Amid the many strange vicissitudes of Indian history, it is by no means unusual to find deposed sovereigns, and other persons of rank, residing at Benares as state prisoners. Among these I would particularize Bajee Row, the late Peishwah, who, after many changes of fortune, surrendered to the English, in 1818. He agreed to abdicate the throne, and to abandon the Deccan, on condition of his retaining all his treasures, and receiving an annual pension from the British government of eight lakhs of rupees, or £80,000 sterling. I visited his palace, and found that the ex-Peishwah still retained some semblance of royalty, in the person of one or two Sepoys, who were on duty at his gate. He died at Benares, in 1851. In February 1836, the deposed Rajah of Coorg came to Benares. He had been attacked, in 1834, by a division of the Madras army, and his capital, Mercara, taken. In March 1840, his Highness the ex-Rajah of Sattarah was sent to Benares, on the plea of having attempted to tamper with the loyalty of the British Sepoys. He has since died. Therefore, though Benares is not "a refuge for the destitute," unless he be a high caste Brahmin, it may nevertheless be called the "Asylum of deposed Rajahs." Nor must I omit the name of the Maharannee, the mother of the ex-Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, of Lahore, who in 1848 was sent from the Punjaub to Benares, for causing a disaffection towards the British. After residing here for a short time, her Highness was conveyed to the more secure fort, as the officials thought, of Chunar, but from whence she effected her escape, early in 1849, in the disguise of one of her attendants, not being recognised by the sentries at the gates. She is supposed to have reached Nepaul; but how she was received by the Goorkhas--how she likes the country--where her Highness intends to live--and by what funds supported--must be left to the imagination of the reader. Certain it is, that the East India Government ought not to regret the absence of so expensive a pensioner. She exerted too powerful a control over the Maharajah, her son, to be allowed to remain at Lahore with impunity. Her Highness, like many clever women, is somewhat dangerous, particularly as being the mother of the King of Lahore. But there is now no King of Lahore. The revenues of the Punjaub belong to the East India Company, the territorial supremacy, however, is vested in the crown; the Company being only the Trustees. The life and adventures of this Queen-mother would form a most extraordinary and amusing volume. So varied have been her vicissitudes, that, while her intrigues and romantic amours might be the subject of a novel, the history of the cruelties and murders which have marked her steps since the death of her husband, Runjeet Singh, would furnish matter for a tragedy. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 99: See Appendix XXII.] [Footnote 100: 1848, p. 155, table xxx.] [Footnote 101: Indian Antiquities, p. 36.] CHAPTER XV.