Journal of a Cavalry Officer; Including the Memorable Sikh Campaign of 1845-1846Humbley, W. W. W. (William Wellington Waterloo)
History
Journal of a Cavalry Officer; Including the Memorable Sikh Campaign of 1845-1846
Humbley, W. W. W. (William Wellington Waterloo)
India -- Description and travel; Sikh War, 1845-1846
I must remark that many cities in India, such as Delhi, Benares,
Allahabad, and Bhaugulpore, exhibit a mixture of Hindoo and Mahomedan
buildings. The former, as having been the seat of the Hindoo and
Mahomedan governments, is easily accounted for. At Benares, as I
stated, the Mussulman emperor erected the mosque, to insult its
inhabitants, who were Hindoos. In the cases of Allahabad, Bhaugulpore,
and other cities, we must refer the fact to different circumstances.
At Bhaugulpore there is a corps called the "Hill-rangers": it was
raised in 1792, and is composed of men who reside in the hills near the
District, and sends detachments to Monghyr, Purneah, Bootan frontier,
and to Titalyah. Mr. Cleveland, of the Bengal Civil Service, who
died in 1784, early recognised the fact, that the wild hill tribes
could only be kept in subjection by a system of strict justice and
moderation. He went among them, and brought over their chiefs to a
sense of the necessity of promoting peace among their people. In order
to create a feeling of unanimity, and to put a stop to the quarrels
in which they were continually embroiled with the Lowlanders, he
disciplined a party of these men, who were subsequently formed into a
corps, denominated the Paharees, or "Hill-rangers." In their mountain
homes, these men are not far removed from the savage; they live by
the chase, and never go unarmed. They are extremely hospitable and
honest, and are remarkable for their probity, as servants. With this
naturally good foundation, it will readily be conceived that they make
good soldiers. They are kept in a state of admirable discipline; and
in place of devastating the country, and plundering their neighbours,
they now protect the district from the marauders, and both person
and property are secure. The character of these tribes bears a close
resemblance to that of the Bheels and Nairs, the latter being peculiar
to the Madras Presidency.
The Bheels are considered to be the Aborigines of central India; a
bold, daring set of banditti, possessing nevertheless, many virtues.
Truth, honesty, and fidelity are their distinguishing features. They
are born warriors and despise the tillers of the soil. In 1817,
Lieut.-Colonel James Tod offered some of these Bheels four rupees,
or eight shillings, a month, if they would cultivate the soil; but
they indignantly refused, "because their forefathers had never done
so before them." In 1840, two Bheel corps were formed; one at Malwa,
and the other at Mewar. The Bheels are a decidedly distinct race, and
are divided into numerous tribes: they are Hindoos by religion, but
some few of them have become followers of the prophet. They have been
deprived of the fairest portions of their land by the Rajahs, and are
now confined to the uncultivated tracts of their mountains.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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