringing him before a court martial,
according to the general practice of the service’.
I may also state here that the inferiority of the military to the civil power
was repeatedly asserted in connexion with the constitution of the Council and
of the Select Committees in Bengal from after the battle of Plassey. This
will be evident from the following extracts from General Letters from the
Court of Directors to Bengal:—
“General Caillaud (10) is in course to be the Standing Third in Council
and at Committees, in which station he is to be fixed and is never to rise
higher, (II) and in case of a vacancy in the Government (of Bengal) by the
Death or otherwise of both Mr. Vansittart (12) and Mr. Spencer (13), the
same is to be filled up by the Member next in Standing below General
Caillaud until our further Orders are sent.” (14)

(6) The Italics are mine.

(7) DAed the I6th March, 1768, para. 64.
(8) General Letter, dated 16th March, 1768, para., 120.
(9) Ibid., para 121.
(10) Brigadier General John Caillaud was appointed a member of the Council in Bengal
by the Company's General Letter to Bengal, dated the 8th February, 1764, para. 10.
(11) The Italics are mine. _
(12) President & Governor.
(13) Second in Council.
(14) Company’s General Letter to Bengal, dated the 8th February, 1764, para. 13.

>
»
 118 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

“If it shall happen at any time that the President and Second in Council
are both absent, in Such case, the next Member below Genl. Caillaud is to
preside at the Council and Committees during such absence.” (15)

'Again:—
“Altho’ We have laid it down as a Rule for all our Presidencies that no
Military Officer should have a constant Seat in the Coyncil, upon Vacancies
happening by the coming away or otherwise of those who at present enjoy the
same (16): however considering the case of Colonel Richard Smith as
represented in his Memorial to you of the 22nd May 1765, and the recom­
mendation of Lord Clive, We are induced for the present to deviate there­
from, and we accordingly direct that upon the coming away or decease of
Brigadier General Camac, that Colonel Smith do succeed him as Third in
Council, but he is never to rise to an higher Rank therein. And We further
Direct, that upon Colonel Smith’s coming away or Decease, no other Military
Officer is to succeed him in the Council; (17) but the Commanding Officer for
the time being, is to be consulted upon Military affairs only, at which times
he is to have a seat and voice at the Board as Third in Council.” (18)
Further, ft was directed (19) by the Court on the 24th of December, 1765,
that, for such purposes as ‘alliance, possession of country or collection of
revenues’, the CommandingT)fficer of the army should always be accompanied
by a Civil Servant in the character of a Field Deputy. This direction,
however, was not to be followed when Lord Clive would take the Field,
because the Court had ‘the utmost Confidence in him both in his Civil and
Military Capacity.’
The Court was fully conscious of the fact that the enormous powers which
it was vesting in the civil authorities in relation to the military might be
abused by them. It therefore warned them against such abuse in the following
words (20):—
“As we have taken great precaution to establish the entire Dependency
of the Military on the Civil Power, we shall deem you and the Select Committee
highly responsible for any abuse of that Power in the unequal distribution of
Favour or Justice towards them (21) .... .' We do expect from you and
the Committee the most delicate conduct in the distribution of Military
Rewards. It is a branch of Power delegated entirely to you, and it would
shake the Civil Power very much should you by any partiality or injustice
oblige us to revoke or annul any of your Actions ; it therefor* behoves you
to be extremely circumspect in your conduct therein.

(15) Ibid., para. 14.

(16) The Italics are mine.
(17) The Italics are mine.
(18) Company’s General Letter to Bengal, dated the 17th May, 1766, paxa. 28.
(19) General Letter to Bengal, December 24th, 1765, para. 69.
(20) Company’s General Letter to Bengal, dated the 11th November, 1768, paras. 102-104.
(21) l.e. the military servants.
 GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM OF THE COMPANY IN BENGAL. 119

"We have in our Letter to the Select Committee testified our disapproba­
tion of the Altercations (22) between them and Colonel Smith. It is necessary
for the reputation of your Administration that the Dignity of both should be
preserved. We commend your Checking all Encroachments on the Civil
Power ; but it is also essential that the Commander in Chief should appear to
be supported by you in the due Exercise of his office, in this there is no
medium he must either be supported or dismissed.”

Again:—
"In our Letter of the 11th November last, you were acquainted that we
should hold you strictly responsible for the exercise of the unlimited authority
we had given you over the military.” (23)
Before I leave the subject of the military Department, I should like to
refer to two other principles—perhaps not so important as the one already
referred to—which the Court of Directors desired should be followed in the
composition of the army of the Company in Bengal. One of these principles
related to the question of the formation of the Sepoy Battalions of the army,
and the other to its artillery section.
With regard to the formation of the Sepoy Corps, the Court observed (24)
that the ‘Establishment must in all its parts be calculated to enforce order,
discipline and subordination.’ “FoF\ it continued, "ont this we must
depend, and by this we are to .hope to maintain our superiority and give
Security to our system of Government. These good purposes will be best
secured by your paying them regularly, using them with humanity and giving
the Battalions as many European Commission and non Commission (Officers?)
as the service can afford and Lord Clive informs us that as the Sepoys are
separated and divided into three Brigades the danger of their holding Cabals
of any alarming nature is in a great measure avoided, to which his Lordship
adds that the best additional security he can think of is to have each Battalion
composed of an equal number of Gentoos and Mussulmen, and to encourage
a rivalship of Discipline between them, all which we recommend to your
attention.”
In regard to the artillery section of the army in Bengal, the Court wrote (25)
to the President and Council thereof on March 23rd, 1770, as follows:—
“As it is very essential that the Natives should be kept as ignorant as
possible both of the Theory and Practice of the Artillery branch of the Art
of War, we esteem it a very pernicious practice to employ the people of the
Country in Working the Guns, and therefore direct that in future Four
European Artillery Men be constantly attached to the service of the two Guns

(22) These altercations arose over the question whether Colonel Smith had been 'right
or wrong in the orders he had issued for subjecting the Seapoys to the punishment of the
Laws of England for murder’.—Company’s General Letter to Bengal, dated the 11th
November, 1768, para. 104.
(23) Company’s General Letterto Bengal, dated the 17th March, 1769, para. 58.
(24) Company’s General Letterto Bengal, dated the I6th March, 1768, para. 128.
(25) Company’s General Letterto Bengal, dated the 23rd March, 1770, para. 111.
7
9
120 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

which belong to each Battalion of Sepoys and that no native be trusted with
any part of this important service, unless necessity should require it.”

' (hi) •
Sir Courtenay Ilbert (26) has said that at the time of the enactment of the
Regulating Act of il 773 the three presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay
“were independent of each other,” and that “the Government of each was
absolute within its own limits, and responsible only to the Company in
England.' ’ This statement is only technically correct. Legally speaking, it
is true that the three presidencies were independent of one another ; but
otherwise they were greatly dependent upon one another. And, as a matter
of fact, one of the most important principles which underlay the early system
of government of the Company in this country, and which the Company
repeatedly enjoined upon the three presidencies^ to follow in relation to one
another, was the principle of mutual- help and cooperation amongst them for
the common benefit of the whole. This will be evident from what is stated
below.
On the. 26th of March, 1755, the Court of Directors wrote (27) to the
President and Council in Bengal, in reference to the ‘great naval preparations’
then being made in France, causing an alarm to the British nation, as
follows:— • •
"Although We expect that Gur Three Presidencies at all times act in
concert and with mutual Harmony, and give their aid, assistance and advice
whereever and whenever it may be.necessary for the common Interest of the
Company, without confining their, views to their respective Presidencies only,
yet it is at this critical time more immediately necessary, and therefore We
most strongly enjoin your observance of it, and that you will give all due
attention, to the advices you may receive for those purposes from the
Govemours and Councils of our other Presidencies, or the Govemours or any
Select Committee constituted by.us, or Our Select Committee”.
This instruction was in essence twice repeated by the Court in 1757 and
the Governor and Council in Bengal were told : (28)
“Your care and vigilance is not to be confined to your Presidency only,
but must in this dangerous Juncture (29) extend to the general Interest of the
Company wherever and whenever it is in your power to be of service, for
this purpose a good Harmony must "be Kept up with our o^Jier Presidencies
that you may mutually assist each other and here it is necessary you should
be informed that we have reminded our Governor and Council of Fort
St. George of the Defenceless condition of our valuable Settlements in Bengal,
and have accordingly recommended it to them to give such assistance as may

(26) Ilbert, The Government of India (1916), p. 42.

(27) Company’s General. Letter to Bengal, dated the 26th March 1755, paras. 7 & 8.
(28) Company’s General Letter to Bengal, March 25th, 1757, paras. 75 and 109.
(29) Reference is to the danger from France and from the Country Governments in India—
Ibid,, para. 74.

I
 GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM OF THE COMPANY IN BENGAL. 121

tend so far as lyes in their power to their Preservation whenever their (there ?)
appears a necessity for it.”

