I found Allahabad greatly altered; formerly it was a quiet station, it had now become the seat of the Agra Government, and Mr. Blunt, the Lieut.-Governor, was residing there. I had often heard Colonel Gardner speak in high praise of this gentleman, who was a friend of his. My time was now employed in making and receiving visits, and going to parties.
13th.—At the house of Mr. F⸺ I met the Austrian traveller, Baron H⸺; he requested to be allowed to call on me the next day to see my collection of curiosities. He pronounced them very good, and promised to send me some idols to add to them. I gave him a set of Hindoo toe-rings, the sacred thread of the Brahmans, and a rosary, every bead of which was carved with the name of the god Rām. Men were deceivers ever; the promised idols were never added to my collection. The Lieut.-Governor’s parties, which were very agreeable, rendered Allahabad a very pleasant station.
Aug. 2nd.—I went to the melā (fair) held within the grounds at Papamhow. To this place we had sent the pinnace, the Seagull; and on the 10th of the month my husband accompanied me two days’ sail on my voyage, to revisit my relations at Fathīghar, after which, he returned to Allahabad, leaving me and the great spaniel Nero to proceed together. The daily occurrences of this voyage may be omitted, only recording any adventure that occurred during the course of it. The stream is so excessively powerful, that at times, even with a fine strong breeze and thirteen men on the towing-line, we are forced to quit the main stream, and proceed up some smaller branch, which occasions delay.
Aug. 14th.—Arrived at Kurrah, a celebrated place in former days, I wished to go on shore to see the tomb of Shaikh Karrick, and to have a canter on the black pony, who was to meet me there; but was obliged to give up the idea, because we were compelled to go up the other side of the river in consequence of the violence and rapidity of the stream.
In A.D. 1295, Alla, the son of Feroze, the second King of Delhi, was Governor of Kurrah and Subadar of Oude. Alla made an expedition into the Deccan, and returned laden with spoil. Six hundred mŭn of pure gold; seven mŭn of pearls; two mŭn of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires; one thousand mŭn of silver, and four thousand pieces of silk, &c.
The King of Delhi, wishing to share in his nephew’s plunder, came down to Kurrah. Alla met him when his boat touched the bank of the river; and, after the fondest greetings, made a sign to two men, who came forward and murdered the king on the spot.
They relate, that when Alla visited a celebrated sage, Shaikh Karrick, who is buried at Kurrah, and whose tomb is held sacred to this day, he rose from his pillow, and repeated an extempore verse to the following purport:—“He cometh, but his head shall fall in the boat, and his body in the Ganges,” which, they say, was explained an hour afterwards by the death of the King Feroze, whose head was thrown into the boat on that occasion. One of the assassins died of a horrible leprosy, which dissolved the flesh piecemeal from his bones; the other went mad, and incessantly cried out that Feroze was cutting off his head.
This detestable Alla seized the throne of Delhi, and reigned under the title of Alla the First. He proposed, like Alexander the Great, to undertake the conquest of the world. In consequence of this project, he assumed the title of Sekunder al Sānī (Alexander the Second), which was struck upon the currency of the empire. The silver coins represented in the sketch (Fig. 6.) which I procured at Fathīpoor, were found in a field five miles from Kurrah; they were inscribed A.D. 1313, Sekunder al Sānī. Never was there such a wretch as this Alla the First. He died A.D. 1316. I consider the coins as great a curiosity as the gentleman considers one of Thurtell’s ears, which he has preserved in spirits!
16th.—Anchored at Maigong in rather a picturesque spot, close to a satī mound. By the side of the mound I saw the trunk of a female figure beautifully carved in stone. The head, arms, and part of the legs had been broken off. They said it was the figure of a satī. At the back of the mound was a very ancient banyan-tree; and the green hills and trees around were in all the freshness and luxuriance of the rainy season.
The next morning, to my surprise, on going into the large cabin to breakfast, there was the figure of the headless satī covered with flowers, and at the spot where feet were not, offerings of gram, boiled rice, &c., had been placed by some of the Hindoo dāndees. “How came you possessed of the satī?” said I. “The mem sāhiba admired her, she is here.” “Chorī-ke-mal nā’īch hazm hota,” “Stolen food never digests,” i.e., “Ill deeds never prosper, the poor people will grieve for the figure; tell the sarang to lower sail and return her to them.” “What words are these?” replied the sarang, “we are miles from the spot; the satī has raised the wind.” The headless lady remained on board.