A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, Volumes I & IISleeman, W. H. (William Henry), Sir
History
A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, Volumes I & II
Sleeman, W. H. (William Henry), Sir
Oudh (India) -- Description and travel
Wajid Allee Khan disregarded the order, and made over or sold
Naraenpoor and other villages belonging to the estate, to Rughbur
Sing, the atrocious brother of Maun Sing, who sent his myrmidons to
take possession. They killed the Lady Sogura's two agents in the
management, plundered her of all she had of property, and all the
rents which she had up to that time collected, for payment to
Government; and took possession of Naraenpoor and the other villages,
sold to their master by Wajid Allee. Wajid Allee soon after came with
a large force, seized the lady and carried her off to his camp, put
all her officers and attendants into confinement, and refused all
access to her. When she became ill, and appeared likely to sink under
the treatment she received, he made her enter into written
engagements to pay to the troops, in liquidation of their arrears of
pay, all that he pretended that she owed to the State. He prevailed
upon Ghuffoor Beg, who commanded the artillery, to take these her
pledges, and give him, Wajid Allee, corresponding receipts for the
amount, for transmission to the Treasury; and then made her over a
prisoner to him. Ghuffoor Beg took possession of the lady and the
estate, kept her in close confinement, and employed his artillery-men
in making the collections in their own way, by appropriating all the
harvests to themselves.
Wajid Allee was superseded in October 1849, by Aga Allee, who, on
entering on his charge, directed that martial-law should cease in
Muneearpoor; but Ghuffoor Beg and his artillery-men were too strong
for the governor, and refused to give up the possession of so nice an
estate. When I approached the estate in my tour, Ghuffoor Beg took
the lady off to Chundoly, where she was treated with all manner of
indignity and cruelty by the artillery. The estate was going to utter
ruin under their ignorant and reckless management, and the Nazim, Aga
Allee, prayed me to interpose and save it, and protect the poor Lady
Sogura. I represented the hardship of the case to the Durbar, but
with little hope of any success, under the present government, who
say, that if the troops are not allowed to pay themselves in this
way, they shall have to pay them all the arrears for which the estate
is pledged, not one rupee of which is reduced by the collections they
make. If they were to hold the estate for twenty years, they would
not allow it to appear that any portion of the arrears had been paid
off. The estate is a noble one, and, in spite of all the usurpations
and disorders from which it has lately suffered, was capable last
year of yielding to Government a revenue of fifty thousand rupees a-
year, after providing liberally for all the requirements of the poor
Lady Sogura and her family, or a rent-roll of one hundred thousand
rupees a-year.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account