\<^^. v- \'^^ •^~\ v>~ ^ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES hr-' i u L f< INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. PART I, 1859-68. BY SATYA CHANDRA ,MUKERJI, m.a., b.l. Vakil, High Court, JV. W. Provinces. OTHER TWO PARTS TO FOLLOW. CALCUTTA: PUBLISHED BY S. K. LAHIRI & CO., 54, COLLEGE STREET. 189L [ All Rights Reserved. ] CONTEKTS. Pages. Introductory ........ 1 — 7 Chapter I (1859) 9 i;) Chapter II (1860) 20—29 Chapter III (1861) 30 38 Chapter IV (1862) 39—50 Chapter V (1863) 51—60 Chapter VI (1864) 61—73 Chapter VII (1865) 74—84 Chapter VIII (1866) ....... 85—94 Chapter IX (1867) 95—106 Chapter X (1868) 107—120 Chapter XI (the First Decade under the Crown) . 121 — 145 16S43C4 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. INTRODUCTORY. Since some years past I have conceived a strong desire to brinsf out such a work as the one, now before the public. There is nothing which is so entertaining and intensely interesting as a faithful narration of the various phases of social and j)olitical history of one's own times, and of the times immediately preceding them, which helps the thoughtful mind in fully grasping and at times anticipating the phenomena in the various spheres of life around him. To the average mind, the history of the past is comparatively dull reading, but the history of those times wherein we live, affording a clear and penetrative insight into the great social and political landmarks visible all round us, is considered to be a thing which every man of culture ought, above all things, to care about. This is a sentiment not only accidentally prevailing among the majority of the pub- lic who can read and write, in the greater part of the civilized world, but is founded upon deep-rooted tenden- cies of human nature. The abstruser branches of human learning must always remain the monopoly of the gifted few, but history if written in a popular style and contain graphic illustrations of the men, the manners, the social and political phenomena actually 1 2 iyi)IAX HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. observed or observable, either in remote times or in our own generation, has instructed and delio-hted the readinof public in every age and countiy, and has profitably occu- pied leisure hours otherwise spent too often in moral or intellectual dissipation. The taste for newspaper — reading which in the most civilised countries has Gfrown to be a passion and has been turned to be almost one of the nece- ssaries of life among the cultured classes is but one patent illustration of the truth, stated above. But new^spapers contain only the news of the da}^ or the hour, ordinarily read but once and soon forgotten. No one except the intending historian or the professed scholar ever cares to busy himself with the files of old newspapers. At the end of each generation in uneventful times, and at the end of every eventful period, it is highly neces- sary that a connected account in a narrative form of the men and measures of the time that has gone by should be available to the enquiring public. Those who have already reached the middle age of life will find in such a work the recapitulation of that period they have lived, and will be able to reflect by the calm light of their maturer years, events which once aroused their interest and curiosity in younger days, and the men just beginning their lives in the world will find in it those materials which are absolutely necessary to a proper understanding of the current literature of their society. In England and other countries of civilised Europe contemjiorary history is so fashionable a study, and so necessary to the young politician or the young journalist, that books on that subject are available by scores, but in India it is unfortunately quite otherwise. ryoLix insTORY of our own times. 3 All the histories of India that are now available to the literary public end with the Indian Mutiny, — that terrible catastrophe which shifted the administra- tion of the land from the hands of the East Indian Company to those of the Crown. Prior to that exci- ting period many capable historians have written delightful works on many of the particular periods of Indian history, which mostly are the product of per- sonal observation, and rare literary gifts, — works widely read not only in India but w^herever the English lancruao-e is known. But all such works terminate with Kaye and Malleson's splendid volumes on the Indian Mutiny. The grand evolution of Indian social and political life, during the first thirty years of administra- tion under the Crown^ a period which is characterized by steady and rapid progress, and reconstruction on a sure and improved basis on the ruins of a fallen ad- ministration, has not yet been put before the public in a readable shape by any writer whatever. Those who have lived through the past thirty years will readily admit that it was a most interesting period of peaceful reconstruction in every department of administration, in which w^ork the experiences of the past hundred 3^ears of British rule had been wisely utilized. Some official writers and some casual travellers have occa- sionally, dealt wdth certain detached portions of this period in works that acquired a contemporaneous cele- brity, but a connected picture of the whole period has not yet been forthcoming. It is universally admitted however, that travellers from foreign lands reproduce but hastily conceived impressions, without any thorough 1—2 4 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. mastery of the Indian sociology and polity, and their works though constituting charming reading in news- papers and periodicals can hardly be transferred to the sober realms of history. Official writers on Indian affairs again labor under great disadvantage owing to the extreme reserve of oriental character. The grow- ing taste for reading and writing for newspapers among the educated men in every part of India and the in- creased political activities manifest everywhere, render it imperatively necessary that this period of the history of India (from 1859-1889) wherein lie the germs of every institution of progress that seem flourishing round us, should be thoroughly and carefully studied. Those, whose duty or privilege it will be to aid in the advancement of Indian administration or civilization in any of its aspects, in the next generation should, above all things, take into consideration the history of the generation that is just gone by. Just after leaving the University of Calcutta, where I was fortunately the recipient of the best training in History and poli- tical economy available in the Presidency of Bengal, I cast about on all sides for any one book whence I could learn all about the political measures and the social life of the first generation of direct Indian administra- tion by Her Gracious Imperial Majesty, but to my deep regret, I found that I shall have to go to the files of newspapers for any such entertaining and profitable study. I do not unfortunately belong to the leisured classes and being under the necessity of following a pro- fession I could with much difficulty spare the time that this process of study implied. I have therefore made up INDIAN HISTORY OF OVR OWN TIMES. 5 my mind to do what I can to remove all such difficulties from the path of the future student of Indian contem- poraneous history. In attempting to write the followino* pages, I am but too conscious of my own imperfections for the momentous task that I have undertaken. How much I wish this duty to our country had been taken up by some one of that long array of able men whom our country has j^roduced, and who would unite to natural abilities and acquired culture, the most unlimited leisure and opportunities for threading out this subject in all its variety of details. But there is yet in our country such splendid careers open to every man of real abilities whether natural or acquired, that I am afraid they will not find time for that amount of miscellaneous drudgery which a work like this implies, and I thouo-ht, and perhaps rightly that I might with my limited culture, rush into a region where better men would fear to tread and should I prove a failure here, there would be no harm caused, as I am sure to be followed by abler men in the work of writing on this jDortion of Indian history, among my own countrjanen. In the mere mechanical work of piling up facts on facts, one man has not much superiority over another, but my work will probably be without those acute and philo- sophic reflections that in the hands of the really finished scholar, enliven the narration of the driest details, and intersperse with attractive and central truths of life any subject, however dull it may be to the average mind. After having decided on undertaking this work there still remained to me the difficult task of accu- rately settling its plan. I thought I might take each G IXDlAy mSTOTlY OF OUR OWN TIMES. year by itself and availing myself of the learned retros- pects of each year that appear in the columns of some Indian newspapers, I might give its history concisely. But this plan I decided, was hardly suited to a work which pretends to be a regular history of the period it treats of as its adoption would lead to frequent inter- ruption in the chain of naration of any one or any con- nected set of historic phenomena. Nor did I think it wise to make the work merely a series of essaj^s on detached subjects, which form the heads of discussion. After mature consideration I thought of adopting the plan that I have seen adopted by some of the greatest historians of the modern age of keeping intact the thread of narration of the main events and devote separate chapters to the discussion of those items that require a separate treatment. The fjxct, that I am a professional man, and that I can attend to this business, which has been lying nearest to my heart for some years, only in the intervals of professional labour, again compels me to place this book before the public in three parts. I shall take up a decade in each of the parts and deal with it as thoroughly as I can with re- ference to all the phases of activities visible through it. Should no unlucky interruptions intervene, I hope to place before the public, the completed work within a measurable distance of time. I have also thought it proper to avoid long strings of names and places in describing a military campaign and while omitting no material details have confined myself to a general outline of every event in each year. The admonitions in their annual addresses of every IJ^DIAX HISTORY OF OUR OWX TIMES. 7 vice-chancellor of that university where I laid the foundations of every thing I strive after now, to those situated like myself, with reference to employing their spare hours to those jDursuits that were the delights of their academic daj^s had a good deal to do towards my undertaking this work of ^^atient and arduous labour. I shall feel very thankful if my work is at all deemed to be useful to that vast class of the educated Indian public for whom it has been mainly intended, and should any errors or defects meet the kind eye of any of my readers, or any suggestions of improvement occur to them, I shall respectfully solicit them to com- municate the same to me. With many apologies for my shortcomings, and with the earnest hope that my work would be judged indulgently, I resjoectfully place this book in the hands of the educated Indian public. SATYA CHANDRA MUKERJL INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. PART THE FIRST. CHAPTER I. 1859. The closing scenes of the mutiny — The point from which we intend to take up the history of our own times, will be the year 1859, A vast catastrophe had just swept over the land, whose causes, many fertile brains were left to speculate upon. The old order of things gave place to the direct control of the British cabinet on Indian affairs. The local officials, no less than the British public, took notice of every circumstance that might in any way have contributed to the sharp malady of the body politic. The necessity of a centralized administration, of a due proportion in the numbers of the European and the native army, and of the use of every legitimate means for reconciling the vast body of alien population to British rule, became every day more and more apparent. The work of destruction had been going on for a tolerably long period of sharp disorder, the work of reconstruction was now to begin. The mutiny, it was readily perceived, was a more military revolt. The vast mass of the Indian population had absolutely nothing to do with it. Some writers who lost their balance of mind on hearing the sad stories of the cruelties practised on English men and women by the mutineers in many of the great cities of the N. W. Provinces, indulged for a time in 2 10 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. a sweeping dennnciation of the native races of India and cried bitterly for their ntter annihilation. But with tho lapse of time and the soothing of angry and excited feelings it became clearly apparent that the native subjects of the East India Company had little or nothing to do with the rebellion. They had in most cases suffered as much from the rebellion as the English residents themselves, and many English officers, who have lived to tell the story of the rebellion to a later generation hive borne testimony to the unflinching devotion with which many native gentlemen of rank and respectability did not hesitate, even at the peril of their own position, to shelter the English officers and their families wherever possible, even in the most excited districts. Before the beginning of 1859, the rebellion had been crushed out in the most important centres. Delhi, Agra and Lucknow had all passed again from the complete or the partial grasp of the mutineers, to the possession of the British. In all these great towns and many places elsewhere the mutineers gathered in large numbers and turned against the English Government all those appliances of civilized warfare and all that knowledge of military tactics that it had derived in the quarters and under the officers of the same government, and a race of valiant captains whom the times called forth had after many gallant deeds and much heroic struggle, succeeded during the troubled years of 1857 and 1858, in stamping out the flame of rebellion in the most populous provinces of India. The story of those heroic deeds and sufferings have been told to the world by men who could set off to the best advantage the tragic interest of that dark page of Indian History, and it would be idle to attempt to do anything more than incidentally to allude to them in this place. When the year 1859 opened, the last traces of tlie rebellion could only be found among the arid tracts, the dense jungles and the deep ravines of Central India. On the 18th of January 1859, Lord Canning from his Allahabad camp proclaimed in a state paper that the rebellion should bo taken nWIAX n IS TORY OF OUR OWN' TIMES. 11 to have completely ended as far as Oudh and the North Western Provinces were concerned and gave the due meed of thanks to the arm}', through whose exertions this desirable result had been brought about, mentioning prominently its accomplished chief. But still the attention of the Governor-General had soon to be directed to the detached bands of rebels who still frequented parts south of Rajputana and the whole of Central Indik. In these regions, which are still in the posses- sion of those who are known as the feudatory chiefs, the same system of strict surveillance does not exist as in British India, and the natural features of the country present many wooded hills, with steep and precipitious ascents, and many deep ravines, which easily harbour those who are at war with society and government. The mutineers, were condemeud to the gallows wherever caught but a great number of them managed to escape in these disordered times and knowing that their discovery meant sure deatli, they preferred to die the death of soldiers to the ignoble one of criminals. Bands of such desperadoes, whom no motive on earth could again incline to lay aside their savage course, mustered sometimes in hundreds and thousands and took up their position either in the natural fastnesses of India, or in cities or villages which were too weak to offer them any resistance. They carried fire and sword in calm and peaceful villages and lived on plunder and rapine. The Governor- General rightly felt that these stray bands of marauders should be vigorously pursued and their career checked and the character of the military operations now undertaken, underwent a considerable change with the altered state of things. Numerous battalions wore ordered to rove through the length and breadth of the dis- turbed tract of land and effectively crush the scattered bands, that still bade defiance to established authority. It would be tedious and positively distasteful to the general reader, were we to give a detailed account of the many skirmishes and encounters, that took place between the remnant bands of the mutineers and 2—2 12 INDIAN III STORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. the British soldier)'. They all resemble one another in their description, of which the official papers of the period are full, and they are not without those touches which human nature is always apt to display, when in interesting and critical situations. The only leader of note whom the British soldiery in work in Central India was most anxious to secure was, Tantia Topee. This intrepid Maharatta, had shown a rude genius for command and a dashing courage and in the closing scenes of the rebellion had taken as prominent a part as Nana Saheb himself. He was still wandering with a large following in the regions between the Chambaland the Nerbudda when he reached the territories of a chief, who was in his con- fidence and in the jungles of whose dominions he felt himself quite secure. This chief had a prominent trait of rude Asiatic character in him, that of playing a double game and it was through the information he supplied the British contingent with, as to the exact whereabouts of Tantia Topee that that dashing but cruel soldier was captured when fast asleep, and found himself in the hands of the countrymen of those whom he had assisted in butchering at Cawnpur. The fate that awaited him was too well known to him, and with the summary forms of a court martial he was sent on to eternity. The mili- tary operations in Central India were carried on under the directions of Sir Hugh Rose, an officer about whoso merits many conflicting opinions have been pronounced in high quarters, but the ability and discretion he brought to bear on this occasion in the difficult task of completely subduing a wild tract of country, with chiefs on all sides who, to say the least required a careful management, will probably be uuiversally admitted. The military operations in this direction were com- pletely successful and soon brought all Central India to a state of peace and order. Some operations on a slight scale were also found necessary in Oudh where Sir Hope Grant pushed on detachments, to the north of the Goomtce and the Gogra and drove a large force of rebels to those jungles which extend for IXDTAy^ HISTORY OF OVR OWX TIMES. 13 many miles together at the foot of the Himalayas, shelteriag wild beasts and wilder men. Scattered troops drove every con- siderable band of rebels out of the limits of the province of Oudh, and when they sought protection in tho Nepal terri- tories the enlightened minister of that state Sir Jung Bahadur captured them and sent them on to receive the punishment for their past wrongs to the British Government. The Nana with a few followers managed to escape, nor has any authentic information been received of him ever afterwards. He was probably living in the disguise of an ascetic in the many in- accessible places to the north of India and the utmost efiorts of the British Government failed either to capture him or to get the certain news of his death. The Dumpy Mutiny and Aemy Amalgamation — Just after the closing scenes of the Indian rebellion have been recorded, we must notice the open manifestation of insubordinate spirit, by a section of the European army which event is sometimes called by the rather exaggerated title of the mutiny of the Dumpies. The news of the mutiny of the native troops and the cruel scenes enacted by them, had reached England in due course and spread there a good deal of alarm. It was thought fit by the authorities in England to send as many available regiments, as possible to aid the local Indian force and many of the irregular regiments of horse that had been raised for the closing operations of the Crimean War, were shipped off to this country along with soma regular regiments. These irregular regiments of horse on arrival at the Indian Presidency towns were constituted into regular regiments of cavalry and on the transfer of the Government from the Company to the Crown were ordered to bear their allesiance to the Eno-lish sovereign power. Unfortunately many of the privates in these irregular regiments were either raw recruits who did not care to stop in the country or men who in their own cities were out of all employment or the rejected of all professions. Findino- the Government in a rather embarassed condition and depending 14 rXDTAy HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. solely on British bayonets after the recent volcanic eruption in the native army, these regiments, which unfortunately were full of unprincipled men, determined to squeeze what they could, out of the then unfortunate situation. They openly demanded that they should get a second bounty for beinor transferred to the service of the Crown and being pri- marily enlisted to bear allegiance to the Company and that Company having ceased to exist they claimed to be entitled to their discharge and free passage home. It is said that these malcontents in the European army found some lawyers to back up their pretensions and they asserted their claim with all the show of a legal right. The legal question was never formally raised nor was it of such a nature that it could have been formally raised, with success. But the European malcon- tents showed a passive disobedience to authority, in many large cantonments, such as Meerut, Allahabad and Berhampur. The experience of the past three years in dealing with a refractory spirit among the troops had evidently borne fruit and the tactics that had been so successfully used by the Punjab Government, in nipping the rebellion everywhere within its jurisdiction in the bud, began to be used. At every place where there was the slif^htest show of insubordination, the officers exhibited great firmness, insisted on an immediate compliance with the orders issued, seized the ringleaders and effectually punished them. These measures were sufficient to quell the disturbances in the bud, and it was only at Berhampur that any active preparations for hostilities had to be made, which fortunately enouo-h did not come on. Some of the organs of public opinion remarked at the time that the European army had some real cause of grievance in as much as their services had not at all been taken notice of in the Queen's proclamation, but it was evident that the army wanted not an empty comj)liment but a substantial amount of money, and men in the search of solid gold can scarcely be pacified by any other thing. Tho Government at home granted discharge to all such as tiS^JDIAN ins TORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 15 wanted it, some they transferred to the regiments then on active service in the Eastern waters against China, and others, who could not be identified with any recent manifestations they re-enlisted by the offer of a bounty. It is said that many of the discharged soldiers were again taken into the service in Eutrland. The European army in India which had become a huge and unwieldy body and grown out of ail proportions to the need for it, owing to the feverish excitement in England, was considerably relieved by this process of prun- ing. With the armies of England and India owing allegiance to the same supreme power the scheme was set on foot of the amalgamation of both the armies into one homogenous whole. During the days of the East India Company the Company enlisted its own soldiers and settled the terms with the recruits, the European force in India constituting a purely local force. It was now proposed to place both the Indian and English army under the control of the English War Office and Lord Canning's government was asked to suggest a practical scheme for this object. The amalgamation was effected and India is now a partner with England with regard to the European portion of her army. Whether this arrangement has been one to the advantage of India is a question that has frequently been considered in later times, both in the despatches of the Government of India and the ablest organs of the native press. We shall have to refer again and again to the subject of military expenditure in the later portions of this work and we shall not anticipate the dis- cussion at this place. Together with army amalgamation a good many changes were effected in army organization, which are scarcely intelligible to those who are unfamiliar with the do- tails of regimental rank and allowances, and which changes did not come in force until they were repeatedly reconsidered by able committees in England. It was an open secret at the time and has been since affirmed emphatically by Mr. Henry Fawcett iu his work on Indian Fimiuce that the amalgamation 1 6 1X1)1 Ay HISTOID V OF OUR Wy TIMES. of the Indian army took place against the express desire of Lord Canniug's government. Whether it has been advan- tageous to India or not, is one of the most interesting ques- tions of modern politics on which we shall dwell in its proper place. Lord CANNiNa's Durbar at Agra and tour in Upper India. — After peace was entirely restored in every part of British India, the Governor-General issued a peace proclama- tion and appointed the 28th of July 1859 at the day for public thanksgiving. At the end of the monsoons His Excellency left for a tour in the Upper Provinces of India. We, who are accustomed to see our Viceroys and provincial governors move about in all parts of the extensive territories in their charge, would find it difficult to realise that in pre-railway days our rulers could scarcely move beyond a narrow circle from Calcutta, Few governors general previous to Lord Canning had undertaken any extensive tours, and those only when the state of public affairs urgently required them, to see any pro- vince with their own eyes. Lord Canning at the close of the mutiny was very unpopular with the local European com- munity. The great danger to which the Empire in India lay exposed in 1859, placed Lord Canning, who had at his disposal but inadequate resources for such a heavy emergency, in a most critical position. The falling of town after town in the Upper Provinces in the hands of the mutineers, and the occurrence of many butcheries of the European residents, were popularly at- tributed to the want of decisive measures at the head of the gov- ernment. Men in times of great personal danger ani trouble or when strongly in sympathy with the unmerited fate of others, are but too often apt to attribute all the misfortunes to the weak- ness of the govenment. Lord Canning who was in the midst of a hurricane that he was powerless to check, came unfortunately to be regarded, by a largo section of the local European com- munity as wanting even in the resolution, the decisive firmness and capacity for action that were necessary at such a time. INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 17 Personal acquaintance with him during his tour in Upper India in a great measure modified those opinions, if not^^alto- gether removed them. Lord Canning also held a large Durbar at Agra where he paid a deserved tribute to the loyal services of the Maharajas of Gwalior and Jeypur and rewarded them by some grants of territory. In his elegant and spirited address to the Maharaja of Gwalior, Lord Canning publicly recognized the right of the Indian chiefs to adopt, on failure of natural heirs, — a declaration that set at rest the minds of many Indian chiefs, who looked with alarm and suspicion to the policy pursued during the previous regime of absorbing state after state on the failure of natural issue. General Events. — The Lieutenant-Governorship of the North- Western Provinces which had remained vacant since the lamented death, within the Agra Fort of Mr. Colvin was filled in January this year by Mr. Edmonstone of the Civil Service, who had his training under Sir John Lawrence in the Punjab and in the Foreign Office. It is beyond our scope to enter into a detailed description of the trying scenes, amidst which Mr. Colvin passed his last days but his tomb within the Agra Fort is a touching record of his unswerving duty to his country and fidelity to his countrymen. Sir John Lawrence who at this period was the most favored official and whose efforts in checking the mutiny were singularly successful retired in February 1859, being succeeded in the government of the Punjab by Sir Robert Montgomery. The troubles caused by wild races on the western border caused the despatch of a force under Sir Neville Chamberlain, known as the Koorum Field Force which succeeded in keeping these tribes in check for the time. Nor should any writer on 1859, omit to record, the splendid services during these troubled times to his country and to the government of the first great Indian journalist, Babu Hurrish Chandra Mookerji, the first editor of the Hindu Patriot, whose writings were concei\od with singular breadth of views, force and elegance of expression '6 18 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, and an accurate grasp of the situation. His able defence of the policy of Lord Canning when it was vigorously assailed has been since pronounced to be a specimen of true statesmanly production. Land Question in Oudh — The land quostion in India has always been a vexed problem for our rulers. When the Perma- nent Settlement of 1793 was entered into by the government of Lord Cornwallis with the Bengal zamindars, the theory adopted was that the state, the absolute master of the soil had granted to the zainindars the entire proprietorship. How far this theory represented the actual state of things in Bengal will be considered when we come to speak of the Acts passed from time to time to place on a satisfactory basis the relation between the landlords and tenants in Bengal. On the annex- ation of Oudh, the English found nearly two thirds of the province in the hands of a bcdy of men known as the Talook- dars, who, as Sir John Strachey declared from his place in the Council on the 17th July 1867, had undoubted rights of property in the soil. By some misconceptions on the part of the local officials, this class of men had been very unfairly dealt with in the land settlement of Oudh of 1856. The greater part of the landed aristocracy were ousted as interlopers, and in some cases princely revenues were cut down to a mere pittance. This treatment of the rights of the Talookdars was based on the view of Talookdari tenure derived from the ex- perience of the province of Bengal where the best revenue authorities had declared the system to bo one of but little consequence. The Talookder of Oudh was a very different personage from the Talookdar of Bengal and as the course of subsequent events showed, the Government had committed a great mistake in the view it adopted of the Talookdar's Tenures in 1856. This unfortunate state of things made the Talookdars in many cases justify to their own minds their secret aid and in some cases overt assistance to the mutineers, before the province was again completely hold at bay by British INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES 19 troops. Lord Canninoj issued a proclamation which was dated March 1858, in which tho noble Ijord totally uproots the settlement of 1856-57, confiscates tho entire proprietory rights in tho soil and then proceeds to re-grant these rights to all Tsuch as could prove valid claims to them under the native Oovernment, provided they are acquitted of all complicity in the recent revolts. The terms in which this proclamation was couched called forth a severe criticism from the Home authorities in their despatch of the 19th of April 1858, but the speech in which Lord Canning addressed the assembled Talookdars when he made the first state entry into Lucknow after the disturbances, in October 1859, completely settled the policy of the Government towards the ancient landed aristo- cracy in Oudh. Lord Canning there said "you, all of you who are here present received yesterday the grants of those estates which the Government has restored to you ; you will have seen by the terms of those grants, that the ancient Talook- dari system of Oudh is revived and perpetuated." This speech and the state documents where its substance is embodied have a.lways been relied on as the great Charter of their rights by the Oudh Talookdars. We now pass on to the history of the next year. Legisla- tion, education and social progress, cannot be presented piece- meal and will be treated of in the general chapter with which the history of this decade will end. It was not till the close of the year that the able financier Mr. Wilson assumed the port- folio of Indian Finance but his reforms during his short career in India, brought to an end by premature death, did not engage |>ublic attention till the next year. 3—2 CHAPTER II. 1S60. The Indigo Crisis in Bengal. — The province of Bengal proper was this year deeply agitated by what is known as the Indigo Criisis. The feelings of the natives of Bengal were excited to the highest pitch, though the actual number of dis- turbances within the cognizance of the Criminal Law, were few. The representatives of the planting interest and the representatives of the Native Press, then but a new-born institution, carried on the Indigo controversy with bitter acrimony and the real facts at issue were, almost lost sight of in showers of abuse. The planters who were scattered over every portion of the province used to make advances to the cultivators, and bound them down by a special form of contract, to deliver a certain as- certained quantity of indigo, the consequences of the land producing a lesser quantity being to make the obligation shift on the produce of the succeeding years. The cultivators in the majority of instances, were far from being moneyed men and they, in the course of years went on applying for fresh advances to the planters and in many cases became hopelessly involved. As years went on, the yoke of the planters became more and more heavy and the factory people, not unofton, used their authority over poor cultivators in a most oppressive manner. These debts of the cultivators descended from father to son, till the best lands of the debtors had always to bo sowed with indigo and in case of refusal, the servants of the factory, it was broadly stated, kidnapped, placed in wrongful confinement-and otherwise behaved brutally with the poor cultivators. The evil was a severe and wide-spread one and despair chiefly drove the cultivators in many instances openly to defy the planters, re- fuse to fulfil the contracts, and in some cases, even to resort to open violence. The loss of life and property, considering the excited state of feelings, was marvellously small. In the districts around the metropolis, as well as iu Furreedpur and Pabua, the INDIAN HISTORY OF OVR OWN TIMES. 21 cultivators entered into a' strike not to fulfil their contracts. This strike placed also the cultivators in a miserable plight by depriving them of the largo amount that circulated among their number in the shape of wages. The Government found it high time to interfere, and by passing a short Act on the 9th of April, by whose provisions all breaches of contract in this respect, were made criminal, sought to prevent, the immediate and inevitable ruin of the planting interest. At the same time, the authorities at the head of affairs found that the grievances of the culti- vators were too well-founded, and appointed a Commission to enquire into and report on the whole affair. The Commission was composed of Mr. Seton-Karr, Mr. Temple, Rev. Mr. J. Sale, Mr. W. Fergnsson and Babu Chandra Mohun Chatterji. The missionaries, were openly charged with having incited the culti- vators by their preachings to a state of active resistance to the planters and thus, they came to be represented on the Indigo Commission. The Commission held a most exhaustive inquiry, not only into the broad facts of the case, but into all the side- issues raised more especially into the conduct of the police and the authorities, during the recent disturbances, which had been openly and repeatedly assailed. The planters urged before the Commission that the cultivators under them were in reality better off, than under any previous system as they were not subjected to any irregular exactions, and the planters on the whole were humane and strove to extend to them the blessinffs of civilization. But the findings of the Commission were against the planters. The Commission found that the ryots were most inadequately remunerated for all they did, that the planters often compelled them if not by actual violence, at least by strong pressure to plough up and sow the best land with indigo. In some instances, some individual planters might have been humane and might have established dispensaries and schools, but this fact did not affect at all the general unsoundness of the system. The charges of actual and brutal violence against the planters fell through, in most cases, for want of evidence. The report 22 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. also finds "the assertion, that the refusal of the ryots to sow indigo has been produced by the preaching of the missionaries is one entirely without foundation in truth." The Commission recommended the abolition of the system of advances, the planters being loft to purchase indigo from the cultivators. The representative of the planting interest did not concur in the conclusions arrived at by his colleagues, adding that the language and tone of the report tended to give a coloring and to lead to conclusions not proved. The report of the Commis- sion, will be found at this distance of time to have taken a calm and dispassionate view of the situation, in an unusually excited period when party feeling ran high. As a result of the findings of the Commission more Subordinate Courts were established and the reform of the police was attended to. During the whole period of these disturbances Babu Hurrish Chandra Mookerji championed the cause of the voiceless cultivators of Bengal in a series of articles which will remain to posterity in India, as models of journalistic composition. To his articles on the subject in the columns of the Hindu Patriot, the country is mainly indebted, for the prompt, the vigorous and the bene- ficent action of the Government. Scarcity in Upper India and General Events. — A terrible famine raged this year in Upper India, due to the total failure of the rains. Those precautions that have been since taken to mini- mise the horrors of famine did not then exist, and the rise in prices of the necessaries of life was sudden and unexpected, and pressed severely on a population the greater part of which is always on the margin of subsistence. The last severe famine was in 1833, and the Upper Provinces had during twenty- seven years enjoyed a fair measure of prosperity. But the horrors of the year I860, made many parents leave their children on the road-side that they might attract the notice of the charitably disposed. The missionaries collected many of these children at a place opposite the great Emperor Akbor's tomb near Agra and established an orphanage there, which is still in a flourish- INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 23 iug condition and which is the only institution of its kind through a vast territorial area. Relief works were opened by the Government, and the amounts raised by public subscriptions both here and in Eugland served to -mitigate the horrors of starvation. A measure which greatly enhanced the unpopularity of Lord Canning among his fellow-countrymen in India was the Disarming Act (Act 31 of 1860) which made it penal for all subjects of Her Majesty to have any arms, in their possession without express permission. The Europeans and the natives were put exactly on the same footing as regards this Act and the commotion in the European community every where was manifest in public meetings and petitions. Subsequently the the provisions of the Act were modified, by exempting all who would enlist as volunteers from its operation, but this concession which the European community thought came too late, failed to satisfy them, and the privilege of volunteering was availed of, in only a few instances, at first. Some detachments under Colonel Lumsden were sent into the Derajat, the country to the west of the Indus, and succeeded in punishing the wild tribes who were making raids and harbouring offenders. Similar smaller operations were undertaken from Pegu and Assam on the eastern frontier. The Raja of Sikkim had offered an un- proked insult to the British power by imprisoning Dr. Hooker, who was continuing his botanical researches in the Himalayas, and Dr. Campbell the presiding officer over Darjiling, who had accompained him, A small force under Col, Gawler, occupied the Sikkimese capital on the 9th of March 1861, when a treaty was concluded which provided for the residence of a British representative in the capital of the state. The Finances — The year 1859 was the first one, when a regular budget was issued by the Imperial Government of India. It was in the same year that Mr. "Wilson was appoint- ed Finance Minister and his principal duty was to effect economical reforms and to reduce the expenditure without weakening the efficiency of the administration, that the euor- 24 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. mous deficit which had become chronic might not absorb the resources of the empire. The mutiny had brought about a lavish expenditure of public money. The new regiments, whoso numbers were very large, caused an immense increase under the heading of military charges and public works of utility whose want was first felt during the dark days of 1857-58, had to be undertaken on a large scale. The enormous naval establishment of ludia had also become a source of great increase in the expenditure of the empire. The need of re- trenchment was sensibly felt both by the authorities here and in England and retrenchment, in every department of administration was resolved upon. A financier was sent, straight from England to whom was entrusted the difficult and disagreeable task, of prudently applying the shears, so that the efficiency and vigor of the administration might re- main unimpaired and great vested interests be reconciled to a state of greatly decreased emoluments. It was rightly thought that for this task, a financier from England would have the advantage to even the best trained mind in the official circles of India. Some of the greatest writers on poli- tical philosophy have ventured to pin their faith on the theory that long training in official routine in any particular de- partment, while it makes the excellent man of business often impairs, that vigor and originality of mind which can intro- duce reforms in that department and that for this purpose, a man new to the subject, who had evinced previously a capa- cious and well-trained mind, and who is wedded, as far as that particular topic is concerned, to no long-established system, is best fitted. Mr. Walter Bagehot one of the most powerful writers of this century vigorously enunciates this truth when he defends the system of government in England by a cabinet, that system which often places men with little or no training in the particular branch of state affairs he is called upon to administer, at the head of a great department. Mr. Bagohot says that by this system of choosing the head of the INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES 25 department, vitality and vigor are preserved in the department which otherwise is but too prone to degenerate into official red-tape. Just after his arrival in the country Mr. Wilson took a rapid tour through the N. W. P. and the Punjab and he had previously conferred on the subject of the impending reforms with Sir Charles Trevelyan, his old associate, who was then governor of Madras. Mr. Wilson at once appointed a Military Finance Commission whose duty it was to cut down the weeds that had fastened themselves on the overgrown tree of the Indian army, in the first instance and then to bring the tree to its normal dimensions. Mr. Wilson died an untime- ly death and he did not live to see the completion of the labours of that commission which he had inaugurated but his successor Mr. Laing alluded to the work of the commission in the most flattering terms. He prominently mentions in his budget speech of 1861-62, the names of Mr. R. Temple, Colonel Simpson, Captain Rennie and of Colonel Balfour, without a mention of whose names, he emphatically declares, the future history of India will remain .but imperfect. The army charges which in 1857, were in round numbers, £11,500,000 a year in India and £1,250,000 in England, had swelled in 1859 to £21,000,000 in India and £3,750,000 in England. Lord Canning had to meet the crisis, raised enormous levies, and the guerilla warfare that was necessary to extinguish the dying embers of the rebellion, had caused every officer of importance to raise up bands of troops for the safety of his own district and these irregular levies which had done great and merito- rious services, were still kept in the pay of the State. Not only were, these overgrown charges to be found in Bengal but the panic had spread so wide that Mr. Wilson de- clared speaking in February 1860, that the increase of military charges, in Madras was fifty per cent, and in Bombay, thirty per cent, and that even these returns did not include the military police, the civil corps, and the new levies in Bengal or the new levies in Madras, the statement being 4 26 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. confined to the troops under the Commander-in-Chief of each of the three presidencies. Enormous reductions were at once effected till we find from the State papers of the period, the military expenditure was in 1859-60 brought down to £2,750,000 in England and £17,750,000 in India making as com- pared with the figures already given an enormous saving of £4,250,000. In 1860-61 the same plan was continued and a further reduction of £2,500,000 was effected and in the following year, the reduction under this head amounted to £3,220,000. On the 1st of August 1859, the Secretary of State for India had made in the House of Commons the alarm- ing statement that the deficit in the annual budget for the official year 1859 would amount to ten millions sterling, in round numbers. In the following year the deficit was brought down to six millions and a half sterling, according to a state- ment drawn up in India but which seeming improvement vanishes in the thin air by the light of Mr. Wilson's comments. Mr. Wilson also clearly exposed the ruinous system of borrowing in times of peace, which had in 1860 burdened the country with a debt of £97,851,807, whose interest of about five millions was regularly charged on the annual revenues of India, forcibly remarking that the normal condition of Indian Finance may be said to be one of chronic deficit and addition to debt. State loans in India were defended at the time and since as a very politic measure as by investing largely in Government Securities, the wealthier classes among the natives of India, become anxious for the stability of the British Government. But Mr. Wilson entered at the same time into a vigorous de- fence of that statesman, to whom the country was entrusted during the crisis of the mutiny and who had even in those troubled times scrupulously fulfilled every contract, and acted on the best principles of honesty and integrity. Mr. Wilson had to look about him for increased sources of revenue, as further reduction in expenditure could scarcely be made. The exports of India showed an increase of twenty-five INDIAN HISTORY OF OVR OWN TIMES. 27 millions sterling when the figures of 1859 and those of twenty-five years previous, were compared. Just before Mr. "Wilson's arrival in the country the duty on exports had been raised from five to twenty-five per cent, this causing a vast loss in the proceeds of that impost. Mr. Wilson reduced, this duty to ten per cent, and with the view of encouraging trade, he remitted the export and import duty on certain goods altogether. The railway receipts continually expanded with the return of the times of peace. Mr. Wilson also proposed to levy an income tax which would extend to all incomes of 200 rupees a year. Incomes from 200 rupees to 500 rupees to be taxed at the rate of two per cent and incomes above 500 at the rate of four per cent. The zamindars, he proposed to assess on half of the amount of their rent to the estate, as representing a fair estimate of their profits. The income-tax was first levied in India by Mr. Wilson and has been subse- quently resorted to by other financiers, in times of pressure but uniform experience shows, that while in theory nothing could be more just, than a tax to which every man is liable according to the measure of his income, in practice the income tax has always been in India an unsuccessful and unpopular tax. This opinion is not only confined to the ruled classes in India, but the officers entrusted with its administration have all borne testimony to the fact that it is not only an odious impost, as being inquisitorial in its nature, and pressing most heavily on the most conscientious, but that it even fails to bring a large amount of money into the coffers of the State. The relative merits and advantages of direct and indirect taxation had long been debated among the first minds of the civilized world, and Adam Smith, whose work on political economy effected a great change in the policy of nations, was the first practical writer who had brought to bear the powers of one of the finest and most powerful of human intellects, to the discussion of this problem. John Stuart Mill has in our own generation, devoted many pages to a discussion of the 4—2 28 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. relative merits of direct and indirect taxation and even that first-rate writer lias found so many difficulties in the way of an equitable working of the income tax that at the end of an elaborate discussion through many chapters he is inclined to concur in the opinion, which had generally prevailed in England through many years, that direct taxes on income should be re- served as an extraordinary resource for great national emergencies in which the necessity of a large additional revenue overrules all objections. Not to speak of the cost of collection, the in- come tax, can hardly be fairly worked in practice, without a conscientious co-operation on the part of the tax- payer, and it has been unfortunately found by experience even in the most advanced parts of the civilized world, that few even among the educated and the well-to-do classes would scruple to play false with an impersonal body — such as a Government or a Corporation. Mr. Fawcett has given in one of his economic productions a striking illustration of this truth which is familiar to the educated Indian public. In India the difficulties in the way of the income tax being successful are immense. Mr. Wilson's measure proved a failure as might have been ex- pected. The tax, it was estimated by its able author, would realize a sum of nearly 30 lakhs of rupees, but the actual result proved that it yielded not more than half the amount. In India the difficulties in the way of a proper assessment were enhanced by the admittedly inferior honesty of the subordinate staff available, as well as, the long established character of the population who regarded with anything but a favourable eye, the direct payments peremptorily demanded by the tax Collector, of the state. Sir Charles Trevelyan and the Madras council vigorously protested against this measure and Sir Charles took the unusual step of publishing his pro- test in the newspapers of the Madras Presidency, a step' which fixed the attention of all India to this gross breach of official discipline and open manifestation of an insubordinate spirit, and which made Lord Canning comment severely on his INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 29 conduct in a despatch that led to tTie early recall of that great but impulsive statesman. We shall not anticipate the chronolooical order of things but leave for the next chapter, our narration of the financial measures of Mr. Samuel Laing, who succeeded Mr. Wilson as Finance Minister. We should not close the history of the year 1860 without a notice of that accomplished Commander who retired this year from the head of the Indian army. Lord Clyde must be admitted to be a successful commander. He came to India to quell the military rebellion of 1857, and he remaineil at his post till the last embers had been trodden out. But even his best admirers •will be constrained to find fault with him for the unnecessary dilatoriness of his operations, which though proceeding from a cautious temperament was certainly carried to excess, and oc- casioned a great loss of human lives by the effects of the irregu- larities and exposure of a protracted camp life. The historian of India will naturally hesitate to accord to a commander whose military feats, though never unsuccessful, were neither brilliant nor decisive, a place among the foremost generals of this country. CHAPTER III. 1861. Natural Visitations. — When the year opened the famine in the N. W. Provinces and the Punjab to which we have al- luded in our last chapter, was showing signs of abatement. As is apparent from the statements in Colonel Baird Smith's report, the tract of country affected by the famine was a large one, but the sufferings of the starving population had been consider- ably relieved, by the liberal contributions in aid of those suffer- ing from all classes of the population. Bengal was visited this year by a flood of unusual severity. Her rivers become very powerful during the rains, when the hill-torrents from Upper India send in large volumes of water. Many Bengal rivers, have usually in the rains to be restrained from leaving their beds by powerful embankments, but should unfortunate- ly these embankments give way, as they often do, when the rains are excessive throughout the vast regions of Upper India and Bengal, all of which are, in the lastVesort, drained by the rivers of Bengal, the loss of human lives and property in many instances become appalling. The waters retiring, after the cessation of the rains gave birth to a terrible epidemic of malarious fever which decimated every village throughout the inundated area. The Ootton Trade. — The hostilities about the Slave Trade between the Northern and the Southern portions of the American United States produced a remarkable influx of wealth into India by the sale of her cotton. The great mills at ^Manchester and other towns of England, were supplied by the raw American cotton, but the breaking out of a Civil War totally checked this article of import and threw hundreds of operatives of the cotton mills out of work. The costly machinery had also to be maintained while there were no raw materials to keep it engaged INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 31 to the immense loss of the capitalists. Every effort was made by English manufacturers to make Indian cotton supply the gap that had been caused by American cotton. The demand for raw cotton greatly exceeded the supply of it and thus the prices rose considerably. But the cotton of India was priucii)ally grown in places which were not readily accessible in those times for want of good roads and other facilities of communication, and there could be the rapid accumulation of an unusually large stock of cotton in the cotton marts of India with great difficulty. Therefore India could not to the full extent avail herself of the opportunity given to her by the American difficulties. The Indian staple was again found to be inferior to the American. Every effort was made to introduce improve- ments in the production of cotton, and the best seeds were im- ported from all parts of the world. Still when the cotton fever raged high, the speculators all over the country, especially in Bombay found it easy to realize enormous fortunes. The cotton trade in India thus received an unusual stimulus and exports of raw cotton began to increase steadily in subsequent years. General Events. — It was in this year that two important acts were passed relating to the constitution of the Legislative Councils and the High Courts. The changes consequent on the passing of those acts, did not come into operation in India till the next year, and the important subjects embraced by them will be considered fully in the next chapter. The Indian Civil Service was thrown open to competition, thus introducing a method of recruitment far different from that ■which prevailed during the old days of the Hailej'bury College, when the appointments in the East went exclusively through the patronage of the Court of Directors. The system of competi- tive examinations in the Civil Service owes its birth like the system of high education through the medium of the English tongue in this country, to one of the brilliant minutes of Lord Macaulay, full of glowing periods and antithetical sentences. The system of recruitment by a competitive examination to 32 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. ■which every one can present himself without any reference to any considerations of parentage or social position, has been attacked from various quarters. A full discussion of this subject does appropriately belong to a much later period when the system might be considered to have had its full trials. It was also during this year that currency notes were introduced on an extensive scale and began to substitute the place of gold and silver in the relations of life. The Banks of Bengal, Bombay and Madras date their foundation in 1861 and by affording great facilities to the transmission of specie and thus facilitating commerce, conferred great benefit on the Indian public. The Government was anxious to attract European capital to this country, which it was rather difficult to do after the partial ruin of and the rude shock to the indigo interests in 1859-60. A bill was introduced into the Supreme Council known as the Contract bill which made the breach of Contract in India a criminal offence. The bill was regarded by the native population with great aversion and it was stigmatized in the organs of native public opinion as the "Slavery Bill." The Act would have given rise to considerable unpleasantness and friction in its practical working but the bill came to be dropped by Sir Charles Wood's intimating that he would veto it, if it passed the Council. It was in this year that the exalted order of the Star of India was first founded and the new members'of the order were invested with the badge and the color with great ceremr»nf. The idea of founding this exalted order was a happy one. It shone with singular lustre on the breasts of those who after a long and meritorious career had nothing more in fortune, position or reputation still to win, while the young official or non-official might well fix their eyes on it, which will be an additional incentive for the display of rare qualities of the head or the hand, that inspire public confidence and win public esteem. The Government while providing for the reward of singularly brilliant merits in arts or arms, politics or diplomacy in the order of the star of India, created the INDIAN HISTORY OF ODR OWN TIMES. 33 new office of Honorary Magistrates by which lesser local merit might be rewarded and the people of the country might be gradually trained, to administer their own affairs. The dis- pensation of justice, in however petty cases often requires a degree of ability, and the men of local influence might, when in these offices, do much, to improve their own selves and purify the administration of justice by keeping a strict eye on all oppression by whomsoever committed. Many who had been invested with Magisterial authorities under this system had failed to exercise them with credit either to the Government or to themselves, but this was owing rather to the selection of the wrong men, than to any inherent defect in the system itself. The indigo disturbances in Bengal, again took a head this year, and a commission had to be appointed consisting of Mr. Morris and Mr. Montressor, The ryots refused on principle to sow their lands with indigo and they secured a victory which v.'as however dearly purchased by their suffer in 0-3 through the long struggles. The Small Cause Courts were established in Bengal as an experimental measure to afford a speedy remedy in the case of small debts. These Courts if they simplify the procedure, unless presided over by excep- tionall}'- able men whose number is limited, do not inspire the same confidence as the ordinary tribunals whose discretion and ability in weighing evidence are capable of being corrected by a Court of Appeal and some cumbrousness was again sought to be introduced into its procedure, when provision was made for reference and revision of the judgments of the Small Cause Courts in a great many cases. Attention was paid to the means existing for education of Anglo-Indian bo3'S and girls and it was through the efforts of the Bishop of Calcutta, Dr. Cotton, that special schools were established all over the country in healthy localities and some schools were also located in the sanitariums of the Himalayas. The Raichori Doab, the Dharased and Shorapore districts of the Berars, were restored to the Nizam under the provisions of a new treaty 5 34 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. concluded with him this year. Lord Cannino; also promulgated an order with a view to the reclamation of the waste lands in India and developing the material resources of the country. He proposed to sell waste lands, at the rate of two rupees and a half per acre in the jungly tracts and five rupees per acre in the cleared tracts, the maximum allotted to each individual being three thousand acres. The order of Lord Canning was welcomed by English capitalists and soon aiTangements were- in progress for taking up large tracts of culturable waste lands. But Sir Charles Wood, the then Secretary of State, by a resolution of the 9th June 1862, totally upset this state of thinffs and allowed the local officials under the modified orders, to fix prohibitory prices on pieces of land if they so pleased.. We lost this year Lady Canning, by a jungle fever and she was interred in a beautiful spot on the banks of the Ganges at the Viceregal garden at Barrakpur, a few miles north of Calcutta. Those who have visited her chaste mansoleum with its feeling inscription from the pen of her lord, on a site which nature and the highest art have combined to make singularly charming, will think it a fitting resting-place for a high- minded and well-bred lady like the consort of Lord Canning. The Viceroy survived her but seven months, and four months after her death left the shores of India to succumb to the effects of those uuparallelled labors, that had signalized his vice- royalty. The Finances. — Mr. Samuel Laing's budget was published on the 27th April 186L The budget showed a deficit of nearly seven millions sterling in round numbers, which was met by takino' the amount from the proceeds of the recent loans, Mr. Laing then proceeded to increase the duty on cotton yarn and the tax on salt. At the end of the financial year the large deficit entirely disappeared, the improved receipts from salt duty, the income tax and the stamp duty and the cutting down of allotments to provincial governments for the much-needed public works produced a financial equilibrium on paper. To INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 35 tliese causes must be added the receipts of the Government from the great expansion of the Indian opium trade, and the savinos effected by reductions to the extent of £3,590,750. The finances began to improve after this period, and the Indian Finance Minister had not up to 1868-61), to struggle with any- serious difficulties. The Indian revenues, in the hands of any finance minister, can be made to expand considerably, if need be. The constitution of the Indian Government is such that there are not the same difficulties in the way of increased taxation, as exist in other countries. When the resources of the state fall inadequate to meet the expenditure, the Finance minister thinks more of making the revenues elastic than of effecting any reductions in expenditure. The only thing he has gravely to consider, is the shape which the new taxation will take, and when he has made up his mind there is no difficulty in the way of his thoughts being embodied in an act of the council. His brother-officials in the council are certain to ratify his measures and such public opinion as exists in the country finds no vent in the constitution of the state and is an element that it is not necessary to influence. Whether India is a heavily-taxed country is a question that receives from time to time a great measure of public attention, but that the taxation of the country is gradually on the increase is fully proved by the official records of the period embraced by this book. The Indian Finance Minister has not the same sort of rough work that an English Chancellor of the Exchequer has, who every time that a new tax has to be imposed, has to offer a lucid statement of the situation under the most searching scrutiny and has to appease the powerful opinion of the House of Representatives of the people. We have already adverted to the fact that the Indian re- venue is indebted for a large slice of it to the proceeds of the impost on opium which is exported in large quantities from this country to be consumed by the many millions of subjects in the Celestial Empire. Whether a Christian government is at all justified in raising a large part of its revenues from a 5—2 36 I^rniAN HISTORY OF OUR OWX TIMES. trade whose direct effect is the spread of intemperate habits among a considerable portion of the human race is an inter- esting problem of political casuistry. The policy of the government of India in this resj>ect had been repeatedly and vigorously assailed, and Mr. Laing and Sir Charles Trevelyan entered into a vigorous defence' of the governmental policy from their place in the Supreme Council. Opium. — Opium-smoking and opium-eating are practices to which the Chinese are very lai-gely addicted. This habit has been much condemned as physically and morally injurious in the highest degree, but the Chinese regard it as a drug which has stimulating effect at times, and at other times a soothing and soporific influence. We do not see that this habit is to be more condemned than the free use of spirituous and alcoholic liquor, which is the pratice in many civilized countries. Mr. Laing truly remarked in his budget-speech of 18G2-63 that the cold climate of Northern Europe makes some nervous stimulant peculiarly necessary which is resorted to, in the shape of alcohol by the Saxon races, so the Chinese whose greatest deficiency, as shown by the whole history, religion and literature of the race, is in the imaginative faculties, resorts to that which stimulates his imagination and makes his sluggish brain see visions and dream dreams. He continues " An English Chancellor of the Exchequer goes on with equanimity, relying on a taxation of 400 or 500 per cent ad valorem on spirits and tobacco for twenty millions sterling of his revenue, and while this is the case I can see nothing in any general consideration as to opium to prevent us from doing the same." The second objection against the revenue derived from opium is that is a most precarious source of revenue and that the moment a cheaper and better article will be substituted for it in the Chinese market, the revenue from opium will begin to fall considerably till it might almost vanish altogether. The other side of the question has been very eloquently stated by Sir Charles Trevelyan who says "that we have gone on INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 37 calling the opium revenue precarious long after the contrary has been demonstrated by actual experience. It is anomalous but it is not precarious. It rests upon precisely the same basis as the excise upon spirits in England with this difference that the spirits are consumed by Her Majesty's subjects while the opium is consumed by the subjects of the Emperor of China. But the Chinese will no more go without opium than, it is feared, certain classes of our fellow subjects will forego the use of spirits." It has been pointed out by an acute and eloquent writer on this subject that both Mr. Laing and Sir Charles Trevelyan commit a mistake wdien they broadly assert that the opium revenue in India is based on the same basis as the excise upon spirits in England. " There is a sort of resem- blance between the two, in as much as both are derived from deep-rooted instincts of human nature, but the English excise revenue is a tax upon spirits and the Indian opium revenue is a profit that accrues from the sale of an article of common use and consumption in a country." The writer whose opinions are above given, draws an analogy between the position of the Indian opium in the Chinese market and the position of the American cotton in the European market. 