Narrative of services in Beloochistan and Affghanistan, in 1840, 1841, and 1842

Front matter

NARRATIVE OF SERVICES IN BELOOCHISTAN & AFFGHANISTAN, IN THE YEARS 1840, 1841, & 1842. BY COLONEL LEWIS ROBERT STACY, C.B., BENGAL NATIVE INFANTRY, AIDE-DE-CAMP TO HEB MAJESTY, Employed on special service in Kelat ; and in command of the 2nd brigade of the Candahar Force. LONDON: W m. H. ALLEN an, Co., 7, LEADENHALL STREE 1848. Printed by J. & H. COX (Brothers), 74 & 75, Great Queen. street. Lincoln's-Inn Fields. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HUGH BARON GOUGH, baronet and knight grand cross of the most honourable military order of the bath, GENERAL AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA, lie. &c. %c. Ætna fiatrattbf IS, WITH HIS LORDSHIP'S KIND PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY HIS GRATEFUL SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. BY THE EDITOR. The absence of Colonel Stacy from England rendered it indispensable that he should devolve the office of superintending the publication of his Narrative to an agent upon the spot, for whose guidance, or rather information, very particular di rections were furnished by Colonel Stacy, accompanied by large discretionary power with respect to any passages or expressions in the work which might appear liable to objection, or even capable of misapprehension.

The most distinct and peremp tory of these directions was, that every passage which could be supposed to cast an injurious reflection upon others, and especially the late Sir William Nott, should be expunged. The Editor has endeavoured to fulfil the inten tions of the Author, upon this as well as other points, as far as practicable, consi, ently with the VI PREFATORY note. nature and object of the work, and the consci entious exercise of the discretion with which he was clothed : if, however, from a desire not to compromise the character of Colonel Stacy, or weaken his just claims, he has deviated from the letter or the spirit of his directions, it is but fair and right that the blame, if any, should fall, not upon the Author, but upon his Editor. The object of the work is twofold, partly of a public, and partly of a private nature.

Of the transactions in Kelat, during the years 1840, 1841, and 1842, and of the operations of General Nott's force in the bold movement from Candahar upon Ghuznee and Cabool, — both intimately connected with a very critical period of our Indian affairs, — no full, exact, and authentic records have yet been given to the public, and in such cases, misrepresen tations and distortions of facts, the offspring of ignorance or malice, often usurp their place, dis seminating and perpetuating error.* In this Nar- * The public journals of British India teemed at the time with mis-statements regarding the negotiations of Colonel Stacy with the Khan of Kelat and the Brahooe chiefs ; and there appeared in the Calcutta Enalishman, of the 1st December, 1842, an article relative to the passage of the retiring army through the Kyber, rative, the Author lays before the public, in the first place, an ample and truthful report of occurrences which are not devoid of intrinsic interest, and which possess much historical value ; in the second place, an exposition of his own individual services, and those of his brave companions in arms, which this gallant officer believes (and the readers of his Narrative will probably concur with him) have not been adequately acknowledged and re quited.

Introduction

. When the General Orders were issued by the Government of British India, in 1838, directing the formation of a force, denominated the Army of the Indus, I was lieutenant-colonel of the 32nd regiment of Bengal native infantry, in command of the station of Dacca. I volunteered immediately? in a letter to the military secretary of the Com mander-in-Chief (Sir Henry, Fane), and received a reply in very kind terms, expressing his Excellency's regret that he could not give me a regiment in the Army of the Indus, as every regiment included in that force had its commander. But, in about a fortnight after, I received another letter from head-quarters, stating that, the command of the 5th regiment having become vacant, I should find myself in Orders as its lieutenant-colonel. Accord- B dingly, in General Orders, dated " Simla, 20th October, 1838," my removal from the 32nd to the 5th regiment of native infantry was notified, and I was directed to proceed forthwith and join.

