m

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THE

MAHARAJA
CASHMERE
J.C. BOSE,
M.A., B.L.,

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THE

MAHARAJA

OF CASHMERE

A VINDICATION
AND

AN APPEAL
BY

JoGENDRA Chandra Bose,

m.a., b.l.,

of the Punjab Chief Court Bar.

J<Ko

CALCUTTA
1893.

Printed by Lahiri and Mitra

29,

Beadon Street.

Published by G. Ghose.
62-5

Beadon Street.

CONTENTS.
Preface.

Introduction.

page xi. page

1.

Object of the book

to

The Viceroy's

visit

Cashmere

Position

of the Maharaja

bettered The reparation done to him not enoueh 'Position of the Paramount Power

in India

in

connection with the

Native
of

States

Importance
the

and
country

utihty
felt

the

Native States
throughout
careers

Sympathy

for

them
afford

They

to the people

of the

country
political

They

are remnants

of former

independence

and landmarks of an an-

cient civilization

They patronise
indigenous

learned
indus-

men and protect the

tries

arts,

and manufactures They are centres of self-government Lord Lansdowne on Native States and self-government Native Annexation States are pillars of the empire

policy of Lord Dalhousie

The

services of

the Native States during the Mutiny

Lord

m
I
ii

CanninsT

^Other

eminent

statesmen on
of the Native

the value
States

and usefulness

The Royal Proclamation of 1858

and privileges of the Native

The

rights

States finally secured to

them

Duty of the
States.

Paramount Power towards these

Part

Ipage 25.
of

The

deposition

Maharaja

Pratap

Singh in 1889

The grounds
nating

The 'edict of resignation' of deposition The incrimiletters Brief refutation of

St.

those grounds Col. Sir O.

John on
to

the reforms introduced by the Maharaja

Transfer of Sir Oliver
a

misfortune

Cashmere
duties

Maharaja's
letter to
first

conceptions of his

His
in

Lord Dufferin His

initiated

installation speech

Reforms
his

by

him

vear of

reign

Harsh
apology

treatment of the Maharaja

for the

An

raja

Government of India The Mahanot molested any further Not taken

Sir

into confidence
sors

Reference to
of the

O.
the

St.

John's successub-

Mahomedan

jects

Maharaja

deprecated Dr.
fiBv

9^R

.1

iii

Hunter on the subject The Hindus beat the Mahomedans on their own ground In

demand to be ruled by their co-religionists only The mischievous policy of setting Hindus against MaIndia people cannot

homedans Its lamentable consequences The Maharaja's kind and impartial treatmentof his Hindu andMahomedan subjects

His
after

generosity towards the

followers
feelings

of other
his

creeds The Maharaja's

deposition His
latter's

letter

to

the

Viceroy The
raja returns to

reply The Mahain

Jummu
in

the middle of

1889
to

Lives

seclusion

His

anxiety
in

meet the Viceroy

Difficulties

the

way

turn Col. Nisbet Col. Prideaux appointgoes on furlough ed to the Residency His conciliatory Maharaja His attitude towards the speedy success Delicate nature of a in the Residents' work His position

favourable

State

where he is posted Indian Princes how amenable to their influences The way in which the Residents should conduct

themselves

^Their

indiscretion

leads to

iv

Strained feelings

The

necessity ofexer-'

cising care in the selection of Residents

Princes should be allowed to lay their complaints direct to

Government
should

Their shortact as their

comings

Residents
the

'guide, friend

and philosopher'
posture

Improvevisit

ment

in

of the Maharaja's

affairs

soon after the appointment of Col.

Prideaux

Cashmere

Banquet at Srinagar and the Resident's speech The Viceroy's reply Kind assurancesTheir
effect

The Viceroy's proposal to His Excellency leaves Simla

on the public mind

The

enquiries

by the Viceroy

His

inter-

views with the Maharaja Result

restoration of the Maharaja
justice.

Partial
of

a measure

Part II. page 72.

Change

in the

Maharaja's position
first

Far

from pleasant at
with thorns

His

path

strewn

and

is

thwarted

He meets with opposition Intrigues His respon,

sibilities

proper

His powers inadequate for their discharge Left to his own

re-?

sources

His

good nature and

his

good
of his

sense prevail

His kind treatment

opponents
raja's visit

Valuable help and

of Col. Prideaux
to

sympathe-

tic attitude

Lahore

in

The MahaMarch 1892

and
scar-

Cholera in
city

Cashmere

Fires
at

The
a

Maharaja's anxiety to see his

subjects

He

His solicitude

Juramu Relief measures ordered by

is

detained

him on
provide

liberal scale

Medical

aid

Pundit Suraj

Kaul sent to Cashmere to

scarcity

against

His

success

Grants to the sufferers from

fire

TestiThe

mony
Visits
in

of

an

Anglo-Indian

paper

Maharaja goes to Srinagar

in July 1892

Gulmarg

His

attention engrossed

pressing

affairs

of

improvements
proposed

in Srinagar

State Sanitary Water works

The
the

Maharaja's tender sym-

pathy
large

for

peasantry

arrears

of revenue

Remission Announced

of
at

the Dusserah Durbar

Description of the His subjects' attachment to the Maharaja The Maharaja's speech He
Durbar
divines

good to

his

people from the

fixity

vi

of the assessment

Wishes them peace and

Maharaja's strong desire

prosperity

The

to ameliorate their condition

gate's

Mr.

Win-

testimony in His Highness's favour

and

against his officials Conclusions from

Mr. Wingate's testimony Investiture of the Maharaja with the insignia of the Star

The Resident's speech Address value to the Maharaja by his subjects

of India
Its

as shewins: their sentiments towards

him

The

Maharaja returns to

Jummu Va-

ledictory reception and entertainment to

Lord Roberts Their justification High compliment paid by Lord Roberts to the
Maharaja's
loyalty

and

services

The

Maharaja's capacity for sustained work

Lord Roberts' farewell entertainment at Lahore The Maharaja joins it His rea-

sons

He wins golden opinions.

Part III. page 114.
Maharaja's
reverses

The
of his

were

not

own
his

seeking

beyond

were due to causes control Mr. Plowden's

re-

commendation

to set aside the

Maharaja

vii

rejected by Lord Dufferin His Lordship's advice to

spirit

in July

1888

Mr. Plowden

to proceed in a judicious and sympathetic

Mr. Piowden's
of the

failure

estimate
against
tiated

Maharaja

His wrong His remarks

their

Raja Amar Singh Reforms iniby the Maharaja in the first year
reign

of his

Causes

of

defeat-

Good work done by

his
partial

the

Maharaja since

Land settlement Their beneficial effect Accounts The budget Official integrity The judicial and the executive The laws of the State Honorary Magistrates Reclamation of waste lands Roads and bridges Sanitation and conrestoration

and remission of arrears

servancy
Schools

of

Srinagar

Water-works

The begat cess Restrictions on forced labour The Mian Rajputs Army organisation Remission of arrears in the
MiHtary Department
ties

Farm of customs dusupplies and stores

Purchase of State
feudatories

The

The

Mission

Hos-

pitalThe

Mastgurh

Musjid

Religious

toleration Encouragement of letters The

[
>

viii

above

list

satisfactory

Attitude of the Ma-

haraja's brothers

towards His Highness

The Hindu
ratha

scriptures

Their noble lessons Should not be lost upon royal brothers Their loyalty to the
yana
Its

The sons of Dasaexample The Rama-

Maharaja not only a matter of duty but

also

of self interest

The result

of their

past conduct

Byegones should be forgotbecoming con-

ten

Exhortation for more

duct in future

Durbar at Jummu on loth March 1893 Distribution of the Empress medals to the Maharaja's army The Maharaja's speech His expressions of loyalty His advice to his soldiers The
concluding passage in his

speech

The

Maharaja's
raja

loyalty

inherited

MahaJummu

Runbir Singh His

rendered

magnanimity
the

Services

by
siege

family

At the

annexation of the Punjab

of Delhi and

In
tion

1857 At the
Yarkand

on other occasions The

Hazara expediin

The

Mission Russia

Central Asia

The Agror Valley and Black

Mountain expeditions Recent operations

ix

on the

frontiers

Outlay

of

moneyGovern-

Claims of the Maharaja upon the kindness

and consideration of the

British

ment

Those claims not

duly

recognised

Examination of certain statements made

against the

population

dwindled'

Maharaja Not correct that in Cashmere 'had steadily Nor that the people had be-

come 'impoverished to the point of chronic scarcity' Nor that the Maharaja had no
inclination to
his people

improve
that he

the condition of

Nor

was incompetent

to

manage

his affairs.

Conclusion page 155.

The Maharaja
patient dignity
tice

the victim

of misreprehis fate

sentationsHe submitted to

with
jus-

He

deserves

ampler

than

has

been meted
favour

out to him

Considerations in his
of Amritsar

The

treaty

Her Majesty's Proclamation

regarding

of

1858

Misconceptions
Cross's

the

Maharaja Appeal
Viceroy

to His Excellency the

Lord

pledge

in

the

House of Lords

It

is

time to redeem that

pledge Present condition of affairs System of double government The Maharaja's

difficulties He

should be rescued

from his present predicament Expediency

and justice as well as sound policy require

it

The Resident cannot always help the Maharaja The Maharaja's hands should be
strengthened and he should receive sym-

pathy and support

The

Maharaja on
of
his

his

own

failure

His

selection

own

ministers a sine

qua non

for his success

The Maharaja
4 years ago

solicited a trial

upwards of

It should be granted to him

Concluding remarks.

PREFA CE.
TN
attempting, a second
affairs

time,

an exI

position of the

of Cashmere,

have studiously kept clear of controversial

matters as far as possible.
object has been
to
state

My

whole

plainly the just

case of the Maharaja and

to press

it

upon
have

the attention of His Excellency

roy.

the Vice-

Keeping

this object

in view, I

put together a few facts and arguments

which,
I

confidently hope, will

meet with

His Excellency's kind perusal and consideration.

The Maharaja has

suffered too

long already, and it will redound to the if^ belasting glory of Lord Lansdowne
fore leaving India,

he reverses the doom

have been

with which His Highness was visited four

years and a half ago.
I

trust I

able to shew, in the course of these pages, that the

versal.

Maharaja amply deserves

its re-

As a

loyal subject of the British

Gov-

xii

crnment,
perial

cannot be indifferent to im-

interests

with which the welfare

is

of

the

country

indissolubly

mixed.

These

interests

must have precedence over

I

every other consideration, but

am

con-

vinced that the reinstatement of the

raja will

Mahain

only serve to promote those inof

terests instead

damaging them
and the

any

way.

This conviction

justice of

the Maharaja's cause have emboldened

to write
this

me

'vindication

and

appeal,' in

the humble belief that

not be

my motive shall misconstrued and my modest labour

become
futile

shall not

and abortive.

Calcutta:
The 20ih September iSgj-

|
}

c.

bOSE.

INTRODUCTION.
Four
years ago,
I

wrote a small book

Prince,"

on ''Cashmere and
of the attacks

its

with the

object of exposing the ungrounded nature

made

against the

Maharaja
to the

by

his

opponents, and of bringing

notice of the highest authorities the true

character of the imbroglio which had then

recently taken place
politics of
in

his

state.

The

siderable

Cashmere have undergone conchange since that book was

written.

The Maharaja, who was

territories,

at that

time a merely ornamental figure-head in

his

own

without any power to

their
affairs,

interfere in

any of

has been

since elevated to the Presidentship of his

Council,

whose
For

deliberations he assists

and

shares in and, sometimes, even guides and

controls.
this elevation, the

and

his

friends

Maharaja and well-wishers are in-

debted to His Excellency the Marquis ol

Lansdowne, who gave proof of the nobility of his head and heart by rendering to the Maharaja an instalment of justice no
sooner he came to

know

that

His High-

ness had been grossly misrepresented to His Excellency, and found out by personal

contact with the

Maharaja and a careful

dominions that he was

local enquiry in his

neither such

a bad

man

nor

such an

oppressive ruler as he had been pictured

to be.

Valley, in

The Viceroy's visit to the Happy October November 1891, was

:

thus fruitful of one very beneficial result

it

dispelled the false notions that

had been
his

formed of the Maharaja and led to

ancestors.

partial restoration to the throne of his

But the restoration has been

important and

as yet but partial, the Maharaja being

still

in all

many unimpor-

tant matters subject to the Resident's will,

and

it is

due to Lord Lansdowne,

who

was misled into sanctioning his downfall, to render him ampler and more complete
reparation before His Excellency leaves

the country.

The

object

of

this

httle

book
ing

is

to

place a

number of

facts

and

arguments before His Excellency, show*

how

the Maharaja deserves such re*

paration at His Etcellency's hands.

If the

Maharaja

were
I

tyrannical

or an oppressive ruler,

should have been

favour,

the last to take up the pen in his

or say a
as
I

word on

his behalf.

But aware

am

from personal knowledge of the

character
his

good

traits in his

his goodness,
his

his benevolence,

courtesy,

deep
have

and earnest anxiety

advancement
been
treatment

for

the welfare and

subjects,
I

of his
at

much pained

the

underserved
a high

he has received, and having

in

had the honour to serve him

capacity

though
it

for

a brief period, have

regarded

my

duty to defend him against

the ungrounded, unjust and not unoften

evil-minded aspersions of his open enemies

and

false

friends.

And

the
all

call

of this

duty has seemed to

irnperative, as
I

me

the

more
powers

consider the question of

full

the Maharaja's restoration to

possesses a

wider significance than can

be predicated of his individual case.

The
to

question involves not merely the narrov^er

issue

whether

one

individual

is

be

unjustly kept out

of bis rights, but also

the

much broader

one, namely, whether a

Christian

Paramount Power, placed

by

Providence to rule over the destinies of

this

vast country, should

injustice

to

one of

its

devoted
its

feudatories,
in

tolerate any most loyal and and thereby lower

prestige

the

eyes
I

of

the

public

here and in Europe.

am

fully

pursuaded

that the adoption of such a course

fail

cannot

to be highly injurious to
;

its

interests in

the long run and thus impelled by loyalty on the one hand and by gratitude on the
other,
I

make bold

to write these pages, in

hopes that they will contribute to advance

the cause of righteousness and truth.

There
resolution

is

another potent consideration

which has swayed

I

me

in

pursuing the

have proposed to myself.

In

common with many of my countrymen,, I am an ardent well-wisher of the Native

States,

and

feel

coAvinced that, in th

forward march of the Indian nation under

pax
a

Britannica,

they

are

destined

to

play an
utihty

important
all

part.

They
it

possess
is

their

own, and
the

imin-

possible that the

purposes they are

in

tended
this vast

to

serve

economy

of

empire can be accomplished by

It
is,

any other agency.

interests

therefore, in the

of the

British

Government

as

well as of the people of India

states should

that these

be preserved intact and their

as

privileges respected
I

much

as

possible.

do not mean to contend that when an

Indian Prince is oppressive and tyrannical and palpably misgoverns his people, the Paramount Power in the exercise of its overrule should not heed his conduct nor take no notice of it. By virtue of its very
position and the
responsibilities

that rest
in

upon

it,

the Paramount

Power may,
in

such an instance, be
suitable action
;

justified

taking

but no interference of a

radical nature should, I submit,

till

be ordered

an extreme case

is

made
of

out, not
its

on

mere exparte

reports

Political

Agents, but on due enquiry conducted on

some

intelligible principles in

of justice and

fair play,

which the alleged offender

chance of a hearing. Such proceedings cannot fail to produce

at least a

may

have

the double beneficial effect of reassuring

our Princes and enhancing the durability and glory of the British Government. It would be beyond the scope of this
little

book to

dilate

on the

urility

of the

Native States, or the purposes they are

capable of serving in the domain of

more-

dern Indian

politics.

Yet,

when
is

it

is

membered what deep sympathy

felt for

the welfare of these States throughout the

country and what loud clamour of

pleasure and
indignation

dis-

is evoked when meet with undeserved treatment, a few words of explanation may

any of

their chiefs

not be regarded unnecessary. There was a time when the whole country from the

Himalayas to the sea used to be governed

by indigenous agency. With the advent of the Mahomedans, the agency changed in
a few places for a time, but our

Maho-

medan conquerors
permanent abode
and
soil.

soon took up their

in India,

and their sons

sons'

sons became children of the

Thus in a few generations they became merged in the general population,

and, though

much

religious rancour

pre-

vailed at one time

between them and their Hindu fellow-countrymen, they gradually

on terms of amity and
at the

got reconciled to each other and began to

live

friendship.

What was foreign agency

commence-

ment thus imperceptibly received a native mould, and was transformed into the
general indigenous administrative machi-

nery of the country.

still

Most

parts of India

continued to

be governed by the

Hindus, with central power in some notable instances in the hands of the

Moslem

Emperors of Delhi,
not strong enough,
ful

or,

when

these were

in the

hands of power-

governors or refractory rulers of siibahs

;

or provinces

but

it

used to be an esta-

blished order of things that

Hindus often

held the highest posts under

kings and vice versa.

Mahomedan

With the English

conquest of India, this

order of things

underwent a
under British ployed a

complete

change.

The

major part of the country passed directly

rule,

which has hitherto emcarrying

strictly foreign agenc}^ in

on the administration and has been very

much

foreign in its

characteristics

and

in-

cidents.

Security of person
established,

and property
native

was speedily
all

but for a time

political

advancement of the

population received a sudden and unpre-

cedented check.

Previous to 1833, a

man

of the world-wide reputation for learning

and

ability like

Raja

Ram Mohan Roy,

who under

native domination would have

aspired to and perhaps reached the highest

posts, could gain

the British
Collector's

no higher dignity under Government than a District

Sherishtadarship.

Things
for

have since undergone

better and

change

the

been

promoted
;

judgships

some native gentlemen have even to High Court yet it would lead to sheer
to

disappointment
or a

expect a

Salar

Jung

Madhava Rao

in British India.

One
people

of the strongest reasons

why

the

Native States are so fondly loved by the

is

that

these states

still

afford

them

careers

which are shut

out,

and

supply opportunities for the development

of their administrative talents which are

not available, within the pale of British

jurisdiction.
It
is

well

known

that cir-

cumstances

contribute

very largely to

make up

a man, and that these circumsIndia

tances are in British

somewhat
the
native of the

adverse to the growth and expansion of

governing capacities among

population.
relationship

The

peculiar

nature

which the

rulers

and
for

the

ruled bear to each other in this country

render

it

improbable that, at least

some

time to come, the former will be in a

position

to

entrust

the more capable

among

the latter with responsible

and

independent administrative charges.

We

have had

men

of ability in the Subordinate

Executive Service, but they are creatures

of a stereotyped system and are so completely
fettered

by what

is

technically

10

known

as 'red-tapism,' that as a rule they

cannot originate a single administrative

measure capable of producing beneficial

results

to

an appreciable extent.

We
of the

have lately had a small number of native

District Officers
;

in

some

parts

country

but their opportunities also are

very limited, while the success which has almost invariably followed their appoint-

ment strongly
Indians
tive

refutes the theory that the

are unfit for superior

administra-

work, and clearly

shews that with

better opportunities they might develop talents

which now

lie

unused and dormant.

Another reason
are
associated
in

why
is

the Native States

that

highly regarded

they

are

the

popular

mind with

recollections of the political independence

that

was once enjoyed, and form landmarks as it were of that ancient civiliza-

tion

whose traces are still visible amidst the wreck and debris of ages. In spite of the absence of those refined methods
which distinguish the (government
British
territories,

in

the

the rule of the Native

II

Princes possesses one decided advantage in

that
it is

more sympathetic and more

ideas,

in

harmony with the

usages of the people.

thoughts and

Native Courts again

have been patrons of learned

men and

men

of character and sanctity^ and proindustries

It

tectors of the arts,

factures

and manuis

of the country.

too true,

as Col. Torrens

has remarked, that 'the

demand
led in

for

Cashmere shawls has dwind-

extent as British supremacy has

spread northwards from Bengal Proper'

and the

fall

of

Lucknow and

Delhi has
'last

been almost the shawl-makei%

bitterest blow.'

and

And what
is

is

true of the

shawl manufacture
facture of

true also of the

manu-

many other indigenous fabrics which once commanded universal admiration

by the
quality.

superiority

of their texture
still

and

They

are

prized

by our
their

Princes and Chiefs,

decline, encourage

who, even
directly

in

or indirectly

these and other arts and industries, which

but

for

them would have probably died

out of the country.