Again:—
“You must whenever there is a necessity for assistance, apply to the
President and Council of Fort St. George who have our strong recommendations
to afford it, by Draught from their Troops or in Such maimer as will most
effectually answer the purpose.”
Further, the Court wrote to the Governor and Council in Bengal in
1760.(30)
“Upon Mr. Clive’s sensible and judicious plan the forces of our
Presidencies—at least of Madras and -Bengal will be in common aiding each
other as the different situation of affairs many demand .... Thus
circumstanced and cemented you will be a security to Each other—and in all
human probability out of the reach of danger.”

Again in 1761 (31):—

“As our presidency of Fort St. George may possibly lay* (Sic) more
conveniently for an immediate attention to the West Coast Affairs You (i.e.
the Governor and Council in Bengal) are to observe "and comply with whatever
they shall write to you relative to thS Assistance which may be required of
you on this account. We have given the like directions to Bombay in order
that our several Presidencies may cooperate with each other that our Settle­
ments upon the said coast may be effectually supported."
The three presidencies were not only required to help one another with
troops but also with money. For instance, the Court wrote (32) to the
President and Council in Bengal, on January 21st, 1761 :—
"You and our presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay being by our
directions to be mutually assisting to each other remittances are to be made
where they are wanted by such presidencies as can spare them—You are
therefore to make the Earliest requisitions of what you may stand in need of
but more particularly to Bombay—on the other hand, if our presidency of
Fort St. George wants such assistance and you may happen to have a surplus
stock you are to remit thither as much thereof as can be prudendy spared.”
Similarly, in regard to shipping the Court’s instruction (33) was: “It has
been our constant recommendation for our several Presidencies mutually to
concert the necessary Plans for the returning the several ships intended to be
laden holhe the same season of their arrival in India”.

(30) Company's Letter to Bengal, 1st April, 1760, para. 136.

(31) Company’s General Letter to Bengal, 23rd December, 1761, paxa. 20.
(32) Company’s General Letter to Bengal, 21st January, 1761, para. 67. Vide also the
Company's General Letter to Bengal, 1 Ith November, 1768, Para. 34, which runs: "You
must continue to supply our other Presidencies with such Sums as they may apply to you for
To answer their various demands agreeably to the orders we have given them for so doing."
(33) Company's General Letter to Bengal, 21st November, 1766;"para. >15. > '* ' '
122 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

I should further mention in this connexion that the three presidencies

were required not only to assist one another with troops and money, they
were also directed, as shown below, to help the trade of the Company in
China (and, I might add, at St. Helena and at Bencoolen in Sumatra):—
“As.no Excuse can avail our respective Presidencies in withholding any
assistance that can possibly be derived from our acquisitions and Revenues
under their Directions, we expect and require, that your (34) activity be
exerted in concert with the other Presidencies to supply our China Council
with the amount of at least Twenty four Lacks of Rupees, for the service
of the year 1770 to provide for the ships that shall be ordered thither in that
year and to leave a sufficient surplus for opening the Investment of the follow­
ing year, and we positively direct, that you do not, under any pretence whatso­
ever, omit to supply them with that Sum.” (35)
It may be interesting to note here incidentally that of all the Settlements
of the Company in the East Indians, namely, Bengal, Madras, Bombay,
Bencoolen, China and St. Helena, it was Bengal which had to remit the most
to other Settlements. This will be clear from the following statement.

Name of the Period of Time. Amount of Remit­ Amount of Remit­

Settlement. tances to other tances from other
• Settlements in Settlements in
• • Bullion, Bills & Bullion, Bills &
Goods & Stores. Goods & Stores.
Lst. Lst.
Bengal From May, 1761,
to April, 1771. 2859678 501380
Madras Do. 12671139 1663735
Bombay From August, 1761,
to July, 1771. 269982 874700
Bencoolen . ... . From July, 1761,
to April, 1770. 206753 243911
China From 1762 to 1772. ' 112750 2000185
St.. Helena ... From 1761 to 1771. 6827 27073

These six accounts were prepared by Mr. John Hoole, Auditor of Indian
Accounts to the East India Company, under the direction of the Committee
of Secretary appointed by the House of Commons, assembled at Westminster
in the Sixth Session of the thirteenth Parliament of Great Britain fcD enquire
into the State of the' East India Company. The relevant Report of the
Committee was published in 1773. The accounts of Bengal and Madras were
submitted by Mr. Hoole on January 27th, 1773 ; and those of Bombay,
Bencoolen, China and St. Helena, on February 1st, 1773.

, (34) i.e., of the President & Council in Bengal.

(35) Company’s General Letter to Bengal, l!th November, 1768, para. 33.
 GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM OF THE COMPANY IN BENGAL. 123

It also appears from the Ninth Report (printed in 1783) from the Select
Committee appointed by the House of Commons ‘to take into consideration
the State of the Administration of Justice in the Provinces oi Bengal, Bahar
and Orissa,’ that ‘about a hundred thousand pounds a year used to be remitted
from Bengal on the Company’s account to China, and that the whole of the
product of that money flowed into the direct trade from China to Europe.’
“Besides this," says the Report, “Bengal sends a regular Supply, in Time of
Peace, to those Presidencies which are unequal to their own Establishment.
To Bombay, the Remittance in Money, Bills, or Goods, for none of which
there is a Return, amounts to One hundred and Sixty thousand Pounds a Year
at a Medium.” \

Thus Bengal was the milch cow, as it were for the other Settlements of
the Company in the East Indies. And the chief source of the Company’s
income in Bengal, particularly from after 1765, was its territorial revenues
derived from' the province. During the ten years from May, 11761, to April,
1771, the total receipts of the Company in Bengal amounted to £24013382, to
which the net income from its territorial revenues contributed £15763828 and
that from customs, etc., £235882. (36)

D. N. BANERJEE.

. (36) Vide "Farther Report from the Committee of Secrecy appointed by the Haase of
•Commons, 1773.
 mm Ijj&tlmm at ^llatfabatt

The Sardhana Pictures at Government House, Allahabad : by Sir Evan

Cotton, C.I.E. (Government Press, Allahabad: 1934),

SIR MALCOLM HAILEY, Governor of the United Provinces, has done a

great service in asking Sir Evan Cotton to describe the seven pictures
bought on behalf of the Local Government when, the contents of the Palace
at Sardhana were sold in 1893.
It is nearly a century since the Begum Samru died'after a romantic career.
While her landed estates escheated to Government, her personal property
devolved upon David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, whose father had been her
manager and, had married a grand-daughter of Walter Reinhardt, nicknamed
Sombre. The Begam who was herself married to Reinhardt, died childless,
and the Palace and its contents were sold on the death of Dyce Sombre’s
widow, who had‘married again after his» decease.
Each of the seven pictures is reproduced in the book, and Sir Evan has
described them and their subjects with his usual accuracy and wealth of detail.
He has also discussed the question of the artists who painted them. Only
one artist can be definitely identified—William Melville, who had gone to
India to join a Calcutta mercantile house, took to painting on its failure and
produced the celebrated portrait of- the Begam 'herself, which forms the
frontispiece to the book.
When M. Clemenceau visited India after the War, he was attracted by
this representation of an Indian lady, and enquired about her history. He
was told how she had once ordered a slave-girl to be strangled and, thinking
that her order might perhaps be evaded, she had the corpse buried in the
ground beneath her tent and her bedstead placed upon it. The "Tiger” said
that he admired determination wherever he found it, and he kissed his fingers
to the picture.
Another painting shows the Begam, who had been received into the
Catholic Church, presenting a chalice to her chaplain who hacl been created
a bishop: and this incident is also reproduced on the front pangji of the
elaborate marble monument over the tombs of the Begam and Dyce Sombre
in the church, which was executed by Tadolini, a follower of Canova.
A portrait of Dyce Sombre showing him in a sort of Court costume, and
wearing the insignia of the Papal Order of Christ, is believed to have been
painted at Rome. He was there in 1839 after the Begam’s death, and
Sir Evan notes that at a solemn mass celebrated in her memory the funeral
oration was pronounced by Cardinal Wiseman, jyho was then a young priest.
EENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.
VOL. XLVIIl.

