A year on the Punjab frontier, in 1848-49

Front matter

A YEAR ON THE PUNJAB FRONTIER, IN 1848-9. !'R_E By A NATIVE ART! Lou don BiclaxcLBexLl A YEAR ON THE PUNJAB FRONTIER, IN 1848-49. B1 MAJOR HERBERT B. EDWARDES, C.B. H.E.I.C.S. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, Purjltstjet t'n ©roinarg to P?et iSla.festg. M.D.CCC.LI. LONDON Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. Ill LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SIR HENRY MONTGOMERY LAWRENCE, K.C.B. PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF PUNJAB AFFAIRS. My dear Lawrence, If I have been able to serve Government to any purpose, I owe it to your teaching and example ; and as the only way I may ever have of proving myself grateful for your friendship, I inscribe your name upon these records of the days I least regret. Believe me, My dear Lawrence, Ever affectionately yours, HERBERT B. EDWARDES. RICHMOND HILL, JANUARY, 1851.

Preface

. If any one expects to find in this book an attack on the Governor-General, the Commander-in-Chief, the Resident at Lahore, the Board of -Control, or any one of the four-and-twenty Directors of the Honourable East India Company, he is doomed to be disap pointed. I have no grudge to pay off, no grievance to complain of, no official secret to betray, not even one little document to publish which could not be published consistently with my own honour, and that of the Government I am proud to serve. The book is simply what it professes to be — the record of a busy year, on an important frontier, in a country and at a crisis which have excited the national attention of Englishmen.

PREFACE.

. VIII In writing it I have had three objects in view; and I will put the most selfish one first, to save any one else the trouble. I. It is to put on record a victory which I myself remember with more satisfaction than any I helped to gain before Mooltan — the bloodless conquest of the wild valley of Bunnoo. It was gained neither by shot nor shell, but simply by balancing two races and two creeds. For fear of a Sikh army, two warlike and independent Muhommudan tribes levelled to the ground, at my bidding, the four hundred forts which constituted the strength of their country; and for fear of those same Muhom mudan tribes, the same Sikh army, at my bidding, constructed a fortress for the Crown, which com pleted the subjugation of the valley. Thus was a barbarous people brought peacefully within the pale of civilization ; and one well-intentioned Englishman accomplished in three months, without a struggle, a conquest which the fanatic Sikh nation had vainly attempted, with fire and sword, for five-and twenty years.

Yet so little is it known, that to this moment I have never even been thanked by my own Government for the service. If that is anybody's fault, it is my own ; but it is

PREFACE.

. IX nobody's fault, it is simply a fact. It is usual in the Indian political department for officers to draw up a full Report of their labours and success whenever they have completed any special duty with which they have been intrusted. On the perusal of this Report, Government passes its opinion on the mode in which its orders have been executed.* It was my intention to have drawn up my Report of the complete subjuga tion of Bunnoo, as soon as I got back from my tour through the other districts of the Upper Derajat ; but before that tour was completed, the Mooltan rebellion involved me in new operations. I saw my conquered valley, and my fine fort, no more ; the Report was never made ; and Government drew the revenues of Bunnoo with such ease, that it might be excused for not divining with what difficulty and anxious thought they had been obtained.

Yet, I am not willing that it should be altogether forgotten ; and that is one object of this book. II. A second object is to give my countrymen at home an insight into the actual life and labours of an Indian political officer. An indistinct notion prevails that " a political" is a sort of person attached to Indian armies, to embarrass all military operations, * See a specimen in the Appendix to Introductory Chapter.

PREFACE.

. X and do his utmost to bring disgrace upon the British arms. Amongst other duties, political officers are generally attached to military expeditions; to interpret the political views of Government in sending them; to be the medium of all negociations ; and to assist the General with their local knowledge and local in fluence. In a country so totally strange as India to the soldiers of Her Majesty's army, and so very partially known as it can ever be even to those of the Honourable Company's service, the practice is not only advantageous, but necessary. When a Wellington or a Lake appears at the head of an Indian army, the custom, rendered useless by their capacity, is dispensed with. Occasionally an Ochterloney unites in his own person both the political officer and the General. But a Sale has acknowledged with soldierly frankness the assistance he derived from a MacGregor ; impartial history will regret that a Napier disregarded an Outram ; and a Hardinge, though himself vested with supreme authority, erects, with lasting gratitude, a monument over the grave of a Broadfoot.

But it is a mistake to suppose that accompanying armies into the field is the only, or even principal, duty of an Indian political. He has in general a far

PREFACE.

