Thirty Five Years in the Punjab; 1858-1893 by G. R. Elsmie
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THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE PUNJAB Edinburgh: Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE FOR DAVID DOUGLAS LONDON SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT AND CO., LIMITED CAMBRIDGE: BOWES AND BOWES GLASGOW: JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS Reproduced by: Sani H. Panhwar (California 2014) THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE PUNJAB 1858-1893 BY G. R. ELSMIE, C.S.I., LL.D. The last Halleybury Civilian who served in that Province JOINT AUTHOR OF ‘LUMSDEN OF THE GUIDES,’ AND EDITOR OF ‘THE LIFE OF SIR DONALD STEWART’ EDINBURGH DAVID DOUGLAS 1908 Reproduced by: Sani H. Panhwar (California 2014) DEDICATED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF INSTRUCTION RECEIVED BY THE AUTHOR IN 1853-55 FROM JOHN CRUICKSHANK, LLD. PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN MARISCHAL COLLEGE PREFACE THIS book may be properly described as ‘Notes by the way.’ It consists mainly of extracts from letters and diaries written by me as I journeyed through my Indian life. I have tried to make the extracts objective rather than subjective, but they are, nevertheless, to a great extent autobiographical. This, it will be seen, from the nature of things, was inevitable. I desire, however, that readers should regard the biography merely as that of a man whose career gives a fairly good idea of the life and progress of a Civil officer in the Punjab, from the year 1858 to 1893. The narrative may be found to be of interest by old Punjabis who remember the whole or part of the time dealt with, by young men looking forward to service as Civilians in India, and by other persons who care to read about that country. A few words will suffice to indicate the nature of my material. On retiring from the service, and on examining the papers left by my mother, who had died fourteen years before, I found that my ‘letters home’ relating to my Indian life had been preserved. Extracts from these letters, 1855 - 1878, are used freely for that period. From 1861 onwards I kept a very rough diary, from which quotations are given when the subjects seem to be sufficiently interesting and the diary contains a fairly intelligible account of them. When some expansion of the extracts from letters and diary seemed necessary, I have done a certain amount of tacking, and occasionally, when an extract has been found to be very brief, I have written from memory, quickened by reading the old note. But throughout, my endeavor has been to give the impressions made upon me at the time, and not to write a retrospective account. This method causes the book to indicate growth and progress from the days of official infancy and youth to those of middle and possibly of old age. I must ask my readers to bear this in mind, and by no means to suppose that I now adhere to all the raw opinions .which I formed as I went along. The last class of material which I. need notice is that of the letters of friends, mainly those of Sir Robert Montgomery and Sir Douglas Forsyth. Both of these men were my private and official friends for many years. I had the greatest regard and affection for them. No very full record of the lives of either has been made, and I doubt whether any one, save myself, possesses very many of their letters. I have given extracts from these because they throw light on many of the subjects of my notes, and also on the characters and careers of two most distinguished Punjab officers. No very hard and fast line has been followed in the spelling of Oriental names and words. Where custom has clearly sanctioned a popular mode—as, for instance, Delhi, Cawnpore, Jullundur, Joodiana, Lahore, Cabul—that custom has been followed. Where popular modes are various, transliteration on the Jonesian system has generally been made, e.g. Ambala, Afridi, Muhammad. In quotations from letters, the mode of spelling used by the writers has, for the most part, been adopted. Accents have been used very sparingly, and only when it seemed that a reasonable doubt might arise as to the pronunciation of a vowel on the first occurrence of a word. G. R. E. TORQUAY, June 24, 1908 CONTENTS CHAPTER I PREPARATION FOR AND LIFE AT HAILEYBURY COLLEGE 1855-1857 Nomination to Bengal Civil Service—At a Haileybury tutor’s—Charles Bernard—Examination at India House—Haileybury College—Distinguished fellow - students—Principal and Professors—Examinations and their system— Peace rejoicings—Sermons by Principal Melvill—James Forsyth—Hertford Assizes—Bulwer Lytton—Mutiny in India—Visit to Scotland—Taking of Delhi— College closed—Speech by Principal. .. .. .. .. Page 1 CHAPTER II THE VOYAGE AND CALCUTTA 1858 Start for India—Gibraltar—Malta—Egypt—Aden—Galle—Arrival at Calcutta— Life there—First visit to Mufassal—H.M.S. Shannon—Baronetcy conferred on Alexander Lawrence—Barrackpore—Heat —Rains—Naval Brigade—Sir James Outram—Dinner-parties Letter from Sir John Lawrence—Language examinations passed—Leave Calcutta. .. .. .. .. Page 16 CHAPTER III ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, LOODIANA 1858-1859 Travelling up country—Visits to Mirzapore and Allahabad—Through Delhi to Ambala—Appointed to Loodiana—Captain M’Neile Settle in house—Queen’s proclamation—Begin cutcherry work Church—Letter from Mr. H. B. Harington—Christianity in India —Brahmini bulls—Meeting Charles Bernard— Mr. Robert Montgomery—Bussean—Departmental examination at Ambala—In a Loodiana garden. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Page 28 ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER AT JHELUM, MITHUNKOTE, FEROZEPORE, AND AMRITSAR 1859-1861 Transferred to Jhelum Journeyto Lahore—Herbert Edwardes Visit at Government House—Richard Temple—Jhelum—Donald Macnabb-7th Fusiliers—White Mutiny—Pastoral letter from Bishop Cotton—Ordered to Mithunkote—Boat-building—Visit to Murree—Major and Mrs. Richard Lawrence—Sir Robert Montgomery—A musical party—Starting for Mithunkote—At Pind Dadun Khan—Salt mines—River journey—Mithunkote— Lieutenant Minchin—Asnee—A Mudd Chief—Camp—A potter—The desert— Wild asses—A murder case—Imam Bukhs Khan, Muthri —Transferred to Dera Ghazi Khan—Thence to Ferozepore Examination at Lahore—Mr. Douglas Forsyth—An Eurasian wedding—Lahore rifle club—Transfer to Amritsar—Visit Alexander Lawrence at Dharmsala—An aerolite—Native entertainment at Amritsar—A travelling circus—Shawl-weaving—Lord Canning—Visit to England. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Page 39 CHAPTER V ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF LAHORE AND MURREE 1861-1863 Southampton to Calcutta—Assistant Commissioner of Lahore—Intro-duction of Criminal Codes—Visit to Government House—Sir Robert Montgomery—Raja of Faridkote—Opening of railway to Amritsar —Major M’Neile—Death of Major Nicolls—John Becher—Black ants—Cholera—Richard Pollock—Pruning and planting trees—Letter from Mr. Douglas Forsyth—Transfer to Murree—Work at a hill station—Arrival of Lieutenant-Governor—Epitome of correspondence regarding Afghanistan—Letters from Sir R. Montgomery—Theatricals— Umbeyla campaign. .. .. .. .. .. .. Page 57 CHAPTER VI JUDGE SMALL CAUSE COURT-LAHORE, DELHI, SIMLA 1863-1865 Appointed Judge Small Cause Court, Lahore—Journey to and settling there— Death of Lord Elgin—Exhibition at Lahore—Sir John Lawrence as Viceroy— Transferred to Delhi—Thence to Simla—Letter from Lieutenant-Governor—The Governor-General—Sir Charles Trevelyan—Colonel Richard Lawrence—A civil suit—Deaths of Mr. Murphy and Sir Alexander Lawrence—Letters from Sir Herbert Edwardes regarding treaties with Afghanistan—Winter at Simla. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Page 72 CHAPTER VII DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, JULLUNDUR 1865-1868 Appointed to act as Deputy Commissioner—Duties of a District officer — Pressure of Work—Control from the hills—A Punjab head—Arrears cleared off—Arrival of Mr. Forsyth as Commissioner—Leave to Simla—Life there— Acting Under-Secretary Home Department—Return to Jullundur—The Maharaja of Cashmere—Outbreak of cholera at Hurdwar—Cholera-stricken pilgrims— Promotion at a dead-lock—Letter from Mr. Forsyth on firmness of administration—Commission on railway management—A bonus scheme—Sir John Lawrence as Collector of Delhi—Rewards for services in cholera outbreak- 92nd Regiment at Jullundur—Bishop Milman. .. .. .. Page 82 CHAPTER VIII SIMLA, CALCUTTA, AND FURLOUGH 1868-1871 On leave at Simla—Croquet —Babu Keshub Chundur Sen—Acting Under Secretary Home Department—Passing of Punjab Tenancy Act—Calcutta—Rev. Henry J. Matthew—Arrival of Lord Mayo —Journey to England—Enrolled as student at Lincoln’s Inn Fitzjames Stephen—Forsyth and Central Asia—House of Lords—Travelling with Forsyth—Lord Lawrence, Rai Mul Singh, and Lord Lytton—With Forsyth to Constantinople, Moscow, and St. Petersburg— Interview of Forsyth with Emperor Alexander—Forsyth deputed on mission to Yarkund—Promoted Deputy Commissioner—Called to the bar—Return to India. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Page 100 CHAPTER IX ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER OF AMRITSAR AND JULLUNDUR 1871-1872 Work at Amritsar—Murder of butchers—Law and common-sense—Letter from Sir R. Montgomery—Dharmsala—Lord Mayo on tour —Mr. Clive Bayley— Railway commission at Lahore—Assassination of Lord Mayo—Murder of butchers by Kookas at Mulair Kotla—Letter from Mr. Forsyth—Highlands of Central India—Government orders regarding Messrs. Cowan and Forsyth—With Reynell Taylor at Amritsar—Suicide of an European prisoner—Province of Bengal in 1872—Bishop Milman—Ordered to Peshawur—Last days at Amritsar .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Page 112 CHAPTER X ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER OF PESHAWUR 1872-1873 Journey to Peshawur —Begin work there—Death of Sir Donald M’Leod — Murder a profession—In camp with Commissioner —A horse thief—Military maneuvers at Hassan Abdal—Mr. Forsyth in charge of Envoy from Yarkund — Mr. Henry Davies, the Lieutenant Governor—Murder of Major Macdonald— Abbottabad—Natia Gali —Letter from Forsyth—Fall of the rupee—Kohat — Captain Cavagnari—Cherat—Letters from Forsyth en route to Yarkund Estimate of possible savings by Civilians—Visit of a Chief Court Judge to Peshawur. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Page 125 CHAPTER XI THE CRIME OF MURDER AMONGST AFGHANS 1873 Prevalence of murders in Peshawur district—Chief causes—Difficulties arising from false accusations, etc.—Compared with similar difficulties in Bengal— Councils of elders or jirgahs—recommendations.