THE BEGUM SAMRU

By William Melville :
From the Picture at Government House. Allahabad.
 THE SARDHANA PICTURES AT ALLAHABAD. 125

There are three portraits of soldiers, all persons of interest. Allard, who
fought at Waterloo as a captain of French cuirassiers, is shown with his white
beard divided in two wings, as Emily Eden put it, though without the
surviving blackness of the centre and moustache which she noticed and which
appears in another portrait. H. G. Keene, who wrote in 1880 a description
of the pictures for the Calcutta Review, suggested that the painter was an
Indian named Jiwan Ram.
A curious episode is connected with Colonel Robert Stuart, regarding the
painting of whose portrait no artist can be suggested. He was taken prisoner
by a Sikh Sardar, while riding near his station at Anupshahr, and the Begam
was helpful in arranging his ransom. He lived to become a general and to
found a Scottish family (through a grand-daughter) which still preserves another
portrait of the “Kidnapped Colonel.”
Sir Evan Cotton points out that the third portrait of a soldier—Lord
Combermere, who was successful in taking Bharatpur where Lord Lake failed
—appears to be an adaptation of another in the Bengal Club at Calcutta.
The latter is known to be by the younger Beechey (George), and it is possible
that the picture at Allahabad may also be by him.
One more portrait has hitherto been described as that of Sir Charles
(Lord) Metcalfe. It does not, however, resemble any other known likeness,
and Sir Evan has been able to trace in England a miniature of Sir Thomas
Theophilus Metcalfe, a younger brother, thus confirming a tentative identifica­
tion by Keene.
The book also contains a list of some other portraits bought at the sale
'by Mr. T. R. Wyer, I.C.S., and presented by him to the Indian Institute at
Oxford, and a reference to several paintings once in the Palace, but whose
present owners are unknown. Each of these is discussed by Sir Evan with
full references, and the whole book is a model of research and clear
exposition.
The Government Press at Allahabad’ is to be congratulated on the manner
in which the volume has been printed and finished.

R. BURN.
 ©lit ffl&lmtla —a plea fat ttym
prmnrattotu

rpHE following three documents, the earliest of them dated 11769 and the
latest 1782, relate to No, 6 Mission Row, Calcutta. They came into my
possession through the courtesy of my friend Mr. Bhabani Prasun
Chatterjea, B.L. As the premises No. 6 Mission Row has been acquired under
the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, the publication of its title-deeds
would not harm anybody. Generally the parties, interested in the documents,
cease to care for them when the properties to which they relate are acquired
under the Land Acquisition Act; and they are often destroyed or thrown
away. The Calcutta Improvement Trust in course of its operations during the
last 25 year» has acquired hundreds of properties ; and if all the title-deeds
and other papers relating to them could have been collected together and
preserved, what a rich stare-house of historical materials they would have
formed and whal valuable side-lights thi?y would have thrown on the places
and personalities of old Calcutta ; preserving their signatures to the deeds
either as parties or as witnesses, and thus sometimes settling the question of
their identity (when bearing the same Christian name and the same family
surname) or whether they were in India. We think an organised attempt
should be made to collect all such, to the parties useless, documents. If the
Calcutta Historical Society can induce the parties through their Advocates and
Pleaders appearing before the Land Acquisition Collectors of Calcutta, Alipore
and Howrah, or before the President of the Improvement Trust Tribunal and
the Land Acquisition Judges of the 24-Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly, to
leave the documents either in the custody of the Society or with the Trustees
of the Victoria Memorial, say, a large volume of original historical materials
will soon be collected. Even in cases where the properties have been acquired
long ago, if an appeal be made to the parties or their Advocates, some very
valuable documents may still be collected and preserved.
From the three documents under notice we gather the following salient
facts. That although Calcutta within the Mahratta ditch was looked upon
as a part and parcel of the parish of Greenwich, and English Law &s it was
in 11726, was supposed to be applicable here, no stamp duty has been levied
upon any of the documents. That Arcot rupees, and not Sicca rupees, were
used as legal tenders in the transactions between the Europeans, even when
no actual payment was made across the counter. Why this was so we can not
say ; but so far as we know Arcot rupees were not current in this part of
India, although about 1789 there was a scarcity of Sicca rupees. That at that
time 50,000 maunds of Sillet Chunam (Sylhet lime) was valued at Rs. 25,000
 OLD CALCUTTA DOCUMENTS. 127

Arcot rupees, thus giving us an idea of the price of Sylhet lime at Calcutta.
That from the language of the deeds, and the manner in which possession
has been transferred in 1782, first by a lease for a year on the d 5th February,
and then by a sale-deed on the 16th February, we are sure that some solicitors
must have taken part in their preparation. Other facts will appear from the
documents themselves.

I.
Know all Men by these Presents that I John Atchison of Calcutta in
Bengal Merchant in consideration of the sum of Twenty Five Thousand Arcot
rupees/Aks. 25,000/to me in hand paid by Thomas Forbes Esquire of the same
place, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, have bargained, sold,
released, & confirmed & by these presents do bargain, sell, release, grant &
confirm unto him the said Thomas Forbes Esqr One Upper roomed Brick
House & compound in Calcutta af [ores] aid built by me the said John Atchison
the Ground whereof f formerly be] longed in part to Captn. [George Will]
& afterwards to..............& in part to Manuel Cornelius the said Houses
& Compound being bounded as follows, to the East by the Dwelling house
& Compounds of Mr. Thomas Cook, to the North by the Compound of the
Company’s house commonly called the Generals house, to the West by the
House & Compound of Mr. John Elliot & to the South by the street leading
to the Houses of the said Thomas Gpok to Have & to Hold the said House
& Compound with all appurtenances thereunto belonging unto the only proper
use & behoof of him the said Thomas Forbes Esqr, his Heirs, Executors,
Administ. & Assigns for ever, freely, quietly, peaceably & entirely without any
contradiction, claim, disturbance or hindrance of any person or persons what­
soever or any part or parcell thereof ought to exact, challenge, claim or
demand at any time or times hereafter, but from all Action, Right, Estate,
Title, claim, demand, possession & interest thereof shall be wholly barred &
excluded by virtue of these presents, and I the said John Atchison all &
singular the said House & Compound with all appurtenances thereunto
belonging unto him the said Thomas Forbes Esqr, his Heirs, Executors,
Administ. & Assigns against him the said John Atchison his Heirs, Executors,
Administ. & Assigns & against all & every other person & persons whatsoever
shall & will warrant & for ever defend by these presents put him the said
Thomas Forbes Esqr. in full possession of, by delivering over to his possession
the said House & Compound. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my
Hand & Seal in Calcutta aforesaid this seventh day of December in the year
of our Lord, One Thousand, Seven Hundred & Sixty Nine.

John Atchison O
Signed, Sealed & Delivered I hereby acknowledge to have received
/where no stampt paper is to from Thomas Forbes Esqr. the sum of
be had/in presence of— Twenty five Thousand Arcot rupees in
James Leslie full consideration of the above House &
Chas, Forbes Compound.
John Atchison.
§
128 BENGAL ; PAST AND PRESENT.

Bill of Sale
of a House put
• From John Atchison
to
Thomas Forbes Esqr.
7th Deer. 1769
Registered
Calcutta Cutcherry
23rd February 1801 (Illegible)
[Portions within brackets tom or destroyed. J. M. D.]
II.
This Indenture made the Fifteenth day of February in the year of our
Lord Christ one thousand seven hundred and Eighty two Between Thomas
Forbes now or late of Upper Charlotte Street Rathbone place in the County
of Middlesex Esquire South Britain of the one Part and The Honourable
Robert Lindsay of Calcutta at Fort William in Bengal Esquire of the other
Part Witnesseth that the said Thomas Forbes for and in Consideration of the
sum of Five Arcot Rupees of Lawful money of Bengal to him in hand
Paid by thS said Robert Lindsay at or before the Sealing and delivery ,of
these Presents the Receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged Hath granted
bargained and sold and tfy these Presents Doth grant bargain and sell unto
the said Robert Lindsay his Executor? Administrators and assigns all that
Upper Room Messuage Tenement or Dwelling House the property of him
the said Thomas Forbes with the Ground thereunto belonging being . . .
little more or less situate lying and being in Calcutta aforesaid bounded in
manner following to wit to the East by the House and ground of Colonel
Hannay formerly the property of Thomas Cook, to the Westward by the
House and Ground of ... . formerly the property of John Elliott, to
the South by the street leading to the House of the said Colonel Hanney and
Ground of Mr. Charles Weston formerly the property of the Company com­
monly called the Generals House and appurtenances And the Reversion and
Reversions Remainder and Remainders Rents issues and Profits of all and
singular the said Premises and' eyery part and Parcel thereof with the
Appurtenances To have and to hold the said Messuage Tenement or
Dwelling House Ground and Premises above granted bargained and sold
and every Part and Parcel thereof with the. appurtenances unto the said
Robert Lindsay his Executors Administrators and assigns from the day next
before the day of the date hereof for and during and until ihe full end and
Term of one whole year from thenceforth next ensuing and fully to be
complete and ended yeilding and paying therefore one Pepper com at or
upon the feast day of St. Michael next ensuing the date hereof if the same
shall be lawfully demanded To the intent that by Virtue of these Presents
and by force of the statute made for Transferring of uses into Possession he
the said Robert Lindsay may be in the actual Possession of all and singular
the said Premises above bargained rind sold with the appurtenances and be
thereby enabled to take and accept of a Grant and Release of the Reversion
and Inheritance thereof to him and his heirs to the only Proper rise arid
 OLD CALCUTTA DOCUMENTS. 12$

