Modern India; with illustrations of the resources and capabilities of Hindústan

Front matter

I mart. It KngravNl In .1 * CWalkr. . lis/ls.A.;/ iff .. A iri,,„.,l.,r ..'■ ,- A' M,,,,, I.,,,,.- I.,;,./,;, 1.117 MODERN INDIA; WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OP THE RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES OF HINDUSTAN. BY HENRY H. SPRY, M.D., F.G.S., M.R.A S., BENGAL MEDICAL STAFF, &C. &C. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: WHITTAKER Sc Co., AVE MARIA LANE. MDCCCXXXVU. LONDON: Printed by Wn liam Clowes aud Sons, TO ROBERT R. PENNINGTON, ESQ., PORTMAN-SQUARE, LONDON. Dear Sir, To whom can I with greater propriety inscribe the result of my observations in India, than to the friend to whose generous solicitude in the promotion of my inte rest, during the early part of my professional career, the appearance of the present volumes may be mainly attributable ? The grateful heart delights in the expres sion of its gratitude.

Accept, then, my dear Sir, however imperfectly they may be conveyed, my warmest acknow ledgments for the numerous acts of kindness which I have received at your hands ; and be assured that, although years have rolled away, they are as fresh in my recollection as at the moment in which they were conferred — while the feelings they excited remain as vivid as at the period of their first creation. Believe me to remain, Very gratefully and sincerely yours, HENRY HARPUR SPRY. London, March 26, 1837. A

Preface

. In offering a Work to the Public, it is usual to introduce it by a few explanatory remarks in the form of a Preface ; and I am desirous that the following pages should derive all the advantages which so judicious a custom affords. The motives for an undertaking like the present, which is acknowledged to be the work of an unpractised pen, may be supposed to be very strong. Mine have resulted from a conviction that much remains to be told concerning the national importance of Modern India. Our Oriental possessions ought to excite a more than ordinary degree of interest in the breasts of all who can appreciate the glory of retaining, and of improving, the most splendid colony which any nation, ancient or modern, could boast. Soon after my arrival in India I was struck with the difficulty which every one appeared to experience in obtaining from his brother Anglo-Indians information and instruction upon those affairs of the country which did not fall within the peculiar province of the individual to whom the application VI

PREFACE.

. was addressed. Comparatively few, amongst the vast number of British subjects who have hitherto been domiciled in India, have devoted themselves to the task of acquainting their countrymen at home with the results of the observations which they have made upon the land of their adoption. Of these, the greater number have been men of profound learning, who, attracted by the magnificence of the antiquities, or smitten with a love of the lore of a country whence Europe has principally derived its knowledge of arts and arms, have chosen sub jects which, though of the highest degree of im portance and value in themselves, are not generally interesting, and do not tend to invite the great mass of the people to direct their attention to inquiries which would lead to national improvement in the East, and to commercial prosperity at home.

Latterly, several exceedingly clever, amusing, and accurate delineations of the scenery and manners of India have appeared, which have been produc tive of almost incalculable good, since they have shown that it is not necessary to wade through whole libraries of grave and solemn history to make acquaintance with the most striking features of our Oriental possessions. It is only necessary to mention the works of Bishop Heber, Captains Basil Hall, Mundy, and Skinner, and those of Miss Emma Roberts, to prove that, when handled in a popular manner,

PREFACE.

. VII there can be no subjects more attractive than those relating to a country upon which so much apathy and ignorance have hitherto prevailed. The great success which has attended these lively descriptions of our Eastern hemisphere has encouraged me to hope, that the additional inform ation which I am enabled to offer may prove acceptable to the public at large. Conscious of great inexperience in the decorative department, if I may be permitted so to style it, of literature, I have aimed at nothing beyond a plain and simple statement of facts. I claim no merits excepting those of accuracy, and of the patient investigation of objects connected with science, which I deemed of importance to persons anxious to invest capital in the cultivation, or to engage in the manufactures of a luxuriant but neglected soil.