'The moment a cheaper or a better article w^ould come into competition, the sale would fall off." "It was ob^^ous that if the Chinese could get their opium cheaper and better elsewhere than from India, they would do so, and in that case the Indian revenue might be the loser to the extent of seven or eight millions per annum." But there is no reasonable foundation for the anti- cipation that the Chinese would abandon the use of opium any more than that the greater portion of the Anglo-Saxon stock would abandon the use of alcoholic spirits. Sir Charles Trevelyan also scouts the idea that the Chinese will ever be independent of the Indian opium. He says that the quality of certain articles of Indian produce has never yet been excelled, such as indigo and opium and the free cultivation of opium in China, will not only increase the status and the price of the 38 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. Indian opium as an article of luxury, but in that case as the ex- perience of the past few years showed, the demand upon India for opium will be continually increasing. The analogy between the Indian opium revenue and the English excise revenue fails in another point, as the tax on opium which is a Government monopoly in India is an open encouragement to its production, while the English tax on liquors considerably lessens its con- sumption by making the article dearer. The future of the opium revenue does not come within the purview of this chapter. We shall see later on, how far the confident anticipations about the gradual expansion of the opium revenue were destined to be realized in our review of the later years. CHAPTER ly. 1862. The Legislative Councils. — The Indian Councils Act wag passed in 1861 but the first meeting of the Legislative Council according to the provisions of the said act^ assembled in the Council Chamber of the Government House at Calcutta on Saturday the 18th of January, 1862. The Indian Councils Act established Legislative Councils on a model that exist to this day. The Mutiny had evidently made apparent to the public mind both here and in England, the danger that might occa- sionally befall the Empire by neglecting the non-official opinions on all subjects, and provision was made for the due vent of these opinions even in the council chamber by representatives both of the European non-official and the native public. This was the first step towards popularizing an administration which had hitherto remained exclusively official and the concession to the non-official public was hailed with great joy. The warm- est opponents of the present constitution of the Legislative Councils in our own days, would readily admit that a greater con- cession was not possible in the year 1861. The native public with the amount of education and enlightenment, it then possessed had no claim to be allowed to choose their own representatives in the Council. The Universities had but just been founded and it was with the establishment of these examining bodies, and of first- grade colleges and liigh schools, whether directly by the Govern- ment, or under the grant-in-aid system formulated by Sir Charles Wood in his Education Despatch of 1854, that high education became extremely popular, till only a few years later, the Vice-Chanceller of the Calcutta University proudly declared that no institution in the country excites so deep an interest among the native population from Calcutta to liahore, as do the examinations of the University. The freedom of the press 40 T XI) TAX HISTORY OF OUR OWX TIMES. so wisely conferred by Sir Charles Metcalfe, though abused in certain cases, began from this period to give an unusual impetus to freedom of thought and writing. The country has admittedly made great and rapid strides since the Indian Councils Act was passed, which is expressed in the oft-quoted sentence "the England of Queen Anne was hardly more different from the England of to-day than the India of Lord Ellenborough from the India of Lord Ripon." This admitted advancement in Indian political and educational life, has made the reform of the Legislative Councils on a popular basis a burning question of these days. That some reform is necessary in the direction of giving a wider recognition to native politi- cal thought as an element to guide the Councils of the Empire has been admitted by a cautious and astute statesman like Lord Dufferin, and that accomplished statesman and eminent scholar Sir A. Colvin, who now presides over the N. W. P. administra- tion, has also approved of some gradual and moderate reforms in the same direction. Whether the country is yet ripe for representative institutions, whether the elective system should be introduced in the constitution of the local and supreme councils, what the electorate will be, if the elective principle is at all recognized in the constitution^ are questions that are now exciting a good deal of attention both here and in England and are being discussed sometimes with good sense and sometimes ^nth violence of language and invectives. The Indian Law Commissioners had been for several years labouring to bring about a systematic compendium of the un- written laws of the land and to engraft them with such modifi- cations as the English Government introduced into regular codes of laws. The Indian courts, under the Mahomedan rule and under the English rule, till the laws were systematised, used to act on well-known customs and usages applied with discretion to the circumstances of the case, but the law is now a rigid system capable of expansion either under new enactments of the Legis- lative Councils or the principles of equity that are always intro- INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 41 tliiced by Jiulge-made law. A systematic and centralized adminis- tration must have a rigid code of laws, but it has often been said by even high authorities that India, Avith her wild ways of the past was better governed, under the loose system" prevailing in other days. Sir Erskine Perry's remark is too well-known, that the History of British India is full of examples of the great mis- cliief done by clothing imperfect theories in the rigid garb of law. Before the renewal of the Charter to the East India Company in 1853, the report of the Indian Law Commissioners on many of the subjects entrusted to them and the drafts of many proposed measures had been received in England and the Charter of that year, introduced several improvements in the constitution of the Imperial Legislative Council. The Legislative Council- lors, acquired by the Charter of that year, the power which the Law Commissioners had not, of proposing any law they con- sidered necessary or opposing any law which they deemed un- necessary or injurious, and the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court were appointed members of the Imperial Legis- lative Council. The measures of the Legislative Council could not be transferred into laws unless assented to by the Governor- General, who had full power to ratify or to annul the proceedings of the Council, and representative members from the official circles of the sister presidencies, were also introduced. After the Mutiny, Lord Canning pointed out in his memorable despatch of the 9th December 1859, that the Legislative Councils should be further improved. He pointed out that there were 136 standing orders to regulate the proceedings of the Council, and that the absence of representatives of the non-official connnunity, of local legislatures to deal with local wants, were great inconveni- ences. He proposed that local legislatures be established as a part of the regular machinery of the local administrations, and all measures affecting the local administrations and not affecting the revenue should fall within the competency of the local councils. Lord Canning's proposals were accepted by Sir Charles AVood and the Indian Councils Act embodied most of 6 42 INDIAN HIS TOR Y OF UR WN TIMES. the former's recommendations. It was provided by the Councils Act of 1861, that the sanction of the Governor-General will be necessary to introduce all measures affecting the public debt or revenue, or the religion or religious rites of any part of Her Majesty's subjects, or the discipline or maintainance of any part of Her Majesty's military or naval forces, or any matter relating to the foreign affairs of the State. Local Legislatures were bound to transmit authenticated copies of every measure which they have passed for the assent of His Excellency the Viceroy. The procedure in the Viceregal Council was as follows ; whenever, any member of the council makes up his mind to bring in any particular measure embodying either the suggestions of some local administration, or some individual in high official station, or his own idea, he gives notice to the secretary at least three days before the next meeting of the council, of his intention to bring in a bill. He then asks permission, of his fellow-council- lors to bring in the bill and if the permission is granted he sub- mits to the secretary the draft bill with a full statement of the objects and reasons and any other papers, the member might consider necessary to bring to the notice of the council. These papers are then printed and circulated in English and in the vernacular of those members who may not know English. After two weeks have elapsed the draft bill may be introduced at the next meeting of the council. The council then settles its main underlying principle and the more important provisions, the rest being left to the consideration of the select committee to whom the bill, if the council so please, is referred. When a bill is referred to a select committee, the draft bill together with a statement of the object and reasons and all other papers, is published in English and vernacular in the various official gazettes, and a time is also fixed, to be extended by the council if necessary, within which the select committee is to submit its report. The council may consider the bill any time after a week has elapsed from the date when the members have been furnished •with the report of the select committee. Should any Hon'ble INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 43 member propose to bring in any amendment, he should send at least three day's notice of it to the secretary. If any amendments are proposed, the council may dispose of them «ither at the same or the next sitting, and finally the bill has to be assented to by the Viceroy, to be transformed into a parfc and parcel of the laws of the land. The Legislative Council was to consist of the members of the Supreme Executive and such non-official members as the Viceroy may appoint, the whole number of councillors, not exceeding the limits of a manageable body. The presidencies of Bombay and Madras were to be represented by official or non- official members as the Viceroy might consider necessary. The council as thus constituted launched forth into a bold course of legislation and filled the statute book of the land with innumerable acts whose number and variety make it an exceedingly difficult task for the professional lawyer to be well-acquainted with the laws of the land, that he might be fitted for the task of advising others about it. The legislative enactments, their scope and pro- visions will be considered in the general review of the ten years from 1859 to 1868, with which the present part comes to an end. The High Courts — Another important change in the con- stitution of the highest courts of the land which came into operation at the commencement of this year deserves more than a passing notice. Under the regime of the East India Com- pany the highest Appellate Courts were the S udder Diwany Adalut and the Sudder Nizamat Adalut, which were presided over by the Company's civilians and side by side with these courts, were the Supreme Courts at the Presidency towns, which administered English Law and were presided over by judges, trained and appointed in England. This year first saw the modern High Courts which grew out of the amalgamation of the two systems of '''ourts. The High Courts were estab- lished by Royal Charter in the presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras and the High Court of the JSForth-Western Provinces was created three years subsequently. By the C— 2 44 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. provisions of the Royal Charter, one third of tlie judges must be members of the Civil Service who liad been zillali judges for at least three years, one third must be selected from barristers of at least five year's standing and the other third not from any specific body. The High Court at Calcutta saw among its first body of iudo"es, a native of India. The first native of India selected for this exalted and responsible appointment was the Hon'ble Rama- prosad Ray, the airiest native practitioner in the bar of thoso times but unfortunately his last illness had set in before his elevation to the bench, and he did not live actually to put on the ermine. He was the son of the first great native re- former. Rajah Rammohnn Ray, whose memory is still venerated in native society. After his death his place on the bench was filled by that eminent Cashmiri pandit, whose ability and integrity first justified the appointment of natives of India to the highest judicial offices of the land, the Hon'ble Justice Shumboo Nath Pandit. He came from a noble family that had long settled in Oudh and by dint of ability and industry, rose to the front rank of the legal profession and when he came to be selected as a judge of the High Court of Bengal, his appointment diffused universal satisfaction. The appoint- ment of natives of India to high judicial offices, was hailed with a sentiment of gratitude by the educated public in every part of India, and it is but just to mention, that with the exception of a black sheep here or there, the native members of the judicial service, when properly selected, have maintained the same high standard of ability, tact, and integrity, that are so conspicuous in the best men among their European com- peers. With the establishment of the High Courts, the pro- cedure of all the Indian Courts including thoso high tribunals, was made uniform, much to the disgust of the English bar. The High Courts, ever since their establishment, have been gradually shutting out hy its bj^e-laws, from the ranks of the legal practitioners, either before itself or before its subordinate courts, all but the English-educated members of the native INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 45 community and have thus been giving silently but very effec- tively the highest impetus to the progress of high education. In the more advanced provinces, the High Courts at once set about effecting reforms in the method of the selection of the legal practitioners all over the country and a high standard of ability and education has since been rigidly exacted of all, who aspired either to be members of the bar or of that branch of the public service which is recruited from the bar. In the N. W. Provinces, where education was in a very backward state the same salutary measures could not at once be enforced, and are now gradually being introduced till a sufficiently high standard has been secured. No one can doubt that the High Courts by rigidly insisting on a high English education as an absolute qualification either for the bar or the judicial service, had done as much in spreading enlightenment and civilization in the more important centres of population as by its impartial administration of justice it has brought about, the most unbounded faith in securit}' of person and property under British rule. The bar in every country is in constant contact with the people, and much more so in India, where the only profession outside of Government service to which educated young men of the country most largely resort to, is the bar. Sir Henry Maine makes the interesting observation in one of his Convocation addresses that in every country which is just awakening from the torpor of ages to the light of civilization, the bar must be the profession most largely resorted to, as it is a profession which is money-making and study at the same time. He instances the case of other countries as exactly in point — of Rome when she was first ennobled by the poetry, the philosophy, the arts and arms of Greece, and of other European countries when first revivified after the middle ages during the period of the renaissance. To the High Courts the country is also indebted for many improvements in the enactments, that suited them to the wants of the people and for many sound maxims of law and prin- ciples of jurisprudence which it has unconsciously introduced. 46 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. The Mysore Prince's Appeal to England. — The Indian Government -was rather tickled by the success of Prince Golam Mahomed's appeal to England on the question of what is known as the Mysore Grants. Since the absorption of Mysore into British territory, the numerous descendants of Hyder Ali and Tippu were taken down to Calcutta and made to live there on pensions. Gradually the number of the persons claiming the blood of the Mysore sovereigns increased and the stipends allotted cost the state a considerable sum. Lord Dalhousie had proposed that the pension should be stopped to all who were in more than the fifth degree of descent from Tippu Sultan but the Court of Directors, did not entertain Lord Dalhousie's re- commendation. Lord Canning was for diminishing the amount of these pensions though he opposed doing away with them altogether. Prince Golam Mahomed seeing the pension of his family members to be in peril, sailed for England and without revealing his object to any one in India intended to lay his grievances before and to appeal to Sir Charles Wood. The appeal was allowed and Sir Charles ordered that a net sum of £520,000 sterling be paid to the pensioners that it might serve partly for the expenses of buying residences, and all the heads of families might have their separate allotments in full. The Government of Lord Canning strongly protested against the order of Sir Charles Wood, which, at a time of great financial pressure imposed a serious burden on the Indian exchequer, and which would teach influential natives of India to look to the mysterious power beyond the sea, for the final decision of all their grievances, thus considerably weakening the prestige and authority of the Viceroy. Sir Charles Wood on the contrary in his despatch dated February 4th, 1861, defended his action on the clearest grounds of justice and expediency. This action of Sir Charles Wood greatly enhanced his popularity with the native community of India while with the European residents he became proportionately unpopular. General Events. — Lord Canning this year extended a INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 47 privilege to the landowners all over India, of redeeming the annual payments of land revenue by paying down twenty year's revenue at once — a privilege which was availed of by but few. During this year a sudden mania arose for the cultivation of tea and numerous tea corajianies were formed, many of which unfortunately ended in complete collapse, and ruined many helpless persons. India it was thought, afforded immense facilities for tea-planting, and enormous profits realized by some individual planters, who had some plantations worked under their own eyes in the regions just below the Himalayas, confirmed this impression. Every day, in the great money-markets of India, immense amounts of capital were subscribed for the tea- companies, but it was soon found unfortunately that thoufifh some regions in the Kumaon and Garhwal districts, or near Dera Dun, Muree, and Assam or the Kangra and other valleys, afforded natural advantages for the tea industry yet the cost of transport of the produce of large plantations, the comparative mismanagement that is an inevitable incident of all joint-stock companies, and the want of labor in Assam and the want of water in the drier tracts, made plantations on a large scale al- most sure failures. It was however discovered that tea grown on some of the hill-tracts of India was the best of its kind and could be compared as far as refreshing power and aromatic flavor went, with the tea grown on the best plateaus of China. It was with much diplomacy that a treaty was obtained by Sir Arthur Phayre, from the Chief of Burmah formally ceding the districts that Lord Dalhousie had annexed after the second Burmese War and which also provided for the residence of a British representative at the Court of Mandalay and afforded some facilities to British traders. The expenses of maintaining the police being considered a too heavy charge on the State, a Commission was appointed to effect reforms in the Police de- partment. The Commission recommended the allotment of one constable to every square mile or every thousand inhabitants and adopted the principle of organization introduced by Sir 48 IXDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TLUJES. Charles Napier in Siiiflh of drilling the police in a regular Avay and render that body effective in suppressing all local out- breaks. The Police charges, were considerably cut down in the case of every province, a saving of a million sterling being alone effected under the heading of expenditure, in the case of the N. W. Provinces Government. The Commission which had been appointed by Mr. Wilson to inquire into the working of the military department of the state with a view to effect reductions continued under Col. Browne to overhaul all the other depart- ments of the state. Its labours were still unfinished when the year closed. A small detachment had to be sent to suppress a rising of wild tribes near the Jyntea hills in Assam, and Brigadier General Showers, and the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, Mr, Beadon tried to conciliate the rebels who had been exasperated by the attempt to levy a house- tax on them, and the malcontents again returned to their allegiance. Changes in the Personal of the Government. — Lord Canning made over charge of his high office to Lord Elgin on the 12th of March this year and sailed for his native land. He left India among the universal praise of the native popu- lation of India and of somewhat mingled feelings on the part of his own countrymen. Even his greatest detractors have drawn a line between Lord Canning's official policy after the rebellion had been suppressed and his policy previous to that period. The latter, has often been condemned in the most unmeasured terms but the former has been pronounced to be a success by writers whose views on all topics of public interest differ almost diametrically. Like all viceroys Lord Canning was a learner in Indian affairs for sometime after his arrival in this country and the policy of the first years of his adminis- tration, was more in the hands of his advisers than it was the product of his own unassisted judgment. After the suppres- sion of the rebellion Lord Canning directed the affairs of the state, with a less reliance on his advisers and his administra- tion was marked by vigor and foresight. But, he had a INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 49 reserved and icy temperament. Every one of his steps he took with the utmost possible deliberation, with caution and pru- dence, and it was not easy to warm him into enthusiasm. Lord Canning however will be credited by posterity, with having been a wise, just, and impartial ruler and his uni- form calmness of judgment was as far removed from mere impulse as from lofty enthusiasm. He was rather unfortunate in some of his advisers and he had but few men of command- ing ability to serve him. The judgments formed of him im- mediately after he left for England were obscured by passions and sentiments, but at this distance of time, the historian of India, will find in his career, nothing of that weakness indecision and pusillanimity the alleged existence of which was signified by the nickname, applied to him, with questionable taste, of Clemency Canning. He landed at Marsailles in good health but soou after his arrival at London became indisposed and breathed his last on the 17th June 18G2 being buried at the Westminister Abbey on the 21st June 1862, Lord Palmerston, Lord Clyde and Sir James Outram being among the pall- bearers. Sir John Peter Grant, the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, made over charge of his office to Sir Cecil Bead on on the 23rd of April. Sir John Peter Grant was, on his retirement from India, immediately selected to fill the important position of Governor of Jamaica, which island was then in great com- motion owing to the rising of the black population against their white masters. Sir John Peter Grant was universally unpopular with the European community in Bengal. He had put down with a firm hand what he considered to be the wrongs to the agrarian population of Bengal, suffered at the hands of the European planters. The great demonstration of the ryots weeping and begging submissively for help that met the Lieutenant-Gov- ernor's eye for seventy miles together, on both the banks of the river Jamoona, on his return by river from Dacca, made such a tremendous effect on his mind that he took up the 7 50 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. question of the ryot's wrongs -without a moment's delay. But there was a certain want of tact and discretion in managing the then situation and the indigo interests in Bengal have since received a blow from which they have not yet recovered. Sir John Peter Grant's son was many years the Judge of Hooghly and officiated twice on the High Court bench. He w^as a very popular judge, and was liked both by the profession and the public. Another office which also changed hands during the year was the Bombay Governorship by the retirement of Sir George Clerk. Sir George was attached to the Punjab as a political officer during a part of B.anjit Singh's reign and he displayed much quickness and tact during the troubled times through which the province passed after the death of Ranjit Singh. He was not however in the good graces of the Secretary of State and he laid down his office at the beginning of the year. His abilities and energy found a fresh field in Africa, where he was deputed to assist in the Orange River Settlement. He also undeniably claims, the merit at the hands of the historian of having early perceived the abilities of the brother Lawrences and ha\T[ng brought them prominently to the notice of the Government. CHAPTER V. 1863. Lord Elgin — Lord Canning had been succeeded in the Viceroyalfcy of India by Lord Elgin whose Lidian career was too short and the only event of importance which he was called upon to deal with, was what is known as the Wahabee conspiracy. He left on the 5th February for a tour in the upper provinces, from which alas 1 he was never destined to return. Lord Elgin belonged to a noble family of Scotch peers, and having been trained from his earliest years in politics had rendered cons- picuous services to his country in the counsels of the House of Lords and in diplomacy, and the success he achieved as Governor-General of Canada led mainly to his being selected for the Viceroyalty of India. Lord Elgin on setting out on his tour held durbars at many places, the most imposing being those at Patna and Agra. The durbar at Agra was one of the largest ever held. It was here that Lord Elgin met all the principal chiefs and nobles of Rajputana, and Central India besides the influential personages of Agra and the surround- ing districts. Lord Elgin proceeded to Simla from Agra and remained there for some months when he set out on hii? tra/els amidst the gorges of the Himalayas, and breathed his last in the small hill-station of Dharmsala, on the 20th of Novem- ber 18G3. The charge of the office of the Viceroy was held according to official rules by Sir William Denison then gov- ernor of Madras who was the senior in Indian service of his brother-governor of Bombay. The news of Lord Elgin's death reached England simultaneously with that of the Wahabee conspiracy and the troubles created not only on the western borders but in many peaceful Indian cities by the preach- ings and secret movements of bands of fanatical Mahomodans from beyond the confmes of India ; and all eyes in England 7—2 52 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. ■were at once tiirned towards that man whose vigor and adminis- trative ability had nipped the Mutiny in the Punjab in the bud and who was popularly known as the saviour of the Punjab. Sir John Lawrence was selected to be the Viceroy and entrust- ed with the task of saving India from the machinations of the fanatical Mahomedans. He landed in Calcutta on January 12th, 1864. The Indian Mussulmans. — The fanatical spirit of the Mahomedans has been a source of great political trouble in the old world even since Mahomet propagated his famous religion. And while to all external appearance the surfacefof the Indian political society was tranquil and calm, there was discovered a conspiracy with many ramifications, which was fortunately nipped in the bud when it was of the size of a cloud no bigger that a man's hand, before the whole scheme had time to mature. The Mahomedans under British rule have not evinced the same amount of contentment at their present position as have the "Hindus, but it must be borne in mind that the better classes of Mahomedans in every part of India are perfectly apprecia- tive of the great blessings of British rule, and are free from every taint of disaffecton. But the problem of the situation of the Indian Mussulmans has been presented to the notice of the public during the thirty years from 1859 — 1889 by many able writers. Sir William Hunter's fascinating book on Indian Mussulmans has achieved a permanent fame. The heads of large Mahomedan seminaries have frequently drawn public attention to the subject ; and two of the Lieutenant-Governors of the North Western Provinces whose reputation as men of letters equals their high position as officials. Sir William Muir and Sir Alfred Lyall have written on the subject with their wonted vigor and practical wisdom.* But the problem has not ad- vanced much beyond its original stage thirty years ago. It is but natural that those who were the masters of India before * A few passages here are taken from a paper on Indian Mussuluiana contri- buted by me to a leading Indian periodical INDIAN HISTORY OF OVR OWN TIMES. 53 the commencement of British rule and whose religious faith is perhaps the most intolerant in the world should feel a little uneasy under an administration dispensing just and equal laws, and enforcing a religious policy, which though it leaves to the Mussulmans the free enjoyment of their own religion, yet takes away from it its aggressive spirit and restrains them from asserting their tenets by force. The many pretenders and usurpers who flourished towards the close of the Mogul Empire also made large demands of rent-free lands for endow- ments under imperfect and at times forged documents and the scrutiny with which British officers examined all these claims and disallowed a large number gave facilities to the malcontents to raise a hue and cry that funds Sacred to religious purposes were being sequestrated. This fancied grievance which had been venti- lated from time to time in the public press acquired some weight by the diversion for a time of the splendid endowment of Mahomed Mohsin to secular English education — an ac- knowledged mistake on the part of the government which was set right by the enlightened action of Sir George Camp- bell. But the head and front of the grievances thirty years ago was, and still continues to be, that the administration of the country being carried on mostly through the medium of the English tongue shut out the Mahomedans from active participation on a large scale, because they have, by reason of their religious sentiments, hitherto availed themselves but little of the opportunities for a training in western literature and science. The Mahomedans, it is urged, consequently occupy but a numerically small fraction of the public offices in India. Whether Lord Macaulay committed a mistake or not, when he de-orientalized the system of higher education in this country and subsidized the acquisition of that species of knowledge which makes fifty years of Europe better than a cycle of Cathay is a question that admits of but one answer. But owing to the sentiments of the proud followers of Maho- met, who were at once called upon to accept a position far 54 INDIAX HISTOR Y OF OUR OWN TIMES. lower than that which it was their privilege to occxipy, in the days immediately preceding the British rule, and the natural disappointment of those, the majority of whom entered India as soldiers of fortune and retaining to the end that character, found that with the advent of universal peace within the borders of India their occupation was gone and the traditions of a religion whose texts until modified by ingenius interpre- tations, raised an important question as to the obligation laid on a faithful Moslem to rise in arms against the British Gov- ernment, being bound to do so by conscience, and whose avowed principles made a thoroughly completed religious education, an essential condition before the beginning of se- cular learning — the Mahomedans until very recently resolutely refused to accept the new order of things and were left behind in the race of progress. When on the establishment of the Indian High Courts, English was substituted for Urdu, as the language of the Courts universally in Bengal and to a less extent elsewhere, the Mahomedans were gradually dis- placed by the Hindus considerably in the public service of Bengal and in a smaller degree in other places. In the N. W. Provinces where many departments of public business are still conducted in Urdu which is more the vernacular of the Mahomedans than of the Hindus the grievance as to the ex- clusion of the Mahomedans from clerical service does not to the same extent exist. But the remedy for such grievances as the Mahomedans may feel, as the ablest among them^.have long since perceived and as they have been repeatedly told by many of those who are their sincerest well-wishers, lies in their own hands. The British Government in the case of all its subject races adopted the sound administrative principle of fair play and no favor in the selection of the members of the public services. It is hopeless to expect that the British Gov- ernment will modify this broad rule of justice and practical expediency in favor of the angular sentiments or prejudices or the immoveable supineness of any particular individual INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 55 or set of individuals. The only way to otlicial preferment and to the enjoyment of life in all its aspects in Modern India, lies through the gate of that higher education which first saw its inception in Lord Macaulay's famous minute. The Mahomedans should provide as many as possible of their own educational seminaries, where secular and religious instruc- tion may bo combined and the Government will certainly afford every aid to them under the grants-in-aid system. The Maho- medan intellect is presumably not inferior to that of the Hindu. The Moslems have inherited the noblest traditions and carried ] both the arts of war and peace to perfection when Europe was still the land of painted savages. Within the last thirty years many of their race have achieved distinctions in the liberal culture and the cultivated arts of the West, and there is no reason why if they look to the situation fully in the face and dis- play one-tenth of that noble energy that their forefathers have enshrined in the pages of the world's history their grievances will readily disappear, lij this means and by none other can the Indian Mussulmans become as favored and contented a race as any other enthological division of Her Majesty's Indian subjects. The Wahabee Conspiracy. — The Mahomedans in every part of the world firmly believe that a second prophet of the name of Imam-Mahdi will appear, at some future date, and it has been a common trick with clever impostors ever since the Mahomedan religion was founded to pretend to be this expected prophet and thus lay claim to spiritual and temporal greatness. It was industriously propagated as a piece of stirring news in all the Indian bazaars that the expected Islamic prophet has appeared fiir beyond the western borders of India at a place named Sittana, and aggression and propagation of the true creed by the bayonet and the sword being the most favorite dogmas of the Mahomedan faith, it was naturally expected that the so-called prophet will wage a holy war with the British Government and secret emissaries and preachers 56 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. were sent to all the great towns of the Presidency of Bengal as far east as Dacca to collect men and supplies and excite secret disaffection. The designing men at Sittana found a willing ally in Mahomed Shuffee of the Punjab who held extensive contracts for the supply of meat to all the European regiments in the province and had many agents and servants travelling constantly from place to place. Captain Parsons through some of his Afghan policemen got scent of this wide-spread dis- affection and ceaseless activity amongst those who in coujuction with the rude tribes on the west of the India meditated an united rising against the British Government. A native editor also published an inflammatory pamphlet that was being then circulated by the emissaries and gave a distinct warning as to the existence of other similar pamphlets and agencies for exci- ting disaffection. Mr. William Tayler the Commissioner of Patna also found that the plot had spread a complicated net- work in his division and he promptly seized all the suspected persons — a measure which was deemed by the head of his government to have been quite useless and for which Mr. Tayler suffered severely. The Panjab conspirators headed by Mahomed Shuffee and Juffir Ally, were also tried and found guilty of treason, though the extreme penalty of the law was modified in certain cases by the executive government. The conspiracy which had spread far and wide was effectually suppressed, an expedition had also to be sent against the mountaineers be- yond the Indus, which terminated next year and will be dealt •with in the next chapter. In this connection it is due to the better classes of Mahomedans in all parts of India to say, that though they might ventilate their grievances in a perfectly legitimate and constitutional way, they held themselves quite aloof from this conspiracy whose main object was secretly to undermine the British Government. General Events. — Lord Elgin started at the end of autumn for a tour in the Himalayas and his route lay through the Kangra Valley, This beautiful vale of nature is known to the INDIAN HISTORY OF OUB OWN TIMES. 57 Indian public chiefly on account of tharisuperior sort of tea that bears its name. It has however one of the lovliest sites of the Himalayas, which, as all the civilized world knows, abound in lovely, and sublime sceneries, and is ranked only inferior to the valley of Cashmere, that romantic land of India, which had evoked the grandest flights of many of India's greatest writers, and which holds in popular fancy, the place of a land full of all that is lovely and delightful. The Kangra Valley is also rich in the grandest panoramas of majestic beauty, and is surrounded on all sides by lofty ranges with Kooloo, Ladak and Spiti on one side and Chineba and Cashmere on the other. It was, when amidst these mountain scenes, w4iich in the graphic style of a Ruskin or any other ajsthetic writer would call forth the deepest feelings of the human heart, that Lord Elgin had his constitution deranged by an unusual amount of nervous exertion on these giddy heights. The shock his system suffered from the consequent nervous exhaustion was too much for his over-worked frame and he had to lie down on that bed from which his soul quickly took its flight with the cheering confidence that illumines the path of the virtuous to heaven. He was interred in a beautiful spot which Lady Elgin selected for his tomb in the village of Dhurmsalla. It is idle to speculate whether Lord Elgin would have fulfilled in the Indian Viceroyalty, the high expectations formed of him. His career was too short and he had time but barely to master the details of this vast and complicated mechanism of Indian administration. His policy was eminently conciliatory but but no one can now speculate as to the later developments it might have assumed. He died regretted by all, the first Viceroy who could not return to his native land. Sir (;harles Trevclyan who had been recently recalled from the Governorship of Madras came back to India as the Finance Minister. His reappointment removed the cloud under which his reputation rested and the Home Government thus dealt to him a measure of tardy justice. His budget statements are 58 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. remarlcably clear expositions of the situation and he rendered himself popular with all classes by trying to remove the abnoxi- ous income-tax from the statute-book and eventually succeed- ing in doing so two years hence. The government of the North-West Provinces changed hands during the year by the retirement of Mr. Edmonstone and he was succeeded by the Hon'ble E. Drummond of the Bengal Civil Service who had acquired the reputation of being an able financier. The task entrusted to Mr. Edmonstone was a very difficult one. He had to heal the effects of the terrible wound caused by the Mutiny which was still gaping in the provinces under his sway, ■when he took charge. By assiduous vigor and industry he succeeded in putting the machine again in right order. Though trained in the school of Lawrence and Montgomery, he had not the striking originality of either though in the ordinary duties of provincial administration he always evinced a fair degree of ability. The administration of his successor the Hon'ble E. Drummond was marked by some attempts to establish pro- vincial exhibitions. Soon after his retirement Mr, Edmonstone breathed his last in his native land. A distinguished writer refers in connection with Mr. Edmonstone's death, to the fact that a good many Anglo-Indian officers of distinction died almost immediately after their retirement and arrival in England. The effects of the Indian climate were popularly ascribed as the chief cause of these lamentable occurrences but the writer above alluded to has very pertinently shown that the sudden relaxation from all labour, and the sudden change from the habits of years had as much to do with the dissolution of Anglo-Indian constitutions as the ravages of the Indian climate. The only event of importance during Sir William Denison's short tenure of the Indian Viceroyalty was in connection with the Umbeyla Campaign and will find a mere appropriate place in the next chapter. He w'as called upon to face a situation to deal with which decision of character and a broad grasp of affairs were essential. ryniAN history of our own times. 59 This 3'ear was remarkable for some fluctuations in the money-market., which might be briefly noticed here. The ex- change question had assumed, in our own days a serious and threatening aspect in the case of India which had by time- honored arrangements to make large annual payments in England in gold. This question and the solutions of it proposed and the labours of the Currency Commission vvhicli tended to relieve the situation, will be dealt with in their proper place. The abnor- mal profits realized by the cotton trade during the period of the American War, as well as the rage for speculation which runs high in some particular periods, led to the formation of Joint Stock Companies in the presidency towns, in large numbers, tmd whicli proposed to lay out capital and labour on every con- ceivable article of hun;an use and comfort. Many of these Companies or rather the greater part of them entirely collapsed, and the losses inflicted on individual families were immense. The Friend of India estimated the losses in the case of Calcutta alone at nearly 15 lacs of rupees. Sir Charles Trevelyan in his budget speech for the next year also dwells on the fact that the piece goods trade, under went great fluctuations. The native dealers at Calcutta and Bombay did not readily accept the high prices of manufactured cotton-goods of the English exporters but changed their minds on finding that the prices would not fall thus bringing a sudden re-action and enormous profits to certain traders. The question of India's export and import trade engaged the attention of the Government during the year, and several schemes for introducing a gold currency were sub- mitted to it. Mr. Fawcett's opinion as to the introduction of a gold currency in India, as being totally unsuitable to a country which has to make the majority of its payments in small sums had the upper hand in the counsels of the govern- ment. The creation of a greater demand for the improved pro- ductions of England, will, it was hoped, equalize the exports and imports and save the necessity of exporting bullion in this country. How far these hopes were realized and how far the 8—2 60 INDIAN HIS TOR Y OF UR WN TIMES. figures of export and import trade support the inferences drawn from them by the contending schools of Indian politicians, will be fully discussed much later on. CHAPTER VI. 1S61. The Central Provinces. — The Vcast tract of conntry wliich is known in Indian geography and politics as the Central Provinces is bordered by Bengal and Orissa on the East, by Central India and other hilly tracts on the North and West and by Berar and the Nizam's dominions on the South. This im- mense extent of territory had been acquired by the British Go- vernment at different times by wars and treaties but they were first organized into a Chief Commissionership by Lord Canning. The first Chief Commissioner appointed was Colonel Elliot, whose administration was of the average and ordinary run of mediocre officers but it is due chiefly to Sir Richard Temple's enthusiasm and extraordinary abilities that the vast mass of chaos existing there was reduced to order and the province first came under a regular and systematized administration. Sir Richard was Chief Commissioner of the province for nearly 4 years having got a transfer in 1866 to the Residentship of Hj^derabad. To the lot of those historians who have dealt with the earlier periods of British rule in India has fallen the noble task of recording the grandest feats of Anglo-Saxon energy and ability in constructing a systematized administration out of a heterogeneous and disordered organism and no more pleasing duty can fall to the lot of the modern historian. After 1859, the great feat of introducing every one of the methods and appliances of civilized life into a vast territorial area still in a primitive condition first fell to the indomitable energy and or- ganizing abihty of Sir Richard Temple. When Sir Richard took charge of the province, one could have easily seen that he will have to perform a mission similar to that undertaken by white men in the west with the exception that ho was never to injure them in the slightest degree nor use any means of 02 INDIAN IHSTOllY OF OUR OWN TIMES. compulsion. The province contained large tracts covered with dense jungles and although, by the greatest difficulty traces were found of some centres of population, no regular roads existed by wdiich they could be brought into communication with one central station. Sir Richard Temple's labors in first visiting every part of his dominions at every season of the year through pathless forests and deep and noble rivers, can not be too highly praised. He resolved upon visiting every centre of interest and importance at whatever risk and cost and before ho could introduce a systematic and centralized government into such an unwieldy mass, it was absolutely requisite for him, to make himself acquainted personally wath every detail and nature of the workable schemes, for securing the uniformity he so much disired. One can not however appreciate the full extent of Sir Richard Temple's difficulties without knowing the fact that the jungles which spread for many miles round on every side in these terri- tories w^ere very unhealthy and the absence of roads and travel- ling stages made even the Chief Commissioner travel on foot or on horse-back and depend at times upon the coarsest fare. Sir Richard Temple went first to Mundla on the Nerbudda and thence to Seonee and Nagpar, whence he turned southwards visiting Chindwarra, the Berars and Omrawatee, in his first tour. In the second tour, he went down the Godavery, to Coconda on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, and thence through Sumbulpnr and Chhatisgarh back to Nagpur. In his third tour he struck towards the Panchmari Hills, and came back through the (!hnndla and Seonee districts. In the course of these tours Sir Richard Temple, had taken care to collect every information re- garding the land tenure, the systems of civil and criminal justice in vogue and the customs and usages of a rude people and then laid all his views in a masterly document before the Supreme Government, along with other particulars of his infor- mation gleaned during the travels. In his own eloquent words, ^'Nature and circumstance, with a severe impartiality have dis- tributed the points of interest and importance over the whole INDIA2^ HISTORY OF OUR OWX TIMES. r,3 lentrth and breadth of the laud. In one distant direction it ^vill be local political affairs that claim attention; in another the land tenures, in another the navigable rivers, in another the arrange- ments for defence and protection, in another the forests and in another, the communication through the passes." Sir Richard Temple first set himself after- collecting this information, about completing the land settlement. He fixed the revenue for thirty or twenty years as the case might have been, had all the rights in the land recorded, and had all absolute and relative obligations fixed, so as to avoid future uncertainties. He then began to effect reforms in the Police and magisterial departments and gave commissions as magistrates, to a good many native gentlemen, who assisted the regular establishment by disposing of nearly one-fifth of the cases with credit and ability. He undertook the construction of good metalled roads, which in the absence of better means are the broad highways of commerce. There was also a great deal of progress in the sanitary and hygienic condition of the province, and the climate was sought to be improved by the clearing off, of dense forests. The in- crease of litigation surely be-tokeued the advent of a peaceful administration and a settled society. The Central Provinces did thus under the simple machinery of the non-regulation system and with the assistance of the administrative genius of Sir Richard Temple took a great leap towards civilization. The area known as Central Provinces has a great future before it ; its noble rivers, its fertile soil, its salubrious climate, and its un- bounded capacity for natural products afford the highest scope for true statesmanship and forms a field of work worth the ambition of the most gifted specimens of Anglo-Saxon energy. In our own days, Mr. Alexander Mackenzie followed in the foot steps of Sir Richard Temple. The hitter's successor Mr. Morris pays a graceful tribute to his indefatigable effoi'ts and unique success as an administrator in his official report for 186G-67. The Umbeyla Campaign — The country was threatened with a grave disaster from the fanaticism and the political 64 I^^I)lAX HISTORY OF OUR OWI^ TIMES. combination of the Moslems on the west. The widespread Mahomedan conspiracy discovered during Lord Elgin's reign, was supported by the Sittana fanatics beyond the frontiers of India and the government in 1863 determined upon sending a military force to coerce them to submission. The hardy and uncivilized races on the western borders of India had always been a source of grave political danger and their occasional raids and forays, have from time immemorial disturbed the peace of the cultivated frontier districts. To carry on a war with them is at the same time the most difficult of all military operations. They were secure in their own mountain fastness- es and while the natural situation of their country, affords them the greatest facilities, for offensive operations, it serves at the same time as a perpetual barrier against any sort of organized military tactics and allows only a desultory guerilla warfare. Even the vetern Lion of the Punjab Ranjit Singh could hardly bring them to anything like complete subjection and the best-discii)liued troops of Great Britain suffered at their hands an unprecedented and unmerited fate in that campaign of 1842, which cost Euglaud so dear both in men and the prestige of her arms. On the morning of the 20th of October 1863, Sir Neville Chamberlain with a small force entered the Umbeyla pass, and had a difficult march through precipitious roads and watercourses. The enemy sent stray shots from the heights on both sides, and the arrangement was adopted of crowning the heights on either side with flanking parties of guide Infantry. One evening the British troops came across the enemy who were occupying Umbeyla, and the mountaineers rushed upon the disciplined regiments with hideous enthusiasm and in great disorder. ScufHes ensued and after some losses the enemy was for the time held in check by a regiment of the Muzbee Sikhs and the 20th Paujab Infantry. The British troops then made a halt for the night but the Bonairs rushed upon them with shouts and yells, and there was desultory firing on both sides. The terrible difli- INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 65 culty through wliich this mountaia campaign will have to be conducted now became apparent on all sides. Sir Neville Chamberlain saw that he would have to advance by fighting every inch, that' it would be extremely difficult to keep com- munications open, with the headquarters on the frontier, and to get supplies, while it was almost impracticable to inflict deadly losses on any large body of the enemy by organized military action. The Bouairs did actually block up Sir Neville Chamberlain's rear and that gallant General saw that his only means lay in maintaining his position. The ranks of the enemy on the 26th "October received accessions from the Swatees and the Moslems from Mulka, on the northern side of the Mahaban range, and by keeping up a stray firing gave the British troops absolutely no rest. The British troops formed a small body and to advance at each step was so difficult that the commander had to think of making a prolonged stay where he was, as long as sufficient reinforcements did not arrive. On Friday the 6th of November 1863, the enemy gathered in great numbers and attacked the advanced guards of the British troops under Ensign Marry, Captain Rogers, and Major Hardinge. The British troops were effectually protected for a time by a low ridge of hills which admirably served as a breastwork, but the overwhehning numbers of the enemy had the advantage, and the small party after waiting for reinforce- ments which did not arrive, had to retire carrying the dead and wounded as best they might. This small measure of success spread like wildfire among the mountain-tribes and their ranks received again an accession of over 3000 men and on the night of the 1 2th November, they vigorously attacked the picket thrown on the right of the little camp on a high craggy peak which was known as the Craig picket. They captured this picket and slaughtered to a man Lieutenant Davidson and his small band of soldiers. On the news of this fresh success of the enemy reaching Sir Neville, who was encamped in the pass below, Colonel Salisbury, was immediatly ordered to 9 66 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. proceed and retake the defensive position at any cost. Colonel Salisbury vvith Major lloss and Lieutenant Inglis bravely as- cended the precipitous rocks and rushed on the enemy with great fury, scattering them for the time and recovering the lost picket. Another skirmish took place on the 19th November between Captain Smith's party and the Bouairs in which several officers were killed. On the 20bh,_ the enemy made again a desperate attack on the Craig picket and though it was vigor- ou!-:ly defended by Major DeLafosse succeeded in again cap- turing it. The position had to be retaken by a dreadful fight, and at a great sacrifice l>y Colonel Hope and the Highlanders. Major James the Commissioner of Peshawar who had an inti- mate knowledge of the country and the habits of the mountain- eers joined the force as political officer on the 19th November, and through his diplomatic efforts, the less zealous members of the enemy's camp abandoned the sacred Moslem cause. Sir Neville Chamberlain was himself laid up with a severe wound and the command of the force devolved upon Major-General Garvock, who had distinguished himself in the African camp- aigns. The situation was now perilous in the extreme and the authorities at the head quarters were seriously called upon to consider whether the campaign should be a protracted one or the force should be ordered to retire. Lord Elgin was then on his death-bed and the council was mostly in favor of a retirement on the part of the force sent through the Umbeyla pass. Sir Robert Montgomery, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Panjab was himself vacillating but Sir Hugh Rose stoutly opposed all thoughts of our troops being ordered to fall back, and Sir William Denison wdio had taken charge of the Yiceroyalty, strongly seconded Sir Hugh Rose's opinions. Sir William Denison rightly thought, that a policy of falling back was liable to be misconstrued by the mountaineers and it might add fresh and ever recurring troubles to the Panjab districts on the western border. It was therefore resolved that the campaign should be a protracted and extended one and for TNDTaN^ history of our OTFiY TLMES. G7 tnis decisive and beneficial policy posterity will ever remain indebted to Sir William Denison wlio, overruled the halting comisels of those around him. A campaign on a large scale was organized and the brigade was ordered to assemble at Hati Mardan near Peshawar, and the first operations of the new detachments were against the village Laloo, which strong- hold was completely destroyed by Colonel Turner's brigade. The heights leading up to the Garoo mountain and the Bonair pass were next swept of their armed men, and the Ohumla valley occupied. After a series of rapid and brilliant successes the enemy was considerably weakened by the desertion of their allies, and the original object of this war, the destruction of Mulka was accomplished on the 22ud of December without much trouble. The disasters that occurred during this cam- paign were due to the simple fact that the strength of the enemy had been too much under-rated and a sufficient number of regiments was not sent in the first instance, and but for the subsequent prudent counsels that prevailed the British troops would have been in a serious predicament. The frontier question in India is always a knotty question. The wild tribes will never come under any settled system of government nor will they betake themselves within even a long period to peaceful and industrious habits. Whenever any operations are undertaken t?o punish them, it must be remembered that the campaign is of the most difficult sort of all [ndian campaigns, and it will be found that in subsequent years the lessons learnt in 1863-64 were not thrown away. Sir John Laweence. — The advent of a Civilian Governor- General for the first time in the History of India was hailed with great delight by those who had previously any knowledge of the Viceroy — elect. The peoj)le in the Panjab who had been familiar with Sir John and his brother Sir Henry Lawrence, also a towering figure in Indian History, for many years now saw in the Vieeroy the same officer whom they beloved and respected as commissioner and provincial governor, and the enthusiasm d—2 68 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. of the people iu that part of the country was unbounded. In other parts of the Indian contuient the same enthusiasm was felt for a -name that had become a household word since the dark days of the Mutiny for having so successfully resisted the tide of aggres- sion when ever it came iu contact with the Lahore Government. With the Umbeyla complications on the western frontier, and Bhotau complications on the eastern border, with the exaggera- ted importance that popular fancy and the rumours spread by designing men, attributed to the conspiracy among the Maho- medaus that had been discovered it was universally felt that India required at her helm a ruler whose very name would be a tower of strength to the British Government, and whose past career was associated with grand and unvarying success in the cabinet and the field. Among the members of his own service the feeling was of a mixed character. Such is human nature unfortunately in the planet where we live, that any one is hardly free from the jealousies and evil designs of his fellow-men. The most scrupulous honesty and the most brilliant abilities are often depreciated and underrated by those whose innate badness of heart or personal pique is excited, and there is hardly a man to-day in any sphere of life what- ever, who is not spoken ill of, whose motives and actions are not misconstrued, by those whose interests clash with his, or who, incapable of those steady efforts and that unerring faculty of seizing opportunities, that distinguish the really able man from on© of mediocre and average abilities are deservedly left behind iu the race of life. By many members of his service it was broadly hinted that Sir John Lawrence had been much overrated, and while the majority rejoiced at finding a member of their own service, raised to such an exalted and di (unified position, there were not wanting discordant notes, ex- pressing open disapproval at the selection made for the Vice- regal office. We shall not anticipate here whether the expecta- tions entertained of him were fulfilled by Sir John Lawrence. Auiono; the militarv classes his advent was hailed with unmixed INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMF.S. G9 delio-ht, and all watched with intorest and curiosity the career in the most exalted appointment in the British Empire outside England, of one who was not a stranger to the country, who had risen from the lowest step of the official ladder, to the highest-paid post in the world. But his presence in India at this crisis was a distinct gain, it was worth the presence of an army and coufiilenceon all sides was restored, when it was found that the Lion of the Panjab was once more in the laud to quell rebellion and sweep away disaffection with an iron hand, where- ever they might appear. It is interesting to read in the papers of those times the account of the feeling welcome which the new Governor-General received in the Panjab, or that feeling address in which Sir John welcomed his frieuds and associates in his old province speaking in a majestic voice and for the first time for a Viceroy, in the language of the province. Sir John landed in Calcutta on the 12th January 1864, and was heartily welcomed in his new office. Geneeal Events — Sir John Lawrence spent the summer in the cool heights of the Himalays, and held a large durbar at Lahore in the end of autumn. The durbar was attended by the chiefs of the Panjab, and the Viceroy addressed them in their own language. Sir John Lawrence's address was not that piece of rhetorical effort and string of rounded and well- turned sentences that we always read with so much pleasure from the literary point of view, in our own days. His address proceeded from the depths of his heart and it was a feeling welcome and admonition to those among whom he had lived for thirteen years, and with whom he had been associated most intimately. He impressed them with the solid advantages of British rule, and referred with pride to the loyalty the Panjabee soldiers and Panjabee chiefs had shown during the disasters of 1857 and the following year. He took occasion to men- tion the names of those distinguished officers who had co- operated with him in the government of the Panjab and the Maharajas of Cashmere and Patiallah, the Sikh chiefs of 70 lyjjiAy insTuRY of our 0]vy tuies. Miilwah and tlie Manjha, the Rajput chiefs of the hills, the Mahomedau Mullics of PeshuAvar and Kohat, the Sirdars of Derajat, Hazara, and Delhi, received the address with deep emotions, as they heheld the officer so well-known to them speaking with the inmost feelino-s of his heart. Calcutta and Lahore were also prominently before the public this year, by reason of the Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Produce in those cities. The Calcutta Exhibition also included agricul- ti;ral machinery and at the opening of the exhibition much enthusiasm was displayed, even the Viceroy being present. The Lahore Exhibition collected together the produce and the curiosities, the minerals and the handicrafts from every remote corner of the province. As Sir Robert Montgomery observed in his opening address " But God has richly blessed these provinces with natural gifts ; with mountains abounding in forest timber ; with plains needing nothing but artificial irri- gation to produce the finest crops ; with rivers capable of watering the whole soil. But to render them increasingly serviceable to human sustenance and comfort, they must be brought under more complete subjection by human labour." Thus the Panjab exhibition was a grand affair and was an humble attempt to imitate on a small scale those splendid and inimitable shows in Great Britain and L'eland with which the name of the late Prince Consort will for ever remain asso- ciated. It was evident that the Panjab within a short period of British rule had made much more progress, than any other province, and this was due equally to the noble character of the races that inhabit the province and the exceptionally able mQM who under the loose system of the non-rogulatiou provinces could do their best to bring their ability and energy into full play. The metropolis of India, Calcutta was visited this year with a terrible cyclone which did considerable damage to life and property. The wind became violent at about four- o'clock on the -Sth October 1864, and lasted till about a quarter tu ten. The violence of the wind again increased considerably 7.Y7>7. 1 T IIIS TOJR Y OF UB WN TIMES. 71 after nearly an honr and tlio Avinds continued to ra<^e till nearly two in tlio morning. The river on the western side of Calcutta which in ordinary times, is calm and placid like an artificial lake, was raging and foaming and vast extent of black water swei)t through a greater part of its course from the sea, deluging hundreds of miles, sweeping away homesteads and cornfields and irreparably ruining the great vessels, whose masts and riggings in ordinary times form such a beautiful aud imposing spectacle on the Hoogly. Trees were torn up by tlieir roots, and thrown about by the force of wind and a great number of houses constantly fell down with terrible noise and crushed hundreds of human victims. As the Calcutta Englishman described at the tiuie '^ carriages and palkees were upset and strewed the roads, mingled with the debris of roofs verandahs, gates, and fallen trees. Corrugated iron roofings were torn doubled up and blown away like sheets of paper. By two- o'clock the Eastern and Southern Suburbs of the city, and those parts of it to the westward, wdiich from tlieir proximity to the plain and the river were the most exposed were more or less a •wreck. Except the cocoa-nut and other palms scarcely atree was anywhere to be found standing. The beautiful avenues in Fort William were entirely destroyed ; the Eden Gardens were turned into a wilderness ; the Tank Square, the trees and shrubs were blown away and in many parts the iron railing torn up and over- thrown. In Garden Reach the roads were blocked up and rendered impassable from the trees that fell across them. The damage done to buildings was considerable. Among these we notice the roof of the Free School was blown away ; the upper part of the Roman Catholic Church at the upper end of Bowbazar road entirely destroyed, and the steeple of the Free Church of Scotland, the minarets of the Mosque in Dhurmtollah were all blown away ; St. Jame's Theatre was unroofed and nearly destroyed ; the roof of the Cathedral was much damaged ; the sheds of the East India Railway Company were unroofed aud Messers Thacker Spink and Co's premises seriously 72 I^'I)JAy IIISTOE Y OF OUR TFiV^ TIMES. damaged. In fact scarcely a pucca house in Calcutta has escaped ■svithout injury while the native huts, especially in the Suburbs were almost all blown down. The Telegraph Lines are inter- rupted : all is confusion, and it is scarcely known, what ships have been entirely lost, what are immediately damaged and are safe. AVith few exceptions, the ship{)ing were driven from their moorings, and cast ashore or jammed together on the opposite side of the river, while several were sunk in mid channel and others stranded by the storm wave high up on the Calcutta shore." There are no precise data, as to the exact amount of the loss of lives but the loss to life and property was considerable. This year saw the birth of three Commissions — the Sanitary Commission, the Commissariat Commission and the Cholera Commission. The Sanitary Commission continued its labours from year to year. The Commissariat Commission was ap- pointed at the instance of Sir Hugh Rose and eifected several important reductions in the ruinous Commissariat charges. The Cholera Commission had at its head, Sir John Strachey, who with his colleagues, a military and a medical otiicer visited all the places where the Cholera of 1861 had broken out in a rather se- vere form and collected all the items of information, with refer- ence to the origin and the suppression of the disease. It was found that the most culpable neglect prevailed with reference to the health of the British troops and it was discovered with am- azement that at the Meean Mir hospital near Lahore, the latrines contained the accumlated filth of ten years, though for the cir- cuitous proceedings prevailing in all departments of admistra- tiou in every civilized country it was not easy to fix the res- ponsibility of this dreadful state of things on any one indivi- dual. Considerable improvements also took place in the general modes of life of the European soldiers. The dwellings allotted to the British soldiers in the Cantonments were bad enough and the first grants of the funds of the country were spent in cons- tructing barracks for the British troops. The British soldier had under the system of barracks inaugurated in this year, large and 7T/>7J.V HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 73 well- ventilated rooms, with a place attached iu each range of buildings where he might be engaged in reading or devout meditation if he so pleased. The mortality among the European troops which always involved heavy losses to the state was also engaging the attention of the government. By the building of double-storied barracks preventing the soldiers to sleep ou the ground-floor iu hot and unhealthy seasons of the year, ifc was sought to keep them beyond the attacks of malaria. And the expedient was also seriously thought of v/'z.^ utilizing the large and healthy hill-stations of In iia for large cantonmentg and locating the greater i)art of the European soldiers, per- manently in a climate which compares not unfavorably, with that of the regions of Northern Europe. The plan it was thonght, could be safely adopted when the hill stations would be linked by extensive lines of railway, with every part of the Indian continent. Some complications took place on the Bhotan fron- tier which along with the war that ensued are detailed in the next chapter. The temperance movement was prominently before the Indian public in the course of this year and tempe- rance associations vv^ere organize 1 in large centres of European army. The finances were in equilibrium and Sir Charles Trevelyan, who continued as Finance minister introduced strict economy and went on curtailing useless expenditure. 10 CHAPTER VII. 1865. The Bhotan "Wae. — One of the troubles bequeathed to Sir John Lawrence by the previous administration was with reference to Bhotan affairs. Bhotan is one of the three semi-independent native states, which lie between Thibet and the British Indian dominions. To its north and east lies Thibet, to the west the territories of Nepal and Sikkim and to the south Bengal Proper and Assam. This mountainous tract of land forms a small kingdom that owns the overlord ship of Thibet. It is inhabited by a hardy race who depend more on hunting than on agriculture for their daily food and are not unoften accustomed to make raids and forays into the neighbouring territories, where a peaceful population can ill afford to withstand effectively their savage attacks at all times. The difficulties with reference to the frontier tribes have always been a source of standing trouble and difficulty to the British Government. The warfare with them, is always something in which the superior discipline of the British Indian army gives but little advantage, and the only effective ■way of checking their depredations and holding them at bay, is to blockade the mountain passes through which alone the mountain tribes can get their supplies. The state of Bhotan always laid cbvim to the valleys, at the foot of the Bhotan mountains bordering on Bengal and Assam known as the "Dooars." There are passes from those valleys leading to the interior of the hills, of which five arc well-known, Dhalimkote Ohamoorcha, Balla, Baxa or Pusakha and Bishensing each de- fended by a fort and presided over by a Bhotanese officer known as Jungpen. To the east of Bishensing is another pass known as the Dewangiri pass and fort. The Dooars bordering on Assam belonged in the days of the native kings of the province to the INDIAN BIS TOR Y OF OUR WN TIMES. 