behoof of the said Robert Lindsay his heirs and assigns for ever In Witness
whereof the said Robert Lindsay hath hereunto set his hand and seal and
Henry Watson and the said Cudbert Thornhill of Calcutta aforesaid
Esquires for the said Thomas Forbes have set their hands and seals by
Virtue of a Letter of Atiomey to them made by the said Thomas Forbes
jointly with Lewis Mestayer Esquire, who is now absent from Calcutta dated
the third day of March in the year of Christ one thousand seven hundred
and Eighty the tenor whereof followeth in these Words “Know all Men by
these presents that I Thomas Forbes of Upper Charlotte Street Rathbone
Place in the County of Middlese Esquire Have made Ordained authorized
Constituted and appointed and by these presents Do make ordain authorize
constitute and appoint and in my place and stead put and depute Henry
Watson Cudbert Thornhill and Lewis Mestayer of Calcutta in the Kingdom
of Bengal in the East Indies Esquires jointly and in case of the Decease or
departure of any or either of them from Calcutta aforesaid then and in such
case only I do make and appoint the survivors or survivor of them or such
of them as shall continue to reside at Calcutta aforesaid my true and Lawful
attorneys to treat with any person or persons whomsoever for the sale and
disposition of my late Dwelling House outhouses and Hereditaments with
the appurtenances thereunto belonging situate and being at Calcutta aforesaid
adjoining to the late Mr. Cook’s premises ther^ and after any treaty and
agreement made and concluded as ^oresaid for me and in jny name to sign
seal and deliver any assignment conveyance or asssurance to any person or
Persons that shall purchase or agree to purchase my said House Heredita­
ments and premises as my said attorneys shall in their discretion think fit the
sufficient assigning conveying and assuring of the same House and premises
which shall be so purchased and sold as aforesaid to [the person or] persons
who shall contract for and buy the same for the Execution of every such
treaty and agreement as aforesaid and I do hereby ratify allow and confirm
arid agree to ratify allow and Confirm all and whatsoever acts Deeds matters
and things which my said attorneys shall Lawfully do or cause to be done in
pursuance of or by virtue of these presents or the authority and power hereby
given In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Twenty-
third day of March in the Twentieth year of the reign of our sovereign
Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and
Ireland King Defender of the faith &c, and in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and Eighty. T. Forbes O Sealed and Delivered
(being) first duly stampt in the presence of Alexr. Mitchell.
SealSd and Delivered
in Calcutta Where no stamp are used
or to be had in the presence of ... .
H. Y. Halsay
(Flourishes) Henry Watson. O
Cudbert Thornhill. o
Witness to Hy Watson &
R. Lindsay.
Rob Lindsay. o
Geo. Reed.
Philip da Cruz
Geo. Reed.
130 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

Dated 15 th February 1782

Tho Forbes Esquire
to
The Honble Robert Lindsay Esqr.
No. 8 Lease for a year.
Registered
Calcutta Cutcherry
23rd February 1801
(Sd) E. a. D’Sa.

III.

This Indenture made the Sixteenth day of February in the Year of Our
Lord Christ \>ne thousand seven hundred and Eighty two Between Thomas
Forbes now or late of Upper Charlotte Street Rathbone place in the County
of Middlesex Esquire Sorfth Britain of the one part and the Honourable
Robert Lindsay of Calcutta at Fort Wiltiam in Bengal Esquire of the other
part Witnesseth that for and in consideration of Fifty thousand maunds of
Sillet Chunam valued at Twenty five thousand Arcot Rupees of Good and
lawful money of Bengal to the said Thomas Forbes in heard paid by the said
Robert Lindsay at or before the sealing and delivery of these presents the
Receipt and Payment whereof the said Thomas Forbes Doth hereby
acknowledge and thereof and thereform and of and from every part and
parcel thereof Doth clearly acquit Exonerate Release and discharge the said
Robert Lindsay his Heirs Executors and Administrators and every of them
for ever by these presents he the said Thomas Forbes Hath Granted
Bargained sold assigned Transferred and set over and by these Presents ....
.... Doth Grant Bargain sell assign Transfer and set over unto the said Robert
Lindsay All that upper roomed Messuage Tenement or Dwelling House the
property of him the said Thomas Forbes with the Ground thereunto belonging
being ,, ,, little more or less situate lying and being in Calcutta
aforesaid bounded in manner following to wit, to the East by the House
and Ground of Colonel Hannay formerly the property of Thomas Cook to
the Westward by the House and Ground of ... . formerly the property
of John Elliot to the South by the Street Leading to the House of the said
Colonel Hannay and to the northward by the House and Ground
of Mr. Charles Weston formerly the property of the Company commonly
called the Generals House and appurtenances together with all and singular
the Houses Outhouses, Edifices, Godowns, Buildings, Compounds, Stables,
Cookrooms, Lands ways paiths, Passages, Waters Water coarses, Profits
Commodities advantages Emoluments Hereditaments and appurtenances
whatsoever to the said Messuage Tenement or Dwelling House and Ground
 OLD CALCUTTA DOCUMENTS. 131

belonging or in any ways appertaining And All the Estate Right Title Interest
Trust .... Possefsion Property Claim and demand whatsoever both at Law
and in Equity of him the said Thomas Forbes of in and to or^rat of the said
Messuage Tenement or Dwelling House Ground and Premises every or any
part or parcel there together with all Deeds Pattahs Evidences Writings
Escripts and muniments relating to or touching or concerning the same and
which the said Thomas Forbes can or may lawfully get or come by without
suit at Law or Equity To have and to hold the said messuage Tenement or
Dwelling House Ground and Premises and all and singular other the
Premises herein before mentioned and hereby Granted Bargained Sold
assigned Transferred and set over or meant mentioned or intended so to be
with their and every of their appurtenances unto the said Robert Lindsay
his Heirs Executors Administrators and assigns for ever and the said Thomas
Forbes for himself his Heirs Executors and .... administrators doth
covenant promise and agree to and with the said Robert Lindsay his Heirs
Executors and Administrators by these presents in manner and from
following that is to say that he the said Thomas Forbes now is
immediately before the ensealing and delivery of these Presents Lawfully
possessed of and well entitled unto the Messuage Tenement or Dwelling
House Ground and Premises hereinbefore mentioned with the appurtenances
and hath in himself good Right full Power and absolute authority to Grant
Bargain Sell Assign transfer and set^over and convey the sajne unto the said
Robert Lindsay his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns for ever And
also that the said Messuage Tenement or Dwelling House Ground and
Premises with the appurtenances now are and from time to time and at all
times for ever hereafter shall remain continue and be unto the said Robert
Lindsay his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns free and clear, freely
and clearly and absolutely acquited freed Exonerated and discharged or other­
wise . . . that the said Thomas Forbes his Heirs Executors and Administrators
shall and will well and sufficiently save defend keep harmless and Indemnified
the said Robert Lindsay his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns and
every of them of from and against, all former and other Gifts, Grants
Bargains Sales Leases, Mortgages, Assignments Conveyances, Troubles
Charges, Rents, arrearages of Rents, demands and Incumbrances . . . whatso­
ever had done made committed occasioned or suffered by the said Thomas
Forbes or any other Person or Persons whatsoever or by or with his or their
means Assignment Consent, Privity or Procurement or which shall or may at any
time or times hereafter be had done made committed occasioned or suffered
by or with the*means, Assignment Privity or Procurement of the said Thomas
Forbes his Heirs Executors or administrators or any other Person or Persons
whatsoever claiming or to claim by from or under him or them or
any of them And that he the said Thomas Forbes his Heirs
Executors and administrators and all and every other Person or
Persons whatsoever having or lawfully claiming any Estate. Right, Title,
Trust or Interest either at Law or in Equity of in or to the said
Premises and appurtenances or any part thereof by from under or in Trust
for him or them or any or either of them shall and will from time to time
132 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT.