12

Native States again are the only centres

tound which true self-government on an

appreciable scale
is

possible in the present

political exigencies of the country. Indians

had successfully governed themselves from

remote antiquity, and the resuscitation of
their self-governing capacities
is

a desider-

atum not only

to

themselves but also to

their British rulers

and masters.
direction

Hence a
is

movement

in

this

visible

throughout the Empire.

tincts of the people

The

higher ins-

are to

be preserved

and even developed, and

Britain's mission

in India is not to extinguish

every spark

of generous ambition in the Indian breast^

but to generate in

it

that

vital

warmth
for

which

will

call

forth

latent

powers and

susceptibilities

and enliven the capacity

utility

organisation and discipline self-government

imposes.

The

of the Native States

is

as self-governing agencies
I

palpable, and

can do nothing better to

support

my

position than quote the utterances

of our

present Viceroy on the subject.

ing
at

Speak-

the

St.

Andrew's

Dinner

on

13 1891,

30th
after

November
referring to

Lord Lansdownej,
visit

His Excellency's
a

to

Cashmere and
I

few

other

Native
facts

States,

observed 'I dwell upon these

regard
it

because

as a matter of first rate

importance that the states in subordinate

aUiance with

Her Majesty should be

so

governed that we need have no scruple in preserving for them the measure of
independence which they at present enjoy.
to deprive

Not only would it be an act of them of the privileges

it

injustice

of selfentitled,

government to which they are

but

would,

am

convinced, be a distinct
if

misfortune to the Empire

these inter-

esting remnants of indigenous rule

were
It
is

to be

entirely

effaced.
for

instructive both

the natives of this

country and for Europeans, that the two

kinds of Government should be in force
side

by

side,

and
are

in the full
all

view of public

opinion.

We

of us fond of dwelling

upon the necessity of decentralising our administration, and considering all the pircumstances of India, I doubt whetliey

14

there

is

any form of decentralisation more

useful than that

affairs

which leaves the domestic

people.'

of a large portion of the country to

the

management of its own

an echo
in

These

pregnant remarks of His Excellency will

find

every reasonable mind*

States

There are no doubt Native

Native States, but
it

and
of

is

in the interest

them

all that,

while they should enjoy

perfect liberty in the

management of

their

internal affairs, they should live

in the full

and grow

hght of enlightened pubhc opi-

nion.

This would purify their atmosphere

it is

where

infected

and show,
still

at the

same

time, that

we

can

boast of a Mysore,

a Travancore and a Baroda, v/hose govern-

ment, managed by able native rulers and

administrators,

may compr-e

favourably

when

placed in juxtaposition with even.

British rule.

But there

is

one more consideration, as

powerful as the others, in favour of the

Native States and their continuance, and

this consideration

weighs equally with the

Senti-

people and the Paramount Power.

15

merits of loyalty and gratitude for numer-

ous boons received as well as the instincts

of self-interest and self-preservation alike

prompt the people

ing cegis

to

desire the

continu-

ance of British rule under

whose protectthey have been making rapid

civilisa-

marches towards prosperity and

tion
;

dered to
as

in mind the services renby the Native States, they wish a means to an end, that these states

and bearing
it

should flourish and prosper.

As

for the

Paramount Power, the help

from our
Princes and

it

has received

Chiefs has

been

repeatedly acknowledged, but by none so

forcibly as

by

that

illustrious

statesman

who

wielded the destinies of this Empire

in the terrible crisis of 1857.

The Native

States

had been ruthlessly broken up and

absorbed during the preceding regune, and

the terrible mutiny, which Lord Canning

was

called

upon

to face

and to

quell,

has

been imputed mainly to the discontent caused by Lord Dalhouse's policy of

'The decade thus describes the situation.

annexation.

An

almost

eye-witness

.6

preceding the revolt of

the

army had

seen the British dominions largely extend-

ed by the absorption of the Native States. Oudh had been annexed because of the
Kins:'s misrule.

One

after

another the

states of Satara, Jhansi

and Nagpur had

It is true

been treated as
practice

escheats.

that

neither the doctrine of escheat nor the

was new.

But they had never

systematically en^

been so
forced.

logically or

The views

of

the

Governorbelieved

General were well known.

that

He

petty

principahties,

intervening

within the British boundaries, might be made the means of annoyance to us, but
Gould never be a source of strength.

He
of

expressed that advantage should be taken

of every juot

opportunity to get

rid

them by annexing them when there were no direct heirs. He had apphed his principles to one of the largest states and had argued for them in the case of the oldest.

No

ruhng chief

felt

secure

for the

future,

and there arose general

''

fear.'*

Aitchison's

Lord Lawrence pp. 134 J 3s,

17

The down
filled

Native States had been thus treated

to
1856,

and the Indian Princes,

trembled

with consternation,
Yet,
iSre

their

thrones, uncertain as to

on who would
in

be the next victim.

following year the

when
one

the

broke out which

in

involved the

Empire

mighty-

conflagration, these very Princes voluntarily

came to the side of the Paramount Power and manfully stood there till the
was completely subdued and
extin-

fire

guished.
history

How many
furnish

instances

does

of such generous repayfully

ment?
services

Lord Canning
so

realised the

situation

and appreciated
rendered at
fulness

the

valuable

such

crisis

and
to

in the

of his gratitude des-

cribed the

Native States as break waters

the storm, which

would
in
rule,'

otherwise

have swept over the Empire

wave.
'is

one great
wrote he,

'The safety of our

not

increased,

diminished,

by

the

maintenance of Native Chiefs well

affect-

ed to us come when

And
2

should the day

India shall be threatened

by

i8

an external enemy or when the interests

of England elsewhere

may

require

that

her Eastern Empire shall incur more than

ordinary
will
risk,

one of our best mainstays

States.'

be found in these Native

These words from such authority shew

more

forcibly

than volumes of argument

States
as-

the usefulness of the Native

valuable auxilliaries in times

of trouble

and as

pillars

of strength to support the

disorder or

Empire

in

cases of internal

external aggression.

Lord Canning was not singular

those \'iews based solely on
his

in his,

views about the Native States, nor were

over-

whelming
critical

sense

of

gratitude

for

the

services his government had, at a most

time, received unasked

from the

Indian Princes.

He

looked at the ques-

tion from the liberal standpoint of practical

and other eminent British have expressed similar views Statesmen on diverse occasions. Lord Ellenborough,
politics,

for

instance,

writing in

1853,

when the

tide of annexation

may

be said to have

19

i-eached

its

height, observed

'I is

considet
at

that in fact

our Government

the

States,

head of the system composed of Native and I would avoid what are
called
rightful

occasions of appropriating

those territories.

On

the

contrary,
I

should be disposed as far as

could to
I

maintain the Native States,

satisfied

and

am
the

that their maintenance

and the

giving the subjects of these

States

conviction

that

they

are

considered

permanent parts of the general Govern-

ment of India would

our
authorit5^'

naturally strengthen

Sir

Charles

Wood

(Lord Halifax), on 26th. February 1863^

referred to the Native States in the

of

Commons House may

in the following

House terms The

all

dismiss at once
territory.

question

of the annexation of

There are
:iot

many

reasons

why

think v/e should

States.
It
is

annex the Native

in India.'

for

our
left

-advantage that such States should be

And Lord

Cranborne,

on 12th

July

1866,

speaking at Stainford, said

'Thirty years ago, the predominant ide-a

20

with

many

English statesmen was that

our interest in India consisted in extending our territory to the largest possible
extent.
terrible

To

that

annexation

policy the

disaster

of the mutiny of 1857

must to a
as time

large extent

be ascribed.

But

has gone on, that desire of inis

creased dominion which

the

natural

temptation of

all

powerful States has been

all

overcome^ and statesmen of

parties

have arrived at the conclusion that

we

now hold as we can

policy
or
if

in

India pretty well as

much

govern, and that

we

should

be pursuing an unwise

and

dangerous

we

tried to

extend our borders

these

to lesson

the permanence of

Native Rulers upon whose assistance

we

have so long

relied.'
filled
is

Pages might be
the above, but
It
it

with extracts hke

a passage from a

superfluous to do so.

will

suffice

to

give
in

document, issued

a solemn and deli-

berate form, after a most perilous

moment

had been

safely

passed,

highest authority in

by the very the whole British

21

Empire - from the Royal Proclamation of

1858

the

Magna

Charta,

as

it

has been

called, of the Princes

and people of India.

follows

The passage referred to runs as *We hereby announce to the

Princes

Native

of

India

that

all

treaties

and
East

engagements made with them by or under

the authority of the
India

Honourable

by us accepted and will be scrupulously maintained and we look for the like observance on their part. We desire no extension of our present territorial possession and while we will permit no aggression upon our dominions
are
;

Company

or our rights to be attempted with impunity,

we

shall sanction

no encroachment
shall respect the

on those of others.
rights,

We
;

dignity and

honour

of

Native

Princes as our

own

and we desire that

social

they, as well as our subjects, should enjoy

that prosperity

and that

advancein-

ment which can only be secured by

ternal peace

and good government.'

the

Her

Majesty

Queen

Empress'

gracious Proclamation and the declarations

22

of successive statesmen have ensured to

the Princes of India the safe and peaceable

enjoyment of
dered a direct

their

possessions and ren-

encroachment upon their

powers and

privileges next to impossible.

tendency was shown sometime ago to dead

letter

treat the Proclamation as a

as a make-shift which

was intended to
but

serve a temporary political purpose,

which, having served that purpose, should

not carry any binding force on succeeding

statesmen and administrators.
for

Happily
a

the good

name

of the British governnation, such

ment
it

and

the

British

tendency received no countenance,

and

may

be hoped and expected that the

royal words of the Empress of India will

continue to impose obligations upon the

rulers of the country

whose
as

force

neither

time nor distance will

affect or

obliterate.

The
ever

Indian
their

Princes are
friendship

steadfast

and
as

firm in
;

and

fidelity

and the voluntary

offers

of help

which reached the Government of India

a few years back

when

there

was an

in-

23

.]

clination

on the part of the Northern Bear

to

pounce upon 'the garden of Central and the zeal and earnestness with
of
the

Asia,'

which the formation

demonstrate that they
prepared to
assist

Imperial

Service corps has been promoted, clearly

are

ready

and

the Paramount

with

all

the resources at their

an)"-

Power command,

should

assistance

be necessary, as

they did

in the

dark and troublous days

of 1857.
greatly
its

The Paramount Power would enhance their warm adherence to

by
treating

cause and knit closer their bonds of

allegiance

them

with

the

honour and courtesy which are unquestionably their due, and in shewing the

same

fastidious

scrupulousness in dealing

with their rights and privileges as with its own. They are the mainstays of the

Empire

and

sincere

friends

and well-

wishers of the

Paramount Power,

and
it

they possess every right to claim from

that
far
fair

and candid treatment which

clap- traps of

is

as

above the
is

diplomacy as

honesty

above tricking subterfuge or

24

low

deceit.

The

British

government as
certain

Lord Paramount no doubt owes

duties
to
their subjects,

and when one of

mis-

them

cruelly oppresses the latter or

in

behaves

a scandalous
all

manner
;

let let

him
the

be corrected by
correction

means

but
fair

be preceded by a
in

enquiry
as

and imparted
such a
picions

such proportion
his

may
in

be commensurate to

offence

and
of

way

as

not to rouse needless susthe

regarding

motives

the

Paramount Power nor groundless apprehensions in respect

quences.

of

ulterior

conse-

PART
The temporary
Protap Singh of

I.

deposition of Maharaja

Jummu

and Cashmere
It

took place in April 1889.

was based

upon an
council

'edict of resignation'

which puryears.

ported to delegate the ruling power to a

for

a period of 5

The
but

Maharaja had inserted certain stipulations

in

the edict favourable to

himself,

these were declared 'inconvenient'

Government of India
edict

and as

it

by the would
a conof the

have been 'embarrassing' to agree to the

as
it

stood,

it

was treated

''as

fession of incapacity for

state,'

the rule

and the action against the Maharaja

was sanctioned on 'general grounds.' * These 'general grounds' may be summarised in the following words of His
Excellency the Viceroy,
the

Maharaja

said

'Your

who

addressing

Highness

is

* Vide letter of Government of India to the Secy, of State dated 3rd April 1889.

26

correct in expressing your belief that

the

action

subsequently taken by
justified

my

governthe

ment was not

merely by
letters

disclosures contained in these

Notwithstanding

the

ample

resources of your state, your treasury

was

empty, corruption and disorder prevailed

in

every department and in every

still

office.

Your Highness was low and unworthy

surrounded by

favourites,
of.

and the
serious

continued misgovernment

your state

was becoming every day a more

source of anxiety.'*

The language here used with

the 'letters/ that
is,

regard to

the so-called treason-

able correspondence

which Col. Nisbet,

considered such a lucky find for the purpose of encompassing the ruin of His Highness,

would lead one to suppose that these letters had furnished some ground to the Government of India for adopting harsh and relentless proceedings against the

Maharaja.

But the subsequent declaration of Sir

John

* Vide Viceroy's letter to the Maharaja dated the 2ith

June 1889.

27

Gorst,
India,

then Under-Secretary of State for

on the occasion of the Cashmere

possibility of doubt.

debate in the House of Commons, places

the matter beyond
Sir
all

John Gorst

ved

'These

is

reported to have obser-

letters, in spite of v^hat

the

Honourable
as

Member

says,

have never

been treated by the Government of India

serious,

nor have they been made the

ground

for the exclusion of the

Maharaja
affairs

from

interference

in

the public

of Cashmere.

They might never have been

noticed had they not been accompanied

by the

resignation of his

own accord

of part

of his power.'*
reassuring, as
rate
it

This declaration

is

very

saves the Maharaja at any

from the charge of faithlessness and

disloyalty,

which of
the

all

men

he least

deserves.

As

for

^general grounds'

on which

the action of the government of India

against
justified,

the
it

Maharaja was sought to be would be bootless to enter

in

Commons, dated

* Hansard's report of proceedings 3rd July iSga

the lious^ of

^8

a discussion of them at this place* The Government of India have already made some amends for their past treatment of the Maharaja, and the best course
into

therefore

would be

to allow the

dead past
It

bury

its

dead as

far as possible.

would

suffice

merely to observe

briefly in respect

of those

grounds that the contention on

the Maharaja's side was that he had never

been
State

personally extravagant nor had he

squandered away
;

the resources

of the

that he had been ever

solicitous to
in

check corruption and disorder

every de;

partment of the administration

reforms and,
nevertheless

that

he

had introduced a large number of beneficial

if

misgovern-

ment
the

existed in his state, that

free after

he never possessed
administration
;

was because \vill to carry on manner the

nearest his heart

and that the favourites

never exercised any

complained of were his domestic servants

and family

priest

who

influence over nor possessed

aay connecto

tion with the affairs of his government.

It

would serve no purpose

deny that

29

there
at the

was any oppression

in

Cashmere

moment

of the
it

Maharaja's tem-

porary deposition. But

was the remnant

of such oppression as had

come down from

generation to generation, and had reached

its

cHmax near the termination of the

in 1846.

^ikh rule
sure

Since then, the pres-

upon the people had been, to use

in

Mr. Wingate's words, ""undoubtedly relaxed'

and progress made even

the

the times of
Affairs

Maharaja's

predecessors.*

became much improved on the accession

of Maharaja Pratap Singh to the guddee.

This

is

borne testimony to by Col. Sir

after recounting a

O.
ber

St.

John who,

num-

of

obnoxious
abolished or

imposts

or customs

duties,

mitigated

by the
of

Maharaja's proclarnation^ wrote on 27th,

India as follows 'On the whole, the above
constitute a valuable
especially

September 1885 to the Government

boon to the people,

grievances are
is

to

the cultivating classes of

Jummu, whose main

removed.
*

now

Sensible rehef

also given to

Mr. Wingate's Cashmere Seltlement Report.

3
;

the Cashmere peasant

of the towns,

but the

artisartS

whose needs are

possible

greater,

gets nothing but a shght

tion in the price of fruit

reduc^

and vegetables.'*

The
Col.
Sir

reforms introduced at the time

Oliver speaks of were compara-'

tively

few.

They

constituted

about a

fourth

of what were initiated during the

next

six

months.

And

the whole body of

in

reforms, introduced

by the Maharaja

the

first

year of his reign, covered very

extensive ground, and touched not merely the peasantry but

in fact, all ranks
jects

the artisans also andy

classes

and

of his sub-

and every department of the ad-

ministration.

One may
Sir

well wonder what

would have been

had been
in

with the Maharaja's

sympathy Government if he
Oliver's

Cashmere

to witness

the in-

auguration of the

later

and much more

and
his,

considerable instalment of reforms,

how

glad he would have been to help on

all

tho?e reforms with

personal authority.
*
yicie

the
It

weight of
evil
p.

was an

day
i^.

PailiameiUary Blue Book on Cashmere

31
Sir

for

Cashmere when

OHver

St.

John

was removed from the Cashmere Resi* dency and Mr. Plowden was installed in The cold indifference and his place. supercihous attitude of Mr. Plowden frustrated all the Maharaja's plans of good
administration
his

all his

endeavours to

make
'a

territories,

to

use his

own

words,

model of a well governed state in alliance with the Government of India', and they relapsed once more into a condition of oppression and disorder.

The Maharaja had from

of his duties as a ruler.
Dufferin so far back as
1885,

the very begin-

ning of his career an adequate conception

Writing to Lord
i8th

September

he said-'I
I

Excellency that
wise

may submit to your am fully aware of the

principles

and

benevolent

which

guide the supreme government of India

in its relations
I

with the Native States, and

least

have not the

doubt that your Ex-

cellency will

estimate

me

splendour of
of

my

court, nor

not by the by the pomp

my retinue,

but by

my

conduct towards

32

my

subjects,

and by the only standard of

good government combined with sincere and active loyalty.'* Again in his insMaharaja made the following declaration which deserves an
tallation

speech, the

need not trouble you now with minute details of what I intend
attentive perusal
'I

to

do, but

think

can declare without

to

committing

myself

any

particular

measure the policy and the general principles

that will
affairs.

guide

me

in the

conduct

of

my

I shall

adopt such measures

only as are calculated to secure to

subjects
fullest

my
and
will

their

greatest

good
their

and the
rights

enjoyment
and
shall

of

privileges,

conduct

my

adminissoil

tration so that the

tiller

of the

enjoy a
labour,
his

fair

share

of the produce of his

fruit

and the manufacturer the and

of

skill

industry, that every facility

will be given to

the

commerce by improving means of communication and removoffered

ing unnecessary and vexatious restrictions,

that every encouragement will be
*

Cashmere Blue IJook pp. 12-13.

33

to get

all

the resources

of the country

properly developed, that ample provision

will be

made
in

for the rehef of the sick

and

the

suffering,

and that
subjects

real

merit and

worth

my

will

be recognised
distinction

and fostered without any

the

of

race or rank, creed or colour'. *

first

During

year of his reign, the

Maharaja
terms
admitted
in

carried out to

the very letter the

of this declaration.

He

freely

that there had been numerous abuses

the administration, and applied himself

vigorously
to

remove

the same.

He
John,
quite

received at the

beginning the friendly

Sir

sympathy and support of

as has been

O.

St.

pointed out, and

it is

probable that had Sir Oliver continued in

the

Residency,
in

the

history of

recent

events
different
fates

Cashmere would have been from what it has been. But the
otherwise,

had ordained

and the
to

result

was extremely
is
*

disastrous

the

Maharaja and

his interests.

One

forced

to

confess
p.

that

the

Cashmere Bluebook

15.

34

Government of India
with the Maharaja
in

dealt

very harshly

condemning him on
But
pecu-

the exparte report of his antagonists.

allowance should be
liar

made

for

the

predicament

in

which the Governplaced.

Col.
friendly to the

ment of India had been Nisbet was believed to be

Maharaja, and

when he

too joined his

predecessor in condemning His Highness,

the Government of India were taken unawares.

Lord Lansdowne was new to

His Lordship was,

the countr}', quite unused to the methods

that prevailed here.

therefore, easily misled

by the misrepreears.
it

sentations that were dinned into his

He

could not then conceive that

was

possible for an English gentleman to abuse

the privileges of his responsible

office to

such an extent as induced the

Govern-

ment of India thereafter to hold that Nisbet should it was better that Col.
retire

from the
return

service

than

that

he
in

should

to

the

Residency

Cashmere.