The historical picture now presented for the suf frages of the reading portion of the public, is drawn almost exclusively from personal observation : every fact, with very few exceptions, therein recorded having come under my own immediate cognoscence. I have endeavoured to preserve, in my descriptive views, the vividness of first impressions; while a residence of seven years of constant association with the natives of various parts of the country has enabled me to correct the erroneous ideas which a hasty glance is so apt to originate. If, in discussing certain points, the language

PREFACE.

. VIII employed should be thought too strong, I trust that it will not be considered as indicative of a pre sumptuous spirit, eager to expatiate upon errors ; but rather attributed to the true cause, — the earnest desire which I feel to direct the public attention to the loss which the British nation must sustain, so long as the resources of her Eastern Empire remain neglected in the manner which they may now be said to do. My sole aim is utility ; and in the arrangement of the multifarious topics which I have considered essential to the promotion of my object, I have sought to create an interest in the mind of the general reader, by mixing with the more important details a proportionate quantity of lighter and more inviting matter. It seems to be an incumbent duty upon those, however humble their literary pretensions may be, who have gathered knowledge in so fertile and so new a field, to use their most strenuous endeavours to render the condition of an empire better known, which is daily becoming more and more important in the eyes of the British merchants and men of science ; and which must, and will, one day rise to be the greatest commercial, as she now is the greatest political colony which any nation ever possessed. CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Chapter I

Bengal — Characteristics of the People — State of Agriculture —Sugar — Farming — Fruits and Vegetables — Cajure or Date Palm — Manufacture of Sugar from its juice — Depot for rearing Elephants — Discovery of a race of Cannibals — Dum Dum — European Soldiery — Hospitals — Artillery Practice — The Officers ...... page 1

Chapter II

Palankeen Conveyance — Post-office arrangements, and Batta question — Shock of an Earthquake — Incidents on the Journey — Ganges at Rajmahal — Ruins — Personal Conflict — Singular instance of Prejudice in a Hindu— Passage through the Jungles — Singular Habitation — Hospitality of Indigo Planters — Paliap_r — Birds of the Rajmahal Jungles — Wild Animals — Bees . 38

Chapter III. Journey Continued

Baugulpore District — Native Character — Patna — Buxar — Native Hospitality — The City and Province of Benares — Pro ductions — Saltpetre — Carbonate of Soda — Sugar-Cane Cultiva tion — Superstitions — The Government Stud for Horses — Cole Campaign — Journey resumed — Allahabad — Ancient Pillar and Guns — Cawnpore and Keitah ... CONTENTS. X

Chapter IV

Keitah — Arrangements — Servants — Making Calls — Canton ments — Insalubrity — Government Order — Soil — The Boondelas — Bad Moral Character — Culpee — River Jumna — Chillatarah Ghat — Varieties of River Water — Professional Visit to the Rajah of Chatterpore — Deserted on the Road — Introduction — Female Apartments — The Town — Sporting — A Suttee . 1 30

Chapter V

Leave Keitah — Preparations for Marching — Arrival at Cawn pore — Cantonment Houses — Ice Houses — Want of Protestant Churches in India — Missionaries — Musquitoes, Scorpions, and Snakes — Snake-charmers — Influence of Music — Anecdote of Snakes — Antidote for the Bite of venomous Serpents . 180

Chapter VI

Journey to Lucknow — Meet the King — Cavalcade — Royal Menagerie — Wild Man — Steam- Boat Excursion — Palace of Beeron — Public Buildings — Natural Resources of the Kingdom — The King — Aga Meer — Amusements — Death of Aga Meer — Prepare to leave Lucknow— Arrival at Cawnpore . 223

Chapter VII

Marquis of Hastings — His Works of Public Utility — Delhi Canals — Canal of the Dooab — Flourishing condition of the Villages — Discovery of an ancient Town — Antiquities—Capa bilities afforded by the Canals— Views on Agriculture—Advan tages of good Roads— Seasons of Famine— Great Mirzapore Road — Substitute for Bridges — Benares' new Road . 273 273 Appendix : — 1. Important measures of Government— New Medical College— State of the Public Mind . 309 2. Mineral Productions of Bengal CONTENTS. XI Appendix: — (continued.) 3. On Military Punishment . . . 321 4. Artesian Wells in Calcutta . . . 324 5. On the Topography and Capabilities of Chota Nagpore, Ramghur, &c. ..... 326 6. On the Impurities contained in the Ganges Water 330 7. On the Diamond Mines of India . . 332 8. Fish of the Jumna — Frequency of Entozooa in those of the Rivers of Central India— Geology of the Banks of the Jumna ...... 338 9.