and at all times for ever hereafter upon any Reasonable request and at the
Costs and charges of the said Robert Lindsay his Heirs Executors Adminis­
trators or Assigns make do and Execute or cause and procure to be made
done and Executed all and every such further and other lawful and Reason­
able Acts and Deeds Grants Assignments Conveyances .... and Assurances
in the Law whatsoever for the furdier better more sure perfect and absolute
Granting Assigning Conveying and Assuring the said Messuage Tenement or
Dwelling, House and Ground and Premises and every part thereof with the
appurtenances unto the said Robert Lindsay his- Heirs Executors Adminis­
trators or Assigns as his or their Counsel Learned in the Law shall be reasonably
desired or required In Witness whereof the said Robert Lindsay hath here­
unto set his hand and seal and the said Henry Watson and Cudbert Thornhill
of Calcutta aforesaid Esquires for the said Thomas Forbes .... have
set their hands and seals by virtue of a Letter of Attorney to them made by
the said Thomas Forbes jointly with Lewis Mestayer Esquire (who is now
absent from Calcutta) dated the third day of March in the Year of Christ
one thousand seven hundred and Eighty the Tenor whereof followeth in these
Words “Know all men by these Presents that I Thomas Forbes of Upper
Charlotte Street Rathbone Place in the County of Middlesex Esquire Have
made ordainfcd authorized constituted and appointed and by these Presents
do make Ordain Authorize constitute and appoint and in my Place and stead
put and depute Henry Matson Cudbert Thornhill and Lewis -Mestayer of
Calcutta in the Kingdom of Bengal in the East Indies Esquires jointly and
in case of the decease or departure of any or either of them from Calcutta
aforesaid then and in such case only I do make and appoint the Survivors ot
Survivor of them or such of them as shall continue to reside at Calcutta
aforesaid my true and .... Lawful attomies to treat with any Person or
Persons whomsoever for the sale and disposition of my late Dwelling House
Outhouse and Hereditaments with the appurtenances thereunto..............
belonging situate and being at Calcutta aforesaid adjoining to the late
Mr. Cooks premises there, and after any Treaty and agreement made and
concluded as aforesaid for me and in my name to Sign Seal and Deliver any
assignment Conveyance or Assurance to any person or Persons that that shall
purchase or agree to purchase my said House Hereditaments and premises as
my said .... attomies shall in their discretion think fit for the sufficient
conveying and assuring of the same House and .Premises which shall be so
purchased and sold as aforesaid to the Person or. Persons who shall contract
for and buy the same for the Execution of every-such Treaty and Agreement
as aforesaid And I do hereby ratify [ * ] allow and confim* and agree to
ratify allow and confirm all and whatsoever acts, Deeds, Matters and things
which my said Attomies shall lawfully do or cause to be done in pursuance
of or by virtue of these Presents or the Authority and Power hereby Given
In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal This twentythird
day of March in the twentieth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord
George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

* Illegible.
 OLD CALCUTTA DOCUMENTS. 133

King defender of the faith &c and in the year of our Lord One thousand
seven hundred and Eighty. T. Forbes (LS) Sealed and delivered (being first
duly stampt) in the Presence of Alexr. Mitchell.

(Sd) Henry Watson O (Sd) Robert Lindsay O

(Sd) Cudbert Thornhill O '
[On the other side] Received the day and year first within
written of and from the within named Robert Lindsay
A. Rs.
Fifty thousand Maimds of Sillet Chunam valued at twenty
25,000
five thousand Arcot Rupees being the full consideration
within mentioned to be paid by him to me

Henry Watson
for Mr. Thos. Forbes
Cudbert Thornhill
Sealed and Delivered at Calcutta (where no stampts are used or to be had)
by the within named Henry Watson in the presence of
(Sd) H. F. Halsey
(Flourishes)*
(Sd) fteo. Reed.
Sealed and Delivered at Calcutta (where no stampts are used or to be had)
by the within named Cudbert Thornhill in the presence of
(Sd) Philip da Cruz
(Sd) Geo. Reed.

No. 9. dated 16th February 11782

Thomas Forbes Esquire
to Release
The Hon’ble Robert Lindsay
Registered
Calcutta Curcherry
22nd February 1801

(Sd) E. a D’Sa.

JATINDRA MOHAN DATTA.

 Wqxw fiiglftetttlf (ttmturg ^mxmtxxfU of
^fetaral $Jaiu&,

^HILE engaged in the study of the History of India during the mid-
Eighteenth Century, I could procure, besides other original documents
in English, French, Persian, and Bengali, three Persian Manuscripts of
considerable historical importance (1), as will be clear from the short notes
on each of them appended below:
(1) Waqai-i-Fath Bangala or Waqai-i-Mahabat Jang by Muhammad Wafa,
Manuscript No. 1776 in the Oriental Public Library, Patna. There is an
exactly similar copy of it in the Library of His Highness the Nawab of Rampur
and we hav» been able to secure a transcript of this latter for the History
Department of the Patna College through the kindness of His Highness the
Nawab and of the Chief Minister of that State. This manuscript covers 90
folios but from folio 63 we get a collection of letters (which are not very
useful for historical purposes) written by the author Muhammad Wafa to hi9
superiors and friends (e.g. a letter to Shah Muhammad Akram, a spiritual
preceptor congratulating him on the birth of his son ; a letter to Gulab Ray
on the birth of his son ; letters of congratulations on the conquest of Bengal
by Allahvardi, and so on). In the first 63 folios we get a detailed account
of the events which took place immediately before and after the accession of
Allahvardi to the masnad of Bengal brought down to 1161 A.H. = 1748 A.D.
From various internal evidences in the text (fs. 2-5) it is clear that the another
was a panegyrist of Allahvardi ; he speaks in high terms about him and his
brother (f. 8) and dedicated his work to the former. Nevertheless, he being
a contemporary observer, gives us many valuable details about the regime of
Allahvardi, especially about the Maratha invasions and the Afghan rebellions
which profoundly influenced the condition of the Bengal Subah. After
describing the early life of Allahvardi, his battle with Sarfaraz Khan, his
subjugation of Orissa in folios 1-15, he begins his story of the Maratha ravages
and the Afghan rebellions. The author makes a significant reference (f. 18)
that after the plunder of Murshidabad by the Marathas, some of the Mahajans
(money lenders) went away with their families to Dacca and many gentlemen
proceeded with their wives and children to Maldah. Another significant
reference is to the desire of Mir Habib with a number of Maratha followers
to attack Dacca (fs. 21-22) from the side of Sunderbans,—a fact which I

(1) I ami indebted to Dr. S. C. Sarkar, M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.) and to Prof. S. H.
Askari, M.A., of Patna College for the help that I have received from them in procuring and
reading these 3 Manuscripts.
 MANUSCRIPTS OF HISTORICAL VALUE. 135

have hitherto known from an English record (2). Muhammad Wafa writes
that on hearing the intentions of Mir Habib to attack Dacca, Allahvardi
ordered Husain Quli Khan, Deputy Governor of Dacca, to proceed to that place
for checking the advance of the Marathas. Husain Quli obeyed his orders and
by proper defensive measures prevented the advance of the Marathas to that
side. His account of the Afghan rebellions supplies us with many important
and interesting details and he has left (f. 50) a graphic description of their
effects on the country. The author seems to have been a master of the
Persian language ; each sentence gives the clue to the date of the event to
which it refers.
(2) Ahwal-i-Ali-Wirdi-Khan (as mentioned in ‘Descriptive catalogue of
Persian Manuscripts’ published by A. S. B., Bibliotheca India Work No. 248)
or Tarikhi Mahabat Jang (British Museum additional Ms. No. 27316, Rieu,
Vol. I, pp. 311-312). This work gives a very valuable and detailed descrip­
tion about the history of the Bengal Subah during the mid-Eighteenth Century,
especially about the administration of Allahvardi. I have consulted (3) a copy
of it preserved in the Library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for my mono­
graph on Allahvardi ; this copy is rather defective as it lacks the first and the
last few pages. The name of the author has not been disclosed anywhere
in the book ; but it is clear from his personal references in several places
(f. 8 ; f. 12 of our copy) that he was connected with the political affairs of
Bengal since the time of Sarfaraz Khan. He writes in one place (f. 42) that
he had to suspend the work of compTeting (first 41 folios had "been apparently
Written before) this book till ill77 A.H. (1763 A.D.). He accompanied Mir
Kasim to Allahabad where his father died and he himself fell ill ; but he
resumed the work of writing out the remaining portion during the third
quarter of the month of Shabaan, 1177 A.H. when it was completed. The
author is modest enough to crave the indulgence of the reader for inaccuracies
or exaggeration. Mr. J. Hindley has ascribed the authorship of the work to
Yusuf Ali Khan (4), son of Ghulam Ali Khan, an intimate friend of Mahabat
Jang Allahvardi ; there are of course strong grounds in favour of this opinion.
Gulam Husain, the author of the Seir-ul-muktakherin, writes that he describes
the sufferings of the Nawab’s troops in their journey from Burdwan to Katwah
on the authority of a contemporary memoir-writer, Yusuf Ali Khan (5). It is
found that the description that Gulam Husain has included in his work is
exactly similar to that given in this manuscript (fs. 34-35). Further, this
work seems to have been the principal authority of Gulam Husain for his
account of the Maratha invasions of Bengal and also of the Afghan rebellions.

(2) "Thg chief of the Council of Dacca states that the City of Dacca is in the utmost
confusion on account of the Durbar having received advices of a large force of Mahrattas
coming in by the way of Sunderbuns and that they were advanced as near as Sundra Col.
when first described by their Hurmrrahs.............” Consultations, March, 1748.
(3) A transcript of this manuscript could be secured for our department through the
courtesy and help of Mr. A. F. M. Abdul Ali, F.R.S L., M.A., Keeper of the Records of the
Government of India, and of Mr. Van Manen, Secretary of A. S. B., to both of whom I express
many obligation and thanks.
(4) Rieu. Vol. 1, pp. 311-312.
(5) VoL ]., p, 388 (English Translation, Cambay Edn.).
9
136 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.