But while the Government of

India

55

"had

been cruel

to the

Maharaja so
iinheard_,

far tliat

they condemned him

they tried

to mitigate the hardship of their sentence

by saving him from further molestation. They had taken away his powers and reduced him to a mere privileges, and yet they showed ornamental figure-head consideration so far that he was perhim
;

mitted

'to retain

his

rank and dignity as

but not ex-

Chief of the State and receive from the

State revenues an

adequate,

travagant, allowance for the maintenance

of his household and any other necessary

expenditure.' *
injustice at the

If the

Maharaja received

hands of the Paramount

injustice

Power,
mercy,
his being

it

was

tempered by

for

there was nothing to prevent

subjected
to

worse treatment His position

the plot set
of

than was meted out to him.

was
on

perfectly helpless,

and

if

foot against

him by the production

the forged treasonable correspondence had

succeeded, he would have

been dragged

down
'

to a depth of degradation
p. 24.
^

and misery
""

Cashmere Bluebook

36

which

can be

better

conceived

than

described.

What
tion with

strikes
all

one as strange in connecthe

the proceedings that were

adopted

against

Maharaja

is

that,

though there bad been so much complaint against his rule, he should have hardly been taken into confidence. Lord Dufferin,

no doubt,

in his letters as

well as orally

when the Maharaja paid a visit to Calcutta His in the cold season of 1 885-86, desired
Highness to govern his State with justice and moderation, and to introduce the
reforms that had been rendered necessary on account of the disorganised state of the
administration during the late Maharaja's His lordship also desired the illness.

Maharaja to rely upon his agent Col. Sir O. St. John, and to be guided by his advice
in carrying out

these reforms.*

As long

cordial as Sir Oliver was in Cashmere, terms existed between the Maharaja and

the Resident, but with his transfer aU

Vide Lord Dufferin's letter to the Maharajah, datet^ 14th September 1885,

37

Cordiality

between the two came to

art

end, and there was thenceforward nothing

but indistinct gnlmbhng on the one side

and vain attempts

other.
If Sir

at

concihation on the

OHver s successors had comfrank,

municated to the Maharaja in a

genial and

friendly manner all that the Government of India expected him to do and helped him in doing it, no complaints

could have been possible on either

side.

But, far from this, the Maharaja was treat-

ed with haughteur or
consulted^ he

and

in

distrust, he was not was opposed and thwarted, the end he was reported unfit to

govern.

The

pursuit of a

more reasonable
the

course would have saved

Maharaja

much needless humiliation, and the Government of India much obloquy for having
sanctioned
it.

There
to

is

one observation

should like

make

at this

place before
It is

proceeding

with

my

narrative.

a matter of the

most
the

sincere regret

that, in dealing

with

affairs

of Cashmere, a discussion should

have been introduced which could not

38

fail

to arouse ill-feeling

haraja and his subjects.

between the MaThe Government

stress

of India were careful in their communications to the

Maharaja not to lay

that he,

upon the fact was ruling a Mahomedan population, nor draw any conclusions adverse to him on
that ground.

Hindu

Prince,

But

Sir

John Gorst, then

Under-Secretary of State for In-dia, in his speech in the Cashmere debate in the

House

of

Commons

in

1890,
it.

placed

undue emphasis upon

He

said

an
'It

may indeed be questioned whether, having regard to the circumstances under which a
Hindu
family were settled as rulers, the
British

intervention of the

Government on behalf of the Mahomedan people had

Sir

not been already too long delayed.'*

John thus pleaded the cause of the Moslem cultivators against their Hindu ruler.
This was very unfortunate and quite un-

worthy of the high dignitory who was e.xpoundingthe case for the Government.
Dr. Hunter was right

when he asked

*liansard's report of the debate.

39

'Why
is

the
if

Moslem
entitled

cultivator

Surely,

*Hindu,
as

he happens to be a
to

cultivator,

much

sympathy

as

the

Moslem. But the right hon. gentleman laid stress on the word Moslem, in order
to excite

those unhappy religious preju-

dices which unfortunately prevail in India.

We know

that in

India,

unhappily, both

Moslems and
of
rehgion,

Hindus are animated by

subject

strong fanatical opinions, on the

leading
to

colHsions

and
is

breaches of the peace.

And
his

here

the Under-Secretary of State

in
this

for India

house

pointing

moral

by

the contrast between the Moslem and the

Hindu

peasants, and trying thus to fan the

embers of rehgious antipathy.'*

Every sensible and right-thinking man

will

endorse Dr.

Hunter's opinion

and

feel regret that Sir

John Gorst should have

been betrayed into touching on such a Besides, it delicate and difficult matter.
should be remembered that
rule in

Mahomedan
at least

Cashmere had terminated

Hansard's report of the debate.

40

a quarter of centur}'^ previous to

fer

its

trans-

to

Maharaja Golab Sing.

rulers,

He

took

over possession of that province not from

its

Moslem

but from the Governor

it

who was
Durbar

holding

on behalf of the Sikh

It

at Lahore.

should also be re-

some years previous to the treaty of Amritsar (1846) by which Cashmere was sold to him, he had been
that for

membered

holding possession

of the territories of
Baltistan in absolute

Jummu, Ladakh and

Gilgit alone

sway, and the provinces of Cashmere and

were ceded to him by that

valuable
consideraSir

treaty for a splendid

tion.

When

John Gorst

spoke of

the Maharaja of Cashmere, he meant not

the Chief of the Cashmere
Valley, but of

the
rule,

whole

tract

of
area

country under his

of about 68,000

with a total

square miles, of which the Valley formed

but the seventeenth part.

was,
therefore,

His argument

quite

illogical

and

cal-

culated to produce misconception.

Somefor

what akin
the

to the

argument advanced by
of
State

Ex-Under-Secretary

41

India

is

the complaint, not unoften heard

responsible
officials

even

from

parties,

that
are

most of the
Hindus.
this

in

Cashmere

Those who give utterance

the

to

complaint forget, or do not care to

remember, that

Cashmeri

Hindus,

known by
of the

the

name

of Pandits or 'learned',

are a lettered community, while the bulk

Mahomedan
Persian

population
is

is

perfectly

illiteiate.

the court language

it

in

Cashmere, and here at any rate

might

be thought that the Mahomedans possess-

ed a decided advantage over the Hindus,

but notwithstanding this advantage the

Hindus by their assiduity beat the Mahomedans even on their own ground and
push
themselves
forward.

The

most

mediocre intellect might be prepared to

admit that neither the Maharaja nor the

Cashmeri Hindus deserved any condemnation

on

this account.
is

The
Prince

objection that

sometimes brought

forward to the domination of a Hindu

over
will,

Mahomedan
on a
little

subjects

in

Cashmere

examination,

42

be found to be
misleading. In the
reason, the

entirely
first

fallacious

and

place, whatever the

Hindus have been governing

Cashmere
tury,

for nearly three quarters of a cen-

and the Mahomedans of Cashmere,

ancestors, have

most of whom are descendents of Hindu become fully reconciled to

Hindu

rule.

The

objection referred to can,

result
in

therefore,

only

teaching the
disrespect
for

Cashmeri
constituted
principle
rule

Mahomedan
authority.

Secondly,

if

the

that co-rehgionists

alone should

over subjects professing

certain

creed were

enforced, what revolutions would come over India and what dire Thirdly, if consequences would ensue ?
in

Cashmere proper the majority of the

people are Mahomedans, (the same can-

not be said of the richer and more populous province of

Jummu), so

in the

Nizam's

dominions the bulk of

consists

the

population

of Hindus.

Would any one on

that
to
rule

that ground

advance the proposal

the Nizam should cease

over the

Deccan

If

there be misgovernment in a

43

State, let

it

be condemned by

all

means,

but

let

not the plea of misgovernment

serve as an occasion for exciting the worst

passions

of

denominational

fanaticism

and jealousy.

Men
pastime
to
set

are not wanting

who

consider

it

not only an innocent, but a profitable,

to avail
the
of every opportunity

Hindus and the Mahomedans

by the
it

ear, in as

much

as in their

opinion

helps to

perpetuate those antipathies

fusion
of the

that prevent the

Indian

people into one nation.

clearly

But these are

speculators

very

short-sighted

who
bring

confine their range

limits.

of vision within
reflection should

narrow

little

home

to

their

minds the mischief

these antipathies have been working to

Hardly a year passes with^ out our hearing of some turbulent and murthe country.

derous

riots,

in

one province or another,

between Hindus and Mahomedans, who 20

years ago were living on terms of

harmony
this

and good-will, and these

riots

have

year

assumed unprecedented proportions. What^

44

ever self-seeking politicians

the subject,
it is

may

think on

the duty of every sincere

well-wisher of the empire to try to soothe

and

conciliate

these

restore amicable feelings

and between the two

antipathies

great sections of the Indian community.

As

for

the

Maharajas of Cashmere,

it

may
tion

be stated without fear of contradicthat,

from the days of Golab Singh, the Princes of the ruling dynasty have

made

little

distinction

between the two

classes of their subjects.

Whatever good or bad government has existed has been shared by both. The favours and disfavours of the governing authorities have
fallen to the lot of the

Hindu

as

well

as

of the

Mahomedan
in

cultivator.

If there

have been more Hindu than Mahomedan

officials

the state,

that

is

due to the

fact, Hindus in Cashmere are much more cultured than

noticed before, that the

the Mahomedans.
that

Yet

it

cannot be urged
often reached

Mahomedans have not

if

high positions of trust and responsibility.

And

the Princes have been thus far

45

impartial,

they have been requitted by

the zealous loyalty of their subjects of

both creeds,

who have

vied

with

one

another in shewing towards them their

devotion, respect and attachment.

With regard
it

to

Maharaja Pratap Singh,

alleged that

cannot for a

moment be

he

has been guilty of a

single act of unkind-'

ness towards the Mahomedans.

rigid
tices,

Though a
peo-

Hindu himself
and
his

in his

behef and prac-

he is tolerant of the

faith of other

ple,

open-handedness to the pro-

fessors of other religions has

been amply
Catho-

proved on several occasions. As instances,

I

may mention

his liberality to the

lic

Missions at Baramula and

Leh and the

Catholic orphanage at

Murree, his gener-

ous support to the Protestant Missionaries

in

Cashmere, and

his

restoration

of the

mosque

at Srinagar, long lost to the

MahoIt
in this

medans, to the followers of

Islam.

may

not he out of place to state

connection that, on 30th October

respectable

1891, a

deputation was sent by His

re-

Holiness the Pope to the Maharaja, in

marked liberality towards the Church of Rome. The deFather Brown, putation consisted of Apostolic, and Fathers Winkley Prefect and Cunningham, who presented the
cognition of the latter's

Pope's letter and a mosaic representing

the
It

Domo
was,

of Palermo

to His Highness.

therefore,

nothing

short of a

grievous wrong and

raja

injustice to the

MahaPrince,

to

insinuate that, as a

Hindu

he could ever be guilty of or tolerate an act of unkindness and oppression towards

any

classes of his subjects, simply

because

these happened to profess a creed differ-

ent from his own.

I

have already adverted

to

the fact

that Maharaja Pratap Singh was temporarily

deposed

in

April 1889,

and also

briefly to the
sition

grounds on which his depo-

was based. The Maharaja was at that time in Cashmere and, as might be
expected, in a very miserable
state

of

mind.

The

exultations of his enemies

on
his

his downfall

added poignancy to

his

feel-

ings

and almost completed the cup of

47
to

misery.

Writing

Lord Lansdowne

'They
foot.

shortly afterwards, the Maharaja observed

(his

enemies) are

now
now?

full

con-

querors over

me
is

and trample
position
;

me

under

What

my

Simply
or

that of a dead body

that, for I

even
or

worse than

am

taunted every
disgrace

moment by
disregard

some
other
;

sort of

those inferiors and traitors

who

only yesterday shewed

me

every respect

and bowed down before me, pass

with contemptuous smile, and
I

me now

constantly

bear the destruction and degradation of

all

these

my

faithful

and old servants

a dead

who
is

stood by

me of course,
all

body

unconscious of
unfortunately

these troubles of which

not.' *

am

These

senti-

ments were expressed

pectful yet emphatic

in a

lengthy and

well-reasoned letter, which entered a resprotest

against

the

one-sided proceedings that had been adopt-

ed against him. The letter ,moreover, was a

correct exposition of the machinations
* Maharaja's
letter

by
14th

to

the

Viceroy,

dated

May

1889.

48

which

his

opponents had triumphed over

His Excel-

him, and a moving appeal to

lency the Viceroy to grant him the justice

to which, as a faithful

and devoted

ally

and

a perfectly innocent

man, he was

entitled.

Lord Lansdowne,
but His

on 29th June

1889,

wrote a sympathetic reply to the Maharaja,

Excellency did not admit

the arguments put forward by the

raja in his

Mahaunder

own

favour.

His Excellency

briefly described the circumstances

which the decision of the Government of India, sanctioning His Highness's temporary deposition, had been arrived
tradicted
at,

con-

the

arguments
not

advanced

by

trol of affairs could

him that the conany further be left in his hands, exhorting him at the sametime to bear his loss of power in a
him, and

informed

dignified manner.'*

Before this reply was addressed to the^

Maharaja, he
returned to
of 3tate
*

had

left

Cashmere

and

Jummu, though
still
p.

the Council

was

sojourning at Srinagar.
35
tt. seq.

Cashmere Blue Book

t'49

The

contumelious behaviour of his servants

and subordinates forced him to this course. He found that hfe was to him entirely
unsupportable
painful
Valley.'

among

the to

surroundings

him nowof the *Happy

remonstrated
hurrying

The

Resident
for

with

the
his

from

been too
ancestral

away summer capital, but he had much grieved to listen to such

Maharaja

remonstrances.

He

hastened back to his

home and

shut himself up in his

palace,

thereby avoiding the taunts and

exulting

opponents. But though to avoid the dishonour that had been heaped upon his head, he thus far
acted against the wishes of the Resident,

insults of his

he

in

other respects submitted

to

his

reverses with a calm dignity,

relying on

the righteousness of his cause and confiding in the sense of justice of the

Para-

mount Power. He was conscious that he had become the victim of misrepresenand felt convinced that no sooner Lord Lansdowne came to know the true
tations,
facts

of

his

case

than His Excellency

50

would

try

to

reverse the

been passed upon him. of events right as the subsequent course

has amply shewn.

doom that had And he was

The Maharaja,

therefore,

though bear^
forti-

and ing his adversity with patience anxious to tude, naturally felt
a

have
the

meeting

with the

Viceroy,

as

best and

means of dispelling the been propagated false notions that had impression, against him. He was under the
surest

and very

rightly,

that

few minutes'

would conversation with Lord Lansdowne far other was satisfy the latter that he
than

he
this

And
him

bad been represented to be. impression gained ground with

concluding

in

consequence of the

words

the of His Excellency's reply to 29th June 1889, Maharaja's letter, dated
referred to above, wherein His

Excellency

time be said 'I shall at any convenient converse with ready to receive you and spirit.' you in a friendly and confidential thus But though the Maharaja was
anxious to

come

into

personal-

contact

"[

Bi

X^itli

the Viceroy, and though

His Ex-

cellency was wiUing to give him a friendly

teception
\vas

and audience, much

difficulty

experienced in bringing

about
the

an

interview
attitude

on
him.

account

of

hostile

which the Resident had taken

trp against

He

himself did not wish

to ask the good offices of Col. Nisbet in

the matter, nor could Lord Lansdowne

-desire that

he should be escorted to His

verj'-

Excellency by the

man who, under

been
the

the

garb

of

a friend, had of his ruin.

immediate

cause

Such a

course would have been undesirable on

other grounds too, and would have had

the sure
yet

effect

of frustrating to a great

extent the object of the interview.

it

And

Would have been against etiquette

for

and established usage

to
visit

the Maharaja

the Viceroy, except in the

Com-

pany of some responsible British officer. The Maharaja was consequently in a fix and quite undecided as to what he
should do, when events took a turn which kelped the solution of
his difficulty.

52

Col.

Nisbet

went,
cold

or

was

sent,

on

furlough in the

season of 1890-91.

of India It seems as if the Government had had been able to perceive that he his overdone his work, and thereby marred soiled the good name own reputation and
as if they, of the Paramount Power, and opportherefore, availed of the earliest of the sphere of tunity to move him out could not mischief. The Indian public

readily beheve that an autocrat,

who had

given p a

first

grade Commissionership

up, on 25 per in the Punjab to take Residency in cent less emoluments, the sake of the a Native State, for the it, powers and prerogatives attached to

would be
so

in

a hurry to

forego

the

exercise of authority of

which

he

was
whatr

devotedly

fond,
at

even

for the plea-

sures of a sojourn

home.

But

been, and it is ever the cause may have my present needless to enquire into it for
purposes, the fact remains
that he left

Cashmere
i^is

England never to return to by Col. Prir. post, and was succeeded

for

53

deaux, late British agent at the court of the deceased Ex-King of Oudh.

This was a very fortunate event

for

the Maharaja and the State of Cashmere.

Col.

Prideaux had had in his deahngs

with the late Wajid Ali Shah

won

general

respect and confidence, and a change for

the better became noticeable in the affairs

of the Maharaja soon after his
into the
installation

Cashmere Residency. The powerful intrigues against His Highness that had poisoned the atmosphere of Cashmere
received

an unexpected check, and he

was

rescued

from

the

contumacious
his

surroundings
existence

which

had embittered
preceding

during the

regime.

The

relations

between the Resident and

Col. Prideaux

the Maharaja also underwent considerable

improvement on
charge of his
distance,

assumming
their

office.

The

coldness and

that

had

characterised

mutual intercourse in his

time, disappeared and

predecessor's

were replaced by
Within three
Col. Prideaux

good feeling and cordiality. months of his appointment,

54

] M'in in

began to make a mark and

opinions from those

golden
contact

who came
yet

with him.

Gentle and

firm^ kindj

courteous and

considerate^

more
in a

influence

by

his tact

ke acquired and afiabihty

couple of months than Col. Nisbet,

with all his hectoring and bluster, had been able to gain in as many years. It soon becam,e apparent that Col. Prideaux

was the

right

man

in the right place.

The

concerns of the state had lapsed into utter

confusion owing to the

mismanagement had degraded and

himself

that had prevailed during the preceding

incumbency

the

Prince
;,

been ruthlessly discredited

dishonoured ; and the polity had received numerous rents and holes which caused
wide-spread pain and misery. Col. Pride-

aux was deputed to remedy

things,

this state

of

and

it

redounds highly to his credit

that he acquitted himself well within a

brief period.

He

possessed an adequate
difficulties

conception of the
duties, functions,

and of the

and

responsibilities of his

new

office,

and having both a head and

55

a "heart, achieved speedier success than had been looked for. The task which a Resident in the
Court of an Indian Prince has to perform
is

of a delicate nature and requires carehandling.

it

ful

He

has to hold the scales,

as

were, between the Paramount power

whose accredited agent he is, on the one hand, and the Prince to whose Court he is deputed, on the other. While the Paramount Power reposes unbounded confidence in him, he is looked up to by the Prince with respectful attention as a mediator

and an

arbiter of his fate.

The

Resi-

dent has, therefore, to exercise much judg-

ment, firmness and moderation to perform

his allotted task in

a satisfactory manner.

The

interests

of the

Paramount Power
its

require that

its

Agents should, instead of

feudatories
spirit,

lording over them, deal with

in a benignant

and sympathetic
closer

and

thus

tie

them

to

its

side in

bonds
there-

of gratitude and affection.

When

fore a Resident behaves towards a

Prince

in

an exacting and supercilious manner,

56

he

injures

the interests of his

employe^

and renders himself practically useless as

regards the discharge of

many

a duty and

function attached to his office.

Indian

Princes,

whatever

else

their

shortcomings,

are

seldom destitute of
charac-

that politeness and courtesy that

terize all Indian

They may not

selves in these
tual powers, but

noblemen and gentlemen. often distinguish themdays by marked intellec-

few of them are devoid

of the milder qualities of the heart.

As

a rule^ they are remarkably susceptible to

influences
just,

when

these are exerted in a

;

reasonable and wholesome manner

in

and

the case of the Resident, these in-

fluences

become

far

more

potent and

operative, he being the

trusted officer of

the Paramount

Power upon whose kindset

ness and good opinion they

such a

high value.

It

only requires some temper

little

and patience and a

completely

self-sacrifice

on

the part of the Resident to

make
his

a Prince

amenable to

influences.

Indian Princes, as Princes elsewhere,

may

57

be excused

for cherishing

an idea of

ttieit

own
is

importance and of the dignity and

pri-

vileges attached to their rank

and station.

It

natural

on
in

their part to expect that those

who come
deal with

contact with

them should
and gentle-

them

in a fair, decent

manly way. A Resident who does this and shews them the respect and consideration due
to
their position,

gains an as;

cendancy over them in a short time but when he pursues an opposite course, as
did Col. Nisbet in Cashmere, there
irritation,

result

and-mutual distrust and

ill-feel-

ing,

and

all

those deplorable consequences

that have been witnessed in that unfortu-

nate state.