On the Manufacture of Glauber's Salts . . 342 10. Meteorological and Hygrometrical Tables . ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES OF HINDUSTAN.

Chapter I

Bengal — Characteristics of the People — State of Agriculture — Sugar — Farming — Fruits and Vegetables — Cajure or Date Palm — Manufacture of Sugar from its juice — Depot for rearing Elephants — Discovery of a race of Cannibals — Dum Dum — European Soldiery — Hospitals — Artillery practice — The Officers. The portion of India which comes under the denomination of Bengal, although it is usual, in Europe, to understand by the term the whole of the Presidency, is, in fact, only a province of Hindustan, comprehending Calcutta and the districts imme 'diately surrounding it. No resident in India ever thinks of applying the term to any other part of the peninsula; and persons repairing to the seat VOL. I. B BENGAL. of government from Upper Hindustan talk of going down to Calcutta, as the people in the provincial countries of England talk of going up to London.

The topography of our empire in the East appears to have been much neglected at home, although the study is very necessary to enable the friends or relatives of those who may be stationed or settled in the country, to ascertain the exact place of their location. Comparatively few people trouble themselves with any inquiry respecting the statistics of India, and very erroneous opinions prevail relative to the present state of its agriculture. Bengal, Bahar, and that part of Orissa which belongs to the British government, contain 136,000 square miles. The district of Burdwan, appertaining to the former of these provinces, alone contains 5,174 square miles, and the entire three, constituting what may be called Lower Hindustan, have, in all, seventeen divisions, with twelve principal rivers. The Bengalees are a race distinct in many re-" spects from the people who inhabit the provinces of Benares, Rohilcund, Bundlekund, Rajpootana, CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE.

Malda, or the Nerbuddah. Their style of living is different, and their manners and their climate]are different, the latter particularly so ; the climate of Bengal being damp, and the heat and cold more tempered than in the provinces of Upper Hin dustan. They have, moreover, a dialect "peculiar to themselves, which is unintelligible to persons only conversant with the Hindustanee language. In their social relations they are characterized as a degenerate class of people, being notorious for low cunning and deceit, and for the readiness with which they will enter into schemes of fraud and treachery. The nature of their soil partakes of the character of land usually found at all great estuaries, some parts being argillaceous at the surface and calcareous beneath, while others are arenaceous, with a substratum of muddy alluvium.

The province con tains many low swamps and fertile plains, but there are very few hills. The crops being assisted by a plentiful supply of rain water, irrigation, with the exception of the sugar-cane cultivation, is seldom required. Those who are unfriendly to India, and whose b2 CULTIVATION OF SUGAR. interest it is to represent her agricultural resources as all-powerful, and much to be dreaded, in order that she may be prevented from participating in the enjoyment of an equality of commercial rights with other colonies, will be surprised perhaps to learn that, although the soil of Lower Hindustan s extremely rich, its productions, with the exception of indigo, and perhaps opium, are all of an inferior quality. There is abundance, it is true, but scarcely any thing excellent of its kind, rank ness and quantity taking the place of purity and quality.

The sugar-cane cultivation, from which so much is dreaded, is very limited, and conducted in the rudest and most unscientific manner. Years of active exertion on the part of those interested in im proving the resources of the country will be required before this branch of culture can be brought to any formidable extent. Among the people themselves sugar is always in steady demand, as it enters largely into the composition of many of their articles of food ; and the six thousand tons now annually exported comprises all that is left, after their wants have been supplied. When it is considered that the TEA 5 yearly importation into Great Britain of this staple commodity from the West India islands avera°*es one hundred and ninety thousand tons, there surely can be no occasion for the West India planter to give himself a moment's uneasiness on the subject.