75 Bliotanese on condition of tlieir paying a stipulated tribute in kind. When the British Government took possession of Assam, it demanded of the Bhotanese government the arrears of revenue due, but the Bhotanese raised various objections. At length a mission was sent in 1837 under Colonel Pemberton, and it was arranged that the British Government should have the possession of the Dooars bordering on Assam on condition of paying a revenue of ten thousand rupees annually. From 1841, this arrangement had been in force, and the British Govern- ment always fulfilling its obligations, the raids of the Bhotanese on the Dooars were discontinued. In 1842 a similar arrange- ment was made with reference to a tract of country known as Ambaree Fallacottah. But with reference to the "Dooars" bordering on Bengal the occasional outrages continued and the period of 1828 to 186H, was always marked by some violation or other of the treaty obligations of the Bhotanese govern- ment. It was thought in 1861, that some pressure should be brought on a government which was quite heedless of the principles of international law, by stopping to pay the Ambaree rents from that year, intimating at the same time that payment would be resumed as soon as the British property and subjects that had been carried away, had been restored and the Bhota- nese government made satisfactory arrangements for the dis- continuance of the raids on the part of its subjects. Bhotau had always two rulers, like some other countries of Asia, one the head of spiritual affairs and the other, the head of temporal affairs — known respectively as the Dhurm Raja and the Deb Raja. Under the Bhotanese constitution the Deb Raja's authority was merely nominal, the Dhurm Raja being the sole ruler of the state. The country was also parcelled out into three governor- ships — known as Western, Eastern and Central Bhotan, whose viceroys were respectively known as the Paro, the Tongso and Daka Fenlows. In 1862 a native messenger was sent to the Deb Raja, who went with a letter offering to send an accredited embassy of the British Government for the sake of settling all 10—2 76 INDIAN msrORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. disputes then pending and asking for arrangements to be made for tlie safe journey of the Ambassador and his escort. The reply was that the complaints received by the British Govern- ment were of too trivial a nature to be referred to the Dhurm Raja, that no mission was necessary but that a few officers of the Bhotanese government known as Zinkaffs would proceed to settle all dis])utes. But the Government did send the mission in November 1863, the accredited envoy being the Hon'ble Ashley Eden who was accompanied by Captains Austin and Lance, Dr. Simson and Cheboo Lama who was the interpreter. When the mission started there were internal disturbances at Bliotan and the Deb Raja had been expelled, the governor of Eastern Bho- tan heading the rebellion. Mr. Eden on the 10th November addressed the Chief at Dhalimkote asking what arrangements had been made about his mission. The Jungpem of Dhalimkote was the follower of one of the members of the council who had taken part in the rebellion but beins subject to the governor of AVestern Bhotan he was in danger of losing his appointment. He therefore thought to make his own position strong by be- friending Mr. Eden's mission an 1 without any authority from the central government he sent friendly messages to Mr. Eden, and had a long interview with Cheboo Lama, the Thibetan in- terpreter with the mission. Sir William Denison, who was then holding the office of Viceroy, was tf'l<'gra])hed to by Mr. Eden for orders, whether to proceed wIkmi the country and the seat of government was in a disorganized state. Sir Wil- liam Denison thinking that the Deb Raja might take the advantage of an alliance with the British Government against the rebels, ordered Mr. Eden to proceed straight to the capital. Mr. Eden's difficulties lay principally in his not being able to secure a sufficient number of coolies and the continued desertion of those whom he liad secured. On reaching Dhalimkote, the chief openly received the mission and paid the envoy a visit in his tents, drinking the whole day in the tents of Mr. Eden and Cheboo Lama. He, while about to depart, found some coolies INDIAN IIISTOnr OF OUR ifWN TIMEf^. 77 being flogged for desertion, Avithin the Briti.-li encampment and demanded their immediate release, and on its being refused, he threatened io cut down the officer in attendance. Mr. Eden remonstrated with him about his conduct and refused to see him until he had sent in a written apology, which he did tlie next day. Mr. Eden halted for several days at Dhalimkote but as no stock of supplies was to be had there excef)t at an enormous price, Captain Austin w^as sent to purchase supplies at Jalpigoorie. While at Dhahmkote Mr. Eden received a message from the Deb Raja enquiring the o'bject of his mission and asking him to refer it to the Chief of Dhalimkote. Mr. Eden wrote back to say that the object was such that it must be referred to the head of iha state. The Deb Raja evidently thought it politic, to coqu«t with the British mission seeking to make some political capital out of it in his then insecure position in the state. On the 29th November Mr. Eden found that he could not by any possibility get a sufficient number of coolies to convey all his escort and luggage and he deter- mined to leave behind a considerable part of his tents, baggage, stores and escort. This was a political blunder as it consider- ably depreciated the mission in the estimation of the Bhotanese people, who have not yet learnt to adopt the European simpli- city in all political matters. From Dhalimkote Mr. Eden proceeded to Sipchoo, where he was again in great difficulties owing to the want of coolies, and here he left behind every one of his escort who could be spared. He received no assis- tance from the Bhotanese officials on the way, who pleaded that they had received no order with reference to the mission from the central government. On the 7th December the mission reached a place known as Tsanglee, and he sent orders, to his officers and men at Sipchoo and Dhalimkote, to return to Darjiliug. Mr. Eden alo committed a mistake in asking the petty officials for permission to proceed, saying that if they wished him to return he would do so but they must answer to their own government for the consequences. The 78 rXDTAX n [STORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. council at Bliotaii aft(M-\var(ls took liold of this little circum- stance to say, that they could scarcely believe that an officer who consented to such sacrifice of dignity Avas in reality accredited by the Viceroy. At Paro, the envoy was subjected to a series of studied insults and in each little matter he was put to affront by the petty officials. The officers, all along the way, neither asked liim to proceed nor communicated any definite orders to fall back and Mr. Eden, for the first time in the history of British India, in his capacity as the Viceregal envoy proceeded into a country where he was distinctly given to understand that he was not wanted. Mr. Eden reached the capital on the 15th of March 1864. The capital city was Poonakha, and two days after Mr. Eden's arrival he was summoned to attend the council. As neither party could understand a word of what the other spoke, it was suggested by the council that the negotiations might be left with Cheboo Lama. On the 20ih March the envoy was summoned to meet the Rajas, and here more affronts were in store for him. The council assured the envoy that the matters of complaint were altogether on the side of the Bhotan government, and renewed the demands for the arrears of rent and the cession of the Assam Dooars, and the chief Tongso Penlow was unusually vehement in his expressions saying openly that they would have war, and they doubted ex- ceedinoly whether Mr. Eden had any authority from the Viceroy. On return to his own camp Mr. Eden sent for permission to depart but on the council's sending excuses for the affronts and the behaviour of Tongso Penlow, he consented to attend the council again. A draft treaty was agreed upon, on Mr. Eden's withdrawing his demands for the residence of a British repre- sentative and for the privileges to British traders, but the question of the Assam Dooars was not so much as even dis- cussed at this interview. On the 24th March the envoy was summoned to attend the council and the demands for the cession of the Assam Dooars were renewed. The discussion was warm and the envoy's person was also insulted by some INDIAN HISTORY OF OVR OWN TIMES. 70 gross breaches of propriety. On his return to the camp on the 24th the mission was threatened with seizure and imprison- ment in case Mr. Eden refused to sign a paper ceding the Assam Dooars. In vain Mr. Eden protested that he had no authority and he was compelled to secure his own safety and that of the mission by signing a paper which purported to be the treaty but he took care to write under his own signature the words "under compulsion". Whether these two words had been conscientiously interpreted by Cheboo Lama, and ■whether the Bhotanese council ever came to know at the time what these words exactly meant, do not clearly appear, Mr. Eden was then given permission to depart, and on the 31st reached the Paro Fort and had no further difficulties on the way back to the British territory. That the Bhotau mission was a grave political blunder few at this distant date will deny. The initial mistake wasthe deter- mination to send a mission in a country about the nature of whose government, the authorities in British India had no pre- cise information, and who, it might have been presumed, would not recognize those obligations of international law which in the more civilized parts of the world would make the person and dignity of an envoy sacred. The prestige of the British name did not escape insult, when the spectacle was presented of an envoy accredited by the Governor- General, subjected to a series of affronts, which when taken in the aggregate, meant a good deal, and then denied even the ordinary courtesy of civilized intercourse. When it was known again that the Hon'ble Ashley Eden had signed a paper ceding to the Bhotanese the Assam Dooars, the news was received by the Europeans and Indians alike with vehement expressions of disapprobation. The Government at once repudiated the treaty and a peremptory demand was sent to the Bhotanese government for the restitu- tion of all British subjects held in captivity at Bhotan, the alternative being the annexation of the Bengal Dooars. The demand, it is needless to say, was not complied with and a 80 IXDIAN JITS TORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. proclamation of war was issued in November 1804. The action of the Government in repudiating a treaty signed by its envoy was severely criticised at the time. Whether the words '' under cojnpulsion" below Mr. Eden's signature, justiiy such a course it is useless to discuss, as it does not appear, that the Bhctanese council knew what those words meant and accepted a treaty on the lace of it invalid. The action of Mr. Eden had seriously compromised the Government, and whether the conduct of the British Government in disregarding treaty obligations though Avith a power, that did not observe the first principles of inter- national law in their dealings with it, can be properly defended is a complicated quesfcionof political casuistry, upon which it is not easy to offer a decided opinion. To the ordinary mind, it would seem that the British Government had in this instance been guil- ty of a non-observance of those principles of eternal justice and integrity wdiich it professes, and of which it had given several- sterling proofs in its relations with the subject-races of India. Bat the sound principles of international law, it was arguetl,had no application to a state of things in which one of the high con- tracting powers were absolutely devoid of all integrity and obser- vance of treaty obligations in their own transactions. The rela- tions of civilized nations with uncivilized ones, in other parts of the world had been marked by a breach of faith much more culp- able than the one attributed to the British Government, but whether the resort to an ingenious subterfuge, for repudiating the envoy's action, became a government, founded on the same noble principles as the British, is much to be doubted, and the historian cannot but wish that Mr. Eden had not purchased the safety of his mission by pretended cession of the Assam Dooars antl l)y seriously compromising the government. The Bhotan War was a short one. The campaign opened by two columns being sent under Brigadier-General Mulcaster and Brigadier-General Dunsford to capture the forts nearest to the British territories. This was done without much difficulty, the greatest resistance offered was at Dhalindiote, which stoutly INDIAN HISTORY OF 01 li OWN TIMES. 81 held out for a day and fell into the hands of the British in the evening. Brigadier- General Dimsford on the 19th of December marched towards the fort known as Cliamoorcha. The gai-rison fled as the British troops approached and the fort was captured with but little fighting. The forts at Buxa and Balla were also similarly captured almost without opposition. Captain Mac- donald, captured the Dew'angiri Fort with a small escort and the Bishensing fort was also taken possession of, without firing a single shot. The British army then occupied all the forts. The Bhotanese governor Tongso Penlow now made a serious effort to recover these forts and sent a warning letter to the officer commanding the British troops, which unfortunately could not be read there and had to be sent two hundred miles to Darjiling to be translated. The Bhotanese governor surprized the garrison of the Dewangiri Fort on the morning of the 29th January 1865 and by cutting off the sources of water-supply, and block- ing up all passes through which all ammunition and reinforce- ments could reach the fort, forced Colonel Campbell and his troops at Dewangiri to retreat. The wounded and others who fell into Tongso Peulow's hands were treated by him exceed- ingly well. This serious loss brought about the best exertions on the part of the British Government, to recapture the fort, and one of the best Brigadiers -General was placed in command of the troops on active service at Bhotau and Dewangiri was re- captured by the overwhelming British army now directed against it. The victory was however tarnished by the cold- blooded murder by the British troops of 120 Bhotanese found within the Dewangiri Fort. Thus closed the Bhotan war a dark chapter of Indian his- tory which it might be said was a series of mistakes throughout. A treaty was concluded in 18G6 by which the British Govern- ment was to pay Rs. 25,000 as tribute for the Bengal Dooars, and all aggressions on British Frontier were to cease, the tribute to be doubled in case this stipulation was observed by the Bhotanese Government. The responsibility of the Bhotan war 11 82 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. must rest with the Imperial GovernineDt who bad directed every step down to the treaty of 18G6. General Events. — This yearns budget (1S65-66) proposed a loan for public works of nearly 13 lacs and an increase in the export duties. But as the measure affected the- large and powerful interests of the Manchester and the Liverpool merchants, Sir John Lawrence and Sir Charles Wood looked upon the measure with disfavor. Sir Charles Trevelyan. had however the satisfaction, of abolishing that tax against which he had vehemently fought while at Madras and he 'laid up' the income tax for the time, which in his own words waa "a potent and but imperfect fiscal machine upon the shelf com- plete in all its gear ready to be re-imposed in case of any new emergency." This year witnessed the retirement from Indian Service of Sir Hugh Rose and Sir Herbert Edwardes. Sir Herbert Edwardes was a distinguished statesman of the Lawrence School. As Commissioner of Peshawar and Umballa he had displayed qualities that established his claims to a higher act in preferment, which unfortunately was denied to him. His last act in India was the trial of theW'ahabee conspirators. Sir Hugh Rose was succeeded in his important appointment by Sir William Mansfield, who was then the head of the Bombay army» The Bombay Command devolved on Sir Robert Napier and the Madras Commnnd on Sir Gasper Le Marchant on the retire- ment of Sir Hope Grant. A good deal of excitement was created by some assassinations on the Peshawar border. Major Adam the Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar and Lieutenant Omma- ney of the guide Corps were rudely attacked and cut down, and the expedient had to be resorted to, as the only means of preventing these constant assassinations, of burning the bodies of the Mahomedan assassins — a process which in popular fancy was associated with a denial of those privileges in heaven which a Moslem eanis by slaying an infidel. The terrible epidemic that broke out in the ranks of an European re- giment who had been ordered to march a long distance under TNDTAX mSTORV OF OUR OWiV TIMES. 8S tlie greatest heat of an Indian sun brought down a severe reprimand on General Green who was responsible for the orders concerned. Nagpur was the seat of an Exhibition held on the lines of those at Calcutta and Lahore. An Engineering College was established at Roorkee near the foot of the Hima- layas and in the vicinity of that place where the Ganges Canal takes its rise from the main stream. The College has been the means of training natives of India in the higher branches of engineering, and the country is much indebted to this college for the diffusion of that high class of scientific knowledge applied to the practical arts of life, and that familiarity with the skilled mechanism of the West which this College affords. The Governor of Bombay Sir Bartle Frere devoted great attention to the improvement of the Maharatta race. He met "the assembled sirdars twice in durbar and delivered to them spirited addresses exhorting them to display in these times of peace the same energy that had made the names of their ■ancestors respected in other days. The inconveniences of Calcutta as a port had been long felt and a serious attempt was made this year to convert a place near the mouth of the Hoogly known now as Port Canning, as the port of Calcutta. Enormous capital was subscribed and spent for the purpose but the Port never became a popular one. The greatest dis- advantage of Calcutta as a trading-port arises from the fact that navigation on the Hoogly is extremely difficult and the •treacherous sandbanks which are to be found all along the length of the Hoogly seriously impede navigation and make it almost impossible for any vessel to go out or come in ■without the aid of experienced pilots. With the organised pilot service and with light-houses and buoys, this inconve- nience has been much diminished. Bombay witnessed a wild commercial speculation and the consequent excitement. The cotton trade and the land reclamation schemes, had realized enormous profits, and the speculative mania, as usual in •cases when certain trades are found to bring cnornious profits 11—2 84 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. knew no bonnds. House accomodation always dear in the capital of western India began to realize fabulous rents. Shares in projected companies and in companies which already- carrying on business, extended to undue proportions, rose to ten or twelve times the par value. The Directors of the Bank of Bombay, shared in the general excitement and began to to make enormous advances on the security of the bubble shares. The Bombay market was again flooded with that sort of share speculations which is known as time-bargains, that is the pur- chaser buying at the market value on some particular date promised to pay at a long future date and in the interim hoped to realize a large profit by the rise of the market value of shares. But when many of the companies failed one after another the crash came all at once on thousands of households. The general failures to meet engagements resulted in a peti- tion to the Legislature, for amending the Insolvent Act in such a way as to hasten the procedure. Mr. Justice Anstey dealt severely with those who had speculated in time-bargains and had been ruined thereby. We should not close this chapter without mentioning Mr. Crawford's efforts to im- prove the sanitary condition of Bombay, which notwith- standing its beautiful site and its enormous wealth, had been terribly neglected as regards its municipal business. Bombay, the focus of Indian trade, and with its picturesque islets and its rich tropical verdure, the lovliest city in India, began from this -year to make that steady improvement in municipal matters, which had been so complimentarily referred to by many an Indian Viceroy as thoy landed on Indian shores. CHAPTER VIII. 1S66. The Orissa Famine — The most important event during this year and the first half of the next was the Orissa fnmine, which caused a large number of deaths from sheer starva- tion or from the consequent effects of constant under-feeding. The total failure of crops in the three most important districts of Orissa in 1865, followed by a scanty harvest in the early part of 1866 and by inundations on a large and extensive scale later on in the year, produced a widespread scarcity and the food in the province was not sufficient for the number of its inhabitants. Unfortunately it was not until the state of things had reached a crisis and many thousands had perished for want of food that government efforts were directed to- wards this serious state of things and the sufferings of the survivors of the greatest natural calamity that has befallen Orissa, were considerably mitigated. Early in the year 1867, there was a public meeting in Calcutta where the Viceroy and the leading officials asked the co-operation of private charity on the part of the non- official and native community of the pro- vince of Bengal, to relieve the famine-stricken people of Orissa. Orissa is naturally a fertile tract of country watered by the Mahanady and other rivers. But the failure of the usual rains in an Indian province was always attended with the most disastrous consequences. The system of artificial irrigation now so widely resorted to, in the more thickly-populated pro- vinces of India, was hardly in vogue in 1866, and the old Moghul canals and aqueducts which brought water to the great centres of population and commerce and in the case of the city of Delhi, to every door in every quarter of the city had been allowed to fall in a condition of sad neglect. Added to the failure of rains in 1865, there was again a partial failure of SQ INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. rain? in tlie early farfc of 18G6, and later on in the year, the rainfall in the rocky regions where the Orissa rivers take their rise being rather heavy, the calm channels assumed a formidable shape and flooded an extensive tract of land then full of standing crops. The historian of India has unfortunate- ly to record that much valuable time was thrown away in dealing with the Orissa famine of 1866, and that the same timely measures were not taken to prevent the severity of the calamity that was so conspicuous in the case of the Behar famine of 1873-74. The East Indian Irrigation Company which was then engaged in large and extensive operations in the province anticipated a scarcity of food and began to import food grains for its numerous staff. But the local officials made light of the situation and did not unfortunately take the same timely steps in imitation of the laudable conduct of Colonel Rundall, engineer of the above company. The non-official gentlemen who resided in the province and the native press which had already grown to be a powerful institution sounded the note of warning in no uncertain terms but the Board DOrUBLEK ROAP, PART II. This pcarfc of the "Indian History of Our Own Times" is, by kind permission, respectfully dedicated to Hig Excellency Lord Frederick Sleigh Roberts Com- mander-in-Chief of the Forces in India, that ac- complished soldier and eminent statesman, who after having filled with conspicuous success every branch of the Indian military administration, had happily been selected to fill a position which enabled him during his tenure of that high office to bring upon the counsels of this great Empire, his judgment, equally clear and candid, which again had been fortified with a singularly wide knowledge of affairs. SATYA CHANDRA MUKERJI. PREFACE. In presenting the second and the tliird parts of the "Indian History of our own times" to the public, I have to apologize for some unavoidable delay in the comj^letion of the book. The profession, of which I have the honor of being a member^ is a very exact- ing one and in nothing more so, than in the matter of constant attendance. Some personal misfortunes too, have dela3^ed the finishing of this undertaking. Having however some time at my hands just now, I utilize it, in giving the finishing touches to this book which had a prominent place on my attention for the last three years. I have, since the appearance of the first part, been favored with many suggestions with reference to the plan and the execution of this book. 1 have received an amount of help in the shape of materials from different quarters that it would be difficult for me to acknowledge all my obligations and where I am indeb- ted to so many, it would be invidious to select a few for special notice. I have not thought it proper to burden the narrative with references to the authori- ties, although I am quite aware that a young writer's fame would chiefly depend on his getting access to the best materials. This method of work, however, would have expanded the limits of this humble under- taking to a considerable extent and I have, above all [ ii ] tilings, desired, while omitting nothing material, to confine it within such limits as might be acceptable to the busy public of our daj^s. I have confined myself also strictly to the historical matter and have avoided any lengthened discussion on the problems of modern politics, which have not yet passed the regions of controversy. I have to do my literary work in the time that I can spare from my other duties and I have been unable to devote anything like an adequate amount of time and attention to this book, but it is much better that a native of India should attempt however imperfectly to give in a narrative form, this portion of Indian History, than that it should be left as a terra incognita about which one unacquainted with the subject would have found it difficult to know anything. To the Press of this country, both European and Indian, I am sincerely grateful for the cordial recep- tion they had been pleased to give to my humble venture. To many highly-placed European oflficials and Indian Princes and noblemen, I am equally thank- ful for the kind encouragement they have given me by subscribing to this book, aiding me with materials and favoring me with complimentary opinions. The Government of Bengal has been pleased to recognize that in writing this book I have consulted the files of the leading newspapers of the day and the pub- lished reports of Government. I am specially indebted to His Excellency the Marquis of Lansdowne, His Excellency Lord Frederic Roberts of Waterford and Kandahar and to Sir Auckland Colvin late Lieutenant- [ iii ] Governor of the IST. W. Provinces for having gra- ciously permitted me to bring out respectively the third, the second and the first parts of this book under their kind patronage. To my many Indian friends who have looked over particular portions of this book my sincere thanks are also due. I am aware that this book cannot pretend to be more than a manual of the principal events in the first three decades of Indian administration by Her Gracious Imperial Majesty. I happen however to be only in my 27th year at present and I can fairly expect that should time and opportunities permit, I shall attempt, later on in life, to enlarge it to the dimensions of a standard historical work. There are no doubt several faults and imperfections in the pre- sent book and my way of stating things might not always be approved, owing to the variety of human tastes, but I humbly trust that the present portion would meet with the same kind acceptance as the part that preceded it. SATYA CHANDKA MUKEKJI. The 30th June 1893. TABLE OF CONTENTS . PART II. Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter I (1869) II (1870) III (1871) IV (1872) V (1873) VI (1874) VII (1875) VIII (1876) IX (1877) X (1878) I (1879) II (1880) III (1881) IV (1882) V (1883) VI (1884) VII (1885) VllI (1886) IX (1887) X (1888) PART III 1-13 14—27 28—42 43—56 57—70 71—84 85—98 99—112 113—126 127—140 . 146—156 . 157— 170 . 171—182 . 183—194 . 195—207 . 208—221 . 222—234 . 235—447 . 248—260 . 261—275 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. PART THE SECOND. CHAPTER I. 1869. The Earl of Mayo — Lord Lawrence was succeeded in the Indian Viceroyalty by Richard Southwell Bourke, the Sixth Earl of Mayo. He came of a family that had played a pro- minent part in Irish history from the Strongbow invasion down- wards. His family had through several centuries of unrest, cast in their lot with the Irish people. He was brought up in the midst of the best sceneries of the Emerald Isle and in the accounts of the travels that he undertook to complete his education he had given evidence of a penetrative insight into character and a keen observation of affairs. During his Par- liamentary career he had seldom spoken on any but Irish subjects and had filled the office of the Secretary for Ireland on three successive occasions when his party was in power. His success in this office was so conspicuous that the great leader of his party, offered him the charge of the extensive Eastern Empire of Her Majesty and spoke of the Viceroy-elect in terms of the highest praise. His party had gone out of power before he actually took charge of the Viceregal office, but the ad- verse political party confirmed the nomination. On the 20th December 1868 Lord Mayo landed in Bombay, and inspected everything of public interest in that city which under the aus- pices of British rule had expanded to magnificent proportions. He was accessible to the leaders of every section of the com- 1 2 IXBIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. munity aud he took occasion to study as thoroughly as his short stay permitted, the harbour defences, the Municipal Taxes, and the Commercial enterprizo of the capital of Western India. He then sailed down the coast to inspect the harbours of Kar- "vvar and Beypur. From the last mentioned place he crossed the Deccan plateau and proceeded to Madras where he conferred with the Local Government on many important questions. He was much struck with the peculiar system of irrigation by tanks and wells which is resorted to in the Madras Presidency. In personal discussions he elicited a mass of opinions on the scheme of the decentralization of the finances which he was then maturing. On the 12th of January 1869 he landed in Calcutta and took charge of his new office. The veteran Indian official who had got the credit for breaking the neck of the Sepoy revolt and who after forty years of Indian Service was now seeking the rest and honors of a respected old age made over the Empire in a state of profound peace to a successor who though unacquainted with Indian administrative details, was through his wide culture, his thorough grasp of principles and his capacity for unremitting labour, equal to the duties of the highest office outside the British Isles which any subject of Her Majesty might fill. The elevation of the Irish Secretary of the Conservative ministry to the Indian Viceroyalty coupled with the well-known success that had attended him in Ireland made some observations to be published as to the success that should attend Lord Mayo, in his new career from the similarity of circumstances in India and Ireland. The historian cannot too emphatically protest against the assertion of similarity in politi- cal status and condition that is so often made with reference to India and Ireland. India and Ireland are not at all alike. In India the native inhabitants are peaceful, docile and prover- bially mild. In Ireland one section of the people at least has a strong tendency towards political crime. In India the con- flict of religion is not half so keen and bitter as in Ireland. The Irishmen rise to all high offices either in the United King- INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 3 doni or in the colonies and dependencies and they have grievances only in matters of land tenure and the church. Years must pass before India can rise to the political status of Ireland. In the matter of the prof^ressive advancement of the people it is already forenoon in Ireland about to usher in the bright midday while it is only the streaking light of dawn in India. It is a great mistake to place an Indian Civih'an at the head of the administration of this country. The career of Sir John Lawrence in India plainly proved that notwithstanding an intimate intercourse with the first minds of Europe, the Civilian unconsciously imbibes a local bias and prejudice. His mind moves along certain defined channels. He is incapable of broad and statesmanlike grasp of the aflfairs of one-sixth of the human race. He is wedded to traditions and his previous friendships introduce an undesirable element in his dispensation of patronage. On the other hand the great English noblemen who have ruled India from the days of Lord Cornwallis to those of Lord Canning (we must except Lord Elgin who was too short a time in the country to leave any impress of his mind) notwithstanding their previous inexperi- ence, have been successful and have given signal proofs of far- reaching and beneficent statesmanship. The Civil Service of India had certainly done great things in the past both in the way of conquering the country and consolidating British rule but like all close bureaucracies it has its defects in the way of limiting and narrowing the views and cramping the intellectual vision. Red-tape has its effects in all countries but those are remarkably well-defined in India. The Indian Government is a practical illustration of the well-known theory of the political philosophers, that a bureaucracy when presided over by a mind new to the subject but with a thorough grasp of principles, liberal views and acute mental vision, yields the best results, the strong points of each element being corrective of the deficiencies of the other. The system of the Viceroyalty being limited to five years has both its advantages and its disadvantages. The incumbents ^ 1—2 4 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. in that high office are too often seized with a desire to crowd too many measures to be able to occupy pre-eminent positions in History, thus sacrificing conscientious work and provident and timely statesmanship for the sake of eminence. This system is the main cause of too many important bills being considered and passed in hot haste, the work of years being compressed into ■weeks. The practical immunity and privileged position which a Viceroy attains after five years leads him to introduce too many administrative experiments more especially as he is sure that he and his descendants will not have to reap the evil arising from them. The necessity of years of local inquiries, of profes- sional report and correspondence often dissuades the Viceroy from embarking on great and important measures. The syste- matic delay of references to England contribute a powerful cause otwards the same effect. The liability of the measures of one government being set aside by a Viceroy of a different cast of mind is a danger which though happily not often felt in prac- tice, has yet in certain instances, produced an element of un- rest and break of continuity in the Indian administration. The compensating advantages are bad Governor-Generals cannot distress the land for more than five years except if they be favorites of fortune like Lord Dalhousie and the bad measures of one administration cannot afilict the land for more than a certain number 6f years, as they are likely to be repealed if they be found iniquitous. One of the first acts of Lord Mayo was to invite Indian merchants to take a part in the grand Paris Exhibition of that year. The chief articles of Indian pro- duce which attracted notice in the Queen of cities were silk fabrics, muslins, old armours, court-dresses, tables, saddle-cloths, marble-plates and bidree vases. The native chiefs sent special presents to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French. The French nation appreciated the spirit of good-will thus exhi- bited and gave a suitable recognition to it. The exhibits from the native states captivated the intellect, the beauty and the fashion of Paris. INDIAN' HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 5 Indore. — Maharaja Tukaji Rao Holkar was a model sover- eign. Sir John Malcohn, the historian of the Holkars has given a graphic account of the peculiar characteristics of that race of princes but the present monarch seemed to unite a capacity for physical hardships with mental powers of no mean order. Ho discussed ably and with a good grasp of principles the merits and demerits of the land settlement in his territories with the British representative. He explained that the recent settlement had been effected after a thorough and careful measurement of the land and that the inclusion of the waste lands, whose rents were formerly exclusively enjoyed by the landed proprietors, into the class of assessed lands was the chief cause of its unpopularity. The Resident took another view of the question. He thought that the Maharaja having taken advantage of a temporary rise in prices had needlessly enhanced the assessed dues. The Maharaja effected great improvements in his mintwith the aid of the Bombay Government. Be established girls chools in many parts of his dominions and his schools for boys contained 1100 pupils. He completed a comprehensive and costly system of water-works and aqueducts for his capital city. He established a weaving and spinning mill on a large scale and under trained European management. He encouraged the cultivation of opium and cotton recognizing that in the opium- trade and the manu- facture of cotton lay the great sources of wealth for his terri- tories. His dominions increased forty per cent in population during the last half a century amounting in 1869 to 750,000 souls of whom a third were children. He expressed some very sound views on the political relations of the Government of India with native Indian states clearly recognizing the change of policy adopted towards them since the Mutiny and caution- ing political officers as to the difficult and delicate duties en- trusted to them in honestly interpreting the opinions of each government to the other and giving honest counsel to the Asiatic sovereigns. He justly remarked that the best thing the native chiefs could look to was such efficient administration as G INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, to draw the esteem of the Queen aud the Houses of Parliament. Hyderabad. — This important state in the Deccan lost this year the chief that had ruled it for the last dozen years. Afzulooddo\Ylah the Nizam ascended the ?»»5nw(7 on the 11th March 1857. He, with the able assistance of Sir Salar Jung rendered important services during the Mutiny. He kept in check the furious Moslem subjects of his own territories who were thirsting for blood and vengeance. He kept wuthin strict limits his own heterogenous and mercenary bands of soldiers who were eager for opportunities of plunder and distinction. He repelled an attack on the British Residency, rejected the tempt- ing overtures of the mutineers, and above all quelled the rebellion in the Deccan by sending to the aid of the British troops the body of forces known as the Hyderabad contingent. For his signal services during the Mutiny, the Nizam was rewarded with the grant of those territories that his father had ceded to the British Government, got back the lapsed state of Shorapur, and one lac of rupees worth of goods, had fifty lacs of debt cancelled and was invested with the insignia of the first class of the Star of India. The state of Hydera- bad remained under the management of the old pilot Sir Salar Jung. He had evolved order out of chaos. He had introduced the machinery of civilized administration. He had kept all the disturbing elements in the state in proper subor- dination. He had imported trained officials. He had been a terror to wrong-doers and to the habitual criminal classes. He had always vindicated the majesty of law and justice how- ever high and powerful the offender. He managed all affairs satisfactorily during a long minority and the finances of the country were in a prosperous condition. Travancore. — This State resembles a British Division more closely than any other native State. It is divided into districts and sub-divisions each with a regular machinery and a respon- sible chief. There are the different grades of the courts and the independence of the judiciary has been secured by elaborate INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 7 precautions. There are commodious jails, cheap post, organized public work, registration and forest departments. There are museums and gardens where people may cultivate their finer feelings. Education is steadily advancing, the higher offices of the state are given exclusively to cultured and talented men. The finances of the country always exhibited a large surplus. This surplus the enlightened minister religiously declared would not be used in hoarding, but in the useful way of reducing land taxation, decreasing the export duty, and raising the pay of employes in petty public offices. The high offices of the state being filled with credit by the educated natives, it was evident that modern educated ludia is not dead to the art of statecraft. The Government is a mild and beneficent despotism and cases of oppression are heard of even more rarely than in British India. The Opium Revenue. — The extensive cultivation of poppy in China and the appearance of the Persian drug on the Chinese market were powerful causes of the decreasing element in the Indian opium revenue. The growth of poppy in China was detrimental to the produce of the food-grains and the Celestial Emperor issued a strict order prohibiting poppy cultivation. But as Sir Rutherford Alcock writes from personal observations, the edict of the Government was obeyed more in the breach than in the observance. Persia became too a formidable com- petitor in the Chinese market. Her soil and climate were well adapted to the cultivation of poppy of good quality but she could not compete with India owing to the heavy cost of trans- port. Her Consul had always been soliciting privileges to send her opium to China through India but this request was not heeded. But the early close of the Abyssinian "War enabled the Persian Government to charter some of the ships engaged therein and to transport opium. The Indian Government through fear conceded to Persia the long-sought privileges and she was able to transport her opium through India subject to a pass duty. This newly sprung-up trade between Persia and 8 IXDIAJ HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. China made India a serious loser under this item of revenue. The Income-tax Bill. — Sir Richard Temple's budget which proposed both to borrow and to raise money by additional tax- ation for reproductive public works prepared the way for the bill introduced to impose an one per cent, income-tax for the pre- sent. The peculiar feature of this bill was that it had no pro- vision for calling out returns of incomes, the assessment being based on rough guesses, and that in the case of under-assess- ment the collectors had the power to re-open the question in the middle of the year. The present bill held out a premium to Government exti-avagance and inflicted considerable hard- ship on the poor people;. To be weak is to be miserable and the way of justice in India being paved with gold, the poor man is scarcely heard at all. The income-tax will be consider- ed later on, from the standpoint of its suitability to India, but there is no doubt that it is a fruitful source of oppression in a country situated as India is. It was indeed a serious financial situation for the politician and the economist from year to year, with the revenues annually increasing by 20 per cent., with India's commerce at five millions with continued additions to the national debt. It is painful for the historian to contemplate that the unfathomable sink of the public works was causing all this deficit. The Military and the Foreign Policy of the Govern- ment OF India — Lord Mayo's attention was early directed to the relations of the Indian Government with the neighbouring Central Asian States, Afghanistan, Beluchistan and Eastern Turkestan. All the three countries were the theatre of politi- cal intrigues and furnished cause for anxiety in view of the steadily aggressive policy of Russia in Central Asia. Beluchis- tan had been torn by internal dissensions between the actual occupants of the throne and the principal Sirdars, and Persian, and Russian intrigues still further complicated matters. The State of Eastern Turkestan had been founded by a soldier of fortune who was eagerly looking for recognition to the Russians INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 9 on one side, and the English on the other. During the wars of succession that followed the death of Amir Dost Mahomed the British Government espoused the cause of neither of the con- tending factions, but left them to fight out their own quarrels. At the same time it expressed its readiness to both the power- ful rivals to recognize any of them that could succeed in estab- lishing his position as the de facto ruler of Afghanistan. It went so far as to say that should it happen that both the rivals succeeded in ruling certain parts of Afghanistan and the king- dom was dismembered the British Government would silently acquiesce in the state of things and give its recognition to both. The Afghans thought this a mean and treacherous policy and it excited the exasperation of both the rival claimants to the throne. The summer of 1868 saw that the fortunes of Shere Ali were clearly in the ascendant and Sir Henry Rawlinson in an able despatch thought it politic for England to form an alli- ance with him. The details of the Afghan policy were being settled between Sir John Lawrence and the Secretary of State Sir Stafford Northcote, when Lord Mayo arrived in India, Lord Mayo entered heartily into the new policy and at once invited the Amir to a personal conference at Umballa on the then situation and for defining the mutual dealings of the two states wath each other. The Amir came in state in March 1869 and he was received in India with splendid and royal honors. The Amir was deeply impressed with the material grandeur of British rule and he formed a high opinion of the efficiency of the British army. Himself a renowned soldier he discussed the whole subject of army improvement with keen interest and much sense with His Excellency the Commander- in-Chief. The Durbar at Umballa has been described to be an oriental edition of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The Amir tried to persuade the Viceroy to enter into a definite treaty with him to recognize himself and his younger son Abdulla Jan as the rulers of Afghanistan and to support them against all odds. He wanted moreover an annual subsidy and assistance in 2 10 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. arms and in ineu \vheue\er hu might solicit the same. The treaty demanded was of such a nature that it would have beea extremely impolitic for Lord Mayo to have countenanced it, and lie while courteously declining the same, managed to send away the Amir satisfied by friendly greetings, by present^ and by absolute present recognition of his title. The Amir's formal visits with the Viceroy were of an agreeable nature and His Highness discoursed chiefly on horses and the army and made some reflections on railways, and on the best methods of administration in barbaric countries. Lord Mayo emphatically protested that England had no designs of territorial aggran- disement in Central Asia and that the peace and independence of Afghanistan should be scrupulously respected. At the same time, the Viceroy insisted upon Her Majesty's ministers to come to a formal understanding with the cabinet at St. Petersburg pledging it not to interfere in the afiPairs of Afghanistan. The boundaries of Afghanistan being uncertain, Russia was perpe- tually taking advantage of this fact. The question of Badak- shan being included in the Afghan territories was settled by the Czar's acquiescence to its inclusion in the dominions of the Amir. In January 1873, Count Schouvaloff headed a diplo- matic mission on the subject in London. Lord Mayo also meddled with the affairs of Beluchistan, He was unable how- ever to bring his negotiations to any satisfactory conclusion thouo-h he had arranged for the arbitration of the long-standing disputes by a British officer. The mission to Yai-kand whose only result was the collection of some statistical information about the country and people will bo described later on. Lord Mayo's attention was also directed towards opening up trade- routes through Chang-Cheung valley, the defining of the east- ern boundaries of India through a range of hills and forests and the placing the relations with Burma and Nepal on a satis- factory footing. The statesmen who had guided the affairs of India since the Mutiny had felt strongly the necessity of cut- ting down the numerical strength of the Indian army which INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 11 had grown too large owing to the panic caused by the Mutiny. The ten years previous to the arrival of Lord Mayo saw a considerable reduction but the new and costly systems intro- duced by the English war office were the cause of a large increase in expenditure. The Duke of Argyll asked Lord Mayo to take up seriously the question of army retrenchment and to effect a saving under this head of a million and a half sterling, annually by economy in the military administration and the further numerical reduction of forces. With reference to the British portion of the army Lord Mayo was of opinion, that the European force was just sufficient for the requirements of the Empire and that it could not be decreased without im- perilling the safety of the Empire. He tried however to effect a saving of half a million sterling under this head by diminish- ing the number of regimental head-quarters and keeping up the full strength of the fighting men in all regiments which would enable the government to disband several regiments. The Viceroy entered into the details of army administration with his military advisers, and tried to propose some retrench- ments in the several Presidency armies without impairing their efficiency or offending their amour propre. Lord Mayo pro- posed to abolish the native gunners as well as the abolition of one regiment of Bengal cavalry and one regiment of Bengal infantry. The Madras sepoys who were mostly married men cost the state a good deal in transporting them to other parts of India. It was therefore necessary to keep the Madras regi- ments to their own presidency and by the adoption of this practice several regiments of cavalry and infantry were pro- posed to be dispensed with. By reorganizing the said horse and by deciding to disband four regiments of native infantry, considerable savings were sought to be effected in the Bombay army. The Secretaiy of State sanctioned only some of these proposals. The artillery reductions were sanctioned. With reference to the native army the Secretary of State suggested a different plan which led the Government of India to suggest 2—2 12 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. a compromise which would have resulted in reducing the rank and file of the Native army by 9,000 men equally in the three Presidencies. Both Lord Sandhurst and Lord Napier of Mag- dala were dangerous army administrators, and their measures involved waste and extravagance. It is indeed difficult to act according to the principle enunciated by a high military author- ity as to the proper administration of the army viz. that waste follows excessive saving no less than excessive expenditure, that what is superfluous in the army is to be reduced but what is essential must not be starved. The military barracks that Lord Mayo inaugurated, were so carelessly managed that their construction was a heavy charge to the Indian Exchequer, The historian must painfully record that while Sir Henry Durand and Sir William Mansfield admitted that not more than three lacs had been actually spent in the barracks the budgets showed the expenditure at nearly twenty times that figure. The poor Incb'au tax-payer must however pay all taxa- tion imposed without ever enquiring how things are going on. General Events — His Royal Highness the Duke of Edin- burgh paid a visit to India in the closing weeks of the year. The provincial governors and many native chiefs came down to Calcutta to welcome the first prince of the Blood Royal that had visited India and His Royal Highness was everywhere received with gorgeous displays. The festivities in honor of the Sailor Prince in the metropolis of India defy description. The political effects of this visit was on a somewhat lesser scale the same that will be detailed in connection with the visit of the Prince of Wales. Nine scholarships were established this year by the Government of India to enable Indian youths to study in England. Tlie Duke of Argyll was forced to admit that the great promises of 1833 and 1858 had remained unful- filled that he established these scholarships as a partially com- pensating circumstance for the difficulties the natives of India laboured under in entering the Civil Service. The measure of justice was however too inadequate for a population of 200 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 13 millions in British India. The record of England's appointing natives of India to high offices nnder grave pledges and solemn declarations is a sorry one and so early as 1853, Lord Monteagle had raised his voice against the injustice of defeating the aspirations of the natives of India by artfully-framed rules, which escaped attention in England as mere matters of detail. Sir Henry Maine retired from his high office this year. His was the example of brilliant intellectual qualities absolutely wasted as far as Indian administration was concerned. He had a supreme contempt of the native intellect and he thought it beneath him to enquire as to whether the bills placed on tho legislative anvil were in accordance with the recognized prin- ciples of civilized jurisprudence. He was always a partizan and he had done little good work except giving a general succession act. His immediate predecessors, Mr. Cameron Mr. Ritchie, Mr. Bethune and Sir Barnes Peacock had done good work in some direction or other but Sir Henry Maine threw away the splendid opportunities he had before him, and it is a sad task for the historian to record that the foremost exponent of ancient jurisprudence of the modern age, one who had done more than any other, to spread a knowledge of the village-systems of India in Europe should leave no substantial mark of his great mind behind in this country. The work connected with the Suez Canal was progressing fast under the direction of the French Engineer M. Lesseps. By this canal brighter hope was expected to dawu on India and England than was expressed in the significant name of the Cape of Grood Hope. The canal which was formally opened next year is one of the greatest triumphs of human engineering, and is an important event in the Indian history of the modern age. CHAPTER IT. 1870. The Government of India — One of the greatest changes introduced by the transfer of the administration of India to the Crown was the adoption of the cabinet system in the Im- perial Government of India. Since the establishment of the British rule the supreme power had been vested in a Central Board with the Viceroy as President. Before the Regulating Act of 1773 and for some years after it the Governor-General was not the absolute President of the Council and the adminis- trative system was often brought into great disrepute by such vagaries as those of Sir Philip Fiaucis. Lord Cornwallis ac- cepted office on the express and unequivocal condition that the Governor-General should be absolute within his Council and should have the power to overrule the other members on all topics of foreign policy and domestic administration. All ques- tions of every department of the state had however to be re- ferred for opinion to ev3ry member of the council and the progress of work was blocked up with much elaborate minute- writing and was very slow. After the Mutiny Lord Canning with the sanction of the Home Government introduced consi- derable modifications into this system. All business of a rou- tine nature was disposed of by the Secretary and Under-Secre- tary of each department. The references from the Local Go- vernments and all questions which involve general principles are disposed of by the responsible member in charge of the department while all important cases especially those which demand a departure from established rule must be laid before the Viceroy. These memberships of the council are mostly given to tried members of Indian Civil Service but the Law Department is always presided over by a distinguished member of the English bar, the Military Department by an eminent INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 15 soldier who has given evidence of having paid suflScient atten- tion to the administration of tho army and the Finance Depart- ment sometimes by a financier trained in England. The secre- taries to these departments are at the present day allowed to dispose of business which would have taken years during tho times previous to the Mutiny. When His Excellency agreed in important matters with the initiating member responsible for the particular department the decision became final and was published as the order of the Governor-General in Council. Where however the Viceroy either differed or entertained some doubts on the point the case was circulated for opinion among all the members of the Executive Council who had to record their views on the subject. ''After the papers of the case had thus completed their circuit in oblong mahogany boxes, the matter was brought for discussion in a meetinor of the Exe- cutive Council. Some explanations and judicious compromises are tried to bring about an uniformity of opinion in case of any differences, and the collective views of the Government issue in an order of the Governor-General in Council. The Viceroy have however the constitutional right of deciding the action of the Government by his single vote, a right which fortunately had very seldom been exercised. Sometimes it is found im- possible to come to an unanimity of opinion and in these cases the despatches to the Secretary of State mention the names of dissentient councillors and append in full such protests as they might choose to write." The personal duties of the Viceroy were not only to consider the important cases which pour into his room during the whole day from all the departments of State but also to meet his Chief Secretaries for all necessary information once a week, and his Executive Council too once a week for the transaction of business. The sittings of the Legislative Council which are ordinarily presided over by the Viceroy, are held when necessary, and when there happens to be any pressure of business once a week. The ornamental functions that append to the Indian Viceroyalty while affording U IXDIAX HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. some relaxation to the Viceregal mind after the hard labours of the day, are in themselves too many. The Viceroy has to receive and return the visits of all native chiefs, to confer with all foreign embassies to preside at all important meetings and open all public works of magnitude to lay the foundation- stones of all institutions which might do good to the people, to grant personal interviews to all distinguished either by wealth, valour or intellect, and to encourage by his august presence and eloquent words all suitable ceremonies fraught with far- reaching consequences to the millions of this great country. After night-fall the Viceroy has often to play again the part of the head of the State in receiving at state dinners, at balls and levees and other entertainments large and influential sec- tions of the Indian Community. The Secretariat Offices to the Government of India minutely examine all questions of prin- ciple and all schemes submitted by the Local Governments and Administrations, and the Viceroy has to give a patient hearing to all these conflicting opinions and then to shape the course of his Government. The Suez Canal and the sub-marine telegraph which came in existence this year introduced a new element in the Indian administration by sensibly diminishing the distance between England and India, The Secretary of State is now consulted in all im[)ortaut matters by wire and his decisions which are often arrived at, by consultation with those states- men who are his colleagues in the cabinet, have a great and preponderating influence on the Government of India, Eng- lish statesmen accustomed to the free flow of Parliamentary eloquence have often expressed their surprize to the amount of business that is often got through with almost no speechifying by the Indian Executive Council and the rapidity with which decisions are arrived at even in the most momentous questions. The present system of the Government of India fully developed itself with the Suez Canal and the sub-marine telegraph in the time of Lord Mayo. It has been described to the minutest detail by Sir William Hunter and Sir John Strachey but the remarks INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES.. U we have mjide above represent fairly the leading features of it," Truly it has been remarked that the duties of the Indian Vice- roy are so pressing, so momentous and of such far-reaching consequences and problem after problem so constantly occupies his attention that he has not, if he conscientiously works, breath*, ing-time to give way to any unworthy considerations of tem-« porary fame or personal popularity. From the time of Lord Mayo onwards increasing powers were conferred on Local Governments and Administrations to cope with the increasing business of the country, and public duty was sought to be delegated to local bodies. The weak point of the Government of Lidia was (in the time of Lord Mayo) and still continues to be that no sufficient provision has been made in the consti-« tution for the authoritative expression of such public opinion as exitts in the country. There are no doubt many difficulties in the wa}^ but that some important change should be made in this direction, is a fact that has been admitted by a long series of right-thinking and enlightened statesmen, and the Governs ment of India is moving at a snail's pace on the subject and with an evident want of sympathy with those just and honorable aspirations which the beneficent policy of England has called forth. We shall deal with this important question later on, in connection with the National Congresses of India which have made the reform of the councils the chief plank on its platforini Ko structural change has been introduced into the Government of India since the time of Lord Mayo. ; India in England. — The opening of the Suez Canal was destined to produce important social and political changes ifl India. It facilitated the way of commerce, it enabled the Englishmen in India to visit their homes frequently, it inducec^ -the Indians to make voyages to England to acquaint themselves with the details of modern ciWlizatlon, it made it easyfor -English statesmen to be familiar with Indian affairs and it thug effected almost a revolution in the economy of Indian adminis- tration. During this year several visitors of importance .ami 18 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, position from India were recieved -with marked kindness by the English public. The Nawab Nazim of Bengal, who thought himself aggrieved by the treatment received by him and his family at the hands of the British Indian Government, visited England to rouse the authorities and the public to a sense of his "wrongs. His agents contrived to make many members of the English press his advocates and they discussed with great breadth and impartiality the early history of England's power in the East and the services that had been rendered to the East Indian Com- pany by the ancestors of the aggrieved visitor. Babu Keshub Chandra Sen the apostle of the Brahmo faith also visited England and all religious denominations united in giving a cordial wel- come to the great religious reformer whose fluent English elo- quence, controversial talents and grasp of subtleties drew forth crowds of admirers in every English city that he visited. The Maharaja of Kola par a representative of the great Maharatta power that once dominated India, excited the attention that is usually given to an oriental prince who possesses intelligence and geniality of disposition. The Secretary to the Bombay Association Mr. Furdonji Nowroji did some service to his mother country by calling attention while in England to the gross mismanagment of the Indian finances and as far as his limited opportunities permitted keeping Indian subjects afloat before the British public. The East Indian Association whose fortunes were directed by its distinguished secretary Mr. Dada- bhai Naroji, did much practical good in the way of collecting and disseminating information on Indian subjects in England. The question of the disestablishment of the Irish Church so thoroughly occupied the attention of the British Parliament that the Indian debates were few and far between and most uninteresting with the exception of the one on the Parliament- ary Act of 1870 which laid down the principle that the Indian Gorvernment may under some restrictions and limitations ap- point natives of India in India itself to the Civil Service. The scheme thus eketched out has subsequently developed into what INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 19 is known as the Statuary Civil Service and whether owing to the inherent defects of the system or the imperfections of those who were selected under it to fill high and responsible offices, it has not been successful in solving the difficulty of allowing the educated men of India a proper share in the administration of their own country without denationalizing themselves for the sake of place and power. The Maharaja of Kapurtala one of the principal chieftains in the Panjab embarked for a visit to England, but he died on the way before reaching his destina- tion. Her Majesty's Government and the English press noticed with great satisfaction the progress that was being made from year to year in many of the most important Native States in India. Nepal administered by Sir Jung Bahadur, Hyderabad by Sir Salar Jung, Travancore by an enlightened graduate of the Madras University, Cashmere under the guidance of its able minister Babu Nilambar Mookerji, Gwalior and Indore by industrious Maharatta chiefs who knew their business well, Jeypur by a Council many of whose members were cultured men, were all making rapid strides towards material improve- ment and Europeanized adminstration. The Native States of India who had exhibited steadfast loyalty in England's supreme hour of need came to be regarded with more and more confi- dence after the mutiny, and it is a pleasure to find many of the chiefs of these States, leaving aside the habits of oriental des- pots, minutely supervising all the departments of the State, carefully inquiring into and understanding public business, and keeping the finances of their dominions in proper order. The native chiefs were convinced that the days of Lord Dalhousie had passed away, and their just rights and privileges would be respected. Her Majesty's ministers repeatedly gave expression to the opinion that the native princes of India should bo made to feel that they are trusted allies and integral members of a Great Empire. The dynastic difficulties at Chumba, Baroda and Kolah- pur were considered at the India Office and its decision in at least the first two of these cases did not produce much satisfaction. to /iN^Z>7^iV HISTORY OF OUR OTTiT TIMES. ' General Events. — Sir Henry Durand succeeded Sir Donald Macleod in the Lieutenant-Governorship of the Punjab. He had the strong stuff of a veteran statesman in him and had supplied to the Indian Yiceroys the ripe judcrment of long years of personal experience in India. He was the foremost Hailey- l)ury civilian of his day and he exhil)ited on many occasions those amiable qualities and virtues which had made his school of civilians so dear to the Indian people. The retirement of Sir William Mansfield from the army and of Sir Barnes Peacock JpTom the department of law and justice Avere notable events. Lord Napier of Magdala who succeeded as Commander-in- Chief of India was not. a successful army administrator and it was also openly remarked in many military circles that his merits as a soldier had been considerably overrated. Sir Barnes ■was a valuable auxiliary to the Indian administrator by his great intellectual abilities, his keen sense of justice and his efforts to suit the administration of justice to the exigencies and requirements of the country. The Bengal High Court Over which he presided for several years with such marked success, lost in him a judge and jurist whose like it has not yet feeen able to see. Lord Napier and Sir Henry Norman need- lessly stirred up ill-feeling in the army by rejecting w^th a high hand many of its respectful requests with reference to its wants. The Governor of Madras Lord Napier had a very j)romising' career in that presidency though he committed a mistake in in-« troducing the Local Funds Bill which had to be withdrawm. Sir Wi'Uam Grey the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal was the liiost foi'tunate man of his class since Bengal had, to use a very (expressive phrase, ceased to be governed in the leisure-hours of the Governor-General. Sir Frederic Halliday had left almost amidst tears. Sir John Peter Grant retired with the loud execrations of one powerful section of the community who could make themselves heard, following him to his native (phores, which Sir (^ecil Bead on had to lay down his office while luB reputation was under a^ sad blight by reason of the terrible INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 21 Orissa famine. Sir William Grey however retired amidst uni- versal popularity. Though not a brilliant ruler, he was in every respect a cautious, safe and steady man and these quali- ties combind with his hard work and careful superintendence were the secrets of his success as a ruler. The Chief Commis- sioners in the minor provinces were following the well-known grooves, though loud complaints arose from some of those terri- tories that their rulers had evinced partiality towards the Euro- peans wherever possible. The Supreme and Local administra- tions continued from year to year to bring in material progress and meet the administrative neefls, by railways, canals, roads, improved public buildings, municipal institutions and a larger number of schools. The policy pursued with reference to pri- mary education and the continued decrease of grants for high education excited considerable attention to the subject and great mf^etings were convened in Calcutta and other important towns which discussed the subject with great enthusiasm. At the Calcutta meeting delegates from 20 districts attended in, defence of English education and this constitutional effort on the model of th )se found in the free countries of Europe^ which promoted a healthy feeling of union and common work for the attainment of common good is a promising sign of the times which the historian must record with evident satisfaction. Sir Fitzjames Stephen during the current year, got four im- portant legislative enactments passed, which were the Land Acquisition Act, the Income Tax Act, the Hindu Wills Act and the Penal Code Amendment Act. The Income-tax Act excited considerable opposition and it was passed with such haste and in such hole-and-corner fashion that it called forth indignant' meetings and indignant protests to England. The Land Acqui- sition Act had many enemies who openly characterized it as a means of legalizing the spoliation by the Executive Government of private property in the name of real or fancied public pur- poses. The provisions of this Act were considerably modified m the light of the angry criticisms of the press but the way id 22 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. which it is worked and the difficulties that are often felt in the way of an equitahle adjustment of claims render it a source of considerable hardship and oppression. The Hindu Wills Act was considered as an unjustifiable interference with the testa- mentary privileojes and usages of the Hindus guaranteed to them by their own religion. The Hindu community felt strongly on the subject and resolved to forward an appeal to England. The amendment to the Penal Code introduced the section with reference to the law of sedition in British India. That section is worded in such a vague and general way as to allow of considerable latitude of interpretation at the hands of the highest legal authorities and the law must still be said to be uncertain on the subject. The provisions of the Penal Code in this respect if worked by a repressive government, might, unless in the case of trials by exceptionally strong juries, succeed in taking away though by a circuitous process the liberty of the