The King had, in the case of Ghalib Jung, already described in this Diary, declared his resolution of looking more closely into his accounts in future, and punishing all transgressors in the same way; and Roshun-od Dowlah often expressed to the Resident his apprehensions that his turn to suffer must soon come. Sobhan Allee Khan had much stronger grounds to fear, since he had made himself utterly detested by the people generally, and had neither friends nor connexions in the royal family or aristocracy of Lucknow. Under the strong and general impression that the British Government was determined to interpose, and take upon itself the administration of the country, and that the King himself wished the independent sovereignty of Oude to terminate with his reign, they most earnestly desired his early death as their only chance of escape. The British Government would not, they knew, make them refund any of their ill-gotten wealth without full judicial proof of their peculations, and this proof they knew could never be obtained. Indeed they were satisfied that our Government, aware of the difficulty of finding such proof, and occupied in forming and working a new system, would not trouble themselves to seek for it; and that they should all be left to reside where they chose, and enjoy freely the fruits of their malversation.
The Resident had kept the instructions of the 15th of December, 1832, from the supreme Government, a profound secret, lest they might lead to intrigue and disturbance, and, above all, to the poisoning of many innocent persons who might be considered to have a claim of right to the throne; and all were surprised and confounded when it was announced that the paramount power had already decided in favour of Nuseer-od Dowlah, whose claims had never been thought of by the people, or apprehended by the ministers. The instant they heard this decision, they dreaded the scrutiny of the sagacious and parsimonious old man, and the enmity of the favourites by whom he had been surrounded in private life. These men, whom they had, in their pride and power, despised and insulted, would now have their revenge; and they wished for the success of the old woman and the boy, from whom they might have a better chance of escape, till they could get their wealth and their families out of the country.
I may here mention a similar repudiation of a supposed eldest son by the late King. Mostafa Allee was brought up in the palace as his eldest son, and on all occasions treated as such. Mahommed Allee Shah, the late King's father, was always very fond of him, but shortly before his death he became angry with him for some outrages committed in the palace, and put him under restraint. The young man requested the late King, his supposed father, to mediate with his grandfather for his release. He refused to do so, and the young man drew his sword, and threatened to kill him. He was kept under more strict restraint till the grandfather died, and his father ascended the throne, on the 16th of May, 1842. The King then requested the Resident to assure the Governor-General that Mostafa Allee was not his son—that he was a year and a-half old when his mother entered the palace. The Resident reported accordingly on the 26th of that month. The Governor-General required the statement to be made under the King's own sign and seal, and it was transmitted on the 6th of June, 1842. The present King was then declared heir-apparent to the throne, and Mostafa Allee has ever since been in strict confinement under him. The general impression, however, is that he was the eldest son of the late King, and repudiated solely on account of his violent temper and turbulent conduct. That he was treated as such during the life of Mahommed Allee Shah, and that the late King dared not repudiate him while his father lived, is certain.
By the treaty of 1801 we bound ourselves to defend the territories of the sovereign of Oude from all foreign and domestic enemies; and to defray the cost of maintaining the troops required for this purpose, and paying some pensions at Furruckabad and Benares, the sovereign of Oude ceded to our Government the under-mentioned districts, then yielding the revenues specified opposite their respective names.*
* Districts ceded by Oude to the British Government
by the treaty of 1801.
Etawa, Korah, Kurra - - - - - 55,48,577 11 9
Rehur and others - - - - - 5,33,374 0 6
Furruckabad - - - - - - 4,50,001 0 6
Khyreegurh, and Kunchunpore - - - 2,10,001 0 0
Azimgurh, Mounal, and Benjun - - - 6,95,624 7 6
Goruckpore - - - 5,09,853 8 0
Botwul - - - - 40,001 0 0 5,49,854 8 0
Allahabad and others- - - - - 9,34,963 1 3
Bareilly, Moradabad, Bijnore, Budown,
Pilibheet, and Shahjehanpore - - 43,13,457 11 3
Nawabgunge, Rehlee, &c. - - - - 1,19,242 12 0
Mohowl and others, with exception of
Jaulluk Arwu - - - - - 1,68,378 4 0
__________________
Total - - 1,35,23,474 8 3
Deduct
Nawabgunge - - - 1,19,242 12 0
Khyreegurh - - - 2,10,001 0 0 3,29,243 12 0
__________________
Total - - 1,31,94,230 12 3
Add
Handeea or Kewae - - - - - 1,52,905 0 0
__________________
Total - - 1,33,47,135 12 3
Present Revenues of the Territories we hold from Oude under the
treaty of 1801, according to the Revised Statistical Return of the
Districts of the North-West Provinces for 1846-47, prepared in
1848, A.D.