. XI higher, more interesting, and less invidious, career to run in his official life ; and it is to exhibit him in this sphere of duty that I now publish an account of my own Trans-Indus labours. A perusal of it will, I trust, give my countrymen a juster conception of that department of the British-Indian Government which, in the intervals of peace, supplies to every busy minded soldier a pursuit more active, more directly useful, than the furbishing of rusty arms ; which opens to him a field of distinction when that of war is closed ; and sends him forth beyond our boundaries to be the pioneer of Christian civilization in lands where Idolatry too often occupies the Temple, Corruption the Tribunal, and Tyranny the Throne. III. Lastly, I have been actuated by a desire to contribute my mite of local knowledge to the world's common stock.

In India it is too much the fashion for public servants to carry with them into their graves all the knowledge of manners, customs, lan guages, which they have acquired during their lives ; like warriors who lie down to rest with their swords by their sides, and " their martial cloaks around them." Thus, their successors, instead of com mencing at the point where they left off, have to begin again with the alphabet of inquiry. In the present work, I subscribe something towards a know-

PREFACE.

. XII ledge of the countries Trans-Indus. If it is not all that could be wished, an indulgent reader will remember that it was acquired in little more than " a year on the Punjab frontier ;" and that not a year of dilettante travelling, going where I listed to seek, and lingering wherever I found, pleasant spots ; with a mind at ease, time at command, and nothing to do but fill note-books with reflections ; but a year of intense labour in great public duties, with never any certainty of life for four-and-twenty hours. Yet I find that what I collected in a year, I have been six months reducing into form, — months I could ill spare from one year's rest. • It remains only to explain, that the map attached to these volumes has been very carefully compiled by Mr. Arrowsmith, from district maps prepared by the Deputy Commissioners for the information of the Board of Administration at Lahore; to which materials I have added all the passes known to me in the hills of the Upper Derajat.

The passes in the Lower Derajat are desiderata I cannot supply ; but Lord Dalhousie has already directed a complete military survey of the Indus frontier of the Punjab. For the ground plan of the Fort of Mooltan (which is probably the first detailed one which the military reader has yet obtained), I am indebted to my gallant

PREFACE.

. XIII friend Lieutenant-Colonel Napier, of the Bengal Engineers ; and I have to thank another kind friend and colleague, Major Reynell Taylor, for the sketches of Akra, Solomon's Throne, and the Fort of Duleep gurh, which will, I am sure, detain the volume they adorn, in many a fair hand, much longer than its specific gravity deserves. The coloured plates in the second volume are among the last works of the late Mr. Hullmandel, and are beautifully copied or grouped from pictures by native artists. Reader, when looking at " my enemy" and " my ally," forget the proverb, " Show me your friends, and I'll tell you what you are !" and think of another that " appearances are deceitful." In the present case they are very deceitful indeed. Moolraj's advocate asked his judges, with more eloquence than logic, whether they saw " ought of ferocity in that coun tenance ?"

Nevertheless, Moolraj was convicted of murder, and sentenced to death. This was fortunate as well as just, for had the judges taken the advocate's advice, and looked in the faces of the belligerents for the murderer of our countrymen, perhaps my worthy ally, the Nuwab of Bhawulpoor, might have been hanged, and the British Government have lost one of its firmest friends in India.

PREFACE.

. And now farewell, dear reader. Within a few weeks of the publication of this book I shall be again on my way to " the Punjab frontier ;" but I cannot bid adieu to England without telling all in it, Nobles and Commons, Gentle and Simple, how gratefully I have felt, how long I shall remember, how earnestly I will endeavour to deserve, the great kindness they have shown me. May the Past and Present alike strengthen me for the Future. HERBERT, B. EDWARDES. JANUARY, 1851. A CONTENTS 0 F THE FIRST VOLUME. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. rapid review of the events which led to Lahore being occupied by British troops, and a British Resident having authority in the Sikh Councils — Composition of the Council of Regency — Sir Henry Lawrence, President of the Council — His feeling towards the Sikh nation — The revenue of Bunnoo one of the first subjects to which his attention is called — The Sikh Chancellor's account of the state of Bunnoo, and Sikh system of taxation — Oppressed state of the Bunnoochees during the decline of the Cabul empire — Account from a native manuscript of expeditions into Bunnoo — Scheme to conciliate the Bunnoochees, and subdue them by peaceful measures — Selection of troops, and ap pointment of a British officer — The peaceful scheme fails — Objects gained by the Expedition — Anti-plunder regulations — Effect of them, and anecdote of Sikh discipline — Further object attained by the first Expedition — State of feeling between the Bunnoochees and Sikhs, and consequence — CONTENTS.