No

doubt

in

all

contests between

the British Agent and the Indian Prince, the latter, as by far the

weaker of the
to the wall.

two,

has necessarily

to go

The Government

of India consider them-

selves pledged to support their

own officer,
to

especially as they generally listen

side

one

of the story, the Prince's version sel-

dom

reaching them.

According to

offi-

58

cial

rules,

the

Prince

must submit
Agent
it

his

complaints
that

against
himself,

the

through
not be

Agent
feels

and

may

judging the Agent too harshly to say that

he

disposed at times to take advan-

tage of his position. Thus strained feelings

arise,

and though the Indian Princes are

considerable
dis-

loyal to the back-bone,

content

is

nevertheless

sometimes genein recon-

rated in their minds, and they chafe and

murmur and
ciling
It

find

some

difficulty
lot.

themselves to their

may

be at once

conceded
of

that the

mental

equilibrium

the

Paramount
insigni-

Power cannot be
ficant
is

disturbed

by the

resentment of the Princes.

Yet

it

opposed to sound policy to rouse

their

discontent, or to afford

room
nor

for the imis

pression that their faithful devotion

not

adequately
quited.
I

recognised

properly re-

have already dwelt upon their

observe here that,
services

value and usefulness as friends and alhes,

and

it

will

suffice to

considering the yeoman's

they

have done and are again likely to do, they

59

have every right to claim a generous an^

honorable treatment at the hands of the

Paramount Power.
ensure this treatment

The
is

best

way

to

to depute

such

officers to their courts as

may

be possessed

of tact and temper, of genial manners and

a conciliatory
disposition.

Instructions

might

also, I submit,

be given to these

officers

not to domineer over them, and

some

supervision might be maintained over

the conduct of these officers themselves, so

that they might not be tempted to overstep

the limits of decorum and propriety.

last

This

could easily be

effected

by allowing
lay

greater facilities to

the Princes to

their grievances before the

Government of

India.

case

The apprehension that in such a the Government would be deluged

is

with petitions from these Prince

not

well-founded, for the Agents of the Govern-

ment

are held in

awe

in the

courts of the

Princes,

and the

latter

would never think

a course by in-

of complaining against the former, unless

actually goaded to such

tolerable high-handedness

and oppression.

60

:i

Ndf dan

there be any ground

for

t\\^

apprehension that

the

prestige

of the
for
It
it

Government would

suffer in

any way

checking the vagaries of their Agents.

would rather immensely

consists

increase, as

more

in a

superior

sense of right

and

justice

than in brute force, more in

in

moral predominance than

the

power of

powder and
fully

steel

and

it

may

be respect-

pointed out that one instance of an

erring

Agent brought to judgment would

raise the

estimation and

Government higher in the public render it more permanant good, than the exparte condemnation of ten of the highest Princes in

the

land.

The

tule of these Princes

is

no doubt not

always sans reproche. But

is

not the British

Agent expected to act as their 'guide friend and philosopher,' and gradually to lead and help them on to reformed methods of administration
?

It

is

his

duty

not only to watch the interests of his

Principal
in

their Courts, but also to fur-

ther their interests

with his enlightened

6i

and sympathetic counsel, and to act as mediator between them and the Para-mount Power. It is within his power to
turn himself into an effective engine

of

beneficence to myriads, nay

millions, of

human
true

beings,

if

he

only

chooses
act

to be

to his position, to

with

con-

siderateness, honesty

and

self-control,

and
and

to treat the

Princes with

friendliness

confidence.

But to return
the
after

have already referred

of Col. Prideaux to

to the appointment

Residency
his
arrival,

in

Cashmere.

Shortly

he began his work of

oil

benevolence by trying to throw

upon

troubled waters, and allaying irritation as

far

as

was

possible

under the circums-

tances.

He
him

soon acquired an influence

over

the

Durbar,

and

the

Maharaja,

finding

well-disposed,

began to

repose

confidence in

him.
felt

Thus

the

difficulty that

had been

about arrang-

ing a meeting of the Maharaja with the

Viceroy gradually disappeared, and negotiations

on the subject began to

progress.

62

ffom day to day.

that

The

idea at

first

was

the Maharaja should come

to Simla

where the Viceroy was staying, but this idea

Was subsequently abandoned, and His Ex"

cellency

conceived the generous plan of

personally going to Cashmere to examine

with his

own

eyes the posture of

affairs,

and to decide
local

for himself, after a careful

enquiry,

what course

in respect of

the Maharaja should be pursued in future^

The
to

proposal of
it

the Viceroy's

visit

to

Cashmere, as

became known, gave

rise

considerable speculation as regards the

visit.

object of the
journals

The more pronounced

room
for the

of Anglo-Indian opinion assured

the public that there was no

apprehension that

the

Maharaja
that

would
at the

meet with any measure of justice

hands
of

His

Excellency,

things

would be maintained
ante,

in their status

quo

and that the policy that had been

pursued would receive a further confir-

The organs of Native opinion, on the other hand, predicted from the proposed visit good fortune for the Mahamation.

63

raja

They afgued that the Viceroy had been new to the country when the imbroglio in Cashmere had
and
his

people.

taken

place,
to

that

he had subsequently

come

know

the true facts of the case>

in all probability

and that he would

reparation to
justice that

make
The
were

the

JNIahavaja

for

the in*

had been done to him.

that

sequel

showed

the

former

wrong, and that the anticipations of the

latter

were not unfounded.

The Viceroy left Simla for Cashmere on 14th October 1889. Ample preparations had been made for His Excellency's reception, and his entry into the Happy Valley' was signalised by an amount of demonstration worthy of the occasion.
^

On

the

6th

October,

His Excellency's

camp reached Murree where he made a stay of three days. The journey
from
partly

Murree

to

Srinagar,

performed

by
the

tonga
five

and

partly
Tiie

by boat,
[Maharaja,

occupied

days.

with
of

Resident

and

the

members
dignitories,.

the

Council

and .other

64

received His Excellency at a certain

disriver,

tance

from

the

city

down

the

where a formed and moved up to Srinagar. On the 24th, official visits were exchanged
between the Viceroy and the Maharaja,
the two being for the first time brought face to face, and in the evening His Highness
entertained
at a

State procession of boats was

Lord

Lansdowne and
Lalmandi

party

State banquet at .the

Palace to which a large number of guests had been invited. After dinner, the Maharaja entered

and took
Col,

his seat to the

rio^htofthe Viceroy.

Prideaux then

rose and, on the ]Maharaja's behalf, propos-

ed the health of Her Majesty the Queen Empress. He next proposed the toast
of Lord and
i;icy

in

Lady Lansdowne, emphasisthe course of hie speech, the Madesire

haraja's
visit

that

the

Viceroy should

his State.

He said *I

have been

commissioned by His Highness the Maharaja

to

express the great gratification

at

he

feels

the

visit

which

their Excel-

lencies

the Viceroy and

Lady Lansdowne

65

liave

paid to his capital.

desire

It

has been

st

long-cherished

on the part of His

Cashmere
fulfilled

Highness that the Viceroy should visit as his guest, and I am extremely thankful to say that that desire
is

now-

and that His Highness's wishes

have been realised/ Lord Lansdowne's reply

was

suitable

and couched

in

language

full

of sympathy
it,

for the Maharaja.

In thecourse of

Excellency remarked
xious as
certainly
I

'Your Highness, anyour State,

it

His

was

to visit

was
I

not merely with the object of

great natural

seeing

its

beauties
If I

that

undertook

my

present tour.

had been
I

coming here merely

have regarded

as a tourist,
visit
I

should
less

my

with

much

interest than that

which
It is

feel in it at

the

present moment.

not necessary for

that,
al
-

me to remind Your Highness most from the time of my arrival

the
affairs

in India,,

of Cashmere have constantly

engaged

my thoughts. cause of my anxiety not

visit

The
to
desire

principal

postpone

my
I felt

to

you was the

S

which

66

to

make your
which
I

personal

acquaintance, a

desire

am

glad to think was recifull

procated by you, and to effect a

and

frank intercharge of ideas with you upon

matters of interest to us both.'

Then,

after

mentioning that the

dis-

cussion of important questions connected

with the government of Cashmere had been already receiving His Excellency's
attention, the

Viceroy proceeded 'Your

it

Highness

may depend upon

in

that

shall approach the consideration of these

questions,
interested,

which you

are

so deeply

with feelings entirely friendI

ly towards your Highness.

am, indeed,

glad to be
sion,

able,

on

this interesting occa-

to assure your

Highness publicly,
in

as

have already done

that

my

private

comof

munications,

the

Government

India has, throughout, entertained towards

Your Highness and towards the Cashmere State, no sentiments other than those of sincere good will and sympathy, coupled with an earnest desire to assist
hi

you
and

surmounting the

many

difficulties

67

in bearing the
ties

heavy load of

responsibili-

with which you have been confronted,

the assurance which
I

1 trust

am

thus able

to give

Your Highness

will dispel

once and

for ever the mistaken idea that, in its deal-

ings with the

Cashmere upon
its

State, the

Govern-

ment

of India harbour for a

moment any uland

privileges.'

terior designs

rights

The

assurance,

thus solemnly

given

disabuse the public

on such an important occasion, served to mind of the erroneous

notion that had been formed of the object
the

Paramount Power had

without

in

view

in

deposing the Maharaja.

The

deposition

had taken place

suspicious.

any warning,

under circumstances which looked rather

The

Resident's action in wrest'edict

ing the

so-called

of

resignation'
all

from the Maharaja possessed

the ap-

pearance of a conpj and the hasty decision

of the Government of India clothed
it

with

a worse aspect.

The Maharaja had been

Her Majesty's
his

denied the right of self-defence, granted

even to the meanest of
jects,

sub-

and summarily deprived of

most

68

valued rights and privileges.

The whole

of India had naturally became convulsed in one fit of excitement at the apparently
cruel

and unjust treatment which the allpowerful Government had dealt out, on the
one-sided report of
to a
Political
officer,

a most

faithful, loyal
first

and

devoted

feudatory, the
India,

Prince in

Northern

one

of

the natural leaders of the

millions of

hundred and

fifty

Arya Varta.

The

Princes and Chiefs in other parts of

India had regarded the act of the Government with surprise, sorrow and concern,

and people had been heard to ask in wonder and suspense whether the days of annexation were going to be revived.
derable

Consi-

unrest quence, and the Viceroy's assurance was, therefore, given not a day too eariy j and,

had prevailed in conse-

followed as

it

was a few days

later

by the

announcement that the Maharaja had been installed into the Presidentship of his Council, it

soothed the public mind and restored confidence in the good faith and honesty
of purpose of the Supreme Governnaent,

69

The

Viceroy, during his stay in Casha thorough enquiry into

fllere, instituted

the state of
interviews
result

affairs

and

had

frequent

with
this

the

Maharaja.

The
of

of

enquiry and these interpartial

I

views was

the

restoration

the Maharaja, to which

referred.

have already
in

The

Viceroy, in his speech at

the

St.

Andrew's
later,

Dinner
referred
in

Calcutta a

few weeks
kindness

to this act of

words
I

'My
it

and

justice

the

following

longest visit

paid

to the state
I

was that which Cashmere. And, of

after

Gentlemen,

must express the pleasure

a very careful
able to inaffairs,

which
vite

gave me,
its

enquiry into

to be

His
to

Highness

the

Maharaja once
never ceased
ruler.'

more
to

take part in the Government of

the State, of which

regard

we have

him

as

the legitimate

This statement of the Viceroy was exceedingly satisfactory.

It

finally

disposed

of the insensate and prejudiced

against
his

clamour
to
rule

the

Maharaja's

fitness

State,

and proved to the world that

70

the

charge

of

incompetency

brought

asainst

him was without a foundation.

Residents had pronounced
strongly
against him, yet

Two

successive

distinctly

and

a 'very careful' local

enquiry convinced

the head of the Indian Government that

the Maharaja,

who had been

only a short

time before set aside as entirely worthless,

deserved to be invited once more to take
part in the

ther Mr.

Government of his State. NeiPlowden nor Col. Nisbet could discover any redeeming traits in the Mabut Lord Lansdowne, haraja's character
;

as soon

as

he came into

personal

con-

tact with His Highness, and

had an opfacts

portunity of ascertaining the

case,

of his
misre-

saw through
that

the

veil

of

presentations
truth

had
the
the

shrouded

the
lost

from His Lordship,

and he

no time to render
reparation as

Maharaja such
circumstances

under

he could do, without

vious conduct of the

stultifying the pre-

Government of India. This action of Lord Lansdowne was all the more welcome, in as much as it was no

71

return

for

the splendid hospitality with

which he had been received by the Maharaja, but

was the

result of

a 'very careful

enquiry' and, therefore, a measure of justice

W-hich His Lordship must have considered was the Maharaja's due.

PART
The
later,

II.

events just chronicled took place in

in

Cashmere

November

1891.

few days

the Maharaja

returned to
in

Jummu.
so
expired

He

had been deposed

April 1889,

nearly

two years and a

partial

half had

before his

restoration
all

by

Lord
the

Lansdowne.
tration of his
his

During

this period,

Maharaja had had no hand

in the adminis-

own

territories, but

had passed

time merely as an on-looker, fretting

and chafing at the affronts and indignities which his opponents had never missed an
opportunity to heap upon
hira.

A bom
be most

Prince and the rightful ruler of his state,

his position could not

have

failed to

galling to him,

however much he might

composure and dignity.

have

tried to

keep up appearances and main-

tain an attitude of

But he was no longer a mere spectator, now an actual participator in the cares of state, and the seclusion by which
but was

73

he had hitherto avoided

his

enemies was

no

longer possible for him.

found that his

The Maharaja on his arrival at JummUy new position was far from
Those who had expecby betraying his interests
his
ruin,

pleasant to him.

ted to profit

and combining to bring about

were greatly disappointed

affairs

at

the

turn
to

had taken.
for

They had hoped

their faithlessness

be rewarded
treachery,

and
It for a

and were taken unawares at

partial

the

Maharaja's
as

restoration.

came
the

a surprise

upon them, and

fallen

time they could not brook the idea that

man

who had
path

under their

The

them again. therefore was strewn with thorns. His opponents were many and powerful, and though they had been somewhat awed by the recent action
conspiracy should rule over

Maharaja's

of the Viceroy,

it

would have been too

upon whose
fall

much

to

expect that they should submit

quietly to his authority

they had built

hopes of their

own

ad-

v ancement and prosperity.

74

The Maharaja's
was
quite

position

at

this

time

anomalous indeed.
set

A sovereign
aside

Prince,

unceremoniously
a
short
his

and
he
In

excluded

time ago from the

government of

own

territories,

\^as reinvested with but limited authority

and made President of

capacity,

his Council.

this he was required to act in concert with men whose interests were inconsistent with his own, and whom

he

possessed

no authority to keep
and
under

in

proper
control.

subordination

due

They owed him no

obligation

and did not consider themselves bound

to

him by any ties of allegiance. They were quite unwilling, therefore, to shew him the respect and pay him the obedience

due

to

his

rank and

dignity.

They
its

rather tried to

oppose and thwart

him, and intrigue consequently again raised

head to an unprecedented height. were some of the Maharaja's

but not
all.

These
difficulties,

As President of
trial

the Council, he was placed on his

as
it

were,

with expectations

that

he

75

would come
though heavy
ed to
his

successful

out of

it.

But

responsibilities thus attach-

new

dignity,

he did not possess

about him

powers
sibilities,

commensurate to those responnor had he

men

who
he

could give him wise counsel or help him

out of the complications by which

was

beset.

Amid

the clash of contending

interests, the

machinations of self-seeking
stir

covetousness, and the

of unscrupulous
left entirely

ambition, the Maharaja was

to his

own

resources to rescue

himself, as

well as he could, from the difficult position in

which circumstances had placed

Maharaja had been as weak
to be,
as

him.
If the

he

had been depicted

of his
difficulties.

he would have
been
very

undoubtedly succumbed under the load

He had

miserable before his restoration, but he had

had no

responsibilities to

discharge then

nor any functions to perform,

eyes of
all

and the

had been not turned towards

him

to

see

how he
living

acquitted himself.
in

He

had been

retirement and

76

privacy, apart

from the din and turmoil

of charity and

of the world, performing his devotions

and doing the

Httle

acts

kindness for which opportunity had been

still

left

to him.

But now

his predica-

ment became altogether different. His good name as a ruler had been spoilt,
he had been grossly maligned and misrepresented, and the falsest rumours had

been circulated against him.

after

The Viceroy

'very careful

enquiry' formed an

opinion favourable to the

thous^h
order,

Maharaja, and

he

did not reverse his former

he considerably modified it. Maharaja was drawn out from his

and placed in the
full

The
seclu-

sion,

gaze of public

opinion to prove his capacities as a ruler.

cess

But the obstacles in the path of his sucwere varied and numerous, and
he would have stumbled across another failure if he had been hasty, impatient
or cross.

Under

such

circumstances,

the

Mahis

haraja's innate

good
to his

nature
rescue.

and

good sense came

He

bore

C
all

11

]"

opposition with

patience and temper,

and adopted a dignified and conciliatory demeanour even towards his bitterest opponents. He had kind words even for
those

who had been

of

instrumental

in

bringing about his downfall.

Thus, by a

mixture

firmness and

leniency,

he

gradually succeeded in disarming opposition and dulling the edge of intrigue.

He

could not, however, have succeeded in doing this, had he not been supported and

helped by the Resident.

friendly

Col. Prideaux's

and sympathetic attitude towards

at
this

the Maharaja
praise.
It

time deserves

all

was

chiefly

through his advice

gradually recover-

and
ed
his

assistance that he
position,

his

asserted and

maintained

dignity,

and discomfitted those oppohis restoration

nents

who looked upon

March
to bid
1892,

with

feelings of

resentment and jealousy.

the

In a

Maharaja

paid

visit

to Lahore.

His ostensible object

Sir

was

farewell to

a friend and well-wisher of

his,

James Lyall, and wel-

come

Sir

D. Fitzpatrick as new Lieute-

r
iratit

78

Governor of the Punjab.

another object in view.

He had
is fully

also

He

conscious that the rulers of Native States

cannot

but

be

gainers

by coming

in

frequent contact with the British system

of administration.

Though not

desirable
in

that that system should be introduced

Native States in

all its integrity, it furni-

shes a good model

by following which

the government of those states

considerably
benefitted

may be

and

improved.

The Maharaja accordingly stayed for more than week at Lahore, and fully
,1

utilized

his

stay,

although suffering from

Chief Court and

ill-health,

in visiting the

other public institutions in the capital of

the Punjab, and

gathering

useful

and

practical information regarding the details of administration in a British province.

Col.

Prideaux
1892.

left

for

Cashmere

in

April

Shortly afterwards,

cholera

of a most virulent type broke out there.

The
it

ravages of the
till

fell

rapidly increasing,

went on within a few weeks

disease

assumed

dreadful epidemic proportions.

^
the

79

number of
alone

attacks in

the city of
the

Srinagar
figure

reaching

appaUing
place

of 500 a day.

The whole
of

was

in a scare.

Thousands of souls were

in

carried

away

a couple

months.

A
of

terrible

fire also

broke out about this

time,

and reduced a considerable portion But as

if

Srinagar into ashes.

these

scourges were not sufficient,

a scarcity

made

its

appearance

and completed the

hearing of the out-

miseries of the people.

The Maharaja, on
start

break of cholera, became

for

impatient
his

to

Cashmere, and
as

impatience

increased
sufferings

harrowing reports of the

him.
to

of his subjects began to reach But Col. Prideaux, who had retired

Gulmarg on the appearance

the
personal
safety

of

the

epidemic in the Valley, was too anxious

for
raja,

of the

Mahato
his

and

strongly

objected

visiting

the scene of danger.

His High-

ness, therefore, repeatedly

expressed his

concern and solicitude for the condition

of his people, and enjoined upon
all

his

80

officials

to

distribute

relief

on a

liberal

scale.

Thirty doctors in addition to the

Maharaja's

medical

staff

were engaged

from British India, free medical aid was ordered to be supplied far and wide, and
every possible
precaution

adopted

to

prevent the further spread of the dreadful

epidemic.

No

sooner the
in

first

intimation of the

scarcity

Cashmere reached Jummu,

than the Maharaja sent Pandit Suraj Koul, Rai Bahadur, the Revenue Member of the
Council,
to
Srinagar, to

make
rice

arrangeto

ments for the supply

of

the

starving population. The Pandit managed the business with which he had been en-

trusted

with

efficiency

and

skill.

He
ap-

sent for the grain-dealers

who

to raise

the rates had

held in

their

stock,

pealed to their humanity, and gave them to understand that, if they did not content

themselves with
returns,'

'quick

sales

and small
traders
in

the

Maharaja's

Government
up their

would

undersell

them.