But should the province of Bengal, or British India generally, be able to furnish a much larger quantity, would the effect anticipated by these alarmists be produced ? Assuredly not, as the following state ment will be sufficient to prove : — The quantity of teas imported into England during the seven months' ending 5th August, lbs. 1835, amounted to 21,011,000 During the same period of 1836 36,650,000 Showing an increase of 15,639,000 And a proportionate increase in the duties of £1,279,000. As on the quantity of teas consumed depends in great measure the demand for sugar, so in proportion to the increase and consumption of the former will that of the latter depend. So far, therefore, from the importation of British East India sugar in any large quantity being likely to lower the price of that article, and occasion a glut in the market, it is evident that, should the consumption of tea AGRICULTURE IN BENGAL. continue to increase as it has done of late, the im portation of twice 6,000 tons will scarcely serve to keep the price of sugar down to its present standard.

In this view of the case I omit one circumstance of considerable importance relative to the exclusion of colonial produce, namely, that it operates as a tax of the worst kind on the community at large, since it presses on the commerce, without increas ing the nation's wealth. I have been thus much tempted to digress from my immediate subject, on account of the great importance which the question relative to the sugar cultivation of India has acquired in the commercial circles of Europe. To proceed — agriculture in Bengal has never been carried beyond its first stage. The religion, the genius of the people, as well as their climate, have limited them to a few of the simplest wants, while the nature of their govern ment has left them without motive or desire for industry. Times of prosperity have to them only afforded a more plentiful supply for wants previ ously established without creating new ones ; while periods of partial distress never bring provident and energetic habits into active exercise.

DRAWBACKS IN AGRICULTURE. In addition to these adverse circumstances, the cultivators of the soil in Lower Hindustan are bur thened by a weight of complicated revenue exactions. From these circumstances uniformly offering impediments to the progress of improvement, agriculture, as it might be expected, has not advanced a single step since the first division of the inhabitants into distinct classes. The entire productions of the country may, therefore, be reckoned in a great measure the gift of the soil. They proved insufficient to ensure national prosperity, when India had neither rivals in trade nor a foreign tribute to pay. But now that England has sup planted the whole of her manufactures, by under selling her in her own bazaars ; that she parts with a large portion of what her soil still furnishes ; and that the residue does not save her from an annual exportation of specie, — it is evident that she cannot remain longer in such a simple and passive state.

Its burthens reduce India, in fact, to an equality with less fertile countries, and like them it, must actively endeavour to cope with its rivals, by the exertion of a higher degree of activity and in dustry. FARMING. All the improvements which art and labour have accomplished in other countries remain to be tried in Hindustan ; they are so many, the territories of British India are so extensive, and the soil so ex cellent, that its well-wishers have reason to rejoice that so prodigious a resource has been left for more enterprising and practised hands. The bulk of the people, however, have never extended their hopes to the enjoyment of property, and the idea of labouring for prospective advantages may be said to be unknown to them. To attain any improvement in the agriculture of the country, it will there fore be necessary to have recourse to instruction, as well as to encouragement of a pecuniary nature; and probably no means would so effectually pro mote the object in view as a liberal distribution of prizes ; since it would call all the energies of the people into active exercise, by exciting their natural cupidity.

In farming in Lower India, two oxen are yoked to each plough, but, although in common use for agricultural purposes, no attention appears to be paid to the breed of cattle. Dairies are common in places inhabited by cowherds or milkmen, about HARVESTS IN BENGAL. a gallon of milk, being yielded, on an average, by each cow ; but in consequence of religious preju dices, the fattening of cattle for slaughter does not come within the domestic economy of the Hindus. The usual implements employed in husbandry are the plough, the digging hoe, the weeding instrument, the rake, the harrow, and the sickle. They are all of the rudest construction, and will scarcely bear a comparison with those of a corresponding description used in England. In Bengal there are three harvests in the year, — the spring, the summer, and the winter harvest; while in Upper Hindustan there are only two, — the spring, which is the principal one, since it is the wheat harvest, and the autumn, which is also very extensive, on account of the number of grains and plants that are then ripe.

