Produced by Philip Hitchcock A JOURNEY THROUGH THE KINGDOM OF OUDE, IN 1849--1850; BY DIRECTION OF THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL. WITH PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE ANNEXATION OF OUDE TO BRITISH INDIA, &c. BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. H. SLEEMAN, K.C.B. Resident at the Court of Lucknow IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. 1858. [Transcriber's note: The author's spelling of the names of places and people vary considerably, even within a single paragraph. The spelling of place names in the text varies from that shown on the map. The author's spelling is reproduced as in the printed text.] PREFACE My object in writing this DIARY OF A TOUR THROUGH OUDE was to prepare, for submission to the Government of India, as fair and full a picture of the real state of the country, condition, and feeling of the people of all classes, and character of the Government under which they at present live, as the opportunities which the tour afforded me might enable me to draw. The DIARY must, for the present, be considered as an official document, which may be perused, but cannot be published, wholly or in part, without the sanction of Government previously obtained.* W. H. SLEEMAN. Lucknow, 1852. * This permission was accorded by the Honourable Court of Directors in December last. [Transcriber's note: _Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official_ by W. H. Sleeman 2nd Ed. 1915, p.xxxvi notes that the date of the permission was not December 1851, but December 1852.] CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. Biographical Sketch of Major-General Sir W. H. Sleeman, K.C.B. Introduction Private correspondence preceding the Journey through the Kingdom of Oude ______________________________________________ CHAPTER I. Departure from Lucknow--Gholam Hazrut--Attack on the late Prime Minister, Ameen-od-Dowla--A similar attack on the sons of a former Prime Minister, Agar Meer--Gunga Sing and Kulunder Buksh--Gorbuksh Sing, of Bhitolee--Gonda Bahraetch district--Rughbur Sing--Prethee Put, of Paska--King of Oude and King of the Fairies--Surafraz mahal CHAPTER II. Bahraetch--Shrine of Syud Salar--King of the Fairies and the Fiddlers--Management of Bahraetch district for forty-three years-- Murder of Amur Sing, by Hakeem Mehndee--Nefarious transfer of _khalsa_ lands to Tallookdars, by local officers--Rajah Dursun Sing-- His aggression on the Nepaul Territory--Consequences--Intelligence Department--How formed, managed, and abused--Rughbur Sing's management of Gonda and Bahraetch for 1846-47--Its fiscal effects--A gang-robber caught and hung by Brahmin villagers--Murder of Syampooree Gosaen--Ramdut Pandee--Fairies and Fiddlers--Ramdut Pandee, the Banker--the Rajahs of Toolseepoor and Bulrampoor--Murder of Mr. Ravenscroft, of the Bengal Civil Service, at Bhinga, in 1823. CHAPTER III.