Discovery of a new road to Bunnoo — Plan for its subjugation and occupation — Review of the past Expedition, and a glance at the effect of the future . . . 1

Chapter I

Description of Derajat — Its division and government under the Sikhs — Government of the Northern Division conferred on General Van Cortlandt — Countries that compose the province — Nomination to the command of the Sikh troops — Tactics of a Sikh army, and the Sirdar's part — Force appointed to reduce Bunnoo — Plan of approach in two columns, and point of junction — Difficulty of the march from Peshawur — Force of the Peshawur column and its command — Muster, and state of General Cortlandt's column — Extract from Diary — A scene in the wilds of Afghanistan — Inspection of troops — Dogruh regiment — Encampment in the Desert — Swahn Khan the Vizeeree, and Moorcroft the Traveller— Character of Swahn Khan, and his reception of the second Expedition — Description of " The Wells" — A picture of the Pastoral Vizeerees — Description of the country— Column halted at " The Wells" — The Author reconnoitres — His guide — Confidence in our fellow-men — Description of Kummur — The " Scholar" of Kummur — State of female society in Kummur — Description of Kurruk — The Khuttuk tribe — Chounterah — Meeting with Lieutenant Taylor — A friendly feast — Safe junction of the two columns ....... 33

Chapter II

Description of Bunnoo — Its rivers, fertility, and productions — Account of its mongrel people — Their condition, social and political — Testimony of Agha Abbas — The spy's CONTENTS.

IX report of Bunnoo — Its numerous forts — Division of the country into twenty tuppehs — Government of the Bun noochees by their Mullicks — Their position at the time of the present Expedition — The two " Factions" — Their union against a common enemy — Calculations of the population of Bunnoo — Three influential classes amongst them — Account of the Ooluma — Their influence over the super stitious Bunnoochees, and other tribes — Agha Abbas, the Native Traveller's, account of them — Their privileged posi tion in Bunnoo at the time of the Expedition — That of the despised Hindoo — The sword-proselytism of the Muhommudan religion — Punjab examples from Agha Abbas's Journal — Origin of the Sikh religion — The Afghan thirst for " Infidel blood" — Parallel circumstances of the Jews in Europe, and Hindoos in Asia — Elphinstone's account of the Hindoos — The Jews in Rome in the nineteenth century — Especially degraded state, and purchased safety of the Hindoos in Bunnoo — Their money-loving propensities serviceable to the ignorant Bun noochees — Their dishonest discharge of the trust — Unusual toleration in Bazaar, under Lai Baz Khan — One community and fort of Hindoos in the Daood Shah tuppeh — Moola's Gurhee — Trade with Dour — The Hindoos in Bunnoo, not deserving of pity — Consolations of avarice — Distant pil grimages of Hindoos — Three divisions in the map of Bun noo — Villages and tribes of the Khuttuks — Independence of the Vizeerees — Extent of their country — Their division into Otmanzyes and Ahmudzyes — The Vizeerees at enmity with the whole world, but at peace among themselves — The occupation by the Otmanzye branch of the Pass of Gwaleyree — Depredations on the Lohanee merchants — Chivalric trait in the character of the Vizeerees— The winter encroachments of the Ahmudzye Vizeerees on the lower country of the Thull— Their summer's retreat to their own CONTENTS.

X mountains — Further encroachments in the valley — The Bunnoo Council— Its Resolution— Miserable state of resistance and retaliation— The Vizeerees come to a compromise, and plant themselves in Bunnoo— They build forts— They hold themselves proudly aloof from the Bunnoochees —Their savage virtues— Example of proof against corrup tion by bribe— The country occupied by the two divisions of the Vizeeree tribe— Contrast in favour of the Ahmudzyes — Review of the four classes which make up the population of Bunnoo — Proportions in which the valley is divided among them — Attitude of the tribes of Bunnoo at the time of the Expedition ....... 65 65

Chapter III

Proclamation to the Mullicks and people of Bunnoo — Its good effect — Chiefs who submitted, and came into camp — Barbarous surprise at their first contact with the wonders of civilization — Motive which induced them to submission — Test of their sincerity — Doubtful aspect of the religious classes — Danger that they would stir up the Bunnoochees to resistance — Second Proclamation to them and the Mullicks of Bunnoo — March from " The Wells" — Submission of the remaining Mullicks — One exception — Instances of Dilassuh Khan's inveterate hostility to the Sikhs — French direction of Sikh guns — Dilassuh Khan's reception of the first Expedition — His faith in a Sahib — Description of him — His confidence in Camp interrupted — His retreat to the hills, and letter — Message sent him on return of the Expedition — His reception of it — Counsel of his advisers — His future line of policy — His submission, and return on change of command in Bunnoo — Contrast which would present itself to him — Halt and muster of the Barukzye contingent — Reinstatement of the Barukzye CONTENTS.

