Burhanpur

“ On the other hand, if you travel east, through Burhanpur, you may find that some rivers are still heavy from the monsoon, at least for another month. But the clans there are loyal to Prince Jadar, and only near Chopda, halfway to Burhanpur, will you encounter any local brigands. Theirs, however, is an honorable profession, and they are always willing to accept bribes in return for safe passage. We ordinarily do not kill them, though we easily could, since petty robbery—they view it as a toll—is their livelihood and their tradition. They are weak and they make weak demands. ”

“ Burhanpur is celebrated for its muslins, flowered silks, and brocades, which, according to Tavernier, who visited it in 1668, were exported in great quantities to Persia, Egypt, Turkey, Russia and Poland. The gold and silver wires used in the manufacture of these fabrics are drawn with considerable care and skill; and in order to secure the purity of the metals employed for their composition, the wire-drawing under the native rule was done under government inspection. The town of Burhanpur and its manufactures were long on the decline, but during recent times have made a slight recovery. ”

“ KHANDWA, a town of British India, in the Nimar district of the Central Provinces, of which it is the headquarters, 353 m. N.E. of Bombay by rail. Pop. (1901) , 19,401. Khandwa is an ancient town, with Jain and other temples. As a centre of trade, it has superseded the old capital of Burhanpur. It is an important railway junction, where the Malwa line from Indore meets the main line of the Great Indian Peninsula. There are factories for ginning and pressing cotton, and raw cotton is exported. ”

“ The Shī'a Bohrās, who are essentially townspeople, and especially congregate in Surat, Burhanpur, Ujjain, &c. They are those best known far and wide by the name, and are usually devoted to trading and money-lending. {106a}Their original seat was in Guzerat, and they are most numerous there, and in the Bombay territory generally, but are also to be found in various parts of Central India and the N.-W. Provinces, [where they are all Hindus] . The word in Bombay is often used as synonymous with pedlar or boxwallah. ”

“ At this time my son S͟hāh Jahān arrived at Burhanpur, and, finding him worthy of patronage, made him hopeful with a mansab of 1,500 personal and 1,000 horse. As he had not yet waited on me and was very desirous to kiss the threshold, I summoned him to Court. He is in truth [406] a good K͟hāna-zāda (household-born one) , inasmuch as his heart is adorned with the perfection of bravery and his exterior is not wanting in good appearance. The mansab my son S͟hāh Jahān had bespoken for him was granted at his request, and he was honoured with the title of Sar-buland K͟hān. ”

“ This place is referred to by native historians, and seems to have been situated between Burhānpur and Handiya on the Nerbudda. There is good evidence to prove that large numbers of Pindāris were settled in this part of the country. Mr. Irvine sums up by saying: "If it were not for a passage in Grant Duff (H. of the Mahrattas, Bombay reprint, 157) , I should have been ready to maintain that I had proved my case. My argument requires two things to make it irrefutable: (1) a very early connection between Pandhār and the Pindhāris ”

“ Hindu society, that is the village community, has long decayed in Bengal owing to Muhammadan dominance, the concentration of estates in the hands of large proprietors and the weakening or lapse of the customary rights of tenants. Coupled with this has been the growth of an important urban population, in which the castes mentioned have raised themselves from their menial position in the villages and attained wealth and influence, just as the Gujarāti Telis are now doing in Burhānpur, while the agricultural castes of Bengal have been comparatively depressed. ”

“ The graceless rebels were still keeping22 their ground, and were encamped round the city. [207] As the imperial servants had been contending with the rebels for two years, they had suffered much hardship from want of land (bī-jāgīrī,23 non-possession of fiefs, landlessness) and scarcity of corn, and their horses were worn out by continued service. Accordingly, they had to delay nine days in order to recruit. During this period, thirty lakhs of rupees and many cuirasses24 were distributed among the soldiers, and sazāwuls had been sent out and had brought many men out of the city (Burhanpur) . ”