_____________________________________________________________________
|Land Revenue | Abkaree |Stamp for | Total for
______ | 1846-47. | for | 1846-47. | 1846-47.
| | 1846-47. | |
__________________ _|_____________|__________|__________|____________
Rohilcund .. .. .. | 64,44,341 | 2,47,854 | 2,04,576 | 68,96,771
Allahabad, including| | | |
Handeea alias Kewae| 21,29,551 | 1,41,409 | 61,802 | 23,32,762
| | | |
Furruckabad .. .. | 13,57,544 | 88,061 | 49,698 | 14,95,303
Mynpooree .. .. .. | 12,33,901 | 24,822 | 20,484 | 12,79,207
Etawa .. .. .. .. | 12,80,596 | 19,647 | 10,355 | 13,10,598
Goruckpore.. .. .. | 20,80,296 | 2,10,045 | 96,549 | 23,86,890
Azimgurh, including | | | |
Mahoul .. .. .. | 14,89,887 | 81,257 | 53,925 | 16,25,069
Cawnpore .. .. .. | 21,51,155 | 1,26,155 | 57,406 | 23,34,700
Futtehpore.. .. .. | 14,25,431 | 60,370 | 21,063 | 15,06,864
|_____________|__________|__________|____________
Total .. .. |1,95,92,686 | 9,99,620 | 5,75,858 | 2,11,68,164
____________________|_____________|__________|__________|____________** The lands are the same with the exception of Khyreegurh, Nawabgunge ceded since, and Handeea received; but the names are altered.
Khyreegurh and Kunchunpore were re-ceded to the Oude sovereign in the treaty of the 11th of May, 1816, with the Turae lands, taken from Nepaul, between Khyreegurh and Goruckpore, in liquidation of the loan of one crore of rupees. In the same treaty, Handeea (alias Kewae) was ceded by Oude to the British Government, in lieu of Nawabgunge, which was made over to the Oude sovereign by the British Government. Handeea, or Kewae, now in the Allahabad district, yielded land revenue, for 1846-47, rupees one lac, fifty-two thousand, and nine hundred and five.
The British Government retained the power to station the British troops in such parts of the Oude territories as might appear to it most expedient; and the Oude sovereign bound himself to dismiss all his troops, save four battalions of infantry, one battalion of Nujeebs and Mewaties, two thousand horsemen, and three hundred golundages, or artillerymen, with such numbers of armed peons as might be deemed necessary for the purpose of collecting the revenue, and a few horsemen and nujeebs to attend the persons of the amils. It is declared that the territories ceded, being in lieu of all former subsidies and of all expenses on account of the Honourable Company's defensive establishments with his Excellency the sovereign of Oude, no demand whatever shall be made upon his territory on account of expenses which the Honourable Company may incur by assembling forces to repel the attack, or menaced attack, of a foreign enemy; on account of the detachment attached to his person; on account of troops which may be occasionally furnished for suppressing rebellions or disorders in his territories; on account of any future charge of military stations; or on account of failures in the resources of the ceded districts, arising from unfavourable seasons, the calamities of war, or any other cause whatever.
The Honourable Company guarantees to him and to his heirs and successors, the possession of the territories which remain to him after the above cessions, together with the exercise of his and their authority within the said dominions; and the sovereign of Oude engages to establish, in his reserved dominions, such a system of administration, to be carried into effect by his own officers, as shall be conducive to the prosperity of his subjects, and calculated to secure the lives and property of the inhabitants; and to advise with, and act in conformity to the counsel of, the officers of the British Government.
In the time of Asuf-od Dowlah, who died on the 21st September, 1797, the military force of Oude amounted to eighty thousand men of all arms, and in the direct pay of Government. Saadut Allee Khan, his brother and successor, on the conclusion of the above treaty, and the transfer of half his territory, reduced the number to thirty thousand.
Relying entirely upon the efficiency of British troops to defend him against external and internal enemies, and to suppress rebellion and disorder, he laboured assiduously to reduce his expenditure within the income arising from the reserved half of his dominions. He resumed almost all the rent-free lands which had been granted with a lavish hand by his predecessor, and paid off and discharged all superfluous civil and military establishments, and, by his prudence and economy, he so reduced his expenditure within the income, that on his death on the 12th of July, 1814, he left fourteen millions sterling, or fourteen crores of rupees, in a treasury which he found empty when he entered upon the government in 1797. In this sum were included the confiscations of the estates of some favourites of his predecessors, Asuf-od Dowlah and Wuzeer Allee, who had grown rich upon bribery and frauds of all kinds. He never confiscated the estates of any good and faithful servants, who left lawful heirs to their property.