press conferred by Lord Metcalfe. In Bombay the Cotton Fraud Bill had to be abandoned as it was vetoed by the Gover- nor-General. The legislation of the year was thus so much opposed to the existing public opinion of the country that Babu Kristodas Paul as its foremost representative was led to remark with regret that the country would not suffer much loss if the councils were shut up for some time. Gross blunders were dis- covered in the accounts of the Empire and the Finance Minister had to square matters by imposing the hateful 3^th and by summarily stopping all public works. The finances of the Em- pire it was found were so grossly mismanaged that the state of things drew forth the indignation not only of the native public but of the powerful body of European merchants. The duty on rice and the unwholesome meddling with the commerce of the country which was then seriously crippled by the difficulties created by the Franco-Russian War, still further complicated the situation while the Indian administrators were beyond the reach of the protests of public opinion in the heights of Simla, The Finance Minister had bluntly to enter a confession of INDIAN HIS2 0RY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 23 judgment and to carry out the decentralization, scheme as a remedy which will be detailed in the next chapter. Oudh lost this year the political leader of its landed aristocracy in Sir Raja Man Singh. Indian Agriculture. — The proposed establishment of a new department of the Government of India for the direction and supervision of Indian Agriculture turned a good deal of attention towards that subject. In India agriculture is the principal occupation of the people and the mainstay of the re- venue system. The Famine Commissioners made a remark that is exceedingly near the truth when they said that 90 per cent, of the rural population of India are directly connected with the tillage of the soil while a considerable portion of the remaining 10 per cent, exist for their benefit. The Indian cultivator, though his methods may be pronounced crude and unscientific by modern thinkers, has through his experience of centuries, been able to hit upon the best means of making na- ture yield as good an outturn as is possible under the circums- tances. He resorts to a practical method of watering the soil in every part of the country. He recognizes the advantages of fallows and of enriching the soil by manure. His methods have been adopted after due consideration of the peculiarities of the climate, the remarkable fertility of the soil on the broad river-basins, the perpetual sunshine and the regular periodicity of the seasons. Of course improvements are possible in his me- thods and probably some are necessay to support an increasing population, but these must be introduced judiciously and very gradually with a due regard to the scanty means and the chro- nic indebtedness of the Indian ryot. The rice crop is unknown in the greater part of India and it is not grown on any soil except those in the deltas of the great rivers and on the long and irregular strips of land on the borders of the sea. In those territories in which this crop is grown, the rainfall is ample or the water-supply from other sources is copious. It yields large peenniary profits and it is staple food of 67 millions of the 24 U^DLW HISTORY OF OUR OWX TIMES. people. The food-grains of the other parts of India are wheat and millets. Wheat is one of the principle articles of the ex- port trade of India and the wheat growing tracts of India together with those of America constitute the granary of the ill-favoured countries of Europe, In India wheat is grown almost in every district of the North West Provinces, the Pan- jab, and the Central Provinces. To a much smaller extent it is grown in Bombay, Sind and Behar. The total area under wheat cultivation in India is greater than even the total area of the United States devoted to the same object. The quality of the Indian wheat has been pronounced to be of the best description and only the wheats of some of the best tracts of Australia and Oalifornia excel it. Wheat requires some irrigation in dry and parched regions which is supplied by the wells of the Indian peasantry. The Government canals have been of questionable ad- vantage to that body. The wheat that is grown under the system of the Indian cultivators is more than sufficient both in point of quantity and quality for the food of the population, though it may not be so in view of those immense dimensions, which according to the imaginative enthusiasts on the subject, the Indo-European trade in wheat ought to attain. The staple food-grain of the low- er classes throughout India excepting the rice-producing tracts are the inferior cereals known as Joar and Bajra or the great millet and the spiked millet, which are grown in equal abund- ance in Madras, Bombay, Rajputana and Upper India. There are known as ' dry ' crops and require no other irrigation but that supplied by the local rainiall, and they constitute the eutumn harvest. The minor cereals comprise the pulses, the oil- seeds, and the Indian corn which form important articles of use. The Indian cultivator receives annually a very large outturn of these crops and as they require no great skill, his methods are best adapted to them. Besides these the Indian peasant has to bring land into cultivation for the vegetables, the fruits, the spices, the palms, and sugar, which enter so largely into the aative diet in all parts of India. The department of agriculture INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 25 has to look into these details of cultivation and try to better the state of things, it possible. Experience plainly proves that the Indian ryot knows his business far better, than those highly- salaried officers who are paid to make experiments in model farms. The best means of introducing into India a scientific system of agriculture has not yet been decided upon and the experiments and official papers in this direction which have cost the Indian taxpayer a very large sum of money, have left matters exactly as they stood twenty years ago. Lord Mayo's newly created department had also unlimited jurisdiction over the commerce of the country. That department has done little else than collecting statistics and information on all subjects connected with Indian commerce. The Indian cotton although its exports amounted to 37 milions annually during the American war, has considerably fallen off in the European market with peace in America, as the Indian crop has a very sort staple and does not serve the same purpose as the American cotton in spinning the finer qualities of yarn. The plains of Gujrat and Kattywar as well as the deep valleys of the Berars roduce the cotton which is known in the Liverpool market as Surat and Dholera, The experiments that have been made in India with the New Orleans seed have mostly failed with the exception of the district of Dharwar where the exotic plant is the chief staple. Jute which is the next in importance as a fibre crop is confined to the northern and eastern districts of Bengal. On the banks of the Brahmaputra and the other great rivers, jute is the principal crop, and the profits derived from its cultivation have largely increased the prosperity of the cul- tivating classes. The long fibres which are soft and silky and at the same time very strong are exti'acted out of the jute plant by rotting them to a degree so that the outer coats peel off easily, and the fibres are pressed and made up into bales for ex- port. Jute is grown mostly on flooded lands which would other- wise have remained untilled and so this crop with its large profits does not interfere with the food-graius. The Indigo industry 4 26 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. has declined in Bengal since the indigo ryots of 1860 but it is grown and manufactured to a considerable extent in Behar and upper India as well as in Madnvs, The opium of commerce is grown in a tract of land around Patna and Bonaras, as well as well as in a fertile table-land in central India known as Malwa. In Malwa the poppy cultivation is free but the duty is levied when it is exported through British India. In Bengal it is a government monopoly. Opium is grown for local con- sumption in other parts of the country. The juice of the plant is collected after removing the petals by "scarifying the capsules with an iron instrument in the after-noon and scraping oif the exudation next morning." Then the juice is dried and the opium is prepared into balls for the Chinese market at the central agencies. The soil and climate of India are favor- able to tobaco but its quality is so inferior that it does not form an article of commerce. The cultivation of coffee is still largely conducted by natives. The tea-plant is indigenous to the southern valleys of the Himalayas and tea-cultivation owes its origin to the initiation of the Government. The tea indus- try in India is confined to Assam, the districts of Darjiling, Kumaon, Garhvval, the Kangra Valley and the slopes of the Nilgiries, and is now the chief field for European capital. The only other important article of commerce is cinchona which has been reared artificially from American seedlings, and which has proved a cheap febrifuge for the the fever-stricken millions not only in the Indian but also in the European plains. Its culti- vation is the most successful experiment in arboriculture known in India. We must not pass over the silk industry of India which though a declining one in the country has yet an historic importance and celebrity. Sericulture and the cultivation of mulberry are now confined to the liajshahe and the Biirdwaa divisions. It is carried on by the peasantry who are free to stick to it or to abandon it according as it pays or not. Indian silk however is unable to hold its ground in the European markets with the largo productions of China, Japan and the INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 27 Mediterranean countries. A passing mention may also bo made of the lac which is known in commerce both as u gum and as a dye and forms an important element in producing the re- gimental scarlet. CHAPTER TIT. IS";!. The Decentralization Scheme. — We liave shown above that the finaucial position of India was a perilous one during the first two years of Lord Mayo's rule. The Budget system then in vogue allowed of aggregate errors to the amount of 7 millions sterling on the wrong side, for in three years from 1867 to 1869, while the budget estimates calculated upon a surplus of 3^ millions sterling the actual results showed a deficit to the same amount. The ordinary revenue had fallen short by 5| millions sterling to meet the ordinary expenditure, in the three years above named. The public debt had amounted in 18G9-70 to about 193 millions sterling. This debt arose out of three different items, 50 millions represented the cost of first conquer- ing and consolidating the country, 52 millions the cost of re- conquering and reorganizing India after the Mutiny and 91 millions the cost of guaranteed railways and canals. In 1869-70, Sir Richard Temple framed a very cautious budget (1869-70) estimating a small surplus .£48, '263, but item after item turned out much worse than had been expected until the deficit swelled to the vast sum of £2,542,861, As the Viceroy looked into the arithmetical tables composing the budget with a deeper scrutiny he found that the situation was much worse than luul been an- ticipated and that the financial position was one of great weak- ness. Lord Mayo set himself to face the situation with great firnmess. To struggle with the impending deficit he at once cut down the over-grown grant to the Public Works Depart- ment by £800,000 and curtailed by £350,000 tlie grants to the other spending departments. But even with these measures of economy the dismal abyss of a heavy deficit could not be bridg- ed over, and Lord Mayo made up his mind to resort to the unusual course of resorting to additional taxation in the middle mniA^^ II IS TOBY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 29 of the financial year. A permanent improvement in the finances to the extent of three millions a year was an absolute necessity and Lord Mayo's Government raised the income tax from 1 to 2^ per cent, in the second half of the financial year, and en- hanced the salt duty in Madras and Bombay. These two addi- tional burdens were estimated to add £500,000 to the Imperial coffers. In explaining his views on the subject to the Secretary of State, Lord Mayo said, that the policy of making good the ordinary annual expenditure by adding to the public debt was a very unsound one and that a permanent improvement in the finances must be resolved upon. This was to be done both by increased taxation and reduced expenditure. The sudden stop- page of public works involved much waste of materials and the addition to the burdens of the people might prove a cause of perilous discontent. Lord Mayo in adopting these measures felt that the Government of India had played its last card and there was absolutely nothing to fall buck upon. In framing his budget for 1871-72 the surplus was estimated at £93,400, and in his speech on the subject he tried to defend his financial administration and vindicated the imposition of the income-tax. The number and variety of the returns submitted by the subor- dinate governments were not carefully compiled and digested by the higher ofl&cials and the central bureau, who were often ignorant of many important details. This system and the un- punctuality, in the submission of the returns by the Local Go- vernment made the whole system a most unsound one and de- manded urgent attention. Lord Mayo remodelled the whole system and the Supreme Government was able to obtain every important information relating to the Indian finances month by mouth. Up to Lord Mayo's time the provincial governments had no independent financial powers and the practice was for each Local Government and administration to present towards tho end of every year its estimates of expenditure during the ensuing twelve months. The Government of India after comparing these estimates with the expected revenue granted such sums 30 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. as were reasonable. The defects of this system were glaring. The more a Local Government as^ked for, the more it got and as the money that was saved at the end of the year reverted to the Imperial treasury the Local Governments were but under little temptation to save. The government of Lord Mayo determined to introduce a radical change in this system and to invest the provincial governments with independent financial powers and responsibilities. On the 14th December 1870 a Resolution was issued by the Supreme Government which explained fully and authoritatively the priociples of the decer.tralizatiou scheme initiated from that year. A fixed yearly consolidated grant was to be made to each provincial government for the ordinary ex- penses of administration including the expenditure on pub- lic works. The army and several other departments were to bo considered imperial and governed by the central government. These grants were religiously fixed for five years and nothing but severe financial pressure, would tend to reduce them. The sums thus placed at the disposal of the Local Governments were their absolute property. The Local Governments could save and spend as they liked without any interference from the Governor-General in Council. The services made over to the Local Governments and administrations were classified for offi- cial purposes as Jails, Registration, Police, Education, Medical Services, Printing, Roads, Civil Buildings, Public Works and the miscellaneous Public Improvements. The Resoluiton said that the Local Governments were effectually to have in their hands the res[)onsibility of maintaining an equilibrium in their finances and that they could no longer draw upon a fund of un- limited and unknown depth. It was expected that under the new state of things the tendency to avoid waste would be the strongest, and that the Local Governments would have a very pow- erful motive for developing the local resources. The Supreme Government announced its intention resolutely to cut down the expenditure on every department to the lowest point compatible with efficiency. This system as tested by time would come INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 31 under onr notice again, but many high financial authorities of the time thought it best adapted to Indian administration. Tliis system however was open to serious criticism in more points than one. It was virtually a permanent settlement of local fi- nance and with the expanding claims on local governments, the means of defraying these should not have been fixed once for all. The most approved opinions on the subject among the ruled classes was that the system was unsound in principle, de- moralizing in tendency, unrighteous in practice in as much as the Government of India should permanently fix certain allot- ments from the Imperial funds for local purposes and appro- priate all future increase of revenue to its own purposes. The criticism was strongest in the Bengal papers, which with one voice declared that the revenues made over to the local admini- strations bore no proportion to the expenditure in these depart- ments. The prospect was that the Local Governments would either starve the provincial departments, or would meet increased demands by increased local taxation, Tha defenders of the Go- vernment scheme loudly proclaimed that the chief end of this scheme was to get rid of objectionable taxation. But it was pointed out that local cesses were not less irritating than the imperial taxes and that while the income-tax did not press on small incomes, under the local rates it would hardly be so. It was feared that the Decentralization Scheme would lead to ob- noxious taxes, which the poorer classes would have to pay and which would produce deep discontent. Such a course would discredit the Local Governments and necessarily the Supreme Government. It would prove, it was expected, a prolific cause of quarrel between the Provincial and Supreme Governments. The assignments had been made on the basis of the budget of 1870, which was an exce{)tional one, and should not hold good in years of plenty or pressure. It was clear from figures that the provincial allotment in the case of Bengal came short by half a million from the amount that was assigned two years ago and it was feared that further economy was not possible under the 32 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. circumstances. The departments that had heen decentralized were in tlie very nature of things such as to necessitate increas- ed expenditure. The want of good prison-houses, the continual increase of jail population, the niultiplicatioa of suh-registry offices for giving due facility to all classes of the people, the reforms urgently needed in the Police department, the continued expansion of education, the want of good roads and other means of communication demanded that year after year large sums should be devoted to remedying the administrative defects in those directions. That influential organ of native opinion tlie Hindu Patriot described the scheme as developed by Lord Mayo as good in principle but a wretched patchwork in execution, as the assignments given bore no proportion to the area, the po- pulation the revenues and requirements of the different pro- vinces, and it forcibly pionted out that its result would either be irritating local taxation or the starving of the provincial services. That Lord Mayo's decentralization scheme had not been arranged on a thorough and systematic plan is a fact, the truth of which must be admitted by the historian. General Events. — There was a bitter controversy on the legalization of the five-rupee note. The principal objection to the measure was that five-rupee notes being a legal tender the poorer classes would be forced to accept it, and in the absence of facilities for ready encashment would be obliged to pay a heavy batta for it. The finance minister answered this objection by saying that the employer of labour being absolutely at the mercy of the labourers these latter would be at liberty to refuse payment in five- rupee notes if they had to pay discount for it, and he further added that the Government would by providing a distinct cash reserve do everything in its power to afford ade- quate facilities for encashment. The poor labourers however were lial^Ie to be punished by law if they refused payment in five-rupee notes when such notes were legal tender, and Sir Richard by providing only one treasure chest in some districts ■would hardly be doing all that was needed. Lord Mayo also INDIA y HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 33 signalized tho yoar by the creation of costly administrative de- partments wliicli dealt with Agriculture, Archa'lopjy, Statistics, and Pisiciculturc. The first of these designated the Department of Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce was to be devoted to twenty-five different subjects, although it was expressly avowed that the improvement of agriculture was its sole and main ob- ject. This gave rise to the not unnatural suspicion that a new department with handsome prizes for the Civil Service was all that was wanted. It was admitted that some little time would be necessary before the department could be raised to a position of usefulness though no definite period was given. The serious illness of His Royal Highness the Prince of of Wales which fortunately abated before the close of the year spread a gloom throughout the length and breadth of the land. Though Eng- land had been brought near to India by steam and electricity, the interest in England in Indian questions was not much. Professor Fawcett whose disinterested labours in the cause of Indian people had won for him the lasting gratitude of his voice- less constituents in the Indian Empire raised many important questions about Indian finance and discussed them with great ability. The grievances of the Nawab of Moorshedabad and of the Ex-Nawab of Tonk gave rise to many interpellations in the House of Commons. The Duke of Argyll, who was Secretary of State paid little attention to the affairs of India, and the members of the India Council were left to do as much as they liked. The raids oi the Lushai tribe on the Eastern frontier made the government send an effective expedition against them. The British Government had to decide the succession to the States of Chamba, Nabha, Baroda and Kolapur. The British Government accepted as heir to the Nabha State the nominee of the Maharajas of Patiala and Jhind. The brother of the late Gaekwar who was in prison wms raised to the vacant throne. The Maharaja of Kolapur had died in England where he had been on a visit and to the widow of the Maharaja was conceded the right of adoption. The British Indian Government was 34 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. chosen as the arbitrator in the case of the boundary disputes between Afghanistan and Persia and a British officer was de- puted to settle the matter. The debates in the Supreme Council were very animated and marked with very great ability. The subjects of debate were local taxation, permanent settlement, canalization and consolidation of laws. The Local Rates Bill threw upon the people fresh burdens for local requirements. These local taxes were certainly devoted to very good objects but they were levied from a nation the greater part of which is steeped in the most abject poverty. The Bill to consolidate the law of evidence was a very important measure and it pre- sented a simple and admirable code in the hands of legal prac- titioners and judicial officers many of whom were unable to understand and appreciate the great text-books which contained the exposition of the English law of evidence. Some clauses in the Evidence Act do no doubt curtail the independence of the bar but the Act had been very useful in guiding the Indian judiciary along the right path and excluding many things that ought have no influence on the judicial mind. In the Northern India Canal Bill there was a clause that cooked widespread op- position inasmuch as it legalised the system of forced labour which had been unfortunately in vogue for some centuries. Mr. Cockerell the Bengal member entered an emphatic protest against the embodiment of such a disgraceful principle in legislation, but Sir Richard replied that the Indian people could not exist without it, and that as it was deep-rooted in the minds of the people long anterior to British rule, its sanction was not at all improper. Sir George Campbell recorded a strong minute in connection with the Criminal Procedure Code Bill advocating the placing of European British subjects in the Muifasil on the same footing in the eyes of the law as natives of India and plac- ing the former under the jurisdiction of Native Magistrates. The minute of Sir George Campbell was conceived in the broad- est spirit and it advocated a principle that ought to be affirmed in Indian legislation. The Brahmo Marriage Bill elicited a INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 35 controversy that was nnfortunately very acrimonious but the legis- lature settled the matter by passing the Civil Marriage Act whoso the privilcfres could bs availed'of by all who did not belong to the recognized Indian religious sects and who would comply with the formalities required. The parties to such marriages were also participators in the legal rights conferred by the Indian Divorce Act, and the issues of such marriages were subject to the law of succession and consanguinity laid down in the Indian Succession Act, Sir George Campbell who succeeded Sir Wil- liam Grey was an able man who had seen service in many dif- ferent capacities. But he alarmed his subjects in Bengal by his imperious temper, his impulsive utterances and his sweeping reforms. He decided in a moment without even consulting his secretaries questions affecting the w-ell-being of millions of his subjects. The proceedings of the Bengal Council under Sir George Campbell attracted great public attention as he often made an exhibition of himself in the Council Chamber. The Cess Bill was passed by the Bengal Council notwithstanding the strong opposition of the Bengal Zemindars w^ho carried on their appeal in the first instance to the Viceroy and afterwards to the foot of the throne. Sir Henry Durand who had succeeded Sir Donald Macleod as Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab met with an accidental death by a fall from an elephant. He was succeeded by Sir Henry Davies. Sir Ashley Eden who was ap- pointed Chief Commissioner of British Burmah in succession to Colonel Fytche had a difficult work to perform in settling the primitive population of his province to peaceful and industrious habits. The return of the three native civilians from England— Mr. Romesh Chunder Dutt, Mr. Bihari Lai Gupta, and Mr, Su- rendranath Banerjee — marked an era in the history of the coun- try. It was referred to by many high Anglo-Indian officials in their addresses on public occasions-as an example worthy of allimi- tation. Mr. J. B. Norton, Sir Richard Temple, and Sir William Muir hailed this event as the dawn of a better day for India. The young men who had returned as Civilians were warmly 36 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. welcomed aud their success iuduced about a score of ludiuu students to proceed to England for purposes of education. The more orthodox of their countrymen however were hard upon their lapses in social demeanour. The death of the Hon'ble Justice Onoocool Ohunder Mukerji, removed from the Native Society a judge devoted to his duties, a self-made man who had made his name and fortune by sheer dint of personal ability. On the 20th September a thrill of horror was sent through the whole of India by the assassination of Mr. Chief Justice Norman. As the Chief Justice alighted from his carriage and entered the threshold of the door of the Town Hall he was stabbed on the back by a Mahomedan ruffian. His Lordship sat down and said '' I am killed." As he got up, another stab was given in the abdomen. The assassin was Secured through the courage of those about the Chief. The Chief Justice was removed to the premises of Messrs. Thacker Spink and Co., where he expired at about 1-20 P. m. Many theories were afloat as to the cause of this murder and it was broadly hinted that it was the result of a dark political conspi- racy. The question of the abolition of polygamy by legal enactments was hotly agitated in Bengal chiefly through the efforts of the first educationist and social reformer of Bengal the venerable Pandit Iswara Chandra Vidyasagar. The venerable Pandit had been working at the subject since 1856 and had al- most completed his labours when Sir Deonarain Singh consent- ed to present a bill on the subject in 1862. Lord Elgin was opposed to the measure and Sir Cecil Beadon advised that the Government should not interfere on the matter. Pandit Iswara Chandra got up a monstrous petition on the subject and a Com- mittee was appointed to enquire into it. The literature on the sub- ject was daily growing, aud the Pandit issued a bi'ochu/'e on the subject which was worthy of his reputation and was a thorough exposition of his subject. The death of the worthy divine aud eminent mathematician Archdeacon Pratt cast a deep gloom on all sectious of the public, European aud Native. He INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 37 combined in himself the highest scholarship und originality with a genuine sympathy with weaker humanity, and a liberal culture of the heart that endeared him to all sections of the connnunity. MiLiTAiiY ExPENDiTUiiE. — The sliort service system and the amalgamation of the English and the Indian army had greatly increased the burdens of India under this head. "While the East India Company who had a local European force could sent efficient artillery and infantry recruits for £2(3 7^. bd. \)ev man the charges had increased to £136 135. ll^^. for cavalry and £63 85. bd, for infantry recruits. Eminent authorities are of opinion that this expenditure could be considerably reduced without impairing in the least the efhciency of the Indian Army. In criticising Sir R. Temples' budget for 1871- 72 General Balfour showed that the military expenditure had been continually increasing, though this was not clearly shown in the accounts by transferring many items to the head of the expenditure incurred by India in England. General Balfour thought that the annual army expenditure was three miUious more than what it ought to be. All criticism on the subject in the native press was sought to be silenced by the extreme Anolo Indian journals with the sunb that army expenditure should be beyond the pale of native Indian criticism, as the loyalty of the natives of India was most dubious and they had an interest in diminishing the efficiency of the army and thereby impairin cr the political security of India. Mr. Fawcett reviewed the whole subject with a thorough mastery and incisive logic. Political pkogress in India. — The continued progress and enlightenment of the educated classes brought the question of associating them more and more in the administration of the country to the front. There was an important debate on the subject some months later, in which a great many distinguished Anglo-Indians took part. Sir Bartle Frere advocated the direct representation of genuine native opinion in the local and im- perial councils and this suggestion called forth a lively debate. Sir Mordauut Wells while bearing testimony to the ability and 38 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, infegrity of the natives of India said that the recognition of this principle would gradually place more and more political power in the hands of the natives of India and that the principle if at all recognized, should be recognized under strict limitations. Dr. Mouat justly observed that the natives of India trained in the learning of the west had proved great successes in the work of practically administrating the law, that their untiring industry and thorough integrity were well-known and this fact qualified the selected few among them to the honorable distinction of occupying seats in the council through the suffrages of their fellow-countrymen. Dr. Mullens remarked that India was so vast a country with so many conflicting interests and nation- alities, that the same principle was not applicable everywhere, and that while the advanced classes in Calcutta and Bombay could well be given a little political freedom it would be danger- ous to apply the same principle every where. Up to the present year the native members of the Supreme Council had been either absolute princes or uneducated Zemindars, who were entirely ignorant of the language in which the proceedings of the Council were carried on and unfitted by nature and educa- tion to reflect native opinion. Sir Bartle Frere wound up the debate by the observation that the best course would be to extend political privileges to the more advanced classes and communities and train up the rest gradually in the duties of administration by entrusting to them work in the parishes, countries and provinces. The Feudatory States. — Previous to the mutiny the native princes were regarded with great distrust and suspicion by the British Indian Government. It was commonly thought that the native princes had at heart been hardly reconciled to the paramouncy of the British power and the Court of Directors in 1841 had laid down the principle that the Government of India was in no case to abandon any just and honorable accession of territory. Butinl857, in England's supreme hour of need when the Native princes stood fast by the British power and actively INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 39 •when aided in the suppression of that great military rebellion, the policy of dealing with them underwent an entire change. The Native princes were regarded as integral parts of the great Indian Empire and the interference with their vested rights and privileges was reduced to a minimum. This policy made the British administrators feel that they were responsible for the well-being of 600,000 square miles with a population of 50 millions. Lord Mayo impressed upon the Rajput chiefs and nobles that while Government would support them in their exercise of legitimate power it was expected in return that the princes would govern well, would develope the capacity to be rulers of men and would take to their charge with honest labour. Lord Mayo studied the whole question of the adminis- tration of native states and thought over the measures necessary for securing the blessings of a continued good government to the subjects of those principalities. He found that the Foreign office strictly regulated the courtesies of the Viceroy towards each chief but he impressed each ruling prince with the belief that his real friendship could be got only by an honest and conscientious discharge of duties, in the high positions which God had called them to fill. The principles which were to regulate the conduct of the Viceroy in Council towards the native chiefs were distinctly laid down. They were that the policy of non-annexation should be firmly resolved upon, that the British Government should leave to each native prince complete independence in internal matters with only a light form of control, that in cases of serious misrule, the ruling chief should be displaced and his place filled either by a worthy successor or by a council of Regency, and that the younger chiefs were to be educated according to the western ideas that they might fully enter into the spirit of the age and the prin- ciples of British administration. During Lord Mayo's tenure of the Indian Viceroyalty two important cases of Indian Feuda- tory States engaged his attention. In the great province of Kat- tiawar with its 117 chiefdoms Lord Mayo found that anarchy 40 IKDIA^^ HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. and misrule had almost banished the ideas of security of life and property, from the mind of the native population. Lord Mayo found that that this state of things could be remedied only gradually. He confined his interference to a leading principality which he placed under the administration of an experienced native minister and a chosen member of the Bombay civil service and by this system of joint-rulers all necessary re- forms were introduced with tact and judgment and without much opposition on the part of the native population. A more serious state of affairs presented itself in Ulwar. That state was being governed by a Kajput chief who had just after attaining his majority succeded in the incredibly short period of seven years to squander away a cash balance of £ 172,287 in addition to the ordinary annual revenue of £ 200,000 and had made his estate in debted to tbe amount £ 100,000. The crops of future years had been previously hypothecated for the loan and the mise- ries of his subjects who were oppressed by worthless and rapacious creatures of the prince, knew no bounds. The Rajput nobles were insulted and the estates of those who incurred the dis- pleasure of the chief were confiscated. The Rajput soldiery which was for generations the pride of Ulwar was disbanded and Mahomedan mercenaries were enrolled instead. The prince proved incorrigible and when all entreaties and remonstrances failed the nobles and the more powerful subjects of the state took up arms against their ruler. Lord Mayo had to displace this native ruler in the interests of his subjects and while re- taining him the titular head of his kingdom with an allowance of £ 18,000 a year for his personal expenses, placed all real power in the hands of a Council of Regency with the British Resident as President. The institutions of peace and civilization were again opened and crime in all forms was suppressed by the strong arm of the law. The chief however did not leave his favorites and went on in the same reckless way as he did before. Lord Mayo gave him plainly to understand that the only way for him to regain his position was to show some signs of INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 41 repentance and try to improve himself. In the case of the Maha- raja of Jodhpur, Lord Mayo thought that he liad not proved a good administrator and he was visited with a severe rebuke and otherwise disgraced in the formal state ceremonials. On the other hand those princes who had been thought of well in the discharge of their exalted functions, were highly honored. The Begum of Bhopal who ascended the throne of her mother in 18G8, had assiduously striven to reform abuses, and she was received by Lord Mayo with i)articular marks of distinction and presented with honor to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. Lord Mayo also discouraged the practice of devastating villages and burning crops in the case of the frontier expeditious. He insisted upon a system of watchful defence and punishing all aggressions by means of a strong armed police. Lord Mayo set himself to elaborate a plan for the education of the young princes. He found that too often the scions of great and princely houses were reared up amidst the debasino- in- fluences of the zenana and did not receive that healthy educa- tion that would fit them for their position in life. The thought occurred to him of creating for them an Indian Eton where they •would be able to associate with others of their age and rank and be trained up in healthy ideas and under healthy influences under the guidance and supervision of first-rate teachers and political officers. A scheme was gradually elaborated by those best skilled in the subject and the Rajputana chiefs and nobles showered money to make the project an accomplished fact. The college for the training of aristocratic scions was to have its seat at Ajmere with a council of management of wdiich the principal chiefs of Rajputna were the members with the Viceroy as President and the Governor-General's Agent for Rajputana as Vice-President. The princes were to have their own quarters in the spacious compound of the college, to live under selected guardians and to be taught by experienced teachers. Those who have visited the Rajput chiefs' college at Ajmere named after Lord Mayo, whose fine marble statue stands to the \yest 6 42 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. of it with its palatial residences for those who in the fulness of time would sway the sceptre of ancient monarchies, with its well furnished and commodious halls, the beautiful chains of the Aravelli Hills that surround it, the spacious compound dotted over with mansions each built in a separate style, the delightful avenues, and the distant prospect of the Taragarh Hill instinct with busy humanity, will agree with the writer that the Mayo College at Ajmere is one of the lovliest places in India. It had however to be broadly hinted by many a succeeding Viceroy that the principle that all play and no work makes Jack "a stupid boy is too often forgotten there and though the Rajput princes develope fine English tastes they do not in all cases acquire solid qualities of head and heart. CHAPTER IV. 1872. Lord Mayo's Assassination. — The Convict Settlement in the Andamans had been prominently engaging the attention of the Government of India for some time past. In these were aggregated 8000 of the worst criminals selected from all parts of India men cut off by their horrible crimes equally from the past and the future of their native country. The English offi- cials who had to keep peace in those islands were in an isolated position and had to be aided by a strong soldiery. In such a convict colony the best arrangements, the strictest supervision and the most stringent discipline ought always to prevail. But unfortunately the state of things was quite otherwise. The con- victs were always in possession of forbidden articles and in not a few instances they were found to be in possession of an un- limited supply of liquor. The convicts cost their mother coun- try a good deal. Instead of being self-supporting they were very costly. Lord Mayo found that the charge of the colony to the Indian Exchequer had averaged £150,000 a year ; each transported felon costing the country more than £1. 125. per month. The convicts were mostly reckless men and they re- quired to be managed with great tact and ability. Lord Mayo had been thinking, during the latter half of 1871, of developing the material resources of the Andamans by breeding domestic animals and extending cultivation on a large scale. An experi- enced officer of the British Army was placed in charge of this Convict Settlement and he was instructed to manage the whole business of the colony with such judgment as to be able to reconcile even the worst characters to their lot by opening up to them all the privileges and ambition of local citizens. On the 24th of January Lord Mayo left for a tour to British Burma intending to call at the Andamans on his way back and settle all weighty questions and experimental schemes in his 44 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. presence. Sir Ashley Eden the first civihan Chief Commis- sioner of Burma did every thing to make the Viceroy's visit a pleasant one and the Viceroy was satisfied that a good deal had been done towards consolidating British rule in that province. On the 8th of February at 8 A. m., he anchored off Hopetown in the Andamans, with a brilliant party on board his own steamer and the attendant steamship. He inspected thoroughly every part of the convict colony paying especial attention to the Viper and the Ross islands where the worst characters were located. At about 5 P. M. the official inspection terminated but Lord Mayo intended to make Mount Harriet, ahill 111 6 feet high, a sanita- rium where convicts suffering from ill-health might be temporari- ly quartered. Lord Mayo with a small party went up the hill and from its top saw the beautiful sight of the crimson sun of an Indian evening setting behind the horizon. When the party came down it was dark and torches had been lighted up. As the Viceroy had come to the bottom of the hill and was about to get up to the steam launch that lay in waiting for him a convict rushed with a sharpened knife in wild and reckless fury and " fastened, like a tiger" on the back of the Viceroy stabbed his Lordship twice on the shoulder inflicting two wounds either of them sufficient to cause death. The assassin who gave his name as Shere Ali was secured at once, but Lord Mayo breathed his last before he could be removed to his cabin in the frigate. Among the party there was a complete silence and steps had to taken at once for tha devolution of the Viceregal office. The doctors embalmed the remains of His Lordship and Sir Barrow Ellis hurried with the intelligence to Calcutta while Sir Charles Aitchison directed his way towards Madras to bring np Lord Napier of Ettrick to act as Viceroy until the permanent successor arrived. The assassin was a hillman of groat physical strength and commanding stature. He was about 30 and had won for himself good opinions by his brave conduct in the Sitana war and by faithful service rendered to many English officers. He bad been coivicted on the 2nd INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 45 April 1867 by Colonel Pollock Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar of murder for having slain his blood feud enemy on British soil. There was some doubt from the evidence as to whether he had struck the blow which had killed the deceased or his comrade had done it, and in his dying confession years afterwards he stated that he had only conspired to do the mur- der. He was sentenced to transportation for life but slaying a blood-feud enemy was a meritorious act in his own eyes and he rankled under a sense of injustice for having been punished so severely on account of an act that was not a crime in his own eyes. He therefore made up his mind to revenge himself for his grievance by killing some European officer of high rank. He soon established his character as a quiet man and was en- larged as a ticket-of-leave man in Hopetown. On hearing of the arrival of the Viceroy he sharpened a knife and patiently waited his opportunity. He silently crept through the jungle of Monnt Harriet and when the Viceroy was about to get up on the steam-launch desperately rushed through the guards and succeeded in inflicting mortal blows. He said that he had done this act by order of God and stoutly denied that he had any partners or accomplices in his crime. He was tried for his offence and sentenced to death which sentence on being confirm- ed by the High Court at Calcutta was duly carried out on the 11th March, The remains of the Viceroy were brought to Calcutta in solemn state and imposing ceremonials celebrated this mournful event. Lord Mayo's assassination sent a thrill of horror through India and England. The inquiries that were set on foot proved beyond a doubt that these murders were not the result of a deliberate political organization but had been committed by desperate wretches in moments of fury. The native Indian subjects of Her Majesty were deeply shocked at the murder by such a cowardly and cruel act of Her Majes- ty's representative in India. They gave vent to their sorrow by many outward demonstrations, and as His Lordship's per- sonal popularity stood very high the regret was genuine and 4G IXnrAN ins TORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. universal. The public institutions tasked their ingenuity to the utmost in celebrating this sad event in a befitting manner and many speeches were delivered extolling the late Viceroy. Thus was cut off by the foul hand of an assassin, a frank, genial and kind-hearted statesman who had done long and faithful service to his party, who had performed with dignity and un- tiring industry the duties of his exalted Indian office, who had won the hearts of native princes and who had iu the usual nature of things still a promising career to look forward to. Her Majesty the Queen was deeply touched by this melancholy event, the first statesmen of both the parties spoke with un- feigned regret of his services to his country and the English press as a body paid a deserved tribute to his long and distin- guished public career. Lord Mayo's Administration. — The tragic end of Lord Mayo elicited such inflated speeches and articles about the merits of his Lordship's rule that the historian finds it difficult to estimate his administration by the colorless standard of history inasmuch as the contemporary literature affords him, but little aid, or guidance. There is no doubt that His Lord- ship's personal popularity always stood very high. Full of vi- gor and animal spirits His Lordship was peculiarly kind to all he came in contact with, and in social duties as well as iu dis- pensing hospitality he performed his part with such an easy grace and so genuine a courtsey that he had completely wou the affection and esteem of the higher circles of society both Native and European. His habits of industry enabled him to get through a large amount of work aud he could personally direct and supervise every department of administration. Some of his views on administrative questions have been proved to be remarkably sound. He had written strongly about the efforts that were proposed to be made to teach the native agriculturist his work and improving his land by a system of costly manure. He rightly remarked that the rulers should be cautious iu pre- suming to teach the native husbandman who had been doing INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 47 his work for centuries and insisting on his adopting a more costly system of agriculture than his means allow. He found that the system in force with reference to the construction of public works by the special department in charge of them was faulty in many most important respects. The officers of the department had such large areas alloted to them for super- vision and had such heavy office work and routine duties that the estimates were often a hundred per cent, wrong and the Government works were managed as badly as possible. He set about reforming this system and he emphatically placed on record his view that unproductive public works should always be constructed from the current revenue and not by a system of loans. That the Indian Public Works Department is too often guilty of the want of supervision, the want of personal management and too great haste in initiating the works is a truth which is patent to the student of contemporary history. The Public Works Department comes often to the forefront of the spending departments in India and the system in force there needs a thorough overhauling. Lord Mayo with the assistance of General Sir Richard Strachey initiated the project of the metre gauge railways constructed by the State. The broad gauge railways had been very costly. They cost nearly £20,000 per mile and the Government had to give a five per cent, guarantee on the capital invested to the companies who constructed them. Thus the Government was a full sharer in the losses and had nothing to do with the gains of these railway companies. The Government of India found that it could raise capital at 4 per cent, or thereabouts in the English market and the metre gauge railways could be constructed economically and worked with much less cost; necessitating an outlay of £6000 per each mile. Lord Mayo's Government therefore embarked on the project of state railways, which were all constructed on a narrow or metre gauge. The break of gauge thus sanctioned by Lord Mayo and his colleagues has been regarded in later times as a national misfortune. The losses and the heavy 48 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. expenses of transhipment are justly considered to be a grievous inconvenience in the commercial circles and in the years to come many projects have been under consideration to repair the mischief thus done. Light provincial railways running to a short distance might well be constructed on the narrow gauge, but great arterial lines of communication which are the broad highways of commerce if constructed on a different gauge from the previously existing railways are a serious cause of detriment to the commercial prosperity of the country. Now that most of the feudatory states in Rajputana have linked their capitals with the railway that passes from Agra and Delhi through the historical cities of Rajputana to the capital of the province of Gujrat the cost of conversion of this important line to a broad gauge railway is heavy, but the commercial community is sought to be served by a standard gauge through a slightly different route. History must hold Lord Mayo respon- sible as the author of the metre gauge railways which in the then existing circumstances should according to the present opinions of the highest authorities on Indian railways and Indian commerce should never have been undertaken. Many of the most well-informed minds on the subject are now busily engaged in finding out the most economical way of undoing what has been done, and probably the Indian tax-payer will in the end be charged with heavier burdens for those railways that he would have been if they had been originally constructed on the standard gauge. Nor have the metre gauge railways brought any corresponding advantage to the state. They earn according to the latest accounts the same rate of profit as do the older lines, but any one who had witnessed, as the present writer had many occasions to do, the difficulties and heavy losses incident to transhipment at the important railway station of Ahmedabad which forms the junction between the route of Agra and the Panjab on the one hand, and the railway line which after traversing the rich cotton fields of Kathiawar, runs for many miles on linos constructed on bridgy foundations and after INDIAN ins TORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 49 ciossing the Niirbudtla and tlie Taptee on large and well- spann- ed bridges enters the city of Bombay and runs for a long dis- tance on the side of and in full view of the Arabian Sea, will rea- lize the truth of the remarks that we have made above. The Gov- ernment of Lord Mayo also sanctioned a great many irrigation works as protective works against famine. He tried to organise education on a popular basis and he inaugurated some special measures for the education of the Mahomedans and the domicil- ed Europeans. The Mahomedans fancied they had all the grievances of an excluded class, and Lord Mayo justly thought this feeling was a source of political danger. Lord Mayo's administration was not regarded with favor by the ruled classes. He had to carry on his duties in the midst of unfortunate circumstances. The imperious Duke who was his master at the India Office, and the councillors who had their own way, who were thoroughly infused with the Punjabi spirit and with whose intellectuality he could not cope combined to make his position an unenviable one. Theoretically history must hold Lord Mayo responsible for all that was done in his name even in the face of the fact which is but too well-known that for many things His Lordship was but nominally responsible. The measures which were admittedly his own commanded the ap- proval and sympathy of the public. His foreign policy and his policy in dealing with the Amir of Afghanistan were eminently successful. His desire to see everything with his own eyes before finally coming to a decision on an important question was commendable. If he had been spared he would have governed India in the true spirit of the proclamation. In his death the Queen lost a faithful and devoted servant and the Indian Society a genial and accomplished leader. His attitude was always dignified and he had impressed the Indian people with a real sense of the magnificence of the British power. Lord NAriEu and the Earl of Northrrook. — After Lord Mayo's death the charge of the office of the Governor-General -of India was held by Lord Napier, Governor of Madras, under 7 50 INVIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. Sec. 50 of the Indian Councils' A'^t until the Earl of North- brook a'rrived and relieved him. Lord Napier was very cautious in all that he did and he did not do more than finish the impending business left unfinished by his predecessor. Some of the most important bills which had been matured under Lord Mayo were passed by the Council under the presidency of Lord Napier, who did not think it proper to arrest their progress. The ordinary work of the Govern- ment of Indhii was suspended for one month after the death of Lord Mayo and until the Countess of Mayo embarked for England with the remains of her noble lord, business was not resumed. Lord Napier created a very favorable im- pression in his position as Viceroy and rendered his short tenure of office remarkable by issuing the noble resolution on the Kuka executions. This resolution which had originated with Sir Fitzjames Stephen, was a document which laid down the im- portant principle that the ordinary law is meant for quiet times as well as for periods of unusual commotion, that individual officers who presume to decide on the spur of the moment that they are at liberty to take any measures they deem proper, are guilty of usurping the highest prerogative of the Government. All offenders captured are to have a regular trial and it is the duty of the executive officers even in times of unusual excite- ment to hand them over to the regular tribunals for justice. Lord Napier had been unpopular with one section of the public at Madras but in Calcutta he won for himself very good opinions and when he retired from the Governorship of Madras ho carried with him the good-will of the official and non- official public of Calcutta. The Earl of Northbrook who relieved him came of the well-known Baring family and had a good deal of training in Indian affairs. He was a warm admirer and disci{)lo of Lord Halifax and in a speech on Indian affairs delivered in 1865 had uttored noble sentiments. In that speech His Lordship had quoted with approval the remark of J, S. Mill that tho best way of governing India was to govern INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 51 it in the interests of the Indians and make them feel that it is being so done. In the same address too ho had emphatically pointed out the many important changes that Lord Halifax had introduced. These antecedents and his high reputation as a capable financier raised many hopes in the minds of the Indian people. Lord Northbrook naturally took some time to fami- liarize himself with the details of Indian administration and the rest that the land had under his rule was highly beneficial. Hia Lordship declared that nothing but a strong sense of duty could have made him undertake the immense responsibilities of his exalted office and that the Indian administrative machinery required to be handled with great caution. General Events. — Lord Napier was succeeded in the Governorship of Madras by Lord Hobart and Sir Seymour Fitzgerald the lory Governor of Bombay by Sir Philip Woodehouse. Sir Philip's peculiar trait was that he did not vote in the debates of his Legislative Council on the constitu- tional principle that he should not do so as he had the power to give to or withhold assent from the bills paseed by his Council. Sir Fitzjames Stephen passed the new Criminal Proceduro Code just before vacating office in which he was succeeded by Sir Arthur Hobhouse. The Criminal Procedure Code won for him the execration of the native public which followed him to his native land. He did away with appeals in many classes of criminal cases and armed our Muffiisil Solons with summary powers in many important cases. It is well-known that the Indian judiciary stand sadly in need of the correcting hand of the courts of appeal. Many of the provisions of the Code were opposed to the recognized principles of criminal jurisprudence and threatened the rights and liberties of the subjects in the Mutfasil. His Grace the Secretary of State was implored in the petitions which poured on the noble Duke from India, to amend the Code as passed but the noble Duke refused to re-open the question. The Earl of Northbrook felt that there was much reason in the prayers of the petitioners and suspended the 52 I^''DIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. operation of the Act till the 1st January 1873 peudiug the consent of the Duke of Argyll. Sir Arthur Hobhouse in his speech in introducing the Obsolete Enactments Bill gave the people of India hopes that codification would pro- ceed much more slowly thar. it had been doing and as changes bring unsettlement of society and the changes had been multiplied too frequently of late years, the land required some rest from over-legislation. The annual budget showed a serious diminution of the cash balances demonstrating plainly that more money had been borrowed and raised by taxation than ■was necessary. Lord Northbrook who was peculiarly strong in finance grappled with the question at once and issued circulars to the local officers to gauge the effects of taxation both imperial and local. He also took in hand the whole subject of army expenditure. The Government of India stopped the practice which had been obtaining hitherto of the Local Governments submitting their annual budgets to their legislative councils and thus gave the provincial rulers complete freedom in the matter of financial management which must be wisely used. The affairs of the Municipality of Bombay threw that city almost in a ferment. The powers that had been vested in the Corporation were small but the constitution proposed by the new Municipal bill left the elective element so small that there was a widespread consternation which found vent in the monster meetings that were held to appeal to the Viceroy to withhold his assent from the bill. The Bengal Municipal Bill which considerably increased the obligations of municipalities and thus necessitated much increased taxation was opposed clause by clause by the native members of the council and evoked general opposition. Sir William Muir was succeeded in the Lieutenant Go- vernorship of the North Western Provinces by Sir John Strachey. Sir William was an enlightened ruler and liis strong views on the heavy settlement of the North- Western Provinces were remarka])ly true. He gave a great impulse to the progress of education and took INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 53 an especial interest in the progress of the Miihomedan com- munity whose leaders had collected a munificient sum for the establishment of a National College at Aligarh. Sir George Couper, the Homer of the Lucknow Siege, proved a most incapable administrator of Oudh and under his rule the country was torn by factions of the Talukdars. Lord Northbrook found out that there were many illegal taxes in the Central Provinces and he at once turned his attention to them. The Punjab was making rapid strides in enlightenment and civilization and Sir Henry Davis felt that it could no longer be ruled in the old executive spirit. Sir George Campbell came to be distrusted by all classes of the population that he ruled. He took most inadequate action to check the ravages of the fell epidemic fever that was then decimating Bengal. Sir George wrote a few high-sounding minutes on physical education, popular education and practical education but his action ended with the establishment of a few patshalas on the same lines as those founded by Sir John Peter Grant. His ill-advised move in the matter of the Sanskrit College and his notorious fight with the Calcutta University over the subject of the Urdu were hardly dignified, Mr. Fawcett delivered a very able speech on Indian Finance and Taxation, which though it had not any effect on the India Office extorted the admiration of the public by its clear analysis and wide knowledge of facts, Mr. Fawcett's outspoken utterances would it was feared endanger his position with his constituents and a movement was set on foot in India to present an address to his electors so that the "sightless champion of India" would be permitted to study and speak on Indian questions which address happily had the desired effect. Lord Northbrook followed up his predecessor's policy with reference to the native princes. His Lordtfhip won the gratitude of the Indian people by opening up on a small scale a careerior the cadets of good families. The native princes in many instances had to suffer from the meddlesomeness of their political agents, but they had on the whole no feelings 54 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. but those of good will towards the paramount power, which feelings were given vent to with much warmth and in choice diction by Maharaja Holkar when he addressed the Viceroy at Burwar. There were some disturbances in Cashmere owing to the religious feuds of two Mahomedan sects but these were put an end to without much difficulty. In Joodpur there was a rebellion which cost much blood and treasure headed by the crown prince. The Viceroy's Agent however succeeded in bringing about a reconciliation between father and son and peace and order was restored. Local Tax;at[Ojt. — There was an important debate on this subject in the House of coinmotis on the 15th April this year Sir Massey Lopes who spoke on the subject with great ability pointed out that the gradual demand for local improvement continually increased the local rates and the people saw that there could be no relief from this sort of taxation but a con- tinued addition to their burdens. This was exactly the feeling in India when local imposts for local requirements were first introduced under the schema of Lord Mayo. This was apt to make the people suspicious aal dissatisfied and the only sound policy in this direction was the keeping of a certain portion of the imperial revenues for local purposes and to have the proceeds of one particular tax say the income tax ex- pressly set apart for local proposes in consolidation of all local rates and taxes. In these days of progress the British Government is bound to move in the general march for im- provement and a general impost for local purposes while it would place the necessary funds at the hands of the Government would prevent arbitrary increase to it and reckless expenditure. Religious and Charitable Endowments. — There is no country probably on th<} surface of the earth which has a greater number of religious and charitable endowments scattered over the whole length and breadth of the laud than India. These endowments subserve the purpose of the elaborate system of Poor Law relief that obtain in other countries and enormous INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 55 wealth is often placed in the many pagodas and mosqnes with which Indian piety has consecrated the land. But these endowments were often fearfully mismanaged and their funds diverted from the noble objects which the founders had in view. The Acts and Regulations that had been passed on this head have failed to produce that satisfactory management that is needed. This question was prominently discussed during this year and many suggestions were offered. The consensus of opinion however was that the administration of these trusts and endowments should be a branch of the Board of Revenue and experienced Deputy Collectors were to be appointed to administer the funds, apply them to the proper purposes and prevent the waste and misappropriation of the fund set apart for noble objects. Social Progress. — The natives of India are too often taken to task for not going on at any appreciably fast rate in the matter of social progress. But there are two difficulties in the way of the educated natives which have never been satis- factorily answered. It is well-known that the educated native of India whether Hindu or Mahomedan is confronted with a social system which is the evolution of centuries, which is deeply rooted in the feelings and prejudices of his countrymen and which if attempted to be changed wholesale would bring on social anarchy and disorder. The growth of English ideas has led to a revulsion of feeling against the caste system thus affecting the old industrial organization of the country in a way that is truly alarming and which has created a difficulty in relation to the bread problem, that it is exceedingly hard to grapple with. There is going on a great change in our social ideas and habits that is purely spontaneous. The change is of course not so rapid as enthusiastic reformers would wish but sensible change is going on. It has never been pointed out to ns what social system we are to adopt as our own if we subvert the standing one. The only quarter of the globe where we could go for models and patterns is Europe but Europe herself is in a state of 56 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. social anarchy and scepticism. Her best tliinkers se^m hardly satisfied with her existing social institutions, she is hotly discussiiJg the gravest social questions and this makes her at the present moment an extremely unsafe precedent to follow. Time and inevitable circumstances must work many changes in the social system and will produce true and solid reformation. Sir John IStrachey's Minute on Lord Mayo's Rule. — Towards the close of the year Sir John Strachey published an elaborate minute eulogizing the administration of Lord Mayo and placing him in the front rank of Indian pro-consuls. The Indian public which was then recovering from the feverish excitement caused by the assasination was not found to fall in readily with those views. Lord Mayo it was thought allowed his councillors to have too free a hand. This is to be accounted for by the fact that he did not feel himself a thorough master of the situation, and that his haughty master at the India Office the Duke of Argyll belonged to a rival party and was notorious- ly under the influence of the great patron of tlie Punjabi councillors Lord Lawrence. Possibly if the statesmanship of Lord Mayo wore allowed to blossom forth and not nipped in the bud by the foul hand of an assassin it would have regaled India with its fragrance. Lord Mayo's views with reference to high education had caused a just alarm. His measures spread discontent from one end of the country to the other. His proposal to make the land settlement a permanent settlement on the basis of a certain portion of the produce of the laud would have proved iniquitious in practice. History cannot accord therefore to Lord Mayo a position in the same gallery with Cornwallis, Bentinck, Dalhousie (barring his annexation policy) and Canning, which had been accorded to him in Sir John Strachey's minute and later on in the elaborate works of Sir William Hunter which unfortunately give one side of the picture alone. CHAPTER V. 1873. Russia and India.. — Never did Lord Beaconsfield utter a truer remark than when he said that England by reason of holding India which is the brightest jewel in her diadem was more an Asiatic than an European power. The eternal com- plications that are arising every year from the presence and the continued progress of Russia ia Central Asia occupy more thaa au ordiaary share of the attention of the Eaglish cabinet and it is evident that the Eujilish Foreign Office has not been for many'years past equal to the wily Muscovite diplomacy. Russia had been giving and repeating the most solemn assurances as to her pacific intentions in Central Asia but not a year passes whea there is not some fresh accession of territory and what is mora strange the previous assurances and negotiations are explained in such a way as to admit of the accessions in question without any breach of political faith. The domination of Central Asia and the invasion of India forms part of the chart of political great- ness bequeathed by Peter the Great to the Russian autocrats and the great Northern Bear seems steadily bent towards that political programme. This year found that the neutral zone whose existence Russia had scrupulously bouud herself to maintain, had ceased to exist and Khiba had been practically annexed. In the name of scientific expenditions she had been exploring new military and trading routes to xifghanistan and the North Western frontiers of India. She had been intriguing in Persia and had been successful in obtaining from His Imperial Majesty the succes- sor of Darius many concessions advantageous to commerce and to the construction of railway lines. She had beea playing not only the part of a conqueror but of a settled luler and by giving some high military and civil appointments to the natives of the conquered territories, she had been doing her best 8 58 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. to consolidate her rule. She had sent M. Lesseps the author of the Suez Canel to induce the Shah af Persia to run up lines of railway and telegraph through the dominions of His Majesty and to connect these lines with the Russian lines in Central Asia. All this portended mischief and the Indian Government had to pay especial attention to the frontier aifairs, to the policy to be pursued in conciliating Afghanistan and to the keeping out of Russian intrigues from the immediate neighbourhood of the Indian frontiers. It is indeed a sad thing for the historian to see at every step English diplomacy outwitted by the Russian emissaries, and to find that no effectual means were taken to make Russia respect her own word. The jurisdiction of the principles of international law enforced by a comity of the Great Powers of Europe was the only effectual means in this direction. Russia greeted too with especial cordiality for political reasons the Shah of Persia on his visit to Europe. Armed collision between England and Russia, seemed to be inevitable but fortunately it was not imminent yet, India, in England. — The address of gratitude forwarded by the British Indian Association to the electors of Brighton and to their representive in the House of Commons, Mr. Fawcett, ■was the first response made ^by the people of India to action taken on their behalf. It called forth a great demonstration at Brighton and one of the electors of Brighton who addressed the meeting justly said that never had there been a more interesting meeting than that one. The electors clearly recognized that the days of governing India Asiatically had long gone by and that although India might not be fit for a representative government, the principles which form the cornerstone of representative ins- titutions should be the guiding stars of Indian rulers. England has risen to incomparable greatness not so much by the assertion of physical force as by moral grandeur and earnestness and the Indian people recognized the plain truth that India must fight her constitutional battles by the assertion of moral force. Mr. Fawcett truly remarked that a grave responsibility rested on INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 59 British electors with reference to their Indian fellow-subjects. They should see that India be not sacrified to the party exigen- cies of politics that no charges be thrown unjustly upon India which ought to be borne by England, that those who waste the Indian revenues by administrative incompetency be called to account and that the finances of India be protected against the unjust demands of those who seemed to think that India had been especially created to supply cheap cotton for Lancashire and to afford an eligible investment for English capital. One of most gratifying signs of the times was the readiness with which the English people came to offer assistance to India when at the close of the year she was threatened with a famine. The Times newspaper as the exponent of the British nation called upon the English capitalists to untie their purse-strings to relieve the sufferings of their starving fellow-subjects on the plains of Bengal, Retired Anglo-Indians and English philan- thropists discussed the subject in right earnest and made some valuable suggestions for the practical working of relief measures. The Lord Mayor of London called a meeting to raise subscrip- tion and the stream of English charity would have flowed towards this country but for a message from the India Office to suspend operations. The Indian Finance Committee continued its sittings and examined a number of witnesses the most notable of whom was Lord Lawrence. It requested the Government of India to send up native witnesses. The immense difficulties which attend the journey of a native of India to England made some repre* sentative men of all parts of India decline the honor of being deputed to England but still the moral revolution that had been going on had spread so far that many respectable men of position offered to go. The suspension of the labours of the committee however owing to political reasons did not necessitate the sending- up of those native witnesses who had been selected. General Events. — Steam and electricity having shortened the distance between England and India, the winter brought some distinguished travellers every season. The Hon'ble Mr, GO INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. Bonrke M. P. (afterwards Lord Connemara and Governor of Madras), Mr. Smith M. P. and Lord William Hay M. P. camo out to India and on their return they delivered addresses to their constituents full of sympathy with the people of this country. The first year of Lord Northbrook's administration was spent in mastering the routine of Indian administration. His Lordship however displayed a remarkable grasp of the financial situation, and at once invited the opinions of responsible officers on iho pressure of taxation and the political effects of the recent measures of taxation on the people. The officers consulted condemned the income tax with one voice and the majority of them were of opinion that the newly-imposed local cesses pro- duced a great hardship. His Lordship at once abolished the income tax and withheld his assent from the Bengal Muni- cipalities Bill — the bill authorizing a non-agricultural cess in Bombay and took the whole question of local taxation into careful consideration. The Viceroy caused a forecast to bo taken of the public works during the next five years and while sanctioning no unnecessary expenditure under this head ho pushed on material progress by initiating and carrying on all measures of real utility. The finances being in a prosperous condition and there being no alarming rumours from abroad the credit of the government stood very high and the government promis- sory notes commanded a high premium all round the year. Sir Arthur Hobhouso rendered innocuous by radical amendments many of the bills of the preceding administration which were ripe for passing. The North "Western Provinces rent and revenue bills and the Oudh Land Revenue Bill were passed in a harmless form and the sections introducing radical changes in the condition of the tenantry were taken out. The North India Irrigation Bill was first introduced during the time of Lord Mayo but it was so oppressive in many of its provisions that the Duke of Argyll was obliged to send it back for amendments. Lord North])rook passed it in a form which would not cause much hardship if worked by honest officers. The new Governors INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 61 of Bombay and Madras wero exclusive in their sympathies and their administration though vigorous was unpopular with the ruled classes. The Punjab, the Oudh and the Central Pro- vinces were under weak administrators and there were visible signs of decay. The case of the Mohuut of Tarkeshur, which excited a universal sensation througout India when orthodox Hindus pressed for the punishment of the head of an important shrine who had soiled his sacred cloth by polluting a young girl was a significant instance of the social and moral revolu- tion that English ideas had silently created in the midst of an ancient society. The affairs of the Nawab Nazim of Bengal which had been aired in England during the past two sessions were quietly settled and an act was passed to give effect to the settlement. Bengal lost this year the foremost of her poets and the foremost of her dramatists Michael Madhusudan Datta, and Babu Dinabandhu Mitter. The former a barrister who had been converted into Christianity was the creator of the blank verse in Bengali poetry. Amidst trials and difficulties of no ordinary character his poetic genius has given to his countrymen some of most impassioned and sublime pieces of poetry that are to be found in their rising literature. Babu Dinabandhu Mitter took early in life to the worship of the Muses and in his works he has happily depicted the society of his day with an inexhaustible fund of vivacity and humour. Two veteran English writers of Bengal the first fruits of the Hindu College also passed away this year in the person of Kashiprasad Ghose and Kissory Chand Mitter. The government of Bengal very unwisely offered to pay money to the Christian Missionaries to be spent in con- verting the aboriginal tribes to Christianity and there was a loud outcry against this precious idea, wdiich was a clear departure from the principle of religious neutrality adopted by the state but this idea was not allowed to fructify. The Militaet Expenditure of India. — It was at the earnest desire of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort that the armies of England and India were amalgamated in 18G2-G3. 