The author gives us many new facts and dates as well which are not
mentioned by any other contemporary writer. Late Sir H. Elliot, K.C.B.,
had a copy gf Tarikh-Ali-War di-Khan (6) i.e. a copy of this manuscript.
(3) Dastur-ul-insha by Munshi Bijairam of Lucknow, written in 1760-61
A.D. It is a voluminous collection of letters of historical value, as most of
these refer to facts of contemporary history and also to many historical
personalities like Siraj-ud-dowla, Mir Kasim, Raja Ramnarain and others. We
get the date 1760-61 in one of these letters. This volume was found in the
collections of Rai Mathura Prasad, B.A., of Patna City, who is a representa­
tive of the family of Raja Ramnarain, the famous Deputy Governor of Behar
in the mid-eighteenth century and who occupies the old house of the Raja at
Maharajghat, Patna City. I am grateful to this gentleman for his kindly
permitting me to utilise the manuscript for my work

•KALI KIN'KAR DUTTA.

(6) Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1854, p. 248.

 BENGAL: PAST AND PRESENT.
VOL. XLVII1.

R A JA H R A M M O H U N R O Y RAJARAM ROY
By H. P. Briggs, R .A . By J ohn K ing .
(By perm ission of the C orporation of Rristol). (By p erm issio n of M r. D avid M inlore).
 ®lj£ ’

fjpHE present year has seen the hundred and first anniversary of the death
of Rajah Rammohun Roy, which took place at Stapleton Grove near Bristol
on September 27, 1833, at the age of fifty one. In
A Portrait at Bristol of the previous year his portrait by H. P. Briggs, R. A.
Rajah Rammohun Roy,
(1793-1847) was exhibited at the Royal Academy. It
was painted for Miss Castle of Stapleton, who paid 200 guineas for it, and
is now the property of the Corporation of Bristol to whom it was presented
by Miss Kiddell in 1841. There is, however, no mention of it in the catalogue
of the municipal collection of pictures, and it does not hang in the Art
Gallery. A more appropriate place has been found for it at the Red Lodge,
the house associated with the name of Miss Mary Carpenter who wrote “The
Last Days in England of the Rajah Rammohun Roy." The picture which is
a large one (93 inches by 57 inches) represents the Rajah at full length. He
is painted in a long dark blue robe reaching to-his feet: an embroidered
shawl is thrown round his shoulders* and his head is covered by a shamla ;
of the type affected by pleaders, which is dull gold in colour with chevron­
shaped bands of embroidery. He is holding a document in his right-hand.
In the background is a view of what purports to be the Rajah’s tomb ; but
if this be so, it must have been painted in after his death. His body was
laid at first in the garden of Stapleton Grove : but the property passed out
of the possession of the Castle family, and on May 29, 1843 the casket contain­
ing the coffin was transferred to the beautiful cemetery at Amo’s Vale, where
a handsome monument was erected by Dwarkanath Tagore in the following
spring.

JT is stated in Miss Carpenter’s book that "on the 8th--April 1831 Rajah
Rammohun Roy arrived at Liverpool, accompanied by his youngest son
Rajaram Roy.” His portrait was likewise painted at
5on1RajaS^alRoy.a<ioPted Bristol, the artist being John King (1788—1847), whose
0 picture of Sir John Bowring, the Chinese Scholar, is
in the National Portrait Gallery. The painting which is a half length (28 inches
by 36 inches) is dated December 1833 and was exhibited at the Royal
Academy in 1834. It will be observed that the paper which the sitter is
holding in his right hand, is a map of Bengal and that he is pointing to
Calcutta with his left hand. The shamla in his case is rose-pink with
transverse lines of green and yellow on a white ground. The under-vest is
also rose-pink and is embroidered with gold spots. The tunic is a rich
blue with gold trimmings. Little is known about Rajaram Roy, who was the
adopted son of the Rajah, but that little was placed upon record by Sir
138 BENGALPAST AND PRESENT. /

William Foster in a paper read before the Royal Historical Society on

November 10, 11916. He came to London after his father’s death and applied
to Sir John Hobhouse (Lord Broughton), who had just become President of
the Board of Control, for a post in his office. The application was granted
and he was appointed in August 1835 to an extra clerkship on a salary of
£100 a year. In Alexander’s East'India Magazine for July to December 1836
(Vol. 12, p. 568) it is stated, on the authority of the Bengal Hur\am, that the
President nominated him to a Bengal writership and that the directors refused
to confirm the nomination. He remained in the Board’s office for nearly three
years and then returned to India with a donation of £100. Details of his
subsequent career are wanting but it is believed that he died young. He was
an orphan and was brought up by the Rajah, although never adopted
according to the strict letter of the Hindoo law. The Rajah’s natural-bom
son, Rama Prasad Roy, was a distinguished pleader in the Sudder Dewanny
Adawlut, and after acting as Government Pleader, was appointed a Judge of
the High Court at Fort William upon its establishment in 1862, but died before
he could take his seat. He was an orthodox Hindoo and was re-admitted to
caste after his father’s visit to England.

are enabled to give illustrations of both pictures. The portrait of

Rajah~Rammohun Ro# is reproduced by permission of the Corporation
of Bristol: and that of Rajaram Roy by the courtesy
Our Illustrations.
of the present owner, Mr. David Minlore, of 8 Tenby
Mansions, Nottingham Street, London, W. 1.

JpOUR Indian Princes—The Nawab of Bhopal, the Nawab of Rampur, the

Maharaja of Rajpipla, and the Aga Khan—recently purchased from
Messrs. Spink and Son the picture, of which, under
\° ^*ce' the name of a “Group of Bengal Officers”, a detailed
, description-and an illustration were given m Vol. XLV
of Bengal: Past and Present (p. 1-4). It was presented by them to the Queen,
and Her Majesty has given it to the Viceroy as an addition to the art collection
of the Government of India. At a reception held by their Excellencies at
Simla on August^) last, it was on view, and will no doubt find a place on
the walls of Viceregal Lodge. Zoffany is named as the artist, and although
there is no direct evidence to support the attribution,- there is much in the
composition which is very characteristic of him.

Tl/TENTION is made elsewhere (I) in a review of Mr. C. L. Wallah’s books

on Fatehgarh of Major Charles Marsack (1735-1820). To the particulars
of the career of this officer which have already
Major Charles Marsack. appeared in Bengal : Past-and Present (Vol. XXXIV,
p. 1140) we are able, by the kindness of Major Hodson,
and from other sources, to add the following. He was the stepson of Thomas

(1) Ante, p. 52. By an oversight this note was omitted from our last number.
 THE EDITOR’S NOTE-BOOR. 139

Holcroft, an author and dramatist (who figures in the Dictionary of National

Biography) and is described in a Becher pedigree as a natural son of George
the Second and Marguerite de Marsac. The connexion with the? Becher family
came through his wife Charlotte Becher, who was a daughter of Richard
Becher the eider (1721-1782), and whose four brothers served in India—John,
Richard junior, and Charles Becher in the Bengal Civil Service, and George
Becher (1780-1837) in the Bengal Cavalry. Mrs. Marsack died at Brighton on
January 20, 1837, in her seventieth year : and the death was announced on
June 12, 1932, of the only daughter of General Augustus Becher Marsack,
who was presumably her son. Two other Marsacks were at the East India
College at Haileybury: Edward Claud Marsack (1810-181.1), who served in
Bombay from 1812 to 1818, and George Hartwell Marsack (1808-1809), who
did not proceed to India.

rpHROUGH her mother, Anne Haselby, who was the second wife of
Richard Becher senior, Mrs. Marsack was related to the Pattle family.
Sarah Haselby married Thomas Pattle (1744-1818), who
Magnificence at retired from the Company’s service in Bengal with a
Moorshedabad. f . “
fortune and was a Director from 1787 to 1795 : but,
having like his brother-in-law, dissipated it, returned to India to make another.
The regal magnificence in which he lived at Mfforshedabad as Senior Judge
and Superintendent of Nizamut AffaTrs left a deep impression upon Lieutenant
John Pester when he and his friend Charles Becher stayed with him in
December 1805 on their way from Bareilly to Calcutta. (“War and Sport in
India”, pp. 442-446). Pattle in his turn sent two sons into the Bengal Cavalry,
of whom, Henry John was accidentally killed before Sasni in 1803, and William
(1783-1865) became a general and colonel of the 19th Hussars. Two other
sons entered the Bengal Civil Service : Richard William Pattle who died in
October 1803 at Berhampore, and James Pattle (1776-1845) who was^the father
of “the beautiful Miss Patties,” and brother-in-law of Edward Impey, B. C. S.
the son of Sir Elijah. Of the daughters, Eliza Ann was married at Moorshe­
dabad on June 30, il 804, to Robert Mitford, (B. C. S. 1800-1831), after whom
the Mitford Hospital at Dacca is named.

