We had a fine view of the Kurruckpore hills; and at six o'clock the same day anchored off Bhaugulpore, having passed Sooltangunge, on the right bank of the river. There is an indigo factory and house at Sooltangunge, very prettily situated; the lofty rocks of Jehangeera, crowned with a Mahomedan tomb, are in a most singular position.
Bhaugulpore is a town in the Province of Bahar, situated about two miles from the main branch of the Ganges. A nullah runs past Bhaugulpore; it separates a strip of land from the Ganges, into which it afterwards flows. The Ganges is extremely broad here; and in the rainy season, when the waters are much swollen, is full eight miles across. It is pleasantly situated; and commands a distant view of Mount Mandar, an insulated conical hill, and noted place of Hindoo pilgrimage. There are two very peculiar round towers about a mile north-west of the town, which the Rajah of Jeynugur considers so holy, that he has erected a building to shelter his subjects who frequent them from the burning rays of the sun.
At the entrance of the town is a noble banyan tree, which Lord Valentia also mentions in his travels. This tree is found in most parts of India; but perhaps the largest are to be met with towards the South. Humboldt, in his Cosmos,[104] speaking of the banyan, or Indian fig-tree, says, "The Indian fig-tree, that takes root by its branches, and whose stem has a diameter of twenty-eight feet; and which, as Onesicritus remarked with much truth to nature, forms 'a leafy canopy, similar to a tent supported by numerous pillars.'"
The population of Bhaugulpore is a mixture of Mahomedans and Hindoos. The majority are Mahomedans, who had a college, which existed in 1815, though in a state of great decay.
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.
Thus Mr. Cleveland's laudable efforts have been more successful than might have been expected, and the people in the neighbourhood of Bhaugulpore, instead of being in a state of continual strife, are now living very peaceably. Mr. Cleveland's former residence, a large handsome building, is situated immediately on the banks of the Ganges, and a monument to his memory has been erected in the burial-ground. There are several other very good houses, this being a civil station. A Branch of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society has been flourishing for the last ten years, and the Botanical Gardens are worth visiting. There is a resident chaplain who divides his duties between this place and Monghyr. I may remark, by the way, that all the chaplains are military; and, as in the Navy, are entitled to prize money in war time.
The late Colonel Francklin endeavoured to make Bhaugulpore the site of the ancient Palibothra, because he supposed the Chundun to be the Erannoboas of the Greeks. This subject has, however, been so fully discussed, that it is to be hoped that the mind of the reader has been duly impressed with the conviction that Allahabad is the veritable site, as being the spot where the junction of those two mighty rivers, the Ganges and the Jumna, occurs.