02 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. The ainalfrnination was effected to secure an uniform army for the whole British Empire, to do away with the need for a purely local army and to make India the training ground for tho British soldier. Little did His Royal Highness think that this arrangement would be fraught with eternal evil to the people of India. "While large reductions had been effected in the strength of the troops, the relief to the Indian Exchequer was not only nil but there was a considerable addition to tho expenditure by reason of the measures that were adopted to eff'ect an improved organization. Some apologists have tried to defend this enor- mous increase to the general rise of prices and the consequent additions to the salary of the officers. The Indian Government however, though the rise of prices has been general, has not thought it proper to increase the salaries in the civil departments except in rare and isolated instances. The most fruitful sources of this increase have been the Staff Corps system of promotion, which with increasing years increases the military rank and pay of officers in the army and the general staff, the general revision of staff salaries, the reorganization of the Army departments, the extension of hill sanitaria for European troops and the creation of appointments for garrison instruction and for instruction in Gymnastics and Army Telegraphy. There was considerable increase again in the military pay and allowances of the officers in the military accounts department and the personal staff of the Viceroy, the Governors of Bombay and Madras and the Lieutenant-Governors of provinces. The reorganization of the ministerial departments, the steps that were taken to lay in pro- visions and forage for the army, the attempts that were made to make supply and transport so efficient as to be able to cope with all sorts of military and political exigencies, the annual reliefs by railways instead of by road, the establishment of the Overland Troops service which necessitated the concentration of all European troops at Bombay and their conveyance by steam- ships at a considerable charge to the Indian Exchequer, were all attended with additional expense. The railways instead of INDIAN IIISTORy OF OUR OWN TIMES. 63 tending to economy have indirectly increased the military charges, for while the railways are most frequently resorted to, the old transport establishments, have to be kept up in full to meet any emergencies in the interior of the country or beyond the Indian frontier where there may be no railways. There came to be considerable waste and extravagance in the supply of the army remounts whether through the government studs or by purchase in the local markets or by importation, in the cost of the clothing agencies whether under the head of materials obtained from England or the charges incurred in India in sewing, pressing, packing and transport, in the grant of money compensation in lieu of clothing under certain conditions, in the introduction of improved patterns, as well as in the barrack buildings, the barrack supplies and all charges connected with lighting cooling and conservancy. India a partner with Eng- land in this matter had to maintain her army on the same scale of expenditure as in England and the management of this department being ultimately in the hands of the English War Office it did not effect any considerable reform or re- trenchment. The comparative statements of military expendi- ture in 1861-63, and 1871-72 show that although there had been a decrease in the strength of the European army by two brigades of artillery two regiments of cavalry and five regiments of infantry and a more than corresponding diminution in the native section of the army the aggregate military expenditure in the latter year exceeded the aggregate of the former year by nearly half a million. This growth of military expenditure engaged the earnest attention of Lord Northbrook and he examined all the above items of expenditure with close scrutiny. The Epidemic Fevers. — In noticing the condition of the Indian people, the historian must first of all give a regretful prominence to the epidemi3 fevers that had been decimating the fairest villages of Bengal. The Hon'ble Digambar Mitter in his minute on the subject which was published as an appendix to the report of the epidemic commission of 1861, took up the Gi INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, position thai the epidemic fever was due to an obstruction of the surface drainage of the villages caused mainly by the cons- truction of roads, railways and embankments, without a sufficient waterway for the ready discharge of rain and flood. The publication of these views by a man who though without any trained scientific knowledge, had an infinite fund of common sense and an accurate experience of the condition of the Beuo-al villages, led to great excitement and investigation. The circumstantial evidence that was brought to support this position in the shape of the actual condition of a scries of villages through which a line of roads had been constructed recklessly, and the total immunity from fever of another series of villages similarly situated but lying beyond the influence of the road or embankment, was very strong. The medical profession was obliged by the very force of facts to admit that there was some truth in the theory and as the fell fever was gradually spreading to many parts of the country, and the lives of many thousands of Her Majesty's subjects were being sacrified every year, the Government, while adopting other measures of relief instituted proper enquiries into this subject. Lord Lawrence on Indian Matters. — Freed from the shackles of office Lord Lawrence gave expression to some very sound views on Indian subjects in his evidence before the Indian finance committee. He spoke highly of the wisdom of Lord Cornwallis in introducing the permanent settlement in Bengal and spoke of it as the principal cause of that remarkable pros- perity which Bengal in comparison with the other Indian pro- vinces now enjoys. He advocated the extension of the Perma- nent settlement to all parts of the country under the condition proposed by Sir Charles Wood that eighty per cent of the lands of each village should have been first brought under cultivation. The imposition of local cesses was justifiable in his opinion in the permanently settled districts as Lord Cornwallis' arrange- ment did not include the idea of barring future improvements but Uis Lordship thought that such cesses should not have been INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 65 imposed ia the temporarily settled districts as in their case they were additions pure and simple to the land revenue. Lord Lawrence did not think that the decentrulization scheme had any great merit. It would not tend to make the Local Govern- ments more economical and the idiosyncracies and character of the individual ruler would he as great determining factors under this system as under the old one. The people of India would not be able to distinguish between local and imperial taxation. They identify the higher officers of the Local Governments with the Government of India and they were not likely to understand the principle that local needs should be carried out through local taxation. He thought that the practice of the Viceroy's com- municating all his views on important subjects semi-officially to the Secretary of State and of their exchanging opinions with each other had a very salutary influence in as much as the Viceroy had the counsel of a statesman of the first rank with a thorough grasp of principles and the Secretary of State's theoretical knowledge was corrected and supplemented by infor- mation about practical difficulties and administrative details. The Indian Princes. — Lord Stanley of Alderley drew the attention of the House of Lords this year to the fact that there did not exist any competent and impartial tribunal which could be give a hearing to the grievances of the native princes. He said that the acts of the subordinate officials, accredited to the native states were often dictated by caprice and were accepted by the Government of India as acts of state. The supreme government felt itself bound afterwards by the posi- tion that it had taken up and had naturally to turn a deaf ear to the representations of the aggrieved princes. These princes cannot come before the properly constituted legal tribunals in British India, nor have they any locus standi to appeal to Her Majesty's Privy Council. His Lordship pointed out that a Supreme Court existed in the United States for the consideration of all matters in dispute between state and state and that in Portuguese India the government had to give a 9 G6 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. strict account of all its doings either in the matter of accounts or of general administration to the law officers of the Crown, and that these tribunals lead to no loss of prestige to the Exe- cutive Government, The Indian Princes have theoretically a right of appeal to the British Parliament^ but Parliament with a standing majority for the Secretary of State is hardly a fit tribunal for such grievances, and the persistent calumnies and insinuations that are levelled against any member of the House of Commons, who takes up such cases have made the practical difficulties in the way of the aggrieved Indian princes, very great indeed. The Duke of Argyll combated these arguments by saying that it was necessary for the Government of India for reasons of policy and good government to reserve to itself the right of deciding in all cases of political treachery, political mismanagement and political crime. It would be, His Grace said, a serious source of disaifection and a blow to sound and enlightened administration in India, if the Government were ever to delegate these important constitutional functions to an in- dependent tribunal, with a strong judicial element in it. His Grace conveniently forgot that the internal relations with the native princes should not be left consistently with reason or justice to the tender mercies of the Indian political department. The Indian Finance Committee.— The Indian Finance Committee, which went exhaustively into the condition of the Indian finances, expressed an opinion on the recommendation, that the Indian Financial year should end on the 31st of December and not on the 31st of March, so that the Secretary of State would be able to present the statement of Indian finances to the British Parliament before the Easter recess. The Committee stated that this practice of making a Financial state- ment to Parliament was revived in 1853, when the President of the Board of (Control in giving the House a forecast of the measures necessary for the ensuing year, entered into an exhaustive review of the Indian finances before a committee of the whole House. The same practice was continued till 1858 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 67 when the new act for the Government of India was passed. The audited accounts on which the opinion of the House was based were accompanied by approximate accounts known as the regular estimate for the following financial year. In 1871, the complaint was first distinctly heard in the House that the Indian accounts were presented very late in the session when most of the members had left the town. The committee did not recom- mend the changing of the last day of the financial year. The Indian finances it was recommended should be presented to the House in an early part of the session but it would be the state- ment given in the Indian budget that would then be nearly a year old and discussions on that budget would have no practical value. The Finance Committee was of opinion that the evidence they had recorded had been chiefly derived from official sources and that competent native inhabitants likely to give useful infor- mation should be invited to place their views at the disposal of the committee. This invitation of the House of Commons to the edu- cated natives called forth a virulent steam of abuse against them. Many Anglo-Indian writers of extreme views warned the English public against the educated native and went on to say that the native of India, who would come to England, sacrificing his caste and his religion would be no trustworthy representative of his countrymen. The authorities in England were opposed to the sendmg out of the commission to India, to record evidence on the spot. Such a step, they thought, would be regarded by the natives of the country as a virtual supercession of the authority of the local executive. It was contended by the influential re- presentatives of native opinion, that the action of the English Government, in requiring the Indian subjects to go to England for the concession of rights and privileges to which they were entitled as citizens of a great empire, was unrighteous. The difli- culties of the Indian in the way of his going to England were many and of different varieties and the English public which have no sympathy with the prejudices of the oriental mind could hardly be expected to appreciate all these difficulties. 68 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. The wild Beasts of India — Lord Napier of Mercliiston who subsequently assumed the title ot Lord Ettrick did a public service to India by directing attention to the loss of life among the natives of India through the agency of wild beasts. His Lord- ship remarked, that the annual loss of life from this source was terrible and extraordinory and great loss and suffering were caused by the habitual terror exercised by these animals, by the limitation of cultivation and the interruption of traffic. Lord Napier suggested that a special service be organized of Euro- pean sportsmen and native Shikaries who would be entrusted with a certain number of arms and that the State should reward thera according to the actual number of savage and ferocious animals killed. His Grace the Duke of Argyll while admitting that the disarmament which had been going on since the mutiny had put a premium to the loss of life from this cause thought it extra- ordinary that the Indian people had not got the energy to destroy these wild beasts. The historian cannot indeed under- stand the force of His Grace's assertion. It was extremely unkind of the Secretary of State to taunt his Indian subjects with want of energy when he knew full well that the arms have been allowed only to a few of them under very strict limitations and that the Indian Government was responsible for the protec- tion of the lives of its subjects. Summary Trials — The investing of a large body of magis- terial officers with summary powers was a grave source of dis- satisfaction which was considerably deepened by the fact that these officers notunfrequently commit blunders and irregularities of an extraordinary character. These new provisions certainly served to effect their primary object that of strengthening the executive but this object was attained by the sacrifice of the liberty of the subject. When not a particle of evidence was re- quired by law to be on the record, the chances of an appeal to the superior judiciary of the land were almost nil and every one having any experience of the Muffasil magistracy knows very well how frequently it stands in need of being corrected and INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 69 rectified by the High Court. The remarkable independence of the Indian High Courts especially of the barrister judges, the technicalities whose benefit the Indian case law gave rather extensively and the stout championship of the barristers whose numbers were daily increasing made the judiciary an eyesore to those officers who had been trained in the Panjabi system of administration which was but another name for the strongest despotism. The sections with reference to summary trials con- tinued to deface the Statute-book and although the imperfec- tions of the magistracy were demonstrated in the clear light of day the Indian Government has not yet been taken this question into careful consideration. Mahomedan Education — Sir Syed Ahmed of Allyghur proposed to create a college in that city for giving special facilities to the Mahomedans to be instructed in English while combining with it a study of the Mahomedan theology. After considerable preliminary discussions the provincial committee appointed at the instance of Syed Ahmed came to the conclu- sion that as the Government could not guarantee religious instruction in any of its seminaries, and as the Mahomedans cared more for their religion than for anything else a se- parate educational establishment on an extended scale should be established where secular and religious training might be combined. The scheme progressed successfully and the Vice- roy as well as the highest officers of the state accorded their patronage to the project. Native chiefs contributed liberally and before the expiry of the year about 20 lakhs of rupees had been collected for the purpose. A powerful opposition to the movement had however been organized, objecting to the pro- posed scheme on the ground that European science and litera- ture entered into the curriculum of the proposed college and that its projector did not see any objection to eating and drinking with Europeans and an orthodox Mahomedan pro- ceeded so far as Mecca to get a sentence of infidelity pronounced against the Syud, which he succeeded in getting done. The 70 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. worthy Syed however persisted in his noble efforts and im- pressed upon his co-religionists the fact that they must move in these progressive times. The college soon after became an ac- complished fact though it has not yet succeeded in imparting the standard of education necessary, except in rare cases. CHAPTER VI. 1874. The Famine in Bengal and Behar— Sir George Campbell was the first to draw the attention of the Government of India to the crisis of an impending famine throughout a great extent of his territories. The districts most threatened by the calamity- were those of Behar and parts of the Rajshahye and Burdwan divisions. The reports from Patna showed that the rains had failed throughout a considerable part of the Behar districts, that the standing rice crop could not be saved, that caterpillars were doing a good deal of injury to the young plants and that the want of moisture prevented the sowing of the cold-weather crops. There was no hope of saving the paddy except in places bordering on streams, and to add to the difficulties of the situation a considerable part of the Benares Division was also suffering from draught with the same intensity as Behar, Lord Northbrook in concert with Sir George Campbell devised judicious measures for famine relief at once. Lord North- brook was one of the members of the British Relief Commission which raised and administered half a million durins; the Irish Famine and Sir George Campbell had gleaned a good deal of information on the subject from his being the President of the commission that enquired into the famine in Orissa. Lord Northbrook issued a circular to the Local Governments direct- ing them to curtail all expenditure that could be reduced, post- poned or dispensed with, and aid the Government of India with the savings thus secured as a very large expenditure of money was necessary for the relief of distress and a serious loss of revenue was apprehended. The Government of India thought that the natural law of demand and supply would induce many traders to bring food to the famine-stricken districts. To facilitate this object the railway rates on grains were re- duced by half, the local rates and tolls were abolished temporarily 72 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. and the natural trade of the country was to be promoted by advances of money to the zamindars and planters on condi- tion that they would import grain from a distance and sell it as near as possible at cost price all cKpenses included, as well as to traders of a safe and responsible character who would take the money at a moderate interest of 6 per cent, on condition that they would engage to import grain from a distance. To relieve those people who had neither money nor credit and who for want of work were unable to earn money or wages, the Local Government sanctioned a variety of local and emigration roads. Charitable relief was to be distributed to the old, to children, to persons in reduced health, and to others who might be unable to do a full day's work. The Government and its officers were to lay insufficient supplies of rice and other grain which would be forwarded as soon as possible to places of storage near relief w^orks to prevent the support of a large body of laborers from being an additional burden on the distressed districts and the transporting agency was to be made as efficient as possible. During the dire famines that visited Bengal in 1769-70, 18S7- 38, and 1868-69 the Government had taken the most inadequate measures for famine relief although the mortality and beggary in many cases exceeded all descriptions. The British Govern- ment since its acquisition of India had within the last hundred years spent one million and three quarters of pounds ster- ling in round numbers by way of relief to its subjects suffering from famines. This sinks into utter insignificance when com- pared with the liberality of the imperial parliament during the great Irish famine of 1847. To Lord Northbrook belongs the credit of having distinctly recognized the responsibility of the state, of feeding the people in such times of distress and not surely to be content only with some remissions of revenue. He openly declared that it was his duty to anticipate distress without delay or hesitation and to prevent the loss of human lives as far as possible. His Lordship thought that the food supplies from other parts of India would bo able to meet the INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 73 scarcity in Bengal and Behar and his Government did not deem it necessary to stop the export of food-grains and to interfere with the free action of trade. But some extravagance characterized the relief operations and the money that was spent in the early part of the struggle was absolutely wasted. But through the energy, judgment, endurance and self-sacrifice of many high officers from the Viceroy downwards, the success of the relief operations was n.anifest. The stern reality of the crisis was fully apprehended and manfully met. It was re- marked at the time with absolute truth that the success of the operations of the Government had been so complete that doubts were expressed as to whether they were at all necessary. In this dire struggle against this great natural visitation the English officers as well as the merchauts and the traders of the country were shown to the best advantage and the address of thanksgiving that was presented towards the close of the year by the representatives of the people to the heads of the Supreme and Local Governments, gratefully recognized that the ad- ministration of famine relief in 1874 constituted a memorable and glorious chapter in the history of the British rule in India. The Viceroy deputed Sir Richard Temple to take the command of the campaign against famine, who carried out the humane policy of the government with a large-hearted sympathy. The famine though it put a serious strain on the finances of the country did not happily lead to any increased taxation. After the deputation of Sir Richard Temple, Lord Northbrook assum- ed the charge of the Financial Departuient and with reference to famine expenditure his Lordship remarked *' that the condi- tion of the finance had been so strong that an expenditure of 6 millions sterling on account of the Famine would be borne out of the surplus of income over ordinary expenditure in the three preceding years.'' " The Government of India" His Lordship added " are anxious to avoid the imposition of fresh taxes and any disturbance of the present financial arrangements of the country and it is with particular satisfaction that they arrived 10 74 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWJ^ TIMES. at the conclusion that notwithstanding the large and unexpected demand upon the resources of the state, no increase of taxation was necessary." The English people as soon as they learnt of the impending distress proffered substantial aid for the relief of the distressed millions. This generosity -was gratefully appreciated by the Indian people in all parts of the continent. It is well-known that the heart of the British nation seldom fails to respond to the cries of distress however distant the scene of suffering, and although no actual aid was necessary the spirit in which the offer had been made added fresh lustre to the reputation of England. Baroda. — Mulhar Rao has had been raised from a prison to the throne of Baroda but his administration of the state roused serious discontent among his subjects. Petitions went up to His Excellency the Viceroy bringing serious charges against^the said administration and the Government of Bombay backed up these petitions. The Government of India determined upon the appointment of a commission to enquire into' the state of affairs. The Government of India appointed the com- mission under its own immediate authority but it allowed the Government of Bombay to nominate two of its trusted officers as members of the commission, and with the European officers was associated the late Prime Minister of Jeypore who was thoroughly familiar with the difficulties that beset the adminis- tration of an Indian principality. Native Princes in India hard- ly welcome a commission of inquiry for the same reasons that would lead the Government of India to resent a Royal Com- mission. It lowers them in the estimation of the people and it brings to a deadlock the present administrative machinery. But the Government of India has a responsibility to the sub- jects of native states which are now supported in their just rights and privileges by British bayonets. The Gaekwar was charged in his royal person with many scandalous acts, and his councillors with wholesale tyranny and oppression and there was every reason why the present enquirj'' should be promoted. INDIAN FlISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 75 The commission after proper enquiry reported against the Gaek- war and Lord Northbrook gave a fair warning to the defaulting prince. The State of Baroda was divided into two parties — the Conservative Party and the Reform Party. The Conser- vative Party naturally desired the conservation of old abuses which meant a continuance of their own powers. The Reform Party while not desiring the supercession of the native dynasty wanted a thorough reform. The Viceroy gave the Gaekwar one year's time within which to reform all abuses with steady perseverance. The Gaekwar placed the state under the guid- ance of Mr. Dadabhai Naroji, who by natural intelligence, thorough practical experience and the conception of the duties of a state acquired by a long residence in England was well- fitted to cope with the corruption and intrigue that then in- fested the state. Mr. Naroji applied for the services of able native officers to second his eiforts. Lord Northbrook com- mitted a mistake in allowing the old Resident to continue, who unfortunately proved no friend to the new minister. Colonel Sir Arthur Phayre was highly unpopular in Baroda and he had created so many mortal enemies as to give a plausible color to the alleged plot to assassinate him which would como to our notice in the next chapter. General Events. — The events of the Fort St. George went on easily enough but the afi^airs of the Bombay Presidency ex- cited a good deal of public attention. The Burial Bill passed by the Local Government was furiously opposed and it was ve- toed by the Viceroy. A life of Mahomet published in Gujrati by a Parsi gentleman gave great offence to the followers of the Islamic faith and they applied to the Commissioner of Police to have the book withdrawn from circulation. This request was granted but even this concession did not satisfy the infuriated Moslem mob. They committed all sorts of outrages, singled out the Parsis for their special vengeance and for two days the capital of the "Western Presidency was the scene of absolute lawlessness which was put an end to when the miUtary was 76 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, called out to restore order. Some other publications of the same author led to a renewal of the riots and the imbeciHty of the Local Government drew forth severe comments. Sir John Strachey who succeeded to the Lieutenant-Governorship of the North- Western Provinces gave the province some rest in the first year of his administration. This year the alleged capture of Nana Saheb by Maharaja Scindia caused a good deal of poli- tical excitement but the news did not prove to be true. The distinguished success of Babu Ananda Mohun Bose, the first Bengali wrangler of the Cambridge University was hailed as the dawn of a better intellectual era for India. Sir Arthur Hobhouse introduced an important bill entitled the Civil Appeals Bill which gave the right of second appeal both on grounds of fact and law though it took away the right of second appeal in cases of little value where there were concurrent judgments of the two lower courts. Those who have any experience of the Indian judicial system will admit that the allowing of second appeals both on grounds of fact and law is a desirable reform. The Moffusil Judges in not a few cases place implicit confidence in the weight that had been given to the evidence on the record by the lower court and in these cases, if no nice point of law arises there is absolutely no remedy. The law member justly held that the existing law was unsound because it separated law and facts by putting forcibly asunder things which nature had joined together. Lord Northbrook regulated the relations of the Government of India with the Native States in the true spirit of the Queen's proclamation. The complaint however with reference to the increasing interference of the British political officers became louder and louder every day. A small military expedi- tion was undertaken against the Dufflas which was a mere pu- nitive expedition and came to a conclusion without much blood- shed, Mr. Inglis held the financial portfolio for a short time during the deputation of Sir Richard Temple on special duty. The change of the ministry placed Lord Salisbury at the head of the India Office. His Lordship was a man of indefatigable INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 77 energy and rare intellectual ability. As Lord Cranborue he had once before been Secretary of State and his Lordship's rule had proved most beneficient. He had strong convictions against the injustice done by England to India in financial matters and had manfully fought the battle of the Home charges. The General election brought the conservatives to power by an overwhelming majority and the loss of his seat in Parliament by Mr. Fawcett, though only for a time, was regard- ed by the Indian people in the light of a national calamity. The electors of Hackney however soon restored the sightless cham- pion of India to his former sphere of usefulness. Bengal had to mourn this year the loss of one of her worthiest sons in the person of the Honorable Justice Dwarka Nath Mitter. He had been for many years the leading practitioner on the Appellate Side of the High Court and had adorned a seat on the bench of the highest Court of the land for nearly seven years. His untimely death at the early age of 39 was deeply regretted by all classes of the community and his colleagues on the bench paid a glowing tribute to his extensive acquirements, his varied learning and rapid perception, his keen discrimination and his instinctive love of justice. He had nobly vindicated the claims of his countrymen to high and responsible offices. He was suc- ceeded on the bench by Sir Romesh Chunder Mitter a lawyer who has shed an undying lustre on his profession. The Administration of Bengal — Sir George Campbell's administration of the premier province of India was very severly criticized by the native press of Bengal headed by its able leader Kristodas Paul who reviewed the three years of his rule with great minuteness and a thorough grasp of the situation. That under this administration the ruled were estranged in a great measure from the ruler admits of little doubt and the pro- vincial ruler left a name behind him that would be a warning to all coming after him. The eloquent words of Kristodas Paul under this head might well find a place in the pages of History which are as follow. There is scarely a class of this vast community 78 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. with which "ho has not managed to be unpopular. He has been " unpopular with his own service which at one time according to " his own statement in the administration report, threatened to " rise in rebellion against him. He has been unpopular with " the uncoveuanted service because he has given away its prizes " to covenanted assistants, degraded its position and emo- " luments and freezed its independence. He has been " unpopular with the educational service the members of " which he had repeatedly insulteJ by ill-merited snubs and " reproofs. He has been unpopular with the judicial service " the members of which from the highest to the lowest he has " missed no pretext to attack or lower in the estimation of the " public by an arrogant assertion of executive authority. He ^* has been unpopular with the departmental heads whom he has " sought to reduce to the position of correspondence clerks. " He has baen unpopular with the university authorities by " wao;ins a crusade ao;ainst their legitimate authority and even '' questioning their intelligence. He has been unpopular with " the medical profession by casting aspersions upon their in- " come -tax returns and subverting the reforms in prisons which " the representatives of that faculty had effected after years of " thought, labour and struggle. He has been unpopular with " the representatives of the legal profession whom he has " literally abused in season and out of season. Ho has been " unpopular with the independent Europeans for whose opinions " and sentiments, he has shown the utmost contempt. He has " been unpopular with the Zamindars whom he has denounced " from his high place as " wolves". He has been unpopolar " with the ryots whom he has saddled with an oppressive cess, " and upon whom he sought to impose many more taxes and " would have succeeded but for the humane interference of His " Excellency the Viceroy, for whose health and life he showed " the most cruel indifference by his utter inaction to remove the " causes of the fell epidemic fever which has for years been " decimating the fairest villages of Bengal though repeatedly INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 79 " urged to do so and against whose personal liljcrty lie set a ** determined face by allowing the police and the magistrates " to indulge in their freaks and caprices and by destroying " those safeguards against abuse of power which the old law "provided. And lastly he has been unpopular with the educated *' classes of the native community by putting them down with a " high hand, by figting against their legitimate aspirations, by " aspersing their character, and by prejudicing them in the " opinion of the good and the true," The above passage gives a summary of the indictments that can be brought against the administration of Sir George Campbell. He had indeed been adopting some measures whose tendency and ultimate effects were the very reverse of beneficial, with reference to the ruled classes. He centralized all powers in the hands of the Magis- trate and Collector, The practical effect of this system was that the District Chief who was usually an overworked officer, was unable to exercise personal superintendence over many of the departments and left everything to the judgment of the depart- mental head who in turn thus became the virtual possessor of more authority than they had been under the old system minus the responsibility that formerly attached to them. His * parallel lines of promotion' had introduced the anomaly which came to be felt so much in later times of making young joint-magistrates almost without any experience of civil business, to sit, on being promoted to district judgeships, in appeal over the judgments of able officers, who have spent a life- time in civil courts and whose judgments had been tested and found correct in many weighty matters by the High Court and the Privy Council. Sir George claimed the credit of having ex- tended the Sub-divisional system whose foundation was laid by Sir John Peter Grant, to effect which object he created the class of Sub-deputies, The rule however that the Lieutenant-Go- vernor tried to formulate that the Deputy Magistrates and Collectors would be selected from the ranks of the Sub-deputies and that men would not without good and special reason be taken 80 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. from outside for those places by any mere exercise of patronage was considered equivalent to the reduction of the initial pay of the Subordinate executive service to Rs. 100 a month. His land policy though conceived with a good motive was sought to be carried out with so little tact as to lead to the reopening of the land question and his proclamation to the ryots saying that it was perfectly lawful to unite to resist in a peaceable manner the excessive demands of the Zamindars had a bad effect on the impressible minds of the ignorant tenantry of Bengal who could hardly moderate their enthusiasm to the strict limits of constitutional opposition, and led to such outrages as the Pubua one. Sir George could not endure in peace the practice that was daily growing up of engaging able and talented barristers in the interior of the country, who checked the proceedings of an erratic magistracy and of the High Courts' interfering with its action. He denounced the lawyers especially the native section of it and the High Court judges with all the vehemauce that he was capable of. He admitted the helpless- ness of the Government in the case of the police abuses and made the character of the police officials a peg on which to hang a general tirade against the nation from which they were generally drawn, Sir George was a hearty enemy of the educated natives of the country and he went so far as to say that he had a poor opinion of the inferior native courts of original civil jurisdiction in the matter of dealing thoroughly with facts. He forgot that this estimate was opposed to the recorded opinions of such eminent judges as Sir Barnes Peacock or Sir William Markby, and that the superior effi- ciency and character of the native members of the Bench had been freely admitted by those most competent to speak on the subject. His high-sounding rhetoric on the necessity of having a comprehensive system of primary education resulted in a three rupees monthly grant to the gurus of the existing patshalas and thus converting them into Government institutions. He tried to repress the educated natives whenever he found an opportunity INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 81 and he openly and systematically reviled their organs of public opinion. In his last public speech he had almost pathetically declared that he deeply sympathized with the people of Bengal but this statement was traversed by an unanswerable array of facts and figures in the columns of the Hindu Patriot. The administration of Bengal is notoriously no bed of roses. With the spread of education, the influx of barristers trained in England and the vigorous criticisms of the native press, the work of the head of the Government is daily growing more complex and harassing and it has been suggested in later days by pei'sons whose opinions influence the course of events, that the charge is too heavy for a single pair of shoulders and that the province should be cut up into two administrations. Sir Richard Temple who succeeded Sir George recognized at once that Bengal had passed the era of patriarchal government and that the progressive policy of the past had reared up a population which took an intelligent interest in the measures of the govern- ment. He had gained a deep insight into the best side of the character of the people of the province during the famine campaign and he used that to his best advantage. His first utter- ances on the education question, and the reform of Sir George's pet scheme of the native civil service were eminently concillia- tory and tended to bring peace and harmony where there was discord before. Sir Richard Temple's operations during the famine were attended with great success and he completely res- tored confidence by energetically carrying out the humane policy of the Government of India. Dr. Bhau Daji. — The present system of Indian education has succeeded in producing so few men of originality in any department of thought or action that all real scholars deserve more than a passing notice from the historian. Dr. Bhau Daji of Bombay, the foremost scholar, leader and reformer of his generation passed away with the present year. Born of humble parents and educated under circumstances of considerable hard- ship, he not only succeeded in making his mark in the medical 11 82 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, profession early in life, but managed to find ont learned leisnro for devoting himself to oriental researches. His activities in the field of researches into the antiquities of his native land soon acquired for him an enduring reputation which ultimately spread to Europe and America. He was a man of great public spirit and he took a leading part in founding the Bombay gardens, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Bombay Presi- dency Association as well as the Bombay branch of the East India Association. He was honorably associated with many of the learned societies of the European coutinent and in the municipal councils^ the university senate-house and tlie charitable society which he established he had rendered important services to the capital of western India. India lost in him a represen- tative man who was regarded with equal respect by all the great communities in all parts of India. LoED NoRTHBROOK — Public opinion in India was entirely in favor of Lord Northbrook after about three years' experience of his Lordships' Gover^iment. His capacity for hard, patient and unremitting labour, the pains that he took in grasping principles as well as working out details, his just appreciation of the difficulties in the way of the Indian statesman and his sympathy with the children of the soil in whose interests alono he rightly thought the administration of India ought to bo carried on, gained for him an universal popularity. His Lord- ship saw the evil effects of the estrangement that was apparent between the ruler and the ruled in Bengal, and ho vigorously took up the whole matter and nipped the obnoxious projects of the provincial Lieutenant in the bud. There was the Municipa- lities Bill which was conceived with a double object of increas- ing taxation and repressing the educated classes, but Lord North- brook came to the rescue and vetoed the measure. There was an unseemly squable between the Viceroy and Sir Georgo Campbell as to the direction of famine affairs. Sir George desiring to lead the campaign himself and Lord Northbrook holding that ho was physically unequal to the task. Lord North- mBTAN niSrORY of our own times. 83 brook held that the government should act according to the advice of the competent medical men in organizing relief centres and distributing relief to the famished people but Sir Georoe in&isted that the doctors were wrong and that his own views should have free play. A reference followed on these matters to the Secretary of State but both the Duke of Argyll and the Marquis of Salisbury decided against Sir George Campbell, who immediately laid down the reins of ad- ministration. Lord Northbrook showed a commendable in- dependance of his surroundings by overruling in many matters the impertinent and imbecile Government of Bombay. He enforced his measures of reform and retrenchment with a full sense of justice and in his distribution of patronage he was quite impartial and recognized merit in officers of every grade and standing in all departments of the Indian administration. We have dealt with his famine policy elsewhere. Never did the public and private virtues of the Viceroy shine more conspi- ciously than during those terrible struggles with a great natural calamity. He always sanctioned all important projects after a full personal inspection and he was thus not far wrong in the views he entertained. The Punjabi spirit of administration which had taken possession of the Government of India gradually gave way to just and righteous principles. The Political Situation in India — Russia notwithstand- ing its smooth professions and the pledge it had given by the marriage of the Czar's daughter with the Duke of Edinburgh had been steadily making advances in Central Asia. In the name of scientific expeditions it had been completing all military preparations and one by one absorbing all the king- doms and khanates in Central Asia. It was forming secret alliances with Persia and Afghanistan. Afghanistan was a power divided against itself and the treacherous seizing of Yakub Khan by his father after having invited him by as- surances of safety and protection tended still further to compli- cate matters. It was believed that Yakub Khan had proceeded 84 INDIAIs' HISTORY OF OUR 0W^' TIMES. to Cabul at the instance of the British Indian Government. He had staunch friends in Persia and Russia and he was much more popular with the Afghan tribe than his father and it was feared at one time that Persia, Russia and Yakub's party in Afghanistan would unite in demanding his release. There were some signs of internal trouble in Gwalior. The part that the Maharajah took in the capture of the supposed Nana was an impolitic one and gave great offence to bis nobles and subjects. His Highness committed a serious mistake in sur- rendering the supposed fiend of Cawnpore without qualifying his belief in the identity of the man and his trying to make capital of that unfortunate man seemed to have filled his subjects and nobles with disgust. CHAPTER VII. 1875. The trial of the Gaekwar of Baroda — We liave seen the lamentable state of affairs at Baroda in our review of the preceding year. Colonel Sir Arthur Phayre who was continued as Resident accredited to the Baroda Court, although an able and energetic man was hardly the right man in the right place and proved extremely obstructive in the way of the carrying out of many measures initiated by the new minister. It was not until the Governor General in Council issued direct orders for the recognition of Mr. Dadabhai Naroji as the chief njinister that the Resident yielded. In Baroda there were two parties one of which sided with the Gaekwar and the other was perpetually busy in poisoning the ears of the Resident. The Resident suspected an attempt to poison him by means of arsenic and diamond dust, and at once came to the conclusion that the Gaekwar was at the bottom of this attempt. He also accused the Gaekwar of having tampered with his servants for securing private information and of having caused false entries to be made in his books and papers. The Government of India thought it necessary to enquire carefully into the whole matter and it decided that the enquiry should be held in the full blaze of public opinion as well as that the Gaekwar should have the benefit of a trial by his brother princes. It accordingly appoint- ed a commission consisting of the Maharajas of Gwalior and Jeypur, Sir Raja Dinker Rao, Colonel Sir Richard Meade Mr. Philip Sandys Melville with the Hon'ble Sir Richard Couch as the President and Mr. John Jardine as the Secretary. Nothing could be fairer than the tone and spirit of the Proclamation appointing the Commission. It asked the Commissioners to con- fine their enquiries to the special charges before them and in no case to admit any evidence as to the general misrule of Mulhar Rao Gaekwar. It told Colonel Phayre distinctly that he would H INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, be called upon to contradict by trustworthy evidence the Gaek- war's statement that the present crisis had been brought about principally by his conduct. The Government of India tempo- rarily took over the administration of the Baroda State and allowed the Gaekwar the fullest facilities in defending himself permitting him to draw the necessary expenses from the Baroda Treasury. Lord Northbrook also disarmed the annexationists by declaring that whatever might be the issue of the present trial the state would be restored to native administration. The trial commenced at Baroda on the 23rd February 1875. Sir Andrew Scoblc (then Mr. Scoble) who was then Advocate-General of Bombay with Mr, J. Invararity conducted the prosecution while an old Bailey counsel Serjeant Ballantine with Messrs Purcell and Branson conducted the defence. Sir A. Scoble opened the case by stating that the Gaekwar had tamper- ed waththe Residency servants to obtain information and had instigated an attempt to poison Colonel Phayre with arsenic and diamond dust and said that he had witnesses to prove that the Gaekwar made payments of money to the servants at the time of the attempt to poison. The evidence was recorded during 15 sittings of the Commission and on the sixteenth day Serjeant Ballantine rose to address the Commissioners on behalf of the defence. He drew the attention of the court to the fact that the Baroda Police exercised a great authority over the witnesses, that they were mysteriously brought together in every 24 hours when just in the humour to disburden their minds and even contrary to law, the Police took depositions. He went on to say that the evidence produced was that of accomplices and was inadmissible in any English Court of law unless corroborated. He dwelt long on the nature of the corroborative evidence and contended that there was none whatever. He thought it im- probable that the Gaekwar who had preferred certain charges against the Resident in a Kharita to the Viceroy asking His Excellency to remove Col. Phayre should attempt the life of the very man who would have to explain matters that formed the INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 87 ground of complaint. Ho laid special stress on the technical pleas that the English law has provided for sifting evidence and characterized those technicalities as the bnlwork of tlu; liberty of the subject in a free country. He reviewed the evidence at great length and came to the conclusion that no witness has proved that the Gaekwar had any motive in acting as it was alleged he had doiie. Sir A. Scoble tried to show that the Gaekwar had a motive in attempting to poison Colonel Phayre. Ho believed that Colonel Phayre would prevent the recognition of Luxombai's son as he had refused to recognize the marriage and that the Resident would receive the support of the Govern- ment in this matter. The Gaekwar had admitted in his Kharita that he regarded Colonel Phayre as an uncompromising op- ponent and a persecutor. Serjeant Ballantine concluded with an eloquent tirade against those newspapers that had ventured to comment on the trial and to influence by their writings the opinions of the Commissioners to the prejudice of the Gaekwar. Sir A. Scoble ended with a forcible peroration saying that the witnesses had in the main told the truth, that the Gaekwar's guilt was established, that it would be the painful duty of the Commission to regard him not as a persecuted prince but as a criminal worthy of condign punishment. He finally prayed to God that the deliberations of the Commission might be brought to a just and righteous conclusion. The Baroda trial was the first instance of a straightforward and above-board policy in the matter of the political relations with the native chiefs and the finale of the Baroda drama was watched with great interest. The Commissioners were divided in opinion the native members concluding in favor of the Gaekwar, and the European members against His Highness. The Government of India issued the final orders on the subject on the 19th April 1875. The proclamation stated that the Commissioners being divided in opinion Her Majesty's Government did not base their opinion on the enquiry or report of the Commission but having regard to the gross mismanagement of the state by Mulhar Rao since 88 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. his accession he should be deposed from the sovereiut the Amir probably relying upon Russian promises of aid was totally iin- prepared to meet the invasion and after two successes cf the British force at Ali Mu>;jid and Peywar Kotal, the progress of the British troops was very rapid. The military part of the campaign had been condemned on scientific grounds by high military authorities, the commissariat arrangements were ex- ceedingly defectivo and the information and observation of the INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 129 British commanding officers had often been far from accurate. The progress of British troops found Afghanistan itself torn by internal dissensions and a revolution took place resulting in the fliiiht of Shere Ali and the succession to the throne of his son Yakub Khan. The Afghan war excited a good deal of atten- tion in England and it called forth a stroucr condemnation of it from Lord Lawrence. Lord Lawrence who had an excep- tionally good knowledge of the Punjab frontier, thought that the war had been too hastily undertaken that very possibly Shere Ali had very good reasons for refusing to receive the British embassy and his officer had not insulted the British envoy at Ali Musjid but received it with as much courtsey as was consistent with refusing it from proceeding to Cabul, and that England should have waited from commencing hosti- lities till these reasons had been clearly explained. His Lordship further contended that nothing substantial was to be gained by the Afghan war and that the war was not necessary for the sake of British prestige according to the most approved canons of international law. The efifect of the open pronouncement of such views coming as they did from a statesman of such ability was to range public opinion in England against the Afghan policy of the British cabinet. Lord Beaconsfield was obliged much against his will to summon Parliament to consider the Afghan question. Lord'Beaconsfield in defending the war did not refer to national honor or to Shere All's unfriendliness. He took his stand upon a diiferent ground altogether. He said that the present Indian frontier though a safe frontier by nature and difficult to attack by even a powerful invading army was a haphazard and not a scientific frontier and that it was necessary to rectify this frontier. Sir James Stephen considered that the war was necessary for the fact that in the interests of the British Indian Empire the British Government should have a paramount influence in Afghanistan. He admitted however that the Amir had not been treated with justice and fairness and that England is now obliged to effect through much loss of 17 130 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TUIES. blood and treasure what she could have easily done if she had taken time by the forelock. Sir James Stephen also justified the ^Yar on the ground that the pi-iuci[)le3 of interuational law were not applicable in our dealings with Asiatic powers and that EngLiud must be the sole judge of what was necessary in the interests of her British Indian Empire. Lord Northbrook in his speech at Winchester fully reviewed the situation in Afghanistan, He denied that during the administrations of Lord Mayo and himself the question of the recti lication of the frontier had never been brought to the notice of the Govern- ment by such experienced military advisers as Sir Henry Nor- man, Sir William Mansfield and Lord Napier of Magdala. The question had been fully considered during the Viceroyalty of Lord Lawienco and it was then decided that the British Gov- ernment should strictly keep within its frontier that it should not cause irritation, hatred and defiance in the minds of the Afghans by the forcible or amicable occupation of any advanced post in their territories. Lord Northbrook after fully reviewing the course of recent events was of opinion that the war was not necessary and nobly vindicated the honor of England by enun- ciating the principle that even while dealing with weak Asiatic states England should not swerve one inch from the path of justice. Mr. Fawcett boldly asserted that though the crown and the cabinet has the unquestioned prerogative of de- claring war without the consent of Parliament, in this particular instance such a course was not necessary as there was no emer- gency and there was plenty of time to consult the countr}^ in the person of the representatives of the people in Parliament. Mr. Fawcett also raised his voice against making poor India pay the expenses of the war. It was he contended an Imperial war and England should bear its burdens. The great leader of the Liberals Mr. Gladstone also raised his voice against the war. Rectification of the frontier he said was a convenient diplomatic phrase meant to conceal an annexation of territory which it ■was not convenient to avow. Before the cud of the year it had INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 131 been tlcculod to sadJlo India with tho expenses of the war on the ground tluit there was no reason why England should render any assistance to India, The Indian press was in a body op- posed to the policy of the Government which culminated in tho declaration of the war. The Vernaculae Press Act and the Arms Act — The greatest blessing that the Indian people enjoy under British rule next to the security of life and property is the freedom of speech and writing. This blessing was conferred in 1835 and was taken away only for a time by the terrible events of 1857. But on the 14th March at a single sitting of the Council, with- out any previous notice to the public a law was passed which took away this liberty from one section of the people. The English press and those journals that used the English language as the vehicle of expression were left untouched. This law was unfortunately passed by a Viceroy whose eminent father as well as himself were distinguished votaries of literature. There is no doubt that some members of the Vernacular press were guilty of unworthy conduct and of inexcusable follies and indis- cretions. They sadly departed from the enlightened criticism based on precise information and careful thought, which all civilized Governments welcome as a valuable auxiliary and were misled into expressions which were not only disrespectful and intemperate but if they created any great effect on the minds of the ignorant masses would endanger the very foundations of the Government. But considerable difference of opinion existed on the point as to whether, even admitting that some Vernacular prints which were mostly obscure had transcended the proper limits, the Government was justified in enacting a law in which it should be the judge in its own cause and be empowered to annihilate the paper which it thought to be guilty. His Excell- ency the Viceroy wdiile protesting that such a measure was absolutely necessary for the proper maintainance of the British Raj went on to declare that the present law of sedition was un- certain and the temper of tho jury could not always be relied 132 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OMm TIMES. Tipon 90 as to make a conviction certain in every case where tho Government desired it and the chief end of the law was that in snch cases it was better to prevent seditions appeals than to pnnish the offenders after tho crime had been committed. The provisions of the act, the speeches of the members of the Gov- ernment in support of the measure and the manner in which it was passed produced a wide discontent in India and influential meetings were held in many important towns to protest against the measure. There was an animated debate on the subject in the House of commons. Mr. O'Donell an Irish Patriot made the first move in the matter and characterized the Vernacular Press Act as an engine of oppression which could not be equall- ed in the worst-governed countries of Europe. Mr. Gladstone followed him declaring that he had received the tidings with great pain and that the action of the Indian Government had been unwise and unfortunate. The ex-premier lent a powerful tongue to the dumb millions of India and his voice at once arrested the attention of the British public. He was backed up by a speech from Sir George Campbell. Lord George Hamilton defended the Act on the ground that the existing law of sedi- tion in India was very severe and that an amendment was neces- sary. He forgot that nobody had complained of the severity and that the defence clearly exposed the utter hollowness of the pretext for enacting the law. Sir John Strachey had declared from his place in the Council that the better classes of native journals were free from the faults against which the present Act was levelled but the educated native community of Calcutta was considerably excited when the provisions of the act were made to have a retrospective effect and some of the important verna- cular papers were served with notices to enter into bail-bonds. The Calcutta meeting against the Vernacular Press Act was a crowded and enthusiastic one. It recorded its deliberate opinion that having regard to the devoted loyalty of tho Vernacular Press the Act was altogether unnecessary and uncalled for that its provisions were calculated to interfere with the freedom of INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 133 discussion, to shut up the natural outlets of popular feeling and thus to aggravate the evils of popular discontent, and that the act will by arresting the growth of oriental literature deal a serious blow to the cause of native progress and good Govern- ment in India. Some influential English journals condemned the press law in ringing sentences and many high authorities on Indian affairs took a calm dispassionate view of the situation and regretted the extreme haste with which the measure had been passed. The agitation against the measure spread far and wide both in India and England and the Liberal party strongly denounced this piece of repressive legislation. It continued to deface the statute book till repealed by the Government of Lord Ripon. The Arms Act of the present year was in consonance with the spirit of the Vernacular Press Act. The existing law on the subject necessitated a judicious discrimination between the loyal and the evil-disposed, the peaceful and the unruly and the loyal and proclaimed districts. But the New Arms Act swept all these distinctions between natives of the country and while making an invidious distinction in favor of the Europeans and Eurasians prohibited all classes of the native commu- nity from bearing arms except under a license obtained from the authorities. This measure was justly considered as casting an unfounded slur on the loyalty of the natives of India. The carrying of arms being clogged with conditions the loss of lives from the depredations of wild beasts would, it was feared, con- siderably increase for in actual practice it would not be always easy to secure a license. It was justly remarked on all sides that while the Government always generously acknowledges the conspicuous loyalty of the people of India on all fitting occasions it has, in practice, recourse to repressive and retro- gressive legislation indicating the utmost distrust of their loyalty. Sir William Robinson truly remarked that the policy of this Act was a libel on the people of India and it was regarded in that light throughout the length and breadth of this country. It lU INDIAN ins TORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. formed the subject of many protests and memorials all of ^Yllicll had no effect. General Events — The Government of India had to enoao;e its attention in the middle of the year to the despatch of the Indian Sepoys to Malta for the purpose of a military demonstra- tion in Europe, to overawe Russia to agree to the terms pro- posed at the Berlin Congress, The Indian Sepoys felt proud of the fact that the English Cabinet had thought them worthy in jioint of valour and capacity for endurance to measure arms with the Cossac hordes. They nobly responded to the call of duty and although sea-voyage was forbidden in the case of many of those called upon to go, they cheerfully obeyed the behests of their sovereign. The relations with the native prin- ces were generally of a cordial character though there was a passage-at-arms with the Nizam of Hyderabad on the question of appointing a Private Secretary to Sir Salar Jung, Holkar received the cession of certain tracts of territory as a reward for his services during the Mutiny. The native princes gave not- able proofs of their loyalty on the occasions of the Russo- Turkish and the Afghan wars. His grace the Duke of Buck- ingham and Chandos ruled the Southern Presidency wisely and well in a spirit of independence liberality and even-handed justice which made him highly popular. Sir Richard Temple adopted a very cautious and conciliatory policy after the Surafc scandals. Sir George Couper was the very type of a beauracratic administrator and his narrow-mindedness and illiberal views put the clock of progress back in the N, W. Pi'ovinccs. Sir Robert Egerton was a routine administrator and his adminis- tration of the Panjal) was marked by little vigor or progress. Sir Rivers Thomson succeeded Sir Edward Clive Bayley in the Supreme Council being in turn succeeded in Burma by Sir Charles Aitchisou whose sterling ability and thorough knowledge of and sympathy with the people made him a valuable ruler in the province in his charge, where organizing ability was so much needed. The question of the rostoratiou of Assam to INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 135 Bengal wiis again imdor consideration. Assam had so much iu conmiou \yii\i Bengal that her separation from the sister pro- vince was only justified on the ground that large financial grants and separate and close supervision were necessary for developing that province. Sir Ashley Eden courted some un- popularity by his support of the Vernacular Press Act and by denouncing the elective system but his rule was otherwise marked by great vigor and resulted in substantial progress. There were important changes in the administration of Mysore which was made ready for being transferred to native rule. In Bengal there was a wide schism brought about by the progressive Brahmos owing to the marriage of the daughter of Keshub Chandra Sen with the Maharaja of Kooch Bihar according to Hindu ritual and while the girl had not yet arrived at the recognized marriageable age in that sect. Some of the best-educated and most earnest of the Brahmos seceded and set up a separate church according to republican principles. Early in the Parlia- mentary session a select committee was appointed to enquire into and report on Indian Public works under the Presidency of Lord George Hamilton. The Committee collected a mass of valuable information and came to the conclusion that the Indian public w'orks were not always managed on good principles and that many of the Indian railways and irrigation works were not paying concerns and were heavy burdens on the Indian tax- payer. The Home charges increased to a considerable extent by the heavy burdens which the war office by a clever manipu- lation of figures managed to throw on the India office. This growing mililary expenditure evoked a loud protest from Indian tax-payers who could no longer acquiesce in this gross and growing injustice and in an influential public meeting at the Town Hall adopted a petition on the subject which was presented to the House of Commons by Mr. Fawcett and to the House of Lords by the Earl of Northbrook. Lord Salisbury after his five year's tenure of office as Secretary of State retired from the Indian Ministership which fell to the lot of Lord Cranbrook. 