XI Chiefs at Peshawur, by Runjeet Sing — Military tenure of their jageer — How to stop plunder — Afghan definition of being on friendly terms — Bunnoochees put their land "in Chancery" — Commenced a revenue measurement — Reception of officers from Peshawur — Present of fruits — The Vizeerees refuse to pay revenue — Conference with them on the matter — Alternative offered them — Contrast between system of revenue under a native, and H. E. India Company's Government — Native resistance to a money valuation — Vizeerees resolve to collect a Council of their Chiefs — Importance of establishing the impartiality of " British law" — Lieutenant Taylor returns to Peshawur — Vizeeree Council of War — Conclusion arrived at — Troops march to Bazaar — Family disputes — Troops advance to Mumukhsheyl — Encampment ground flooded by the Syuds — Council of the Bunnoochee Chiefs — Their resolution — Two main points of the plan laid before Government for the reduction of Bunnoo — Difficulties of the undertaking — Consideration of plans — Plan determined on — Consideration of the choice of a site for the fort — Im portance of commanding the irrigation of the valley — Submission of two proposed sites to the Lahore Govern ment — Colonel Lawrence's choice, and valuable suggestion — Selection of a spot — Its advantageous position — Flight of the Syuds of Mumukhsheyl — Proclamation to the people of Bunnoo — The Kuthrees of Bazaar raise the price of corn — Inquiry, and fine — Account of the caste — The Kuth rees at Lahore — Dewan Moolraj one — The Mumukhsheyl runaways make overtures to return — General Bishen Sing joins the Camp— View of affairs held by the Sikh Sirdars at Lahore— Picture of a Vizeeree Jeerga — Terms offered — The Chiefs' discussion — Unconditional surrender — Vizeerees' first approach to the slavery of civilization CONTENTS. — Feast of Friendship — A great obstacle thus sur mounted . . . . • • • .109 109

Chapter IV

Murder of a sepoy — The foundation of the Sikh fort laid with native ceremonies — Called Duleepgurh in honour of the Maharajuh — Previous incredulity of the Bunnoochees — The force moves to the site of the new fort — Traces of the murderers — Lecture to General Bishen Sing — Account of him — -Work at the fort portioned out to the regiments — Colonel Lawrence's instructions — Want and value of a military education — Description of the proposed fort — Cantonment placed round the foot of the citadel — Resolution to make the Sikh soldiers build the fort — Former examples in Runjeet Sing and Goolab Sing — Civil labours entailed by previous misrule — The Trans-Indus people begin to appreciate the new tribunals — A code of simple laws given to the Bunnoochees — Note on Runjeet Sing's scale of fines for offences against life — On the system of tracking — Observance of Friday — Fair-day at Bazaar — Note on the unpopularity of British rule in the East, in consequence of the suppression of Suttee infanticide, slave-dealing, &c. — Deputation of Syuds and Holy Men of Bunnoo — Arrival of a wing of Meyher Sing's regiment — Mutiny in Colonel Man Sing's regiment — Note on the " Painch" — Character of Man Sing's regiment — Note on the Poorbeeuhs — Discharge of five mutineers — Parade to investigate the extent of the mutiny — Its prompt suppression — Court-martial — Extent and danger of the mutiny — Alacrity of the remaining force — Note on Corps of Sappers and Miners — Dispute between Swahn Khan and CONTENTS.