Without the delay of a halt between Calcutta and Loodiana, I reached the latter station the very day the General Orders appeared reducing the number of regiments in the Army of the Indus, the 5th being excluded. A few days after, the com mander of the 43rd regiment having left the army on sick certificate, Sir Henry Fane, — who declared " he knew what officers he required," — again removed me * from the 5th to the 43rd regiment. I overtook this corps the day it crossed the Indus, and served with it during the whole campaign under Major-General Sir William Nott, the 43rd being always in my brigade. General Nott was left at Quetta, in Shawl, to keep open the communication with the Indus, and to check Meer Mehrab Khan, of Kelat. On the 12th July, 1839, I was sent in command of a detachment, consisting of a troop of the Shah's horse artillery, 300 of the Shah's cavalry, the 43rd, and 100 men Shah's infantry, from Quetta to Can dahar, to escort ten lacs of rupees and some stores * G. O. Ferozepore, 15th December, 1838.

INTRODUCTION.

. 3 for the army at Candahar. Notwithstanding the smallness of the force, and the crippled condition of the camels, this service was performed with the loss of only three men. At the Kojuck Pass, the enemy had assembled in great force, having posses sion of the hill commanding the road, from which they were dislodged. In the night (which was dark) they commenced an attack upon our picquet, which they continued until near daybreak, when we crossed the Kojuck, and reached Chummun after midnight, with no other loss than a few men slightly wounded, and several camels, laden chiefly with grain, which dropped during the day exhausted. We arrived at Candahar on the 1st August. The 43rd regiment remained here, as part of the garrison, the command of which, as senior officer, devolved upon me, and I continued in command of Candahar until the arrival there of General Nott, on the 15th November, 1839.

On the 6th June, 1840, I accompanied the General into the Ghilzie country, returning to Candahar on the 21st, and on the 17th August I was sent down to Quetta, with a detachment, consisting of four guns Shah's horse artillery, 300 Christie's irregular cavalry, and the 43rd regiment of native infantry, to relieve that place, then threatened by Meer b2 Mahomed Nasseer Khan, and afford protection to the town and province, in conjunction with the troops already there. Agreeably to instructions received from Cabool, I was required to refrain from all operations against the fortress of Kelat, without positive orders from the authorities of Cabool. I reached Quetta on the 29th, and assumed, under orders of General Nott, the command of all the troops there, until the arrival of the General, on the 22nd September.

I had been in the mean time strongly urged by Captain Bean, the political agent at Quetta, to move upon Moostung, and " coerce " or " disperse " the rebellious tribes in the vicinity; but with this proposal I could not comply without acting in direct opposition to impe rative orders from General Nott. The fortress of Kelat,* it may be necessary to premise, had been taken by assault by a detachment of the Army of the Indus, under Major-General Willshire, on the 13th November, 1839. The reason assigned by the Government of Indias for hostilities against the Khan of Kelat was, " the many outrages and murders committed, in attacks on the followers * Called '.'. Kelat-e-Kohistan," or " Kelat-e-Nasseer," to dis tinguish it from other places named Kelat. t General Order, by the Governor- General of India, dated " Camp, Deothanee, 4th December, 1839."

INTRODUCTION.

. 5 of the Army of the Indus, by the plundering tribes in the neighbourhood of the Bolan Pass, at the instigation of their chief, Meer Mehrab Khan, at a time when he was professing friendship for the British Government, and negotiating a treaty with its representatives;" and the object of the hosti lities was declared to be " the exaction of retribu tion from that chieftain, and the execution of such arrangements as would establish future security in that quarter ;" or, as avowed in Major-General Willshire's despatch to be the scope of his instruc tions from our envoy and minister at Cabool, " the deposing of Mehrab Khan." The Khan of Kelat being killed in the assault, the fortress was made over to Shah Newaz Khan, descended, collaterally with Mehrab Khan, from Abdoolla Khan, the founder of the family.* Lieu tenant Loveday, of the 37th regiment of Bengal native infantry, who had been recently attached to the political agency of Shawl, as an assistant to Captain Bean, accompanied Major-General Will shire's force, and on the fall of Kelat he was left there (at the request of Shah Newaz Khan), with a small guard of 30 sepoys, as assistant Political Agent. * See the genealogy, Appendix, No. I Meer Mahomed Nasseer Khan, the only legitimate son of the late Mehrab Khan, in July, 1840, succeeded in obtaining possession of the fortress ; the Brahooe garrison having deserted the cause of Shah Newaz Khan, who abdicated in favour of Mahomed Nasseer Khan.