136 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, Lord Salisbury had raised high expectations but his imperious temper coupled with great change of views since he first came to the India office produced wide discontent and all classes of his Indian subjects were impatient of his domination. Mr, AVhitley Stokes announced during the course of this year his ambitious projects at codification and the Viceroy felt that the legal element should be strongly represented in the Council. Ho appointed the Advocate-General of Bengal and Mr. G. H. P. Evans a leading member of the Calcutta Bar as additional members of the Council. The Famines. — Several famines of great magnitude had de- veloped in important portions of British India and the country had been strusolins against these adverse circumstances for a considerable time past. The famines in Madras, Bombay, North-western Provinces and Mysore had been very severe, had caused considerable sufferings and had been of very long duration. Mr. William Digby who was thoroughly familiar with the famine campaign in Southern India clearly proved that the Government of India was at first unwilling to believe the magnitude of the calamity that was depopulating Southern India by the most horrible of all deaths, and persisted in its scepticism that the disaster had been magnified. The stern reality forced itself to the attention of the Government of India and the presence of the famine delegate did not improve matters. His Excellency the Viceroy's presence improved matters but a good deal of mischief had already been done. The figures which the census of the famine-stricken districts showed, exhibited a lameutal)le decrease of population, the greatest number of deaths having occurred in Mysore. The North-western Provinces famine was fearfully mismanaged but no notice was taken of the conduct of Sir George Couper at this crisis. There is food enough in this vast country to meet the most fearful dearths in particular localities and if there bo good means of communication between the different parts of the country, and the management be carried on under proper ly-DIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 137 supervision there need be no death from scarcity and starvation. A commission under the presidency of General Sir Richard Strachey was appointed to consider the whole subject of famine administration. The money that was raised b}^ additional taxa- tion was to have been devoted religiously to a separate fund for the prevention and relief of famine in British India. Sir John Strachey however announced that its object was to increase the general revenues of India for public works and other purposes. He had declared that the interest on famine loans was first of all to be paid off from the proceeds of additional taxation. Sub- sequently he fixed upon the capital charge as what was meant to be paid off from this source. But again he scouted the idea of creating the proceeds of additional taxation into a separate fund. He justified this action of the government by saying that Gov- ernment has to meet famines by judicious measures, in the same way as it is under obligations to provide proper courts of justice, police, education and so forth, that as no separate fund existed for the above objects, there was no necessity for a separate fund to provide against famines. He added that if the proceeds of additional taxation were constituted into a separate fund, and then by a sudden change in the circumstances of the country, there be a considerable falling-off of revenue the government would have to choose between increased taxation or the abroga- tion of the law constituting a separate insurance fund. But when these taxes were imposed Sir John Strachey spoke in a different note altogether. He said ''so far as w^e can now speak for the future the Government of India intends to keep this million and a half as an insurance against famine alone. We consider that the estimates of every year ought to make pro- vision for religiously applying the sum I have mentioned to this sole purpose. The subsequent utterances of Sir John Strachey are sadly at variance with these declarations. When in defiance of all principles of reason, justice and equity England resolved to throw upon India the costs of the Afghan war, the government of India found itself unable to keep this solemn pledge and 18 13S INDIAN mSTOnV OF OUR OWS TIMES, had to look for ways and moans in every direction. The addi- tional taxation consisted in the imposition of a Licence tax ■which did not spare incomes even so low as Rs. 100 per annum. In practical working it was a great hardship and it often pro- duced serious discontent. The character of the subordinate officials in India who are charged with the administration of these taxes, is hardly of that sort which would make its work- ing an easy one. In Surat its introduction led to serious riots. Everywhere it produced a considerable amount of suffering, and even the extreme Anglo-Indian organs condemned this tax in no uncertain voice. The License tax was characterized as iniquitous on several grounds. The first was that it fell exclu- sively on trades and industries and exempted all classes of the salaried officials of the government. The second was that the government was wrong in their theory that trades and industries generally benefit from famines and that therefore they should be called upon to pay so large a proportion of the annual tribute demanded by the state as protection against such famines. The third was that the inquisitorial inquiries of the municipal authorities, and the schedules required to be filed which went into the every detail of the shopkeeper's business no less the high-handedness and extortion of the tax-gatherers justly pro- duced exasperation. The fourth was that in actual practice the work of assessment was entrusted to enumerators, kanungoes and sub-deputies whoso discretion could hardly bo trusted, over whom there would bo little check and against whom the poor traders would not venture to complain for obvious reasons. In addition to the License tax the salt duty was enhanced almost 50 per cent, in Madras and Bombay and to secure symmetry the salt duty iu the Bengal Presidency had been lowered resulting in a loss of nearly sixty lacs of rupees. Lord Lytton's estimate of the proceeds of the addition to the salt duty in Bombay and Madras did not exceed 30 lacs. In 18G8, Lord Lawrence proposed the equalization of the salt tax in India but His Grace the Duke of Argyll reasonably set his face ugainst it. His Grace re- ryDTAN riTSTORY OF OUR OWJ^ TIMES. 139 marked that salt in India was tho only thing' wliicli could occupy the places of those articles of consumption which formed so large a part of the taxable commodities in the English financial system and the Duke thought that the existing ratesshould not be altered. Lord Northbrook attempted a slight increase to tho salt duty in Madras and Bombay in 1875 and 1874 but his pro- posal was disallowed by the Secretary of State. Lord Lytton by the terms of salt convention with native states secured their con- sent to tax their subjects under this head for the convenience of the British Government, and he made the salt duty in all parts of India uniform on the ground that differential rates lead to smuggling and therefore necessitate the maintaiuance of the salt cordon, which produces great hardship and oppression. His Lordship forgot that customs barriers would still be maintained in the great cities of Northern India for the collection of the octroi duties, and in Bengal the barrier could not be wholly done away with, as even under the present system the Bengal duty would be higher by six annas than it would be in the other provinces thus leading partially to the contingency of the cheap salt of the other provinces superseding the imported salt of Bengal, The revision of the salt duty balanced the gains and losses of the Government and kept the necessity for the License tax still unaltered. By taking over the salt business of the native states the British Government extended its monopoly through the length and breadth of the land and the subjects of the Native States had to be taxed at the same rates as those leviable iu British territories which was neither equitable nor righteous. Indian Loans — The great dilB&culty caused in all transac- tions between England and India since the rates of exchange were altered so much to the disadvantage of India attracted attention to the question as to whether the Indian loans could not be raised in India. It was however found after a consider- able amount of discussion that the preponderance of advantage for the State would be found to lie with the plan of taking up 140 IXDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. the loans in England. As was observed by a very liigli authority- it was obvious that loanable capital must be much more plenti- ful and cheaper in England where the usual rates of commercial interest range from three to six per cent, than it can be in India where it is from seven to twelve per cent. The advantage of taking up a loan in India are first that a large loss is avoided in remitting the annual interest in sterling to England and that the gain to the government from this source must be estimated at the cumulative and compound interest during the whole period, and secondly that a large gain would accrue from the same cause when the time came for the repayment of the whole loan. The Indian market would be unable to take up the loans except for a considerably higher interest than what the English money market offers. Should England give her imperial guarantee to the Indian loans there would at once be a sensible reduction in the rate of interest. The gain to the Indian exchequer by taking up the loans in England is often considerable. The End of Part the Second. INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. PART III, 1879-88. PART III. By gracious permission this part of " Indian History of Our Own Times " is dedicated to His Excellency the Marquis of Lansdowne, Viceroy and Governor-General of India in grateful recognition of the kind interest taken by His Lordship in this humble undertaking by his dutiful subject. SATYA CHANDRA MUKERJI. INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. PART THE THIRD. CHAPTER I. 1879. The Third decade under the Crown. — We have in the foregoing parts taken a rapid survey of the more important events during the first two decades of Indian Administration by Her Gracious Imperial Majesty. We propose to bring down the contemporary history of our country to the clo&e of the administration of Lord Dufferin which ended on the 13th December 1888, when the Indian subjects of Her Majesty passed under the rule of the Marquis of Lansdowne, the reign- ing Viceroy. Our readers must have observed that we have scrupulously resisted the temptation of going beyond the limits assigned to this work and while omitting nothing mate- rial have refrained from branching out into the less important details. That plan we would observe in the following pages too, and should all circumstances be favourable, it is our earn- est wish to continue this narrative to the end of the Fourth decade of Her Majesty's Indian Administration as soon as that decade ends and all the necessary papers are forthcoming. The Afghan War. — We have considered in our review of the last year the progress of the war so far as it was comprised within the last decade. Lord Lytton's Afghan War was, so far as the military operations went, eminently successful. His generals went, saw and conquered. With the exception of very plight resistances, the British army had practically a walk-over. Id 146 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, Tho astute ruler of Afghanistan Amir Shore All was in a very critical position. He had all along been relying on promises of support from the Russian Cabinet which to his misfortune was withheld from him even at the moment when tho English army was actually knocking at his doors. Tho victim of the jealousy and diplomacy of two first-class European cabinets, Shere All's position cannot but excite a deep sympathy in the minds of all right-thinking observers of the situation. Diffi- culties confused him and ho left his capital aud throne and courted a sad fate in exile. AVith him vanished all hopes of the Afo'hans ever meeting the British in the field with success. His son Yakub Khan was noted for his abilites and tact but with an empty treasury, with troojts almost mutinous for heavy arrears of pay, he thought the best thing would be to patch up a peace on the most favourable terms otitainable. He therefore invited the British Government to propose negotiations which ended in the Treaty of Gundamuck. Lord Lytton summarized the military aspects of the campaign that was ended by the Treaty of Gundamuck in a triumphant despatch to the Secre- tary of State in the month of August. Tho Viceroy laid spe- cial stress on the fact that while the standing army of the Amir had been defeated and dispersed, his Sirdars and his warlike subjects had made no serious and strenuous efforts at resistance, his towns had received tho British force with open arms, tho boisterous mountainous races on the frontier which wore always considered to be a source of immense strength to his domini- ons had with the exception of a few harmless reprisals remain- ed almost neutral and the Amir's subjects whom no European could approach without imminent personal danger, had permitted the telegraphic communications to bo established and remain unbroken all the way from Peshawar to Jellalabad alont'' the entire length of the Khybar pass. Lord Lytton also considered that the political effect of the campaign had been all that it was desired to be. By the treaty that was concluded between tho two powers, tho Amir accepted tho proffered INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 147 friendship of the British Governmont in terms that could no longer be mistaken. The entire foreign relations of Afghanis- tan were placed at the absolute control of the British Indian Government, the command of the principal passes and threo important districts was surrendered to the Government of India. The location of a permanent British Resident at Cabul with the right to depute special officers to any part of the Afghan territories, as occasion might arise, was conceded in unequivocal terms, Lord Lytton added that this new state of things was a decided improvement on what used to be our rela- tions with the foreign powers on the North-West frontier ever since the celebrated Umballa conference from the time of Lord Mayo downwards. The Viceroy anticipated that this treaty would lead to an abiding and permanent peace from the fact that the Bolan pass had been guarded by British troops for a considerable period of time past and yet there had been no dis- turbances, and that the Amir cheerfully accepted the provisions of the treaty recognizing it as making his position substantially much more strong than it had ever been. Lord Lytton little knew when he penned this triumphant despatch that within a few weeks his political forecasts and anticipations would be scattered to the winds. The Viceroy forgot most unaccount- ably to take note of the fact that since the first Afghan War the Afghans had lost all faith in the English. The Afghans can never trust an Englishman. The history of British India showed to them by what slow and sure steps a company of merchants had founded a splendid empire and they alike dis- trusted all the di[)lomacy and all the professions of the Govern- ment of India. This view of the state of things, history must record to the credit of the Native Press, (which was then led by the veteran politician Kristodas Pal), was put forth in many organs of native public opinion, but Lord Lytton seriously erred as a statesman in completely overlooking this aspect of the question. He selected Major Sir Louis Cavagnari for the delicate and difficult 148 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. duties of the British Envoy at Cabul and ordered him to lose no time in proceeding to his destination. The se- lection met with the approval of all sections of the Indian pub- lic. Major Cavagnari was well-filted for the duties he was entrusted with, both by nature and previous training. Soldier by instinct he had made liiinself fully acquainted with the language the literature and the resources of Afghanistan, with- in a few weeks of his arrival at Cabul. There was a mob rising uncontrolled by the authorities and the British officials with the gallant Major at their head were hacked to pieces in the selfsame quadrangle where Sir William Macnaughten and his suite had perished in 1841. The tragedy stood re- vealed to the civilized world before the vote of parliament thankino- the Indian army had arrived in India or the honors for the successful campaign had been blazoned forth in the London Gazette. Lord Beaconsfield had on receiving intelligence of the details of the Afghan war publicly boasted that the "scientific frontier of Afganishtan had been accom- plished and achieved with a precision of plan and a rapidity in execution, not easily equalled in the annals ot statesmanship or war.'' Scarcely had this boast been uttered than the Indian Government and the British Foreign Office were called upon to face a new state of things. To retrieve British prestige, General Roberts proceeded immediately to Cabul with a large body of troops. He entered Cabul almost without any opposi- tion and the city, the fort, the treasury passed under his dic- tatorial control. Yakub Khan was made a prisoner of state. General Roberts after having made the British flag wave over Cabul was attacked by the Afghans in great numbers, and he was obliged to abandon Cabul and to entrench himself within the Cantonment of Shorpur. This disaster was again rapidly retrieved. The Afghan war takes a new aspect from this point and we shall take up the thread of narrative in our next chapter. Foreign affairs — Besides the Afghan war the attention of the Government of India had to be directed during this year to INDIAN HTSrORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. U9* several important que.^tions of foreign policy. Tlio tract of country which lies between Chittagong and Burmali was a terra incognita to the Indian Foreign Office before the time of Lord Mayo and it was sanctiontMl after the Lushai expedition by the said Viceroy that anything like a precise Eastern frontier should be marked oat. On that frontier the Nigas had l)een commit- ting some raids and had also succeeded in making a considerable advance into the British territories. The Nagas were driven back after a sharp struggle by the British troops with a Mauipur contingent under Sir James Johnstone. The old king of Burmah having died, the kingdom passed into the hands of his son Theebaw who signalized the beginning of his reign by several acts of cruelty which might better be omitted. The representative of the British Government at the Court of Man- dulay was openly insulted by the Burmese king, and he gave himself such airs in his intercourse with tha British Govarn- ment that it was determined to withdraw the British Resident from the Court of Mandalay. The Government of India made up its mind to enter into open hostilities with him but the Home Government had its hand already full of foreign com- plications and did not think it prudent to embark on new ad- ventures. The conduct of the Burmese king had filled the authorities in India with just indignation and it was only acci- dentally that a war was averted. The Burmese king did not however learn moderation from this forbearance on the part of the Indian Government but six years later repeated his agres- sive acts and provocations on a scale which cost him his throne. The state of Kashmir came prominently before the Indian and English public during the present year. That Valley of Roses, is probably considered, by the extreme section of the party who are still in favor of England adding to her territories in the East as too important and too beautiful to be left to a native ruler and some leading papers in England began to advocate its practical annexation for alleged neglect in the matter of a famine that was raging within its borders. The Maharaja had 150 INDIAN IJISrORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. done his best in tlie crisis but the distress was too deep and widespread to be graj)pled with complete success. It was al- leged too that some Kashmir officials had been guilty of heart- less murders, and tliat some suspicious correspondence with the Russians had been discovered. A small risinji at Gilj^it was also made an indictment acjainst the Maharaja who it was said must be responsible for all unruly and inimical tribes on his border. The primary object of all this agitation was annexa- tion and it is to be feared that if the Conservative Government had been in power sometime longer than it was, the conference that had been arranged between Lord Lytton and the Maharaja would have ended in practically arranging for the Government complete control in the internal affairs of that state. The Finaxces. — Sir John Strachey's budgets since the day when he took charge of the office of the Finance Minister in the last week of December 1876, had been received by the Indian public with unfavorable criticisms. The budget of 1877-78 was a development of the decentralization scheme in which the old conditions were revived and extended and local responsibility for reproductive public works was enforced. The budget of 1879-80 showed that the deficit during the past four years amounted to £24,863,000. Another feature of this budget which alarmed the Indian public was the entire dis- appearance of the Famine Insurance Fund, though Lord Lytton had given an emphatic and solemn pledge to the effect that not a rupee of the proceeds of the new taxes would be applied to any purpose other than insuring the country against famine. In the teeth of this pledge the famine fund was deliberately swamped up in the general revenues of the country. It was applied to defraying the expenses of the Afghan War and to remitting the cotton duties partially. This was considered at the time to be a gross breach of faith on the part of the Government of India nor can history acquit the Government of this charge even after the explanations that have been given of this course of conduct in subsequent years. It was contended I2iI)IAy BIS TORY OF OUR OWy TIMES. 151 that there was no necessity for keeping up a separate famine fund as the general revenues of the country were charged with all operations necessary for the prevention of famine. But the public both European and native had refused to be convinced by this logic. The Government however discerned the necessity of enforcing a strict system of economy in all departments. Parliamentary pressure was brought on the Government in this matter and a commission with Sir Ashley Eden at its head was appointed to consider in what way the military expenditure could be curtailed without impairing the ejfficiency of that branch of the state. The commission submitted its recommenda- tions in the course of the current year proposing several oro-anic changes which adopted would lead to a curtailment of the ex- penses by a million and a quarter per annum. Sir John Strachey also found that the License tax had been most unpopular in its working. It fell heavily on the poor and it affected in his own words, a largd class that ought to be exempted. The reason he continues, for exempting them is that the numbers brought under taxation have been far larger than was anticipated and experience shows that it was not politically wise or financially worthwhile to collect from a great multitude of people fees small as those which were imposed on the smaller incomes by the Licensa tax. The difficulty of preventing extortion and op- pression on the part of the petty officials entrusted with the duty of collecting the tax has proved in some parts of India serious and it is impossible to doubt that there has often been reason for the numerous complaints that have been made. Sir John therefore thought it politically wise to amend the law. The year closed with some better prospects for the Treasury to the extent it about two crores, viz. saving of loss by Exchange 76 lacs, additional revenue from opium 77^ lacs, additional revenue from Railways 40 lacs total I93|- lacs, besides which the salt and other branches of public revenue exhibited an increase. Sir -John Strachey had also been trying to abolish the Inland customs line, a measure which stood accomplished If) 2 jyniAX JIISTO/iY OF or 77 OWN TIMES. (lining t.Iie next year. He equalized the salt duties throughout India ami suppressed the manufacture of salt in the native sr-ates. In 1887 Mr. Allan Hume was charged with the duty <eak out his mitiJ freely to him but where tho press is the only means to get at the truth with reference to the real feelings of the ruled classes. Mr. Gladstone formed a new ministry with the Marquis of Hartington as the Secretary of State for India. The choice for the Indian Viceroyalty fell on the Marquis of Ripon a nobleman of high descent and great experience in the public life of England. He had served as Under-Secretary of State and Secretary of State for India and had occupied seats in the Cabinet as Secretary for war and Lord President of the Council long before he retired from active political life in 1873. lu 1874 His Lordship became a convert to the Roman Catholic Church. This step brought on him showers of abuse from the English press but it revealed his Lordship as a man of sterling conscientiousness. Durin^ the first six months of his rule the Marquis of Ripon distinguished himself by winning the respect and confidence of all classes of Her Majesty's subjects by a broad-hearted statesmanship which contrasted admirably with Lord Lytton's procedure which had forfeited the sympathy of the natives of India. We have narrated above the steps taken by the Marquis of Ripon to bring to an end the Afghan "War and to repair the financial calamities which had been sought to be concealed under pomp and circumstance. The old council under Lord Lytton had nearly gone out before the year expired. Sir Andrew Clarke ■who admitted in his valedictory speech that he had done nothing in India during his tenure of office as Public Works Minister was the first to leave. Sir Alexaniler Arbuthnot next followed suit. A distinguished Madras civilian and educationist he lent himself to the repressive measures of Lord Lytton's rule. Sir John Strachey and Sir Edwin John- son who were mainly responsible for the financial blunders of the late administration left about the end of the year. Sir Evelyn Baring, who came from one of the first houses of .business iu Europe, and who had Indian experience as the ]GG IXDTAy HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. Private Secretary to Lord Nortlilirook was nppointeil the new finance minister. AVilh an almost new council the Marquis of Ripou earnestly commenced his responsible task. General Events. — Sir Richard Temple resinjned some- what before his time with a view to enter the House of Com:nons, His ailministration of the Bombay Prc'sidency was very popular with certain classes who voted a statue to him. He was succeeded by Sir James Fergusson, who was beiniz; initiated into the mysteries of the Indian Govern- ment during the first year of his rule. In Madras His Grace the Duke of Buckingham laid down the reins of office at the close of the year. His Grace stood high in the estimation of the public of the Southern Presidency. His large-hearted sympathies with the ruled, his unfailing: business habits and judicial temperament had endeared him to the people whom he ruled and the movement in his honor to express the respect and gratitude of the people was a genuine and spontaneous one. He was succeeded by Mr. Adam who had been very useful to the Liberal party in the matter of organization. All these nominations proceeded from Mr. Gladstone who had been advocating: the cause of the Indian people with an earnest- ness that had endeared his name to them. Mr. Gladstone drew frequent attention to the Indian grievances in the course of the electoral campaigns in Scotland. He condemned the Arms Act as casting an unmerited scur on the loyalty of the people and as coming in force curiously wirjiin a very short interval of that period when the confidence of Her Majesty in the loyalty of Her Indian subjects was loudly proclaimed at Delhi. He denounced the Vernacular Press Act as a "contradiction to the spirit of the age in which we live and a disgrace to the British authorities. " Referring to the phulge given with reference to the License Tax he pointed out that the pledge had been utterly broken and that the money had been used upon the '' ruinous unjust and des- tructive war with Af";hauistan" with reference to which war INDIAN HI ST OR}! OF OUR OWIS TIMES. 1G7 lie sail! " A meaner act, a shabbier act, a moie dastardly act is not to bo found than that by which this government forbearing even to remonostrate with Russia, that is to say accepting from Russia the most feeble and transparent ex- cuses, with ostensible satisfaction reserved all its force and all its vengeance for the unfortunate Amir of Afghanistan." The great Liberal statesman on coming into power, closed the Afghan War, and promised to divide on an equitable basis the expenses of the war between India and England, The new Viceroy who was a quiet, and steady man without any love of show in him, was requested to examine all the car- dinal questions of Indian policy for the proper instruction of the Liberal ministry. There was also considerable att^^ntion bestowed on Indian questions by the English public. The first-rate magazines opened their pages to the discussion of Indian questions and lectures ou Indian subjects were deliver- ed not only by Dr. Hunter the Earl of Northbrook, Sir Arthur Hobhouse and Sir Richard Temple but also by Mr. Lai Mohun Ghose whose speeches made a capital impression ou the British public. The reception given in England to Mr. Lai Mohun Ghose was a just cause of patriotic pride on the part of the educated natives of India. Religious ex- citement coupled with some dread of the census operations then in progress roused the Santhals of Bengal to a state of open distatisfaction. Sir Ashly Eden who brought himself first into public notice by suppressing the first Santhal rebel- lion managed the situation with so much tact and enerory that the excitement was suppressed without much cost of powder, shot and blood. The census rules were relaxed and other welcome concessions were made wdiich quieted Santhali- stan. The Rent question was brought to the front in Bengal during the year. The landlords of Bengal complained to the Government of the increasing difficulties in the way of realiz- ing rents as well as of the cesses which they had been commis- sioned to collect for the Government, Several measures were 108 LXDIAX HISTORY OF OI'R OWN TLMJCS. fiunietl with this object but none met with success. At lengtli a Coniinission was appointed to simplify matters and the whole Fubject of the Rent hiw in Bengal was taken into consideration. The Rent question in Bengal is beset with unusual complexity and the res[)ective relations of property and labour, capital and intelligence were to be readjusted. The Commission submitted its recommendations which would be considered in detail later on. The cotton industry of the city of Bombay had reached such ex- tensive developments as to cause serious anxiety to the English mercantile classes. Those who have been to that magnificent city of Western India and have looked down upon the whole area of that commercial mart from the chosen points of van- tage so well-known to all, could hardly meet with a more agreeable spectacle than the edifices of numerous mills strech- inor for many miles together in all directions as far as the eye can reach. The outturn of these mills was considerably appreciated in the Indian market and some legislative pro- jects with reference to them were put before the Council but ultimately abandoned. One of the results of the extended scheme of decentralization introduced by the late administration was that many charges were thrown upon the local resources which ought in justice to have been met from the provincial revenues. In Bombay the community which is chiefly com- mercial was so much distinguished for intelligence public spirit and independence that the local affairs were managed with conspicuous success. One administrative change which was much emphasized about this time was that the ofHcers should have as minute a knowledge of local affairs as possible and should always undertake tours of inspection. There can be no doubt that much is to be gained by the central Govern- ment of the country from the local knowledge of all the officers under it and there is also much advantage in the minute acquaintance of the heatls of administrations with all portions of the territory under their charge. The local ofHcers are kept constantly vigilant and the peojdc can always approach /zVT^vMiV nrsrniiv of ouii ow^' timI'JS. igd their rulers with their grievances under this system. But it is extremely doubtful whothor the official tours are performed as they ouglit to bo and whether they are not at present more fruitful of evil than good. The cities of Calcutta and Bombay showed their gratitude to Mr. Fawcett, the sightless champi- on of India by raising a sufficient fund to meet his election expenses. The grievances of the third class passengers by the Indian railways excited considerable attention. It was univer- sally admitted that the third class passengers who pay the most towards the railway earnings are treated in a way which is a dis- grace to any civilized administration and a conference was ar- ranged to remedy this state of things from which no practical benefits were derived. Jeypore mourned this year the death of Maharaja Ram Singh, the enlightened ruler of that state and Travancore lost its model prince. In British Burma which is essentially an agricultural country the area under the plough was steadily increasing especially in the Pegu division. The main cause of the prosperity of British Burma was the modera- tion of the Government demand on commerce and the high spe- culative rates which were offered for rice on account of keen competition. Labour earned very good wages in Burmah and it was thought desirable that some labourers from the more crowded parts of India whose lot is as hard as could be borne, should be imported into jthat province. The ex- pansion of the sea-borne trade of British Burma also estab- lished her internal prosperity. The Vernacular Press Act although on the statute-book was practically a dead letter since its enactment with the exception of one isolated instance of vigour. The historian will have to record during the course of the next few years the visible organization through which the Natives of India of all races and creeds meant to carry on the work of constitutional agitation, and it would not be out of place to remark that the political associations all over the country displayed a healthy activity and interest- ed themselves in all public questions. There can be no prouder 22 170 IJSniAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. monument of British rule th;in that tin ancient ami fallen race should work out its political regeneration. This was the dream of those noble statesmen who realized that the English in India are for a liii^h and noble purpose and who with the motives of philanthrophy introduced the beneficent policy of English education. CHAPTER III. 1881. The Political aspects of the country. — The year 1881 will ever remaia memorable in the history of [ndian administra- tion for the restoration to native dynasties of the two im- portant Feudatory kingdoms viz. Baroda and Mysore. These acts on the part of the paramount power evinced the since- rity of its professions and cemented the loyalty of all the feudatory chieftains. They were both acts of pure justice and proved beyond a doubt the sense of duty of the English people. Lord Dalhousie had, for pretexts much flimsier than those which were available in the above cases, made large and important annexations. The Maharaja of Mysore was installed by His Excellency the Governor of Madras on tho 25th March. He owed this happy consummation to the righteousness of his cause aided by the sense of justice of that eminent statesman Lord Halifax. The father of the Maharaja who w^as installed had tried his best to get back the kingdom and to in luce the British Government to redeem the promise given half a century ago that the B-aj would be restored as soon as equilibrium of the finances had been secured. Bat it was not until Lord Halifax was in charge of the portfolio of the India office that the truthfulness of His Highness's claim was ad- mitted, and it was decided that the young Maharaja should be installed as soon as he completed the eighteenth year of his age. The kingdom of Mysore had got into debt owing to the late famine and the conditions of tho treaty of transfer had been arranged with great moderation. The Mvsore state was to pay an annual subsidy of 24 lakhs for the first five years and then an increased subsidy by 10 lakhs, if the state of the finances permitted its being paid and was to observe the usual conditions as to tho building and repairing of forts 172 TSDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TLUES. of importin^T and maaufacturiug arm-, of increasing military force, of introducing separate coinage, of employing Euro- peans as well with respect to the manufacture of salt and opium, the construction and working of railway and telegraph lines and continuing the existing laws of revenue settlement and existing system of administration. His Highness the ]\Iuharaja on ascending the throne issued a proclamation in which he expressed his willingness to observe the above stipulations and indicated the made of administration that he would follow. This was by a council of which Dewan Kanga Charlu was to bo the President. The Maharaja re- served for his own consideration all questions with refer- ence to legislation and taxation and all important measures with reference to the administration of his territories and the well-being of his subjects. As the Mysore state was in debt the Maharaja wisely determined to employ cheap native agency instead of the British agency which was ex- pensive. He fully realized that Mysore having been under British rule for more than fifty years would greatly lament any deterioration from that absolute security of life and property which is the greatest blessing of British rule. Sir John Gordon who had arranged the transfer business was appointed British Resident and the Maharaja accepted cheer- fully that officer as his guide and philosopher in all questions of difficulty. The Maliaraja also gave his subjects a sort of informal Parliament and on the 7th of October two hundred representatives from all local talu<|s uK^t to criticise the admi- nistration of the past year and to offer suggestions with reference to the coming year. About the end of the year the Governor of Bombay installed tlie Gaekwar of Baroda. It was a conclusive proof of the will of Her Gracious Majesty that all native states should be continuetl in integrity and independence. Since the unfortunate proceedings with re- ference to the Baroda state in Lord Northbrook's time, that •state was being administered with conspicuous success by INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 173 the native statesman, Sir T. Madhava Rao. It is a matter of regiet that under the British rule the natives of India have very little opportunity to exhibit their fitness in the hiiihest duties of administration. The Moslem rulers offered commands of armies and pro-consulships of provinces to their conquered Hindu subjects and great statesmen and financiers could spring up under that rule. It is unfortu- nately quite otherwise under the British regime and it is in the feudatory states alone that native statesmanship can flou- rish to any great extent. The work which Lord Northbrook entrusted to Sir T. Madhava Rao was one of equal difficulty and importance. The Baroda state was suffering under accumulated grievances arising from past maladministration of the sirdars bankers, ryots and others, the treasury was empty and ths country was torn by internal factions. The local sirdars and people were jealous of the new prime minister who had to proceed with the utmost tact, firmness and caution. During the five years that the state was under his charge he maintained public order and tranquillity with firmness and moderation, he established a proper and sufficient machinery for the administration of justice in both its branches, he provided a police commensurate with the extent and density of the population, he executed necessary and useful Public works, he provided for popular education, he gave suitable medical aid, he reduced, re-adjusted and where necssary abolished taxes, he enforced economy, he restrained waste, he kept the expenditure below the receipts and he generally streng- thened the executive establishments. The young Gaekwar at the same time developed a thoroughly healthy moral nature and steady mental virtues. The highest political authorities agreed that the very highest appreciation was due to the unwearied la- bours of Sir T. Madhava Rao for the good of the State and people and cordial acknowledgements were also due to the heads of departments who were all native gentlemen of high attainments. The Gaekwar acknowledged his obligations to Mr. Melville and Sir Richard Meade and let it be meationed to the credit 174 [XDfAX fllSTORY OF OUR OWX TIMES. of the Miihanija that ho has maiatainel his splendid king- dom in the same state of efficiency in ^Yhich he received it. TIk; rcLitinns of the Government with Amir Abdnr Rahman remained very friendly all through. Tho British govern- mcnt did not give him any help in the matter of suppressing the insurrection of Ayub Khan though it looked very anxi- on<\y on the situation. Ayub Khan was ultimately defeated and his troops dispersed and Abdur Rahman ruled Afghanistan with a strong hand which was necessary to keep down the contending elements in that disturbed country. Lord Ripon made a tour in Rajputana during the current year. His Excellency observed that the Government of India as the pnriimount power was under a sacred obligation to see that the subjects of the native states do not suffer from mis- government or oppression nnd he aimed to effect this object not throuL'^li force ;ind coorr^ion but through the elevating, humanizing nnd civilizing influence of education. In Rajputana the Native States were eiijoyins fairly prosperous years and the work of administration had been going on smoothly. In Oodypur a new land settlement wa'' completed under the supervision of Mr. Wingate of the Bombay Civil Service. In Jeypur there was a growing absence of that mutuality and harmony in the Council, so necessarv for a good administration since the death of the late Maharaja. In Bharatpur the Government was under the direction of His Highness personal! v and the administration, it was universallv admitted was carried on with less consider- ation for his subjects than was shown by other native rulers. The young Chiefs who had been trained under English tutors or at the Mayo College ditl not fulfil the expectations of their sulijects as they gave too great attention to sport and the out-door amuseir.ents and too little to the duties of the State. Tlio finances of several Native States such as Tonk, Bikanir and Karowlee were in a state of sad confusion. The Government at IMarwar was reported to lack strength. The general closing of the "Khari'' works in Jeypur which supplied salt of a sort INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 175 which though not generally edible was a part of the fooil of the camels and the horned cattle produced general dissatisfaction. The Maharaja of Bundi issued an edict prohibiting the marriage of old and infirm persons with young girls. This edict was welcomed by his subjects though in British India such an edict would be deemed as undue interference. The Finances. — The exchange difficulty had been gradually making the financial position of India insecure, owing to a variety of causes the principal of which was the superabun- dance of the silver mines recently discovered as compared with gold mines and a great decrease in the demand for silver. The relative values of gold and silver were much disturbed in the markets of the world. India which had to make fixed annual payments to the English Government which are unalterably fixed in gold was a great loser by the depreciation of silver and this circumstance hung as a deadweight upon her revenues. The only hope in the matter of escape from this difficulty is from the increasing popularity of silver and she always looks with an wistful eye to the results of those international con- ferences which are arranged for the purpose of introducing bi-metallism in certain European and American countries. This year an international conference met at Paris to discuss with a view to practical action this question in which India was vitally interested. India was represented by Sir Louis Mallet who supported bimetallism but Mr. Gladstone was still in favour of the orthodox doctrine of monometallism. The question was however discussed by the highest economic authorities during the course of the year and many of them declared themselves to be in favour of bimetallism. Sir Evelyn Baring in his budget speech said that this loss by exchange coupled with the precariousness of the opium revenue and the periodical out- break of famine made the financial position of India quite insecure and he made a departure of policy by carrying out several measures of real economy. He reduced the salaries of the High Court Judges, he effected the double object of 170 lynrAX msroiiv of our own times. entbrcing economy and at the same time encouraging local in- dustry by coming forward to purchase Government stores iu India. He also did a great deal of good in inducing the great English capitalists to apply their capital in Indian railways and canals, and it is to him that India owes the accession of the famous Rothschilds to the guild of Indian enterprize. He reformed the whole system of accounts and did his Lest to ensure accuracy in the despatch of business. England contri- buted £5,000,000 representing one-fourth of the total cost of the Afghan War and the bulk was to be paid by the Indian Treasury. This was a great disturbing element in Indian finance and with this deadweight hano;infi[ over it the Indian Government could not attempt any final changes during this year. The Afghan war was a war for purely imperial purposes, and the English Foreign Office had alone been responsible for the policy of the war and there can be no question that the contribution made by England represented most inadequately her share in the transaction. The Parliamentary committee had justly cut down the amount to bo spent for Indian public works and the new policy of the Finance Minister to encourage the application of private capital was ver}^ generally approved. Major Baring gave bodily form to the Famine Insurance fund and his famous circular about purchasing the Government stores in India if carried out in the same noble spirit which actuated him and Lord Ilipon would do much towards resuscita- tixicr the decaying Indian industries. There are men and capital enough in the country and the only thing wanted is adequate encouragement. It is indeed a thing of deep regret that the Indian industries which in times past have produced many things that arc the just admiration of the civilized world should now die out of the country and how to revive those industries is one of those problems that are pressing themselves on the attention of the enlightened Indian official and non-official alike. It is indeed idle to conceal that those industries are flourishing to a much greater extent INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OTF^ TIMES. 177 in the feudatory states being under the patronage of the native chiefs and nobles, but in British India their practical extinction is but a question of time. If the Indian Govern- ment should use the produce of indigenous industry in all their requirements in the various departments and admi- nistrations as far as practicable and should also employ in- digenous labour for the erection of Government buildings to a much greater extent than is now the case the skill of Indian workmen which at one time produced the Taj- mahal of Agra and the famous embroidery so much appreci- ated in Europe would remain in the country. It is much to be regretted that this duty on the part of the Indian Government remains as yet unfulfilled. Lord Ripon's internal administration. — Lord Ripon won the universal respect and confidence of all classes of the natives of India by the liberal way in which he ruled over them. He was a capital man of business and after having familiarized him- self with the preliminary duties of Indian administration, he took a broad and statesmanlike view of things and in all matters of importance before the Executive council His Lordship explained the facts of the case himself. He took a warm interest in his work and he discharged the duties of his high office thoroughly, conscientiously and in perfect accordance with the spirit of the Queen's proclamation. His Excellency studied the complicated question of Indian famines in dis- posing of the report of the Indian Famine Conmiission. He revived the Agricultural Department, and undertook laud assessments on an improved plan in several parts of the country. But His Lordship will have an eternal claim to the gratitude of the people of India by the step that he took in the course of the year for extending the principle of local self-government which is almost one of the inevitable results of the extension of the decentralization scheme under Lord Mayo and Lord Lytton. Lord Ripon declared in plain terms that his government would introduce the policy of local 23 178 I^'DrA^' history of our ows times, self-government in the matter of the administration of the local funds. The measure was conceived in the s[)irit of the best and greatest rulers our country ever had and the whole country welcomed it with unfeiiined satisfaction. It is the first step towards the political education of the people on a large scale, and the only effective means that has been yet adopted for associating the people of the country in the administration of their affairs. Under the inspiring influence of Lord Eipon the local governments agreed to give the measure a fair trial. The only weak point in the measure that was conceived was the power that it proposed to vest in the District Magistrates, who would be the chair- men of the District Boards. In the less advanced parts of the country it was feared that the District Magistrate would be the practical head of affairs and that the whole system would end in a failure as far as its real object was concerned. It was suggested in many influential quarters that it would be far better to make the District Judge the chairman if the Government was not prepared to allow the Board to elect their own chairman. But Lord Kipon devised a constitutional measure which if worked in a sympathetic spirit by the District officials and with energy and integrity by the representatives of the people would fami- liarize them with the primary duties of administration and pave the wa)'' for the larger association of the educated natives of the country in the provincial Councils and ensure their future political advancement all along the line. Lord Ripon took an enumeration of the people of India and the work though managed by a central head was carried out in such a way as to dissipate the foolish notions as to the motives of the Government which the ignorant always see in such a step. The most pleasing feature with reference to the census opera- tions was the hearty co-operation of the people, and the edu- cated natives freely rendered their services as unpaid enumera- tosr for this work. Lord Ripon also took interest in the (juestion TAWZAJ HISTORY OF OUR OWJSI TIMES. 179 of tlie educiition of European and Eurasian children. The lot of the domiciled European and Eurasian who had not the means to send his children to Enghind was in many respects an unenvial)le one, anii Lord Canning had declared that nnless something was done in this respect it would be a standing reproach to Government, The same educational institutions which imparted such a high-class education to the natives of India would equally suit the Europeans, but as these communities had availed themselves but little of those advan- tages, Lord Ripon placed some special facilities within their reach to enable them to better their condition. Lord Ripon also did conspicuous services in the matter of the reorganisa- tion of the Punjab University, and in withstanding the effects of that mischievous agitation which was opposed by the edu- cated natives of the Punjab. Lord Lytton in 1879 had declared at Lahore that the education which could be imparted with- out causing any harm to the physically weak Bengali is not suited to the hardy races of Upper India. The internal peace lead to social and material progress. Many important lines of railways were completed and several other projects were matured under Lord Ripon's beneficent rule, the political aspirations were steadily expanding, the Native Press had been increasingly active, the public associations were in the full tide of their activity and the social and political problems of India were being earnestly discussed with a view to practical action. The whole country rejoiced at having a statesman so just and so rishteons at the head of the Indian administration Genteral Events — Mr. Whitely Stokes introduced into the Supreme Council several ambitious projects of legislation, the principal of which was the Transfer of Property Bill. The codification measures of Mr. Whitely Stokes would, it was feared, throw the Indian public more completely at the mercy of the lawyer. However perfect the English systems of ad- ministration of justice might theoretically be considered to be, its practical results are often lamentable. The delay and 180 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR Oir.V TIMES. expense attendant on the British courts contrast very uufavoarably with the summary methods of justice to which the great masses of the people of every country are by instinct attached. Some of Mr. Stokes' measures were based on English statutes and the wide difference in the state of things in England and India caused the apprehension that such measures, as the Indian Companies' Bill did not fit in well enough in this country. The Negotiable Instruments' Act which was passed this year caused little excitement as by its provisions all native bund is were still to be regulated by local usages and customs. The Inland Emigration Bill and the Hindu "Wills Bill caused considerable comraontion in Bengal. The former was, in deference to the timely protest of the Hon'ble Maharaja Sir Jotindra Mohun Tagore and of the public bodies of Bengal referred back to the Select Committee. The Liberal leaders redeemed their pledge with reference to the Vernacular press of this country by a bill which provided for the unconditional repeal of the Vernacular Press Act of the previous adminis- tration. The country was not yet t\\>q for a scientific treat- ment in respect of all legal problems and Mr. Stokes' measures would it was feared increase the stream of litigation. The restraints of office prevented many of the best Parliamentary friends of India from taking any part in the debates on Indian affairs and consequently they were not of that animated nature they were expected to be from the importance of the subjects dealt with. The sentimental philanthropists of England protest- ed against the Indian opium trade forgetting that India would lose an extensive revenue by the suppression of that trade and humanity would not benefit thereby as China would have her opium supply from other sources and that nnless Parlia- ment was prepared to make good the pecuniary loss expected, the English public should not raise this question. Lord Hartington promised not to interfere with the opium trade but to consider whether the Government menopoly in this res- pect could not bo dispensed with. This step, His Lordship was tl^DIA^ mSlORY OF OUR OWN TLUES, ISt convinced later on in the year would prove very mischievous as without any appreciable benefit it would result in the loss of two millons of revenue. The question of the abolition of the India Council in London was discussed. There is no doubt ample room for improvement with reference to that Council particularly by placing on its body experienced Indian gentlemen of enlighteriment and education but there is little doubt that in these days when India is practically governed by telegraphic wire from England, the abolition of the India Council would place India at the mercy of the waves of party conflict in England and that the Secretary of State would lack that counsel, the result of years of Indian experience in all departments to which he ought to pay deferential heed before making up his mind with regard to Indian questions. Madras lost her energetic Governor Mr. Adam who during the short tenure of his office had proved to be an energetic and sympathetic administrator. Se was succeeded by Sir Monstuart Grant Duff a liberal statesman of high rank. The Governor of Bombay Sir James Fergusson greatly disappoint- ed his subjects. Some of his legal measures had been so high-handed and capricious that they were disallowed by the Secretary of State. In domestic matters he showed much narrow-minded bigotry and most of his actions were charac- terized by indifference to the interests of the people. Sir Stuart Bayley was removed from Assam to the Residency at Hyderabad and he was succeeded by Mr. Charles Elliott who developed the resources of the province with characterstic energy. The Bengal Government proposed that important measure of legislation known as the Rent Law. The Rent question was treated as a whole and some provisions from the Irish Land Act were bodily introduced into Bengal, The Zamindars of Bengal and Behar through their powerful association, the British Indian, then led by some of the foremost politicians of Bengal, Rajah Rajendra Lala Mitra, Hon'ble Kristodas Paul Maharaja Sir Jotiudra Mohun Tagore, Maharaja Sir Norendra iS2 INDIAN HTSTOllY OF OUR OWN TIMES. Ki-i-hn;i, and ilie Maharaj.is of Durblianaga, Domraoii, Hiitwa, an 1 Bettiah, set on foot an influential agitation both in England and India and the literature on the subject grew to such pro- portions that it is difficult to compress the whole subject within reasonable limits. There was an insurrection during the year among the Bheels but it was eifectively managed by timely force and diplomacy. The intrigues that were dis- covered at KoUiapur were magnified into a grand conspiracy the hollowness of which theory was revealed at the trial of the conspirators. The debate on the Afghan war in the House of Lords was opened by Lord Lytton and he was supported by Lords Salisbury and Beaconsfield the last of whom succumbed this year to the cold hand of death. But no one was convinced by Lord Lytfcon's speech although it was a finished one that the Afghan war was a righteous war. The arguments of the Conservative party were satisfactorily answered by the Duke of Argyll, Lord Granville and Lord Selborne. The London Statesman under the management of Mr. Knight and Col. Osborne enlisted the sympathy of some of the foremost public men of England towards Lidian grievances and aspirations. CHAPTER IT. Tl.e Egypti^ n War. — The Egyptian War ttr- a purely Imperial war and the Indian historian is compelled to make a brief reference to it because of the help that India in response to England's call gave her, in the shape of an Indian con- tingent that nobly did its duty, the alacrity shown by the loyal offers of the native chiefs with reference to placing their own troops at the disposal of the Indian Government and the burden that the Indian exchequer had to bear in spite of the manly protests of Lord Ripon and Major Baring as to the amount of the expenses incurred by the contingent sent from this country. The war in Egypt was of the nature of a Civil war, in which the aggressive P'lrty were the Nationalists whose object it was to keep all foreign influence out of Egypt. The English and French fundholders who had made large advances to the Egyptian Government exercised a predominant influence iu every department of state and this fact led the Nationalists to combine to keep everything iu their own hands. The English Government lent its support to the Khedive and bombarded Alexandria on the ostensible plea of keeping safe the world's commerce that passed through the Suez Canal. The leader of tlie Nationalists Arabi Pasha, showed no mean capacity or skill but his organization broke down and the Britisli force whose action was sharp and swift carried the day. The war having ended the whole political fabric of Egypt was re-cast. The Indian contingent did the allotted work well and gloriously. The metal it showed was duly appreciated in England, and Indian military training, and the attachment of Indian troops to the British standard was vindicated before the eyes of Europe and Asia. The case of the Indian tax-payers with 184 IISniAJS HISTORY OF OVR OWN TIMES. reference to saddling India with tlie cost of the Indian contin- gent to Eg3'pt was put in a noble and manly way by Lord Kipon and Major Baring but the protest was of no avail and the Liberal Government of England disappointed the hopes of the people of India by throwing the above burden on the Indian Treasury. Lord Ripon's domestic policy afd the Local Self-Gov- ET^NMENT SCHEME. We adverted briefly in the last chapter to the general features of the Local Self-Government scheme but during this year it was practically introduced into Local Governments and administrations. Sir Ashley Eden the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal perceived that legislation of an extensive and complicated character would be necessary to sanction the excercise of the powers to be conceded in the difterent departments to the District Boards as well as for the proper powers of control and inspection to be reserved to the State. His Honor however as a beginning increased the grant for primary education by one lakh of rupees and made liberal allowances to the District Road Com- mittees for the execution of well-considered projects. He relieved the Muffasil Municipalities of all police charges directed them to apply the funds thus set free to judicious expenditure in the matter of conservancy, .lighting, drainage, water-supply and similar public works and expressed his willingness to extend experimentally the elective system to all first-class Municipalities. Lord Ripon had vindicated in the warmest terms the capacity of the people of this country for Local Self-Government, His Lordship said that the people of India have no doubt been to a great extent tolerant of ex- isting facts but with the spread of education a class of public spirited men have come into existence whom it should be sheer folly not to utilize and who would be able to a considerable extent to reduce the overwork that is the general complaint of District officers. The scheme, His Lordship, added was chiefly desirable as an instrument of political and popular INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 185 education, and if allowed a full and fair trial without any direct though well-meant official interference the results, would be very gratifying. Lord llipon emphatically stated that the gradual introduction of the elective system was the main object of his Government, though he left it to the Local Governments and district officers to devise the best means for this object. His Lordship also laid down the general views of his Govern- ment as to control in that there must be eifective supervision but the members of the Board must be free to such an extent that they might feel that real power had been placed in their liauds, and the organization of this delicate machinery was left to the discretion of the Local Governments. Sir George Couper who was the very type of a narrowminded provincial Governor did his best to thwart the benevolent intentions of Lord Ripon and to reduce Local Self-Government within the narrowest possible limits. He bluntly declared that the people in his satrapy had no liking for the elective system and he would therefore only cut down the number of official members, increase the number of non- official numbers to one- half of the entire body and the non-official members were to be nominated by the district officer, approved by the Commissioner of the Division and confirmed by Government. The District Officers of course would continue to be the chairmen of the said bodies. This was merely an attempt to shuffle the cards a little leaving the regular officials of the district in full possession of their ample powers. In his further orders on the subject Sir George Couper limited and defined the duties and responsibilities of District and Municipal Committees in a such way as to reduce the whole scheme to a mere sham. Sir Charles Aitchison on the other hand dealt with the whole question with a breadth and liberality of view that cannot be sufficiently admired. That high-minded statesman laid down the important principle that local bodies must be trusted, their powers and responsibilities must be alike real, there must be no illusion about the one or the other, that it must not be assumed that the people were unfit for the 24 186 INniA]}^ HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. duties of election and that they must bo trained to acquire the intelligence, the honesty, and the capacity to choose their representatives. Sir Charles Aitchison introduced elections at once in the more considerable towns upon the English model. The Chief Commissioner of Assam Mr. Charles Elliott fell in cordially with the views of Lord Ripon and he treated different parts of his province in different ways. As Local institutions were of recent growth in Assam and complications arose from the presence of a large and powerful section represent- ing the tea industry, he had framed his recommendations with great tact and judgment. The Government of Bombay did not take any steps forward in giving extended power to the District Boards regarding the administration of District and Provincial funds, but it took a really broad view on the subject of Municipal administration. Thus Lord Ripon planted in the Indian soil the roots of a system that would in the fulness of time be productive of the highest good. There was a sponta- neous feeling of gratitude for a ruler from whom the measure emanated with such good grace and with the utmost generosity. Lord Ripon's aim was not only to make the Municipalities and Local Boards eflficient administrative units but to make them instruments for the political education of the people. Lord Ripon also earned the gratitude of the Indian people by the repeal of the Vernacular Press Act. His Lordship ascertained from careful enquiry that the State would not be put in danger by reason of this repeal and he carried out the measure quietly but firmly. The native public all over the country gave His Lordship their warmest thanks for this act and a very influential meeting in Calcutta concluded that agitation with reference to the obnoxious Act which might fairly claim to have been eminently successful. At that meeting Mr. Lalmohan Ghose and Babu Surendra Nath Banerji gave powerful expression to the feelings of the Indian public with reference to this measure. It was the cardinal aim of Lord Ripon's policy to exert his groat talents to secure the victories INDIAN HISTORY OF ODR OWN TIMES. 