The

grains were thus induced to give

8i

cupidity,

and bring

in their stock to the

market.
also

Some rules and regulations were made by which an ample supply of

was guaranteed, the operation

food-grain

of the recently introduced cash assessment

was suspended
scarcity

for the season, and the which had threatened to swell

into the proportions

of a direful famine

was thus successfully met and overcome. As for the sufferers from fire, who had
been rendered perfectly homeless and
in

many
haraja

instances reduced

to absolute desti-

tution,

orders were issued

to

grant

by the Mathem timber free of cost

houses,

for the construction of their

and

the total value of the timber thus granted

amounted to Rs. 75,000, more or less. I shall on this point quote the testimony
of an Anglo-Indian paper, pubhshed at Lahore, whose proclivities against the Maharaja are well-known, and whose
evidence, therefore, cannot be
as partial to

regarded

It wrote as follows The Maharaja of Cashmere has

the Maharaja.

liberally

ordered that a free grant of the

6

82

net value of Rs. 50, calculated at the State rates of 1890 and 1891, be given from the
forest

depot

at

Srinagar to

all

people

whose houses have been burnt

fires

in the late

in

the

city.

Mr. McDonell,

the

sufficient

Conservator, has been quantity of timber in the city

ordered to bring a

from the nearest forests, and to sell to the people deodar and chil wood in excess of free-gifts, at the rates of 1890 and 189 1,
provided the

wood

thus sold be for the

burnt bona fide purpose of rebuilding the be much houses. This generosity will suffering people appreciated by the long
of Srinagar.'*

In

July

18-92,

the

Maharaja went
Cholera had

from

Jummu

to

Srinagar.

from the Valnot yet been stamped out could not, neverley, but the Maharaja ed people.
visit to his afflicttheless, longer defer his had hitherto put it off

He

of the owing to the repeated importunities sore trial Resident, but to do so was a

The

Civil

and Military

Gazette,

dated the 28lh,

October 1892.

83

to him.

Each day's
cost

repott, as

it

reached
of his
as

him,

of the manifold

sufferings
sighs,

subjects,

him heavy

and

he

regarded them with paternal tenderness,

he was naturally impatient to see their

condition with his

own

ej'es,

to encourage

them with them with

their

his

presence,

and

console
all

his

personal sympathy in

distress.

No

sooner, therefore,

he

succeeded
consent

in

extorting

the

unwilling

of the

Resident than he has^

tened to Srinagar, where he was received

by the people,
calamities

in

spite

of the terrible

that

had befallen them, with

at

every demonstration of joy and loyalty.

On
raja

arrival

Srinagar,

the

Mahain

had

his

attention

engrossed

considering

the most pressing matters,

connected with the administration of his

State

and the welfare of

after

his people.

He

went

a brief interval

to Gulmarg,

where the Resident was

to confer with the
latter

still

sojourning,

as

to

the best

means of
subjects.

alleviating

the miseries of his

to Sri-

Then

shortly returning

84

nagar,

he began to discuss and transact

matters of serious import.

The
fire

sufferers

from the

late

epidemic,

and scarcity

naturally demanded his first care. Having has afforded them all available relief, as

been already described above,

turned
his

he next
sanitary

attention

to

the

A proposal improvement of Srinagar. from a high quarter that had emanated it an edict should be issued, making
incumbent
certain

on

all

citizens

to leave a

quantity

each

dwelling

of vacant land around house, for purposes of

cleanliness

and

ventilation.

The Maharaja

saw the difficulty of giving effect to this He rememberec^ that in great proposal.
cities like

London, Calcutta and Bombay, such a proposal could not be practicable much less therefore could it be so in He fully appreciated the Srinagar.

benefits of cleanliness

and

free ventilation,

however, and arrived at a

compromise

be by ordering that the proposal should in respect out, as far as possible,

carried
of

new

buildings,

but as regards ol^

85

buildings,

they should not be

meddled

with.

There can hardly be two opinions

Maharaja ordered the widening

regarding the soundness of this decision.

The

and construction of a central road along the whole length of the city with wide
cross lanes,

and other sanitary

improvewill

ments, which

when

fully

executed

not
as

fail

to

ward
last

off>

ot at any rate to
of,

mitigate the virulence

such epidemics

occurred

year.

One

of

the

most important of these improvements was a plan for the introduction of a

system of water^works
in Srinagar.

Maharaja

was

aware

of

the
is

The modern
propa-

medical opinion that cholera

gated more through the drinking water

than by
therefore,

any other agency.

desirous

He

was,
the

of

providing

citizens with
filed

an abundant supply of unde-

water, which abounds in the vicinity

of the

city. But he was anxious, at the same time, that the Srinagar water-works

might
at

not

prove a fiasco

like

those

Jummu

where,

under the auspices of

86

Col. Nisbet, the resources of tlie State

had

been squandered away in laying a set of ricketty pipes, that could not stand
the pressure even of the water
into

pumped
waterof

them.
that,
at

The Maharaja,
in

therefore, in-

sisted

constructing the

works

Srinagar,

the

maximum

efficiency

should

be secured with

the

minimum
it

of outlay.

About 4 lakhs of

rupees were accordingly sanctioned which,

may be hoped, will be expended in such a way as to render the proposed

waterworks a
the people.
real

and

lasting

boon to
peasant

But

the

condition
for

of

the

population,

whom

the Maharaja has,

from the day of his ascending his father's throne, ever felt the most anxious solicitude and interest, was at this time uppermost
mind. The recent scarcity misery to the door of the had brought strenuous masses, and, though with
in his

exertions
giving

His Highness had succeeded

their

in

them relief, had made a deep impression upon

helplessness
his

87

Tjfiind,

and he resolved to bestow on them

concession.
official

a permanent and substantial

He

was aware of the canker of

eating

oppression that was

vitals,

into

their

and when he had

tried to

remove

that
reign,

oppression in the

first

year of his

he was not allowed

However^,

freedom of
fresh op-

action.

now

that a

portunity had occurred,, he determined to

avail of
it

and
it

to

remove, by one stroke

of the pen as

were, one of the standing

grievances of the people.

large arrear

of revenue, aggregating about 37 lakhs of rupees, had been owing by the cultivaters since

a long time, and the

against

amount

was being carried

them

in the Stata

accounts from year to year.

This arrear

had become a continual bugbear, and a

source
of perennial oppression
village
in

the

hands of unscrupulous

officials.

The Maharaja duly apprehended

the evils
hit

that resulted in consequence, and he

upon the resolution of remitting the whole amount of this arrear as the best means
of knocking the oppression on the head.

88

Accordingly, in the grand Durbar, held

the occasion of the Dusserah

festival

on on

30th September 1892, the cultivators of

Cashmere
John

the Moslem Gorst were

in

cultivators of Sir

public

assembly

informed that their ruler had, with royal munificence, forgiven them the payment of
this large

sum. The Durbar was graphically

described by a correspondent of the

same

Anglo-Indian paper that

have already

had occasion to refer to once^ and as the picture drawn by him cannot be suspected
of exaggeration in favour of the Maharaja, I cannot resist the temptation of giving a few lengthy extracts from his letter.*

Writing on the 4th October 1892, the conespondent said 'The Dusserah festival

of 1892 will not be readily forgotton

by

the people of the Vale of Cashmere, or by any one whose good fortune it was to

be present at the great Durbar, held by His Highness Pratap Singh, Maharaja of

Jummu
*The
1892.

and Cashmere,
and Military

at the

Lalmandi
October

Civil

Gazette, dated 17th

89

Palace,

on the 30th September.

hav^

already telegraphed the leading fact that

the

Maharaja, in a

spirit

of enlightened

and generous statesmanship, announced on

this occasion that

he had decided to remit

arrears of revenue,
tehsils

due from the eleven

which have been brought under the

new

settlement and assessment, amount-

ing to close

upon

35

lakhs

of

rupees.

The shortened

limits of a telegraphic

mes-

sage do not allow the correspondent to

express the deep impression which such a

ceremony
last

as that

witnessed on Saturday
Seated in
brothers

made on

the on-looker.

open Durbar, surrounded by

his

and the chief

officials
first

of his State, the

Maharaja, for the

time since he sucfairest

ceeded to the rule of the

of the

provinces

Indian

Empire, looked

down on
court of

the assembled thousands

elders of Cashmere.*
*The correspondent
imposing spectacle
in the

of the village

The whole

evidently did not witness the

Lalmandi Palace, on the occasion of the Maharaja's first visit to Cashmere after as. The scene on that cending \.\\q guddee, in August i8S6. occasion was even more splendid and impressive.

[
tlie

90

Lalmandi Palace presented one

dull

solid

mass of life, the

once the
robe

villagers, putting aside for

and ungraceful grey woollen

which

marks the

Cashmeri, had

clothed themselves in holiday dresses of

pure white, and the effect in the brilhant

sunlight of an

Autumn day was

effective

in the extreme.

natural

Below the surface of the dignity and decorum which sets

its stamp on a great eastern crowd, seethed and worked the controlled excitement of the masses, brought once more, after

many

years

of

estrangement

from or

rather of absence of personal contact with

their Chief, face to face in

open assembly

with their Ruler. One of the most serious drawbacks attendant on the highly artificial

character of our rule in

all

India

is,

per-

haps, the tendency of

bureaucracies

to

underrate

the

importance

of

the

strong feeling of loyalty and affection to

the person of the

ted with
failed to

ruler.

No

one acquaincan have

fact

Jummu and Cashmere

be impressed with the

that

the ruling family and the Maharaja, and

91

especially the latter, for the villagers can-

not grasp the idea of an impersonal rule,

centred in a thing called a Council, are

regarded with feelings of strong attach-

ment.

The Government may have been

bad, petty officials

the cultivator

may have plundered, may have been ground down

feeling

to the last degree, but his

always
not

has been that

the

Maharaja

does

know
name,

of the

villanies

perpetrated in his
his

and that

from

clemency and

honest desire for the welfare of his people,

if

only he could be reached, would flow

kindness, consideration and justice.

'Never was
than on

this fact

more

clearly

shewn

Saturday

last.

,The Maharaja's
ruler

reception,

when he

entered the Durbar,

was one of which

proud.

any

might be

The great crowd was evidently

as

moved
pectful

one

man

with a feeling of res;

and

even affectionate gratitude

felt

once again the people

that their ruler

was before them, greeting them in person, the visible embodiment of personal rule.

'The

Maharaja's

speech,

the

full

92

piitport

of which had not been permitted

that
its

to leak out, so

effect

was the
straighteffective.

more

impressive,

was
and and

short>

forward)

decided
plainly

most

Speaking

distinctly.

His

in these terms.'

Highness addressed the assembly nearly The correspondent then

gave a report of the Maharaja's speech
deserves
as
it

which
perusal,

the

most

attentive

lays

bare the recesses of

His Highness's heart and shews him as

a ruler in his true colours.

The Maharaja
present
in

Said

'All

of

you here
object

may have
this
1

heard of
meeting.

my

convening

For a long
in

time past,

have cherished

my

heart

a desire to acquaint

my

subjects,

Muqqud-

dams, Lambardars and gentry, with the engaged my have which measures
attention
to
It

ensure their welfare and

is

happiness.

not

unknown

to

you

that remissions of arrears, amounting to 24 lakhs of rupees, were made by His

Highness on

the

late

Maharaja, and that

my

accession

to the

guddee a further

93

remission, amounting to

some

four lakhs

of revenue per annum_, was

I

made by me.
by
making
anxiety

now

take

further

opportunity of

shewing
for

my

special

favour

an announcement marking
your welfare,
A.

my

system of regular

settlement has been introduced at considerable expense irj Cashmere, with a view to regulate the collection of revenue, and to remove the difficulties experi-

enced by the people

the
it
is

in

consequence of
;

absence of

fixed

assessments

and

a matter of great pleasure to

me

that

you

are satisfied with the

settlement

and

that

you
it

have already begun to

the advantage
Arrears
of
it

derive

from

was

in-

tended to confer.

revenue

have
since

been
the

accumulating
1879,
fact

against

you

year

and you are well

aware of the
called

that

you have beeq

upon

every

year to pay some

portion of these arrears.

'

It

is,

however,

my

heart-felt

desire

to

disburden you from these arrears of

fevenue, so that, freed from the debtsi

94

which hampered you, the payment of the government revenue which has been
moderately
for

assessed

you,

cultivation

may may

be facihtated be increased,

lands

may be
be
a of

improved, sericulture
flourishing
fruits

may
the

again

industry,

cultivation

may

be taken in

hand, and you

may

return to your fields

animated with a feeling of security, of

zeal
'

and perseverence.
consider
it

desirable on this
fixity

occasion

to assure you of the

of the

new

assessments during the term for

which

they have been settled, and to promise you that no alteration whatever shall be made in them during that term, and
that you
shall

continue in

the

enjoy-

ment of the rights which have been granted to yoa, provided however that the revenue is punctually paid, and that
you continue and allegiance
'

to

maintain your

loyalty

to your Chief.

It

is

my

hearty wish that

my

country

may

daily gain in

peace and prosperity and

that justice

may

be done to the people/

95

T"he

above speaks for

that

itself.

mfs-

conception
quarters

seems to prevail
the

in

certain

Maharaja's desire for

reasonable assessment
his
territories

settlement and

of the

land in

followed

the

commencement
under the

of settlement operof the British

is

ations

initiation
fact,

Government.
ever since bis

The

however,

that,

accession, he

had

been
year

anxious for a proper settlement, and that

was the reason why,

Aitchison, then

in the

very

first

of his reign, he had applied to Sir Charles

Lieutenant Governor of

the Punjab, for the loan, of a competent

Settlement Officer.

It

was subsequently

decided by the Government of India,

ever,

howMr.
con-

on

the

recommendation of
in

Plowden, then Resident

Cashmere, that

Mr. Wingate, who had

States, should

satisfactorily

ducted settlement work in some Native

be appointed for

the pur-

pose. Mr. Wingate's services were accord-

ingly engaged, and in his report of settle-

ment operations, dated the

he paid
a just

ist

August 1888,

tribute to the Maharaja's

96

kingly solicitude for the welfare of his

subjects.

In para 71

of that report,

Mr.

Wingate makes the following observations

which cannot be too carefully borne in mind 'My account of what is in progress

under
against

Your

Highness's

authority

but

Your Highness's

interests has

been

Jong, because I stand alone,

and

my

mere

assertion that the state treasury

was being

depleted, and the poor were being turned

out of their lands, and the staple food of

the people had become a monopoly of the
officials,

to

would not be beheved. I appeal Your Highness with some confidence,

I

J)ecause

have been impressed during

with
the
belief

my
the

interviews

that

Your

Highness has a ready sympathy

poor,

for

a keen and a determination to protect the But against the officials. tivators
Jieart fails

interest in land questions,

cul-

my
no

me when
those

think there

is

one

among
in

who

surround your

Highness from

word
and

whom I support of my
use

can hope for a

prayer, that one

all will

every

argument to pur-

97

suade Your Highness that

will

my

proposals

be detrimental to the traditions, the

State
;

policy, or the dignity of the

that

they are impossible, and that neither the

rice

nor the land should be trusted out

of

official custody.'

The above
possible
for

renders

it

as

clear as

it is

language to
I

do

that

the

Maharaja, as

have

always contended,
all

has been ever anxious to promote

measures calculated to further the welfare

of

his

subjects,

and that

if

such

measures have met with any opposition,

the opposition has proceeded not

from

His Highness, but from

of his

those

officials

who have been more

than

favoured and
himself.

trusted

His

Highness

The

passage quoted proves two things,

(i)

namely,

that
in

the

Maharaja
of

has

always been
operations,

favour

settlement

the idea of undertaking

originated with

them
;

and was not the Maharaja but (2) officials his that were responsible for the hardships caused by the delay in
fact

having in
that

him

it

98

camnng

out

the

settlement proposals

of Mr. Wingate, though when the settlement was completed these very officials
got
all

the credit but the Maharaja none.

few days after the Dusserah Durbar

ceremony described above, an interesting was performed, which possessed a remarkable significance in the eyes of the people of Cashmere. This was the inwith the of the Maharaja vestiture
insignia of the

Knight Grand CommanderStar of ship of the Exalted Order of the The ceremony was performed India.

by

Prideaux in the Durbar Hall at with an Srinagar, on 6th October 1892, the occasion. Two regieclat befitting
Col.

ments of the Maharaja's forces were drawn up in splendid array in the compound of the palace the Maharaja and
;

the

Resident,

on

golden chairs, with

His Highness's brothers and all the chief the State, officials and principal reises of were seated in barbaric grandeur ; the

band played the national Anthem and the royal warrant and the statutes con;

99

ferring the title

were read amidst salvos

of

artillery,

proclaiming from the top of

to the citizens and the and near, that their beloved

Hari

Parbut

villagers, far

Ruler had been

recognition

by
of

honoured with a fitting the Empress of India.

The
were

hearts
filled

the whole population with gladness and joy. The

a

Resident, in

congratulatory

speech^ the good

comphmented the Maharaja on management of State affairs

alluded to

specially
in

His Highness's
large

liberality

having
lances

remitted

outstanding

ba-

of revenue due by the cultivators.

who were
various
his

thereby rescued from

;

much

harassment and oppression

acts

dwelt upon

of His

Highness,

shewing
Para-

devotion and loyalty to the

;

mount Power

and expressed great satisfaction at having been able to perform the ceremony of investiture before eoino-

was most notable part of the whole programme was that with which the ceremony was
given by the Maharaja,
but the

home on

furlough.

suitable reply

roo

namely, the reading of as Maharaja, which gave address to the expression to the feehngs of His High-

wound

up,

ness's subjects

on the auspicious occasion. This address, after expressing a deep to sense of gratitude and thankfulness
steps the Queen-Empress *for the kind taken last year towards the restoration

of our most beloved and kind Maharaja who is the supporter of his dependent
subjects;

proceeded
is

as

follows 'Our
to the respon-

Maharaja
sibilities

fully

alive

placed,
tration

of the situation in which he is and is conducting the adminis-

with

the

utmost

tact,

ability

and energy, and has conferred manifold

blessings

upon the State and

is

its

subjects.

His heart
the
object

full

of devoted loyalty to

Paramount
is

Power,

and

his

sole

to look to the welfare of the State with due deference to the prestige of the

Government of India. good government has been

the
directiop

Order and
established,

considerable progress has been

of

reform,

made in much useful

^01

work has been done with regard to ^most every branch of the administration.
It

will

be needless to enumerate

the good work that has been done by the

Maharaja

several

good roads have

been constructed and widened, much improvement has been effected in the public works, and careful measures have been taken to prevent the scarcity of
corn.

The

cultivators of the

soil

have

been

exempted

from

the

payment of

about 40 lakhs of rupees, due on account of arrears of revenue. His Highness the

Maharaja Saheb has bestowed

ful

his

care-

attention to the settlement operations,

operations

and has been greatly pleased to find the have been carried on well.
Municipal improvements have been effec-

ted in the cities of

Jummu

and Cashmere,
in

much

progress has been

made
other

English

education in the high schools at

Jummu

and Cashmere.
ments
have

Many

improveto say

been effected which need

Suffice
it

not be detailed here.

that strict justice
is

being administered

102

to

the public,
to

constant efforts have been

prosperity in

made

secure peace and

the land.

'His Highness the Maharaja Saheb is sparing no pains towards the improve-

ment of

the State in every possible way.

May
he

he continue to do the good work has taken in hand, and may God

grant
effect

him the power and

these

strength

to

arduous
the

works, and

may

Her Majesty
to

Queen Empress continue

shew our Maharaja such marks of her approval of the manner in which he is performing his duties, and to look upon him always as a most faithful ally, and

may
under

the

Maharaja

continue to thrive

the auspices of her Majesty the

Queen-Empress.'

Making

every

allowance
address,,

for
it

the
is

language of the above

of

immense value
subjects,

as being

a spontaneous

testimony on the part of the

Maharaja's
in

which

speaks
subjects,

volumes

his

favour.
as

These

Hindus as well
conscious of

Mahomedans,

are

fully

103

the paternal interest which the Maharaja

feels in

their
in

advancement and welfare,

animated by
him.
filial

and are

turn

senti-

ments
said

towards
of

Much

has been

the

Maharaja's misgovernment,

but ask the people from one end of his

territories

to

the

other and tliey will

relate a different tale. in

They

will all agree

extoUing his benevolence, his

large-

heartedness and his kingly quahties.

restoration

The

of

the

Maharaja, therefore,

had naturally sent through them a thrill of joy and exultation, and the bestowal of the highest this mark of special honour

that

is

conferred on

the

Princes of the
breasts those

country

stirred

up

in

their

profound emotions which they tried to

express
in
in

their

imperfect

utterances

the

above
in

address.

