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
On the 10th of that month he was taken by the minister to pay his
respects to his Majesty, who, on the 30th, conferred upon him
additional honours and titles, and appointed him Inspector-general of
all his dominions, with orders "to make a settlement of the land
revenue at an increased rate; to cut down all the jungles, and bring
all the waste lands into tillage; to seize all refractory barons,
destroy all their forts, and seize and send into store all the cannon
mounted upon them; to put down all disturbances, protect all high
roads, punish all refractory and evil-minded persons; to enforce the
payment of all just demands of his sovereign upon landholders of all
degrees and denominations; to invite back all who had been driven off
by oppression, and re-establish them on their estates, or punish them
if they refused to return; to ascertain the value of all estates
transferred from the jurisdiction of the local authorities to the
'Hozoor Tehsel,' without due inquiry; and report, for the
consideration of his Majesty and his minister, any _nankar_ or rent-
free lands, assigned, of late years, by Amils and other governors of
districts; to enforce the payment of all recoverable balances, due on
account of past years; to muster the troops, and report, through the
commander-in-chief, all officers and soldiers borne on the muster-
rolls, and paid from the treasury, but in reality dead, absent
without leave, or unfit for further service;" in short, to reform all
abuses, and make the government of the country what the King and his
minister thought it ought to be. Dursun Sing assured them that he
would do his best to effect all the objects they had in view; and,
after recovering possession of his estates, and conciliating, by
suitable gratuities, all the reigning favourites at Court, he went to
work heartily at his Herculean task after his wonted way. But he,
soon after, became ill, and retired to his residence at Fyzabad,
where he died on the 20th of August, 1844, leaving his elder brother,
Bukhtawar Sing--my Quartermaster-general--at Court; and his three
sons, Ramadeen, Rughbur Sing, and Mann Sing, to fight among
themselves for his landed possessions and immense accumulated wealth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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