187 of peace, and to encourage indigenous talent, indigenous indus- tries and indigenous institutions. His Lordship with the active assistance of Major Baring and Mr. llbert appointed Mr. Justice Romesh Chandra Mitter the senior puisne Judge of the Bengal High Court as officiating Chief Justice in spite of the opposi- tion to that step from influential quarters on political and ad- ministrative grounds. Mr. Justice R. C. Mitter had after a most successful career in the High Court Bar been elevated to the Bench and had established the highest character for himself by his ability, industry, honesty and that judicial patience and calmness of temper which is the first characteristic of a judge and his appointment to the officiating Chief Justiceship of Bengal was hailed with profound satisfaction all over the country. Lord Ripon also gave an Indian judge to the N. W. P. High Court in the person of a Mahomedan barrister of great culture. His Lordship also advanced Rai Saligram Bahadur, a tried officer of the Postal Department, to the appoint- ment of Postmaster General of the N. W. Provinces, an office never before filled by a native of India. The Madras Government at Lord Ripon's instance appointed a native gentle- man Mr. Justice Muthuswamy Aiyer to the Bench of the Local High Court. In the humbler situations, in Government offices and state railways the employment of indigenous agency was to a great extent, given effect to. Lord Ripon had laid the foundation of a revived national industry and by his judicious regulations on the suspension and remission of Government revenue in bad seasons advanced the interests of the agricul- tural population. The extension of education had received the earnest atten- tion of Lord Ripon's Government. He appointed an Education Commission with Dr. Hunter as its president whose object was to extend primary education without in any way interfering with the progress of high education. The Commission owed its birth to the agitation of a powerful clique in England which was opposed to the spread of high education in India and it 188 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. was therefore at first looked on by the natives of India with great suspicion but the honest utterences of His Excellency soon dispelled all doubts. His Lordship showed the utmost deference to public opinion, particularly to Indian public opinion. He invited the leaders and representative men of every community to submit their opinion on all important matters and measures. Lord I{ij)ou also took in hand the question of giving the utmost publicity to Legislative measures. Of course the utility of this project was to have been tested by the measure of the attention which the Government would bestow upon the opinions which might be elicited. The credit of the scheme of Local Self-Government is entirely Lord Ripon's own. It was with difficulty that His Lordship converted the Secretary of State to his views and he appealed with a rare sincerity of heart to all men of influence and education to take their proper place in the administration of the country. It was recognized on all hands that Lord Ripon had been not merely a ruler but a friend of the people. Lord Ripon devised a liberal system ol agricultural loans and set his face resolutely agaiust taxation of the articles of food in any form. The rest- less chief of Upper Burma almost necessitated the declaration of hostilities by the headlong course that ho pursued. An embassy waited on His Excellency to open negotiations to settle the diflFerences but no real work was done. As his own Foreign minister Lord Ripon improved the relations with the Feudatory princes by the sumo high-minded statesmanship. Ho placed the young Maharaja of Jeypur on the throne with proper safeguards and highly approved of the administrations of the Gaekwar and the Maharaja of Travancore. His noble policy was appreciated by all tho Native Chiefs and they became more devoted in their attachment to the paramount power. The Finances. — Tho second budget of Sir Evelyn Baring showed that he had a firm grasp both of the financial situation of India and of sound ecoiaomic principles, Tho accounts INDIAN IIISIORY OF OUR OWi\ TIMES. 189 for the last official year closed with such a surplus that the Finance minister with the sanction of Lord Ripon was able to make large reductions in the taxation of the country. The Patvvari cess of the N. W. Provinces was abolished involving a remission of revenue to the extent of £316,000, the cotton duties and the import duties were abolished, the taxation beinc reduced to the extent of £1,219,000, the salt duty was reduced to Rs. 2 all round involving a remission of taxation of £1,400,000. Major Baring improved the prospects of the Sub- ordinate Executive Service by an annual cost of £50,000. The Finance Minister justly remarked that the Native Deputy Collectors formed the backbone of the British administration in India and that the Government looked to them for ability and efficiency in quiet times and for energy, resource and fortitude in times of difficulty, that this service should con- sist of the cream of those who are willing to embrace an official career in this country and that they should be in receipt of adequate salaries throughout their career. Major Baring remarked that the government of the country could not be carried on without a cash balance of £8,5000,000. He also improved the prospects of the Subordinate Judicial Service and arranged the provincial contracts on a liberal basis. The new policy enunciated was to provincialize three- fifths of the revenue and one-fourth of the expenditure of British India. Major Baring truly observed that if the opium revenue were taken away from India the country would soon become bankrupt. The policy of remission of taxation at this stage docs not seem by the light of subsequent events to have been a prudent step. All the three sources of revenue that came to bo abolished did not press very hard on the poor and were comparatively unobjectionable and if the Government had not sacrificed these three millions it miffht have more effectively aided the advancement of the project for local self-government which must have ways and means as an essential condition of its success, or it might have car- 190 lyDlAB HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. ried into effect the recommendations of the Education Com- mission with reference to primary education or taken in hand the numerous administrative reforms that are so need- ful. Of course the cotton duties were doomed from some years past. Lord Lytton explained at Manchester how the entire abolition of the cotton and import duties must follow in the train of that tortuous policy that his government had followed in this respect, and there can be no question that although Lord Ripon prided himself on the fact of his hav- ing given complete free trade to India he too must be con- sidered to have been a party to the sacrifice of Indian inter- ests for the sake of a few merchants and manufacturers of England. The Famine Insurance Fund was restored from the general revenues and it was to be applied for famine relief and the execution of public works. The Government of India under the influence of the Public Works Minister Sir T. C, Hope introduced the experiment of stock notes which however was not attended with the desired success. It failed to attract the capital of the rural and industrial classes for whose benefit it had been principally designed. The Finance Minister was obliged to float a loan of two and a half crores principally to meet the burdens thrown upon India by the war expenditure in Egypt. The loan was not so successful as might have been expected, and it was taken up at a discount. The reduction of the military charges of India and the English taxation on Indian silver work also drew masterly minutes from Lord Ripon's government. Legislation. — The Assam Emigration Bill was passed into law this year. It was characterized by the Hon'ble Kristodas Paul as the Slave Bill and its two objectionable features were the fixing of the maximum wages of the coolies at Rs. 6 per mensem and the contract to subsist for a period of five years. After passing the act the Government went into the subject of coolie emiiiration as a whole and issued instructions and framed byo-laws which if they were strictly carried out would INDIAN IlISTORy OF OUR (9T^^ TIMES. 191 prevent the abuses arising from the Act to a great extent. Mr. Whitley Stokes was to vacate his office in the middle of the year and he passed in hot haste the codification measures introduced last year as well as the Easements Bill. The provincial governments for the most part repudiated the Easements Bill so it was at first confined only to the Central Provinces. The Criminal Procedure Code amendment Bill was an improvement upon the similar efforts of Sir Fitzjames Stephen. Mr. Whitley Stokes was unquestionably a great lawyer and a sound jurist but he lacked the practical talents of statesmanship and gave the country many measures which did no practical good. He was succeeded by Mr. Ilbert, the youngest lawyer who has ever held that high office, an aca- demician of great repute and a trusted pupil of Sir Henry Thring and under him there was no legislation at high pressure. General Events — The Lieutenant Governorships of Ben- gal, N. W. Provinces and the Punjab changed hands during the current year. Sir Ashley Eden had long been a' promi- nent figure in Indian administration and he had left his mark on the administration of the province where he served. His admirers voted him the high honor of a statue and taken all in all his administration was a fair success. The duties of the Bengal pro-consulship were daily becoming more and more arduous, and the aiivancing intelligence of the people made a thorough moral rectitude, a high standard of ability and an insatiable appetite for work the essential qualities of the administrator. Sir Ashley Eden was to a great extent opposed to the rising hopes and aspirations of the educated classes but in the ordinary duties of administration he effected many and enduring improvements. He established separate Rent Courts and divided the public service into two branches, the judicial and the executive to ensure a better training for the officers and to improve the administration of justice. He had carefully managed the resources of his province and under him the treasury was flourishing. He had been most active in 192 INDIAN niSTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. devisinvay most cantioiisly and any erratic proceedings on tlic part of those officers were fiercely exposed to the li.ulit of day and brought their authors to certain grief. The Mahomedans sub- mitted a petition complaining tliat they had not got a fair share of the loaves and fishes of offtce, which memorial was referred for report to the Local Governments. The long minority of the Nizam had caused the affairs of the State to be administered by a statesman whose capacity for business, stead- fast loyalty to the British Government and powers of organi- zation were undoubted and who at the time when the British power was shaken to its foundations had sharply come with his resources to uphold the prestige of the British name. This was the last of the many years of administration of Hyderabad by Sir Salar Jung. The historian of the modern age must re- cord with pride the grand example of Indian statesmanship exhibited in Sir Salar Jung who joined the great majority early next year. Lord Ripon when installing His Highness the Nizam paid a warm tribute to the capacities and the loyalty of Sir Salar Jung and asked the young chief to continue in the footsteps of that illustrious statesman. To keep under proper control the conflicting elements iu the Hyderabad State, to carry on the work of administration smoothly by his commanding qualities, to be careful about the finances of the State, to keep the judiciary above all suspicion, the arjny under the necessary discipline, the police iu a high state of efficiency, were some of the acts of Sir Salar Jung and those only can appreciate the full extent of his success who are familiar with the tangled web of intrigues and the thousand conflicting influences which unfortunately arc too often the invariable incidents of an Oriental Court. CHAPTER V. 1883. Thk Criminal Jurisdiction Bill — This year must renmin memorable in Indian History for the remarkable agitation that was set on foot by a majority of the Anglo-Indian community in India with reference to a bill introduced in the Legislative Council for the purpose of removing the race disability imposed on Native magistrates and judges by Chapter o3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The measure was a small one and even if it w^ere carried out in its integrity it would Dot have affected more than a half-a-dozeu or so of Indian Covenanted Civilians. But this Bill was selected as the battle-ground to fight the wider question as to whether the liberal measures introduced by the Liberal Viceroy with the support of the Liberal majority in England should be allowed to pass quietly through the Council in the teeth of a bureaucracy tenacious of their privileges and an Anglo-Indian com- munity who are not over-burdened with sympathy in regard to the hopes and aspirations of educated India, Since the question of the extension of the jurisdiction of Muffasil cri- minal courts over European British subjects was first raised in Parliament, many changes and improvements had taken place in the country and the objections which were valid then could not be valid now. On that occasion many illustrious English Statesmen of whom the father of Lord Ripon was one, had declared that the Natives and Europeans should be placed on a footing of perfect equality before the law. Under the direct rule of the Queen- Empress all courts were Queen's courts. The High Courts established by Royal Charter observ- ed no distinctions in the trial of Europeans and Natives. In all the Presidency Police Courts, magistrates who are both Europeans and Natives try Europeans and Natives alike. The present ejficieut condition of the Muftasil courts which are 196 I^DIA^' HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. more or less filled with trained lawyers removes objections which could formerly be urged on the ground of competency and fitness. The privilege now enjoyed by the European British subjects amounts in many cases to a denial of justice to the aggrieved native of India. Such had been the consi- derations that brought this problem within the field of practi- cal politics. Sir Ashley Eden proposed to do away with the disability in the matter of trying European British subjects in the case of Indian Covenanted officers who had entered the service through the open door of competition in England and who had attained a certain standing in the sen- ice. This pro- posal had been circulated confidentially for an expression of opinion to the Local Governments and Administrations and it had been generally approved of by them with the exception of the Chief Commissioner of Coorg. Fortified by this consensus of opinion in favor of removing the disability in the case of Covenanted Officers Mr. Ilbert introduced into the Supreme Council the Criminal Jurisdiction Bill. The question had been raised in 1872 and though the progressive step in this direc- tion was supported by the Pro Tern Viceroy with several other members of the Executive Council the motion was lost by a majority of two. After the present Bill was introduced into the Council an aoritation w^as set on foot both in England and India, the like of which in organization, in demonstrativeness and continuity the Indian historian has not had yet to record. The real issue which the Bill proposed to remedy was lost sight of and the Imlepeudeut Britons were so furious and maddened over the affiiir that they went far beside the real point, raised all sorts of side-issues, and poured forth the bitterest invectives against the children of the soil through their recog- nized organs in the press and from the platforms in every part of the country. No one denied the right of the European British subjects to agitate in a loyal and constitutional manner to prevent the passing of any law which they considered mis- chievous but the tactics which they employed were such as INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 107 no reasonfiblo man approved of at the time and which history must unequivocally condemn. We shall do no service to our contemporaries or to posterity by keeping alive in these pages the rancorous abuse that was showered against all classes of the natives of India or the insulting language that was heaped even on the devoted head of the august Hepresentative of our Gracious Sovereign. But we must record with pride that though the children of the soil received the amplest provoca- tions they did not retort or organize a counter-demonstration and with the solitary exception of Mr. Lahnohun Ghose's vigorous speech on the subject at Dacca, which liappily did not find an echo in any other town or village, the Indian community displayed the most admirable patience and calmness. The main objections urged against the Bill were that it was not wanted by the natives, that it would be detrimental to the interests of justice and that the time was not ripe for it. The English champions of the Bill satisfactorily answered all these objections. They showed that Sir Ashley Eden on the motion of Mr. Behari Lai Gupta C. s. pressed the question for solution to the attention of the Government of India and that all the Local Governments and Administrations had agreed to its necessity, that the Bill had received the support of the lead- ing native members of the Council, the leading organs of the native press, and the leading representative Associations. They pointed out that the native judges and magistrates who would be invested with the jurisdiction under the new law were not likely to be found wanting. The native Subordinate Judges and Munsifs who already exercised jurisdiction over European British subjects were universally pronounced to have done their duty well nor had any abuses of power been brought to light in the case of the native magistrates who try European British sub- jects in the Presidency towns. Tlie British Government in this country had been steadily progressing towards equality in the eye of the law and the reform sought for was not the work of a day but the result of continued progress through a century 198 L\r)iAy niSTORY or our own times. and a (quarter. At tlie ineetiug of the Su))renio C!ouncil on March Utli 1883, the question Avas thoroughly discussed and even the responsible officials -svlio dissented from the action of the Government could not but express their indignation in the most emphatic terms, at the foul allegations against the natives of India, and the malicious and scandalous personal attacks at the Viceroy. The Hon'ble members of the Council condemned in no uncertain terms, the wicked and criminal attempts that had been made to excite disaflfectiou against the Government in the army. The agitation was carried to England and an influential deputation waited on the Earl of Kimberley who plainly said that there was no hope of the Bill being with- drawn tbough it might be modified in some respects in con- formity with responsible official opinion. There were many meetings in the large towns of England to support or condemn Lord Ripon's policy and the English journals and periodicals teemed with articles on the subject. The leaders of thought in England openly expressed their sympathy with the progres- sive policy of Lord Ripon. The debate ni tbe House of Lords on the subject was begun by Lord Lytton who described his successor's policy as the policy of gradually transferring political power to the natives of India and he was supported by Lords Cranbrook and Salisbury. The specific points raised were answered by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Nortlibrook and Lord Kimberley. The Lord Chancellor spoke highly of the ability, the legal training and acumen of native judges, fron) the ex- perience derived from his extensive practice in Indian cases before the Privy Council. Her Majesty's Government declared that the principle of equality before the eyes of the law must be strictly observed in British India and Lord Ripon was but giving effect to the settled policy of the British nation, as de- clared in the Queen's Proclamation. The opposition in the English press was led by Sir James Stephen who forgot him- self so far as to assert that the Queen's proclamation of 1858 was a mcrelv sentimental document and was not binding on the INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OTF^ riMKS, 199 Indian Governnieut. His Excellency liad declared that his Government -would not be influenced by any taunts, threats and menaces but would consider any reasonable objections against the measure. On referring the measure to the Local Govern- ments and Administrations a volume of opinions was elicited on the subject Avliich showed that the majority of the Anglo- Indian officials were as uncompromising and unyielding up to this date as they had been when that high-minded statesman Lord William Bentinck subjected the Europeans to the jurisdic- tion of the ordinary Civil Courts. On the return of the Govern- ment to the capital, negotiations were opened with the leaders of the opposition for a satisfactory solution of the question, and an agreement was at last effected at the instance of Sir Auckland Colvin. Lord Ripon explained that having reference to the strength of feeling on the subject his Government has been able to adhere to the principle of the Bill as far as circum- stances permitted. The concordat, as the technical phrase for the above agreement went, confined the privilege to Native District Magistrates and Sessions Judges and settled that the European British subjects would have the privilege when charged before District magistrates or Sessions Judges to require that they should be tried by a jury of which not less than half the number should be Europeans or Americans or both. The discre- tion given to the Local Governments to authorize junior Native Covenanted officers to try European British subjects, in the original Bill was done away with and the suggestion of the Bombay Government about extending jury trial was accepted. On the motion of the Hon'ble Amir Ali the option was given to an accused person European and Native alike to demand a trial before another Magistrate or the Court of Session when charged with an offence under clause (C) of Sec. 191 Cr. P. C. The Hon'ble Kristo Das Paul from his place in the Council showed that this was an unsatisfactory solution of the difficulty in as much as the race distinction while abolished in one direc- tion had been deepened in another, that the difficulty of 200 IXniAy III STORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. einpauelling- a jury iu remote districts would lead to great adinini:strative iucouvouieuce, aud that the European Magis- trates had been phiced on an equality with their native col- leagues by the curtailment of some powers which they had enjoyed since a long time. Lord Kijiou replied that his Government was pledged to this settlement and he could not reopen the discussion. The original Bill thus amended was passed by the Council and received the formal assent of His Excellency. The concordat deeply disappointed the native community aud although they appreciated the noble intentions of the Viceroy and were thankful that he was able partially to give effect to the original principle of the Bill, they could not but regret that His Lordship had not proved equal to the arduous task, that the appalling difficulties in his way had led him to send a message of peace to a furious community. They regretted that no adequate political results had been achieved from the bitter discussions of the immediate past aud that the question had been kept in such a state as to accen- tuate race-distinctions based on the status of the accused more deeply. Yet they felt that the Viceroy deserved their cordial support and heartfelt gratitude for his noble vindication of the Proclamation of the Queen and for his earnest and sincere desire to govern India for the benefit of her peoplct The historian must accept this view as the verdict of history. The political results of the bitter controversy were certainly small but that the Viceroy was [)laced in a critical situation and received but little support from those who were engaged in the actual duties of administration in all parts of the country, admits of no doubt. The anomalies created by the concordat would remain on the Statute Book for a long time yet to come and the historian cannot Init wish that Lord llipon had acted like Lord William Beutinck who carried his Black Act in the teeth of a fierce opposition, to which Act however the Indepen- dent Britons soon grew reconciled, Tuii ''BiiNGALEii" CoNTJiMPT OF CouRT Casb— There was INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 201 another remarkable agitation during the year which was con- fined to the ruled classes but which had spread to every Pre- sidency and province of India. The Editor of the "Bengalee" was hauled up before a Full Bench of the Calcutta High Court for having committed Contempt of Court by publishing in his paper certain articles reflecting on the conduct in a certain case, of a Barrister Judge of the Court. He raised the impor- tant question about the summary jurisdiction of the High Court in cases of this sort and expressed his regret for what had appeared in his paper, which was founded on the informa- tion supplied by another paper. He was sentenced to two months' simple imprisonment on the Civil side notwithstanding the calm and judicial course recommended by Mr. Justice Romesh Chandra Mitter for which he cited some precedents. The trial of this case raised several grave issues and it took place at a time when the whole country was in a state of excite- ment owing to the Ilbert Bill and its result spread a panic a- mong the ruled classes who were agitated to the inmost depths. Babu Sureudra Nath Banerji, the Editor, had done great servi- ces to his country's cause. Possessed of almost marvellous energy and wonderful powers of persuasion he had laboured unremittingly and devotedly to spread the ideas of civil and religious liberty among the Indian people. He had been chiefly instrumental in founding the Indian Association, a public body which had done much for the political education of the people. An orator, whose mastery of the English tongue and whose magnificent eloquence can not f\iil to pro- duce the deepest impression, an educationist who is one of the first to realize the prophecy of Lord Halifax as to I he educated natives taking charge of the high education of their fellow- countrymen, a man of sturdy independence and a steadfast friend of the oppressed and the down-trodden he, had already established his name as one of those who would take a con- .spicuous part in those fights for the subject's rights and the pri- vileges of the people that were just commencing. The sympathy 2G 202 jyVIAJS niSTORY OF OUR OTl'.V TIMES. for liim was deep and widespread and the agitation that was set on foot to consider the grave issues raised by the Contempt of Court case was of such a character tliat the leaders of the conimuiuiy romenihered no parallel. All sections of the Indian community and all portions of Indian continent held demon- strations to express their sympathy with the Babu in the hour of his distress. A moral force was acting at the root of this agitation in the shape of the students in all parts of Bengal who devoted their best energies to stir up their country-men. The sight of an agitation spread over all classes of Indians whose ancestors had fought for centuries, to express sympathy for one who had labored in their cause is the most pleasing spectacle that the historian of the Indian people can behold. Under the beneficent rule of Her Majesty, Indian unity which had been a dream in past ages was becoming an accomplished fact and the same influences, the same waves of thought were acting in different parts of the country. This made possible only two years later the spectacle of a National Congress which notwithstanding its shortcomings is the proudest achievement of British rule, where many of the best intellects of every Pre- sidency meet together to devise measures for the good of their common country. On being appealed to the Privy Council, their Lordships of the Judicial Committee held that the juris- diction of the Courts of Record to commit sunnnarily for cases of contempt appertained to the Indian High Courts established by Royal Charter and declared after an examination of the pro- visions of the adjective criminal law of India that this jurisdic- tion hail not been interfered with by the Indian Legislature, The wdiole question of political agitation was becoming a press- ing one from day to day. The labours of our public men for the quarter a century following the Mutiny had established the position that the rulers are not alone to perform the duty of thinking for the ruled but that the ruled might suggest what is to their best advantage, and could respectfully ask for many concessions from the grace and good- will of tho Government, INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 203 The rapid spread of education increased the number of public questions and it was felt by those best competent to form an opinion on the subject that every province sliould have its association where ail questions affecting it might be discussed and only important questions of priucii)le affecting the whole of India should be considered by a central body and that ti)e bounds of constitutional agitation should never be overstepped. Lord Kipon's Domestic Policy. — The Local Governments and Administrations were engaged during the year in extend- inn- to the territories under their charge the boon of Local Self-Government which had been conferred by the Supremo Government. Sir Alfred Lyall appointed a Committee under the presidency of Mr. C, P. Oarmichael to consider the scheme suited for the United Provinces and the scheme he finally adopt- ed was a great improvement upon that which had been sketched out by his predecessor. He adopted the principle that the right of election was not to be exercised by the general public but by a consultative electoral body nominated by the Government and the Board were given the power to elect their own chairman if they chose to do so. The Government also provided some safeguards for the abuse of powers by the Local Boards which unless work- ed in a very liberal and sympathetic manner would reduce the Boards to the position of nonenties and place them at the mercy of the Executive. The Punjab Act was more of an enabling than than of an enacting nature and left a good deal to the discre- tion of the Local Governments. This Act also empowered the Local Government to impose additional burdens on the people for purposes of Local Self-Government and thou oh the Viceroy and Sir Charles Aitchison explained that that provision would be worked with the greatest consideration it was an unfortunate feature as it led the shrewd oriental nature to suspect that the burdens of the people would be increased under this new scheme. The Local Self-Govern- ment Bill for British Burmah gave the people greater freedom in their own affairs, though the rural tracts were exempted 204 liVBIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. from the operation of the Act. The Imperial Council passed this year the Central Provinces Local Self-Government Act. Tliis was a small measure but on the occasion of the discussion of the Bill in the Council Mr. Gibbs, hailetl the measure as a harbinger of reform and as the legitimate out- come of England's enlightened policy in the East. Ho said that the District officers should do their l)est to work the scheme in a perfectly fair and sympathetic spirit, that there should be no dictation and unnecessary interference on their part and that the people of the country should deem it a privilege to make the scheme a success b}^ their honest and intelligent efforts in this direction. In Bombay the Local Self-Government Bill was introduced in the Council but two able native members of the Council Mr. V. N. Mandalik and Mr. Baduruddin Tyabji showed that those provisions were not calculated to advance the cause of Local Self-Government. The Central Provinces Land Act first recognized in Indian legislation the principle of compensation for improvements which was borrowed from the Irish Land Act and about whose satisfactory working in Ireland there was such a con- flict of opinion. The Bengal Rent Bill was finally introduced into the Coun- cil this year and the zamiudars kept up a steady agitation against the measure which they described as one of spoliation and confiscation, and as utterly inconsistent with the pledges of the Government embodied in the Permanent Settlement lle- gulaiions. Lord Ripon took special measures for the ]inl)- lication of all legislative measures and for inviting well-in- formed opinions on the same. The policy of supplying the place of im[)orted articles by country-made articles received a vigorous extension during the past year. Lord Bipon made a mistake in interfering with the Jail manufactures of Upper India. The comparative cheapness of jail-made articles inter- fered with the profits of some European mill-owners and on their representation jail manufactures were suppressed sum- INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWJ^ TIMES. 205 marily. The step was an unfortunate one, as native manufac- turers never complained of the cheapness of convict labour, and manufactures are regularly carried on in the English prisons. The Government of India granted a fixed annual subsidy of twelve lakhs a year to the Amir of Cabul to make him independent of Russian influence and to enable him to rule strongly. The Government however thought it wise not to enter into any hard-and-fast treaty engagements with the Amir. The serious differences between the Maharaja of Bikanir and his Thakurs ended in open rupture. These differences arose from prolonged misrule and all intercessions of the Political Agent proved to be of no effect. The march however of a small number of British troops and the destruction of the stronghold of the Thakur of Bidasur who headed the rebellion quieted matters. A strong Government was established and the Political agent was invested with fuller authority. The young Maharana of Dholpur was installed during the year. The Government of Lord Ilipon sustained a great loss by the transfer to Egypt of one of its main pillars, Sir Evelyn Baring. He had rendered great services to India as the Private Secretary to Lord Northbrook and his warm sympathies with the people and rare financial abilities was a great strength to the Govern- ment of Lord Eipon. He had consistently supported the Viceroy in his liberal measures and his solid intellect for busi- .ness always led him to suggest the most practical plans. He was succeeded by Sir Auckland Colvin of the N. W. P. Civil Service, an officer whose abilities and antecedents led the Indian Public to expect the best results from the appoint- ment. He had very strong views on the periodical revision of the settlement of the laud revenue in the N. "W. Provinces and as a Member of the Deccan Ryots' Commission he had recorded a powerful minute on the subject. As a member of the Sup- remo Government it was one of his first acts to give effect to those views and to establish something like a fixity of ,of settlement iu the N. W. Provinces, Ho announced his 206 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. })olicy iu this direction in Lis first financial statement and to him tlie country owes the recognition of several important |)rinci|tl('s iu this direction. These were that all improvements made citlier by the landlord or the tenant should be exempt from assessment that lands which had once been properly classed and valuctl should not be revalued or reclassified, and that revision of settlement should be based only on three speci- fied grounds viz. increase of the cultivated area, improvements executed by the state and the rise of prices. There can be no doubt that if these principles could be carried out without any undue sacrifice of the general revenues there would result considerable agricultural prosperity. The incalculable mis- chief caused by the periodical revision of settlement was pointed out to the liecretary of State by Sir AuckLmd Colviu and after a good deal of correspondence the important principles stated above obtained the recognition of the India Office. No fiscal charges were introduced during the current year and though the Indian treasur}^ had to make an iniquitous con- tribution of £797,000 towards the expenses of the Egyptian War, the finances of the country exhibited a surplus without an}^ fresh loans or additional taxation. The wdieat trade of the country was sought to be stimulated by reducing the railway freight between the two great wheat marts of Upper India, viz., Delhi and Agra and Bombay. General Events. — Sir John Morris retired this year from the Chief Commissionership, of the Central Provinces after 15 years' rule during which he did much solid and useful work, being succeeded by Mr. W. B. Jones. The rising of the Akas on the North-Eastern frontier led to the despatch of a small punitive expedition which suppressed the rebellion in a short time. The lleport of the Education (.^mmission which was a masterly document was referred to the Local Governments and Administrations with a view to takiiiartment and recommended the establishment in each Province of a Board on the model of the Central bureau. Lord Kipon could not carry out to tlio fullest extent the principle of a remission of state demand in bad years and though ho was actuated in this matter by the Sincerest sympathy with the Indian ryot he could only pre- scribe a sliding system of suspension, the successful working of which would depend in a great measure on the honesty and efficiency of the subordinate staff. In the matter of conferring the boon of Local Solf-Gov(;rnment, Lord Ripon Avas acting in the spirit of those eminent statesmen, who had laid down in the earlier years of British rule the principle that England was not in India merely for the purpose of col- lecting taxes and giving security to life and property but for a higher and nobler purpose, the regeneration of a fallen people. • INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 211 Though v.irions Local Governments did their best to mini- mize the boon conferred by the Supreme Government, history- must give Lord Ripon the credit of having widely extended the principle which had been to some extent recognized by Sir Charles Trevelyan's minute in the matter of the appoint- ment of Honorary Magistrates in 1862 — a principle which in the fulness of time would admit the natives of India to a fair share in the administration of their own affairs. Lord Ripon had introduced this system and it was left to his successors to develope it with care. The mass of evidence elicited by the Education Commission placed before the public an interesting amount of facts and information with reference to that im- portant problem and the Government came to the decision that with reference to secondary education the efforts of tlid state should be confined to the development of the grant-in-aid system. Lord Ripon also perceived the injustice of saddling the Indian taxpayer with the maintenance of the Christian Church but his enlightened action in this matter was nullified by the strong opposition of his colleagues in the Council. We have already referred in detail to the legislative measures of his administration and we need not repeat our remarks here. Sufficient it is to say that His Lordship's views had alvvayfj been to secure the real welfare of the ruled. In this noble work His Lordship had to work almost single-handed. He was deserted by those whose duty it was to have given loyal support to him and when His Lordship took up this noble work he little thought of the appalling obstacles in his way. His administration convinced the people of India that a Viceroy however strong he may be in his own convictions and in the justice of his policy, can not ride roughshod over the views, the opinions and the protests of those who claim administrative experience, who are aftcT all the real rulers of the people placed under their charge and who are not disposed to acqui- esce in any material alterations in the system of administratioa pursued up to date. The noble policy of Lord Ripon and his 212 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. noble utterances, enthronoil l»im in the eternal gratitude of the Indian people and though the actual and net results, His liOrdrihip could acooinjdish, were but little, his Indian subjects clearly recognized the efforts tiiat he had inad« on their behalf, the great difficulties in his way and they did not hesitate to accord to hiui the highest honors. History will recognize in him a ruler of the highest conscientiousness and of the noblest aims, though ho lacked the practical turn of mind to reconcile conflicting: interests. A friend to all that was hiirh and noble, he made the peoi)lo of India feel that tiiey ought really to be ruled in their highest interest and in the spirit of those pledges which their gracious Sovereign had given to them on a memorable occasion. The Earl of Dufferin — The Marquis of Ripon laid down the reins of office on the 13th of December and on the same dav the Indian millions passed under a new ruler the Earl of Dufferin. His Lordship who had succeeded to the family title and estates while yet a minor had been for some rears a lord-in-waiting on the Queen and an attache to Loi\i John Russel's mission to Vienna. As Under-Secretary for Indian affairs from 1804 to 18G6, he had been initiated into the mys- teries of Indian administration under Lord Halifax and had ample oi)portunities of studying Indian questions from a stand- point favourable to the Indian people. He held the Governor- ship of (Canada from 1872 to 1878 where he was universally pronounced to have been a successful administrator. He had been British Commissioner in Syria to en/JiV HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 215 formation, enabled him to pursue with the highest success a career which has been and will be pursued with more or less success by hundreds of his countrymen. In a country, situated like the India of to-day with diverse and conflicting interests, his perfect balance of judgment enabled him to discharge the dithcult and delicate duties of the lea;auized as best it might be under the circumstances. The administra- tion of the country was conducted also in a manner which could not fail to make the British name unpopular among peaceable and law-abiding citizens. The administrative stuff" for Upper Burniah was hastily recruited from among officers of but little training and experience and tho correspondent of the Times had to point out their miadeeds iu many cases iu the strongest language. In places INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 225 wliich wero adiniuistcreJ by tried officers of the British Com- missioii in luJia, the work weut on with smoothuess but in the case of the greater part of the country, high-handed and illegal proceedings were to a great extent rife. Tlie situa- tion in Burniah had rendered military operations on a large scale necessary and Sir Herbert Macpherson was sent there with a large body of reinforcements. The original estimate of the cost of annexation had been thirty lakhs. This estimate was largely exceeded and although some members of the House of Commons urged England to bear a share of the burdens as Burmah had been annexed solely in the interests of British trade and the Indian interests had benefited but little by that step, Sir John Gorst declared that the decision of Mr. Gladstone's Government as to throwing the entire cost of the operations on India must be considered final. The historian must record with regret the undeniable fact that England had never done financial justice to India. She has thrown upon the unrepresented and dumb millions of this country all the charges which she possibly could. The poor Indian tax-payer has even now to pay the charges relating to the Brittanic Majesty's establishments in Persia and China although these establishments are under the control of the Home Foreign office and the Government of India has nothing whatever to do with them. If the adjustment of charges between Eng- land and India had always been made on principles of equity and justice, the financial condition of the country would have been far different from what it unfortunately now is. Mute and Helpless India does not even now meet with justice at the hands of that great nation which under the orderings of providence, is the final arbiter of its destinies. The work of the pacification of Upper Burmah proved a long and tedious one and continued through the succeeding year. Afghan Affairs. — The Russian Commissioner for the pur- poses of the delimitation of the Afghan frontier did not arrive for a considerable period and while Sir Peter Lumsden was 29 220 jjyniAA' nisronr of our own times. waiting for that functionary the Russian troops under General Koniaroff advanced first to Pul-i-Khatuin on the Hari Uud and then successively to Sari Yazi on the Murghub, the the Ztilfikar Pass, Akrobat and Pul-i-khisti close to the junc- tion of the Murghub and the Hari liud. Tlve British Govern- ment remonstrated and demanded that while the delimitation had not yet been carried out the Russian troops should b© ordered back. The Russian cabinet refused to agree to this demand and only conceded that pending the deliniitatioa there should bo no further advance on either side. Within a few days however of this agreement which was concluded in the middle of March, there was a fight between the Afghans and the Russians and General Komaroff had seized and occu- pied Panjdeh. This act was universally considered to be one of unprovoked aggression and extensive military preparations were made both iu England and India for the war between England and Russia which appeared imminent. The Army Corps in India were placed on a war footing and a vote of credit of eleven aillions sterling was granted by the House of Commons without a division. The Government of Mr. Gladstone how- ever soon came to an arrangement with the cabinet at St. Petersburg which provided that Russia should give up Zulfikar to the Amir, continue in possession of the territories she had seized and the territory which Russia at first claimed as a neutral zone she should obtain in her own right with an acknowledged title to possession. Its foreign policy was the weakest point of Mr. Gladstone's administration but this ar- rangement was simply a surrender, or as some characterized it, even worse, a capitulation. Russia having thus gained an important point appointed CjIouoI Kuhlbjrg to meet Sir West Ridgeway who hari been placed at tlu) head of the Boundary Commission in succession to Sir Peter Lumsden and the deli- mitation work proceeded slowly. While the excitement continued of an im[)endiiig war between England aud Russia there was a spontaneous outburst of loyalty from one corner of India to IJ^DIAI!^ HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 227 the other, and the Feudatory princes vied with each other in placing the resources of their states at the disposal of the Paramount power while loyal offers of being allowed to serve their country as volunteers went up from all sections of the Indian people. The war party in Ras:iia has always a favorite theory to rely upon viz., that the Indian people are discontent- ed with British rule and tho appearance of the Russians ou the Afghan frontier would be the signal for a general internal rising in India. That this theory was entirely false and groundless was proved to demonstration by the genuine feel- ings of loyalty so conspicuously displayed by the princes and people of India. There can be no doubt that though the British Government must have like all human institutions, many defects, the subject race s in India feel that it is the best foreign government they are likely to have and they have every thing to lose and nothing to gain by a change of masters. The offers of the Feudatory princes were accepted not in the shape of pecuniary help but of a stated number of well-trained troops capable of taking their pi ace by the side of the Imperial troops while unfortunately the loyal offers of the people in the matter of volunteering were considered inadmissible. The Finances — Sir Auckland Colvin in laying his budget for 1885-86 before the public pointed out, that the revenues of the Empire were but barely sufficient to meet the current expenditure and that any extraordinary burdens would have to be met from other sources. Lord Randol})h chnichill iu laying this budget before the House of Commons a few mouths Liter announced that] the abnormal expenditure consequent on war preparations had completely upset the calculations of the Finance Minister. The frontier railways and the war expendi- ture had amounted to 4^ millions of which o^ millions were bor- rowed in England and the remainder provided by cutting down the allotments for public works and by other retrenchments. Lord Churchill stated that the outlook of the Indian finances was far from what it ought to be, and that if the Conservatives remained 22S l.VDTAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. in oflSce next year tliey would ask the Parliament for the appoiat- ment of a Commission into the working of the Government of ladia since 1858. The increasing difficulties of the situation in Central Asia had made the permanent addition of ten thousand effective troops to the European Garrison and of twenty thousand men to the Native Army, thus adding, together with the cost of the strategic railways on the frontier, two millions permanently to the military expenditure of the Indian Empii'e. This permanent increase in the military charges led the authorities to think of increasing the burdens of the people and Lord R. Churchill in his budget speech indicated that the now tax would take the shape of an extension of the license tax to the official and professional classes. This idea was an old one and Lord Lytton and Sir John Strachey had actually in- troduced a bill with this object in view. But the outcry that had been raised by the influential classes to be affected by the proposed measure led the Government to abandon it. On the 4th January 188G, Sir Auckland Colvin introduced a bill which proposed to levy an Income Tax of four pies per rupee on all incomes of Rs. 500 and upwards and of five pies per rupee on incomes above Rs. 2,000 a year. This tax was to extend to incomes of all and every kind excepting income from agricul- ture but not excepting funded stocks. Sir Auckland Colvin ex- plained in a masterly speech the circumstances which had led to this taxation, but did not meet the objections which had been advanced against this particular form of taxation. Lord Dufterin explained in an able and sympathetic speech that a deficit had been caused and that provision must be made for it. The history of direct taxation in ludia had proved the utter unsuitability of this form of taxation in India. Lord Canning had been so much convinced of the discontent that the rogueries of the subordi- nate officials engaged in collecting the income tax spread through the land, that he remarked that ho would gladly govern India with 40,000 European troops without these taxes than with 100,000, with them. Mr, Samuel Laing, had emphatically INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWJ^ TIMES. 229 placed on record that that while the good policy of tho British rulers had gone a great way to conciliate the Indian people the practical difficulties in the way of the assessment and collection of the income-tax had been making British rule unpopular with the people. During that animated debate which took place on the Income tax in the Council of Lord Mayo, Mr. John Inglia had boldly and fearlessly exposed the evils arising from the Income-tax, evils the existence of which was practically admit- ted with reference to the territories under his rule by Sir William Muir. Lord Mayo, we have it on the authority of Sir William Hunter, had placed it on record, just before starting on the fatal trip to the Andamaus, that the income-tax had well- nigh beceme a source of political danger. Lord Northbrook had in the first year of his administration collected a mass of evidence on the practical working of the income-fax which clearly showed that great hardships were inflicted on the people in the matter of the working of the income-tax. It is an un- fortunate fact too well-known that the proper machinor}^ for the honest and conscientious working of such a tax, cannot be secured in this country, and that the subordinate officials are but too prone to harass for their own purposes those who are not liable to the tax and for whose welfare the Government shows such praiseworthy solicitude. The protests against the measure, of important public bodies were unheeded and the suggestions that had been made for the re-imposition of the import duties were hardly considered practicable. The bill was passed with the assurance from the Viceroy that a Finance Committee would be appointed to examine all branches of ex- penditure and to effect savings where possible so as to obviate the necessity of making this impost exist longer than absolutely necessary. The Committee was shortly after appointed with Sir Charles Elliott as President and Sir Henry Cunningham, Sir William Hunter, Mr. Mahadeo Gobind Ranade, Mr. Westland, Mr. Hardie Mr. Bliss and Col. Filgate as members. The field before the Committee was vast. Its jurisdiction extended over 230 ryniAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. expenditure in all deparlments. Imperial and Provincial not excluding the Army. The Committee was to assemble at Simla hold conferences with heads of departments when necessary and submit its report early in the cold weather of 1886. Gemer\l Eve>jts. — In the early part of the year there wai held a conference at Rawul Pindi between Lord DuiFerin and the Amir Abdur Rahman, in which the Afghan Chief dis- tinctly gave the British Government to understand that the Afghan people would not tolerate the presence of the English on Afghan soil even as allies and that the only help that could be accepted was money arms and ammunition. This conference led to a better understanding between the two Powers, and con- vinced Lord Dufferin that constant interference in the affairs of Afghanistan would make an honest alliance between the Afghans and the English almost impossible. The despatch of Colonel Lockhart's mission tended to place the defences of the Empire on a sound footing in the case of a Russian invasion from Gilgit or Chittral. On the death of Maharaja Runbir Singh the British Officer on special duty at Kashmir was con- verted into a Resident with full powers to interfere in the ad- ministration of the State although Sir Henry Hardinge had given a solemn pledge to Golab Singh that no Resident would be imposed on the State. Lord Canning had promised that the fortress of His Highness, ancestors should be restored to Maharajah Scindiah when no longer required for the safety of the Empire. This promise had been confirmed by successive Viceroys but it was reserved for Lord Dufferin to do this act of justice to the Maharajah. The effect of this graceful act was to a considerable extent marred by His Highness being comi)clled to pay a heavy compensation for it. His Highness Maharajah Scindiah had been administering some of the most fertile lands in India under his charge with conspicuous success during a long reign. His habit of doing every important business of the State in person, his proper appreciation of the cares and the duties of a responsible ruler, the economic way INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 231 in which the administration was carried on, which always left at his disposal a large annual surplus, his choice of wise minis- ters, his personal interest in the army of the state had made Gwalior a model kingdom with a prosperous treasury and a contented people. This year will also remain memorahle for having witnessed the project for the supply of medical aid to the women of India. The project which was taken up by the Countess of Dufiferin sought to remove the grievances of the women of India by the supply, through an association, of trained female medical aid and by imparting medical tuition to the female population of India. It was a well-known fact that the Indian women owing to their habitual modesty would not freely seek for medical aid at the hands of the male prac- titioners, and the association which starting under the patro- nage of the Countess of DufFerin was largely supported by the Indian princes, nobility and gentry has done an immense amount of good work from year to year. The question of the employment of the Maliomedans in the public service engaged the early attention of Lord Duiferin who from his experience of Islam in Syria, Egypt and Turkey was peculiarly well-fitted to deal with it. From the statistics collected through careful inquiry it was found that the complaint of the Mahomedans of not getting a fair proportion of the appointments of the public service had no foundation in Madras, Central Provinces and Northern India and that in Bengal and Bombay the Maho- medans suffered because appointments were determined by strict educational tests. The Mahomedans were given to understand that Persian could not be revived as the official laneuage of the country and that they should qualify themselves by high education for the appointmeuts which they sought. Sir Charles Aitcliison signalized his administration by appointing Pandit Ram Narain, a native of the Punjab to an officiating seat on the bench of the (Uiief Court. Bengal suffered from several natural visitations. There was a famine in the Burdwaa division, the floods caused great destruction to life and property 232 IX D FAN HISTORY OF OUR OWS TIMES. in sovoral districts and a terrible stormwave and cyclone swept over Central Orissa causing extensive damage. The close monopoly that still existed in the N. W. Provinces and Oudh in the case of the Subordinate Executive service for men of the Amlu class was a fruitful source of administrative evils. It has been very tritely observed that one who breathed the corrupt atmosphere of amladom all his life would not sud- denly turn an honest man because his pay and status had been raised. This class of officers, having little or nothing in the way of English education as their equipment in life might prosess native energy and natural talents but cannot in these progressive days prove equal to the duties and responsibilities created by a complex state of society. Lord Reay the new Governor of Bombay created a very favourable impression by his sensible action in the case of Broach riots, the railway incidents and the working of the Forest Laws in the Tanna District. Lord Duiferin introduced an important departure in the matter of the education of the " poor white '' by making it obligatory to recognize passing by the standard in their case as equivalent to passing the Entrance Examination of the Calcutta aud the Punjab Universities. The reason assigned for this step was that the Entrance examination was not suffi- cient practical. Lord Dufferin passed the Bengal Tenancy Act in spite of the strong opposition of the Bengal Zamin- dars. His Lordship had not had sufficient time to study the ques- tion hut he accepted the conclusions of his constituted advisers and gave his assent to a measure, which to say the least ought to have been grounded upon more complete statistical informa- tion about the rural economy of Bengal. It is indeed too early to discuss the practical results of the law. It will takes many years to show whether it stands approved or condemned by the light which practical working throws on its provisions. The Indian tax-payers had to bear the costs of the Indian contingents that were despatched to Suakim. The Under Secretary of State in proposing that Indian troops bo despatched INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 235 to Siiakim added tliat they should still be on the Indian estab- lishment with a view to throw theif ordinary expenses on the Indian exchequer. For the first time in the history of this country, a native of India Mr. Lai Mohua Ghose songlit the suffrages of the British constituency of Deptford at the General Election and although he was defeated he secured a very large measure of sympathy and support at the hands of his electorate. Several Indian delegates visited England with a view to influ- ence the British electors to induce their members to take a lively interest in Indian affairs, A new guaranteed company was formeil in England under the name of the Indian Midland Railway Company which found some difficulties in the way of getting the necessary capital in the English market. It was evident that with the British capitalists the investment in Indian railwaj-s, was not at all popular and even with the Government guarantee the Indian railways could not attract capital with the same rapidity as many other foreign invest- ments. A large amount of English capital is annually wasted in a variety of worthless and fraudulent investments but the English capitalist would not invest a rupee in Indian railways without a Government guarantee. ISir Donald Stewart retired from his office as Commander-in-Chief of India before the expiry of his term, having accepted a seat in the India Council and being succeeded by Sir Frederic Roberts. Upon General Hoberts devolved from the very commencement of his career in this office, the task of placing the frontier defences of India on a proper footing. A systematic chain of forts and military outposts were established on the N. W. frontier and strategic railways and other ready means of of transport were also under- taken on an extensive scale. There can be no question but that the Government of India would be neo-lectinoj its leo-iti- o o o mate duty if it did not do all it could to be always in readiness for that collision beyond the Indus which seems inevitable in the course of time and although these defences cost India an enormous sum, her people would feel their utility in times of SO 2S4 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. danger should ever any such come. The National Congress — The closing week of 1885 saw the birth of that useful organization known as the National Congress, which is the first beginning of an informal Indian Parliament and where many of the representative men of every part of the country meet and deliberate on political questions of common interest. The different seotions of the Indian people had long been divided by everything that can separate man from man, but under the blessed influences of English education, common feelings and sentiments had been growing up. Several years before the actual assembling of the National Congress the idea of such a gathering where the enlightened men of all parts of the country would meet for purposes of common good and submit proposals to Government, in a res- pectful manner for such reforms and improvements, as they considered necessary had been entertained by the wisest minds. During the last week of December 18^5, the first of such gatherings took place in Bombay under the auspices of the enlightened leaders of public opinion of that city, and presided over by a distinguished barrister of Calcutta Mr. W. C. Bonnerji. The unique spectacle was witnessed of representa- tives from many parts of the Bombay and the Madras Presi- dencies and from some of the great towns of the Bengal Presi- dency laying aside their petty differences, and putting their shoulders to the wheel as one man for the benefit of their com- mon motherland. The Congress was the beginning of a new era in the history of Modern India. It represented the first efforts of an ancient nation regenerated under the noble influ- ences of western civilization, to work out its own improvement and to strive loyally and constitutionally for the full and free enjoyment of those privileges, a capacity for which had been developed during a century of British rule. If it be the true function of history to delineate every change in the feelings and condition of the people, the historian cannot but attach sufficient importance to the Congress, its work and its methods. CHAPTER VIII. 1886. Political aspects of the country, — The Burmese who had been keeping up a sort of guerrilla warfare made the work of pacification of Upper Burmah as distant as ever. The pecu- liar geographical features of the country, its dense forests and its hilly regions made the work of the dacoits an easy one and the British Military and police had a very difficult task in the way of tracking out the culprits. The work of introducing British administrative machinery in the comparatively simple state of society existing in Upper Burmah, and of settling down the disorderly population to habits of peace and industry was a difficult one and required the utmost tact and energy of many British Officials. The annexation had revealed the fact that nearly twice the amount of the original estimate for the Burmese war would be necessary for the pacification of the country and the throwing of the whole burden on the Indian treasury introduced a disturbing element into the Indian finances. Two important chiefs of Feudatory India who descended from Maharatta warriors had displayed great administrative abili- ties, died during this year. Jayaji Rao Scindiah died leaving a minor son who was placed on the throne under a council it Regency, of which Sir Ganput Rao Khudkey the trusted Prime Minister of the late Chief, was the President. Under the treaty concluded with Maharajah Scindiah last year, the fort and town of Morar were evacuated. The Gwalior territo- ries were to be administered by the Council of Regency during the minority of the young Chief and the Council was to act in consultation with the Resident in all important matters of State. The death of Maharajah Tukaji Holkar placed his eldest son Bala Saheb on the throne who began his administration by iuitiating many useful reforms. The late Maharajah Holkar 23G INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. was always unliappy for the suspiciors which the Foreign Office entertained with reference to his loyalty during the Mutiny. He had tried repeatedly to vindicate his reputation by re-opening the question and proving that the charges brought against him by the then Resident Colonel Durand were groundless. But His Highness had never succeeded in his endeavours even though Lord Ripon had expressed himself at one time willing to rehear the case. The career of these Maharatta chieftains plainly showed that they could in the present altered times display that wisdom in consolidating their rule and administering their territories according to civilized principles that their ancestors could exhibit in the exciting scenes of the field of battle. His Highness the Maha- rajah of Kashmir paid a visit to the Viceroy in Calcutta in the early part of the year and he returned to his territories deeply impressed with tlie necessity of introducing reforms in many departments of administration. With the advice and assistance of his able Finance Minister Babu Nilambar Mooker- ji, he aholished many odious taxes and obnoxious imposts and effected many important changes in the revenue and judicial systems. These reforms naturally excited the opposition of those who profited by those abuses and of officials of the old school who did not appreciate the noble motives which dictated the new policy and these persons soon succeeded in gaining a complete ascendancy over the Maharajah and thwarting the much-needed reforms. Finding that it would be difficult to discharge conscientiously the duties of his high post Baba Nilamber Mookerji tendered his resignation which was reluc- tantly accepted by his master. During a career of nearly twenty years Babu Nilamher Mookerji had evinced the capa- city of an educated native of Bengal for the practical conduct of affairs in the highest and most difficult situations of public life, and though he at last found his way beset with difficult- ies through the intrigues which formed a chief factor in oriental Courts, his long and useful services to the Kashmir ^tute had INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMf^S. 237 made it mucli Lettpr in many respects than it was when ho first joined its service. Some excitement was created by the sudden deportation of Dhnlip Singh to Europe when on his way to India. Dhulip Singh had obtained the permission of the authorities to return to India but he had done many foolisli things when setting out on his journey and for pohtical reasons it was thought expedient to stop him at Aden. He might have been allowed to lead a quiet life somewhere in Southern India but the Government resorted to very vigorous measures •with reference to him. The despatch of the Lockhart mission created grave misgivings in Russia. The Muscovite suspected the English of aiming at the occupation of Badakshan, a sus- picion wholly unfounded. The results of the Lockhart mis- sion were to recognize the political importance of Chittral which was just on the south of some of the most important Himalayan passes and the occupation of Dir a small Pa than state by the son of the Chittral Chief. The work of the Delimitation Commission proceeded smoothly as far as Dukchi and the remaining thirty-one miles of frontier, will, it was announced, be settled between the two Cabinets, the joint Commission being in the meanwhile withdrawn. Russia claimed Wakhan to be Non-Afghan territory but the English Cabinet expressed its determination to support Afghanistan in case Russia laid claim to Wakhan. The negotiations with reference to the Afghan frontier were reopened at the close of the year between Sir West Ridgeway and M. Lessar in London. The complications with China at one time assumed a threatening aspect, and the British Government had to make two important concessions. The shadowy claims of China to suzerainty over Upper Burmah were recognized by agreeing to send tribute missions from Mandalay to Pekin at prescribed intervals and the Tibhet mission which had already cost the Indian treasury a large sum of money was countermanded. China at the same time consented to give substantial facilities between India and Thibet and Burmah and China. The question of the exact 238 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. boiimlaries between China, and Buiniali was not definitely settled at this time. Risings in Afghanistan plainly showed that the hold that Abdur Rahman had on Afghanistan was yet far from complete. The sons of the late Mush-Ki-Alam who had besieged General Roberts at Sherpur in 1879 led the rising but it was speedily suppressed. The Ghilzai tribe who aided this revolt was severely punished. General Events. — The Houses of Parliament being too busy over the Irish question the attention paid to India was small. This Select Committee for enquiring into the admini- stration of India came to an unexpested end. The Upper House selected 15 members and sent a message to the Lower House to appoint their Committee. Mr. Gladstone had taken but little interest in this matter and the motion being strongly opposed was thrown out. The debate on the Opium traffic had become an almost annual institution. Opium traffic •was attacked with the arguments, as to its immorality and as to the wickedness of corrupting the Chinese. The debate came to nothing but it was pointed out by Sir Richard Temple that as long as the Chinese were bent upon using opium it was far better that they should use the first-rate Indian article than the secoad-rate indigenous one, and Mr. Lewis Mclver justly remarked that if the British people wanted to be virtuous by suppressing an immoral traffic it must be done at the cost of the British tax-payer and the loss to the Indian revenues must be made good. The Indo-Colonial Exhibition which was held in London this year revealed to the common public of England the vast material resources of India. Her Majesty took the deepes interest in the [ndian Court and In the Hindustani craftsmen who had been taken to the Exhibition. The frequent changes in the Ministry at home led to the seal of the India office constantly changing hands. "When Lord Salisbury formed his administration Sir Richard Cross was appointed to the India Office with a peerage, with Sir John Gorst as Parlia- mentary uuder-secretary. Sir Alfred Lyall signalized hia IlfDIAJ^ HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 239 tenure of office by establishing a Legislative Council for the N, W. P. and Oudh and his term was extended by six months for the purpose of enabling him to complete the arrangements of a separate Univesity for the United Provinces. The ques- tion of a separate University had been discussed for a consi- derable number of years since the time of Sir AViiliam Muir. The grounds set forth for a separate University were that the high officers of the Government of those provinces had no voice in the deliberations of the Senate, that special and local requirements were never brought to the notice of the governing body, that the Calcutta University framed its rules in utter disregard of such peculiarities, that the North-West students felt the hardship of being compelled to come to Calcutta and had not the privilege of that encouragement which an assembly like the Convocation imparts to the student mind. The Calcutta University had tried to meet these objections as far as possible and had empowered the Lieutenant-Governor of the N. W. P. to hold a convocation at Allahabad for his own territories ; but still a separate University was thought to be a necessity by the official world and Mr. Quinton introduced a bill for the establishment of an University at Allahabad. The bill showed one improvement in allowing a certain number of Fellows of the University to be elected by the Senate and and approved of by the Chancellor. Sir Alfred Lyall in open- ing the University said that it was a step towards the recogni- tion of the principle of self-government although it was apparent that the University was to all intents and purposes a department of the Government. He also explained that in the existing state of things a teaching university was not possible in India. Many of the independent organs of public opinion looked on the whole project with great misgivings and regarded it merely as a means for lowering the standard of high educa- tion which the N. W. P. officials could not do as long as a separate University did not exist. It is evident however that the real reason why education is yet backward in the United 210 IN D I Ay niSTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. provinces lies in the fact that educate J natives do not get there the same encouragement that they did in the older })rovinces. In Bengal from the time of Sir Henry Hardinge preference is given to English-educated. natives in the choice of all official preferments, but in the United provinces, until very lately the most important offices under the Government, open to natives of India, were filled by uneducated men of the old school while the graduates w^ere pining for want of employ- ment. The average graduate in every country looks to educa-* tion not for its higher blessings but for its material advantages. Until very lately the men of the old school without any tinc- ture of English education were thought fit for the most res- ponsible duties in the United Provinces but happily there is now a change for the better. The theory of social weight was often used to give preference to aristoratic mediocrities and to shut out the educated natives, and it was often forgotten that a oood social position did not compensate for the absence of educational qualifications. The closing year of the administra- tion of Sir M. E. Grant Duff was characterized by many scandals. He was succeeded by the Hou'ble Mr. Bourke brother of Lord Mayo, who was shortly after elevated to the peerage under the title of Lord ('onuemara. The most import- ant administrative measure of the year was the appointment of the Public Service Commission to examine the conditions un- der which natives of India could be admitted to the higher posts in the public service and after considering the whole question in the light of the materials at hand to submit their recommendations with some degree of finality. The Commission ■was presided over by Sir Charles Aitchison and with him was associated an English lawyer in the person of Sir Charles Turner. The Government of India declared in their resolu- tion that any scheme for the admission of Indians to higher employment in the public service to be entirely satisfactory ■would require Parliamentary legislation. The Commission was coldly received by the native press and Lord Dufferiu warmly INDIAN niSTORl' OF OUR OTO TIMFS. 