“ If we must have splendour, let it be in unison with the age.
The next day, having replenished our stores with several additions from the colonel’s garden and farm-yard, for it would be ungrateful not to acknowledge this liberality—a truly Indian virtue—we once more resumed our voyage.
Burhampore, like most of the great military stations of India, is intended to operate as a check on a large and important city; not that from Moorshedabad—once the capital of Bengal, a place long since sunk into comparative insignificance—much danger is now to be apprehended. ”

“ The Kapur family was one of considerable antiquity and great distinction. The founder of the Burdwan branch was Abu Rai of Kotli in Lahore, by caste a Kapur Kshatriya, who settled in Bengal in the middle of the 17th century, being appointed 'Choudhuri and Kotowal of Rekabi Bazaar' under the Fauzdar of Chakla Burdwan. To the estate that he founded his descendants gradually added further possessions, generation after generation playing its part in building up the immense property which Mahtab Rai was finally to complete and consolidate in the nineteenth century. ”

“ Nor do I know whether the male population suffers from the same malady. Does the Indian Civilian, seated in his luxurious chamber in that awe-inspiring building of his, does he too spend his life in writing "chits"? Does the "Bombay Burman," in some far off jungle, "alone with nature undisturbed," does he too sit down 'neath the shade of the feathery bamboo, or the all embracing Peepul tree, and write and despatch "chits" to imaginary people, in imaginary houses, in an imaginary town? ”

“ I am not from Pnom Dhek."
"Yes, I knew that from your armour," said the brute. "You are from Lodidhapura. You stole the girl and they sent soldiers after you. Is that not true?"
"Yes," replied King.
"It may be hard to take the girl away from the soldiers of Lodidhapura," said Prang. "We cannot do it by day, for they are many and we are few; but we can find them and follow them; and at night, perhaps, you can sneak into their camp and steal the girl, if she will come with you willingly."
"She will," said King; and then: "How long have you lived alone in the jungle, Prang?" ”

“ The weaving of silk is the chief native industry. As regards European industries, Burdwan takes the first place in Bengal. It contains the great coal-field of Raniganj, first opened in 1874, with an output of more than three million tons. The Barrakur ironworks produce pig-iron, which is reported to be as good as that of Middlesbrough. Apart from Burdwan town and Raniganj, the chief places are the river-marts of Katwa and Kalna. The East Indian railway has several lines running through the district. ”

“ I learned that India was created that the Indian Civilian might dwell therein; the rest of mankind was created in order to admire the Indian Civilian. Something of this sort I had already heard from my brother-in-law, a member of that service, but one does not pay much attention to what brothers-in-law say.
Burmah, I discovered, is a land where teak grows, in order that the "Bombay Burman" may go there and collect it. I have no very clear idea as to what this "Bombay Burman" may be, but suppose him to be a member of a society of men who uphold the principles of a late Prime Minister ”

“ The hills on the right bank of the Irrawaddy, opposite Prome, were celebrated for them, and the plantations, tastefully laid out, formed quite a feature in the landscape.
The plantain of the East, or banana of the West, grows to perfection in Burmah; those of Bengal are vastly inferior, while those grown under glass in this country are sickly exotics, forming but a very poor substitute for that which they pretend to be. ”

“ The scenery in Upper Burmah is exceedingly fine. The great rocky hills, each crowned with its pagoda, rise on all sides, stretching away into the distance till they become only blue shadows. Everywhere are groves of bananas and palm trees, forests of teak and bamboo, and vast tracks of jungle, attired in the gayest colours. ”

“ BISHANPUR.
Bishanpur is famed as an old place, and certainly contains very many temples and other old remains, but their age is not such as to merit detailed notice of them. They are almost all built in the Lower Bengal style, with curved roof lines, and the ornamentation consists generally of sculptured or moulded tile-work. Some of these are very fine, and stand out the weather very well; they consist chiefly of scenes from the lives of Rama or the Pândus, but principally of Krishna, to whom, or to whose mistress, most of the temples are dedicated ”