Misgovernment
as

has

existed

Cashmere
and
but

a remnant
that

of the

misrule
prevailed,
httle
in

oppression
the
for

once
is

Maharaja
it

as

responsible

as

the

man

the

moon.

The

Maharaja's

opponents, on the contrary,

those

who

104

have intrigued against him and opposed and thwarted all his beneficial schemes
of enlightened administration
responsible
for
it.

are

solely

And
all

yet,

by

an

irony of fate, these very opponents have

obtained introduced
himself

credit

for

into

the

good measures while he State,

Maharaja's pera fiction

has

been discredited, degraded

and dishonoured.

The
is

sonal misgovernment

and a

myth, and Lord Lansdowne is to be congratulated on having done heartily

the good but imfortunate
Prince partial
It

reparation, as already stated.

has been

and

shall

be

my

duty to prove that His

it

Lordship owes

to himself to render

him

more complete reparation before leaving

this country.

The Maharaja
returned to
turn to
his his

left

the Cashmere Valley

about the middle of October 1892, and

Jummu.

Soon

after

his

re-

ancestral home, he devoted

attention

among
very
a

other things, to
interesting

performing

duty,

namely,

giving

suitable

valedictory

105

reception

and

entertainment
Roberts, late

to

His

Excellency Lord
der-in-Chief of
India,

Commanforces
in

Her Majesty's
in

The way

which

this

reception

and

entertainment were conceived and

executed reflected credit on the

raja's

heart,

though
a
large

the

affair

Mahamust
to

have

cost

sum

of

money

an exhausted treasury.

Such lavish ex-

penditure for such a purpose might be

objected to on economical grounds, but

the Maharaja had a plausible argument

in his favour.

He

had

just returned

from

Cashmere,
turn
affairs,

somewhat
felt

flushed

with the

events had recently taken in his

and he
official

that he

had

special

reason to display his gratitude to

the

only big

in the

country

who had
More-

stood by him through foul and

over,
for

fair.

Lord Roberts, who had been and fathers friend, the Maharaja felt a respectful regard, and he spoke truly and sincerely when, in welhis

grand-father's

coming
Jummu_,

Lord
he

and

Lady

Roberts

to

said 'Your Lordship was

io6

one of ray late lamented and generous friends, and

father's
I

good

have

had

experience of Your Excellency's kindness

from very tender years, and have,raoreover, had material help and advice from your
Excellency since
Siiddee.
fore, if I
It

my

accession

to

the

would not be wrong, therefeelings

said that there

in

India

whose

were not many of respect and

attachment for Your Excellency surpassed have always found in Your I mine.
Excellency a true well-wisher and guide,

and now contemplate with deep regret your approaching departure from this
country,'

Lord Roberts made a

'

fitting

response
which

can assure

His Highness that there

is

no period of
shall

my

life in

India, to

look back, in years to come, with

pleasure

more unalloyed
1

than the visits

have paid to Cashmere, when, as on the present occasion, 1 have enjoyed the generous hospitahty of the Maharaja
of Cashmere,which
is

a tradition

among

all

Englishmen

who

have

been fortunate

107
the

enough

to

visit

Happy.

Valley.
I

Thirty eight years have passed since

first

saw the
and

beautiful

Valley of Cash-

mere,

had the honour of making

Golab Singh.
Later,

the acquaintance of His Highness's grandfather,

I

Maharaja

had the privilege to know His HighRunbir Singh, and now,

I

ness's father. Sir as

I

am

about to leave India,

find

myself the honoured guest and

friend
Sir

valued

of Colonel His Highness Maharaja

Pratap Singh/

The
if,

Maharaja

may

well be excused
friendship
tions

with a

record of

extending over three generaof

little

and a keen sense

he
sacrificed

kindnesses

received,
for

economy

the sake of friendly and grateful hos-

pitality.

An

account of the Maharaja's princely

hospitality

on this occasion might fill up pages, but such an account would

out
of place
are
I

be

in

book
facts,

like

this.

There which
this

one

or

two

however,

should not omit to mention at

place.

One

is

the high compliment

io8

paid by Lord Roberts to

.

the

loyalty

and

services

of the

Maharaja.

After
effected

referring to
in

the

improvements

the

administration,

His Excellency
every British
in

observed' I
officer

feel sure that

who
army

takes
will,

an
in

interest

the

Indian
myself,

common

with

have heard with admiration of the behaviour of the Cashmere troops when, side by side with their comrades
of the Regular

Army,

they

gallantly
at Nilt in

stormed the enemy's position December last, till then thought impregnable by
the tribesmen of Hunzain India,

Naear.
I

As Commander-in-Chief

thoroughly appreciate
force

how

materially

the
this

available

for

the defence of

great

Empire has been strengthened

to
it

by the addition
to

of the

Imperial

Service troops, and

beg

His Highness

accept

my

best thanks for the troops

of this State, the services of which have been placed by the Maharaja more than

once at the disposal of the government of India, in that spirit of loyalty which

109

has ever been the characteristic of the rulers of Cashmere.' No State, in subordinate
alliance

with the Government of

India, has ever

had so many and varied

the display of
its

opportunities for
tion and

devosuch

loyalty

and
as

rendering

conspicuous
it is

services
to

Cashmere,

yet

strange

say that the

chief of

that State
regi77ie

should have been, under the of a noble-minded statesman,

a

accorded
considered

treatment which might be unworthy even of those of

lukewarm or doubtful allegiance. Another fact which Lord Robert's

visit

to

Jummu

brought to the fore-front

capacity
for
sus-

was
for

the

Maharaja's

tained work.

Making every
that,
it

allowance

the unusual excitement of the occa-

sion,

one might say

'imbecility,'

did

not

show

which

had

been

attributed

to

the

Maharaja, to be up
be on horseback
for

with the
six

dawn,

hours at a stretch, work in the office

during the fixed hours, superintend the

details

of every preparation, preside at

no

important ceremonies, and retire unexhausted at midnight. Lord Roberts and

his

companions

were
energy

eye-witnesses of

the

Maharajas
It
is

and

business

capacity.
for

not necessary, therefore,

apologist for the

me
;

to be an yet,
I

Mahait

raja for

may

venture
is

to

claim

him

that imbecility

not a

trait

m
not

his character.

That he
with
it

should have

been
that

charged
the

shews
opponents
or

either

Maharaja's

have

been
not

well-informed,

that they

have

been

very scrupulous about

entertainment to Lord

telling the truth.

The

farewell

Roberts took place at

Jummu

in

the

beginning of November, 1892. A couple of months later, that is, in the beginning
of January
1893, a similar entertainment

was given

Lord Roberts by the citizens of Lahore, at which the Maharaja took a prominent part. He was requesto

ted

to

preside

over

the

committee
details

appointed to carry out

that

the

of

entertainment, and

he gladly ac-

III

cepted the presidentship.

objectionable,
at
first

It

may

appear
the

sight,

that

Maharaja of Cashmere should have come

to Lahore, leaving the
for

cares of his State,

the purpose of officiating at such a

petty function.

But His Highness was

not unaware of the criticism to

which

he was exposing himself.

however, w^ere
Roberts was
three- fold
:

His objects,
first,

Lord

for the last

time visiting the

Punjab, and his feeling heart longed to

do honour to the one man a big official who had spoken to him kind to boot

words of encouragement and hope, and

promised
adversity.

him
I

help,

even

in

his

dire

have already adverted

as stated

to

the fact that,

by Lord Roberts

himself in his speech at

Jummu, he was
with the

the friend

of the

Maharaja's father and

friendship

grandfather, that his

Jummu
three

family had thus

generations,

extended over
that

and

he
to

had
be-

always
friend

shewn
the
to

his

willingness

Maharaja.

An

expression

of

gratitude

such a kind old friend was,

112

therefore,

the

Maharaja's

first

object.

His next object was to give Lord Roberts

one

more

instance

of his

warmth of
so that

heart and active personal

habits,

His Lordship might carry with him to England pleasant reminiscences of the
Maharaja's friendship, and interest himin the Maharaja's self more zealously

The last advancement and prosperity. object of the Maharaja was to lay hold
of an opportunity
to

come

in

contact
ideas,

with

progressive
fail

methods
to
exercise

and
a

which cannot
ficent
effect

bene-

over

the

minds of Indian
is

rulers
for

and

chiefs.

Isolation

responsible

much

of the backwardness in Native

and the Maharaja is aware that, the more it can be broken through, the more is he likely to benefit himself and
States,
his people.
I

cannot

conclude

this

part

of

my

subject without paying a compliment to

the Maharaja, which every one at Lahore

felt
it

to

be His Highness's due on this

occasion. His Highness kept himself well in

113

evidence
capital
freely

during his
of

brief

stay in the

the the

Punjab,
elite

mixing rather
of

with
;

community
with
his

the Lahore and he impressed them all

his

urbanity,

frank

and genial

manners, and his courteous, polite and

graceful

demeanour.

The

false

notions

regarding him that had obtained currency

were

dispelled, and even Europeans began to think more kindly and chari-

tably

of him than they had been aC'

to do.

customed

PART
It
is

III.

superfluous to

observe that the

reverses that

had come upon Maharaja

of 1889 Pratap Singh in the beginning

were were not of his own seeking. They of circombination the outcome of a over which he could exercumstances
cise

no

control.

He was made

to

suffer

for

the faults

of a system which dated

his

to from a period long antecedent on his accession to birth, and which he, his best to modify the irf^^^, had tried to accomphsh and improve. His failure

due entirely to the the desired end was had, from thwarting opposition which

dogged him at the very commencement, already attemptalmost every step. I have how the immediate predeed to describe the dealt with cessors of Col. Prideaux
Maharaja.
to

The

attitude of
is

Mr. Plowden
clear

the Maharaja

rendered

by
His

the terms in

which he

spoke of

115
report

Highness

in

to

the
5th

Govern-

ment of
1888.

India,

dated

the

March
personal

After premising that he was 'not

actuated

by

any

feehngs of

dishke

towards His Highness', the Resithink,

dent procaeded 4

however, the

Government of India should be under no ilhision as regards Maharaja Pratap

Singh.
to

From
for

first

to

last,

have

failed

discover

in

him
to

any

sustained
or
its

capacity

governing
desire

his country,

any
which

genuine

ameliorate

condition,

or to introduce those reforms

he

has

acknowledged
than

to be ne-

cessary.

More
achieved

two

years

have

passed since his accession, but not only

has

he

nothing,

but

he has

opposed

beneficial

measures

proposed

by
not

others.'

The

Resident continued in this

or
forgetting

strain,

knowing

everything

about the multiplicity of reforms mtroduced by the Maharaja in the first

year
of
his

rule reforms

clean

swept

away by

his

own

favourite and protege

H6
;

Dewan Luchman Das

ly

and 'most earnestof

Government that the Maharaja be made

advised
the

India

plainly to

understand

that
will

and that he

he has had his chance not be allowed any

longer to stand in the way.' up by suggesting that the

He wound
Maharaja

should be

assigned
all

liberal

income but
'I

excluded from
der,'

real power.

consi-

he added,
essential

'that a

reduction of the
these

Maharaja's

authority

on

hues

is

an

condition

other

necessary
three

measures.'
alternative

precedent to all He then

proposed
the

schemes

for

administration

of

the

Maharaja's

territories,

in none Maharaja himself any place.* the The Resident submitted the above report

of which did he give

to the

Government of India along with the Maharaja's Manto, dated the 13th April

proposed 1888, in which the Maharaja had having his own plan of administration,

bad no notice
*

of the mischief that

was

Cashmere Bluebook pp. 17-18

ti7

brewing against him. Thus a streniious at-" tempt was made to injure the unfortunate Prince behind his back.

Lest the

Government of India should suspect anything wrong in such extreme proposals of

the Resident, the latter had the foresight
to premise,

already stated, that he was not actuated by any personal feelings against the Maharaja. But Lord
as

Dufferin

had

the

penetration
of, things,

to

see

beneath the surface

and the
to

good sense to
less

reject the Resident's relent-

proposals.

The

Secretary

the

Government of
dent

India, in his letter dated

the 25th July 1888,

wrote to the Resi-

informing him that 'the

Govern-

ment of
principle

India has decided to accept in

the scheme which

His High-

ness

has

put forward, and your

own
after

alternative proposals have for the

present

been

set

aside.'

The
letter

Secretary,

conveying
concluded

certain
his

general
in

instructions,

these
in

words

^The Governor General

not consider
it

Council does

necessary to give

you

ii8

more
to

detailed instructions

with

regard

the course which you

should pursue.
consideration

He
will

has no doubt that a

of this letter and of the enclosed kharita

show the principles upon which he desires you to act, and he

suffice

to

hopes

that,

with the

aid

of

judicious

and
the

sympathetic

advice on before

your part,

Maharaja

may,

you leave
least

Cashmere, have succeeded at

laying the foundations
of

in

an
It

efficient

scheme of Government.'*

would have

been productive of the happiest results if Mr. Plowden had been able to afford the Maharaja his judicious and sympathetic
advice,

and thus

realise the

hope enter-

tained

by Lord

Dufferin.

Far from giving

the Maharaja such

advice, however, the

Resident treated His Highness with so

that Lord Dufferin upon to remove him felt himself called from the Cashmere Residency, as has been

much

superciliousness

mentioned before.
It

would be superfluous now to contra*~"PariiamentPry Bluebook pp. 20-21.

t
diet categorically

"9

the statement

made by
re-

Mr. Plowden
satisfactorily

in his

above report with

It will

gard to the Maharaja.

have been

found out

ere

this that, far

from obstructing

reforms, the Maharaja

has been only too anxious and forward to

advance them by every means

in his

power.

Mr. Plowden's

estimate of the Maharaja

;

was, therefore, entirely erroneous

and

it

may

be interesting to note his remarks in

the same report, regarding Raja Sir

Singh, in connection
to

Amar

with the
to the
I

proposal

appoint

the

latter

Cashmere
great

Premiership.

He

said'

have

doubts whether Raja

trusted,
at his

Amar

Singh can be
officer

and unless he has a strong

elbow to keep him

it

straight,

not think

would be
behalf,
is

safe to

I do employ him.

He

has never forgotten his father's inten-

tions

on

his
for

and the object

he

is

working

become Maharaja of Cashmere. Once he gets power into his

to

own

hands, he will use

it

without scruple
recon-

to attain this end.'

cile this display

It is difficult to

of sagacity

in

the

one

120

instance with the purblindness manifested

in the other.

Writing on a previous occasion,

at

dwelt

some length upon

the reforms initiated

by Maharaja Pratap Singh during the first year of his reign and the difficulties which led to their failure. I summed up
these

reforms under five heads, namely,

fiscal,

administrative,

economical, judicial

and educational, and described them in some detail,* These reforms had not only been planned out on paper, but some of
them,
particularly those

regarding

the

reduction

or abolition of obnoxious im-

posts or duties,
beneficial ones,

along

with some other

out in practice.

had actually been carried The rest, however, did not

as
justly

enure

because,

remarked by
real difficul-

Lord Lansdowne

in his

speech at Srinagar

on 24th October 1891, 'the

ties

of reformation begin

when

reforms, paper,

which have

been

elaborated on

come

to be submitted

to the test of prac-

tical application.'
*

In the Maharaja's case,

its

My

'Cashmere and

Prince,' pp.

ii 22.

121

these difficulties were greatly

enhanced owing principally to two causes, that is,

first,

the

thick

phalanx of

opposition,
in-

which the Maharaja met with from an

fluential

though hopelessly corrupt body

of

officials,

who flourished by the existence

;

of abuses in the administration

and

se-

condly, the total absence of sympathetic

help on the part of the Resident who,

though bound
practically to

to

give

him
in

every
his

enbest

couragement and support, did

foil

him

every possible

way.
It

would be
I

unnecessary to burden

these pages with a detail of the above reforms, which

dwelt upon in 1889.

I-

should rather try to give here briefly some

idea of the good
raja,

work done by the Mahasince his restoraI

or at his

instance,

tion in

November

1891.

have already
interest in the

referred to the Maharaja's

land settlement, to his anxiety for the welfare of his peasantry,

and

to the generous

remission of arrears

of revenue

granted
last year.

by him

at the

Dusserah Durbar

122

have

also

mentioned
for

the

measures

ordered by him
scale medical

granting on a hberal

relief,

pecuniary help and

fell

other assistance to the sufferers from a

epidemic, disastrous
fires

and

dire scarcity.

The
the

fixity of

the land tenure, followed

remission
of
arrears

by
of
the

generous

revenue, has

given an
of

impetus
land

to

breaking up

the waste

which

has

been

reclaimed

in large

quantities

since last year.

The accounts of the

State had lapsed into

it

such hopeless confusion that

to depute Mr.

had been

found necessary, about the middle of 189 1, Logan from Lahore, for the
purpose of making a
condition.
full

enquiry into their

of in-

The supreme importance

Lansdowne

troducing a sound system of audit and account, which Lord

justly said

was 'the very back-bone and essence of good administration, whether in a Native State or in an Indian Province', was well-

known

to

the Maharaja,

who

as early as

1S86 had conceived the idea of engaging

the services of an experienced Indian officer

123

for

placing the State

accounts in proper

order

an idea

which could not be then

His
Highness.

carried out

owing to circumstances which

shortly

overtook

No

sooner, therefore,

was the appointment of

proposed,

Mr. Kiernander to the Accountant Generalship

of

Cashmere

than

the proposal was readily agreed to by His

Highness.
counts,

With a proper system of acgreater economy and more land

gone up, while the expentowards
of estimate for the
deficit

brought under cultivation, the revenue has

since slightly

diture

has

shewn a tendency

decrease.

The budget
year

current

shews
lackhs

only while
to

about
last

seven
year

of rupees,

the

deficit

amounted
and

about eighteen lackhs.

ships

The GovernorCashmere

of both

Jummu

have, as a prelude to enforcing greater

official

integrity,

changed hands, some

notorious intriguers have

been

ordered

out of the State, and attempts have been

made

to purify the judicial administration

and place the executive on a sounder or

124

more
has

effective basis.

The Criminal Code

the

been

amended,
useful

laws of limi-

tation and

evidence have been enacted,

judicial

and

several
;

circulars

issued

while certain Chiefs have been

the powers of Honorary

invested with

Magistrates within defined jurisdictions.

The

Maharaja has given

his

cordial

assent to the proposal for the reclamation

of waste land near Bunji and Gilgit.

Mr.

Lawrence,
in

Settlement

Officer,

made
been

consequence
last.
;

a tour of inspection in
to Gilgit has

June

The Road

pushed on

the Indus bridge, called after

His Highness, the Pratap Bodge, and the Ramghat Bridge have been completed; and
the section of the Jhelum Valley

Road
shortly

from

Baramula

to

Srinagar

is

going to be taken in hand.

The

sanitation

and conservancy of Srinagar have been improved by the widening and construction of the central road and the cross-lanes,
and providing public
part of the
city.

latrines

in

every

The

Srinagar water-

works have been sanctioned, and nearly

125

4 lakhs of rupees allotted for the same.

The

bridge

across

the Tavi has been

for

finished and

opened

public

traffic.

The Jummu School

to be raised to the

has been

proposed

status of a college,
is

and a

similar

proposal

under

consi-

deration with regard to the

Srinagar.

School at

The

begar cess which

used

to be levied from the zemindars has been remitted, and the wages of coolies
raised
rate

to

annas per head per day,

which would be considered respectable even in British India and as an

;

effective

check on forced labour, private

agency has been engaged on the Jhelum

Valley as well as the Banehal Road, for

the supply of coolies and horses on hire.

The Mian Rajputs, descended from the same stock as the Maharaja, who were hard up for their livelihood, have
been granted land under the settlement
important community has thereby been put in the possession of means for earning their ^ead, The army organisation has gone
regulations,
this

and

126

on improving, and about Rs. 180,000, arrears due in the Military Department
against

Sepoys,
of

have

been

remitted.

The

farm

the Customs duties has

for

been leased out

while,
to

three years

at

an
year,

increased profit of Rs. 40,000 per

stimulate trade
in

Jummu,
by
His.

orders

have

been

issued

Highness in every
purchases of
all

department to make
State
dealers
supplies
in

and,
city.

stores through the

the

Vigorous steps have been adopted to pre-

vent

the

recurrence

of

small-pox
has

iii

Ladakh.
installed

Raja Buldeo

Singh

been

on the throne of Punch under a new treaty, sunnuds have been granted to the chiefs of Hanza and Nagar, while the relations of the Maharaja with his feudatories have been put on an improved

and more
sion

satisfactory footing.