On the 20th October, General Nott marched against Kelat, and I accompanied him. The fortress was found to be deserted, and it was reoccupied by the British troops on the 3rd Novem ber. On the retreat of the Brahooes from Kelat, and their discomfiture at Dadur, Lieutenant Love day, who was taken with them as a prisoner, was murdered under circumstances which will be here after detailed. Upon the reoccupation of Kelat, I proceeded with the return force to Candahar. Before leaving Kelat, I had written to Mr. Ross Bell, then Political Agent in Upper Scinde, offering to take political charge of the fortress, and to endeavour to induce the young khan, Meer Maho med Nasseer, to disband his forces, come in, and acknowledge the supremacy of the East-India Company. Leaving the 2nd regiment of the Shah's infantry at Moostung, and a troop of the Shah's horse artil lery, and most of the cavalry, at Quetta, we reached, with the remainder of the troops, Killa Abdoolla on

INTRODUCTION.

. the 25 th November, and next morning marched to the foot of the Kojuck Pass. General Nott pro ceeded direct to Chummun, and I conveyed the two 18-pounders over the pass. The weather was miser ably cold, with drifts of snow ; the tackle was rotten; but the company of European artillery, and six companies of the 43rd, by dint of hard and constant labour, accomplished, without a halt, an undertaking which had occupied double and treble their numbers two and three days in performing, and every thing was got into camp at Chummun on the 27th. Upon going to make my report, I received orders from Major-General Nott to return and assume political charge of Kelat. An official let ter from Mr. Ross Bell, addressed to the General, dated " Sukkur, 14th November, 1840," contained the following paragraph : — "The melancholy fate of Lieutenant Loveday, and the fact of a garrison having been left in Kelat, render it necessary that a prudent and intelligent officer should be placed in political charge of that place, pending a final settlement of affairs in Beloo chistan. Your despatch under acknowledgment gave cover to a letter from Colonel Stacy, in which he offers to undertake the service in question ; and

INTRODUCTION.

. should you be enabled to spare him, I need only say that I shall be able to place entire reliance on his judgment and discretion, and that I hope you will permit him to assume charge." KELAT

Section I. Kelat

From 27th November, 1840, to 13th October, 1841. The return force moved from Chummun towards Candahar on the morning of the 28th of November, 1840, and I retraced my steps, crossing the Kojuck for the fourth time. The natives were busily engaged in cutting up and carrying off the flesh and hides of the camels which had dropped the day before. They did not molest me ; but their numbers made it prudent for me to wait for my baggage at the top of the pass. I reached Quetta on the 2nd December. Here I remained for five days, expecting instruc tions from Mr. Ross Bell, as the Political Agent of Shawl (Captain Bean) considered my nomination to have been made under a misapprehension. I found here Mr. Charles Masson,* from whom I acquired * Mr. Masson was at this time detained at Quetta by order of the late Sir Wm. Macnaghten, pending an inquiry respecting his supposed connection with the Brahooes, and the recapture by them of Kelat ; the result of which inquiry was that he was " entirely freed from suspicion." much information, the characters of most of the sirdars and servants of the khanat of Kelat being well known to him.

To his communications upon this head, and to his recommendation of Moolla Nasseer Oolla, Babee, whom I employed in my negotiations, I owe much of the success which attended them. Leaving Quetta on the 7th December, I arrived at Moostung on the 9th, and sent for a man named Shadee Khan, Kumbararee, who had been recom mended to me by Mr. Masson as well acquainted with the country and friendly to the young khan. After an hour's conversation with him, I despatched a note to Moolla Nasseer Oolla, who reached my tent next day. We conversed for some hours, and the moolla agreed to join me at Kelat and assist my negotiations with the young khan, of whom he was a personal friend, and he told me his rela tive, Moolla Faiz Ahmed, Babee (another person strongly recommended to me by Mr. Masson), was still more intimate with him, both having been disciples of a syud who had preached and propa gated some new and popular doctrine.