241 rof(3n'e(l to this su1)ieet in his reply to the address of the Puna Sarvajaiiic Sahha. Tlie Public Service Coiuuiission comineaced its sittings lit Lahore on the 15th December and proceeded on to other oreat towns to collect evidence. Lord Duflferhi also took into consideration the question of jail manufactures. The Government of Lidia conciirred in the views expressed by the Prison conference of 1877 that jail lal)our should in the first i)lace be applied to the production of those articles which were necessary for the various State departments and that jail labour should be interfered with only where it was manifest that by the competition of jail labour private trade was being interfered with. The Excise question engaged the attention of the Bengal Government. The question of combining a maximum of revenue with a minimum of consumption had always been a difficult one to solve and the Bengal Govern- ment had appointed a commission to enquire into the results and practical working of its excise policy, Eiiect was given to some of the recomendatious of the Excise Commission and central distilleries were re-established at some of the larger towns. The Commisson had recommended that stills should be grouped outside the inhabited parts of the town and that care should be taken in selecting the place for the shops within the town, hut the Bengal Government did not think any such stringent orders to be necessary. The efficiency of the excise staff was considerably increased and all shops were pro- hibited under heavy penalties from selling liquor to children under 12 years of age and ordered to be closed at nightfall. The Education Commission had recommended the policy of the gradual withdrawal of Government from higher education leaving the work to enlightened public spirit where practicable. In pursuance of this recommendation the Bengal Government announced its intention of closing the Berhampur and the IMidnapur Colleges unless arrangements had been made before the first of May 1887, for the transfer of their management to local bodies. These two important provincial towns were 242 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OW^ TIMES. able to take charge of their colleges thus fulfilling in one im- portant respect the expectations of those who had introduced the present system of high education in India. The munific- ence of that noble lady Maharani Surnomoyee C. I. of Cossiin- hazar, which had already shown itself in substantial donations to works of public utility, was chiefly instrumental not only in keeping up the Berhampur College to the standard of its former eflficiency but of still further increasing its useful- ness. The question of techincal education engaged the atten- tion of the Government but nothing was practically done to spread this useful branch of knowledge. The Finance Com- mittee occupied itself mainly with the revision of the provincial contracts and recommended large reductions in the provincial assignments. The Finances of the Empire were hardly in a hopeful condition. The Revised Estimates for 1885-86 exhi- bited a deficit of nearly 3 millions while the Budget Estimates for 1886-87 showed a small surplus of £182,200. Sir Auck- land Colvin announced that the only hope for a better state of things lay in the fact that the Government of India had been able to press the silver question, which had permanently crippled the resources of the Indian Empire, upon the atten- tion of the English Cabinet which had promised to appoint a Royal Commission to enquire into the matter. The real solu- tion of the silver difficulty lay in the hands of the powers of Europe and the United States. Unless by the combined action of those powers, the demand for silver vastly increased, there was no hope of the relative values of gold and silver being adjusted to the advantage of India. The large annual pay- ments in gold which India has to make introduces large fluc- tuations in her accounts even if the rupee were to fall by a trifling fraction of a penny. An important measure was passed this year by the Supreme Council with the object of amending the Oudh Rent Act of 1868. The present act provided that all tenants in Oudh would have a statutory right of occupation for seven years at the rate which they were paying at the last INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES, 213 settlement and that tlio landlords could enhance at the end of tliat period at the rate of one anna per rupee or 6| per cent. Thus occupancy rights were intoduced in full force in Oudh although Sir Henry Davies had reported during the adminis- tration of Lord Lawrence that they did not exist there in any shape. It was openly asserted that this bill was a violatiou of the engagements of Lord Canning with the Talukdar class. The compromise of 18G8 provided that the Government v/ould not claim occu[)aucy rights on behalf of the Oudh tenants. The peace of the country was slightly disturbed by serious riots between the Hindus and the Mahomedans, at Etawah Delhi, Umballa and other places. The question of imprison- ment for debt was discussed in connection with Mr. Hbert's bill abolishing imprisonment for debt. The bill was strongly opposed, it being pointed out that imprisonment was often the only means to make a dishonest debtor pay and persons who by secret deeds had transferred the legal ownership of their estates to others while in ostensible possession of property on the credit of which they might take large advances, deserved the condign punishment of imprisonment. The press unanimously thought that the gradual abolition of imprisonment for debt would make the execution of money decrees almost impossible^ The sad condition of the imported coolies in Assam excited great attention. Poor and ignorant, they were often made the victims of wily recruiters, and made to enter into contracts the terms of which they did not understand. In many cases their treatment in the tea-gardens furnished the cause for just com- miseration. The necessity for amending Act I of 18S2, which regulated the importation of labour into Assam was forcibly pointed out by the advocates of the voiceless coolies. The National Congress. — The National Congress met in the closing week of the year in Calcutta, and delegates duly chosen from many of the most important cities of all parts of India came down at considerable expense and personal self- sacrifice to respond to the call of duty to their native country. 2U mDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OT]'T TIMES, f^nch an assemblage ^Ya3 the proudest monimiont of British rule and would have been impossible under a Yudliistir, an Asoka or an Akber, The men that were engaged in this good work, ^Yere, to use Lord Beaeousfields expression, all men of light and leading, the flower of India's intellectual aristocrac3% men who have proved the stuft" of which they were maih? l)y pushing themselves to the front in. the acti^■e struggle of life and wdio were not the mere accidents of birth. They were wel- comed by that ri[)e scholar and anticjuarian of European re[)U- tation, liajali R:ijendralala Mitra who saw in this assembly the realization of his life-long dream that the scattered units of his race might some day coalesce and live as a nation. The deliberations of the Congress were presided over by tho eminent economist and veteran publicist of Bombay Mr. Dada- bhai Naoroji under whose guidance the work of the Cougi'ess was conducted in a thoroughly practical and business-liko manner. In the resolutions adopted b}' the Congress the fore- most place was given to the reform and reconstitutiou of the Legislative Councils. The changes advocated by the Congress with reference to the Councils were of two sorts, functional and structural. Tlie functional changes demanded were that the yearly budgets be laid before the Legislative Councils for discussion and that the right of interpellation be conceded to the meniliers. In the first of these demands the Congress was supported by almost the entire body of enlightened public opinion in the country. The right of interpellation is enjoyed by members of the Ceylon Legislative Council and had been conceded l)y Lord Dalhousie to the Legislative Council of 1854: when it was withdrawn owing to its abuse by certain l]uro[)ean members. The Congress ex[)ressly exempted from inter[)ella- tion all subjects connected with tlie army, the foreign policy of the State and the dealings with Local Governments and also reserved the right of the Executive to with-hold an answer for State reasons. The structural changes advocated Avere that the proportion of non-official niombers bo raised from a third iXDiAX firs TORY OF oun ow,v rniES. 2iry to a luilf and tliat the cloctiNC [iriiiciiilc 1)(> iiitroduccd. It \\\\.^ at once rocoi!;ai/,cd that under tlu^ cxisrini^ circumstances a coni[»l(.'to re[)resontatioii ot" the people^ in the ('ounciis was iin- practicahlo but it \viis uuiversall)- t'eir that the nomination systoni altlioui'li in same cases it liad "iveii us extremely good men to re|)r(>sent our interests, did not ail'ord that enaranteo for the indepenihMicc of t!i(^ non-oHieial members which an elective system did. The solution of this problem is an extremely ditKcult one /. f\ that of getting at an organizaiii^n which would return to the Councils, members who cotdd fully re[)resent all sections of the community. The proposal for the separation of the judicial from the Executive branch of the administration, was in Lord Duft'erin's words, a counsel of perfection in the carrying out of which some extra cost, and some decrease in the present powers and privileges of Magistrates and Collectors were necessary. The other resolutions of the Con- gress dealt with the removal of the restrictions that pressed hard in the case of the natives of India with reference to the Covenanted appointments, the extension of trial by jury into non-jury districts, of giving finality to verdicts of juries, the desirability of permitting natives of India to enlist as volun- teers and other questions of [lublic interest. In the discussion of these matters " the stalwart Sikh, the sturdy Pathan, the proud Rajput, the iiardy Maharatta, the amiable Madrasi and the versatile Parsi mixed freely with the sons of Bent>-al in brotherly emulation to serve their mother land and the good feeling that prevailed was all that could be desired. " The Congress was looked upon with different feelings by its uumorons critics. It was recognized that the English Go- vernment by its beneficent policy had "reared up a great educated class, nurturing them in the doctrines of English liberty, grounding them in the work of administration, dis- ciplining them by the practical teaching of local self-govern- ment, admitting them to some of the highest offices of the State and publicly consulting them ou every large legislative measure, 246 IlVDIAN history OF OUR OWy TIMES. and this powerful class thns exercised and inured to the duties of British citizenship, now asked to be more fully associated in the work of British rule. The duty of the Government was to accept this new order of things, to recognize frankly the changed aspect of the country and to provide means for the requirements of the times. But other critics spoke of tlio Congress and its work in a different spirit altogether. The claim of the educated classes to represent the masses was en- tirely denied. This argument however would not bear examina- tion. The educated classes have always been recognized by the Government to be the interpreters of the feelings and washes of their less fortunate countrymen and it is absurd to say that our educated men could not represent accurately the feelings of those who speak the same language, have exactly the same social institutions, and the same wants. The people of India were again described to be unfit for those institutions which they sought as they could not within less than the life-time of a generation have reached to anything but political baby- hood. This argument ignored the fact that the Indians had enjoyed a glowing civilization in the past, that our religions and political brotherhoods and village conununities were as old as the hills and that both under Mogul and English rule we had evinced capacities in all departments of civil administra- tion of a high order. But the fiercest attacks were made upon the advocacy by the Congress of the elective principle. The critics failed to recognize that in this matter the Congress pro- ceeded with extreme caution. It did not want to begin at the point that England had reached after many generations of constitutioiuil Government, but asked only for a gradual advance in the line of loosening the bonds by which England held India. All movements of this sort have to pass through various stages, of opposition, of abuse, ridicule and misai)prehension of its aims and objects, but the Indium public respectfully prayed for certain concessions confident in the sense of justice and righteous- ness of the English people, and should they only succeed iu 7^/?Al.V rnSTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 247 establishing the trutii of tlioir cause, tlie concessions were certain to come in the fulness of time from the hands of that nation which had always been the foremost in championing the cause of civil and religious liberty. CHAPTER IX. 1887. Afghan Affairs. — The pvotractod negotiations with Rus- sia with reference to the settlement of the boundaries of Af- j^hanistau were brought at hist to a peaceful termination. In the final arrangement that was arrived at, Russia agreed to abandon her claim to the Khojah Saleh District in considera- tion of a strip of pasture land in the Khusk valley, and this state of tilings was finally embodied in a protocol. The settlement that was arrived at brought the Russian outposts 11 miles nearer to Afghanistan, but this was immaterial con- sidering the fact that the territories of Herat and Afghan Turkestan have been for some time at the mercy of the Auto- crat of all the Russians. Thus Sir "West Ridgeway brought to a conclusion the delimitation business. The activity of Rus- sia in Central Asia was magnified by bazaar rumours in India and there was a good deal of uneasiness. The attitude of the Russian press tended to intensify the popular excitement. The Ghilzai rising in Afghanistan assumed formidable proportions and was succeeded by the Herat mutiny which made Abdur Rahman's position rather insecure for a time. These risings which were probably due to Russian intrigues were suppressed before Ayub Khan raised the standard of revolt on tJie con- fines of Afghanistan. The rule of Abdur Rahman did not seem to be at all popular with his subjects and the revolt of Ayub Khan seemed to be a grave source of political danger. The surrender of A^'ub Khan to General Maclcane towards the close of the year removed the most powerful rival of the Amir. Ayub Khan was brought over to Rawul Piudi and being safely interned there was placed beyond the possibility of commit- ting any mischief. A few months later Ishak Khan who was the Governor of Afghan Turkestan raised the standard of re- volt in the north of the Hindu Kush and being defeated by INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TLUES, 249 the promptness aud gallantry of Amir's troops fled to Kerki. This rebellion was t'olioweJ by the rising of the Shinwariea who were put down also without considerable difficulty. It was expected that some difficulties would arise in interpreting and giving effect to the boundaries settled by the DeliniitatioQ Commission. The wily Muscovite was always too prone to avail himself of any ambiguities and loopholes that might be found as was the case with Lord Granville's arrangement of 1873. But happily the task of rectifying the boundary line laid down in the Khusk valley was smoothly and satisfactorily performed by Major Yates. Russian influence also showed itself in Persia where the Shah greatly curtailed the privi- leges gained through the diplomacy of Sir Drummond Wolff in the matter of throwing the Karun river open to trade. The only satisfactory course in dealing with Russia in Asia is to draw a hard-fast boundary line and to let her plainly under- stand that any encroachment on her side will be regarded aud resented as a Casus belli and this policy was at last adopted by the Government of India. Her Majesty's Jubilee. — The most important political event of the year was the celebration of the Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen Empress which called forth au unprece- dented outburst of loyalty and enthusiasm from one part of the country to the other. The idea of a Jubilee is as old as the time of Moses and it had been given practical effect to by the great dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church at stated intervals. In Asia where the monarchs were mostly arbitrary despots and had but little hold on the hearts of the people the idea never took a deep root. In India only the illustrious Akber reigned considerably over fifty years and that was the only opportunity for the celebration of the Jubilee. In Eng- land too, such opportunities had been exceedingly rare, oc- curring on an average only once in three hundred years. But the completion of the fiftieth year of the rule of Her Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria, made her subjects in every part of 82 250 JlVBIAN history OF OUR OWJ^ TIMES. her vast empire, willing and anxious to celebrate the auspi- cions event in a befitting manner. They were all earnest and sincere in the cause of loyalty and devotion to their Sovereign and each was willing in his humble way, to contribute his mite to so noble a cause. History does not record a nobler or more glorious reign tbau that of Queen Victoria. Her subjects are identically one in their devotion to their Sove- reign and the period embraced by her reign has truly been the Augustan age and has witnessed the continual extension of the domains of knowledge and the alleviation of human suffer- ings. The charity and purity of the life of our Sovereign are unexampled. She is never weary of visiting the huts of the poor. She feels the deepest concern in the welfare of all her subjects smitten by distress and always subscribes freely for relief. She is the asylum and home of all goodness and domestic virtues that can adorn an individual and she has realized in her life the noblest idea of Hindu widowhood. The initiative wag taken by the people in all cases and the Jubilee was celebrated far and wide in the land in all possible varities of fashion which fertility of imagination could create, exuberance of loy- alty could suggest, or the largeness of purse and heart could provide. Durbars were held in every important Indian town for the celebration of this auspicious event and rejoicings that were due to the unprompted impulses of the people took place in every form. At the Calcutta Durbar which was a very grand afifair, Lord Dufferin delivered a speech worthy of the occasion and worthy of his reputation as an orator. His summary of the blessings of the reign of the Queen-Empress was neat and appropriate. In graphic language he depicted how the reign of the Queen-Empress had brought justice to every cottage-door, how it had bridged the floods and pierced the jungle, how it had converted millions of barren acres into well-watered plains, how it had diminished the risks both of famine and pestilence how it had lit a hundred lamps of learn- ing in every chief centre of population and how it had placed ryDlAN HISTORY OF OUR OWJIiJ TIMES. 251 ■within the reach of tl»e humblest luJiaa stuilent the accunm- iated wealth of western learning, science and experience. His Excellency then touched on the burning question as to the aspirations of the eilucated natives to be associated more ex- tensively with their English rulers in the administration of their own domestic affairs. His Lordship declared in emphatic terms that he would be glad and happy if he should daring hia tenure of the Viceroyalty be permitted to place on a wider and more logical footing the political status which was so wisely given a generation ago by that great statesman Lord Halifax to such Lidian gentlemen as by their influnce, their acquirements and the confidence they inspired in their fellow- countrymen were marked out as useful adjuncts to the Legis- lative Councils. This authoritative expression of generous sympathy with the most important reform demanded by the educated voice of the country evoked sentiments of lively gratitude throughout the country and encouraged the hope that Lord Dufferin would take up this question in a broad and li- beral spirit and solve it on the lines indicated in his Lordship's speech on this solemn occasion. The prison gates were widely opened on this occasion and 23 thousand of those who were not past reclaiming were set free once more to gladden their hearths and homes. Some Native princes sent deputations to England to convey their congratulations to the Queen-Em- press, others attended in person and many Indian noblemen visited England on this occasion. With one exception the Indian chiefs and nobles came back well-satisfied with the reception that had been accorded to them. Funds were col- lected in almost all the principal Indian towns for the purpose of raising permanent memorials of the Jubilee and a decent sum was sent to England to serve as India's contribution to the Imperial Institute. In many parts of India the Jubilee has been commemorated by works of charity and benevolence. The Jubilee in India was celebrated on the 16th of February by order of the Viceroy, and the demonstrations that were i>r>2 INDIAy HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. r -> iu India were quite worthy of the noblest Sovereign that ever reigned. Feudatory India. — His Highness the Nizam of Hyder- abad made a magnificent offer of sixty lakhs of rupees as a free gift to the Government of India for strengthening the defences of the Empire. The offer was significant in more ways than one. It plainly showed that the Native Chiefs had now begun to recognize their position as integral factors of a great and united Empire and desired to be actively associ- ated in the external defences of the Empire. It showed more- over that the theory upon which General Skobeloff had found- ed his whole scheme for the invasion of India, namely that the Russians would be aided by the princes and people of India was utterly without foundation. The princes and the people of India may have many grievances to redress but they know fully well that India must yet continue for many centu- ries under foreign rule and the British are indisputably the best masters they are likely to have. Self-interest therefore, if no higher consideration should always make the princes and the people of India declare for the continuance of the British rule. The question as to whether the Nizam's offer should be accepted or not was for a long time under the con- sideration of the GoveromeDt but Lord Dufferin came to the decision that the resort to a system of benevolences would be nnworthy of the Govei-nment of India and that should other native states follow the example of the Nizam it was quite possible that the people of those states whose condition was financially none of the best would have to bear extra burdens for the defence of the Empire. This might lead to discontent in the natives states which were being already taxed to some ex- tent under Sir John Strachey's salt arrangements. The Chief of Kapurthala made also an offer of five lakhs to be devoted to the object of strengthening; the defences of the Empire. Those free gifts were handsomely acknowledged but they were not formally accepted. Lord Dufferin decided upon making the INDIAN mSTORY OF OUR OWN TUfES, 253 native states keep a small body of woU-discipIined troops com- mensurate with the resources of the state and thus in>:tead of having half-armed and useless rabbles there was likely to be a body of troops which would prove a strength to the em()ire. Thus a great addition was made to the fighting strength of the Empire without any extra cost to the British Exchequer. In acknowledging these offers a broad hint was given which was readily taken up by other native states. There were some important administrative changes at Hyderabad. Nawab Salar Jung LI was obliged to relinquish his post and Nawab Sir Asmau Jah was appointed in his place. Colonel Marshall who had been appointed Private Secretary to the Nizam acquired great influence over His Highness who resolv- ed to introduce the Cabinet system in Hyderabad. The Gwa- liar state which had been practically under British manage- ment was made to advance a sum of three and half crores as a loan to the British Government at four per cent. The Gwa- liar treasury was full and this amount was taken from the accumulated savings of years. The Travancore state which is always a model state carried out the important reform as to the separation of judicial from executive functions. The Mysore Representative Assembly met in October and took a most important step, in protesting against His Highness spending a large portion of the hot weather away from the head quarters at Otacamund. The affairs of Cashmere were gradually coming to a difficult pass. The Resident was a strong supporter of Dewan Lachman Das in whose hands all real power was centred and the complaints against his arbitrary and high-handed proceed- ings were bitter and loud. The young chief of Jhallawar was deprived fof his powers for political reasons. The affairs of Bhopal were the subject of a good deal of public attention and the conduct of Sir Lepel GrifTin was sharply criticised in soma quarters, but the Government of India on Sir Lepel's apply- ing to prosecute his critics gave an unqualified approval to all his proceedings with reference to the Bhopal state. 254 TXBTAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. The Finances. — Tliere was a revision of the Provincial contracts during tlie year -which was based mainly on the re- commendations of the Finance Committee. The Government of India found it necessary to diminish the provincial allot- ments. Under the Decentralization scheme the Government of India while handing over certain departments to the im- mediate financial control of the Local Governments, has uni- formly reserved in its own charge the great spending depart- ments, involving large expenditure. Instead of the Local Governments managing their own finances and making certain assignments for Imperial expenditure such as the Military and Home charges, the burden of exchange, the payments to Rail- w.iy Companies, it was the Imperial Government which main- tains its prior claims upon the receipts of the main revenue Departments and sets apart so much of its revenues as it can reasonably spare to meet the civil expenditure placed under provincial control. Under this system the Local Governments had sometimes to incur the odium of supplementing their re- sources by imposing additional burdens. But partly by the increased economy and partly by the natural expansion of many of the items of revenue the Local Governments had in most cases been managing their affairs satisfactorily. The Government of India found that the annexation of Upper Burmah had added considerably to the burdens of the Empire and the Finance minister had to resort to the expedient of diverting the Famine Insurance Fund from its original object to meet the ordinary charges of the Empire, and of starving the Provinces. The first expedient was defended on the ground that the diversion did not involve any broach of faith on the part of the Government. The Government of India defended the lowering of Provincial assignments on the ground that the empire must always be looked at as a whole and not as a collection of separate and semi- independent states. The Local Governments had not thus the benefit of all normal growth of their revenues and of any economies which they INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWj^ TIMES. 255 effectet? in their expenditure, and this principle naturally took away all motives for exercising economy and for increasing revenues by good administration. The income realized from Upper Burmah fell far short of the expected sum aud the ex- penses under all the heads, considerably increased. Thus the Financial position became most disheartening. The steadily falling exchange still further increased the embarassments of the Government and it was generally, thought that the income tax would be raised to meet the deficit. The Finance Com- mittee's recomendations were submitted and the Committee was dissolved. Sir John Gorst declared that these recom- mendations were under the consideration of the Government with a view to speedy action. General Events. — The year opened with a disastrous fire in the People's Park Fair at Madras which burnt to death about 400 persons. This was followed by other disasters by sea and land and by terrible epidemics which counted their victims by thousands. The railway accident at Umballa caused the loss of many lives. The Tasmania, the Sir John Lawrence and the Retriever were lost within a few days of each other and later on the Maharatta, the Earl of Jersy, and the Arcot were wrecked. The loss of the Sir John Lawrence brought gloom aud disaster in many a home in Bengal. That ill-fated vessel left Calcutta on the 25th May with 700 Hindu passengers to the holy shrine of Juggernath and nothing was heard of it ever afterwards. It had evidently been wrecked in the Bay of Bengal where a terrific storm raged about the time that the steamer left Calcutta. The Viceroy and* the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal despatched telegrams of sym- pathy to the sufferers and steps were taken for the relief of those who had been left destitute and helpless by the occurrence of tliis calamity. Inquiries were also instituted to find out whether the vessel was in a sound and sea-going condition when it left. The first branch of the enquiry entrusted to the Public Service Com- mission, having been completed, a sub-committee of the com- 256 I^WIAJ!i HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. mission dealt with the special departments and in the closing week of the year its report was finally completed uud submit- ted. The Government of India proposed the raising of United Burmah into a Lieutenant Governorship but the Secretary of State did not sanction the proposal. The Local Governments and Administrations were asked seriously to consider the ques- tion of abolishing imprisonment as a method of enforcing a decree for the restitution of conjugal rights and to consult public opinion on the subject, as well as to offer suggestions for laying down a standard measure of length in India. The question of Jail Administration was brought to the attention of the Government by the loud complaints as to the miscon- duct of the jail officials aud the Government of India recorded an important resolution on the subject. The Government of India found it as a fact that the punishment of whipping was too often unnecessarily inflicted in Indian jails and it was laid down that whipping should be sparingly inflicted and reserved as a last resource of discipline against contumacy. The necessity of taking measures for the better accomodation and preservation of the health of the prisoners was strictly enforced upon the attention of the Local Governments. All the Lieutenant Governorships, in the Bengal Presidency chang- ed hands during the year. Sir Rivers Thomson was a most unpopular ruler aud he departed without any public or popu- lar demonstration. Sir Stuart Bayley whose antecedents were in his favor succeeded to be the ruler of the province whose adminstration was daily becoming the most difficult in India, Sir Stuart in his durbar speech at Bankipur, laid down the the important principle that local officers were to co-operate with the newly-created local bodies in a sympathetic spirit, that that the peopla wore to bo gradually trained up in the duties of adminstration. Sir Alfred Lyall was succeeded by Sir Auckland Oolvin whose durbar speeches told the people of India that they wore yet in the lowest forms of the political school, that they should occupy themselves with the petty INDIAN niSTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 257 affairs of" their own localities and that the higher administrativo questions were altogether beyond tlieir range. Sir Charles Aitchisou was succeeded by Sir James Lyall, who though partial to the menibovs of his own service ruled on the wholo wisely and well. Lord Reay was called upon to deal with the case of Mr. Wilson, a nicnibcr of the Civil Service, who was charged with having sent improper proposals to the Dewan of Ganibay in regard to his daughter. The decision of tho Special Comaiissioners who found Mr. Wilson guilty was not accepted by the Secretary of State but Mr. Wilson was made to retire from the service. Lord Conuemara made an extensive tour through his dominions in the course of which the Gover- nor made himself acquainted with the real state of the country and the people. Lord Connemara succeeded in repairing the mis- chief that had been done by many indiscreet acts of his predeces- sor and his strong sense of justice restored to office many of the native officials of Tanjore who had been unjustly dismissed. la Burmah Sir Charles Barnard was succeeded by Sir Charles Cro- sthwaite who applied himself vigorously to the task of suppressing organized dacoities in Upper Burmah. The action of Mr. Ward in Assam in the matter of curtailing the privileges of the poorer classes who had always enjoyed the rights of collecting certain articles of forest produce, caused great hardship. The Panjab Teuancy Act was aimed at converting the superior tenants into inferior proprietors and prescribed the methods for ac- quiring statutory rights in the land. The Panjab had all along enjoyed the village system and the aim of the new act was to introduce a ryotwari tenure as had been recommended by the Famine Commission. Should the act bring its train annual and fluctuating assessments varying directly with the crop in the place of those fixed for a considerable period, as well as the granting of suspensions when necessary, it would bring in a great reform in Revenue administration, Lord Stanley of Alderley drew the attention of the House of Lords to the wrong that had been committed to the Arnigadh Za- S3 25S IJSDIAJS UlSTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. miudars "who had been turned out of property worth twenty thousand rupees for a sum of rupees five thousand for the purpose of providing a better ^Botanical Ganlons for Mussurie as well as to the conduct of bir Alfred Lyall in attacking in a circular letter to bis subordinates a judgment of the Chief Justice of the North Western Provinces. But Lord Cross declined to interfere in these matters. The Indian National Congress held its sittings at Madras this year under the presi- dency of Mr. Buduruddin Tyabji a leading Mahomedan bar- rister of Bombay and was attended by six hundred delegates from all parts of India. Sir T. Madhava Rao as the foremost representative of the intellect of Madras welcomed the dele- gates. The business of the Congress was confined mostly to the consideration of the sub jects which had engaged the atten- tion of its previo us sittings. A most indiscreet act was com- mitted with reference to the published report of the Third Congress which embodied two pamphlets that contained many passages which to say the least did not commend themselves to the judgment of the educated section of the Indian people and which pamphlets were from their being published along with the report could be taken to be the work of the whole Congress. Sir Auckland Colvin in criticising the work of the Congress next year pointed out how objectionable many of the passages in those two pamphlets were and what evil effect they might likely have on the minds of persons who were likely not to think of the other side of tlio picture at all. Lord Dufferin too took exception to those pamphlets and while sharply criticising the Congress, though on incorrect informa- tion, on the eve of his departure from India, gave a prominent place to these pamphlets, which according to the statement made in the report had been distributed by thousands. Inquiry into the Administration of India. — While India was being ruled by the East India Company, there used to be an exhaustive inquiry into Indian administration at the time of each renewal of ihc Company's Charter. Since however India INDlAy HISTORY OF OUR (91T.V TIMES. 259 had passed to the Crown no such in([uiry had been hold. Tho people of India had prayed the Houses of Parliament to grant such an enquiry but the prayer was unheeded. The prayer was first for a Royal Commission with an adequate number of native members on it, who would come out to this country and enquire into the details of Indian administration and the con- duct of the local officers. There were however several grave objections to a Royal Commission being appointed although such a Commission was the best method for eliciting all the facts. The protest that would bo made by every officer from the Viceroy downwards that such a Commission would destroy the prestige of Indian administration, the inevitable delay with which alone a large body inquiring into multifarious details can move, were grave objections in the way. On the other hand a Parlia- mentary Committee composed of experts, submitting its report within the session which had seen its appointment and dealing with a limited number of witnesses would be able to do the re- quisite work without stopping the clock of progress in India for a decade or two such as a Royal Commission must inevi- tably do. A Royal Commission could scarcely complete its work in less than a decade and a considerable period of time must elapse iu the references to local officers and the Parlia- mentary discussions. The prayer therefore of the people of India for a Royal Commission was substituted by one for a Parliamentary Committee. Taxation in India. — There was an animated discussion in the leading periodicals of England with reference to the inci- dence of the taxation in India. Mr. Dadabhai Naroji who had made the economics of India his life-long study pointed out that the average incidence of taxation amounted to 6s. 8d. per head whilst the average income of the population is about 40 shillings per head. The official theory is fully set forth in the report of the Famine Commission. This view is that a native of India who does not trade or own laud or consume spirituoul the Tibehans from a frontier outpost. From the time of Warren Hastings the English had an eye to open up trade with China through Sikkim and Tibet but the Tibetans have always consistently refused to allow any European to put his foot beyond the high passes of the snowy range leading into Tibet. Sir George Campbell in reviewing the relations of the British Government with Tibet said in his letter to the Times that the Tibetans never advanced a claim of suzerainty over Sikkim but they had always civilly but firmly refused any British entry into Thibet although they allowed trade by natives. In 1886 an effort was made on a grand scale to establish commercial relations with Tibet. It was resolved to send Mr. Colman Maeaulay on a mission to Lhassa. The mission was organized on an imposing scale and it was settled that Mr. Maeaulay was to be accompanied with a whole host of scientific men as well as a small army. The Tibetans were convinced that this mission was not of a commercial character but was coming to invade their country and it was determined to offer resistance. They could not understand why such a large mission was necessary for the peaceful purposes which it avowed. The Tibetans are a very suspicious race and they believed that if they allowed the British to set foot on their soil, they would end by con- quering and annexing it. The mission was countermanded in accordance with the terms of the treaty with China entered into by Lord Roseberry the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. But the Lamas feeling themselves threatened by tho Maeaulay mission occupied Lingtu where they built a fort across the high road and thus secured for Tibetans an advanced position from which the frontiers of their country could be 262 ryniAJS htstory of our own times. watched. After the Tibetans hal been in Sikkim for nearly eighteen montlis and after it had been clearly shown that tho influence of the Chinese Government was insufficient to bring about their peaceful withdrawal the Government of India decided to take the matter into its own hands. A letter of Avarning was sent to the officer in command of the Tibetan troops saying that tho British Governmsnt would expel him by force unless he evaucated his position at Lingta by mid- night of the ir)th of March. This letter was returned unopen- ed and several other letters sent to Tibetan frontier officers and to the Delai Lama were also not answered, the Raja of Sikkim explaining that it was the Tibetan custom not to receive any letters. The Government then moved against them and expelled them out of Lingtu with but little resistance. But on the 2ud of May the Tibetans showed themselves in consi- derable numbers and attacked the British troops at Gnatong being repulsed with loss. In the meanwhile negotiations were opened but the Tibetans were not disposed to acquiesce in their defeat and they assembled in considerable numbers. General Graham was prevented by rain and mist from making any movement towards the enemy for some time but on the 24th of August he completely routed the Tibetans killing several hundreds and driving the rest over the passes. On the 2GLh he advanced to the Tibetan town of Chumbi, and on the 27th tho British troops came back to their own border. Mr. A. W. Paul who was the political officer attached to the force made such efforts as were in his power to open negotiations and the Chi- nese Resident at Lhassa expressed his willingness to meet the British political officer. The Chinese had not evinced any hostility towards the British throughout this war, and it was hoped that with the intervention of China all difficulties would be settled. This war arose from tho determination of tho British Government to maintain its own prestige and the his- torian must say that it was not lightly undertaken. Other ExrEDixiONS. — The tribes both on the Western INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 263 and the Eastern border gave a good deal of trouble to the British Goveruinetit by a series of aggressions. The Black Mountain expedition which set out under General Macqueea from Abbotabad to punish the tribes on the AVcstern frontier had a good deal of skirmishing but-was successful in making a complete survey of the country and in exacting complete sub- mission of the tribes in question. The Lushais on the Chit- tagong Hills, had a small expedition sent against them which was of a punitive nature and three expeditions had to be sent to the frontier distri3ts of Upper Burmah to keep the unruly hilly population in order. The Burmese campaigns were of an arduous nature and General White had a difficult task before him. In these hostilities with the border tribes the British forces often resorted to the burning of villages and destruction of the standing crops. The Kashmir state sent a contingent of troops to aid the British army in the Black Mountain Ex- pedition. The Administkation of the Marquis of Dufferin. — Early in the year it was unexpectedly announced that Lord Dufferin had resigned the Indian Viceroyalty and would re- tire at the end of the year. His Lordship in announcing this fact to the Legislative Council declared that imperative private reasons alone had made him retire from his exalted office a year earlier than the alloted term. During the last year of his Viceroyalty His Excellency had to deal with many important questions, administrative and financial. His Govern- ment had to consider the recommendations of the Public Service Commission and forward them with its own views thereon to the ^ectetary of State. Lord Dufferin's despatch on the subject materially assisted in raising the age for competi- tion in the Indian Civil Service examination, a most important reform which would tend in a great way to ofifer fiicilities to the educated natives of India, to enter the close body of the Cove- nanted Service and thus to take a legitimate share in the admiuistratioa of thoir own country. In reviewing the report 2G1 lAWTAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. on tlic progress of piiljlic inslrncticn in India, Lord Duflferin announced that the time had come when the Government of India would gradually retire from high education and that the ])eo[)le must take upon themselves the responsibility of pro- vMing for their own needs in this direction. The larffe ex- pemiiture in frontier defences added to the loss by the fall of silver and the large outlay in Burmah caused a deficit in the budget of nearly two crores and measures had to be adopted at once to meet this deficiency. The salt duty was raised to Rs. 2-8 per maund in British India and to one rupee per maund in Lower Burmah. An import duty was also imposed on patr oleum. The raising of the salt duty excited great dissatisfaction in many parts of India, although Sir Evelyn Baring when reducing the tax had expressly reserved the right of the Government to return temporarily to the high rate should the financial position appear disheartening. The report of the Finance Committee was fully considered by the Government of Lord Duiferin during this year. The Com- mittee had proposed the abolition of the Calcntta mint on the ground that the Bombay mint could coin monthly 1^ crores of rupees and was alone sufficient for the necessities of tho Empire. But Lord Dufferin negatived the proposal as it was a questionable measure of economy and the interests of commerce suffered thereby. The Coroncrship of Madras was abolished thereby effecting a saving of Rs. 9000 per annum. The stock-note scheme was abandoned. The Secretary of State thought that the Government of India in view of the un- satisfactory state of the Empire should have it in its power to revise the normal provincial contracts leaving the provincial Governments to adjust their expenditure in the best way they could. Lord Dufferin also decided that the necessities of the Empire demanded that provincial expenditure should be subordinated to the Imperial necessities and a conference was arranged under the presidency of the Hon'ble James West- laud to effect some modifications of the existing system. lAWlAN- HISTORY OF OUR OWI^ TIMES. 265 Lord Dufferin also paid great attention to the question of sauifcury iiiiprovernent. He instituted an elaborate inquiry into the question of the prevalence of leprosy in India but in dealing with the eradication of this disease he unfortuna- tely found that medical science had not discovered any cer- tain cure for leprosy. The death-rates in the Indian jailis standing at a high figure, the Government of India directed that the task alloted to each prisoner should not be too much and such as could be gone through the day, that punishments should be sparingly inflicted in jails and that the prisoners should be properly kept that they might not get diseases through unhealthy surroundings. The Government of India also issued an elaborate scheme for the improvement of the sanitary condition of the Indian people. But the real truth is that the people are not uncleanly in India through habit but because they have not sufficient means at their command to live in au improved way after satisfying the cravings of nature. The Government scheme is also likely to do little good unless assisted by copious funds. The condition of the people in the thickly inhabited districts of Northern India where the majority of the people are agricultural labourers and whose lot is pro- bably the hardest known to humanity, engaged Lord DufFerin's attention and he thought that emigration to the sparsely- peopled and fertile districts of Upper Burraah was the only remedy that could be adopted to relieve the pressure of popula- tion on the soil. Shortly before his departure His Excellency delivered an important speech at the St. Andrew's Dinner in which he exhaustively dwelt upon the popular movements in India. His Lordship's information as to the real character of the proposals made by the Congress, proved to be entirely wrong, and the remarks that he made to show that these pro- posals (which did not in fact emanate from the Congress) were utterly revolutionary in their character and inadmissible, were beside the point. But Lord Dufferin in the course of this speech made the important announcement that he had 34, 266 INBIAJS' niSTORV OF OUR OWN TUIES. submitted proposals in accordance with the lines indicated in his Jubilee speech with reference to the expansion of the Councils of the Empire. This speech of Lord Dafferin in- troduced the Congress prominently to the attention of the British public, and its constitution and objects were discussed by the firesides of English homes. Lord Duiferin's persistent efforts in the matter of effecting a solution of the silver pro- blem were placed within a measurable distance of success by the report of the Currency Commission which recommended England to secure international bimetalism. Lord Dufferin's Administration. — "We have reviewed above the measures of Lord Dufferin's administration in detail and only a few general remarks are necessary here. His Lordship's attention had been principally engaged with foreign affairs of India and the complications on the western frontier and in Upper Burmah left him but comparatively little time to attend to the domestic affairs of the realm. Bis Lordship was peculiarly well-fitted by previous training to grasp foreign problems and there is no doubt that the present system of strengthening the frontier defences received its greatest impetus at his hands. Lord Dufferin took an important step in associating selected bauds of the armies of Natives States in the defence of the Empire. In his speech at Patiala, he publicly recognized the loyalty of the Feudatory Chiefs and explained the practical measures which the Govern- ment of India had devised for making the Native States parti- cipate in the defence of the Empire. Those chiefs who have good soldierly material in their territories would be invited to maintain a select band of troops in a high state of efficiency, and that no native prince would be asked to keep a larger force of this description than he could afford to support. The Government of India at the same time expressed its willing- ness to place the services of British officers at their disposal for the training of their armies, and to provide rifles free of charge for the troops of the Imperial Service. There was a MB TAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 2G7 time when the native prhices wore regarded with suspicion and distrust, and Lord Duffer in's policy convinced them that they were integral factors of a great Empire. Before His Lord- ship left Calcutta in April there wore several meetings of his friends and admirers to do him honor and a statue was voted to him. His Excellency in replying to the addresses present- ed to him entered into an elaborate vindication of the measures of his administration. The movement to do honor to His Excellency was not joined in the capital city of India, by the leading zamindars, who were greatly opposed to the Bengal Tenancy Act which his Lordship had passed and by a large section of the educated classes who thought that the reforms which they asked for had not been considered in a broad and liberal spirit by His Excellency. At some principal towns of Upper India entertainments and addresses were given in honor of Lord Dufferin, The European community were grateful to a man to Lord Dufferin for giving its members increased facilities for enterprize in Upper Burmah, and the leading European firms subscribed largely to do him honor. Lord Dufferin was acknowledged on all hands to be a statesman of great ability and tact and he always proceeded in all matters with extreme caution. On his return to England he was re- ceived with the highest civic honors and he bore emphatic testimony to the loyalty, the practical wisdom, the good sense and experience which was possessed by many natives of India, He spoke also highly of the work that is being done in India by the members of the civil and the military services who had many difficult and arduous duties to perform. Lord Dufferin was appointed Ambassador in Italy on his return to England. General Events. — Indian affairs received a good deal of attention during the year at the hands of the English people though there were but few debates on Indian questions in Parliament which was occupied with Irish affairs. Sir William Hunter drew the attention of the British public to the recent 268 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OW^ TIMES. movements in India, to the changing conditions of the country and to the just claims advanced by the people in the matter of their higher employment in the public service. Sir William treated the subject with almost unsurpassed knowledge of Modern India and in a style which it is always a pleasure to read. He appealed to the English people to avoid in dealing vith India those mistakes which history says was committed in Ireland where concession after concession failed to satisfy the Irish people because they came too late. The Indian cotton industry was making rapid improvement and English piece-goods were being threatened by the produce of the Indian mills. This portended the dawn of a new industrial era for India. Mr. Thornton read an important paper before the society of Arts on Canal Irrigation. He inclined to the view that the canals were the cause of improvement of the soil. But the appearance of Mr. W. 0. Bonnerji, Mr. Dadubhai Karoji and Mr. Eardley Norton as delegates from India to excite the interest of the electors of Great Britain in Indian affairs, the establishment of the Indian political agency under the able guidance of Mr. William Digby and the under- taking of the responsibilities of Member for India by Mr. Charles Bradlaugh the Junior member for Northamton with the consent of his constituents, were events of great impor- tance. The Indian delegates delivered a series of addresses on Indian topics and created a most favourable impression in many of the great towns of Eugland. Mr. Bradlaugh who had already won a position in the House of Com- mons by his great abilities and his sterling independence proved a fearless champion of the Indian people and his speeches on Indian questions displayed a thorough grasp of the situation to all its aspects, Nawab Mohsin-ul-mulk who went to England in connection with the Parliamentary Committee under the Presidency of Sir Henry James to enquire into the Deccan mining scandals had an interview with Mr. Glad- stone and tried to interest the Grand Old Man in all questions INDIAN mSTORV OF OUR OWN TIMES. 269 connected with Indian Mussulmans . The Nawab tried to obtain Mr. Gladstone's views on the National Congress and that great statesman declared that the constitutional and legitimate efforts of the Indian people to represent their own requirements commanded his warmest sympathy. The un- generous attack of Lord Salisbury in characterizing " Dadabhai Naroji the Liberal Candidate for Central Finsbury as a "black man" evoked strong criticism in the Indian press and drew forth a strong protest from Mr. Gladstone who thought it a very bad policy to use scornful epithets towards the Indian people. Mr. Slagg's motion on the Financial position of India elicited a speech of great force from Lord Kandolph Chnr- chill who thought that the situation was one of great peril that the Government of India had reached to the end of taxa- tion and its constantly growing expenditure was a source of grave anxiety. The grievances of the uncovenanted service were ventilated in the Lower House by Mr. H. S. King and Sir Roper Lethbridge. The head and front of these were that the members of the uncovenanted service had not the privi- lege of having their pensions paid in sterling. Sir John Gorst pointed out in reply that up to 1863 the members of the said service could draw their pensions only in India and that when they were allowed the privilege of having their pensions paid in England^ there was a distinct understanding that these pensions would be paid at the official rates of exchange. The bill that was introduced for extending the jurisdiction of the Allahabad High Court into Oadh, was greatly opposed in India and it was afterwards withdrawn. Sir Charles Aitchison retired from the Home ministership and his retirement was a great loss to India. His broad and liberal views, his ripe and wide experience and his great business capacities had made him popular both with the Government and the people and he had always exerted a beneficial influence on the counsels of the Empire. He was succeeded by Mr. (now Sir Philip) Hutcliins a Madras Civilian. Sir David Barbour who took 270 IXniAN HISTORY OF OUR OWJS' TIMES. charge of the Financial portfolio was a specialist ou the currency question and had served Avitli advantage to his col- leagues on the Currency Coniniissiou. He had thoroughly studied the necessity of a double standard and all the reason- able schemes for the solution of that difficulty. The Deccau mining scandals led to many revelations and a Parliamentary Committee was appointed to deal with the same. The Presi- dent of the Gwalior Council Sir Gunpat Rao died being succeeded by Bapoo Sahab Jadoo, the maternal grandfather of the young chief. The Begum of Bhopal having expressed a wish for a Mahomedan minister, Munshi Imtiaz Ali from Lucknow was appointed to succeed Colonel Ward. The Mis- sion despatched to Kurrum Valley to settle the disputes between the Turis and the Ameer's subjects reported that there was no chance of settling those complicated matters. Sir Auckland Colvin held a series of Durbars at the head- quarters of the Divisions, and in addressing the assembled gentry he exhorted them to make the Local Self-Government scheme a success. Sir Auckland during the first year of his rule contented himself with carrying on the routine duties of administration but the peace of his territories was disturbed by disturbances during the Maharram at Agra, Ghazipore and Najibabad. His criticism on the report of the Madras Con- gress was based on the two ill-fated pamphlets that were ap- pended to that report and he also temperately reviewed the fundamental principles of the Congress and set forth his objections to it in a long document addressed to Mr. Hume. This document was answered at great length by the Nestor of the Congress movement but it served to keep the leaders of that body always within strictly temperate and constitu- tional limits. The opposition to the Congress took a shape in some portions of the United Provinces under leaders who had motives of their own for joining the opposition, and the public V)odies which they started vanished out of sight in a sliort time altogether. In Bengal the Municipal Bill excited great INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMEF. 271 opposition but Sir Stuart Bayley's utterances showed that the passing of the bill was a foregone conclusion. The working of the outstill system in the districts Hooghly and Howrah, showed that the easy and cheap method of procuring liquor had increased drunkenness. The measures connected with the suppression of the mutiny in the Madras Christian College moved the Hindu community to strive towards the establish- ment of a Hindu Theological College. In Bombay the accu- sations brought against Mr. Arthur Crawford of systematic bribery were inquired into by a Commission presided over by Mr. Justice Wilson of the Calcutta High Court. The officers ■who had deposed as to having bought offices under promises of indemnity were declared unfit for Government Service by the Bombay High Court. The opening of the Victoria Technical Institute which was the first institution of its kind to supply a deeply felt want was an important event in the industrial annals of India. The Fourth Indian National Congress held its sittings at Allahabad under the presidency of Mr. George Yule, a merchant prince of Calcutta whose singularly able speech served to remove many misapprehensions connected with the Congress movement. The Congress was attended by 1400 delegates duly chosen and the leaders of thought in every part of the country took part in it. The delegates mixed freely with one another and thus the assembly was an important social gathering. The proceedings were marked by great enthusiasm, and were got through with marked unanimity. The Calcutta High Court received the addition of a third native Judge in the person of the Hon'ble Dr. Gurudas Banerji, whose elevation to the bench was received with great satisfaction throughout India. Sir Auckland Colvin and Sir James Lyall earned the gratitude of the native Community by appointing natives of India for the first time as District Officers. The financial aspect of Indian railways and canals was discussed at great length at the instance of Mr. Charles Bradlangh. Railways have now been constructed along the most important 272 I^'DlAIi HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. lines of commuuicatiou and tliongh some entlinsiasts still advocate the expenditure of 100 crores more on Indian railways by the State (for the private capitalists would not invest a rupee in Indian railways without a Government guarantee) the hard fact remains that up to the end of 1888, the Indian taxpayer had to pay 75 crores, inclusive of interest for the railways. Some of the Indian canals had been undoubtedly remunerative. Lord Salisbury's remark in his famous Manchester Speech of 1875, that no canal could show a clean balance-sheet which had not for its basis the works of old native rulers, was not wide of the truth, for to the above sort we have only to add those canals which had been constructed under exceptionally favor- able conditions such as the Godavery, the Kistna Canals and the Cambeyauicut. The major works in Bengal do no even earn enough to pay their working expenses. The Government admits that 10 of the 34 major canals are purely losing con- cerns. Sind is almost a rainless province and the canals there earn 6 to 12 per cent on the capital^outlay. The irrigation by tanks and wells seems to be the better method, as irrigation by mountain waters leads to the impoverishment of the soil. The Apathy of the English People towards Indla^n Affairs. — The strange apathy that prevails in England in relation to Indian affairs is remarkable. AVhile the sim[»lest question with reference to any matter of local interest in the United Kingdom excites considerable attention the affairs of a country which is as large as Europe excepting Russia are discussed only at the fag-end of the session when the House is completely empty. Lord Randolph Churchill rightly said that the loss of India would reduce England to a second-rate power in Europe and this splendid Empire while it had not cost a farthing to the British Treasury had been of immense moral and material advantage to England. The colonies of England do not pay the expenses of governing them whicli come entire- ly from the British Exchequer, but the cost of the separate department which admiuistors India is paid entirely by the INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 273 Indian tax-pa3'er. Some dependencies require the luxury on the part of the paramount country of having to pay dearly for them. Since ISoO France had spent 200 crores in Algeria and the only advantage that France derives is that it affords an excellent training-ground for the troops. Persistent efforts were set on foot during the year for exciting the interest of the electors of Great Britain towards their groat Eastern Em- pire and for forming an Indian party in Parliament. Sir Charles Dilko who is one of the foremost of modern statesmen, in a thoughtful lecture pointedly drew the attention of the British puhlic to this state of things, and boldly asserted that it is not for the good of the Indian Bureaucracy either that India should be governed in this secret and practically irres- ponsible way. He justly observed that should unfortunately a difficulty arise in India which would excite great public attention in England, the British public unless properly in- structed in Indian affairs would probably sweep away the Indian Government in a day. England, to Secure the perman- ence of her rule should weigh carefully both the opinions of the experienced officers, and the claims put forward by the leaders of that intellectual movement which had lately taken place in India. The National Congress movement should not be regarded as the embodiment of every thing that is bad and should not be denounced as seditious. Sir Charles Dilke thought that most right-minded people would agree with hiui that the time had come when the English Government ought to continue the ])rocess which it had already adopted of associating with Englishmen in an increasing degree the natives of the country in the administration of India — fol- lowing the lines upon which it had travelled in the past. The close contact that is taking place between Russia and England in Central Asia should further awaken the interest of Englishmen in that dependency which is the brightest jewel in England's diadem. Sir Charles Dilke had made a special study of the N. W. Frontier question and he rightly held 35 274 INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWJ^ TIMES. that it \Ya3 not desirable that the frontiers of the two powers should be brought in close contact all along tho line. He also cautioned tho authorities in India against making Eng- lish rule unpopular by grinding taxation in the face of this great military danger. Should the conscience of England awaken to her responsibilities in India, tho injustice that is often done to India and her people would cease to exist. The Marquis of Lansdowne. — It had been officially announced early in the year that the Marquis of Lansdowne would succeed the Marquis of Duiferin in the Indian Vice- royalty. His Lordship's selection for this important office was received with general approbation in England. His Lordship came of a family that had long played an important part in the politics of England and his grandfather, who had on one occasion delivered a most important speech on Indian affairs, was justly considered as one of the most eminent of English statesmen of his generation. His Lordship had been trained in politics from his earliest years and as Governor- General of Canada had proved a great success and displayed rare tact on all occasions. On his return from Canada he received a series of entertainments in England and it was in connection with these that he delivered his first utterances on India. As Parliamentary under secretary for India for a short period in Mr. Gladstone's second administration he had got some acquaintance with Indian affairs but his utterances in England plainly showed that it was with no light heart that he ac- cepted the duties and responsibilities of his exalted office. In replying to the address presented to him by some Indian gentlemen at Lord Northbrook's house he laid special stress on tho fact that the India of to-day was essentially different from the India of 1833 that during the last 30 years India had made great progress morally and materially and the change that had come from the spread of education, had made the Bupremacy of British Crown io rest more on the SYmjiathy and good will of the people than upon the mere exhibition INDIAN HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES. 275 of physical force. Lord Lansdovvne on his arrival in Bombay was warmly received and he displayed sound sense in the speeches that ho delivered there. On the 10th December ho assumed charge of his new office and the impressive ceremo- nials as well as the salute from the ramparts of Fort William announced that the 280 millions in India had passed under a new ruler. In his reply to the addresses that were presented to him in Calcutta His Lordship uttered noble sentiments although he cautiously refrained from expressing any opinions. He justly said that the Viceroy must be a hard-worked stu- dent for some time and must study all facts and figures on the spot before he could make up his mind on the im- portant administrative problems of India, Though placed at tbe head of a great Empire, his Lordship did not lay aside the simplicity of a private citizen. Lord Duflferin in speak- ing of his successor predicted for him universal popularity and acceptance. Would that the future historian af India be in a position conscientiously to declare that that prophecy has been fulfilled to the very letter. The End of the Third Part. UNIVERSITY OF ClALIFORMA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on tlie last date stamped belou. SEP 5 OT S 9 B79 Form L9-Scries 4939 CS 479. 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