XIII Sher Must Khan— Renewed court-martial — Thoughts of home — Bunnoochees aspire to martyrdom by murder — Establishment of Sunday rest — Court-martial ended — Disagreeable interruption by a " Martyr" — The sentry dies — Inquiry into report of further conspiracy — Attack on a drummer of Bishen Sing's regiment — The priests preach and the people practise resistance — Precautionary measures and orders — Former instances of Bunnoochee treachery — Precautions for personal security — Proposed disarming of the people discouraged by Government — Its policy or impolicy — System adopted in the annexation of the Punjab — Petition from the Meeree Chiefs — Vizeeree dam broken down, and irrigation restored to the Meerees — The "Ghazee's" account of himself — Martyr-Mania — The Vizeerees fined — Swahn Khan Government Agent — Survey for a new military road — Its advantages — The work accomplished by the Bunnoochees themselves — Resumed examination of the Ghazee — Policy of founding a new capital — Proposed materials — Position of the new town Duleepshurh — Important discovery of General Cort landt — Settlement of the land dispute between Sher Must and Swahn Khan — Choice of umpires — Trial of mutineers — Remarks upon mutiny — Deputation of the Cabul merchants — Collection of arms in payment of arrears of revenue — Progress of the fort works — Time arrived for levelling the Bunnoochee forts — Consideration of plans — Proclamation to the Bunnoochees and Vizeerees of Bunnoo — Raze your own forts . . . . . .155

Chapter V

The Proclamation published — Sikh Post-Office — Recal of Colonel Man Sing's regiment — The Colonel's remon- CONTENTS.

XIV strance— Justice of the measure proved on inquiry— The Meerees and Bukkykheyl Vizeerees accommodate their differences— Power of doing good, the charm of civil employment in the East— Dispute between Sher Must and Swahn Khan— Limits fixed for taking up old cases in Civil and Criminal Courts— More assassination— Progress in knocking down the forts —Vizeeree horses — The beast and his master — Departure of Man Sing's regiment — The Colonel's last appeal— Property of deceased Poor beeuhs escheated by their Colonels in the Sikh service- Progress of fort building and fort destroying — The Momundkheyl Vizeerees— Hindoos of " Moolluh's Gurhee" — Crops versus Castles — The obedience of the Bunnoochees convenient, but contemptible — Discovery of a refractory tribe of Vizeerees — The Hindoos of Bunnoo seek admit tance into the new capital — Its commercial prospects — White ants at Dera Ishmael Khan— The Meeree Chiefs intercede for some cities of refuge on the border — Sen tence of the Ghazee — Inspection of the Meeree forts — Murder of a sepoy — Improving discipline — Extract of a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India — Camp regulations — Practice prohibited of destroying mul berry-trees — Injury done by the Sikhs in Cachmere — Sikh insensibility to the love of nature — The new town chris tened Duleepshuhr — Sikh jealousy — Daood Shah Plot — Ground-rent in the new town fixed — Introduction of silk-growers — Cold season in the Punjab — Selection of force to remain in Bunnoo^Invaliding parade — State of the Sikh army when Lord Gough first entered Lahore — Difficult task to restore discipline — Second attempt to assassinate the Author — Its failure — Greetings and congratulations — A Syce wounded — Evil consequence of not hanging the first Ghazee at once — A hanged Muhom- CONTENTS.

XV mudau not admitted to heaven — Account of the assassin — Remarks upon priestly responsibility in Ireland and the East — Assessment — Death of the Syce — Panic among the Hindoostanee servants — Conspiracy among the Dourees — Account of the Dour tribes and their country — Two-thirds of the Bunnoochee forts demolished in twenty days — Con firmed report of Dour conspiracy — Reported treachery in camp — Note upon the catholic superstition of Asiatics — Message to the Dourees — Hypocritical congratulations of the Bunnoochee priests — Precautionary measures against invasion — Accession to the conspirators — Progress of the town of Duleepshuhr — A father and son who had killed eighty-four men — Tour in the Derajat projected — Appli cation to Lahore for a locum tenens — New law of mortgage — Curious case of land dispute — Vizeeree manners ! — Bunnoochee manners ! — Visit from suspected Barukzye Sirdar — Gross revenue fraud detected — Welcome rains — Damage to the fort — Waste and barren land reclaimed — Complaints against a Buttunnee robber — The Dour plot thickens — Plan for the proposed canal — Another con spiracy — Farther information of the Dour invasion — Relative value of land in Bunnoo and Peshawur — Note on Elphinstone's account of the native custom of Nanna wautee — The priests of Bunnoo secure their lands and grow content — Their dislike of fresh air — Disunion of the Dour allies — The spy's report — Homicide from motives of humanity — Execution of the first Ghazee — A snake at the foot of the gallows — Death of a servant and panic among the rest — How a Bunnoochee Mullick collects taxes from his countrymen — Complaint of soldiers in the Dogruh regiment — Relative advantages of service in Maharajuh Goolab Sing's and the Lahore service — Remarks upon CONTENTS.