It was agreed that I should send an invitation to Faiz Ahmed, at Shorawuk. Captain Macan, who com manded at Moostung, being unable to afford me a KELAT. guard, I accepted the services of Shadee Khan's brother, Moolla Dad Khan ; we departed on the 11th December, and reached Kelat on the 13th. The four days preceding the arrival of my vakeel, Moolla Nasseer Oolla, Babee, were occupied in ne cessary arrangements, and in inquiries respecting the khan, his sirdars, and the views and wishes of the different parties. Nasseer Oolla joined me on the 17th, and on the 26th I received Mr. Ross Bell's instructions as to the object of my negotiations, namely, to induce the young khan to disband his forces, and to wait upon Mr. Bell at Baugh, under a guarantee of safe conduct. Having completed the necessary inquiries into the state of affairs, on the 4th January, 1841, I despatched Moolla Nasseer Oolla with a letter to the young khan, at Zeedee.

He returned on the 21st with a very polite reply from the khan, stating that he had sent Sirdar Meer Esah Khan, Mhengal, and Darogah Gool Mahomed to confer with me at Kelat. The moolla assured me that the young khan was desirous to come in person, but the sirdars would not hear of it ; and that there was very great distrust of the honour and sincerity of the British in the khan's camp. Gool Mahomed was with much difficulty prevailed upon to be one of the envoys. I did not think it advisable to hold the conference within the walls of Kelat ; the village of Toke, about fourteen miles distant, was proposed by Gool Mahomed, and fixed upon as the place of meeting. Accordingly, on the 23rd January, I proceeded towards the village, at an early hour, accompanied by Moolla Nasseer Oolla, and my moonshee, Moolla Mahomed ; but, when about half way, we were met by a horseman bearing a mes sage from Gool Mahomed, that no supplies were to be had at Toke, the houses of which were unroofed, and that he had consequently moved to Rodenjoh, where he begged me to join him.

It has since transpired, as I then suspected, that this plea was a mere artifice, the darogah suspecting that I intended to seize him, and would send sepoys in that direction. On receiving the message, however, I struck off to Rodenjoh (horsemen being observed on the tops of the hills, who disappeared as we neared them), and on my arrival, Sirdar Meer Esah Khan and Darogah Gool Mahomed came out to meet me. We embraced, and, after mutual salutations, entered the village, a miserable place, exhibiting every token of abject poverty. KELAT It was evident that my appearance without a guard, or even a single sepoy, astonished the deputies ; and that precautions had been taken on their part against a surprise. I accompanied them into a hovel, which had been carpeted for the occasion, and, after the customary courtesies, as soon as it could be done with propriety, I proposed that the object of the interview should be entered upon.

The room was accordingly cleared, the sirdar, the darogah, the moolla, the moonshee, and myself being the only persons left. Gool Mahomed began the discussion ; but his demands were so ridiculously extravagant, that I interrupted him, observing that the question was, whether the young khan desired to try his fortune once more in the field, or to accept terms ; if the latter, he must first disband his army, and then wait upon Mr. Bell ; and that I would guarantee his safety, and accompany him back to Zeedee or elsewhere, if he and Mr. Bell should not agree. The darogah replied, they wished for terms, and were ready to disband their army and consent to Mr. Bell's proposals. They had a long list of grievances, commencing from the time our army crossed the Indus up to their own defeat at Kotroo,* which appeared to be the master grief. * Appendix, No. These, I said, were matters for after-consideration, and I pledged myself, on the part of Mr. Bell, that the young khan should be allowed to come unmo lested to his paternal uncle, Meer Mahomed Azim Khan, at Zheree, where I would meet him.

I thought it expedient (and I still think it was so) to advert upon this occasion to the murder of Lieutenant Loveday, and the darogah made the following statement respecting that occurrence. He said that Meer Nasseer Khan and himself were riding from the field of battle after their defeat at Dadur,* and when they were some distance from the scene of action, and had slackened their pace, their friends joining them every minute, a body of Sheerwannees came up; that the young khan inquired about Lieutenant Loveday, and being told that he had been slain, exclaimed, " Then you have dis honoured me and my country ! " that he loaded the Sheerwannees with invectives, forbade the tribe his presence, and although they subsequently came to the durbar with ropes round their necks im ploring pardon, it was refused ; and that, when my letter was received, Mahomed Khan, Sheer- * By Major Boscawen, on the 3rd November, 1840, after the Brahooes had made an unsuccessful attempt against Dadur, defended by Captain Watkins.