“ From Surat to Burhanpoor is a pleasant champain country, well watered with rivers, brooks, and springs. Between Burhanpoor and Agra the country is very mountainous, not passable with a coach, and scarcely to be travelled on camels. The nearest way is by Mando, passing many towns and cities on every day's journey, with many high hills and strong castles, the whole country being well inhabited, very peaceable, and clear of thieves.
Agra is a very large town, its wall being two coss in circuit, the fairest and highest I ever saw, and well replenished with ordnance ”

“ The Suba coming with a great retinue to Burdwan, about sixty miles from the modern capital of Bengal, with a pretence of making a tour of the territory placed under his political superintendence, communicated to his officers the secret of his mission. They heard him with silent pleasure; for most of the nobles being jealous of a rival’s popularity, with a mean and dastardly spirit joined readily in the scheme for his destruction. ”

“ Loyalty to a Ruler is a trait of the Indian character as it is a part of the Indian religion, and the generosity of Raja Man Singh towards the young Lord of Birnagar had touched the hearts of the people. Streets and houses flamed with rows of light, and the poorest widow contributed her mite in the shape of earthen oil lamps lit on her doorsteps. Musicians poured forth a vigorous stream of noise from high balconies, and groups of men and women loitered in the bazaars and street corners, speaking of the great Badshah of Agra, the generous Ruler of Bengal, and the liberated Lord of Birnagar. ”

“ Another great and peaceful revolution effected by the teachings of Buddha was the overthrow of the rigid, unnatural system of caste. Whatever benefit this order of things may have been to us in India as a bar to combination, no other scheme has ever been devised better calculated to keep men asunder and clog the wheels of progress. It hampers all enterprise, causing the machinery of government and industry to creak along after the fashion of a native bullock-cart.
No such arrangement exists in Burmah, and, if only for this reason, its inhabitants will soon forge ahead of India. ”

“ It is almost pure Burmah here, and the native of India is beautifully scarce; but Chinese abound, and are uncommonly nice-looking people. We drive a mile or so with rather dingy teak and matting houses on trestle legs on either side of the road, overhung with palms and trees, and see the domestic arrangements through open verandahs—women and children winding yellow silk in skeins and cooking, the vivid colours of the silks in sudden contrast to the sombre dusty red and brown wood of the houses. ”

“ Barunda and Ninaka urged their men on, with brief rests, all day, nor did they halt even after night had closed down upon the river. On, on the swift prahu sped up the winding channel which had now dwindled to a narrow stream, at intervals rushing strongly between rocky walls with a current that tested the strength of the strong, brown paddlers.
Long-houses had become more and more infrequent until for some time now no sign of human habitation had been visible. The jungle undergrowth was scantier and the spaces between the boles of the forest trees more open. ”

“ All the natives stared at us, as they went leisurely about their daily work; the girls in their brightly coloured, graceful dresses, going slowly to the well, carrying their empty kerosene oil cans, the almost universal water pots of the Burman; the men lounging about, smoking big cheroots, and evidently lost in deep meditation; and the old women sitting in their low bamboo huts, grinding paddy, cooking untempting looking mixtures, or [Pg 67] presiding over the sale of various dried fruits and other articles, for in Burmah there is rarely a house where something is not sold. ”

“ That province of the Mogul Empire which lay on the Ganges immediately above Bengal, was so called, and still retains the name and character of a province, under the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, and embracing the ten modern districts of Patna, Sāran, Gāya, Shāhābād, Tirhut, Champāran, the Santāl Parganas, Bhāgalpūr, Monghyr, and Purnīah. The name was taken from the old city of Bihār, and that derived its title from being the site of a famous Vihāra in Buddhist times. In the later days of Mahommedan rule the three provinces of Bengal, Behar and Orissa were under one Subadar, viz. ”