XVI Goolab Sing's military resources— His policy towards the British 211

Chapter VI

More warnings from Dour — Escort sent to meet Lieutenant Taylor— Necessity of watch-towers at the two passes into Dour_progress of the fort of Duleepgurh— A vegetable garden for the soldiers — The Dourees still coming, but not come— They seek help from the Vizeerees— Strength of our position — Vizeeree notions of free-trade — The Vizeerees oppose the establishment of an outpost — The Barukzye Cavalry shirk duty — Arrival of Lieutenant Taylor — Reconnoitring visit from a Dour Chief — How he is received, and the message he takes back — Attack on the Khoorrum outpost — Rumours of Dour invasion cease — Prompt reinforcements from the Resident at Lahore — His opinions as to Dour invasion — His advice asked as to annexing Dour — Inexpediency of doing so — Sunday in Bunnoo — Survey of the new road — Deputation from the Vizeerees of Janeekheyl — Agreement concerning the Tochee outpost — Rumour of the Dour invasion revives — Report of expected attack on Drabund in the Derajat — Site chosen for outpost fort — Protection of the Peyzoo Pass — Unscrupulous extravagance of the Lahore Durbar — The scout's report that the Dour invasion dies away — Winter revenue settlement — Sir Alexander Burnes' account of Bunnoo and its revenue — Proportion of Bunnoo occupied by the religious classes — Falstaffian muster of the Barukzye contingent — The Scholar of Kummur re-appears in a new character — Commencement of silk cultivation — Communication from Dilassuh Khan — A spark flies out of the Residency Office, and is not to be CONTENTS.

XVII extinguished — Ultimate fate of the Dhokul Sing regiment—The Janeekheylee Vizeerees continue to plunder — Policy to be observed to the Vizeerees generally — Obstacles to it not insuperable — A Vukeel better than a hostage under British rule — Transgression of the Lohanee traders in Tak — The Khuttuks claim the Eastern Thull of Bunnoo — Their proper limits defined — Note on the native custom of making over subordinates to a new superior — Pride of the Bunnoo priests — Arrival of guns for the fort — The Janeekheyl Vizeerees refuse collective responsibility — Note on the English maxim, " It is better many guilty should escape than one innocent man suffer"— Petition from Girang against the aggressions of Ooshteraunees — Greek bricks from Akra make Sikh drains at Duleepgurh — Damage to the fort by rains — Bunnoochee proverb concerning rain — Decision on a question of irrigation — How Runjeet Sing quieted those he conquered — Abuses of the Jageerdaree system — First Vizeeree tribute collected — Farewell durbar to the Sikh soldiers and Bunnoochee Chiefs — Ten per cent. on the revenue allowed to the latter — Departure — Greek ruins at Akra — Discovery of coins, &c. — Coins and temples in Huzaruh and the Eusofzye country — A Bunnoo town built with bricks of Akra — Hindoo account of Akra — The Greek coins tell another tale — Possible derivation of the name Akra — Ancient Greek tile— The Bunnoochee foot in the Greek " Cothurnus" — " Kafr Kot" — Mr. Masson's account of it — March towards the Bunnoo frontier, and encampment at Ghoreewalluh — Satisfactory progress of the new road — Native distrust and English confidence — Parting conference with Swahn Khan — Note on the shares of the Vizeeree tribute — March to Gundee — Proposed canal to reclaim the plain — Selfish opposition— Leave Bunnoo — Recapitulation . . 2/9 VOL. I. C CONTENTS.

XVIII

Chapter VII

The country of Murwut — Its approaches and fertility — Differing accounts of Mr. Elphinstone and Mr. Masson reconciled — The Murwutees — Their dress — Position of the capital— No native forts in Murwut — Rude condition of the Murwutees— Their sufferings from drought — Revenue of Murwut under Cabul Kings, the Nuwab of Dera Ishmael Khan, and the Sikhs — The Murwutees rebel against the poll-tax, and fail — British interference reforms the system of assessment — Dowlut Raie removed — His favour with the Sikh Durbar — Petition of the women of Gundee — Feuds and short lives of the men of Gundee — Inspection of the fort of Lukkee — Good military artisans in the Punjab — Description of the fort of Lukkee — Its unhealthy position — Fertile crops — More female " demonstrations" — Unusual freedom of the women of Murwut — Experimental well sunk — Site and garrison of Peyzoo watch-tower selected — A new town projected at Peyzoo . 353