J^/JR. C. L. WALLACE, I.C.S., writes from Fatehgarh : “The location of

the grave of Robert Home in the cutcherry cemetery at Cawnpore is
mis-described in the centenary article published in
The Grave Robert your last issue {ante, p. 1). It is not near the entrance
Home. #
gate but on the opposite side of the cemetery which
is a very large one. The tomb of Home's daughter Mrs. Walker adjoins it
and is separated by a distance of two feer. Both are in the shape of coffers
of yellowish white sandstone, standing on four claw legs of red Agra stone,
and there is probably one vault underneath. The inscription on Home’s tomb
is on an oval blue stone slab let into a niche at the side, and that on
Mrs. Walker’s is on a white marble stone and is now nearly illegible.” To
this interesting note we are glad to be able to add that the tombs have been
140 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT. /
restored by order of His Excellency Sir Malcolm Hailey and are now in
perfect preservation.

WE. are indebted also to Mr. Wallace for the following further note : An
interesting inscription at Kanauj is recorded by an Army Chaplain of
the name of Mackay who marched to Fatehgarh in
Ka^auj.InSC"Pti0n at 1857 with Sir Colin Campbell’s force. On December
30, 1857, he went over the ruins at Kanauj and in the
tomb of Bala Pir noticed many names and inscriptions which had been
scratched on the walls by visitors. Of these he copied one which was as
follows. “In the place where eleven hundred years ago the Rajahs of Hind
worshipped there now stands Herbert Edwardes, 2nd European Light Infantry,
August 1841.” Edwardes, of whom John Lawrence wrote that he was “a
born leader of nien”, was then a young man of twenty-two and had just
joined his regiment.

JN a third note Mr. Wallace traces the history of the' colours of the 13th
Bengal Infantry which now hang in the officers’ mess at Fatehgarh of the
Lucknow Regiment (now disguised as the 10th batta-
j"°*ours t^ie lion gf the 7th Rajput Regiment). The 13th B. I.
■ (Gaurud-ka-pultan)«were raised at Moorshedabad in
January 1764 by Colonel Thomas Goddard. Originally the 18th battalion of
Sepoys, they were known in succession as the 17th battalion, the 1st battalion
of the 7th B. I., and (from il 824 to 1857) as the 13th B. I. After the siege of
• the Lucknow Residency, the loyal remnants of the 13th, 48th, and 71st Bengal
Infantry were formed into the Lucknow Regiment, or 20th Bengal Infantry
(Baillie Guard-ka-pultan). In 1861 they were re-named the 16th B. I., and in
1897, the 16th Rajputs, and received their present designation in 1922. One
of the early colonels of the 13th B. I. was John Cockerell (1750-1798), the elder
brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, the Bengal civilian who founded the Calcutta
agency house of Cockerell Traill and Co. John Cockerell accompanied
Matthew Leslie and Goddard in their famous march across India in 1778 and
commanded the ^engal detachment before Seringapatam in the third Mysore
War (1790-1792). C)n his return to Calcutta from Mysore he presented his
regiment (which was then the 7th B. I.) with the spear head, ferule, and
ornaments of the two pikestaffs to which the colours are attached. The
regimental colour in the officers’ mess dates from the period 1824-1829: and
the Queen’s colour probably dates from 1856, as it measures 6 feet by 6 feet,
instead of the old size which is 7)^> feet by 7/% feet. •

rpHE seventy-seventh anniversary of the Relief of the Lucknow Residency

by Havelock and Outram fell on September 25. During the past twelve
months one of the survivors, Mrs. Blanche Long, one
CafU<tta°W ^urvivor3 *n of the daughters of T. H. Kavanagh V.C. has died,
but three others have been discovered—Sir Ramsay
Couper (bom 1855), the eldest son of Sir George Couper (Lieutenant-Governor
 THE EDITOR’S NOTE-BOOK. 141

of the N. W. P. from 1877 to 1882), has lived in Australia for the past fifty
years, and two residents of Calcutta, Mr. A. G. Campagnac (bom 1848) of
37 Macleod Street, and Mrs. May Hollingbery (bom 1854) «of 222 Lower
Circular Road. Mr. Campagnac’s father, Mr. Charles Campagnac, was a
Persian and Arabic scholar and much of the confidential work of the Resident
passed through his hands. "It was he”, (writes his son), “who exposed the
chicanery of the Oudh Government through the Phasnix and the Star of India,
and this so annoyed the King that he set a price on his head.” Mrs. Holling­
bery is the daughter of Mr. Charles Tufnell Vaughan, one of the masters at
the Martiniere, who died during the evacuation of the Residency: her mother
who also survived the siege, died at Gorakhpur in 1900. The little band of
“Lucknow children” now numbers eleven. The senior is Mr. C. G.
Palmer, C.I.E. (bom 1847), late Chief Engineer to the Government of the
United Provinces, who lives in British Columbia. He is the only living holder
of the Mutiny Medal with the special clasp for the “DefenVe of Lucknow”,
which he served by acting as ammunition boy to his brother-in-law, Captain
Ralph Ouseley, of the 48th B. I. His father Colonel (afterwards General)
Henry Palmer (who died at Mussoorie on August 23, 1882) joined the Bengal
Army in February 11826 and was Colonel of the 48th B. 1. at tj>e time of the
siege when he successfully evacuated the Machhi Bhawan. On the formation
of the Lucknow Regiment, he became the first commandant. One of the first
victims of the siege was his daughter Miss Susanna Palmer, % girl of nineteen,
who was fatally wounded by the bursting of a shell when sitting in the upper
storey of the Residency.

Since the foregoing lines were written, the death has been announced
of Mr. Frederick George Lincoln, at Lucknow. Mr. Lincoln was a child of
three when he was besieged with his parents in the Residency. He was for
many years a well-known legal practitioner at Lucknow and wa^r also the
proprietor of the Carlton Hotel. According to time-honoured custom, he was
buried in the Residency cemetery.

F is always a pity to spoil a good story: but not evej^it respectable old
age can shelter a picturesque tradition from the searchlight of fact. We
stated in our last issue (ante p. 66) that the name of
The Origin of Ramkhet. Ranikhet, the military hill-station above Naini Tal, is
a corruption the Christian names “Annie Kate” of the daughter of a former
Commissioner. The cantonment was established in 1869 and the famous Sir
Henry Rfmsay, who was “King of Kumaon” from 1856 to 1884, is believed
to have had a daughter named Annie. But Mr. J. C. Powell Price, Inspector
of Schools at Lucknow, whose authority on matters connected with Kumaon
cannot be disputed, informs us that the derivation cannot be supported.
There was a village of Ranikhet long before the cantonment.
Many such names occur in the Kumaon hills : such as Ranidhara in
Almora and Ranibagh. The cantonment covers the area of the
villages of Sama, Kotli, and Ranikhet, according to the gazeteer of
 142 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT. /
the Almora district. In 1815,. when William Linnaeus Gardner and
his Rohilla irregulars drove the Gurkhas from the ridge, the village
was celled Kumpur, and it afterwards belonged to the Troup family
who used to own Kausani. But Ranikhet has always been Ranikhet
and is not a corruption of “Annie Kate.”
Henceforth, then, Annie Kate” must be relegated to the category of
soldiers’ jests, like the grimmer transformation of cholera morbus into
“Corporal Forbes”.

^^NOTHER cherished tradition centres round the name of Bemadotte, the

only one of Napoleon’s Marshals who won a permanent throne, and
whose descendant is now King of Sweden. The story
Bemadotte at Cudda- „„„„ that Bemadotte served in his youth with a
goes
lore,
9 French regiment in India and was taken prisoner at
Cuddalore in a sortie from Fort Saint David during the siege of 1783. He
Was treated kindly by General Wangenheim of the 1st Hanoverian Regiment:
and many years later, when the Marshal entered the kingdom of Hanover at
the head of hfe troops, the old general attended his levee and found that he
had not been forgotten. It is a pleasant tale: but like so many others, it
must be relegated to the region of fiction. The records of Bemadotte’s life
have been examined by special searchers* employed by the King of Sweden,
and it has been established that he was never in India.