KELAT wannee, was excluded from the council. The darogah denied that Lieutenant Loveday had been beaten or otherwise maltreated. This statement I afterwards related to Mahomed Khan, Sheerwan nee, without mentioning from whom I received it, and inquired if it was true. He declared that there was not a word of truth in the story; that the oppressive conduct of Lieutenant Loveday 's moonshee (Gholam Hussein), as farmer of the revenues at Moostung, had provoked the hatred of all classes, and, when the moonshee headed the sepoys and fired upon the people, they returned the fire and ultimately killed nearly all the sepoys. The subsequent trial of Kaissoo, who put Mr. Loveday to death, has established the accuracy of the Sheer wannee sirdar, Mahomed Khan. I was detained so late at Rodenjoh that I did not reach Kelat until long after dark.

On the 27th January, I started for Zheree, which I reached on the 30th, being accompanied by Moolla Nasseer Oolla and Moolla Mahomed Moonshee, without a single sepoy. The marc'i from Capotah to Nechara is almost impracticable for any force. The Kund-e-Capotah is a very steep and difficult ascent over a narrow path on the side of a hill, leading up to a table-land. After passing the valley of Soorkun, we had to clamber over the Kund-e-Soorkun, and some miles beyond this, we came to the Chunneeree Pass, which for a very considerable distance is passable only with the greatest caution by camels lightly laden. At the end of the Chunneeree is the well of Bader, the water in which remains at one parti cular height throughout the year, and further on is the famous Pass of Toongee, which for eighty yards is but a cleft in a rock, rent asunder apparently by some convulsion of nature, the road or path being not more than five to seven feet wide.

It is proper to notice, that Meer Mahomed Azim Khan, brother of the late Khan of Kelat, Meer Mehrab, whom I was about to visit at Zheree, had always been very inimical to the British ; and as he would be jealous of Darogah Gool Maho med's obtaining the credit of bringing the young khan to terms with us, it had been arranged at the conference at Rodenjoh that Sirdar Meer Esah Khan should escort the khan to Zheree, the darogah being the guarantee of my safety. But on the arrival of the sirdar and the darogah at Zheree, they discovered that Meer Azim Khan had written to the young khan, advising him not to trust the British, whereupon it was resolved that the darogah should return and. disabuse the khan's mind, and KELAT. escort him to Zheree, whilst my safety was to be entrusted to the sirdar.

Meer Azim Khan openly declared that he would oppose any negotiation with the English, and, in the hope of thwarting it, resorted to a dastardly attempt upon my life, of which I was ignorant until some months afterwards, when it was divulged during some high words in camp It appears that, when Meer Azim Khan heard I was coming to Zheree without a single sepoy, he hired a man named Mallooke, a shikaree (hunter), to shoot me in the Soindah Pass, which opens direct upon Zheree. Meer Esah Khan, who had taken up his residence in the village of Nograma, the farthest from the pass, was informed of the intended assassination, and immediately encamped at the very mouth of the pass, with his Mhengals, whom he apprized of the fact, and that he was my guarantee. The tribe, accordingly, kept on the alert night and day, but Mallooke, to whom, as a shikaree, every sheep-track in the hills was known, gained the pass by a mountain-path, a mile to the eastward, un known to the Mhengals.

On the 30th of January I started from Pundaran (the chief of which was an orphan boy, about nine years of age, his father having fallen with Mehrab Khan in the defence of c Kelat), and our party halted for prayers about a mile from the mouth of the pass, whence I sent two horsemen on to give notice to Sirdar Meer Esah Khan of my approach. Whilst the party were engaged in their devotions, I walked back to examine the side of the pass, which had appeared to me to indicate some rich mineral production. My absence caused much alarm to the party, who remonstrated with me, and advised me not to leave the camp, as the hills thronged with straggling Brahooes ; but, ignorant of the real motive of this advice, my restless curiosity was so highly excited by the attractions of a most romantic country, that I refused to pledge myself to adopt it.

Soon after, I was surprised to perceive Meer Esah Khan, with thirty or forty horsemen, coming towards us at a smart pace ; they testified joy at finding me safe ; and, as we emerged from the pass into the plain, I observed the sirdar's people close round me, which caused some alarm to my Brahooe moonshee. In this way we passed on to Nograma, where houses had been prepared for us. It seems that my party had halted a few hundred yards only from the spot where Mallooke had taken post ; that my horsemen had stopped and questioned him ; and, on delivering my message to Meer Esah Khan, related their KELAT. 19 meeting with the shikaree. The sirdar ordered every horse to be ready, and, instead of his sowaree camel, mounted a smart nag himself, though he had not been on horseback for years. Led by the horsemen, they reached the spot where they had seen Mallooke, who had concealed himself amongst some underwood.

