The Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan — John Shaqi
The Tremendous Adventures of Major GahaganThackeray, William Makepeace
History
The Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan
Thackeray, William Makepeace
India -- History -- British occupation, 1765-1947 -- Fiction
“Lord Lake whispered to him my exploits, and the old man was so
delighted with the account of my victory over the elephant (whose trunk
I use to this day), that he said, ‘Let him be called GUJPUTI,’ or the
lord of elephants; and Gujputi was the name by which I was afterwards
familiarly known among the natives,—the men, that is. The women had a
softer appellation for me, and called me ‘Mushook,’ or charmer.
“Well, I shall not describe Delhi, which is doubtless well known to the
reader; nor the siege of Agra, to which place we went from Delhi; nor
the terrible day at Laswaree, which went nigh to finish the war.
Suffice it to say that we were victorious, and that I was wounded; as I
have invariably been in the two hundred and four occasions when I have
found myself in action. One point, however, became in the course of
this campaign _quite_ evident—_that something must be doen for
Gahagan_. The country cried shame, the King’s troops grumbled, the
sepoys openly murmured that their Gujputi was only a lieutenant, when
he had performed such signal services. What was to be done? Lord
Wellesley was in an evident quandary. ‘Gahagan,’ wrote he, ‘to be a
subaltern is evidently not your fate—_you were born for command;_ but
Lake and General Wellesley are good officers, they cannot be turned
out—I must make a post for you. What say you, my dear fellow, to a
corps of _irregular horse?_’
“It was thus that the famous corps of AHMEDNUGGAR IRREGULARS had its
origin; a guerilla force, it is true, but one which will long be
remembered in the annals of our Indian campaigns.
“As the commander of this regiment, I was allowed to settle the uniform
of the corps, as well as to select recruits. These were not wanting as
soon as my appointment was made known, but came flocking to my standard
a great deal faster than to the regular corps in the Company’s service.
I had European officers, of course, to command them, and a few of my
countrymen as sergeants; the rest were all natives, whom I chose of the
strongest and bravest men in India; chiefly Pitans, Afghans,
Hurrumzadehs, and Calliawns: for these are well known to be the most
warlike districts of our Indian territory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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