' fjpHE old controversy about the Peacock Throne at Delhi was revived in
the correspondence of the Sunday Times during September. It was
asserted that it was still to be seen in the Palace of
The Peacock Throne the Shah at Teheran: and .-alternatively, that it was
at Delhi. ^
on view in the Seraglio at Constantinople (Istanbul).
Neither of these can claim to be the famous Peacock Throne which stood in
the Dewan-i-Khas of the Palace at Delhi and was carried away by Nadir
Shah in 1733. The facts were stated by Lord Curzon in a letter to the Times
of September 1 o%i?i 9. The Takht-i-Taus was broken up after the death of
Nadir Shah, who was murdered in north-east Persia in :1747. Such fragments
as survived were inserted in the seat or throne which is at Tejieran, and
which was found in a ruinous condition by the Shah Aga Muhammad in
1794 and restored by him. An imitation of this was made for the Shah Fath
Ali (1797-1834), and this is also at Teheran. *

rj^HE mystery regarding the date and place of Warren Hastings’ first
marriage still remains unsolved. It is known that the lady was Mary
Buchanan, the widow of Captain John Buchanan, who
Marriage1 ^astin8 s ^*r8t perished in .the Black Hole : - and ‘ ‘Sydney C. Grier,
with the help 'of Sir William Foster endeavours to
connect her with Mary Elliott, who was granted leave in December 1751 to
 THE EDITOR’S NOTE-BOOK. 143

proceed to Madras with Philadelphia Austen. Philadelphia married “Tyso

Saul Hancock, Surgeon” at Cuddalore in February 1753: and on March 14,
1753, Lieutenant John Buchanan of Craigievem, who had been appointed to
succeed to the first company that fell vacant in Bengal, obtained leave from
the Directors to take his wife out with him. Mary Elliott did not sail with
her friend Philadelphia on the Bombay Castle and the suggestion is that she
married Buchanan in England and accompanied him on the Prince Edward
which reached Bombay, en route for Bengal, at the end of September 1753.
A further supposition, based on the fact that her child was named Catherine
Caroline, is that she was related to Colonel Caroline Frederick Scott, who was
appointed to be Chief Engineer in Bengal a few weeks before Buchanan.
As regards her marriage to Hastings, Archdeacon Hyde, (who discovered her
relationship to Buchanan from a petition submitted to the Mayor’s Court by
Hastings on June 9, 1758) took the view that the ceremorw was performed
at Fulta by Richard Cobbe, Chaplain of Admiral Watson’s mgship the Kent.
It is known that such marriages were solemnized: but Captain Bullock reports
that both the Captain's Log and the Ship’s Muster Book which are in the
Public Record Office in London have been searched and contain no such
entries. Richard Cobbe is shown as "Linguister” or interpseter: he was
discharged on July 28, 1756 and appointed Chaplain of the Factory, but his
will was proved on September 6, so that he must^ have died before that date.
And the Calcutta registers are blanl^ from February 1756 to January 11758.

/~\N the left bank of the river Gandak, about a quarter of a mile to the e
south of the bungalow occupied by the sub-divisional officer of Hajipur
(in the Muzaffarpur district) there are the remains of
The Tomb of Captain wJla(: was evidently a large tomb. It can be connected
" at 3,P“‘ with the entry made by Lady Nugent in hm Journal
on August 2, 1812:
A few miles above Patna, on the opposite side of the Ganges
[sic], in the village of Hajeepore, is a monument to the memory of
Captain Carstairs who served in the war agaijj^ Meer Cossim.
What makes it worthy of remark is its having been erected by his
butler as a proof of his respect and attachment.
Unhappily, the tomb has fallen into such a state of disrepair that it is
impossible to #estore it or to affix a tablet. A portion of brick work, two or
three feet#high, is perched on the edge of the cliff: and two large slabs of
brick work are lying on the bank of the river, twenty feet below. The local
tradition is that the monument is that of “a lame sahib.” This was reported
also by Mr. E. W. Collin who was in charge of the sub-division in 1884, when
“a very large tomb of a pyramidal shape” was in existence. Peter Carstairs,
who survived the Black Hole, was in command of the Patna detachment in
1763, when the Factory was evacuated, and died on July 3 from a wound
received at the battle of Manjhi. The lameness may refer to the nature of
his wound which was in the groin: but Holwell mentions that he was
110
 144 BENGAL : PAST AND PRESENT. /
wounded at the jail during the siege of Fort "William in 1756. There seems
at no time to have been an inscription on the tomb.

j^N 1847, when the surplusage of senior officers in the Army would seem to
have been as great as it is now, the British Government, in its desire to
speed up colonization in the "modern Australian State
The Fate of the Pioneer.
of Victoria, offered £300 or .300 acres of land to any
officer in India who would settle there. This interesting fact is recalled by
Sir Louis Dane in a letter which was published in The Times of October 18.
The offer was accepted by Captain- John Dane who was stationed in South
India with his regiment, the 28th Foot (now the 1st battalion of the Gloucester­
shire Regiment): 4 and he arrived at Melbourne (which has just celebrated its
centenary) on August 8, 1848, with his wife and three children. He agreed
to take land, and the area selected is covered at the present day by the
principal streets of Melbourne. Unluckily, while he was in Ireland in 1862,
his agent sold off the property and absconded to the United States where he
subsequently committed suicide. Financial disaster similarly overtook Thomas
Law, the unc!3 of Lord Ellenborough the Governor-General: but the scene of
his ill-fortune was Washington. Law “was the sixth of the seven sons of
Edmund Law, Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Bishop of Carlisle from
1768 to il 787. Bbth he and his elder brSther Ewan (died 1829) were in the
Company’s service in Bengal. He came out as a writer in 1773 and retired
in 1791. Sahibgunge a suburb of Gaya was laid out by him when Collector
of Behar, and his last three years in India were passed in the Board of
‘Revenue. After his retirement he-went to America, and Thomas Twining
records in his “Travels in India” that he stayed with him in 1796 in his
house on the banks on the river Potomac at Washington, “rhe contemplated
metropoljj^ of the United States”, where he had invested largely in land and
thereby "compromised the greater part of his fortune.” He married Eliza
Custis, the step-daughter of George Washington and died in 1834. Miss
Gertrude Law of Oakhurst, Midhurst, arrived in 1820 a portrait of him by
Zoffany, painted before he went to America to the order of his brother Ewan
who lived at CSfc#m near Oxford. A smaller portrait may be seen in a
collection of American celebrities at the Bristol Art Gallery.

TN August last His Excellency the Governor of Bengal unveil*d portraits of

two eminent Bengalis—Maharajah Sir Manindra Chandra Nandi and Rai
Sitanath Roy Bahadur—in the hall of the Bengal
Two Eminent Bengalis. Chamber of Commerce in Royal Exchange Place,
Calcutta. The Maharaja who by virtue of his descent from “Contoo Babboo”,
(Krishna Kanta Nandi), the dewan and friend of Warren Hastings, was head
of the Cossimbazar Raj family, took a' lively interest in the Calcutta Historical
Society and was always ready to. welcome its members at Moorshedabad:
His death in 1929 at the age of sixty nine was a severe loss to the Society.
The Rai Bahadur, who died in .1920 at precisely the same age was one of
 % . THE EDITOR’S NOTE-BOOK. 145

the three well-known brothers of the Bhagyakul family in Dacca. His elder
brother Raja Janoki Nath Roy, who alone survive, is a generous supporter
of the Society which is proud to number him among its Vice-Presidents.

fJ'HE grandson of Horace Hayman Wilson—Mr. Alexander Hayman Wilson,

the well known Privy Council agent and solicitor, who died on June 23
,, ,, , last—has bequeathed to the National Portrait Gallery
Horace Hayman Wilson. . •. r 1 • if 1 , ^ .
a portrait or his grandfather by Ueorge Chmnery, or,
alternatively, another portrait by Sir George Hayter. To the Indian Institute
at Oxford he has left the replica of the bust by Sir Francis Chantrey, which
stands in the rooms of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Horace Hayman Wilson
(1784—1860) came out to Bengal as an assistant surgeon in 1808 and became
Assay Master of the Mint in il816. He was Secretary of tie Asiatic Society
from 18M to 1833, when he went to Oxford as the first occupant of the
Boden Chair of Sanskrit. Of the value of his Sanskrit publications there is
no need to speak.

£|OME interesting additions have been made to the Dacca Museum during
the past year. The most important of these is a copper plate of Vanya
Gupta of thS year 188 (equivalent to* 506 A.D.) which
The Dacca Museum.
was found at Gunaighur, about 18 miles to the north
west of the town of Comilla. It shows that during the decline of the Gupta
power, two independent princes of the same family, but probably of different
branches, were ruling—one in Eastern India and the other in Central and*
Northern India. Another notable acquisition is an image of black chlorite,
representing the Buddhist deity Lokeswar of the Simhananda type. It was
discovered in the Titaisor bhil, at Ratanpur, which lies to the soutjj west of
Munshiganj in the Dacca district. The god is sitting on a roaring lion.

Two interesting presentations have been made to the India 1 Office by

Mr. Bernard Eiloart, whose wife was a grand-daugifter !er cf the famous
’‘King” Palmer of Hyderabad. One of these is the
Relics of the Palmer title-roll as Begum of the House of Delhi of Bibi Faiz
Family.
Bakhsh, the second wife of General William Palmer,
who was "K4hg” Palmer’s mother: and the other is a plan of “Palmer’s
Kotee” afcHyderabad, It was from Mrs. Eiloart that the India Office purchased
in 1925 a picture representing the General and his Family which is attributed
to Zoffany and is supposed to have been painted at Lucknow in the latter
half of 1786. An illustration was given in Vol. XXXIX of Bengal: Past and
Present (p. 69).