The Miswhich

Hospital

has been supported and

helped, the Mastgurh Musjid,

had

been shut up

for generations, has been

thrown

open

to

the

Mahomedans, and
and

perfect freedom of religious discussion

127

practice

tolerated

and

allowed.

The

Maharaja, a patron of letters

tion and

by

inchna-

by the very

virtue of his dignity,

has not forgotten

the

encouragement of

the classical literature of his country.

He

has given every

facility to

Dr. Stein of the

publication of
history

Punjab University
the

for

the

Raja-Taranghii,
in

or the

of

Cashmere

Sanskrit, given

a donation

of Rs. 500 to the translator of the Charaka-Sanhita, an ancient Sanskrit medical

work, and,more recently, another donation

of Rs. 1000 to

the well-known translator

of the Mahabharata to enable him to complete his gigantic task.

The above
half,
is

list

of works, accomplished

within the brief

period of a year and a cannot be treated as light. The list not exhaustive, but it consists of many

of the principal items, and

sidered
satisfactory

should be con-

even

by
It

the fault-

finding or
clearly

the fastidious.

shews

as

as

anything that
his

the

Maharaja
time

made good use of restoration. The first

has

time since his

this

half of

1^8

was much occupied in conciliating coming opposition. It is only

that he has been able to devote

or overlatterly
his un-

divided attention
State,

to

the

affairs

of his

and considering all things, one may be prepared to concede that he has succeeded marvellously well.
It

would have afforded me" unmixed

that

sa-

tisfaction to notice at this place

the

Maharaja's brothers were

dutiful

now on

perfectly

terms with His Highness.

His

se-

cond brother Raja

Ram

Singh was at one

time his zealous supporter, but intriguers

had some time ago prevailed upon the latter and caused him to defect from the
Maharaja.

Both he
returned

as well

as

Raja

Sir

Amar

Singh have, however, since, outwardto

their allegiance,

ly at least,

and they deserve congratulation if they have sincerely done so. According to the
injunctions of the

Hindu

scriptures,

the

elder brother should be looked

father,

upon

as the

and the great Bard of ancient India has exhausted all the vigour and resources
of his sublime genius in preaching,

among

129

other duties, the claims of fraternal good^

will, affection

and

respect.

W hen

Rama
stay

Chandra became exiled

of Dandaka,
at

to the great forests

Lakshmana would not

him
all his

home
his

but must follow his eldest brother,

dangers,
his joys

sharing with

and

sorrows.

And when

Bharata,

who had been

uncle's,

sojourning

at his maternal

returned to

Ayodhya and found

that his father had died and

Rama Chandra

had

left for

the wilderness, he became dis-

consolate, turned a deaf ear to his mother's

importunities to place the

diadem on

his

own

head, and hurried forth in

search

of his exiled brothers.

He

traced

them

out in their wild retreat, wept bitterly

for all that

had taken

place,

and earnestly
to return

and passionately besought them

to

the sweets of kingdom

the
truthful

and

home.
in-

But

son

of

Dasaratha,

who

never recanted a spoken word,

formed him that he could not change his purpose, but must serve out his term of
banishment, and insisted upon
returning
to
9

Bharata
the

Ayodhya and governing

130

What did the country in his absence. in obelatter then do ? He returned home
dience to his elder's order
it is

true,

but

instead of wearing the crown

himself,

he

placed

Rama

Chandra's sandals

on

the throne, elevated the royal umbrella over them, and taking his seat at the foot
of the throne, ruled the

kingdom

as

Rama
till

Chandra's
his return
!

minister

and

heutenant

The Ramayana
conduct,
guides

is

one of the sacred

It

books of the Hindus.

regulates the

the actions and

moves
It

the smiles and tears beings. hundred millions of human

teaches
one-sixth

of upwards of two

of

the

human

race

duty, of fralessons of fihal reverence and devotion, of ternal affection, of conjugal

self-sacrifice, fidility

the lessons of inhabiting this be lost upon the people all upon royal country, and least of descent to an their
brothers,
tracing

and truthfulness such world can. And as no other book in the such a book should not

ancient

line

of kings,

who

should

m all

t
essentials

131

conform to the sacred

country,

tradi-

tions
their

of the

and

establish

by

conduct their claims to the respect

their

and deference which are

reason of their birth.
It
is

due by

not

only
as

as a

duty,

however,
loyal

but

also

matter of self-interest

that they

should

be
their

thoroughly
eldest

and and

obedient to
chief.

brother
per-

They must have

fully

ceived ere this that the late dissensions

among themselves have ended

loss

in

much

to

the

State and

their

family, but

done
them,

little

for

good to themselves. One of instance, has been used only

as a catspaw
autocrat,

by a designing and ambitious whose removal from Cashmere

Sir

has been a blessing to both Prince and

people.

Raja
as

Amar
is,

Singh, clever and

intelligent

he

must have
causing to his

fully

perceived before this the wreck he has

been instrumental
house.

in

own
that

He must

have also seen

the more he allows himself to play into

the hands of
ostensible friends

but dis-

J32
less

^ised enemies, the

his

own

real interests

he will advance and the severer will

be the shock to the dynasty of MahaThe matter is so clear raja Golab Singh.

and

legible that

one
is

who

rans

may

read,

and the wonder

Prince like

that a quick-witted
failed

him should have ever

are
in

to notice

it.

But
should the

bye-gones
be buried

bye-gones
oblivion.

and
Let

brothers

henceforth

stand

arm

beto arm and support the Maharaja, greater sincerity, have towards him with

and and
or

act with

him

in

mutual
all

harmony

co-operation in
private.

matters, public

conduct themselves with greater reason and prudence divided jn future, remember that a house

Let them

against itself cannot stand,

and bear in
themselves,
;

mind the
their

duties they

owe

to

State and

their

country

let

them

not lose sight of the fact towards of India has her eyes turned they acquit themselves them to see how
.\^

that the whole

their

eminent and responsible

posi-

133

lions

let them realize that the people of Arya Varta are ready to accede to
;

them the
can only
tually, to

privilege of leadership
rise

if

they

up, morally

and

intellec-

the dignity
let

of their

rank and

station

have
riches,
in

them understand that they grander and more important

perform than accumulating
or

mission

to

winning authority
;

wallowing

sensual enjoyments

let

them conceive

that they should rather entitle themselves

to a country's gratitude

and benediction
:

than

its

contempt and

ridicule

and they

will experience

seeking out the straight path of rectitude and in walking manfully along it, irrespecdifficulty

no

in

tive of the petty considerations of ignoble

pelf and short-lived

power, or the mischievous delusions caused by time-serving hypocrisy and unscrupulous flattery.
'

have

touched

briefly

upon

the

character of Maharaja

Pratap

Singh as

ruler,

and

tried

to impart

an idea of

the beneficent work

performed by him

during the

last

eighteen months.

One

134

of the latest incidents in his career was the Durbar held at Jtimmu on loth March
last, for

the distribution of medals granted

by Her Majesty the Queen Empress to

the
soldiers

of

His Highness's

army,
in

who

had distinguished

themselves

the Black Mountain expedition of 1888. The speech made by the Maharaja on
this occasion

was one

that deserves greater

it.

attention than has been accorded to

It

shews the depth of His Highness's loyalty to the Paramount Power^nd shames those who had brought against him the charge
of bad faith and disaffection. Addressing the audience before him^ the Maharaja
delivered himself
let this

as follows*! cannot

opportunity pass without giving

feelings

expression to the
arisen
in

which have
is,

me
all

in this

Durbara Durbar
I

which, to

intents and purposes,

believe, to be considered as a purely miliIt is gratif}nng to t2Lry assemblage.

me

to think

that,

although

my

ancesters

have, on various occasions, given substanallegiance tial and manifest proof of their

135

and loyalty to the Paramount Power, I also had the good fortune of evincing my devotion to the throne, by rendering some services, however slight they
have
were, in the Black Mountain expedition
of 1888

The

offer of troops

which

made on

the occasion wis kindly accepted

India,
I

by the Government of
glad and honoured

and right

was

the day

when

one thousand men of

towards Sialkote
for

my army

marched

Hazara to take part

Similar
offers

in that expedition.

made

by me

during the last two

Black Moun-

tain expeditions received due acknowledg-

ment from the Government of India. 'The services rendered by the msn in 1888 have met with the due and kind appreciation of Her Gracious Majesty the Queen Empress of India who, I am glad
to
say,

has been graciously pleased to

for

grant medals

them medals

which

coming beyond

as a gift
all

from our Sovereign are

price

and are invaluable as a

gracious kindness.

mark

of

Her Majesty's

'Col. Barr, I request the favour of

your

136

kindly conveying
to His

my

heart-felt

gratitude

Excellency the Viceroy,

who

in

every

way and always

for

takes

much

kindly
all

interest in

promoting the success of

his

my

affairs,

having

moved

Her

Majesty to grant the medals during his

tenure,

and of asking His Excellency to

convey the same with expressions of

my

profound respects, loyalty and homage to

Her Majesty.
'It is

an occasion which begets

many

healthy feeling in us.

it

On

the one hand,

exhilarates
is

my

heart with joyous senti-

ments and

conducive to the strengthen-

ing of the already deeply-rooted feehngs

of devotion to the

Throne, and, on the

of every

other, appeals to the heart

dier

soU

and

is

a stimulus to him, for

the per-

formance of such acts

gallantry as might entitle

of

conspicuous
to

him

similar

honours.
'Military officers

say, before concluding, a

advice

to
in

you.

must word or two of Wherever you may be

soldiers,
I

and

engaged

defending the interests of the

^Z7

Empire which comprises the

this State,

interests

of

you must always make a true

spirit,

display of martial

and

try

with

your body and soul to serve earnestly,

loyally

and

faithfully.

Feelings of true

manliness must always govern and guide

you, as humanity consists in true manliness.'

There

is

a ring of earnest sincerity in the

fail

above which cannot

the fulness of his

to

move and conis

vince the most sceptical reader. It

out of

heart that the Maharaja

speaks, and his words possess a directness

of aim and singleness of purpose that can-

not be mistaken.

The concluding passage

to a

would do
Europe.

credit

crowned head of
conceives

One who not only

is

but realises that 'humanity consists in true

manliness'
certainly

those aspersions that have

broad-cast upon him.
raja's loyalty, it

removed from been thrown for the MahaAs

far

seems to have sought out

and

filled

every nook and corner of his

heart and firmly rooted itself there.

The
and

Maharaja

is

loyal

by

habit,

by

training

138

by

heredity.

In his letter to the Vicero5% 14th

dated the
say 'As

May

1889,

he wrote to
lamented

advised by

my

late

father from
is full

my

very childhood,

my

heart

of loyalty to the Paramount Power,

and

am

always ready to do

all

that can

be desired by the blessed Government.'

And who
life

that

knows the

history

of the

of Maharaja Runbir Sing, will for a

forget

moment
life ?

the sentiments of loyalty

at all

that inspired

him

moments

of his

The

invaluable services that he ren-

dered to the British Government in the

dreadful crisis

of 1857 are recorded in

;

indehble

letters

yet

when

Sir

John

Lawrance,
tiny,

after the suppression of the

Mu-

went reward him

to
for

Jummu and

proposed to

those services,

reply of the high-souled

Prince

mark the
'that

he

would take no recompense

request the

for his share in

suppressing the rebellion, but that he would

Government

to remain

custo-

dian of the proposed reward for

let it

him and
of

remain as an item of deposit in the

exchequer.'

Government

Most

the

139

other States that helped the Government in

the Mutiny were offered and accepted com-

pensation for services rendered in those

terrible

days,

but Cashmere, while

in the nature,
its
its

ex-

celling all

others

charac-

ter

and extent of

services,

thankfully

declined to barter

sense of duty and

it.

receive a return for having discharged

It

spare to

would require more space than I can make even a bare mention of all

the services that the

Jummu

family have
since the

done to the
Punjab.
vince

British

Government

establishment of British authority in the

The

annexation of that pro-

would

have

been

much
The

more

difficult

but for the help and co-operation

result of

of Maharaja Golab Singh.

the Sikh wars might, indeed, have assum-

ed a

different

shape, had he joined the

in

army of the Khalsa and thrown

the

weight of his prudence, foresight, influence

and prowess on the side of the Durbar at

Lahore.

The

fate of the conflict

was

for

a time almost trembling in the balance,

and the situation

is

thus described by an

H<^

eminent Ex-Lieutenant Governor of the

Punjab

Taken
by the

aback by the determined

resistance
first

of the

Khalsa troops

in

the

battles

on the banks of the

loss

Sutlej,

crippled

of a seventh of our

army, paralysed by the exhaustion of the

artillery

ammunition, the want of heavy

guns and the deficiency of supplies, which

the
Cis-Sutlej feudatories

began to withto inacti-

hold, the English were reduced

vity for a time after

the desperate battle

fol-

of Ferozeshah, and were unable to

low up

their

victory,'*

The

fields

of

Sobraon at such a juncture might have

unfolded a different story had not Golab

Singh stood aloof from the contest, and,

later,

the Board of Administration and the

Chief Commissioner would not have found

it

so easy to

quell

the

disturbances that

infested the country, except with the help

of his prestige and power.

The

services of

Cashmere

in 1857,

when

Golab Singh had

acknowledged

just died

and Runbir Singh and

succeeded him to the throne, have been

by the

historian
p. 40.

in

Aitchison's Lawrence

141

the records of the Government.

large

contingent was sent to co-operate with the

British forces at the siege of Delhi.

Some

suspicion

was at first entertained regarding the good faith and the fidehty of this
contingent, but the 'Saviour of the Punjab

treated the

suspicion

as

unworthy and
in these

wrote to General Wilson

'So
I

words

far as 1

have the means of judging,

consider the
I

Jummu

troops are trustif I

worthy.

myself would trust them

I

were

in

your place, so long as

otherwise.
officers
I

had no
are

reason to do
unless
wilfully
in

think that

the

with

them
to

bhnd

or place stupid confidence

them, they will be able

indeed,

form a

fair,

a just judgment as to their

merits,

by

the time the force gets at

If

Umballa.
has

by that time
all

my

brother
I

no

reason for distrusting them,

would say by
attack

means have them sent on to Delhi and let them aid in the

My own

impression

is

that

they will behave well.'*

,

And
p.

well

was

* Smith's Life of

Lawrence Vol. IL

184^

142

the prophecy

fulfilled

and the suspicion

for

shewn

to be entirely

groundless,

the

Jummu

troops bore the brunt of Bukht

Khan's attack at the

Lahori Gate

and

took a prominent part in other engage-

ments

at the seige of Delhi.

It iwas

not with

men

nor with

money

alone, however, that Maharaja Runbir Sing

assisted the British

Government

in those

days, but he rendered active service in various other ways. For instance, he seized

about 2,000 mutineers that had entered his territories from the side of Hoti Mardan,
delivered

them

to the British authorities,

and afforded protection to and treated the English ladies and gentlemen who were in Cashmere with the utmost kindness and
hospitality.

Lord Canning

was so imcrisis

pressed with Maharaja Runbir Singh's invaluable services in such

an awful

that he wrote a letter to him, assuring him

of the gratitude of the British

Government
be

and of the benefits that he would sure to reap by an alliance with it.

few years

after

the

Mutiny, there

143

was the Hazara expedition and later on the Yarkand Mission. The doings of
Russia in central Asia

demanded constant

and
the

careful

attention.

And then

within

the last few years, the Agror Valley and

Black

Mountain expeditions
interest

have
in

excited

considerable
in

both

England and

India.

The

part played
all

by the
these

Maharaja
is

of

Cashmere on

occasions

well-known

and has

been publicly acknowledged.

The CashHunza

mere

forces

have more recently subdued

the complications in Chitral and

Nagar,

made

their

mark among the Im-

perial Service

Corps that have been formed

Indian States during the
their
laurels

in the leading
last

few years, and won

in difficult

and arduous campaigns. Cashhas, moreover,

mere money

been freely

ening and solidifying

spent during the last 4 years in strengththe defences of the

Empire on the North Western Frontier.

It will

have appeared clearly from the

foregoing pages that the loyalty of

raja Pratab

Maha-

Singh is ardent and devoted, and

144

that the services of his family to the Para-

mount Power have been varied, continuous and invaluable. The claims of the Maharaja

upon the kindness and consideration of the British Government are, therefore,
proportionately strong.
that

The compensation
declined
after
it

was thankfully
his father,

the
cus-

Mutiny by

who kept

'in

tody in the
additional

British

exchequer', has not

yet been demanded, but that only imparts

strength
to
his

claims,

and

these certainly should be neither forgot-

ten nor

over-looked by
is

Government more upon

those claims

whose
its

prestige

based even

moral than

its

material superiority.
as
if

Yet
gotten.

it

would seem

have been altogether over-looked and for-

The Maharaja was deposed

in

1889 on allegations of certain mis-government in Cashmere which, the slightest

enquiry would have shown, had been in
existence in the State before he or perhaps
his father

was born. The Maharaja courted

it

an enquiry but

was never granted

to

him. In a letter addressed by the Goverji-

14-5

ment of India
against the
rule, the

to the Secretary of State,

dated the 29th July

1889,
that,

it

was stated

Maharaja

under his mis-

population of the State, in spite

of

its

great natural resources, 'had steadily

its

dwindled and

people had become im-

poverished to the point of chronic scarcity',

and that
preciable

'neither

his abilities

nor his

in-

clinations are likely to bring about

any ap-

improvement

in the condition of

the people committed to his charge.'

The
to be

Maharaja's deposition
justified

was sought

An
would,

on these statements. examination of these

submit,
clearly

statements

shew the inadequate and unreliable nature of the informaI

upon which the Government of India had been moved to take action against the Maharaja. The statements were based principally upon Mr. Wingate's Settlement Report, to which I have already had oction,

casion to refer. It

was

relied

upon

as con-

taining 'abundant evidence that

most of the

abuses continued to prevail unchecked.'*

*

Cashmere Bluebook

p.

30.

10

146

take

up
of

first

the question of the

in

decrease

population
in his

Cashmere.

Mr. Wingate,

above report, gives

of Cashmere a table of the population remarks proper from 1815 to 1887, and

the last 70 that 'the general result of the population years appears to be that
is

now

little

used to be.

more than half of what it That it is considerably less

little

there can be

doubt.'*

He
to

states

that the population in 181 5

in

was 800,000,
200,000,

1835

it

dwindled down

in

1873
is,

that

rose to 500,000, while in 1887, during the rule of the present

it
it

between 300,000 The margin between the to 400,000. two figures given for 1887 is a wide one, and shews that Mr. Wingate had no
Maharaja,
again
fell

to

reliable

statistics

to

go upon, but

was

His guess, moreonly making a and over, was a most haphazard one, seems to have been a foregone conclusionmore the effect than the cause of
guess.
his

theory of decrease of population in

*Cashmere Bluebook.
p. 51.

M7

Cashmere
Report
for

in

recent years,

This can be
last

found at a glance from the

Census

the territories which acknow-^

ledge the

Maharaja's sway.

The

report

was elaborately prepared by Pundit Bhag Ram, Rai Bahadur, the Judicial Member of the Cashmere Council, who had been appointed Census Commissioner
for the State at the instance

and with the

concurrence of the
calculations,

Resident, and
that

whose
is

considering

he

an

old and trusted servant

of the

British

be regarded as perfectly unimpeachable. This report shews

that

Government,

may

the population of Cashmere proper

1891,
later,

on the night of the 28th February

that
is,

only about

three

years

was
This

949,041, or

greater than that given

figure
is

between two to three times by Mr.Wingate '*

eloquent and condemns

Mr. Wingate's

haphazard
it is

guess

much
any

more strongly than

language to do.
* Census
p.

possible for

Report

of

the

Cashmere

State for 1891

14.

148

If the other figures given

by Mr. Win-

gate in his report be at all correct, they would rather point to a different con-

by him. Those shew an figures would rather tend to from 1835 when, increase of population
clusion from that arrived at

followed on account of severe earthquakes to 1828 and a severe by cholera in 1824

famine caused by heavy rainfall in 1831 minimum on to 1833, it had reached the
record.

There were several floods and Neverepidemics between 1835 to 1873. on rapidly theless, the population went
till

increasing,

it

reached the

maximum

ever

known

in

Pratap Singh. the Mahacrease of population under

raja's 'misrule,'

the reign of Maharaja The theory of the de-

therefore, entirely falls to

the ground.