The small quantity of manure which is employed comes from the cow pens ; but it is only about Calcutta that the land is improved by this adjunct. In the Dinagepore and Rungpore districts, where the sugar cultivation is followed, the scrapings of the villages and old water-courses, in conjunction with the cake left after expressing the mustard-oil, are employed to b PRINCIPAL FRUITS. assist the soil ; but for raising his green crops, the cultivator relies solely on the natural powers of the land. From the swampy condition of the province, no wheat cultivation can be carried on, and a very small quantity of barley is grown. In many places embankments are necessary to prevent the sea water from overflowing the rice-fields. With the exception of a small quantity of pas ture, no land is employed as grass-land ; and no attempts are made to preserve hay, a class of ser vants being kept for the purpose of supplying the horses with this kind of fodder, called grass-cutters, whose duty it is to go out daily into the fields for the purpose of cutting young grass in quantities sufficient for the morrow's consumption, while in the upper provinces it is necessary in the dry season to dig for the roots.

The farmers seldom possess a horse, and none can boast of anything but a small ill-bred animal, the labour on the estate being per formed by oxen. Some attention is paid to gar dening and the cultivation of orchards. The principal fruits are cocoa-nuts, betel-nuts, Palmyra nuts, pumplenusses, dates, mangoes, bread-fruit, rose-apple, jamba or engenia, guava, pomegranate, PRINCIPAL FRUITS. 11 pine-apples, jujubes, a great variety of limes and plantains, peaches and lechees, and, as it has been previously stated, the sugar-cane is abundantly cul tivated in the neighbourhood of some of the villages, together with yams, cucumbers, garlic, gin ger, and tobacco. It must not, however, be pre sumed in consequence of this enumeration, that so extensive a province is a perfect garden throughout, since the condition of the land varies considerably.

In the neighbourhood of the sea-shore large tracts are annually inundated ; the spaces taken up by lakes and rivers, the woods of Tipperah, the wilds of Ramghur, Palamow, Chota Nagpore, and those extensive regions, known by the name of Sunder bunds, which form the Delta of the Ganges, are very considerable, the whole occupying a space of many hundred miles in extent. Again, the district of Nuddea abounds in a light earth, and is by no means calculated for cultivation requiring a strong rich mould. Nature seems, however, to have made ample compensation for this defect, since the soil is exceedingly favourable to the growth of the cajure, or date-tree {Phœnix dactyli fera), which abounds. These palms produce a rich THE DATE-TREE. saccharine juice, though only half the strength of that obtained from the cane ; and they occupy spots which could not be put to any other useful purpose, being planted on the margins of tanks, and around fields, to serve as landmarks.

The poor cottager sometimes plants them close to his hut, as a protection from the fierce rays of the sun, or the peltings of the storm. The tree is raised from the stone of the fruit, which is the same as that of the dried date brought from Bussorah, only smaller. The tree continues to grow for about thirty years, varying in height, according to the nature of the soil and the care taken of it, from twelve to between thirty and forty feet ; no branches spring from the trunk, but it is crowned with a large bunch of leaves at the top. After taking root the tree is generally left to nature, some cultivators, however, open the ground about the roots, and put in fresh soil, which is found greatly to promote the growth of the tree. At about the age of ten years, the cajure begins to bear fruit, which ripens in the month of May.

In cisions, for the purpose of extracting the juice, are made when the tree is seven years old ; at this time it has usually attained the height of four feet. THE DATE-TREE. 13 The juice is drawn during the cold season, that is, from the month of November to the end of Febru ary ; the bark continuing to yield it annually, during a period of twenty or twenty-five years. Each tree furnishes about two and a quarter mans of juice (lewt. 2qrs. 171bs.), which, when boiled down, gives fourteen pounds of the inspissated liquor called goor, and a man (82 lbs. 2 oz.) of cajure goor, yields about 9 seers, (eighteen pounds) of clayed sugar, called chenee. It is generally calculated that twenty-five trees will produce a man of refined sugar {[chenee) in the course of the season. The juice is drawn from beneath the bunch of leaves on the top, whence it is conveyed by bamboo pipes into an earthen vessel suspended from the summit.