He was discovered, confessed his object, and pleaded poverty as the inducement to undertake the deed. His matchlock was broken by Esah Khan's order, and he was dismissed with a few cuffs and kicks. When he first became acquainted with Meer Azim Khan's design upon me, the sirdar expostulated with him, but Azim angrily replied that, if the shikaree failed, he and his followers (whom he had summoned) would cut up both me and my party as we entered Zheree. Esah Khan retorted that I was under his protection, and if the slightest violence was offered to me, he and his Mhengals would destroy every man concerned in it. This threat had been the occasion of our being surrounded by the Mhengals as we came out of the pass, and thus to Meer Esah Khan was I indebted for my life.* On leaving Kelat, a bet of one hundred to one had been offered that I * This sirdar, -who was the real chief of the Mhengals (his eldest brother having left his country), died in 1845. c should be killed, like Lieutenant Loveday, and refused !

I had subsequently occasion to remonstrate with Meer Azim Khan on his conduct towards the young khan of Kelat, when I remarked (in the presence of the meer's father-in-law) that, if I were to dis close to the khan his attempts upon my life, — detailing the circumstances, — his honour would be forfeited. The meer did not deny the charge, but, as well as his father-in-law, nodded assent. Foiled in these attempts, Meer Azim Khan did all he could to embarrass me, and forbade the vil lagers to supply me with grain, which subjected me to much inconvenience. Darogah Gool Mahomed returned on the 4th of February, without the young khan. The distrust of the people at Zheree was incredible. Although I was unattended by a single sepoy, they feared a chupao (surprise, or sudden attack), and were continually sending out horsemen in every direction to reconnoitre, and even suspected me of treachery, defence less as I was, believing I had sepoys concealed in the hills.

The defeat of the Brahooes at Dadur, and our attack upon them at Kotroo, whilst nego tiations were going on, had exasperated them, and the murder of their prisoner, Lieutenant Loveday, KELAT. had inspired them with apprehensions of our ven geance ; so that, at this moment, alone, in the midst of the Brahooe camp, my life seemed scarcely worth an hour's purchase. But from the day the commissioners of the young khan met me at Rodenjoh, not a hostile movement was made by the Brahooes, nor was a shot fired (except in the Quetta district) from the moment I boldly trusted myself amongst them until we quitted the country. After much discussion with the darogah, it was settled that the young khan should visit me the next morning, and that I should conduct him direct to my quarters. I went out to meet him accord ingly on the 5th of February, and, after the usual exchange of compliments, he rode back with me.

He had 500 or 600 men with him, on horses and camels ; they forced themselves into my small apartment till it was crammed, refusing to quit it, though ordered to do so by the khan and the chiefs. The young prince was uneasy at first, but his fears soon wore off, and he conversed freely on hunting, shooting, &c. Meer Mahomed Azim Khan attended him, and conducted himself in a very rude and in decorous manner. I caught part of an observation he made, " Friends with the English ! Don't trust them, especially this one;" and, turning abruptly round, I asked the khan what the meer said. The young prince expressed strong displeasure by his countenance, but adroitly replied that the meer was only in jest. The meer was known to be an unprincipled man, a spirit-drinker, and without any title to notice, save his being the uncle of the khan.

The young khan having taken his departure to pray at the shrine of some saint, the darogah was left to talk with me on business. He commenced in the old strain, — descanted upon the eternal theme of the Kotroo chupao, the treacherous seizure of Beejar Khan,* &c. So inveterate appeared the impression amongst the chiefs of our treachery in the Kotroo affair (our own vakeel being in their camp at the moment of our attack), that, finding it impossible to get over this obstacle, I proposed that the young khan should go over to Mr. Ross Bell, at Baugh, and negotiate with him in person, whilst I remained as a hostage in the Brahooe camp. After some deliberation, this proposal was rejected, and I resolved, in compliance with the request of the khan and his chiefs, to go myself and procure from Mr. Ross Bell a formal guarantee that they might visit him with safety.