Rnltts of 3Jnbia EDITED BY SIR WILLIAM WILSON HUNTER, K.C.SJ., C.I.E. M.A. (OXFORD): LL.D. (CAMBRIDGE) CLYDE AND STRATHNAIRN 1onbolt HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE AMEN CORNER, E.C. [All "'gAls reserved] f../Iliv~rsily Pre'SS, O..1/ord. , .. RULERS OF I~ITt~ (tI£he anh $tratbnairn By MAJ.-GEl'lL.. SIR OWEN TUDOR BURNE, K.C.S.I. SOMETIME MILITARY SECRETARY TO THE COMMANDER-iN-CHiEF IN iNDIA () .rrorb AT THE CLARENDON PRESS: 1891 V 2., L :5\· 11 67'f7LR.2- Cl PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACB HART. PRI~R TO THE UNIVERSITY PREFACE IN writing the following account of the Indian Mutiny operations, I have not attempted to discuss political measures which have, already been dealt with by more practised writers than myself, but have merely endeavoured to verify, and in some cases to correct, the military narrative by my own , personal recollections, and to present it to the public in an abridged and readable form. The helpful l·evision of the manuscript by Mr. Stephen Wheeler and the editor is entitled to my sincere acknow­ ledgments. O.T.B. CONTENTS CHAP. - PAGES I. INTBODUCI'ION • 9-18 II. THB OUTBBBAK 19-32 III. THB SITUATION 33-43 IV. TOB NOBTHBRN OPBRATIONS TO THB RELIBF OF LUCKNOW 44-70 V. THB NORTHBBN OPERATIONS (continued) TO THE RBnUCTION OF OUDH VI. THE SOUTBBRII OPERATIONS TO TBB FALL OF JHANSf VII. THB SoUTHBRN OPEBATIONS· (continued) TO THB RBCAPl'UBB OF GWALIOB 126-154 VIII. RBCoNSTBUCI'ION 155-178 IX. CoNCLUSION 179-183 INDEX 185-194 ...vOTE The orthography of proper namea follows the system adopted by the Indian Government for the Imperial Gazetteer of India. That system, while adhering to the popular IpelIing of very Well·knOWIl places, such 88 Punjab, Lucknow, &0., employs in all other caaes the vowels with the following uniform sounds:- a, 88 in woman: 6, 88 in fathers: i, 88 in police: t, as in intrigue: 0, as in cold: fI, as in bull: tt, as in sltre: e, as in grey. CLYDE AND STRATHNAIRN THE SUPPRESSION OF THE GREAT- REVOLT CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TUE thrilling incidents and heroic deeds of the Indian Mutiny have already been so graphically recounted by historians and biographers that it is difficult to invest the subject with new interest, or to compress the narrative within reasonable limits. An attempt ~ill be made, however, in the present volume to describe in general terms the military operations rendered necessary for the suppression of the revolt ; indicating, as briefly as practicable, the causes of the outbreak, and the sequence of events dUIWg the anxious months of 1857, when British rule seemed for a. moment to tremble in the balance. To realise the position of affairs in that year, and the magnitude of the danger, it must be .borne in mind that India. is not a united country containing a homogeneous population, but a congeries of countries inhabited by races who in number (285,000,000) 10 CLYDE AND STRATHNAIRN are double the population of the Roman Empire at the time of its greatest extent, who speak a variety of languages, hold many creeds, observe widely dif­ ferent customs, and present every type and degree of civilisation. Weare dealing, too, with immense areas. The single Lieutenant-Governorship of Lower Bengal is as large as France; Madras exceeds Great Britain and Ireland; Bombay equals Germany; ·the N orth­ Western Provinces and Oudh cover as much space as Great Britain, Belgium, and Holland; the size of the Punjab is that of Italy; while the Native States put together have an area equal to that of Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, and France combined. Bearing these facts in mind it will be seen that the suppression of an outbreak of upwards of 100,000 trained Sepoys 1 was no easy task; while to have held the country during the earlier stages of the revolt, with a mere handful of British troops, was an achievement to which Englishmen may ever point with becoming pride. The bulk of the population of India may for the purposes of this volume be regarded as divisible into Hindus and Muhammadans, inasmuch as these two classes inhabit in greater or less numbers everyone of its provinces, and figure almost exclusively in the events of the Mutiny. Speaking generally, the lOut of seventy-four regular regiments of the Bengal Native Infantry forty-five mutinied, twenty were disarmed, and three were disbanded. Only six remained true to their salt. INTRODUCTION II typical Hindu is quiet, industrious, and tolerant in religious matters unless provoked to excitement. As a soldier he is obedient and patient, although warped by those caste prejudices which have always given the Brahmans special control over comrades and subordinates. These qualities were strongly marked in the mutinous Sepoy-so The Muhammadan, on his part, is by