When fresh, the juice is not unpleasant to the taste, and is much sought after by the European soldiery, as a beverage under the denomination of toddy. It is distinguished from cane juice, in being brisk as well as sweet. The manufacture of the liquid into sugar, is carried on in the same rude and negligent manner as that of the cane juice. The produce of date-tree sugar, in the district of Nuddea alone, was computed, a few years since, at DEPOT FOR ELEPHANTS. 577 tons (15,000 mans). The owners of these palms pay a revenue to Government, varying from four to six rupees for every hundred trees, the assessments being the same as those of the cocoa-nut orchards. The encouragement now given to sugar specu lators, by the equalization of the duties on East and West India sugars, will, in all probability, lead to the extension of the date-tree cultivation.

The sugar afforded by its juice would answer for home consumption, though, on account of its weak ness, it would not pay for exportation. The supply of cane sugar not being equal to the demands will cause an advance in the price, and induce the people to have recourse to date-tree sugar in their household economy, so as to enable them to dispose of the better sort. The division of Chittagong, appertaining to the eastern portion of the province of Bengal, has been selected for the grand depot established for the purpose of taming and rearing the Company's ele phants. The superintendent of the stud despatches men skilled in the pursuit into the neighbouring blue mountains, in the direction of Ava, who hunt THE KOOKEES. 15 down and secure these valuable animals. Many, however, are born and reared at the Company's establishment*.

The pursuit of wild elephants in these regions has brought us acquainted with a race of cannibals scarcely to be distinguished from the monkeys with which they herd. Were not the information relative to these people so strongly au thenticated as to leave no doubt upon the minds of those who desire to make inquiries upon the sub ject, the reader might justly refuse to credit the existence of a set of savages, scarcely worthy of the name of man. But having gathered the following particulars concerning them from the able and en terprising officer who held a' staff appointment from the government as superintendent of the stud, I am enabled to offer them to the public as facts, which can be corroborated by the testimony of all who are connected with the elephant depot at Chittagong. The Kookees, as these brutal wretches are called, have, according to the account afforded me by Major Gairdner, protuberant bellies : they are low in stature, with set features, and muscular limbs.

They speak a dialect peculiar to themselves, and build their villages on the boughs of the forest trees. * See the Appendix. THE KOOKEES. They do not appear to have any settled abiding place, but wander in herds from one wilderness to another. When a site favourable to their purpose has been found, the whole community immediately set to work to collect bamboos and branches of trees, which are afterwards fashioned into platforms, and placed across the lofty boughs of the different trees. On this foundation the rude grass super structure is raised which forms the hut. When these sheds are completed, and every family pro vided with a habitation, the women and children are taken into their aerial abodes. The men then lop off all the branches within reach of the ground, and having constructed for * themselves a rough ladder of bamboos, they ascend the trees by means of this rude staircase, drawing it up after them to prevent the intrusion of strangers, and a necessary precaution against the encroachments of their four footed companions of the forest.

In this manner they repose, floating in the branches, and cradled by the wind, partaking more of the savage fero city of brutes than the milder charities of man. To persons who have travelled much in India, the mere circumstance of a whole tribe of natives choosing to take up their permanent habitations in CANNIBALS. the trees would not excite much surprise, since the watchmen who are employed in the charge of mango groves, or other valuable fruit cultivations, often form a sort of nest on the branches of some neighbouring trees, a small hut, or rather shed, just sufficient to shield the body from the inclemency of the weather, being raised upon a platform resting on the boughs. The Kookees, therefore, in this particular, only differ from more civilized natives, forced by necessity upon expedients of the kind, by living constantly in trees ; in other respects there is fortu nately no similarity, even to the most degraded beings of the human race.

They openly boast of their feats of cannibalism, showing, with the strongest expressions of satisfaction, the bones and residue of their fellow-creatures who have fallen a prey to their horrible appetites. So intent are they in their search after human flesh, that the superintendent was always obliged to send out the men employed in hunting the elephants armed with muskets, and in not fewer than parties of ten. One poor man they unfortunately caught while off his guard, and devoured him almost, before his life blood had congealed in his veins. Attempts have been CANNIBALS. made to subdue and civilize these people, and one of their head men was won over, and employed by Major Gairdner at the elephant depot, but he could not'be induced to relinquish his old habits. In a short time he was detected in the commission of a murder, and was executed by the civil authorities of Chitta gong.