With
people,

regard

the

the poverty of the statement that they 'had

to to

become impoverished
chronic
serious
in
scarcity,'
is

the

point

of

open to the most

travellers

question,

European

Cashmere have often borne testimony

r to the comparative

149

plenty in which the

masses in that State hve, as compared with

their brethren
India.
in

many

parts

of British
dis-

But such testimony

in-sufficient

may be
data.

regarded as possibly based upon partial

observation or

The
British

result of careful official investigation, con-

ducted under the auspices of the

Resident during the Maharaja's deposition,

however, deserves every weight and consideration, andjt discloses a state of things
far

Wingate. We read 'There

other than

that

discovered by
is

Mr.
for

no ground
critics

the theory advanced by certain

that

the majority of the people are starving.

It

natives of the State that

might be said with certainty about the they are fairly

solvent and well to do.'

And, again,
percent
are

'Agriculturists here, comprising 69

of the
free

total

population,

remarkably
of living
is

from debt.

The mode

very simple, provisions in the interior are

cheap, and the people live in peace and

harmony'.*

The very
of the

fact that

during the
foj 1891 p.

The Census Report

Cashmere State

117

'50

period ending with 1891, there was an

influx of 86,153 persons into

Cashmere, of

whom

65,108

came from the Punjab and

has no legs to

the neighbouring States,* dearly shews

that the poverty theory

stand upon. This influx consisted of 44,481

males and 41,672 females,thus proving that it was not a floating population, but one
that had for the most part actually settled

with family and children and taken up

their

abode

in the country.

People never
large

think of immigrating in

numbers

from prosperous
Punjab
districts

localities,

such as the

may be

taken to be, into

'to

a place where

impoverishment
is

the

point of chronic scarcity'

said to prevail.

The charge

that the Maharaja had

to improve

not

the inclination

the condition

of his people can be best refuted by quot-

Mr. Wingate himself. In para 71 of his report, from which I have given an extract before,t Mr. Wingate gives the
ing
*The Census Report
p. 119.

of the Cashmere State for 1891

tSee pages 96-97 ante.

151
for
'a

Maharaja credit

ready S3^mpathy

with the poor, a keen interest in land

questions, and a determination to

protect

the cultivators against the

officials,'

and

throws the whole burden of opposition to

a
fair

land settlement on the

Maharaja's

officials,

from the Prime Minister down-

wards, not one of

whom

could be hoped

to support Mr. Wingate's proposals, but

^one and

all'

of

whom

agreed in arguing

that those proposals were 'detrimental to

the traditions, the polic}^ or the dignity of the

State'.*

Mr. .Wingate

joined
in

his

appointment as Settlement Officer

Cash-

mere on 15th January 1887, and wrote his report on ist August 1888. During the dates, the interval between these two Prime Ministership was occupied not by a Maharaja's selection but by a protege of the Resident, who had been thrust upon the Maharaja, and who, under the protection afforded to him by his patron, so thoroughly mismanaged the affairs of the
State, as to lead even the Pioneer to
*Cashmere Bluebook
pp. 75-76.

con-

152

fess that

the administration of Cashmere

under

Dewan Luchman Das was

failure.'

a 'pheno-

menal

It is

robbing Peter to pay

Paul to condemn the Maharaja and praise

his refractory subordinates
in the

way

it

has been the custom to do.

But Mr. Wingate's testimony

of the Maharaja
is

in

favour

only incidental.

More

direct testimony of his inclination to better

the condition of his subjects

is

furnished

by the

historj' of his reign,

the whole of
his

which has been characterized by

and earnest
prosperity of his subjects.

deep

anxiety for the happiness

and

outset of his career, Sir O. St.

At the very John complimented him on the 'valuable boon' he

had conferred on
his

people,* and even a

careless study of his subsequent career would amply bear out the favourable

Yet, if he impression he then created. and punished, that is has been humbled

more As

his misfortune than his fault.

for the Maharaja's abilities,
I

should
extra-

be loathe to claim
*See pages 29-30 ante.

for

him any

153

ordinary brilliancy

or vigour of intellect.
for

Yet

would stand up

him

if

he were
that, in

called incompetent,
all

and maintain

matters connected with the administra-

tion, his information is

second to no one's
possessed of a fund

in

the State.

He

is

of plain

common
turn

sense and has got an

of

inquisitive

mind, which keep

duties

him
he
is

abreast of the
is

and functions But

if

called

upon to perform.
is

he

not too clever, he

too kind, gener-

ous and sympathetic, and his

heart together

head and

the whole as
quite

make him as estimable on most men in the world. It is

therefore,
abilities,

wrong,

to

accuse

him
cir-

with want of
it is

especially

when

borne in mind that

men

in his

cumstances do and

must

depend upon
as

the help of trained intellects in managing their

are
affairs.

Crowned heads
thinkers

a rule
;

neither great

nor actors
for

their ministers think

is

and act
if

them.

It

a truism to say that

all his

Maharaja Pratap

Singh, with

generous intincts, had

been allowed the services of ministers of

154

his choice,

he

would

have reahzed the

ambition of his hfe and

a 'model' Indian State.

made Cashmere

COXCLUSION.
It
will

have

abundantly

appeared

from the preceding pages that none of

of the charges brought against the Maharaja

are sustainable, that he

is

thoroughly
that

loyal to

the British

Government,

he

is

an ardent well-wisher of his subjects,

is

that he

not a tyrant but

is full

of kindthat

ness and benevolent intentions,

he

always tried
ministration
failure

his best to
in
all
its

improve the ad-

branches, that his

has been due to causes

his his

control,

beyond that the misgovernment in

State

has been very

much magnified
has been
in

and exaggerated, and

held
responsible
for

that he defects

the

government
tion.

of

his

State

which

were

handed down from generation to generaThe Maharaja^ as I have observed

before,

had

fallen

victim

to

mis-

representations which vanished, like mists

156

before the rising sun,

of

Lord Lansdowne

on the appearance He in Cashmere.

had submitted to his reverses with patient dignity and awaited with fortitude the triumph of truth over falsehood. His
been partly verified. But, under the circumstances mentioned above, he deserves ampler justice than
anticipations

have

has been meted out to him.

His strong

claims to the kindness and consideration

of the British Government have been

al-

ready referred to.*

It

would seem that

those claims have not received any attenThey have been tion up to this time.
rather
ignored.
I

neglected

and

overlooked

and

am

exceedingly sorry

to

have to rethe matter.

plain truth,

cord

this,

but the task

have taken upon

myself leaves

Duty impels
even at
I

me no option in me to tell the

the risk of giving offence,

though
is

feel

convinced

that a love of truth

all

instinctive with

Englishmen, and no

one can
*

fall

in their estimation for speak-

See page 144 ante.

157

ing

it.

The Maharaja's

quahties of head

and

heart, his family history, the incidents

of his
versity,

own

hfe, his

conduct in his

adhis

and his career subsequent to

restoration, all cry out loudly in his favour.

They

all

demand
to

that the

wrong

that has
repaired,

been done
and he
sion

him may be

may
the

be once more put in possesrights

of

and privileges

to

which he was born and which he enjoyed

on
his succecsion.
It is needless to dilate

on those

rights

and privileges at

this place.

The

treaty of

Amritsar, which guaranteed in

1846 to

Maharaja Golab Singh and

the
all

his heirs

male
of

independent

possession for ever

the dominions secured to him

by that

treaty,
is
it

does not require a mention, nor

necessary to quote again the words

Majesty's Proclamation of 1858,

of

Her

which announced to the Princes of India that all treaties and engagements made
with

them by the East

India

would be scrupulously
*

observed.*

Company The
\

See page 21 ante.

158

Paramount Power is fully aware of the status conferred on the Maharaja of Cashmere by the said treaty, and of its obligation to
integrity.

maintain that status in

I

all its

have shewn before

that the

Maharaja never did anything to forfeit that status, but it was only on account
of a false notion regarding the Maharaja's

misgovernment that the status was wrested

from
him.

Now

that the

mistake has

been cleared

up, justice as well as

it

sound

policy requires that

should be rendered

back to His Highness.

would venture to lay an humble appeal before His Excellency Lord Lansdowne who has, by words as well as by deeds, shewn a wiUingness to do the

And for this

Maharaja

every

reasonable

reparation.

His Excellency was an unwitting instrument of the Maharaja's downfall, and

I trust I

have been able to prove clearly

is

that

it

due to himself as well as the

Maharaja that he should, before leaving India, restore to him those rights and privileges

upon which, he publicly declared,

'59

the Government of India never harboured

for

moment any

'ulterior

designs.'*

The Maharaja, innocent from

ably well, and no ground

the begin-

ning, has served out his probation

admir-

now
to

remains for

keeping him under the ban of displeasure.

Col. Nisbet
Minister_,

in

his letter

the Prime

dated the 17th April 1889, which,

by one stroke of the pen, transferred the government of Cashmere from the Maharaja

to

the hands of the Council, wrote

to

say that the

Viceroy and Governor'after full considera-

General in Council,
tion

of

affairs in

the Cashmere

State

for

a long time past, has ordered

me

to

inform His Highness the

for

Maharaja that,

time at

least,
all

he will be expected
interference
in

to

refrain

from

the

administration.'

Two

years and a half

elapsed from the date of this letter, and

the above
the

order was partly withdrawn,

installed

Maharaja being
since

into

the
years

Presidentship of his Council.

Two

more have

rolled

away,

but

the

See page 67 ante.

i6o

Maharaja, though he has amply shewn

his

abihty to take charge

of his

owa

affairs, is still

held in leading strings and

kept under the Resident's control. Lord Cross, from his place in the House

more than 4 years ago that the Maharaja would be' given back all
of Lords, pledged
his

powers 'no sooner the situation

I

in that

quarter is remedied.' arrived for redeeming this pledge of the

submit the time has

then Secretary of State. The situation referred to has been more than sufficiently remedied.

number of reforms have been

intro-

duced into the State, the settlement operations have

made

fair progress,

large remis-

sions of revenue

have been made to relieve

the peasant population from the pressure

of chronic indebtedness,

some obnoxious
communica-

imposts and duties have bsen abolished,

the
frontier

defences

and

tions

have been nearly completed, the unruly tribes on the border have been
subjugated, the

army has reached a high

degree of efficiency and rendered valuable active service, roads and works of

i6i

public utility have been constructed,

accounts,

the

the

forests

and some other

State

departments
officered

of

the

have been
the

by

reliable

men, and, on

whole, the machinery of administration

has been adjusted in the
the
British

way

desired
are,

by
I

Government.

There
for

submit,

no reasons now,

withhold-

ing from the Maharaja his just rights and

his privileges
I

any longer.

do not mean to contend that the ad-

ministration of

Cashmere

is

not capable
as

of such further improvement

effected

may

be

only by properly balanced and

duly centralised authority.

The system

now

Cashmere is that of double government which has always proved a failure. There is the Council on
in

force

in

the one side with the Maharaja at

its

head,
;

and there

is

the Resident on the other

and
the
in

all

measures passed by the Council

^jy^js subject to the Resident's veto.

Though
governs

Resident,

therefore,

really

the

name

of the Council,

the

Counand has

cil is

not devoid of responsibility,

i62

]
itself.

to

legislate

and

administer for
is

The
its

Council again

composed of hete-

Maharaja at rogeneous elements with the elements are inhead. But as these
finds it dependent of him, he naturally subject as they them, difficult to control

are

to

opposing

forces
difficulty

and conflicting
that
arises in

interests.

The
is

consequence

considerable,
it

and the only

centrahse

way
nery

to

obviate

and make the machiis

work

smoothly

.to

power
titute

in the Maharaja's hands,

and consthe de jure

him the de facto as he

is

The normal head of the administration. governments is a condition of all oriental

benevolent
despotism
in

which

all

real
it

authority vests in
is

the ruling Prince, and

be conimpossible that Cashmere should State and be tinued as an independent same time, with the well governed at the

system

that

now

prevails

in

it.

The

finds

constant Maharaja burns with a name as a ruler, but he regain his good sides that himself so hampered on all
so.

desire to

doing he nearly despairs of

i63

Intrigue,

in the first place,

which

is

the
this

bane

of

most
is, it is

administrations
to

in

country,

be regretted, as preat
this

dominant
as
is
it

in

Cashmere

moment

used to be before.
far to seek.

And

the reason

not

The Maharaja, though

is still

the ostensible head of the State,

powerless to assert himself.

nents are

His oppo-

many and

powerful, and they

in

are naturally encouraged

ful

their

harm-

policy of combining to

oppose and

thwart him,

when they

find they can

do

so with impunity and

with advantage to

themselves.

The Maharaja has throughhis

out tried to act with moderation and in

a concihatory spmt, but

opponents
satisfied.

have

nevertheless

not

been

Selfishness

and unlawful ambition do not

find gratification in

mere words.

Besides,

Cashmere

officials,

with some exceptions,

malpractices,

are notorious for

their

and
with

most of

them

are

therefore

averse to

a well-centralised

administration
its

a wise and united organisation at

head.

Then,

the

Maharaja

is

impotent to

i64

i or to
is

appoint his

own

advisers

remove
all

them.

The consequence

that, in

dash with cases in which their interests to prefer the forhis, they feel inclined

mer to the detriment of the latter. Hence arise friction and the absence
co-operation withof that cordiality and the affairs out which it is impossible that

smoothly and of the State should go on that to prosperously. I humbly submit and ensure this friction this

remove

cordiality

and eo-operation,

it is

essential

that the

Maharajas advisers should be Highness, rendered dependent upon His him, they that, owing allegiance to
so

might not

feel

tempted to disregard his

their interauthority, but plight identify with and subordinate their wishes
ests

to his.

However anxious the Maharaja

to place the administration

may be

upon

footing, he can a sound and satisfactory accomplish his object till -he never the services of some thoroughly

secures

serve honest and capable men, who may and energy, and him unselfishly with zeal

165

while helping him with whalesoms and

vigorous counsel,
to

may work

in

obedience
directions.

and conformity
position
is

with his

No

more invidious and

galling

than that of a master with

servants and subordinates

intractable

who
object

can walk

over

his

head,

and
gain

the
his

Maharaja can
as

never hope to

long

as he does not receive the warmest support

and

is

not invested with adequate authority

to enforce discipline and maintain order.

Thus expediency and

justice

both deres-

mand
policy,

that the
his

Maharaja should be
the

cued from
I

present predicament, and

submit, also dictates

same
the

course.

At

this

moment,

when

Russians are causing consternation from

their fastnesses in Central Asia,
will

the good-

and attachment of our Princes and Chiefs, one of the 'best mainstays,' as

Lord Canning called them, for the defence of the Empire, should be thoroughly conciliated
;

and nothing can so well further

the attainment of this object as the rendition

of

Cashmere

to

its

rightful

ruler.

166

The Dogras,
Maharaja to
of the Indian

besides, are

subjects of the'

whom
Army.

they are devotedly

attached, and they are

among

the flower

A just,

fair

and conis

siderate treatment of the Maharaja

sure

to inspire
incite

them with greater ardour and them to greater self-sacrifice, bravery

and heroism.

The

Maharaja's loyalty and

devotion to the Paramount Power, which

have been so conspicuously displayed on previous occasions, would also receive a noble example fresh stimulus, and his

would

act

and react vigorously

on

his

subjects.

strong,

well-governed and

contented Cashmere would constitute an

effective
sions,

bulwork against external aggresorder in the

maintain peace and

districts,

border

and considerably streng-

then the

line

of frontier defences.

The

Maharaja, fully conscious of his responsible position in the

Empire, would be en-

couraged to serve with increased earnestness and zeal and neglect no measures calculated to
interests.

promote and

solidify

imperial

And

the Government of India

i67

would regain
its

its

former place,

in respect

of

good

faith to the

people and the Princes,

in the

minds of the Indian population.

with so

An
ries

act, fraught

much good,

car-

with

it its

own recommendation, and

it

hardly requires any arguments to press

upon the approval of the wise and the

far-seeing.
It

may

be contended that there

is

the

Resident to help the Maharaja in

difficulties.

all his

This contention looks plausible

at first sight, but a little

examination will
Firstly,

shew
it is

that

it is

not a sound one.

retain

unjust

to

the Maharaja any

control
;

longer

under
it is

the

Resident's

secondly,

proper and reasonable that

the Maharaja should be allowed a free

hand

to set his house

in

order

when he
that he
is

has given abundant evidence

competent to do so
of the

and

lastly,

the

help

Resident cannot be always avail-

able to the. Maharaja,

even

if

the

Resi-

dent were
to
afford
it

at

all

times ready and willing

to

him.

The Resident
;

canif

not always be on the spot

but even

168
be,

..

would not be consistent with the dignity nor conduof the Maharaja cive to the interests
he were or could
it

to
his

be

constantly complaining
subordinates.

against

own

Complaints, more-

over,

to

be

effectual,

must

entail

enquiries,

and these
Maharaja's
It

cannot

but conunpleain

tribute

to

weaken and render

position
is

sant the

very

many

instances.

easy to conceive

that there may be numerous occasions on which the Maharaja may be slighted,

conspired
his

against
to

and

baffled,

without

being able

establish

the guilt of
sure

the offending parties.

practical

The only

and

remedy

against

the Maharaja's
strength-

difficulties, therefore, consists in

ening his hands by restoring to him his him the full powers, and according to

generous sympathy and support ot the

Government
I

of India.

have

already

alluded

to the fact

that the
i

Maharaja never enjoyed perfect ndependence of action, and that much of

failure
is

his

to

be

attributed to

this

i69

cause.

The Maharaja
in

thus

expressed

himself on the point

his letter to

Lord

Lansdowne
'Now, to put
"up to this

four
it

years and
I

a half

ago

very plainly,

have never

time enjoyed complete indepenaction

in

dence

of

State

affairs

some
free to

sort of pressure or other

has always been

accession to the

put upon
throne,

me
I

since

my

and

have never been

administer the State according to

ternal satisfaction.
tances,
it

my

in-

Under such circumsresponsible

for

has been very cruel indeed to

perso7ially

hold

me

any

maladministration and punish

me

severely

as a criminal.'
'If

The Maharaja then added

really

your
of

Excellency
for

wants

to

make me
tion

responsible

the administraI

the

State,

(and

am

very glad

and ready to take such responsibility on

my

head),

would", ask to be a responsible

spite

ruler.

In

of

what has been

about

re-

presented against
city

me

my

incapa-

&c. &c.,

to give
I

me

fair trial in

would ask your Excellency order to see what

[

do

for the furtherance

of the wishes

of

170

the Supreme Government and the prosperity of the State. From three to five years' time
is

quite sufficient for

me

to put everything

into

order from the date of holding res;

ponsibihty

provided

am

allowed

full

strength and independence to choose

my

own
It

councillors

and

ministers'.*

must be admitted that the Maharaja put his case very strongly in a few words,
and that
his

request about choosing his

own
as

councillors

and ministers must be

to be sincerely
will,

regarded as a sine qua non for his success

a
ruler.

It

is

hoped

that
after

Lord Lansdowne
the
lapse

now

at least,

of four years and a half,

be pleased to sanction the trial which the Maharaja then so earnestly prayed Let Col. Prideaux once more return to Cashmere to help and guide the Maharaja with his sympathetic counsel, let the Maharaja appoint his own councillors and
for.

ministers, men
tact and
ability,

of character, education,

who owing
to

their

appo

int-

*Maharaja's
1889.

letter

the

Viceroy,

dated 14

May

171

ment
in all

to him, ma)^ identify their interests

with his and heartily co-operate with him

matters pertaining to the
State

govern-

ment of the
restraining

and

let

the Resident's

hand be withdrawn
and Cashmere

and
shall

his

Highness set free from the strings which

now

hold him

make

rapid strides towards that consummation which the Maharaja has longed for, though
in vain, during the last eight

years.

The
his

Maharaja

will

be able to

vindicate

own
rise

reputation as a ruler.
to

Cashmere
with

will

the

dignity

of a 'model' Indian
still

State, the

Dogras

will fight

great-

er enthusiasm the battles

of the Indian

Empire,

the minds
set
in

of

the

Princes and

Chiefs will be

at rest, the confidence

of the

people

the

good

faith

of the
re-

Paramount
find

Power
to

will

be

fully

established, the British

it

Government
the

will

easier

defy
Asia,

attempts of

Russia in central

and

Lord Lansplace in
pre-

downe
act

will

accomplish a just and graceful

which

will earn

him a

lasting

the grateful

remembrance of the

172

sent

and

future generations

of this vast

continent.

Z-~y->-

^.Ly

*4

%
I',

*
,

'*.'

i^

'

V^

P'

*U

'r

PLEASE

DO NOT REMOVE
FROM
THIS POCKET

CARDS OR

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UNIVERSITY OF

TORONTO LIBRARY

DS

Basu, Jogendra Chandra The Maharaja of Cashmere

K2B26

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