nature restless, fanatical, and ready for any adventure that may come to hand. In N orlhern India he is, as a rule, a born soldier, and even in. the South he still retains in some measure the martial instincts which inspired his forefathers. Such, briefly, were the characteristics of the people with whom the British Government and its adminis­ trators in the India of thirty:four years ago had to deal. They laboured under the disadvantage of being separated from those people by blood, religion, and character, and had therefore to contend with the almost insuperable difficulty of ignorance as to the undercurrents of public feeling. To obtain trust­ worthy information from the natives was in fact all but impossible, while t)1e motives of the governing power were as constantly liable to be misunderstood and misrepresented by conquered races. It cannot be said that the storm burst without warning. Months before the actual outbreak of the mutin<?us Sepoys, an idea had taken hold of a large number of persons within range of Hindu and Mu­ hammadan influence that a crisis in the world's history was near at hand, that great events wel'e impending, 12 CLYDE AND STRATHNAIRN and that the Eritish Government was bent on de­ parting from its ancient principles of non-interference with the customs, traditions, and religions of its Indian subjects. Englishmen were warned by native friends to be on their guard; and written prophecies 1 were spread broadcast throughout the land, foretelling the downfall of Eritish power after the centenary of Plassey. Notwithstanding these indications, however, of ill-feeling and imminent disaster, the attitude of the people of India generally, dmWg this eventful period, was one of neutrality. When once the out­ break became a fact, the only landholder who rebelled among the hundreds of Eehar (one of the most dis­ turbed districts in Eengal) was Koer Singh, a man whom pecuniary embarrassments had l'endered notori­ ously desperate. Eengal, as a whole, remained tranquil. The Sikhs of the Punjab aided us. In the Norlh­ West Provinces the Hindus of Rohilkhand, forced for a time to submit to the rule of a rebel Muhammadan, I The following is a free translation of one of such prophecies :­ 'The clan of Sikhs will exercise over Muhammadans great tyranny and oppression. For forty years the tyranny and the heresy will remain; after this the whole empire will be seized by the Nazarene (i. e. English). For the spa~~ of 100 years their sovereignty will remain in Hindustan, when in their time heresy and tyranny shall become general. Then, the King from the West shall appear. Between these two will be fought desperate battles. The King from the West shall be victorious. Then, without doubt, the followers of the clan of Jesus will be broken, discomfited, and dispersed. For forty years the Musalman power shall be triumphant, and after this period AnU·Christ shall be born in Ispahan. Hear what I am going to say about the destruction of the followera of Anti-Christ. For this purpose Jesus and the last Apostles will appear.' INTRODUCTION welcomed with joy the ultimate restoration of British government. Moreover, the Native States remained staunch. It is true that certain minor Chiefs joined the rebellion, but the leading Princes of India were steadfast in their allegiance to the British Crown. Thus the principal assistance given to the rebel Sepoys came from a small number of disaffected nobles and deposed officials, who in their turn found support only from the lawless and restless spirits of their neighbourhoods, no longer restrained by a powerful government. The Mutiny was thus primarily a military rising, aided and abetted to a limited extent by a proportion of the hereditary criminal classes. It 'Was a rising, moreover, confined in great measure to the Sepoys of the Bengal Regular Army., ]'or many years prior to the outbreak these men had shown a bad spirit, to be attributed in part to discontent at changes affect­ ing the condition of their service, and in part to pampering and lax discipline. The discipline of this, Army had in fact been weakened by an encourage­ ment to Sepoys to make frivolous complaints to head-quarters, and to think lightly of the authority of those over them. At the same time there had been a marked deterioration in the character of their regimental officers, while the inefficiency of not a few officers of higher rank in command of divisions and districts completed the evil. At this particular juncture, moreover, the proportion of British to Native troops in India was dangerously small. The warnings' 14 CLYDE AND STRATHNAIRN given by Lord Dalhousie had been neglected; and owing to the paucity of European troops the plincipal arsenals and military posts of India, notably that of Delhi, were garrisoned by disaffected Sepoys 1.